Kit for constructing a substructure for terrace walkways

Abstract

Kit for erecting a substructure for a terrace walkway, comprising at least substructure battens (10, 10a) and means (40, 60) for connecting two substructure battens (10, 10a), wherein the means for connecting two coaxial substructure battens (10 or 10a) of a plane are a butt connector (40) comprising a depth stop (43) for end-to-end connection and a cross connector (60) for connecting two substructure battens (10, 10a) intersecting in different planes, namely a lower and an upper plane, wherein the butt connector (40) comprises two parallel, spaced-apart bars (41, 41a; 42, 42a), the parallel spacing of which is formed by the depth stop (43) in the form of a cover, on which the bars (41, 41a; 42, 42a) project on both sides, wherein the two Rods fit precisely into the hollow chambers (18, 19) of tubes (11, 12) of the substructure strips (10,10a) are pluggable and thus form an end-face coaxial connection of two substructure rails (10, 10a), and wherein the cross connector (60), which comprises a mounting plate (61) on which raised guide stops (63) and clamps (64) for receiving and fixing a substructure rail (10, 10a) of the upper level are arranged, has means for rotationally secure fastening to a substructure rail (10, 10a) of the lower level, consisting of a through-hole (66) arranged in the plate center (65) of the mounting plate (61) for receiving a screw and further through-holes (66a-66j) distributed radially around the through-hole (66) arranged in the plate center (65), wherein at least two through-holes (66 and 66a) form a fixing pair for mounting on the substructure rail (10, 10a), wherein the cross connector (60) with its plate center (65) so above a spaced-apart tube (11,12) the channel (21) formed by the substructure strip (10) of the lower level is aligned such that the through-openings (66, 66a, 66f) lying on a line extend over the channel (21) and each opening is penetrated by one screw, wherein the cross connector (60) is screwed to the substructure strip (10) with at least two screws.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a kit for constructing a substructure for terrace walkways.

[0002] Terraces are accessible areas outside a building and are usually located at ground level or on a flat roof. The terrace surface is placed on a substructure, for example, to allow for ventilation or to compensate for unevenness in the supporting substrate.

[0003] It is known from current technology to construct a substructure using wooden or aluminum battens. Larger uneven areas can be bridged by pedestals, onto which the substructure battens are attached. Constructing the substructure is very time-consuming. Great care must be taken at the joints and intersections of the substructure battens, especially at counter battens, to ensure the final surface appearance.

[0004] EP 2 899 411 A1 describes an arrangement for connecting components, in particular two components of a substructure. Two intersecting profiles are screwed together using angle brackets without further guidance, which can lead to an inaccurate grid pattern in the substructure.

[0005] German patent DE 20 2013 010 349 U1 describes a mounting system for terrace construction. The substructure profile described therein has a longitudinal channel with molded threaded flanks. These serve to receive screws with which terrace clips are attached to fix the terrace boards to the substructure. The profile base has two outward-facing, hook-shaped arms, which are not suitable for being placed directly on a surface, as they would either damage it or sink into it.

[0006] End-face connection of pipe profiles is often achieved by using outer sleeves to grip and crimp two coaxially joined pipes, or by holding them together with screws. However, the external structure proves to be cumbersome.

[0007] Furthermore, it is known to insert a type of adapter into both pipes to extend the longitudinal axis of both profiles relative to each other. However, the butted pipes deviate from their longitudinal axis, so that their coaxiality is lost. This, in turn, negatively affects the overall quality of the substructure or increases the overall effort required to erect the substructure.

[0008] German patent DE 20 2015 105 013 U1 describes a substructure system for terrace construction using profile bars that can be cut to any desired length and angle. The profile bars are connected to each other using connectors, including coupling pieces for end-to-end connection of two profiles. However, these connectors are not suitable for achieving precise coaxial alignment of the parts to be joined, as the end faces of the profiles lack guidance. In particular, the coupling piece itself lacks guidance and is inserted with a relatively large amount of play relative to the inner wall of the profile, thus losing coaxiality itself. The technical problem of the counter battens and the resulting arrangement of the profile bars in two planes is not addressed here, as height-adjustable support feet are used to compensate for differences in level.

[0009] In WO 2011 / 089239 A1, a support system for bracing a floor relative to an underlying surface is described. The technical problem of counter battens is not addressed.

[0010] German patent DE 1 927 040 A describes connecting elements for extruded profiles that are attached to a cross-section. A direct end-to-end butt joint of coaxially oriented profiles is not possible with these connecting elements.

[0011] US 3004784 A describes individual coupling bolts for connecting pipelines or tubes, such as in pipe constructions like ladders, scaffolding, or the like.

[0012] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide means with which a high-quality substructure can be created rationally.

[0013] This problem is solved according to the invention by a kit having the features of claim 1. Further features of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

[0014] According to the invention, a kit for erecting a substructure for terrace walkways is proposed, comprising at least substructure battens and means for connecting two substructure battens, wherein the means for connecting two coaxial substructure battens of one plane are a butt connector comprising a depth stop for end-to-end connection and a cross connector for connecting two substructure battens crossing each other in different planes, namely a lower and an upper plane.

[0015] The assembly according to the invention is characterized in that the butt connector comprises two parallel, spaced-apart rods, the parallel distance between which is formed by the depth stop in the form of a plate on which the rods project on both sides, wherein the two rods can be inserted precisely into the hollow chambers of tubes of the base rails and thus form an end-face coaxial connection of two base rails. This not only determines the insertion depth of the butt connector into the tubes of the base rail, but also, by virtue of its bearing on the end faces of the base rails, prevents both the base rails themselves and the butt connector from deflecting from the longitudinal axis.

[0016] For this purpose, the profile cross-section of the depth stop is advantageously congruent with that of the baseboard. This means the depth stop also acts as a profile end cap, preventing dirt and moisture from penetrating the baseboard. The depth stop's contact with the end faces of the baseboards counteracts horizontal and vertical deflection of the baseboards, ensuring coaxial alignment of the butted baseboards.

[0017] The cross connector proposed according to the invention comprises a mounting plate on which raised guide stops and clamps for receiving and fixing a substructure rail of the upper level are arranged and is characterized in that it has means for rotationally secure fastening to a substructure rail of the lower level.

[0018] The invention advantageously provides that a through-hole is arranged in the center of the plate, which is suitable for screwing the cross connector to the underlying substructure strip. The cross connector can be secured against rotation by screwing in a further screw spaced apart from the first.

[0019] According to the invention, further through-openings are provided radially distributed around the through-opening located in the center of the plate. The central opening forms a fastening pair with at least one of these through-openings, which are aligned parallel to each other above the channel formed between the spaced-apart tubes of the lower plane, and each opening is penetrated by a screw that engages in the thread of the channel. Thus, the through-openings, which lie in a line, extend across the channel, and the cross connector is screwed to the substructure strip with at least two screws.

[0020] This ensures a consistently square, preferably orthogonal, arrangement of the intersecting baseboards without the need for an angle measuring tool. The cross connector can also be intentionally rotated to create a diagonal grid. Since all cross connectors can be mounted above the baseboard channel with the corresponding through-holes without angle measurement, efficient pre-assembly is always guaranteed.

[0021] The invention combines several advantages. Firstly, the cross connector ensures a precise angular connection between two substructure rails, and secondly, the end-to-end butt joint of two substructure rails achieves coaxiality of both profiles. Overall, complex alignment and measurements are eliminated, as the profiles are automatically oriented to the correct longitudinal position. It is important that the kit components—substructure rail, butt joint, and cross connector—are functionally compatible.

[0022] In a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the substructure is a double-chamber profile formed from two parallel tubes spaced apart by a channel. These tubes are arranged on a common base plate, and the inner walls of the channel have threaded flanks that begin directly below the profile's apex or a recess located therein. The threaded end is spaced away from the base plate or the profile's bottom. The common base plate ensures good support on the substrate. The load distribution is particularly favorable due to the flat base plate, preventing damage to the substrate, for example, when the terrace's substructure is built on the waterproofing membrane of a flat roof, and preventing sinking into the ground when the terrace is situated in a garden.The arrangement of the thread flanks in the upper section of the channel is particularly advantageous. A relatively short screw can be used here, and it quickly finds its starting point because there is no room for the screw to deflect. Furthermore, the base rail in this area has a degree of flexibility, allowing the channel walls to be gently spread apart. The screw will no longer strike the bottom of the profile, as the thread is positioned far away from it.

[0023] In addition, the thread is interrupted by a cut and divided into an upper and lower section. As the screw engages the lower thread again, the expansion that occurred in the upper section is compensated for by the entry into the lower section, as the chambers in the upper section move back towards each other, thereby firmly enclosing the screw. At the same time, this action prevents the screw from rotating backward.

[0024] The flexibility of the profile is achieved through another particularly advantageous feature of the invention. Here, each tube of the substructure strip narrows towards the base plate, so that essentially a mushroom-shaped cross-sectional profile is formed.

[0025] Further advantages and advantageous embodiments of the invention can be found in the following description, the drawing, and the claims. There are various ways to advantageously develop and further refine the teaching of the present invention. For this purpose, reference should be made, on the one hand, to the dependent claims and, on the other hand, to the following explanation of an exemplary embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawing.

[0026] This shows: Fig. 1 the inventive kit in use for two substructure strips intersecting orthogonally in two planes in a perspective view, Fig. 2. An overview of the situation after Fig. 1, Fig. 3 a side view of the situation Fig. 1, Fig. 4 a cross-section of the baseboard, Fig. 4a the in Fig. 4 details marked "A" in an enlarged view, Fig. 5 a perspective view of the butt connector, Fig. 5a an enlargement of the rod profile of the butt connector, Fig. 6 a front view of the butt connector, Fig. 7 a top view of the butt connector, Fig. 8 a side view of the butt connector, Fig. 9 a side view of the cross connector, Fig. 10 a sectional view of the cross connector, Fig. 11 a bottom view of the cross connector, Fig. 12 a top view of the cross connector and Fig. 13 another opposite the Fig. 9. Side view of the cross connector, rotated horizontally by 90°.

[0027] Before using the Fig. Sections 1 to 3 explain the function and application of the kit according to the invention, and the individual kit components are described using the Fig. 4 to 13 described.

[0028] The Fig. Figure 4 shows a cross-section of the base rail 10. This is a double-chamber profile and consists of two parallel tubes 11, 12, which are mirror images of each other in cross-section and sit on a common base plate 13. The tubes are spaced at a constant distance from each other along their entire length. Each tube narrows towards the base plate 13, resulting in an essentially mushroom-shaped cross-sectional profile. The narrowings are formed by steps 14, 15 in the side walls 16, 17 located at the base. Each tube 11, 12 thus has two interconnected hollow chambers 18, 19, with the upper hollow chamber 18 being larger than the hollow chamber 19 below it, near the base plate 13. The two adjacent side walls 17 of two tubes 11 and 12 are spaced apart from each other and form a channel 21 that extends parallel to the two tubes 11, 12 over the entire profile length.Thread flanks 22 are formed on both sides of the inner wall of the channel. The course of the thread flanks is interrupted by a notch 23, so that an upper section 22 is formed on each side. o and a lower section 22 u (see Fig. 4a) is formed. Below the groove 21 is another hollow chamber 24. The transitions and edges of the tubes are preferably formed with radii 25, wherein the adjacent edges of the profile apex 28 have a chamfer 26, so that in the paired interaction of the chamfers a recess 27 for screw heads (not shown here) is formed.

[0029] The Fig. Figures 5-8 show the butt connector 40. This connector comprises two parallel, spaced-apart bars 41, 41a, 42, 42a. The spacing is defined by a depth stop 43 in the form of a plate. There are two ways to manufacture this butt connector. One option is to provide two openings in the depth stop 43 corresponding to the cross-sectional profile of the bars and guide the bars through these openings, with the depth stop bisecting the bar length and a welded or pressed connection being made there. Another option is to use four bars 41, 41a, 42, 42a and attach them to the depth stop with their end faces, whereby the entire profile can also be produced by a forming process. Regardless of the manufacturing method chosen, the depth stop forms the closure or the central part of the end-face butt connection of two coaxially joined substructure strips.For this purpose, the depth stop 43 has a congruent outer contour to the cross-sectional profile of the base rail. To facilitate the insertion of the rods into the tubes of the base rail with a precisely fitting cross-section, the end edges of the rods are provided with a chamfer 44.

[0030] The Fig. Figures 9-13 show a cross connector 60. This connector serves to join substructure battens that intersect in two planes. Counter battens are often used to construct a substructure on difficult substrates or with significantly varying heights. This can be used for height compensation or for ventilation purposes. The counter battens are the structure closest to the substrate, while the plane that typically extends perpendicular to the counter battens is called the load-bearing battens. To properly fasten the substructure battens of the load-bearing plane to the substructure battens of the counter plane, the invention proposes a cross connector 60. This connector consists of a mounting plate 61, which has a substantially round cross-section with a corrugated edge 62. Two guide stops 63 or clamps 64 protrude from the mounting plate 61.The guide stops 63 are V-shaped eyelets, while the clamps 64 carry elastic hook arms 69 oriented towards the plate center 65. A through-opening 66 with a recess 67 is located in the plate center 65. Further through-openings 66a-66j of the same geometry are distributed radially around the central through-opening 66 near the plate edge. Two larger plate windows 68 serve to save material, thus forming the plate center 65 as a hub.

[0031] The Fig. Figures 1-3 show a section of a substructure. A grid is created from the substructure battens 10 and 10a, extending across the future terrace surface. The number of substructure battens used depends on the required spans and support points. Depending on the substrate on which the terrace is built, different surface qualities are encountered. These can range from relatively level flat roofs to uneven lawns. The substructure not only provides a supporting framework for the terrace surface but also compensates for differences in height and creates a controlled slope. As shown here, a substructure is usually fitted with counter battens. Such substructures consist of two levels.Above a level of support slats 10 close to the ground, a level of support slats 10a is arranged, which usually intersects the support slats below at right angles. The support slats 10 and 10a are made of aluminum. The length of the slats is usually limited to four meters. If the terrace area to be constructed has larger dimensions, the support slats must be butted together at their ends. Such end joints have previously been weak points in terms of stability. The present invention solves this problem with a butt connector 40, which ensures exact coaxiality between two end-jointed support slats 10. The butt connector 40, with its two rods 41 and 42 or 41a and 42a, is inserted into the hollow chambers 18 / 19 of the tubes 11 and 12 of the first support slat 10. The insertion length is limited by the depth stop 43. This closes off the tubes 11, 12 of the base rail 10.The butt-jointed base rail 10 is slid onto the freely projecting adjacent bars 41a, 42a until it also rests on the depth stop 43. Even if the butt connector and the base rails are geometrically aligned to ensure a secure plug-in connection, both profiles should be fixed in position by a screw driven laterally into the base rail wall.

[0032] The further technical challenge lies in the precise angular connection of the substructure battens from the upper level to the substructure battens of the lower level. Typically, a substructure is erected with a grid of substructure battens intersecting at right angles. The angular accuracy is determined by the cross connector 60. This is connected with its plate center 65 ( Fig.12) The cross connector is aligned over the channel 21 of the lower level's support rail 10 such that the three in-line through-openings 66, 66c, and 66h extend over the channel 21. After the cross connector is screwed to the support rail 10 with at least two screws, it can no longer be rotated. If a diagonal orientation of the terrace surface is desired for aesthetic reasons, this can be achieved with the present invention without additional aids or otherwise complex marking measures by rotating the cross connector around its center point, so that, for example, the through-openings 66, 66b, and 66g extend over the channel 21. Once the lower level's support rails 10 are pre-assembled with the cross connectors 60, the upper level's support rails 10a are clipped into the clamps 64 or screwed to the guide stops 63. REFERENCE MARK LIST 10 Baseboard 10a Baseboard 11 first tube of 10 12 second tube of 10 13 base plate of 10 Paragraph 14 of 11 / 12 Paragraph 15 of 11 / 12 16 Side wall of 11 / 12 17 Side wall of 11 / 12 18 Hollow chamber of 11 / 12 19 Hollow chamber of 11 / 12 21 gully between 11 and 12 22 thread flanks 21 22o upper section of 22 22u lower section of 22 23 Cut from 22 24 Hollow chamber under 21 25 radii 26 Bevel 27. Subsidence 28 profile vertices 40 butt connectors 41 staff out of 40 41a Staff of 40 42 bars out of 40 42a Rod of 40 43 Depth stop / Aperture 44 Bevel on 41, 41a, 42, 42a 60 cross connectors 61 Mounting plate of 60 62 wavy edge of 61 63 Lead attack on 61 64 terminals on 61 65 Plate Center 69 elastic hook arms of 64 66 centric through-hole 66a-j radial through-holes 67 Reduction of 66, 66a-j 68 panel windows

Claims

[1] Kit for erecting a substructure for a terrace walkway, comprising at least substructure battens (10, 10a) and means (40, 60) for connecting two substructure battens (10, 10a), wherein the means for connecting two coaxial substructure battens (10 or 10a) of a plane are a butt connector (40) comprising a depth stop (43) for end-to-end connection and a cross connector (60) for connecting two substructure battens (10, 10a) intersecting each other in different planes, namely a lower and an upper plane, wherein the butt connector (40) comprises two parallel bars (41, 41a; 42, 42a) spaced apart from each other, the parallel distance of which is formed by the depth stop (43) in the form of a cover, on which the bars (41, 41a; 42, 42a) project on both sides, wherein the two rods fit precisely into the hollow chambers (18, 19) of tubes (11, 12) of the substructure strips (10,10a) are pluggable and thus form an end-face coaxial connection of two substructure rails (10, 10a), and wherein the cross connector (60), which comprises a mounting plate (61) on which raised guide stops (63) and clamps (64) for receiving and fixing a substructure rail (10, 10a) of the upper level are arranged, has means for rotationally secure fastening to a substructure rail (10, 10a) of the lower level, consisting of a through-hole (66) arranged in the plate center (65) of the mounting plate (61) for receiving a screw and further through-holes (66a-66j) distributed radially around the through-hole (66) arranged in the plate center (65), wherein at least two through-holes (66 and 66a) form a fixing pair for mounting on the substructure rail (10, 10a), wherein the cross connector (60) with its plate center (65) so above a spaced-apart tube (11,12) the channel (21) formed by the substructure strip (10) of the lower level is aligned such that the through-openings (66, 66a, 66f) lying on a line extend over the channel (21) and each opening is penetrated by one screw, wherein the cross connector (60) is screwed to the substructure strip (10) with at least two screws. [2] Kit according to claim 1, characterized by , that the substructure strip (10, 10a) is a double-chamber profile formed from two parallel tubes (11, 12) spaced apart from each other including the channel (21), which are arranged on a common base plate (13) and the inner walls of the channel (21) have thread flanks (22) which begin directly below the profile apex (28) or a recess (27) located there and the thread end is spaced away from the base plate (13) or the profile base. [3] Kit according to claim 2, characterized by, that the thread (22) is interrupted by a notch (23) and divided into an upper section (22o) and a lower section (22u). [4] Kit according to claims 2-3, characterized by , that each tube (11, 12) narrows towards the base plate (13), so that essentially a mushroom-head-shaped cross-sectional profile is formed in each case. [5] Kit according to claim 1, characterized by , that the profile cross-section of the depth stop (43) is congruent with the profile cross-section of the substructure strip (10, 10a).

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