Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
The present invention relates to a construction element
for thermal insulation in buildings, especially for
projecting external structures, comprising an elongated
insulation body formed of a thermally insulating material,
elongated metallic reinforcing elements extending sub-
stantially transversely of the insulation body and
protruding laterally beyond said insulation body, and
compression elements for force transmission between
the projecting structure and the remainder of the
building structures.
In the case of buildings having projecting wall
structures, for example, balconies, loggias, external
landings or stages, house entrance panels or the like,
the problem of an undesirable heat dissipation arises,
because projecting wall structures of this ~ind are
generally joined to a corresponding intermediate
ceiling (false floor) in the building and constitute the
outside extension of such intermediate ceiling. Thus,
the projecting panels or wall structures ~orm cold
bridges to the outside, which, on the one hand, involve
thermal losses and, on the other hand, may even cause
damage to the construction.
For this reason, construction elements are provided
between the projecting structures and the building,
which elements provide for thermal insulation on the
one hand and satisfactory load transmission on the other
hand. DE-AS (published German patent application)
30 05 571 shows to be known a construction element of
this type which is formed as a prefabricated part and
includes at least one compression element integrated
into the insulation body as a connecting core element
and having dimensions adapted to the cross-section of
the insulation body. In this instance, the insulation i~
body which has reinforcing elements inserted or cast
thereinto, is of integral (one-piece) structure. Inte-
gral casting of the reinforcing rods involves the draw-
bac~ that the insulation element t including the rein-
forcing elements must be transported as an integral unit
from the place of manufacture to the respective con-
struction site. Further, each element must be manufactured
specifically to comply with the respective requirements.
io When the reinforcing rods are inserted into the insul-
ation body, it is difficult to consistently achieve
the desired alignment or orientation of the reinforcing
rods. In particular, such insertion is problematic when
the rods have their ends bent in a hook-shaped confi-
guration, and when the rods extend through the insulationbody obliquely or at an angle, while being position~d
horizon~ally for the rest, such that the rods have at
least two kinks.
It is therefore the object of the present invention
to provide a construction element for thermal insulation
between projecting external parts or structures (of a
building) and the building per se, wherein the rein-
forcing elements - irrespective of their configuration -
26 are joined to the insulation body in easy manner, and
such joining may be effected directly at the site where
the construction element is used, or at the manufacturer's
place. Also, the reinforcing elements should be adapted
to be aligned or oriented as exactly as possible with
respect to the insulation body.
In the construction element as outlined at the be-
ginning, in accordance with the invention this object
is solved in that the insulation body comprises an
upper portion and a lower portion, with the reinforcing
elements being positioned within the upper portion and
the compression elements being disposed within the
lower portion, and that upper portion and lower portion
~7J~
are formed so as to be adapted to be fitted together.
In this structure, the reinforcing rods, extending
through the insulation body both horizontally and ob-
liquely, are secured to the upper portion and constitute
a reinforcing basket or cage. Dimensionally, these
rods orient themselves by the upper edge of the insulation
body. In particular, the horizontal reinforcing rods
must be disposed in an upper position with a fixed
spacing from the surface of the balcony or ceiling. The
insulation body therefore may be well aligned or
oriented on the upper side and mounted to the rein-
forcement of the ceiling or balcony. As the compressionel~ments are arranged within the lower portion so as to
be positioned in the region of the compression zone,
optimum transmission of forces between the projecting
external structure and the building is ensured.
Preferably, the upper portion includes in its upper
region horizontal grooves for receiving the reinforcing
elements which pass horizontally through the insulation
body, and it includes studs for the fixing of rein-
forcing rods which pass through the insulation bodyat an angle to the horizontal; and the lower portion is
provided with recesses for receiving the studs with
frictional engagement. In this structure, the lower
portion is preferably farmed with so small a wall
thickness in the area of the recesses that, when the
studs are inserted, the lower portion is adapted to
be broken up by the obliquely extending reinforcing
elements retained by the studs up to the depth of
penetration of these reinforcing elements.
Below, the invention is described in greater detail
by referring to exemplary embodiments illustrated in
the drawing, wherein:
4a
Figure 1 is a sectional view of the insulation body
normal to its longitudinal direction, with reinforcing
elements inserted;
Figure 2a is a plan view showing a recess formed in
the lower portion of the insulation body;
Figure 2b is a plan view showing another recess of
a different configuration, formed in the lower portion
of the insulation body;
Figure 3 is a view of the longitudinal side of a
second embodiment of the upper portion and a plan view
of the corresponding section of the lower portion;
Figure 4 is a sectional view of another embodiment
of the insulation body, no~mal to its longitudinal
direction;
Figure 5 is a .sectional view of a further embodiment
of the insulation body, normal to its longitudinal
direction; and
Figure 6 shows a device for mounting the lower
portion.
The insulation body shown in Figure 1 is positioned,
for example, between the floor panel of a balcony and
an intermediate ceiling of a building. Preferably, the
insulation body is disposed in the plane of the insulating
plaster of the respective building wall. The insulatio~
body is contemplated to minimize the contact between
the floor panel of the balcony on the one hand, and the
intermediate ceiling on the other hand, thereby to
provide for optimum heat insulation between these two
structures.
~a2~7~
The insulation body comprises a lower portion 1 and
an upper portion 2. The lower portion 1 is provided
with recesses 3 arranged one behind the other(spaced
from each other) in the longitudinal direction. The
upper portion 2 includes studs or projections 4 opposing
the recesses 3 of the lower portion 1. When upper and
lower portion are jointed together, the studs 4 are fully
receivedwithin the recesses.
Intermediate the studs 4, the lower side of the upper
portion 2 has formed therein grooves 5 into which
horizontally extending reinforcing rods 6 are pl~ced.
These reinforcing rods 6 act to absorb horizontal tensile
forces. The lower edge of each stud 4 is cut under an
angle to the horizontal. Reinforcing rods 7 passing
obliquely through the insulation body are attached to
this lower edge. Preferably, this lower side of each
stud 4 is also provided with grooves ~ extending in
parallel with the lower edge, with the reinforcing rods
7 being placed into these grooves and secured therein.
The reinforcing rods 7 also serve to absorb vertical
forces. The reinforcing rods 6 or 7 may be secured within
the grooves 5 or 8, respectively, by means of an adhesive
or by means of clamps or clips fixed within the grooves.
The structure shown in Figure 1 is assembled in such
a way that the reinforcing rods 6 and 7 are first
inserted into the corresponding grooves 6 or 7 or secured
to the associated surfaces. Then, the upper portion 2
and the lower portion 1 of the insulation body are
joined togetherOIn this operation, the studs 4 are
pressed into the respective recesses 3 to full length.
Hereby, the obliquely extending reinforcing rods 7 break
up (cut through) the walls of the recesses 3 to a depth
equal to the depth of penetration of these rods. The
reinforcing rods 7 are positioned such that they come to
meet the recesses in positions where the walls of the
recesses are of minimum thickness. Therefore, the rein-
forcing rods 7 produce only vertically extending slot-
like cuts. Figures 2a and 2b show the cross-sectional
configurations of two different recesses. In the hexa-
gonal recess according to Figure 2a, the two positions
where the wall of the lower portion has minimum thick-
ness, are defined without any further measure. The
reinforcing rods 7 are driven through the lower portion
1 between these two positions. Figure 2b illustrates a
rectangular recess 3. In order to provide two defined
positions of minimum wall thickness in this recess, a
pair of cuts 9 are provided on opposite sides of the
recess 3 in the lower portion 1; in this way, the place
where the respective reinforcing rod 7 is driven through
the insulation body is defined.
The studs 4 fit into the recesses 3 with frictional
engagement such that upon joining the lower portion 1
and the upper portion 2 together, both portions are
frictionally engaged with each other and may be separated
from each other only with the exertion of force. In
order to further increase the strength of this joint,
as auxiliary studs 10 may be provided on the upper portion
2, and corresponding auxiliary recesses 11 may be
formed in the lower portion 1, which recesses do not
function to have reinforcing rods passing therethrough,
but merely function to increase the frictional (engagement)
force between upper and lower portions. Still further,
the engagement may be improved by applying an adhesive
to the contacting faces of upper and lower portions.
In the lower region of the lower portion, compression
elements are disposed one behind the other in the
longitudinal direction of the insulation body. These
compression elements comprise, for example, a compression
r7~
plate 12 of a rubber-elastic material and pressure-
distributing layers 13 and 14 formed of a hard material
and disposed on opposite sides of the compression plate
12, with the outer sides of these layers preferably
lying in a common plane with the outer wall of the
lower portion 1. Preferably, -the compression plate 12
and the layers 13 and 14 are adhesively bonded within
the lower portion 1. The provision of the compression
elements in the lower region of the lower portion 1
provides for good force transmission from the projecting
plate or panel to the building.
According to Figure 1, the compression element is
positioned directly under the recess 3 for ease of
illustration. Normally, however, the recesses 3 and the
compression elements are staggered relative to each
other in the longitudinal direction of the insulation
body in order to increase the strength of the lower
portion which is preferably formed of a foamed material,
such as polystyrene.
Figure 4 shows an upper portion 2 which is wider
than the lower portion 1 and which, with these portions
joined together, embraces or straddles the upper outer
edge of the lower portion. This results in a still
stronger joint between both portions. Further, this
increases the length over which the reinforcing rods
~ 30 6 are guided by the insulating material, and thus the
distance between the points where these reinforcing
rods are clamped in the balcony panel on the one side
and in the intermediate ceiling on the other side.
This structure provides the following advantage: The
thermally insulating insulation body effects separation
between the balcony (structure of varying temperature)
and the building (structure of normally constant
temperature). Accordingly, temperature-dependent
7'~
motions between balcony and building are in~uced, which
place the horizontal reinforcing rods under tensile
stress. The wider the spacing between the balcony panel
and the intermediate ceiling, the smaller is the bending
stress.
In order to mechanically fix the upper portion, this
being of importance especially for transportation or
shipment purposes, it is advisable to provide a long-
itudinally extending reinforcing rod 15 within the
upper portion. This reinforcing rod may be formed of
wood, steel, plastic or the like, and it is inserted
into the upper portion 2 or integrally cast thereinto
by foaming during manufacture of the upper portion.
In order to provide for tight connection between
upper portion 2 and lower portion 1 especially during
transportation or shipment, the studs 4 of the upper
portion may be provided with through holes 16 extending
in the longitudinal direction of the insulation body,
and the lower portion 1 may be provided with holes 17
likewise e~tending in the longitudinal direction between
the recesses 3, and a rod is passed through these
h~les when joining upper and lowex portions, to hold
these portions together. In this instance, the lower
portion may include a plurality of holes 17 disposed
one above the other, such that the depth of insertion
of the studs 4 may be varied.
Figure 6 illustrates the mounting of the lower
portion prior to the mounting of balcony panel and inter-
meaiate ceiling. The lower end of lower portion 1 is
embraced by a U shaped holder 18 having a projection
on its side which extends toward the balcony. This
projection is tacked to the planking or casing 19 for
the balcony panel. In a corresponding manner, it is
also possible to mount the structure to the upper side
of the building wall 20.
In order that the loaded construction element may
be used for ceilings (ceiling panels) of different
thicknesses, for example, of a thickness range of from
14 cm to 25 cm, a part of the lower portion 1 in the
upper region thereof may be cut off, if necessary.
Accordingly, the studs 4 must not extend across the
full length of the recesses 3. Normally, a cavity is
therefore defined in the lower part of the recesses 3
even when the studs are fully inserted into the
recesses. However, concrete cannot flow into this
cavity in the subsequent casting of the balcony panel
or intermediate ceiling (panel) as the recesses are
closed at their upper ends by the studs and, as far
as the walls of the lower portion 1 were broken up by
the reinforcing rods 7, the resulting cuts are closed
in downward direction by the reinforcing rods 7 proper~
The good thermal insulation provided by the insulation
body is therefore secured.
