Facade Insert Rail Assembly Without Clamps or Glass-Metal Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fastening systems for facade elements, such as photovoltaic modules and solar thermal collectors, require grooved panels and additional clamping devices, making them complex, costly, and difficult to assemble and disassemble, while also risking contact between glass and metal under load and temperature changes.
Innovation Solution
A fastening system featuring an insertion profile rail with a cantilever plate and U-shaped receptacles of varying leg lengths, allowing for quick assembly without additional clamping devices, and incorporating recesses for connecting elements to manage thermal expansion and water drainage, enabling easy installation and adjustment of facade elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If sliding holders and clamping devices are used to secure facade elements, then the facade elements can be held securely, but the assembly becomes complex and requires additional components
Solution Approach 1:
The support receptacle and holding receptacle are merged into a single integrated insertion profile rail. The support receptacle with its short holding web and the holding receptacle with its long holding web work together as a unified system, eliminating the need for separate clamping devices and sliding holders while maintaining secure holding capacity.
Solution Approach 2:
The insertion profile rail serves multiple functions: it provides structural support through the support receptacle, secures facade elements through the holding receptacle, and enables simple insertion/removal operations. This multi-functional design replaces multiple specialized components with a single universal fastening element.
2Ease of repair
If grooved panels are used to accommodate sliding holders, then facade elements can be replaced, but all panels require grooving and additional cover elements are needed
Solution Approach 1:
The holding web is designed to be movable within the holding receptacle, allowing the facade element to be easily inserted and removed. The holding web can disengage from the receptacle during installation and maintenance operations, providing dynamic accessibility without requiring permanent grooves or additional cover elements in the facade panels.
3Reliability
If additional clamping devices and terminal strips are used, then secure fastening is achieved, but material costs and assembly time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The holding web is pre-positioned within the holding receptacle during manufacturing, creating a pre-assembled unit. During installation, the facade element is simply inserted into the pre-configured receptacle, and the holding web automatically engages to secure it, eliminating the need for on-site assembly of multiple components and significantly reducing installation time.
4Ease of operation
If facade elements are directly fastened to metal structures, then assembly is simple, but contact between glass and metal occurs under load and temperature changes
Solution Approach 1:
The insertion profile rail acts as an intermediary element between the facade element and the mounting structure. The receptacles are designed to accommodate the facade element's mounting edges without requiring direct metal-to-glass contact, while still providing secure mechanical fastening. This intermediate structure prevents harmful contact while maintaining assembly simplicity.
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5a~5c
AI summary
Fastening system (300) for an externally suspended cladding of, preferably panel-shaped, facade elements, particularly preferably framed photovoltaic modules and solar-thermal collectors, for anchoring on a structure (310), profiled insert rail for the fastening system, assembly method for installing facade elements into such a system, and facade. At least two, preferably horizontally arranged, mutually parallel profiled insert rails (101, 102, 103, 104) for bearing and holding at least one facade element are fastened at a predetermined, in particular vertical, distance (A) from one another. A lower one of the at least two profiled insert rails (103, 104) comprises an upwardly directed, substantially U-shaped bearing compartment (130), which is closed off by a short retaining rib (131) on a visible side of the facade, for a lower edge of the facade element, and an upper one of the at least two profiled insert rails (101, 102) comprises a downwardly directed, substantially U-shaped retaining compartment (140), which is closed off by a long retaining rib (141) on the visible side of the facade, for an upper edge of the facade element. The bearing compartment (130) and the retaining compartment (140) accommodate the upper and lower edge of the facade element and keep them within the plane (F) of the facade, wherein the bearing compartment (130) substantially bears the weight of the facade element. Relative to the cantilever plate (120), the long retaining rib (141) is at least twice as high as the short retaining rib (131). Also provided in the insert profile is a recess (129) for accommodating a connecting element (200) for the purpose of extending the profiled insert rails in the longitudinal direction (KL) thereof, in that the connecting element can be inserted into the recess (129) at a butt joint between the first and second profiled insert rails (103, 104).