STRUCTURAL PANEL MADE OF HOLLOW CHAMBERED SECTIONS

PANNEAU DE PAREMENT FAIT DE SECTIONS PROFILEES

English Abstract

TITLE OF THE INVENTION:

STRUCTURAL PANEL MADE OF HOLLOW CHAMBERED SECTIONS

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE:

In a structural plate or panel (1) made of hollow chambered
extruded sections (2, 2') which are interconnected by weld-
ing, the sections (2, 2') each comprise an upper and a
lower cover sheet 4 interconnected by struts (5) arranged
between the cover sheets. The sections (2, 2') may quickly
and accurately be pushed together into alignment in prepar-
ation for the welding, especially by a robot. For this
purpose the sections (2, 2') have an end strut (5a) with
nose-like projections (6) on one narrow side. Lengthwise
extending beads (8) and cover sheet rims (4a) are provided
on the opposite narrow side. When two such dissimilar
sides are interlockingly pushed together, a welding trough
(10) with beveled edges (9) is formed. The interlocking
features may be provided on the wide sides rather than on
the narrow sides. In both instances a sufficient tempor-
ary interlocking force is achieved to hold the sections in
place for the welding which makes the interlocking perma-
nent.

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Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an
exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined
as follows.

1. A structural panel made of at least two hollow
chambered sections interconnected by welding, each of said
hollow chambered sections comprising an upper and a lower
cover sheet defining a first pair of sides, and partition
wall means arranged between and supporting said cover
sheets, said partition wall means defining a second pair of
sides, each section further comprising longitudinal projec-
tion means extending along one side of one pair of sides,
and longitudinal bead means extending along the other side
of said one pair of sides, whereby said bead means protrude
inwardly from the respective section, said bead means being
so located as to form rims as extensions of the respec-
tive side, so that when two of said sections are pushed to-
gether said projection means interlock with said bead means
in such a manner that said sections are held in coplanar
alignment with each other and so as to form a welding gap
to receive a weld bead between said sections.

2. The structural panel of claim 1, wherein said
sections comprise outer edges which are beveled, to form
slanting walls for said welding gap.

3. The structural panel of claim 1 or 2, further com-
prising troughs in said projection means and at least par-
tially under said respective rim, for containing said weld
bead as it is formed as a puddle during a welding process.

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4. The structural panel of claim 1 or 2, wherein said
sections are closed on one side and open on the respective
opposite side, whereby a closed hollow chamber is formed
between two interconnected sections.

5. The structural panel of claim 1 or 2, wherein said
sections are extruded aluminum sections.

6. The structural panel of claim 1, wherein said
first pair of sides comprises two wide sides, and wherein
said second pair of sides comprises two narrow sides, said
projection means and said bead means being located along
said narrow sides, whereby said rims extend substantially
flush with outer surfaces of said wide sides.

7. The structural panel of claim 1, wherein said
first pair of sides comprises two wide sides, and wherein
said second pair of sides comprises two narrow sides, said
projection means and said bead means being located along
said wide sides, whereby said rims extend substantially
flush with said narrow sides.

8. The structural panel of claim 1, wherein a clear-
ance between two rims and the spacing between two projec-
tion means are so selected that at least a form fit is pro-
vided between said projection means and the respective rims.

9. The structural panel of claim 1, wherein said rim
and said projection means have a given length in a direction
toward the respective other section for determining the size
of said welding gap.

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Description

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1 FIELD OF THE INVENTION:



The inventi~n relates to a structural panel or plate element
made of hollow chambered sections which are interconnected
by welding seams. Each hollow chambered section comprises
an upper and a lower cover sheet, and at least two struts
or partition walls arranged between these outer coversheets.



DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART:



It is well ~nown in the production of structural plates or
panels out of hollow chambered sections, to shape the sec-

tion edges for preparing a welding seam. It is, however,
a problem to achieve an exact alignment of the sections with
respect to each other. This exact alignment of the sections
is especially necessary and advantageous for automatic weld-
ing by a robot.



OBJECTS OF TI~E INVENTION:




In view of the above it is the aim of the invention
to achieve the following objects singly or in combination:



to construct hollow chambered sections to be
assembled to form a structural panel so thatth~ sections may
easily be exactly aligned for a proper orientation relative
to one another for an automatic welding by a robot;




~,~

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1 to provide such sections with shaped edges and
a trough-like groove which forms a seam between adjacent
jolned sections to receive and contain a bead of weld
metal; and



to provide such sections with shaped cooperating
projections along the edges for maintaining a proper weld
gap of constant width between adjacent joined sections, to
act as a guide or stop to achieve accurate alignment of the
sections, or even to achieve a mechanical interlocking
effect between two adjacent joined sections to hold the
sections in place at least during the welding.



SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:



The above objects have been achieved, according to the
invention, by providing hollow chambered sections to be
joined to form a structural panel or plate, with cooper-
ating nose-like projections extending lengthwise along one
of the narrow or wide sides near both outer surfaces of the
section. Each section further has beads extending length-
wise along the opposite narrow or wide side of the section,
whereby these beads protrude inwardly from both cover
sheets or from the respective partition walls of the sec-
tion. Cover sheet rims or partition wall rims thus remain

between the section edge and the inward protruding bead.
When two sections are pushed together, these rims fit over

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1 the nose-like pxojections of the adjacent section in such
a way that the sections are held in a coplanar alignment
relative to each other with a weld seam remaining between
adjacent sections~



The essential advantage of the invention is the absolutely
exact alignment of separate extruded sections when they are
assembled to form a structural plate element. Such exact
alignment is made possible by the nose-like projections and
beads extending along opposite narrow or wide sides of the
sections. An automatic welder or welding robot may then
follow directly along the seams between the sections and
fill the wedge shaped gap with a weld bead. The molten
weld puddle is effectively contained or sealed by the trough
provided under each open welding seam.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF T~E DRAWINGS:



In order that the invention may be clearly understood, it
will now be described, by way of example, with reference
to the accompanying drawings, wherein:



Fig. 1 is a partial sectional view of a structural

panel or plate made of hollow chambered
sections welded together;



Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the area II in Fig. 1,
before the sections are welded together; and

213

1 Fig. 3 is a partial perspective view of a multi-
chambered section provided with the pro-
jections and beads for joining such sec-
tions to one another.

DETAILED DE~CRIPTION OF PREFERRED EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS AND
OF THE BEST MODE OF THE INVENTION:

As shown in Fig. 1, a structural pane] 1 co~prises a plur-
ality of hollow chambered sections 2, 2' which are inter-
connected by weld beads 3O The sections 2 are preferably
extruded aluminum sections. The structural plate or panel
1 comprises thin cover sheets 4 and partitions or struts 5,
to form an orthotropic plate; i.e. the plate is very stiff
in the direction of the struts 5, but relatively flexible
in a direction perpendicular to the struts 5. This arrange-
ment gives the sections optimal strength and loadability
characteristics for certain purposes, such as for wall ele-
ments of chassis structures for motor vehicles, or for cabin
walls. Furthermore, the hollow chambered sections 2 may be
produced at very low cost compared to riveted or screw-
fastened structural elements, and maintenance costs are low.
Especially because the sections 2 are practically corrosion-
free, the finished structural plates or panels have a long
lifespan of durability.

The enlarged view of Fig. 2 shows the interconnection of
sections 2 and 2' before they are welded togetherO The
left-hand section 2 is closed off on a narrow side by an
end strut 5a. Nose-like projections 6 comprising troughs 7

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1 for weld-bead containment, protrude outwardly from the end
strut 5a. The opposite narrow side shown by the right hand
part 2' is left open to form a hollow chamber. However,
beads 8 protrude inwardly from the inner surfaces of upper
and lower cover sheets 4 and extend completely along the
edges of this narrow side of section 2'. A thicker cover
sheet rim 4a extends between the bead 8 and the outer edge
of the section 2'.



The outer edge of the cover sheet rim 4a and the adjacent
outer edge of the end strut 5a comprise bevels 9 to form a
weld gap 10 for receiving the weld bead 3. As can be seen,
due to the interlocking effect between the beads 8, rims 4a,
and projections 6, two sections 2, 2' may quickly be pushed
together into proper alignrnent with each other, whereby the
weld seam or gap 10 is automatically defined in prepara-
tion for a welding.



The inner clearance between two rims 4a on the one hand and
the spacing between two ridges 6' of the projections are so
related to each other to provide a form fit between two
connected sections 2, 2' sufficient to hold the sections
together at least during welding. The projections 6 may be
provided with slanted ramps 6" for facilitatinghe pr~jections
5 to be pushed into the clearance be~ween two rims 4a. Incident-
ally, the horizontal length of the projections 6 and of the
rims 4a determine the size of the gap or seam 10 and

hence the size of the welding bead.



1 Although the invention has been described with reference
to specific example embodiments, it is to be understood,
that it is intended to cover all modifications and equiva-
lents within the scope of the appended claims.