Prefabricated enclosing element

Abstract

 A prefabricated enclosing element (10, 110) comprises a foot (11, 111) for steady support on the ground and designed to be laid underground; standing up in one piece from the support foot is a vertical structure (12, 112) defining the enclosure wall.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a prefabricated enclosing element.

[0002] Known in the building field is use of prefabricated enclosing elements, typically made of reinforced concrete. These enclosing elements are in the form of mere modular panels to be mounted on a suitable load bearing structure previously made ready on the place where erection of the enclosure is wished. Typically the load bearing structure comprises a base made of concrete and a series of vertical uprights. The concrete base must be poured each time into a form suitably disposed so as to define the enclosure position. After setting of the concrete the uprights are inserted into appropriate holes formed in the base and spaced from each other the same distance. The uprights are such shaped as to offer steady fitting points to the prefabricated panels in the load bearing structure.

[0003] However, this solution of the known art has some important drawbacks.

[0004] First of all, the time required for installation of a prefabricated enclosing element is very long. In fact, it is first necessary to pour the concrete forming the base, then wait for setting of same, subsequently insert the vertical uprights and eventually mount the prefabricated panels on the load bearing structure. In particular, the waiting time for setting of the concrete forming the base greatly slows down the building work.

[0005] Then if erection of an enclosure of some length is wished, the operations to be carried out in the building yard become rather complicated. In fact, it is first necessary to pour several different stretches of the concrete base and then come back and mount panels and uprights on the base stretches where setting has already occurred. Thus workers must come back and work more than once on the same enclosure stretch, thus involving repeated displacements of building equipment which is time-consuming.

[0006] In addition, the prefabricated panels of the known art are typically obtained by pouring concrete into a horizontal form, with one of the panel faces exposed to the air and the other face in contact with the form bottom. In this way a panel is made which has a face alone provided with a very smooth and even surface (the one in contact with the form), whereas the other face (the one exposed to the air) has a rough and uneven surface. Therefore the final enclosure will have one of the sides thereof with a low aesthetic quality. In the specific technical jargon it is said that the wall has only one "quarry face".

[0007] It is a general aim of the present invention to obviate the above mentioned drawbacks by providing a prefabricated enclosing element that can be laid in a short period of time on the place where the enclosure is wished to be erected. It is a further aim of the invention to obtain a prefabricated enclosing element provided with a double quarry face.

[0008] In view of the above aim, in accordance with the invention, a prefabricated enclosing element has been conceived which comprises a foot for steady support on the ground and designed to be laid underground, from which a vertical structure defining the enclosure wall stands up in one piece.

[0009] For better explaining the innovative principles of the present invention and the advantages it offers as compared with the known art, two possible embodiments applying said principles will be described hereinafter by way of example, with the aid of the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

• Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the enclosing element in accordance with the present invention;
• Fig. 2 is a top view in section of the enclosing element shown in Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 is a cross-section view of the enclosing element shown in Fig. 1 partly laid underground;
• Fig. 4 represents a front view of an alternative embodiment of the enclosing element in accordance with the present invention;
• Fig. 5 is a side view of the enclosing element shown in Fig. 4;
• Fig. 6 is a view of a detail concerning fitting of two adjacent enclosing elements in said alternative embodiment. With reference to the drawing, shown in Fig. 1 is a prefabricated enclosing element 10 comprising a support foot 11 and a vertical structure 12 formed in one piece with the foot 11. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the vertical structure 12 is in the form of a continuous wall provided with vertical ribs 15. This wall 12 vertically stands up from the support foot 11, so that the enclosing element 10 seen in section has an inverted-T shape, as represented in the side sectional view in Fig. 3. This particular T-shaped conformation of the cross section gives the enclosing element 10 a particular stability.

[0010] The enclosing element 10 is provided with a C-shaped end 13 adapted to engage the mating end 14 of an adjacent enclosing element to form a continuous enclosure, as shown in the top view in Fig. 2.

[0011] The support foot 11 is designed to lay underground, as shown in Fig. 3. Should the ground typology require it, foot 11 can possibly rest on a layer of lean concrete 22 previously poured onto the bottom of the dug-out ground 20, as is currently done in the building field. Filling of the space overlying foot 11 is carried out so as to obtain laying underground of the foot and give the final stability to the enclosure. The last-mentioned operation can be executed through use of an all-in aggregate 21, for example.

[0012] The prefabricated enclosing element 10 is typically made of reinforced concrete; due to the particular T-shaped conformation of the cross section of said element, a vertical form can be easily used for the concrete pouring operations. Through use of a form of this type, both faces of the vertical wall 12 are in contact with an inner wall of the form during manufacture of the enclosing element 10. In this manner an enclosure with a double quarry face is obtained, since both faces of wall 12 have a very smooth and even appearance.

[0013] For laying of the prefabricated enclosing element 10 it is sufficient to carry out an initial digging operation, to dispose the support foot 11 of the enclosing element into the dug-out ground and finally fill the space overlying the foot 11 to lay said foot underground. Possibly, as already mentioned, the digging operations may comprise preliminary pouring of a layer of lean concrete 22, as currently done in the building field. This expedient, as known, is made necessary if the ground features do not enable a steady laying of the enclosing element 10 directly into the dug-out ground.

[0014] It is apparent from the above description that laying of enclosing elements 10 in accordance with the invention can be carried out in much shorter periods of time than with the prefabricated panels of the known art. In fact, pouring of the enclosure base and then waiting for setting of the pour is no longer required; therefore it is no longer necessary to insert the uprights into the hardened base and at last mount the prefabricated enclosure panels. With the technical solution proposed by the present invention, the prefabricated enclosing element is formed of one piece construction and is directly laid into the dug-out ground, so that no waiting time is required any longer for setting of the base concrete and long and difficult mounting operations, which are also time-consuming, are no longer necessary.

[0015] In addition, thanks to use of the vertical form in manufacturing the enclosing elements, an enclosure with a double quarry face is obtained. In the known art, typically, a horizontal form was used, which enabled only one face of the prefabricated panel to be smooth and even.

[0016] Shown in Figs. 4 to 6 is an alternative embodiment of the present invention. An enclosing element 110 is shown in Fig. 4, which comprises a foot 111 designed to be laid underground, and a vertical structure 112 standing up out of the ground. The vertical structure comprises a solid portion 112b and a "comb-like" portion 112a. Formed at the ends of the prefabricated enclosing element 110 are two elements 113, 114 suitable for engagement with similar and complementary engagement elements 113, 114 of an adjacent enclosing element 110, as shown in Fig. 6. In addition, the vertical structure 112 and support foot 111 define a T-shaped section of the enclosing element 110. This cross-section shape gives the enclosure a particular stability. The operations for laying of the enclosing element 110 are the same as those described for the preferred embodiment previously illustrated, so that this alternative embodiment has the already mentioned advantages as compared with the known art.

[0017] Obviously, the above descriptions of the embodiments applying the innovative principles of the present invention are set out by way of example only and therefore must not be considered as a limitation of the patent rights herein claimed.

Claims

1. A prefabricated enclosing element comprising a foot (11, 111) for steady support on the ground and designed to be laid underground, from which a vertical structure (12, 112) defining the enclosure wall stands up in one piece.

2. A prefabricated enclosing element as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said vertical structure (12) is in the form of a continuous wall with vertical ribs (15).

3. A prefabricated enclosing element as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said vertical structure (112) is in the form of a comb.

4. A prefabricated enclosing element as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said foot (11, 111) and said vertical structure (12, 112) define a cross section of the enclosing element (10, 110) having the shape of an inverted T.

5. A prefabricated enclosing element as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the shape of one end (13, 113) of the enclosing element (10, 110) matches that of the other end (14, 114) so as to constitute a continuity fitting between enclosing elements (10, 110) disposed contiguous to each other.

6. A prefabricated enclosing element as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the vertical structure (12, 112) is provided with a double quarry face.

7. A prefabricated enclosing element as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that it is made of reinforced concrete.

Drawing