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(11) | EP 0 730 066 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Dividing wall for rooms, provided with means for adjusting the alignment |
| (57) Dividing wall for rooms and the like, comprising uprights (4) and cross-pieces (5)
defining frames on which panels (6, 7, 8, 9) are hung, said dividing wall also comprising
means (10, 110) for fastening and supporting said panels on said uprights and means
(11) which can be coupled to said uprights (4), for adjusting the alignment of said
panels (6, 7, 8, 9), consisting of a fixed threaded rod (12) which has engaged on
it the female thread (14a) of a sleeve (14) which can be rotated about its axis, but
blocked in the axial direction in an associated seat of a bracket (16) via retaining
means (17, 17a) which can be coupled to the bottom (16b) of said bracket and are provided
with additional means (17b) for coupling to the uprights (4). |
[0001] The present invention relates to a dividing wall for rooms and the like, comprising uprights and cross-pieces defining frames on which panels of varying composition and thickness are hung, said dividing wall also comprising means for fastening and supporting said panels on said uprights and means which can be coupled to said uprights, in order to adjust the alignment of the panels themselves.
[0002] Internal dividing walls are widely used in many applications in the building industry, in particular for offices and the like, said dividing walls enabling a room of vast dimensions to be divided up into smaller areas, for example in order to obtain several offices or internal rooms for various uses.
[0003] These internal dividing walls are usually made with a modular structure so that they can be installed any time following construction of the masonrywork of the premises in which they are arranged and easily disassembled in the event of displacement or modification of the internal subdivision itself.
[0004] Walls of this kind must have special features, including that of providing effective insulation against noise, dust and the like, and must be able to be associated with doors, transparent panels, openings or the like, as well as being able to support brackets or being of adequate thickness to accommodate shelves and the like, forming a container in addition to a wall.
[0005] It is also known of dividing walls provided with panels on which container-type furniture, complete with all the peripheral walls, is stably mounted by means of associated fastening elements.
[0006] Dividing walls, whether they be the type which have the function of a simple wall for dividing up spaces, the type which can be equipped with various furnishings or the type which themselves also form the container, are normally obtained by arranging next to one another in the vertical direction several coplanar panels of modular dimensions which are fastened on opposite sides of metal supporting cross-pieces and uprights, said uprights and cross-pieces being arranged along vertical lines of arrangement of each pair of panels. Said uprights and cross-pieces are constructed with a box-type, for example quadrangular shape or are made from H- or U-shaped elements which are arranged opposite one another, or may also have any other form.
[0007] However, the dividing walls must also satisfy specific aesthetic requirements, blending in with the furnishing of the spaces defined by them, and must also allow rapid disassembly to be performed with the smallest possible number of tools and operations carried out during installation, and must be able to be adapted to the dimensions of the room in which they are to be installed.
[0008] In this connection, particular difficulties arise in relation to the need to obtain perfect alignment in both the vertical direction and horizontal direction of the panels, since adjustment must be performed during installation by acting firstly on said uprights and cross-pieces prior to mounting of the panels and, subsequently, with the successive operations of mounting, disassembly, rough adjustment and remounting of the panels; and even then said panels, once they have been definitively arranged in position, still tend to move as a result of settling due to their weight, the loads applied and the like, with the consequent need for further adjustments even some time after installation.
[0009] Therefore, the technical problem posed is that of providing a dividing wall which offers optimum characteristics of strength, modularity and adaptability and which is also low-cost and allows easy assembly and adjustment of the alignment of the panels and of the various component parts, even by non-specialized personnel and even some time after initial installation, without damage to the existing walls.
[0010] These results are obtained by the present invention which provides a dividing wall for rooms and the like, comprising uprights and cross-pieces defining frames on which panels of varying composition and thickness are hung, said dividing wall also comprising means for fastening and supporting said panels on said uprights and means which can be coupled to said uprights, for adjusting the alignment of said panels, consisting of a fixed threaded rod which has engaged on it the female thread of a sleeve which can be rotated about its axis, but blocked in the axial direction in an associated seat of a bracket via retaining means which can be coupled to the bottom of said bracket and are provided with additional means for coupling to the uprights.
[0011] Further details may be obtained from the following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a dividing wall according to the invention;
Figure 2 shows a section along the plane indicated by II-II in Figure 1;
Figure 3 shows a section along the plane indicated by III-III in Figure 1;
Figure 4 shows a section along the plane indicated by IV-IV in Figure 1;
Figure 5 shows a section along the plane indicated by V-V in Figure 1;
Figure 6 shows a section along the plane indicated by VI-VI in Figure 5;
Figure 7 shows a section along the plane indicated by VII-VII in Figure 5;
Figure 8 shows a partially sectioned side view of the alignment adjusting device;
Figure 9 shows a front view of the device shown in Figure 8;
Figure 10 shows a detail of the element for fastening and supporting the panels; and
Figure 11 shows an alternative embodiment of the element for supporting the panels.
[0012] As shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, the dividing wall according to the invention extends between two opposite and parallel walls 1, the ceiling 2 and the floor 3 of a room to be divided up.
[0013] The dividing wall is substantially composed of uprights 4 and cross-pieces 5 arranged so as to form frames of varying dimensions, which can be completed by opaque-type panels 6, glass surfaces 7, doors 8 or containers 9.
[0014] Said panels all have respective seats 6a, 7a for fastening to associated support elements 10 which can be fitted to the vertical uprights 4.
[0015] In greater detail and as illustrated in Figures 10a to 10e, the support element 10 is formed by a surface 10a for abutment against the upright, and the rear face of said surface 10a has emerging from it two vertical fastening lugs 10b and a horizontal centring pin 10c for coupling with corresponding seats 4a, 4c of the upright 4.
[0016] The surface 10a also has extending from it vertical lugs 10d provided with teeth 10f suitable for engagement with said seats 6a, 7a of the panels, which can thus be easily mounted with minimum effort on the uprights already arranged in position.
[0017] As illustrated in detail in Figures 3, 8 and 9, the vertical uprights 4 are fixed to the ceiling 2 and to the floor 3 by means of an intervening adjusting device 11 comprising a threaded rod 12, the free end of which has a hexagonal head 12a designed to be accommodated in a seat 13a of a first shaped section 14 bearing against the floor 3 and the ceiling 2.
[0018] As illustrated in Figure 2, it is also abvious that a similar device may be arranged in the horizontal direction between the uprights 4 and the vertical walls 1.
[0019] The opposite end of the threaded rod 12 is engaged with a female thread 14a formed inside a sleeve 14 which has an external surface formed in the axial direction by a first section 14b of smaller diameter, terminating at its free end in a hexagonal piece 14c for emergency operation in the event of the sleeve 14 being damaged, by a second section 14d of larger diameter, and by a substantially frusto-conical head-piece 15 which has externally a lower toothing 15a and an upper circular projection 15b.
[0020] As illustrated in Figure 8, the sleeve 14 is inserted with its longitudinal section 14b in a hole 16a formed on the U-shaped raised central part of the bottom 16b of a bracket 16.
[0021] The longitudinal section 14c of the sleeve 14, which is of larger diameter, comes into abutment against the edge of this hole 16a, said sleeve being retained in its entirety inside the said U-piece by a small transverse plate 17 provided with resilient fastening elements 17a designed to engage with the bottom 16b of the bracket 16 through additional holes 16c formed on the bottom itself.
[0022] The bush 14, once it has been inserted into the U-piece, has its toothing 15a aligned with holes 18 formed on the vertical walls of the U-piece and holes 19 formed on the vertical walls of the bracket 16.
[0023] As illustrated, through these holes it is possible to pass the cross-shaped tip 20a of a screwdriver 20 by means of which it is possible to manoeuvre the head 15 of the sleeve 14, as will be described more fully below.
[0024] The closing plate 17 of the U-piece also has two fork-shaped extensions 17b which are oriented in the longitudinal direction and provided with holes 17c for fixing the adjusting device to the uprights 4 and cross-pieces 5.
[0025] As illustrated in Figures 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, the wall according to the invention may be composed of opaque sections, glass sections and container-type sections joined together in varying ways; whatever the case, the device for adjusting alignment of the panels can be mounted on each upright.
[0026] Once the uprights and the cross-pieces have been installed in the desired configuration, the panels are mounted on both sides by means of simple hooking thereof onto the teeth 10f of the support element 10 so that the slits between two adjacent panels are located opposite the uprights 4 and it is therefore easy to insert the screwdriver 20 through the holes 19 and 18 so as to engage the tip 20a with the toothing 15a on the head-piece of the sleeve 14; rotation of the screwdriver in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction then causes rotation of the female thread 14a on the threaded rod 12 kept fixed by the coupling arrangement between the head 12a and seat 13a of the first bracket 13, said rotation of the sleeve causing raising and/or lowering thereof in the longitudinal direction and hence of the associated upright fixed to it by means of the fork-pieces 17b of the plate 17.
[0027] Figure 11 also illustrates an alternative example of embodiment of the element supporting the panels; according to this embodiment, the support element 110 has two tongues 110b emerging vertically from the support surface 10a and designed to fit into associated openings 104a in the upright 4.
[0028] It is therefore obvious how the above greatly facilitates the installation operations and subsequent adjustment of the alignment of the panels, an adjustment which can also be performed by the end user without the need for specialized personnel should the wall be subject to sudden settling movements over time.
1. Internal dividing wall for rooms and the like, comprising uprights (4) and cross-pieces
(5) defining frames on which panels (6, 7, 8, 9) are hung, characterized in that it
comprises means (10, 110) for fastening and supporting said panels on said uprights
and means (11) which can be coupled to said uprights (4), for adjusting the alignment
of said panels (6, 7, 8, 9), consisting of a fixed threaded rod (12) which has engaged
on it the female thread (14a) of a sleeve (14) which can be rotated about its axis,
but blocked in the axial direction in an associated seat of a bracket (16) via retaining
means (17, 17a) which can be coupled to the bottom (16b) of said bracket and are provided
with additional means (17b) for coupling to the uprights (4).
2. Dividing wall according to Claim 1, characterized in that said fastening means (10)
consist of a surface (10a) for abutment against the upright (4), the rear face of
said surface (10a) having emerging from it two vertical fastening lugs (10b) and a
horizontal centring pin (10c) for coupling with corresponding seats (4a, 4c) of the
upright (4) as well as additional vertical lugs (10d) provided with teeth (10f) for
engagement with associated seats (6a, 7a) of the panels (6, 7).
3. Dividing wall according to Claim 1, characterized in that said threaded rod (12) has
a free end shaped in the manner of a hexagonal piece (12a) for coupling with associated
seats (13a) of an element (13) bearing against the wall (1, 2, 3) so as to obtain
rotational blocking of said rod (12).
4. Dividing wall according to Claim 1, characterized in that said sleeve (14) has an
external surface in the form of sections (14b, 14c) of different diameter for seating
and abutment in the said seat of the bracket (16) and a substantially frusto-conical
head-piece (15) for rotational operation.
5. Dividing wall according to Claim 1, characterized in that said seat of the adjusting
means consists of a U-shaped raised portion of the bottom (16b) of the bracket (16),
the horizontal section of said U-piece having formed in it a hole (16a) for insertion
of one of said longitudinal sections of the sleeve (14).
6. Dividing wall according to Claim 1, characterized in that said frusto-conical head
(15) of the sleeve (14) has a lower edge provided with toothing (15a) and an upper
surface provided with a circular relief (15b).
7. Dividing wall according to Claim 1, characterized in that said toothing (15a) can
be engaged with the cross-shaped tip of a screwdriver (20) or similar tool.
8. Dividing wall according to Claim 1, characterized in that the vertical walls of said
bracket (16) and of said U-shaped seat on the bottom thereof have holes (18, 19) which
are aligned with one another and with the toothing (15a) of the head-piece (15) of
the sleeve (14) for insertion of the said tip of the screwdriver (20).
9. Dividing wall according to Claim 1, characterized in that said fastening element (110)
has lugs (ll0b) projecting vertically from the bearing surface (10a) and designed
to be coupled with associated seats (104b) of the upright (4).