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(11) | EP 2 309 073 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Wall cladding assembly and wall cladding element |
| (57) The present invention relates to a wall cladding assembly comprising a plurality
of cladding elements (12) and anchor means for retaining the cladding elements in
a wall (14) cladding position, said anchor means comprising a plurality of anchor
elements (17), characterized in that at least some of said cladding elements (12) comprise at least one housing (21) for
a corresponding anchor element (17), said anchor elements (17) being movable between - a first mounting position in which they may fit into said housing (21) during movement of the cladding element (12) in a mounting direction (26) towards the wall (14) to be clad and - a second holding position in which, when the anchor element (17) is within said housing (21), the cladding element (12) cannot be removed from the anchor element (17) along a removal direction opposite to said mounting direction (26). |
[0001] The present invention addresses a novel wall cladding assembly and a cladding element for use in such assembly.
[0002] It is known to cover building façades with cladding elements, such as panels, that can be mounted to the wall in various manners.
[0003] According to a particular prior art technique, the cladding comprises a support frame mounted to the wall, which has brackets, beams and/or hooks for supporting the cladding panels. For proper use with the support frame, the panels may have hooks or other means for attachment of the back, unexposed side of the piece.
[0004] This prior art arrangement does not allow quick and easy mounting of cladding elements, both due to the configuration of the panel and for the type of its engagement with the support frame. For partial or total replacement of the cladding, difficult and laborious steps are required for removal and re-mounting of panels.
[0005] Furthermore, the cladding panels have a relatively high manufacturing cost, also because they have to be equipped with special back fastening means.
[0006] In view of the prior art as described above, the object of the present invention is to provide a cladding assembly having cladding elements that can be quickly and easily mounted to a wall.
[0007] A further object of the invention is to provide a cladding assembly that allows quick customization and/or change of the exterior of a building façade, by replacing one or more of cladding elements as desired.
[0008] Another object is to provide wall cladding elements having a simple and inexpensive structure.
[0009] According to the present invention, this object is fulfilled by a wall cladding assembly comprising a plurality of cladding elements and anchor means for retaining the cladding elements in a wall cladding position, said anchor means comprising a plurality of anchor elements, characterized in that at least some of said cladding elements comprise at least one housing for a corresponding anchor element, said anchor elements being movable between
- a first mounting position in which they may fit into said housing during movement of the cladding element in a mounting direction to the cladding position and
- a second holding position in which, when the anchor element is within said housing, the cladding element cannot be removed from the anchor element along a removal direction opposite to said mounting direction.
[0010] The characteristics and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following detailed description of one practical embodiment, which is illustrated without limitation in the annexed drawings, in which:
- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wall cladding assembly of the invention, partially mounted to two walls to be clad,
- Figure 2 is a top view of a cladding element before mounting thereof to its respective anchor elements,
- Figure 3 is a view like the previous one, where the cladding element is fitted on the anchor elements,
- Figure 4 is a view like the previous one, in which the anchor elements are moved into the anchored position to hold the cladding element,
- Figure 5 is a cross sectional view as taken along the plane A-A of Figure 4.
[0011] Figure 1 shows a cladding assembly 11 partially mounted to two orthogonal walls 14, 15. The assembly 11 may be mounted, for instance, to the exterior façades of a building.
[0012] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the assembly 11 is mounted to a wall of a building to form a ventilated wall, with a gap between the wall to be clad and the cladding.
[0013] The assembly 11 comprises a plurality of cladding elements 12, 13 and anchor means 17, 18 for holding the cladding elements in a cladding position.
[0014] Preferably, in such cladding position, the elements 12, 13 are disposed in a plane substantially parallel to the walls to be clad 14, 15. Advantageously, the distance of the cladding elements 12, 13 from the wall 14, 15 is about equal to the depth of the cladding elements, when measured in a direction orthogonal to the wall to be clad.
[0015] Preferably, the cladding elements 12, 13 are prefabricated elements. Advantageously, the cladding elements 12, 13 are in the form of terracotta bricks.
[0016] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the cladding elements 12 have equal shapes, and so do the cladding elements 13.
[0017] When mounting is completed, the cladding elements 12 are preferably arranged in horizontally staggered rows with an offset of half the width of one brick 12. The cladding elements 13 have half the width of the bricks 12 and are placed on the side of the cladding of a wall 14, 15 to form a substantially vertical rectilinear lateral edge.
[0018] Preferably, the cladding elements 12, 13 are formed of one piece, forming both the exposed front face 24 and the housing/s 21 for the anchor elements 17.
[0019] Preferably, the cladding elements substantially have the shape of a parallelepiped. Preferably, the depth of the cladding element, as viewed in a direction orthogonal to the front face 24 is larger than the height of the front face 24. When mounting is completed, the front face 24 is substantially parallel to the wall 14 to be clad.
[0020] The cladding element 12, 13 may have discharge openings between the housings 21 and the lateral surfaces of the piece.
[0021] The anchor means comprise a plurality of anchor elements 17, which are designed, in operation, to be fitted into the housings formed in the cladding elements 12, 13.
[0022] The anchor elements 17 are movable between:
- a first mounting position (Fig. 2) in which they can be inserted into the housings 21 during movement of the cladding elements 12 in a mounting direction, and
- a second holding position (Fig. 4), in which they retain the cladding element 12 in a cladding position on a wall 14, thereby particularly preventing removal thereof in a removal direction opposite to the mounting direction.
[0023] Preferably, the anchor elements 17 are designed to be rotated between said first mounting position and the second holding position.
[0024] Advantageously, the anchor elements 17 may fit into the housing 21 when the cladding element 12 is moved in a mounting direction 26 (Fig. 3) towards the wall. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the mounting direction 26 is orthogonal to the wall 14 to be clad.
[0025] The housings 21 have an opening 22 on the back face 23 of the cladding element 12 opposite to the front face 24. The opening 22 is used to allow the anchor element 17 to fit into the housing 21.
[0026] Preferably, the housings 21 have a substantially cylindrical surface 40, which is interrupted at the opening 22.
[0027] The housings 21 have a maximum size (or width), as viewed in a plane transverse to the axis of the housing, which is larger than the width of the opening 22. Particularly, the maximum widths of the housing 21 and the opening 22 have to be considered in a horizontal plane, when the cladding element is in the cladding position.
[0028] Preferably, the maximum size of the housing 21 is equal to the diameter of the interrupted inner cylindrical surface 40. Preferably, the width of the opening 22 is from 40% to 70% of the maximum width of the housing 21.
[0029] Advantageously, the housing 21 is also open on a top face 25 and a bottom face 27 (designated in Figure 5) of the cladding element 12. Therefore, the housing 21 forms a through hole in the cladding element 12. The axis of the housing 21 is substantially vertical when the brick 12 is in the wall cladding position.
[0030] Preferably, the cladding elements 12 that cover most of the façade, have two housings 21. This provides firm attachment of the brick 12, and prevents any rotation or translation thereof. The brick 13 advantageously has one housing 21 only. To prevent any rotation about the rod 19, the brick 13 may have a lateral projection that abuts against the adjacent brick 12 when mounting is completed.
[0031] The anchor elements 17 have, in a plan view, a short side 17b and a long side 17a (so designated in Figure 3). The short side 17b has a length slightly smaller than the width of the opening 22, to allow the anchor element 17 to fit into the housing 21. The long side 17a has a length larger than the width of the opening 22, to prevent the two elements from being pulled away from each other when the anchor element is in the holding position.
[0032] The ratio of the length of the side 17b to that of the side 17a is preferably of 0.45 to 0.7.
[0033] In the holding position, the anchor elements 17 are oriented substantially parallel to their respective wall 14, 15 to be clad, whereas in the mounting position they are substantially orthogonal to said wall 14, 15.
[0034] As the anchor element 17 is rotated into the second holding position (Fig. 4), it is received in the housing 21 with some minor play with respect to the interrupted cylindrical wall 40 of the housing 21. This provides optimal firm placement of the cladding element with respect to any horizontal direction.
[0035] Preferably, the anchor elements 17 are formed substantially with the shape of a parallelepiped. Advantageously, the anchor elements are in the form of terracotta blocks. The elements 17 are advantageously identical.
[0036] Preferably, the cladding assembly 11 comprises a plurality of rods 19, with a plurality of anchor elements 17 rotatably fitted on each of them. For this purpose, the anchor elements 17 have a hole adapted to receive a rod 19, advantageously at their center of gravity.
[0037] The rods 19 advantageously have a vertical orientation. Preferably, the rods 19 are regularly spaced. The rods 19 advantageously have a circular section. Advantageously, the rods 19 are disposed in a plane parallel to the wall to be clad, proximate thereto. Preferably, the rods 19 are made of galvanized steel.
[0038] The rods 19 are stationary with respect to the wall 14, 15 to be clad. Advantageously, the rods 19 are anchored to the wall by brackets 16, 31.
[0039] Preferably, the anchor elements 17 are capable of rotating about a vertical axis. The axis of rotation of the anchor elements 17 corresponds to the axis of the rods 19.
[0040] The anchor means of the cladding elements 12, 13 also include support elements 18, which are designed to support the elements 12, 13.
[0041] Preferably, the support elements 18 have a dish shape. The support elements 18 have a hole with a rod 19 extending therethrough, for attachment to the wall. The rod 19 is received in the whole of the support element 18 with a minor lateral play.
[0042] Preferably, the support elements 18 have a width that is larger than the maximum dimension of the housing 21. Preferably, the support elements 18 have a circular shape. Advantageously, the support elements 18 are formed of galvanized steel.
[0043] The support elements 18 rest on an anchor element 17 fitted either on a corresponding rod (see Figure 5), or on a bracket 16 (if a bracket is present in the corresponding row of bricks).
[0044] Preferably, a support element 18 is placed between each pair of anchor elements 17 adjacently fitted on a rod 19.
[0045] Advantageously, the anchor element 17 has a vertical extension (i.e. in the direction of the hole that receives the rod 19) larger than the vertical extension of the cladding element 12 (i.e. in the direction of extension of the housing 21).
[0046] This allows the anchor element 17 to be rotated even when the cladding element 12 has already been mounted, because the anchor element 17 projects upwards from the cladding element and may be accessed from outside.
[0047] The anchor elements 17 may be rotated manually, or using a tool when the cladding is mounted to the wall. In one embodiment of the invention, the gap between two cladding elements 12 one above the other may be reduced to allow the anchor element to be rotated by means of a tool only, and not manually. This affords resistance against vandal attacks or theft of cladding elements.
[0048] The brackets 16, 31 project in a substantially horizontal direction relative to the wall to be clad. The brackets 16, 31 have a hole with a rod 19 extending therethrough with a minor play. When mounting is completed the brackets 16, 31 support both the anchor elements 17 and the support elements 18.
[0049] The brackets 16, 31 may be fixed to the wall to be clad 14, 15 by any known fastening means, such as four screws 20 (two of them being only showed).
[0050] The bracket 31 is of angular type and forms two brackets that are used for cladding of the wall 14 and the wall 15 respectively.
[0051] Advantageously, the brackets are not provided in each row of cladding elements. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the brackets 16, 31 might be present each 3-7 rows of cladding elements 12, 13, preferably each five rows of bricks. The brackets may be present either on all the rods 19 for a horizontal row of bricks 12 or on half of the rods 19 only. In the latter case, a bracket 16 is preferably provided for each brick of the horizontal row.
[0052] The presence of brackets at multiple levels of the cladding assembly relieves the weight of the overlying bricks from the lowest anchor elements 17, thereby facilitating replacement of cladding elements. Bricks immediately below the brackets may be easily removed by easy rotation of the anchor element 17 into a position orthogonal to the wall to be clad.
[0053] During the mounting (or removal) movement, the cladding elements move along a path that does not interfere with the adjacent, underlying and even overlying cladding elements. This allows quick and easy replacement of the elements in any position, both for maintenance of the façade and for customization of the cladding.
[0054] We will now briefly describe how a cladding element 12 is mounted, with reference to Figures 2-4.
Fig. 2 shows the anchor elements 17 in the mounted position, i.e. oriented orthogonal to the wall to be clad, i.e. in the mounting direction 26.
Figure 3 shows how the cladding element 12 is mounted to the anchor elements 17, by moving it in a direction 26. The anchor elements 17 fit into the openings 22 to abutment against the inner surface 40 of the housing 21. In this position, the rod 19 is coaxial with the housing 21.
[0055] Then, a 90° rotation of the anchor elements provides the configuration of Figure 4. The elements 17 are received in the housing 21 with a minor play with respect to the inner wall 40 of the housing.
[0056] Therefore, the brick 12 is firmly anchored in the wall cladding position, by being prevented from moving in the horizontal plane, for engagement with the anchor elements 17 and by resting at its bottom on the support disks 18.
[0057] Removal of the element 12 simply requires the above procedure to be carried out in reverse order.
[0059] Particularly, a cladding assembly has been provided, which allows quick and easy mounting and removal of the cladding elements. This result is achieved because the cladding elements can be mounted in a direction substantially orthogonal to the wall to be clad, without interfering with the adjacent cladding elements.
[0060] The cladding assembly further has a very simple construction and uses inexpensive and easy-to-install parts. Particularly, bricks may be formed of one piece, and do not require hooks or other fastening means to be attached to their back surface.
[0061] Furthermore, easy removal of cladding elements allows quick and easy access to the gap between the cladding and the wall to be clad. This allows installation or servicing of systems (such as wiring or else), that may be typically provided in the gap of a ventilated wall.
[0062] Those skilled in the art will obviously appreciate that a number of changes and variants may be made to the arrangements as described hereinbefore to meet incidental and specific needs, without departure from the scope of the invention, as defined in the following claims.
[0063] It shall be understood that the cladding assembly of the invention may be also mounted to a single flat wall of a building and not to two orthogonal walls as described in the above disclosure.
[0064] The cladding elements also might have different shapes. For example, the lower cladding elements might be of a considerably greater height than the other bricks, for more difficult removal thereof, which might prevent the risk of theft or vandal attacks.
[0065] The exposed front face of the cladding elements might have a different shape, e.g. a curved, arched shape or a knurled or corrugated profile. The front face might also have one or more surfaces having various inclinations to the wall to be clad.
1. A wall cladding assembly comprising a plurality of cladding elements (12) and anchor
means for retaining the cladding elements in a wall (14) cladding position, said anchor
means comprising a plurality of anchor elements (17), characterized in that at least some of said cladding elements (12) comprise at least one housing (21) for
a corresponding anchor element (17), said anchor elements (17) being movable between
- a first mounting position in which they can be inserted into said housing (21) during a movement of the cladding element (12) in a mounting direction (26) to the cladding position and
- a second holding position in which, when the anchor element (17) is within said housing (21), the cladding element (12) cannot be removed from the anchor element (17) along a removal direction opposite to said mounting direction (26).
2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that said mounting direction (26) is towards the wall (14) to be clad, preferably substantially
orthogonal to the wall (14) to be clad.
3. An assembly as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that the movement of a cladding element (21) towards said cladding position in said mounting
direction (26) does not interfere with the other cladding elements (12) of the assembly
in the cladding position.
4. An assembly as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that, when the cladding element (12) is in the cladding position, said housing (21) has
a substantially vertical axis and extends from a bottom face (27) to a top face (25)
of the cladding element (12).
5. An assembly as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said housing (21) has an opening (22) on one side (23) of the cladding element (12)
opposite to the exposed side (24) for the anchor element (17) to be inserted therein.
6. An assembly as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one cladding element (12) comprises two of said housings (21), two anchor
elements (17) being provided for said cladding element (12).
7. An assembly as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said anchor elements (17) are capable of rotating relative to the wall to be clad
(14) between the holding position and the mounting position.
8. An assembly as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said anchor elements (17) have, in a plan view, a short side (17b) whose width is
smaller than the width of the opening (22) for access to the housing (21) in the cladding
element (12), and a long side (17a) which is larger than the width of the opening
(22).
9. An assembly as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of rods (19) that are fixed with respect to the wall (14)
to be clad, a plurality of anchor elements (17) being rotatably mounted to each of
said rods (19).
10. An assembly as claimed on one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said rods (19) are fixed to the wall by brackets (16) that horizontally project from
the wall to be clad (14).
11. An assembly as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said anchor elements also comprise support elements (18) for the cladding elements
(12) to rest thereon in the cladding position.
12. An assembly as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that said support elements (18) in turn rest on the underlying anchor elements (17) and/or
on the brackets (16) of the assembly.
13. An assembly as claimed in one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that, when mounting is completed, said anchor elements (21) project out of the housing
(21) of the cladding elements (12) to be accessed for operation.
14. A cladding element (12) for use in an assembly as claimed in one or more of claims
1 to 13, comprising a front face (24) designed to be exposed and a back face (23)
designed to face towards the wall to be clad (14), said cladding element (12) comprising
at least one housing (21) for receiving an anchor element (17) of the assembly, said
housing (21) having an opening (22) on the back face (23) of the cladding element
(12) for insertion and removal of the anchor element (17), said housing (21) having
a maximum width that is larger than the width of said opening (22) to prevent the
anchor element (17) from being pulled out through said opening (22) when the anchor
element (17) is in a holding position.
15. A cladding element as claimed in claim 14, characterized in that said housing (21) is open on a top face (25) and a bottom face (27) of the element
(12) that are adjacent to its back (23) and front (24) faces.