The present invention relates to a plasterboard panel for access to a compartment.

In particular, the present invention is intended for a plasterboard panel for access to a compartment of the type comprising a first plasterboard sheet having a first flat surface and a second flat surface opposite the first. This first plasterboard sheet, having an opening extending between the first and the second flat surfaces, comprises a first outer zone, delimiting the opening, which extends at least partly in the same plane as the first flat surface. The plasterboard panel also comprises a second plasterboard sheet having a first flat surface and a second flat surface opposite the first, forming a door which can be connected to the opening in the first sheet. The second plasterboard sheet comprises a second outer zone delimiting the door. Moreover, the plasterboard panel is equipped with holding means for stably connecting the door to the opening, for a door closed configuration, and for at least partly removing the door from the opening, for a door open configuration.

These types of plasterboard panels are normally used to allow access to a compartment by removing or moving the door formed by the second sheet.

From EP 1 279 779 A, US 2 791 345 A, DE 94 10 742 U1 and EP 0 668 415 A various types of plasterboard panels are known.

In this way, inside the compartment, which may for example be a cavity between two walls, there may be any device, such as an electrical panel, a local vent, and other devices, which requires periodic or impromptu adjustments, repairs or other operations.

Moreover, the access panels in the prior art briefly described open outwards, that is to say, on the side opposite the compartment, making use of the above-mentioned holding means.

If the door in the access panels were to open into the compartment, the space needed for door movement could not be used by the device contained in the compartment.

The prior art includes a plurality of different holding means, to allow door outward opening.

In particular, access panels are known in which the door and the first sheet are joined together by hinges located on external portions of the panel, that is to say, on portions of the panel which, when panel installation is complete, are not facing the compartment.

Because they are made of plasterboard, the prior art panels for access to a' compartment allow surface finishing machining which integrates very well with the walls forming the compartment and on which the access panel is installed.

It is quite desirable that, when the door is in the closed position, the door lies in the same plane as the sheet having the access opening, without unevenness in the plane formed by the wall on which the access panel is installed.

For this purpose, access panels are known which have stop elements for the door. The stop elements are located on an internal portion of the first sheet, that is to say on the surface of the first sheet directly facing the compartment, so that, when it is in the closed position, the door rests against the stop elements, remaining in a predetermined position.

The prior art includes a plurality of solutions for joining the edges of the door and the edges of the opening in the first sheet.

From a structural viewpoint, said plurality of solutions may be traced back to a single general solution.

In particular, said general solution involves the closing doors having edges perpendicular to the plane formed by the sheet which forms the door itself. These edges correspond to opening edges perpendicular to the first sheet, that is to say, to the sheet in which the opening is made.

Also known is the use of profiles and counter-profiles, both internal or external, applied to the edges of the opening and/or to the edges of the panel to avoid creating gaps between the door and the opening edge. The shape and position of such profiles and counter-profiles forms the above-mentioned plurality of solutions.

The Applicant has found that several aspects of prior art plasterboard panels for access to a compartment can be improved on. The prior art plasterboard panels for access to a compartment are subject to damage in the portion with the edges of the door and the edges of the sheet on which the access opening is made, compromising panel functionality.

This disadvantage is due to the fact that the right angle edges of the door and of the opening tend to collide every time the door is closed, particularly after prolonged use of the access panel.

Due to the low tolerances between the door and the opening, needed to prevent the formation of gaps, a small error in the movement for reinserting the door in the opening is enough to cause interference between the edges of the door and of the opening as the door is closed. This movement error becomes inevitable after prolonged use of the door. For example, when the door is hinged to the edges of the opening, since the door is made of plasterboard subjected to a high weight force resting on the hinges forming the axis of rotation, over time a slight misalignment of the axis of rotation between the door and the opening becomes inevitable.

Moreover, in the prior art access panels it is practically impossible to reduce the presence of gaps between the door and the opening to zero without using stop profiles and counter-profiles, since, given the finished thickness of the door and of the sheet on which the opening is made, any relative movement of the door and the opening requires a tolerance between the door dimensions and the opening dimensions in order to operate, for example to be able to guarantee door rotation relative to the opening.

This requirement means that the prior art plasterboard panels for access to a compartment are very complex to make.

In this context, the main technical need of the present invention is to propose a plasterboard panel for access to a compartment which is free of the above-mentioned disadvantages.

In particular, the aim of the present invention is to provide a plasterboard panel for access to a compartment without gaps between the door and the opening.

Another aim of the present invention is to propose a plasterboard panel for access to a compartment which, even after prolonged used, maintains its functionality unchanged.

The technical need indicated and the aims specified are substantially achieved by a plasterboard panel for access to a compartment comprising the technical features described in one or more of the claims herein.

Further features and advantages of the present invention are more apparent in the detailed description below, with reference to a preferred, non-restricting, embodiment of a plasterboard panel for access to a compartment and, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

• Figure 1 is a perspective view of a plasterboard panel for access to a compartment according to the present invention in a first operating configuration;
• Figure 2 is a perspective view of the panel illustrated in Figure 1 in a second operating configuration;
• Figure 3 is a cross-section according to the plane III - III of the panel illustrated Figure 1;
• Figure 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of the panel illustrated in Figure 1;
• Figure 5 is a schematic perspective view of a plasterboard panel for access to a compartment, seen from the inside of the compartment and illustrating an alternative embodiment of the means for holding a door in the closed configuration;
• Figure 6 is a cross-section of the plasterboard panel illustrated in Figure 5 according to the plane IV - IV in Figure 5, but in which the door is shown in the open configuration.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2, the numeral 1 denotes a plasterboard panel for access to a compartment.

With reference also to Figure 3, the plasterboard panel 1 comprises a first plasterboard, sheet 2 having a first flat surface 3 and a second flat surface 4 opposite the first 3. The first plasterboard sheet 2, having an opening 5 extending between the first and the second flat surfaces 3, 4, comprises an outer zone 6 which delimits the opening 5 and which extends at least partly in the same plane as the first flat surface 3. The panel 1 also comprises a second plasterboard sheet 7 having a first flat surface 8 and a second flat surface 9 opposite the first 8, forming a door 10 which can be connected to the opening 5 in the first sheet 2. The second plasterboard sheet 7 comprises a second outer zone 11 delimiting the door 10.

The panel 1 comprises holding means 12 for stably connecting the door 10 to the opening 5, for a door 10 closed configuration (for example, illustrated in Figure 1). The holding means 12 also have the function of allowing the door 10 to be at least partly removed from the opening 5, for a door 10 open configuration (for example, illustrated in Figure 2).

When the door 10 is in the closed configuration, as illustrated in Figure 1, the first flat surface 3 of the first sheet 2 and the first flat surface 8 of the second plasterboard sheet 7 lie in the same plane.

To pass from the door closed configuration to the door 10 open configuration, the door 10 must be turned or removed relative to the opening 5 from the opposite side to the compartment, that is to say, towards the outside of the compartment.

As illustrated in Figure 3, the outer zone 6 is flared transversally to the plane in which the panel 1 lies and narrows from the first flat surface 3 of the first sheet 2 to the second flat surface 4 of the first sheet 2. At the same time, the second outer zone 11 is flared transversally to the plane in which the panel 1 lies and narrows from the first flat surface 8 to the second flat surface 9 of the second sheet 7.

In particular, the first outer zone 6 comprises first outer edges 13 facing the opening 5, whose inclination relative to the plane in which the panel 1 lies forms the flaring of the first outer zone 6. Similarly, the second outer zone 11 comprises second outer edges 14 extending around the outside of the door 10 and whose inclination relative to the plane in which the panel 1 lies forms the flaring of the second outer zone 11.

Advantageously, a portion of the first flat surface 3 of the first sheet 2 extends without interruption forming at least the first outer edges 13. Similarly, a portion of the first flat surface 8 of the second sheet 7 extends without interruption forming at least the second outer edges 14.

In more detail, the first and second flat surfaces 3, 4 of the first sheet 2, like the first and second flat surfaces 8, 9 of the second sheet 7, are made of board layers 30, 80. Between two respective board layers there is a sheet of gypsum plaster, so that the assembly of board layers and gypsum plaster sheet forms the typical plasterboard structure.

Advantageously, the first outer edges 13 of the opening 5 and the second outer edges 14 of the door 10 are covered with board layers 30, 80, preventing the opening 5 or the door 10 from having gypsum plaster parts in direct contact. Moreover, advantageously, if the board layers 30, 80 extend without interruption respectively from the first flat surface 3 of the first sheet 2 to the first outer edges 13 and from the first flat surface 8 of the second sheet 7 to the second outer edges 14, this provides simply an extension without interruption of the first surface 3 of the first sheet 2 and of the first surface 8 of the second sheet 7 respectively to the first and second outer edges 13, 14.

As illustrated in Figure 3, the first outer zone 6 comprises an extension of the first plasterboard sheet 2 projecting into the opening 5, which can be suitably folded on the second flat surface 4 of the first sheet 2, in particular in contact with the later, as illustrated in Figure 3. The presence of the extension of the first sheet 2 forms a first frame in the first outer zone 6 (especially if the extension is folded in contact on the second flat surface 4 of the first sheet 2).

Similarly, the second outer zone 11 comprises an extension of the second plasterboard sheet 7 located on the opposite side to the first flat surface 8 of the second sheet 7. Said extension can be suitably folded on the second flat surface 9 of the second sheet 7, in particular in contact with the latter, as illustrated in Figure 3. The presence of the extension of the second sheet 7 forms a second frame in the second outer zone 11 (particularly if the extension is folded in contact on the second flat surface 9 of the second sheet 7).

The flaring of the first outer zone 6 is formed by a first portion inclined at a constant angle A between the first flat surface 3 of the first sheet 2 and the first outer edge 13.

The flaring of the second outer zone 11 is formed by a second portion inclined at a constant angle B between the first flat surface 8 of the second sheet 7 (and, therefore, of the door 10) and the second outer edge 14.

The flaring of the first and second outer zones 6, 11 is such that they are shaped to match one another, allowing perfect door 10 closing on the opening 5. In particular, the first and second angles A, B are supplementary to one another, that is to say, the sum of the absolute value of the first angle A and the absolute value of the second angle B is 180°.

In the preferred embodiment, the first angle A has an amplitude of between 30[deg.] and 80[deg.], preferably 60°.

Obviously, the dimensions of the door 10 are such that they allow perfect insertion and perfect closing of the opening 5.

To guarantee stable operating connection of the door 10 to the opening 5 and, at the same time, the possibility of the door 10 passing between the open configuration and the closed configuration, as indicated, the panel 1 comprises holding means 12.

In detail, the holding means 12 comprise anchoring means 15 active between the door 10 and the first outer zone 6. Said anchoring means 15, which in the preferred embodiment are magnetic, are designed to anchor the door 10 to the first sheet 2 when the door 10 is in the closed configuration. In the preferred embodiment, the anchoring means 15 comprise at least one magnet 16, preferably two, stably housed in the second outer zone 11 and facing the opening 5. With the door 10 closed, the magnet 16 acts on ferromagnetic strikers 17 fixed to the first outer zone 6 and at least partly projecting into the opening 5.

As is schematically illustrated in Figure 2, the holding means 12 also comprise at least one hinge 18, preferably of the recessed type, acting between the first edges 13 of the opening 5 and the second edges 14 of the door 10. The hinge 18 is designed to guide the door 10 between the open and closed configurations.

The panel 1 also comprises at least one lock 20, acting between the door 10 and the first sheet 2 when the door 10 is in the closed configuration. Advantageously, the lock 20 may be a button lock or a key lock. Advantageously, a key lock prevents unauthorised users from accessing the compartment.

It should be noticed that, depending on requirements, the holding means 12 may comprise both the hinge 18 and the anchoring means 15, or just the anchoring means 15, or just the hinge 18.

In one embodiment of the invention, in particular illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, one or more hinges 18 are fixed to the first sheet 2 (preferably on an upper side of the opening 5, as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6) and are connected to the door 10 using shaped brackets 180 which allow the door 10 to open without the door interfering with the first outer edge 13 of the first sheet 2. Telescopic cylinders 181 (for example, containing fluid, in particular gas) have a first end 182 hinged to the door 10 (advantageously on the extension of the second outer zone 11 if present, when the latter is folded on and makes contact with the second flat surface 9 of the second sheet 7) and a second end 183 hinged to the first sheet 2 (at the first outer edge 13 and advantageously on the extension of the first outer edge 6 if present, when the latter is folded on and makes contact with the second flat surface 4 of the first sheet 2) . The axes of rotation of the first and second ends 182, 183 of the telescopic cylinders 181 are parallel with the axis of rotation formed by the hinges 18. This structure can also allow the door 10 to open by tilting upwards and this open configuration to be stably maintained without effort by the user thanks to the resistance offered by the telescopic cylinders 181 when they are of the fluid type (in particular, containing gas) . The arrows in Figure 6 illustrate the movements of the various parts in the door 10 as it passes between the closed and the open configurations.

In an embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, the panel 1 has the form of a ventilation grille.

In particular, in this embodiment, the door 10 comprises a plurality of slits 19 extending between the board layers covering the door 10, that is to say between the first and the second flat surfaces 8, 9 of the second sheet 7.

The slits 19, preferably equidistant, allow the passage of an air flow between the compartment closed by the door 10 and the environment outside the compartment. The slits may be closed by a light layer of material permeable to air or by a dust filter.

The present invention achieves the preset aims.

The first and second tapered frames create a connection between the door and the opening in the first plasterboard sheet which is free of gaps.

Moreover, operation of the door remains unchanged even after prolonged use, since, even after a minimum movement of the hinge axis of rotation, the connection between the door and the opening is accomplished without interference between the two parts.

The tapering of the frames allows progressive engagement between the door and the opening.