MODULAR H-BEAM

POUTRE EN H MODULAIRE

English Abstract

H-beam comprising one or more modules (1), each formed of two half-
structurals, that is, of two pieces of structural steel (2a, 2b),
forming each a thin sheet, comprising a central part or core (10), and lateral
half-flanges (4a, 4b; 4c, 4d). The half-flanges (4a, 4b; 4e, 4d)
form gaps (5), inside which plates (7, 7') are introduced in order to
strengthen the flanges of the beam, which constitute the regions more
subject to bending stress.

French Abstract

L'invention concerne une poutre en H constituée d'un ou plusieurs modules (1), chacun de ces modules comprenant deux demi-structures, c'est-à-dire deux pièces (2a, 2b) en acier de construction formant chacune une fine tôle et comprenant une partie centrale, ou noyau (10), ainsi que des demi-rebords latéraux (4a, 4b; 4c, 4d). Ces demi-rebords (4a, 4b; 4c, 4d) forment des espaces (5) à l'intérieur desquels des plaques (7, 7') viennent s'introduire de manière à renforcer les rebords de ladite poutre, ces rebords s'avérant être les zones les plus soumises aux contraintes de flexion.

Claims

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Claims
1. A H-beam comprising at least one module formed
of two half-structurals forming each a thin sheet
with a central core, the latter having longitudinal
and transversal edges and being bounded on its
longitudinal edges by flanges, said central core of
one half-structural, being connected in face
contact with the central core of the other half-
structural, wherein said flanges of each half-
structural are bent in a U configuration, and the
respective open ends of said U-shaped flanges face
each other in the assembled state, and wherein
reinforcement plates are introduced inside facing
cavities of said U-shaped flanges.
2. The H-beam according to claim 1, comprising two
or more of said at least one module, wherein the
half-structurals of each said module and its
respective plates are arranged in a staggered
fashion.
3. The H-beam according to any one of claim 1 or 2,
wherein the half-structurals and reinforcement
plates are connected by means of bolts or high
resistance rivets.
4. The H-beam according to any one of claims 1, 2,
or 3, wherein the core of each half-structural is
provided with lightening holes, or holes for the
passage of systems, said holes being reinforced at
their edges.

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5. The H-beam according to any one of claims 1, 2,
3 or 4, wherein the central core of each of said
half-structurals is provided with reinforcement
beads.
6. The H-beam according to any one of claims 1, 2,
3, 4 or 5, wherein the two opposite U-shaped
flanges form cavities of larger width in comparison
with the cavities of the other opposite flanges, in
order to allow the insertion of plates having at
least one of larger thickness or larger width.

Description

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Description
Modular H-beam
Technical Field
The present invention relates to an H-beam, that is, to
a beam comprising a central part or core, and two side-
flanges, and which can be used for constructions, or
restorations of buildings, etc.
Background Art
At present, H-beams form solid, that is non-hollow
monolithic elements, fabricated according to
standardized sizes, and must be necessarily cut in
certain cases, in order to adapt to the required span.
Moreover, besides the fact that the cutting operation is
difficult, due to the material being solid, the beam
also has a disadvantageous ratio weight/load bearing
capacity. This is seen as a drawback by the consumer,
and moreover it complicates.transport.
Specifically, for the application where the conventional
H-beam is used to restore a civil house or building,
the laying of the beam is particularly troublesome,
because it is necessary to first introduce one end of
the beam in a wall hole, and thereafter to move the
whole beam body in the opposite direction, in order to
introduce the other end of the beam inside the hole
previously realized in the opposite wall. The
conventional beam is moreover very bulky in certain
specific applications in which civil buildings are to be

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restored, and it would be advisable to have available
a kind of modular beam, and even a lighter beam, that is
a beam with an advantageous ratio of weight to load
bearing capacity.
US 3,224,154 discloses a multi-piece readily assembled
building beam, which has a generally rectangular cross-
section with opposite side walls and a bottom and top wall.
US 3,328,931 discloses an improved beam comprising a
pair of channels preferably made of sheet metal and
bolted or welded together back to back in a relation in
which the channels are slightly offset longitudinally
for lapping connection with another beam. Even if the
object is to make lighter and less expensive beams,
which may be readily assembled, the channels do not have
1.5 folded flanges as in the present application. Therefore,
even if some of the objects are similar, the present
application discloses a beam which structurally differs
from the beam of US 3,328,931.
BE 374 538 discloses a beam comprising two identical U-
shaped strips of sheet metal, connected in face contact
by their backs, in order to form a core or web of double
thickness and lateral fins, and comprising further U-
shaped covering strips which enclose said fins and clamp
the latter so as to cover them and maintain all components
in an assembled state. This document does not disclose a
way to connect the components in a staggered way.
DE 24 91 918 discloses different profiles formed of
cold-worked sheet metal, but these arrangements are
AMENDED SHEET

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different from the present application, even if the idea
of using reinforcement plates is contained in this document.
No way of longitudinally connecting several profiles is
disclosed.
Disclosure of the Invention
An object of the present invention is to realize an H-
beam of a modular (sectional) kind, so as to eliminate
size drawbacks.
A further object is to optimize the ratio of weight to
load bearing capacity.
A third object of the present invention is to include
the possibility to adapt the beam features, in the
regions (flanges) which are more subject to bending
stress, to particular situations or applications, in
other words to the load, so as to increase the
versatility of the beam.
The latter object will be attained by providing, during
the production of the beam, a wide range of different
modular elements with different thickness of the beam
flanges, as explained in the following description, and
by inserting separate reinforcing elements inside the
flanges, which (the flanges), according to the invention
are not solid but "hollow".
A fourth object of the present invention is to include
the possibility of adapting the beam to a definite span,
by assembling the same with the use of said modules.
The above objects are attained with the use of an H-beam
AMENDED SHEET

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of the kind defined in claim 1.
Particular advantageous embodiments of the H-beam
realized according to the present invention are taken in
consideration in the dependent claims.
Brief Description of Drawinas
The present invention will now be explained in detail
with regard to a particular preferred embodiment
thereof, which must be considered as illustrative and
not limiting or bounding, and which is shown in the
annexed drawings, wherein:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a single module of an H-
beam of the present invention, in the assembled state;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a half-structural which
forms one component of the assembled module shown in
Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the module
shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a perspective view illustrating how several
module components, which are connected to each other in
a staggered way, give rise to an H-beam corresponding to
a certain span (length).
Best Mode of Carrying out the Invention

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In Figs. 1 to 4, the same reference numbers are always
used to indicate the same components of the module.
As illustrated in Figs. I to 3, the module 1 comprises
two identical half-structurals, or half-parts of
structural steel, denoted by 2a, 2b.
These half-structurals 2a, 2b are formed e.g. by a thin-
walled steel sheet of 2 mm of thickness. Fig. 2
illustrates the configuration of the half-structural 2b.
It can be seen that it comprises central stiffening,to
beads 3, 3', 3" etc., and the same holds also for the
half-structural 2a, as shown in Fig. 3.
The haif-structurals 2a, 2b are preferably obtained by
means of a forming machine, even if the use of a
moulding process should not be excluded.
The forming machine performs the folding operations in
order to obtain the half-flanges 4a, 4b - and 4c, 4d
respectively -, of the half-structurals 2b and 2a. It
can be noticed that the half-flanges 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d
are actually "hollow", that is, they enclose a cavity
between two parts of the respective half-flange 4a,
4b, 4c and 4d, connected to each other by a bent portion
6. As shown in Fig. 3, plates 7, 7' are respectively
inserted inside the cavities 5. Plate 7 is introduced
in the cavities 5 associated with the half-flanges 4a,
4c, whereas plate 7' is inserted inside the cavities 5
of the half-flanges 4b and 4d. The "filling" plates 7,
7' of the half-flanges, are provided with a plurality of
holes 8, 8' respectively, and the same is true for both
half-

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structurals, which have holes 9 on their central part
(or core) 10, and holes 9' on the flanges, these holes
being provided on both parts of each half-flange 4a-4d,
in aligned relationship, and also aligned to the holes
8, 8' of the plates 7, 7' (after assembling, as shown in
Fig. 1).
The holes are used for the connection of all components
2a, 2b, 7, 7, which is obtained by riveting, and in the
central part, they serve - in conjunction with the beads
3, 3' - in order to avoid instability effects, like an
enlargement of the central part and the concomitant
detachment of the two parts 10, 10 which form the
central part (core) of the beam.
Rivets like those used in the aeronautical field are
preferably introduced in the holes 8, 8', 9, 9', but the
use of bolts or the like is obviously not excluded.
The particular construction process allows to distribute
the material in a more rational way, thereby reducing
the amount of material employed. In fact, the lower
flange formed by the half-flanges 4b, 4d, which
corresponds to the region more subject to bending
stresses, may be strengthened by inserting a plate 7'
having an increased thickness and/or an increased width.
It will only be necessary to provide asymmetric half-
structurals with "lower" half-flanges 4b, 4d having
cavities 5 of increased thickness and/or width, with
respect to the size of the cavities 5 of the "upper"
half-flanges 4a, 4c.

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Alternatively it is possible to introduce a double plate
inside the lower flange 4b, 4d, and a single plate
inside the upper flange 4a, 4c.
Therefore, according to what has been said above, it is
possible to design modules with "symmetric" or
"asymmetric" structurals, having flanges with different
thicknesses and/or widths, to take into account - for
the latter case - the greater bending stress of the
lower flange 4b, 4d.
Holes (not shown) may be provided between the beads 3,
3', 3", etc. realized on the cores 10 of the half-
structurals, said holes being adequately reinforced at
their edges and being used as lightening holes or for
providing a passage for a system (e.g. lighting system,
water supply, etc.).
Even if the geometry of the beam realized according to
the present invention is analogous to that of an usual
H-beam, its components may be assembled during the
installation procedure, and this leads to several
advantages. This can also be done using a staggered
arrangement, in order to obtain a continuity of the
structure, as shown in Fig. 4. This figure illustrates
how a staggered arrangement, with a regular pitch
between the plates and the flanges of the half-
structurals, allows to reach every span.
Industrial Applicability
The H-beam according to the present invention may be

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realized by moulding its components.
However it is preferred to use a forming machine which,
starting from a strip, is able to shape it (formation of
the beads and the holes for the passage of the systems),
and to cut it to the desired size. The advantage with
respect to a foundry process (in which a conventional
monolithic and "solid" beam is obtained), is due to the
fact that it is not necessary to modify the whole
production plant in order to vary - for instance - the
thicknesses of the half-flanges 4b, 4d if it is desired
to insert a plate 7' with a larger thickness.
It is obvious, therefore, that the structure of the H-
beam according to the invention is also advantageous
because it allows a greater "flexibility" of the
production process as compared to the conventional
processes.
The advantages of the beam of the invention can be
briefly summarized as follows:
- modular structure; the span can be very easily adapted
to various requirements, making use in particular
applications of a cutting operation performed by
grinding, due to the small thickness of the beam
components;
- the field of possible applications can be widened;
while monolithic beams give rise to difficulties during
their mounting, when the available space is small (e.g.
when civil habitations are to be restored), according
to the invention it is possible to previously fix in the

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wall - in a "cantilever" fashion -. crop ends of plates
7, 7' of suitable length, and to mount afterwards two
half-structurals 2a, 2b on said plates for connection to
the wall.
- quick assembling on the spot; in order to assemble a
module, only a few bolts (or high resistance rivets)
will be necessary; no welding is required;
- ease of transport;
- standardized production making use of very common
machines and application of widely tested technologies;
- optimization of the load bearing capacity; the small
thickness and the insertion of plates of appropriate
thickness allow a flexible and rational distribution of
the material in the cross-section;
- more favourable ratio of weight/load bearing capacity
in comparison with an usual H-beam, beacause of a better
exploitation (use) of the material in those regions
subject to larger bending stresses.

Representative Drawing