DEVICE FOR ATTACHING A PLATE TO A FACADE

Description

technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of building construction and facade cladding. In particular, the invention relates to the fixing of a decorative or cladding panel on a suspended panel facade, comprising panels suspended from a structure itself generally attached to a wall, the panels covering the facade once in place.

[0002] Suspended facades allow a pre-existing wall or facade to be covered with panels such as glazing, slabs or facing stone panels, etc. Previous art

[0003] Suspended panel facades enhance the aesthetics of building facades and modify optical and thermal properties when glazed panels use active glass that blocks or reflects incident solar or infrared radiation. Suspended panel facades also allow functional elements such as insulation to be concealed or at least made less visible.

[0004] The panels for these facades are of significant dimensions and mass, and the various elements composing the facade are delivered in kits, which professionals then install on site.

[0005] The facade typically includes a load-bearing structure, which is fixed to the wall or building. This load-bearing structure has regularly spaced fixing points. The panels are then attached to these fixing points using specific fastening devices.

[0006] Since the panels are relatively heavy (tens or even hundreds of kilograms) and the facade can rise to relatively significant heights (several meters or tens of meters), the fixing of the panels to the supporting structure is an important safety element.

[0007] In addition to the weight of the panels, their attachment to the supporting structure is subject to significant stresses: expansion in two directions of the panel material during temperature changes, vibrations and wind pressure, etc. Degrees of freedom and / or elastically deformable fasteners must be provided without compromising the strength, safety and durability of the facade.

[0008] We are familiar with screw fixings that pass through the panels. In these facades, the panels have pre-drilled holes. Screws are inserted into these holes and then engage with the supporting structure. The supporting structure advantageously incorporates rails in which the screws can slide within the plane of the panel.

[0009] Document CN111764588A discloses a device having the features of claim 1.

[0010] The holes may include a housing for the screw head, which is flush with the outer wall of the panel.

[0011] However, in these facades, the screws are always visible and can detract from the desired aesthetic result, especially when decorative panels such as cut or decorated stone panels are incorporated into the facade.

[0012] Furthermore, drilling through the panel weakens its structure and concentrates potentially significant stresses. The safety of the facade and passersby below could be compromised.

[0013] There is therefore a need for a fixing device between a load-bearing structure and suspended panel facade panels, which is strong, easy to assemble, discreet once installed and which can nevertheless withstand the specific constraints of suspended panel facades. Description of the invention

[0014] To meet this need, the invention proposes a device for attaching a panel to a supporting structure of a suspended panel facade, the panel having a rear face oriented towards the supporting structure, and a front face, the device comprising: means of attachment to the load-bearing structure, featuring a drilling configured to cooperate with a pin, a pin, characterized in that it also comprises: a corner bracket, flat and configured to be attached against a corner of the rear face of the panel, having snap-on means arranged on the side opposite the panel once assembled, a bracket, having: * a bearing surface against the rear face of the panel, * fingers configured to engage with an edge of the panel, * a hole forming a passage for the pin in the bearing surface, * snap-on means complementary to the snap-on means of the corner bracket, the pin passing through the stirrup, emerging into the bore and being attached to the means of fixing to the load-bearing structure in the assembled state.

[0015] The fastening device according to the invention is quick and easy to assemble. Furthermore, once the panel is in place, only the bracket's prongs remain visible on the front. This allows the fastening device to be made more discreet, thus improving the aesthetic appearance.

[0016] The device according to the invention may also have one or more of the following characteristics.

[0017] The corner fitting may be composed of a metal sheet and in that the snap-on means include snap-on tabs cut into the corner fitting, and the additional snap-on means include recesses of corresponding shape and arrangement on the bearing surface of the bracket.

[0018] The tabs are particularly easy to cut and shape, for example by stamping.

[0019] The device may further include an elastic element, disposed, in the assembled state, between the corner fitting and the bearing surface of the bracket, and compressed when the panel is in place.

[0020] The elastic element keeps the panel in compression within the bracket.

[0021] Again, if the corner fitting is made of a metal sheet, the elastic element may also include elastic tabs cut or stamped into the corner fitting.

[0022] The device may include a sheet of sticky adhesive, in the assembled state, the corner application against the panel.

[0023] The various elements can then be delivered in the form of a complete kit, not requiring the installer to use glue supplied separately.

[0024] The stirrup can be made of a folded metal strip, and the fingers can be made of material with the bearing surface.

[0025] The stirrup may have side panels, forming a support surface for an edge and an end of the panel, and from which the fingers extend.

[0026] Such a stirrup is easy and quick to produce, by cutting and bending a metal plate.

[0027] The means of fixing the panel to the supporting structure may in particular include hooks, configured to engage in a rail of the supporting structure and to translate longitudinally relative to said rail.

[0028] The hooks attached, in the assembled state, at the level of an upper corner of the panel, can also advantageously be translated according to the height.

[0029] The hooks attached, in the assembled state, to a lower corner of the panel, may further include means for snapping with the rail of the supporting structure, preventing removal of the panel when snapped with said rail.

[0030] These hooks greatly facilitate the installation of the panel on the supporting structure.

[0031] The corner fitting may include fitting fingers that engage with an edge or end of the panel.

[0032] These application fingers form a natural stop, aiding in positioning during assembly. Brief description of the figures

[0033] Other features and advantages of the fastening according to the invention will become apparent upon reading the detailed description of the figures below, figures which include: there figure 1 is a perspective view of a facade with suspended panels, the figure 2 is a perspective and exploded view of a panel fixing device in a suspended panel façade, the figure 3 is a perspective view of a portion of a panel fixed to a load-bearing structure by means of a device according to the invention, the figure 4is a front view of an alternative form of corner bracket for the fastening device, and the figure 5 is a schematic perspective view of a stirrup according to another embodiment of a device for fixing a panel to a facade.

[0034] The embodiments shown are given by way of illustration and are not exhaustive. Other embodiments can be directly derived from these through minor modifications and combinations of different embodiments. Detailed description of the figures

[0035] There figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a segment of a facade 100 with suspended panels 1. Said facade 100 comprises panels 1, notably made of glass, composed for example of tempered glass panels, stacked with one or more layers of plastic lamination between them.

[0036] Alternatively, panels 1 can be made of stone, particularly cut facing stone, laminated glass, solid tempered glass, or even simply metal. Panels 1 can also be covered with screen printing or other aesthetically pleasing coatings.

[0037] The panels 1 are arranged vertically, here parallel to a wall 200 of a building. Gravity, or at least the up-down direction of the panels 1 (orthogonal to the edge of panel 1) if the facade 100 is inclined, provides a height axis, the length (orthogonal to the end of panel 1) corresponds to a direction considered longitudinal, the third direction, corresponding to the thickness of the panels 1 (orthogonal to the flat of panel 1), is considered transverse.

[0038] The façade 100 includes a load-bearing structure 110 which is anchored to the wall 200. Alternatively, the load-bearing structure 110 can itself be suspended from a roof or eaves, between posts or two adjacent walls, etc. Finally, the load-bearing structure 110 can form the support on its own, without a wall 200 or building, by being directly anchored to the ground.

[0039] The supporting structure 110 is here composed of parallel rails, for example screwed to the wall 200. The panels 1 are attached by fixing devices 10 to the supporting structure 110, which engage both with the panels 1 and with the rails.

[0040] Alternatively, the load-bearing structure 110 may have discontinuous attachment points, anchored to the wall 200 for example.

[0041] A fastening device 10 is shown in more detail and in exploded view in figure 2The fixing device 10 is specifically intended to be implemented in an upper corner of panel 1.

[0042] The fastening device 10 comprises: means of fixing to the load-bearing structure 110, here in the form of a hook 3 configured to cooperate with a pin 5, a corner applique 7, flat and configured to be attached against a corner of the panel 1, and a stirrup 9, shaped at least by section to the corner of the panel 1.

[0043] Pin 5 can notably take the form of a bolt or rivet, or even simply as a rigid rod.

[0044] The corner fitting 7 is typically shaped like a triangle or trapezoid cut from a sheet of metal, particularly stainless steel or spring steel. Other shapes are possible, however, without deviating from the concept of the invention.

[0045] The corner trim 7 is attached to the corner of panel 1 using an adhesive sheet 8. These two elements have the same shape, allowing them to overlap. The triangular shape, particularly a right triangle, and the trapezoidal shape, with two sides at right angles, allow the corner trim 7 to conform to the corner of panel 1, and in particular to have sides of the corner trim 7 that are parallel to or coincide with segments of the edges of the corner of panel 1, while optimizing the bonding surface.

[0046] On the opposite side of panel 1 in the assembled state, the corner fitting 7 has snap-on means 11, here in the form of snap-on tabs cut into the corner fitting 7.

[0047] The corner fitting 7 also has on the same side opposite panel 1 elastic cut-out tabs, which in the assembled state form an elastic element 13 disposed between the corner fitting 7 and the bracket 9.

[0048] The stirrup 9 has fingers 15 extending from a bearing surface 17, which engage with the edges of the panel 1, and recesses on the bearing surface 17 of a shape and arrangement corresponding to the elastic tabs forming complementary locking means 19 to the locking means 11 of the corner wall light 7.

[0049] The tabs, snap-on and / or elastic, have the advantage of being able to be obtained during a single stamping step, which is quick and inexpensive, the cutting of the tabs being done by shearing at the same time as the out-of-plane deformation of the sheet of said tabs.

[0050] Similarly, the recesses in the stirrup 9 can be obtained by drilling or milling, which are fast and controlled machining methods.

[0051] According to specific embodiments, the same tabs can combine the function of a snap-on means. 11 and elastic element 13.

[0052] Other snap-on methods 11 and elastic elements 13 are however conceivable: added and glued parts, assembled or riveted to the corner application 7, conical stamping, spring washers etc.

[0053] The locking means 11 and the elastic elements 13, with the compression between the bearing surface 17 and the fingers 15, hold the panel 1 in a statically indeterminate manner. The strength of the panel 1 is thus reinforced, particularly with regard to vibrations and transverse forces (accidental pressure, wind, earthquake, etc.).

[0054] For the case of a fixing device 10 for an upper corner of the panel 1, the corner fitting 7 further has application fingers 21, with one application finger 21 bearing, in the assembled state, against the upper edge of the panel 1, and one application finger 21 bearing against the end of the panel 1.

[0055] These application fingers 21 provide on the one hand an aid to the positioning of the application 7 during assembly, and on the other hand provide a stop against the translation of the application 7 downwards and towards the inside of the panel 1.

[0056] The stirrup 9 is here composed in particular of a single piece, in particular a folded metal strip, having two folded lateral panels 23 and forming a bearing surface for the edge and end of the panel 1, and from which the fingers 15 extend. The bearing surface 17, the lateral panels 23, and the fingers 15 come from material, the fingers 15 extending the lateral panels 23 when the strip forming the stirrup 9 is considered flat.

[0057] The lateral panels 23 are notably in the plane containing the transverse and longitudinal directions, the fingers 15 are in the plane containing the height and longitudinal directions.

[0058] Alternatively, the stirrup 9 can be assembled from various cast or metallurgical elements: a plate forming the bearing surface, and wedges or hooks forming the fingers 15 which are welded or fixed to the plate forming the bearing surface 17.

[0059] According to other alternatives, the 9 caliper can be molded directly into shape.

[0060] The support surface 17 has a hole 25 forming a passage for the pin 5.

[0061] The hook 3 has a hook body 27 made of solid metal, for example aluminium or chrome stainless steel, machined by milling, drilling and cutting from a solid block.

[0062] The hook body 27 comes from material with a hook finger 29, of shape and dimensions corresponding to the rails of the supporting structure 110, with which it engages in the assembled state of the panel 1 on the facade 100.

[0063] The hook body 29 has a hole 31, configured to cooperate with the pin 5.

[0064] Pin 5 here includes a washer 33, made of a vibration-absorbing material such as plastic (high-density polyethylene, for example) or cross-linked rubber. This washer 33 is, however, optional.

[0065] The hole 25 and the head of the pin 5 are in particular shaped to fit together, by milling or stamping, so that the head of the pin 5 is flush with the bearing surface 17 in the assembled state of the fastening device 10, while engaging with the stirrup 9.

[0066] The hook 3 further includes a blind hole 35, opening at a right angle from one of its sides into the bore 31, and into which a dowel 37 is inserted to hold the pin 5 in place.

[0067] During assembly, the pin 5 is therefore inserted into the hole 25 of the stirrup 9, then into the hole 31 of the hook 3.

[0068] The panel 1, on which the corner fitting 7 is glued in particular by means of the adhesive sheet 8, is then inserted into the brackets 9, and the snap-fit ​​between the corner fittings 7 and the brackets 9 secures the fixing devices 10 and the panel 1 into a handleable unit.

[0069] Pin 5 is then locked in position by means of trunnion 37.

[0070] The panel 1, with the fixing devices 10, is then inserted into the supporting structure 110 by engaging the hook fingers 29 with the rails.

[0071] Other variants of the invention may in particular use known alternatives of means of attachment to the supporting structure 110. For example, the pin 5 may extend and engage directly with an anchor or attachment point of the supporting structure 110.

[0072] The assembly formed by the corner bracket 9 and the stirrup 9 is adaptable to many means of fixing to the supporting structure 110, said means of fixing being able to vary according to the nature of the supporting structure 110 (suspended, anchored in a wall 200, etc.).

[0073] There figure 3 shows a fixing device 10 for the lower corner of panel 1, assembled and placed on the supporting structure 110, with the hook 3 engaged with the rail.

[0074] The hook 3, intended for a fixing device 10 for the lower corner of the panel 1, also includes means for snapping onto the rail 39. These means for snapping onto the rail 39 are in the form of a Z-shaped arm, articulated at one end to the body of the hook 27 with an elastic force that tends to pull said Z-shaped arm towards the hook finger 29. The Z-shaped arm engages with the lower face of the rail and, when snapped onto said rail, prevents the hook 3 from being pulled out from above and thus prevents the panel 1 from being detached from the facade 100.

[0075] The Z-shaped arm is obtained here by deforming a U-shaped metal rod, and the free ends of the U are folded and inserted into corresponding housings in the hook body 27 and form the axis of rotation.

[0076] The fastening devices 10 all include elements which are identical or symmetrical to each other: identical up to a rotation for diagonally opposite fastening devices 10, symmetrical for fastening devices 10 on the same edge.

[0077] It follows that economies of scale can be achieved in the production of fastening devices 10.

[0078] There figure 4 is a schematic front view of an alternative embodiment of corner applique 7.

[0079] In this embodiment, the corner bracket 7 has a trapezoidal shape, and therefore there is a recess between the corner of panel 1 and the edge of the corner bracket 7. This recess is required by standards and legislation in many countries. The thickness of the trapezoidal corner bracket 7 and the thickness of the metal strip used to create the bracket 9 in the preceding figures may correspond.

[0080] The corner fitting 7 is then made more discreet by being covered by the bracket 9.

[0081] There figure 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment of stirrup 9. In this embodiment, stirrup 9 is obtained for example by assembling sections of profile.

[0082] The stirrup 9 has a square U-shaped profile, with two perpendicular arms, the panel 1 being inserted into this U-shaped profile, the two arms resting against the edge and the end of the panel 1. The stirrup 9 therefore presents towards the front, on the visible side of the panel 1 in the facade 100, a continuous lip 41 instead of the clearly separated fingers 15.

[0083] The continuous lip 41 is however an obvious alternative to the fingers 15 for the man of the trade.

[0084] The fixing device 10 according to the invention, with corner bracket 7 and stirrup 9, is quick and easy to assemble, and simplifies the fixing of the panels 1 to the supporting structure 110.

[0085] In addition, unlike through-screw fastening devices, only the tips of the fingers 15 of the bracket 9 appear on the visible face of the panel 1.

[0086] The fixing device 10 is then potentially more discreet in the facade, or at least allows to offer a visual alternative to through and visible screws.

Claims

1. A device for securing a panel (1) to a supporting structure (110) of a façade (100) with suspended panels, said panel having a front face and a rear face, comprising: - securing means (3) to the bearing structure (110), having an aperture (31) configured to cooperate with a pin (5), - a pin (5), - a yoke (9), comprising: * a bearing surface (17) against the rear face of the panel (1), * fingers (15) configured to engage with an edge of the panel (1), * a hole (25) forming a passage for the pin (5) in the bearing surface (17), characterised in that it further comprises: - a corner fitting (7), flat and configured to be attached against a corner of the rear face of the panel (1), comprising latching means (11) arranged on the opposite side of the panel (1) once assembled, and that the yoke of the device comprises: - latching means (19) which are complementary to the latching means (11) of the corner fitting (7), the pin (5) engaging with the yoke (9), opening into the aperture (31) and being attached to the securing means (3) to the bearing structure (110) in the assembled state.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterised in that the corner fitting (7) is composed of a metal sheet and in that the latching means (11) comprise latching tongues cut out from the corner fitting (7), and the complementary latching means (19) comprise recesses of corresponding shape and arrangement on the bearing surface (17) of the yoke (9).

3. The device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that it further comprises an elastic element (13), arranged and compressed in the assembled state between the corner fitting (7) and the bearing surface (17) of the yoke (9).

4. The device according to claim 3, characterised in that the corner fitting (7) is composed of a metal sheet and in that the elastic element (13) comprises elastic tongues cut out from the corner fitting (7).

5. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises a sheet of adhesive (8) sticking, in the assembled state, the corner fitting (7) against the panel (1).

6. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the yoke (9) comprises side faces (23), forming a bearing surface for a sidewall and a tip of the panel (1), and from which the fingers (15) extend.

7. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the means for securing the panel (1) to the bearing structure (110) comprise hooks (3), configured to engage in a rail of the bearing structure (110) and to translate longitudinally with respect to said rail.

8. The device according to the preceding claim, characterised in that the hooks (3) attached, in the assembled state, at an upper corner of the panel (1), can also be translated along the height.

9. The device according to claim 7 or 8, characterised in that the hooks (3) attached, in the assembled state, to a lower corner of the panel (1), further comprise latching means (39) with the rail of the bearing structure (110), preventing the removal of the panel (1) when latched with said rail.

10. The device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the corner fitting (7) comprises fitting fingers (21) engaging with a sidewall or a tip of the panel (1).