Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
CA 02586322 2007-04-26
FACING SYSTEM FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTIONS WITH TWO-
DIMENSIONALLY AND/OR SPHERICALLY SHAPED REGIONS TO BE FACED
Specification
The invention relates to a facing system for building
constructions having two-dimensionally and/or spherically
shaped regions to be faced, including at least one load-
bearing element, which can be secured to the building
construction, and at least one two-dimensionally embodied
cover element that can be fastened in the manner of a spread-
out wing to the load-bearing element.
Facing systems of this type, which in the professional
field are also known as facade facing systems or simply
facade facings, have existed in the most various structural
designs with the most various esthetic looks for many
decades. Such facing systems, in which the individual
elements of the facing systems comprise metal, for instance,
in the most various designs, are used not only for commercial
purpose-built constructions such as industrial factory
buildings, supermarket buildings in shopping centers, and
even schools and pavillions for schools, but also even for
facing privately used apartment buildings, in order to adapt
them to meet the more and more stringent regulations that are
made with regard to the amount of heat that is permitted to
escape from a private building per unit of surface area and
per unit of time. The advantages of facing systems, with
which buildings and building constructions can be faced not
only directly after they have been erected but even later in
retrofitting, are widely known to the professional field, so
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that no further discussion of this is needed here.
It is known that building constructions are buildings
which, depending on the local positioning of the building and
on their length, width, and height, may be exposed to
considerable pressures caused by wind; naturally this is true
not only of the building itself but also of its facing with
which the building or building construction is faced or has
been faced.
While it is comparatively simple for two-dimensional
surfaces or in other words flat surfaces of buildings and
building constructions to be securely faced by means of such
known facing systems, in the case of spherically formed
regions for faces of the building constructions it is already
much more difficult, especially with a view to secure
fastening of the elements of the facing system, if they are
exposed to major wind pressures. For instance, especially in
the North German flatlands near the sea, wind speeds of 12
Beaufort and higher, or in other words 190 km/h to 200 km/h,
are not uncommon in the winter and spring, and sometimes even
in the fall.
It is well known that so-called "digestion tanks" of
large-scale sewage treatment plants, of the kind found for
instance in large cities because of the very large quantity
of dirty water that must be treated there, are installed in
the vicinity of the coasts so that the treated wastewater,
after cleaning in the aforementioned "digestion tanks" and
optionally after various subsequent cleaning stages, can be
returned to the sea over the shortest distance. Accordingly,
the buildings or "digestion tanks" of such systems, also
because they are so close to the sea, are exposed to the
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unimpeded influence of the wind.
Given the widely sought, extremely enhanced degree of
clarification of the wastewater that a sewage treatment plant
brings about, major attempts have been made for instance to
improve temperature conditions considerably in these
"digestion tanks" for the sake of effective growth of the
bacteria that decompose the contaminants in wastewater.
These "digestion tanks" have therefore been faced using
effective heat insulation, so as to guarantee the most
uniform possible temperature in the "digestion tank" in the
Summer and Winter both, or in other words to furnish the best
conditions for the growth of the bacteria contained in the
"digestion tanks", which has also been done with average
success, but even by facing suitable retrofitted "digestion
tanks", the attempt has been made to improve the "look" seen
by an observer sees considerably, since the external
appearance of unfaced "digestion tanks" is extremely
bothersome to an observer.
While this last goal has been achieved more or less
successfully in recent facing systems, such facing systems
are still, as in the past, lacking in terms of their safety
and security at high wind speeds; in the recent winter storms
in northern Germany, the facings of the "digestion tanks"
have once again come loose and been torn off like paper and
carried away.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to
create a facing system, for building constructions of the
type defined at the outset, which once installed on the
building construction can withstand extraordinarily great
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wind pressure without detaching from the building
construction, and which with the inclusion of still other
materials such as insulating materials are capable of
maintaining a very high temperature constancy for the liquid
to be cleaned that is held in a "digestion tank" of this
kind; it should be possible for the facing system to comprise
only a few simply shaped elements, so that the creation costs
can be kept low, both for a building to be faced immediately
after being erected but also for simple, economical
retrofitting of existing buildings, and the facing system
itself should be capable of comprising extremely simple
elements, and even existing buildings should be capable of
being faced simply, quickly and economically, and even
complicated, spherically embodied surfaces of the building
should be capable of being faced with the facing system of
the invention in a simple way.
This object is attained in that the load-bearing
element is formed by two legs embodied in the manner of
struts, the first leg being capable of being secured to the
flat region essentially orthogonally oriented to it, while
conversely the second leg, located essentially in an
orthogonal angular range to the first leg, serves to fasten
one cover element to each first leg.
The advantage of this provision according to the
invention is essentially that the facing system comprises
only two basic elements, which in principle no longer need to
be fabricated at the appropriate size, at the site where the
facing of a building will be done, to suit the structural
conditions of the particular building to be faced. Instead,
the work of fastening the two basic elements of the facing
system is limited to fastening the load-bearing element to
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the building construction to be faced, and then to fasten
each cover element to one load-bearing element. If the
building construction to be faced is for instance the
"digestion tank" to be faced as discussed at the outset, then
once the basic principle of the building construction to be
faced has been incorporated into the production process of
the load-bearing elements, the load-bearing elements
themselves need not be separately adapted to suit the
spherical surface of the "digestion tank", and in the course
of production the actual facing elements are adapted to suit
the given sphere of the surface of the "digestion tank" and
are then joined in this form, unchanged, to the load-bearing
element on-site at the "digestion tank". Thus, in accordance
with the stated object, a very simple connection or facing
that is nevertheless very solid and resistant to both wind
pressure and wind suction can be attained with simple means.
Surfaces that are only two-dimensional surfaces can be
faced even more simply, using the load-bearing elements of
the invention and rectangular cover elements.
In an advantageous embodiment of the facing system, the
second leg, connected essentially in an orthogonal angular
range to the first leg, is tilted in a range of less than
100 relative to the orthogonal, as a result of which it is
attained that for a building construction to be faced, in the
form of the aforementioned "digestion tank", which typically
has an ellipsoid shape and in a section at right angles
through the axis of rotation of the -ellipsoid has an
essentially circular cross section, simple adaptation to the
circular cross section of the "digestion tank" is made
possible by the tilted position of the second leg to the
orthogonal, by an angle relative to the first leg.
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This tilt angle can already be taken into account in the
course of the production of the load-bearing elements as a
function of the sphere to be faced, which in the present case
is the circular diameter of an annular facing segment of the
"digestion tank", and is for instance preferably less than
, and at the largest diameter of the annular facing portion
of a "digestion tank" is for instance only 2 ; that is, the
second leg is preferably connected to the first leg in an
angular range of 2 .
The variant of the load-bearing element mentioned above
as a means of attaining the object is in principle the
simplest and thus the most variable variant of the load-
bearing element in any case. In this simplest, most flexible
variant, the load-bearing element thus has only one second
leg, extending approximately in the middle of the leg and
along the middle of the leg and joined at that point to the
first leg; that is, in rough approximation, the load-bearing
element is a quasi T-profile-like element in its simplest
embodiment.
In an advantageous further embodiment of the facing
system, the load-bearing element has two essentially flat
second legs opposite one another two-dimensionally on the
order of wings, fastened to the first leg; in this
advantageous embodiment, the load-bearing element is embodied
approximately like a cross-shaped profile in cross section.
It is understood that two load-bearing elements in the
basic version, contacting one another with their respective
first legs, one being rotated 180 relative to the other, in
turn form the second advantageous embodiment or version of
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the load-bearing element; this will be addressed in further
detail below in conjunction with the drawing description.
In principle, various possibilities exist of connecting
the two legs, each forming a respective load-bearing element,
or the three legs, each forming the load-bearing element, to
one another in order to achieve the two basic versions of the
load-bearing element according to the invention. The type of
connection depends on the production principle employed and
on the type of material from which the individual legs of the
load-bearing element are formed.
If the two legs of the load-bearing element comprise
metal material, then in principle they can be joined together
preferably by welding. However, it is advantageously also
possible to connect the second leg of the load-bearing
element to the first leg by adhesive bonding, for instance
whenever the individual legs, or at least one leg, comprises
a metal material and the other leg is of plastic material;
naturally, it may also advantageously be appropriate,
whenever both legs for instance comprise plastic, to join
these two legs to one another by adhesive bonding.
An especially inexpensive embodiment of the load-
bearing element can be attained by providing that the first
leg is formed by a platelike element, for instance in the
form of a rectangular plate, on which the second leg, which
may also preferably be designed as a platelike element, can
be connected to one another by welding, adhesive bonding, or
rivet connections.
However, it is very particularly advantageous to embody
both the first basic variant of the load-bearing element
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according to the invention and the advantageous second
variant of the load-bearing element by means of a suitably
designed injection-molded profile or extruded profile. These
variants have the extraordinary advantage that, whenever
these thus-embodied load-bearing elements leave the injection
mold or extruder, they are virtually finished; that is, they
require no further postmachining and merely need to be cut to
the desired lengths.
Facing systems known in the prior art, including the
facing systems of the generic type in question here, in most
cases have the major disadvantage that they cannot carry the
water produced by rain, hail, and snow that strikes the
facing surface and the connecting points of the individual
elements to the outside to the required extent, or in other
words away from the side of the facing elements pointing away
from the building construction, and specifically not only can
they not do so if the facing elements are not secured plumb
to the building construction, but also even if the facing
elements are fastened strictly in plumb fashion to the
building construction.
It is in fact desirable for the facing system to carry
away the rainwater striking the facing elements without
striking the surface of the building construction, but also
that ventilation of the building construction even once the
facing elements have been applied should be assured, so that
condensed water on the building construction can be
evaporated again and allowed to escape to the outside through
the facing elements in their abutting regions. Moreover, it
should be prevented that in certain building constructions,
insulation materials located between the facing elements and
the building construction, such as glass wool or rock wool
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mats, become wet from outside from rain, hail, and snow, or
in other words to prevent them from swelling up with water.
These quasi-contrary demands that are made of the
facing system of the invention are advantageously met by
providing that the second leg has a groovelike indentation in
cross section in the connection region to the first leg; the
groovelike indentation is advantageously embodied as
essentially rectangular in cross section.
In principle, these indentations may, however,
preferably also have different structures in cross section,
for instance advantageously being essentially semicircular in
cross section on the order of a channel, or advantageously on
the order of a polygon in cross section.
The advantage of providing connection regions provided
precisely with these groovelike or channel-like indentations
is on the one hand that in the connection region of the cover
element on the load-bearing element, the cover element does
not rest directly on the load-bearing element, so that a
sufficiently large space in the connection region of the
second leg, on which the cover element rests, is created on
the order of a tubular space, through which the water that
can get into the connections between the cover element and
the load-bearing element can drain out in a purposeful way. A
further advantage that is attained by the groovelike or
channel-like indentation in the second leg of the cover
element is that as a result, the longitudinal stability of
the load-bearing element, and thus of the entire facing
system, in an installed state on a building construction is
enhanced, and also because to a certain extent the transverse
stability of the load-bearing element is also increased.
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In a certain advantageous embodiment of the load-
bearing element, in which this element is embodied as a one-
piece injection-molded or extruded part, the groovelike or
channel-like indentations can also be taken into account in
the injection mold or extrusion mold, so that in fact, load-
bearing elements designed advantageously in this way, with
groovelike or channel-like indentations, do not involve added
production costs.
In facing systems that are to be used in spherically
shaped surface regions of a building construction to be
faced, it is advantageous that for instance a cover element
has at least one protrusion, embodied at an essentially
obtuse angle (3 to the face of the cover element, which
protrusion can be fastened detachably to the first leg of the
load-bearing element. In the final analysis, this protrusion
can be attained in a simple way by providing that the
platelike or sheetlike cover element is simply cut off at an
angle in its peripheral region, where it is meant to rest on
the load-bearing element and be joined to it, specifically
being cut off at the aforementioned obtuse angle (3.
If the cover element is to be fastened to two spaced-
apart load-bearing elements, which is intrinsically the
normal situation, the cover element naturally has the
aforementioned protrusions or cut-off angles to both sides,
pointing toward the spaced-apart load-bearing elements, of
the cover element that is meant to span precisely this
spaced-apart area.
In the facing system that is intentionally sought to be
simple and hence economical to furnish, in order within the
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scope of what is possible to prevent as much as possible the
penetration of water into the connecting regions between the
first leg of the load-bearing element and the protrusion of
the cover element bordering the load-bearing element
essentially flatly, it is extraordinarily advantageous that
at least one protrusion of the cover element and the first
leg of the load-bearing element are capable jointly of being
fastened detachably to one another by means of a sheathing
element that has an essentially U-profile-like cross section.
Because of the sheathing element of U-profile-like cross
section, the open face ends between the first leg of the
load-bearing element and the protrusions of the cover
elements that border it on both sides by the aforementioned
obtuse angle fl, are in fact sealed off, so that in this
region, even rainwater that hits extremely hard cannot
penetrate. The sheathing elements themselves can be
prefabricated with an arbitrary length, so that even in the
case of a with regard to its building construction surface to
be faced, the number of abutting joints bordering on the face
end of the sheathing elements can be kept as low as possible.
In a highly advantageous further embodiment of the
facing element, the at least one protrusion of the cover
element is embodied as U-profile-like in cross section, and
in the state in which it contacts the first leg of the load-
bearing element, it fits with its free end detachably
fastenably around at least the first leg of a load-bearing
element in the manner of a sheathing element; that is, in
this advantageous embodiment of the facing system, the
sheathing element is embodied integrally with the cover
element. This embodiment has the advantage that mounting of
the cover element or cover elements on the load-bearing
element is possible by simply slipping them on, and during
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the mounting, fixation of the cover element to the load-
bearing element, or of both cover elements to the load-
bearing element, is already possible, and in the final
analysis, an element that would have to be produced
separately, such as the separate sheathing element described
above, can also be dispensed with.
Preferably, the free end of the protrusion, which end
is embodied in the form of a sheathing element, can engage
and be detachably fastened around both the at least one first
leg of a load-bearing element and a protrusion of an
adjacently disposed cover element; that is, the free end,
embodied in the form of a sheathing element, of the
protrusion constituting only one protrusion of the
protrusions provided on both sides, of the one cover element,
while in still another advantageous embodiment of the facing
element, the protrusions on both sides of each cover element
are formed as U-shaped profiles in cross section; this
embodiment of the facing system makes it possible, in a row
of cover elements located side by side, for one cover element
to have respective free ends of the protrusion on both sides,
formed in the manner of a sheathing element, while conversely
the particular cover element adjacent to it has protrusions
shaped only angularly in cross section.
The fastening of the cover elements to the respective
load-bearing element, including the U-shaped profile
sheathing element that intrinsically encloses the two
protrusions of the adjacent cover elements, including the
first leg of the load-bearing element, can advantageously be
done by means of a fastening element in the form of a bolt-
nut connection. In principle, however, it is also possible
to select a fastening element in the form of a classical
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rivet connection, or a pop rivet connection; however, a bolt-
nut connection may have the advantage over the other
connections that it can be detached again in a simple way in
order to enable making repairs in the facing system or of the
building construction faced with the facing system; a bolt-
nut connection, as a special architectonic structure, may
also enhance the appearance of the facing system.
The building facing end of the first leg of the load-
bearing element is detachably fastenable to a structure of
the building; in this case, the structure may be a fastening
element of the building that is either fastened directly to
the building retroactively, or may already be present as the
aforementioned structure on the building in the course of the
completion of the building.
Depending on the type of building, whether it is in the
form of a metal construction, such as the aforementioned
"digestion tank", or in the form of a building construction
with classic masonry, or in the form of a concrete
construction of the building construction, the structures are
configured for fastening the load-bearing elements to the
building. If these structures are not yet present on the
building itself that is to be faced, then they are selected
to suit the structural and material specifications already
found in the building.
As already indicated at the outset, the load-bearing
element and the cover element advantageously comprise metal
material, such as an aluminum alloy that is resistant to
saltwater. Aluminum alloys of this kind have great strength
with a relatively low weight and can be shaped without metal-
cutting machining in a simple way using means known per se in
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metal construction; this applies in particular to the cover
elements.
Finally, at least the load-bearing element and/or the
cover element and/or the sheathing element may be provided
with a coating, before the element or elements is constructed
or mounted directly on the site of the building construction
to be faced. This coating serves primarily to increase the
corrosion resistance of the individual elements to the
influence of exhaust gases, rain, hail, and snow or of
humidity in general, and the resistance to aggressive
corrosive components of the ambient air, and so forth.
However, the coating may additionally perform the function of
improving the appearance of the building faced according to
the invention; as the coating, suitable examples are not only
metal coatings such as platings and layers of oxidized
aluminum, but also layers of plastic as well as layers of
paint, which can be applied for instance by powder coating or
paint spraying.
The invention will now be described in detail in terms
of one exemplary embodiment, in conjunction with the
schematic drawings that follow. In the drawings:
Fig. 1, schematically in side view, shows a partially
coated building construction in the form of a "digestion
tank" used for wastewater purification, with an outer
structure that is partly metal and partly mineral;
Fig. 2, in section, shows two load-bearing elements in
the basic version according to the invention;
Fig. 3, in section, shows a load-bearing element in a
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second basic version;
Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a load-bearing element
as shown in Fig. 3;
Fig. 5, in a fragmentary section, shows an outer
structure of the building construction to which the load-
bearing element of Figs. 2 through 4 is secured; a cover
element including the protrusions of the adjacent cover
elements and a sheathing element are fastened with a screw
and nut connection to the load-bearing element, on both sides
of its free end of the first leg;
Fig. 6 shows a fastening of the load-bearing element,
the cover elements, and the sheathing element on a structure
of the building construction as in Fig. 5, but in which the
building construction has a mineral structure (masonry or
concrete);
Fig. 7 is a side view of a free end of a protrusion of
a cover element, the end being embodied in cross section in
the form of a U-shaped profile in the manner of a sheathing
element;
Fig. 8, in a side view, shows a load-bearing element
with a protrusion of a cover element, the protrusion
contacting the first leg of the load-bearing element, the
protrusion being embodied angularly in cross section only
relative to the face of the cover element; and
Fig. 9, in a view, shows the angular protrusion of the
cover element, resting as in Fig. 7 on the first leg of the
load-bearing element; and the free end of the protrusion of
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the adjacent cover element, which is embodied in the manner
of a sheathing element, this free end being thrust on in the
direction of the arrow in Fig. 7 and being embodied with a U-
profile-like cross section.
Fig. 1 will first be referred to, in which
schematically a building construction 11 is shown in side
view, embodied in the form of a so-called "digestion tank",
of the kind found in both community and industrial sewage
treatment or wastewater cleaning systems. These "digestion
tanks" as a rule have the basic shape as shown in Fig. 1. As
a rule, for reasons of strength, they are embodied in a more
or less strictly realized shape of an ellipsoid, which in
terms of Fig. 1 has an imaginary axis of rotation 110.
The "digestion tank" shown in Fig. 1, because of its
shape as an ellipsoid, has building construction regions 12,
which are thus embodied spherically, or in other words are
curved in all three degrees of freedom, as well as building
construction regions 12, shown below in Fig. 1, which while
also embodied spherically are however curved in only two
degrees of freedom, or in other words in the manner of
portions of a cylindrical jacket. In the "digestion tank" of
Fig. 1, the vertically lower region is embodied in the form
of a cylindrical jacket (as seen from above), specifically
comprising mineral material such as stone or concrete, while
conversely the upper, free region of the "digestion tank",
like the entire ellipsoid, is embodied in the form of a metal
container.
All these regions of the "digestion tank" are to be
faced with the facing system 10 according to the invention.
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The part shown in Fig. 1 on the left of the axis 110 is
a facing system 10 of the kind used in the prior art. No
further discussion of the known facing system 10 is necessary
here, since it has been addressed in sufficient detail in the
introductory background of the invention section.
The facing system 10 of the invention comprises
essentially three basic elements, namely the load-bearing
element 13, the cover element 14, which serves the purpose of
covering the surface of the building construction 11 to suit
its specially shaped building construction regions 12, and a
sheathing element 20, which serves the purpose of partially
holding, enveloping and fastening the load-bearing element 13
and the cover element 14, including certain protrusions 141,
by means of the sheathing element 20. The protrusions 141 of
the cover element 14 and the cover element 14 itself will be
addressed in further detail hereinafter.
The load-bearing element 13, in its basic form, is as
shown in Fig. 2; for the sake of comprehension see also Fig.
4, although that shows a second variant of the load-bearing
element 13 of Fig. 3 in perspective. The load-bearing
element 13 comprises a platelike flat body which has two
first legs 15 virtually merging with one another. In
essentially the middle region of the platelike body of the
load-bearing element 13, a second leg 16 on the order of a
wing is connected in the connection region 17. The length 1
of the second leg 16 is embodied to suit the length of the
first leg 15 - see Fig. 4 - and is determined in accordance
with the given structural conditions of the building
construction 11 to be faced with the facing system 10 of the
invention. The surface spanned by the leg 16 is embodied as
essentially plane, but compared to the plane spanned by the
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legs 15 it is tilted at an acute angle a; a is in the range
of 88 . It should be pointed out, however, that the angle a
of 88 given here as an example may also be even more acute,
depending on the curvature of the spheres of the building
construction 11 to be faced. However, for facing building
construction regions 12 curved spherically in the opposite
direction, it is also possible to connect the leg or legs 16
to the legs 15 at an obtuse angle fl.
Immediately in the connection region 17 of the second
leg 16 to the first leg 15, the leg 16 is sprung in the
manner of a channel 19; that is, a groovelike indentation 18
is formed. This groovelike indentation 18 and the channel 19
thus formed will be described in further detail hereinafter.
In Fig. 2, to the right of the load-bearing element 13
described above, a two-dimensionally symmetrical load-bearing
element 13 is shown, which is constructed identically to the
load-bearing element 13 described above. If the two load-
bearing elements 13 are moved toward one another in the
direction of the arrows 28 and the legs 15 of the two load-
bearing elements 13 abut one another flatly, the result is
conceptually a second embodiment of the load-bearing element
13 of the kind shown in Fig. 3. Two load-bearing elements 13
contacting one another in the direction of the arrows 28 thus
have the same basic construction as the load-bearing element
13 of Fig. 3, but that one has only one (single) first leg
15, to which in the manner described above, the second legs
16, 160 are now connected on both sides in the respective
connection regions 17, 170, and on both sides of the first
leg 15 in the connection region 17, 170, respective channels
19, 190 are embodied by means of groovelike indentations 18,
180 of the second legs 16, 160.
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The first variant of the load-bearing elements 13, as
they are shown in Fig. 2, is suitable for use not only in the
peripheral region of building construction regions 12, where
for instance the facing is not to be continued for either
engineering or esthetic reasons, or where there are
interruptions in the facing, but also in the joined-together
state in the direction of the arrows 28 for building
construction regions 12 that are provided with cover elements
14 on both sides of the load-bearing elements 13, while
conversely the variant of the load-bearing element 13 of Fig.
3 is suitable for precisely these middle building
construction regions 12 that are to be faced. The variants
of Fig. 2 as well as those of Figs. 3 and 4 can be produced
in one piece from injection-molded or extruded profiles, for
instance comprising saltwater-resistant aluminum alloy.
The second essential element for the facing system 10
of the invention is shown in Figs. 5 and 6, in which the
cover element 14 or cover elements 14 are shown in Fig. 5
with regard to their makeup and fastening. The cover
elements 14 are essentially plane, flat and sheetlike
elements, which like the load-bearing element 13 can be made
from a suitable saltwater-resistant aluminum alloy. The
cover elements 14 - in Figs. 5 and 6, two cover elements 14
each connected to one load-bearing element 13 are shown -
each have respective protrusions 141, on their ends pointing
toward the load-bearing element 13, which protrusions,
beginning at the respective surfaces 140 spanned by the cover
elements 14, are oriented at an obtuse angle 0; these
protrusions 141 are embodied in a simple way from a
production standpoint, on the respective ends of the cover
elements 14 that point toward the load-bearing element 13, by
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cutting off the corners diagonally, which can be seen clearly
in Figs. 5 and 6. Since the angle R between the two legs 16,
160 and the first leg 15 of the load-bearing element 13 is <
900, the angle 0 between the protrusions 141 and the surface
of the cover element 140 is equal by the same amount,
beginning at a right angle of 90 between the two legs 15 and
16, the protrusions 141 rest flush on the free portion of the
first leg 15, and at the same time, the surfaces 140 of the
cover element 14 also rest flush on the surfaces of the load-
bearing element 13 that are formed by the second legs 16,
160. This situation is shown in Figs. 5 and 6.
The protrusions 141 of the cover element 14, in this
position, are enclosed and grasped in retaining fashion
between the inner faces of a sheathing element 20 embodied in
cross section in the form of a U-shaped profile.
The above-described makeup of the load-bearing elements
13 and cover elements 14 applies in principle to the separate
embodiment of the cover elements 14 shown in Figs. 7 through
9 as well. In these embodiments of the facing system 10 that
are shown in Figs. 7 through 9, no separate sheathing
elements 20 as discrete parts are necessary in order,
together with a respective load-bearing element 13, to form a
sealing closure between cover elements 14 and the load-
bearing element 13. In Fig. 7, one side of the cover element
14 can be seen in detail; Figs. 7 through 9 show views on the
sides or face ends of the cover elements 14 and of the load-
bearing element 13.
The above-described makeup given the basic form of the
facing system is shown in detail in Fig. 8, and thus the
above description is referred to. The cover element 14 of
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Fig. 7 differs, however, from the cover element 14 of Fig. 8
in that the one protrusion 141 of the cover element 14 is
curved or profiled in such a way that it is embodied in the
form of a U-shaped profile in cross section. This special
embodiment is in principle realized in exactly the same way
as the above-described embodiment of the discretely embodied
sheathing element 20, but the one protrusion 141 merges with
the free end 142 of the protrusion 141 and thus is integrally
joined to the cover element 14 here.
If the cover element 14 embodied in accordance with
Fig. 7 is displaced in the direction of the arrow 30 onto the
load-bearing element 13, or its first leg 15, and if in the
process the protrusion 141 of the other cover element 14,
disposed adjacent to the cover element 14 of Fig. 7, is
already resting on the first leg 15 of the load-bearing
element 13 beforehand, then the position shown in Fig. 9 is
assumed. In the position in Fig. 9, the cover element 14,
embodied in cross section in the shape of a U-shaped profile
on its protrusion 141, fits around both the first leg 15 of
the load-bearing element 13 and the angularly embodied
protrusion 141 of the adjacent cover element 14, shown on the
right in Figs. 8 and 9. This connection, as shown in Fig. 9,
is embodied approximately on the order of the connection that
can already be accomplished by means of the discretely
embodied sheathing element 20; see above.
Analogously, a connection is made if for instance the
load-bearing element 13 comprises two load-bearing elements
13 each with only one leg 16, 160, and in the put-together
state then assumes a shape analogous to the load-bearing
element 13 of Fig. 9.
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In a preferred embodiment, the load-bearing element 13
comprises a material having a thickness in the range of 3 mm
(platelike first leg 15) and a thickness in the range of 2 mm
(second leg or legs 16 and 160). The vertical length with
regard to what is shown in the drawings is in the range of 97
mm, while the vertical width is in the range of 104 mm.
In a preferred embodiment, the cover element 14
comprises a metal platelike material, with a width in the
range of 600 mm on average and a thickness in the range of 1
to 3 mm.
It should be pointed out that the dimensions given
above are expressly merely examples for the sake of better
comprehension of the dimensions of the elements of the facing
system 10. In actuality, any technically feasible and
structurally appropriate dimensions are possible, in
accordance with the building construction 11 to be faced.
By way of through holes provided in a suitable way at
certain spacings along the load-bearing element 13, which
pass through the sheathing element 20, the first leg 15 of
the load-bearing element 13, and the two adjacent protrusions
141 of the cover elements 14, a nonpositive connection can be
made by means of a bolt-nut connection 21 between the cover
elements 14, the load-bearing element 13 and the sheathing
element 20, which are furthermore watertight without
requiring that sealing means be provided.
The load-bearing element 13 and thus the cover element
14 can be joined to the building construction 11 via the free
end 150, toward the building, of the first leg 15; see Figs.
and 6.
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Fig. 5 schematically shows the upper part of the
building construction 11 of Fig. 1, embodied in the form of a
"digestion tank", in which the building construction 11 for
instance comprises the aforementioned metal ellipsoid, while
Fig. 6 conversely shows the fastening of the load-bearing
element 13 to the building construction 11 in the lower
region of Fig. 1, in which this building construction region
12 is formed by mineral materials, such as construction
stones and/or concrete and essentially has the form of a
cylindrical jacket.
In the view in Fig. 5, the first leg 15 is fastened via
a screw connection 25 to a separate fastening element 26,
embodied in this case in strutlike fashion, which can be
fastened to the metal body of the building construction 11,
for instance by means of a weld 29, while in the case of the
fastening of Fig. 6, conversely, the fastening element 26 is
embodied in the form of an angle or angle profile that can be
fastened in the masonry or concrete of the building
construction 11 by means of a screw-dowel connection 27. In
this case, the first leg 15 of the load-bearing element 13 is
fastened to the angularly embodied fastening element 26 via a
rivet connection 25. Between the building construction 11
and the inside face 140 of the cover elements 14, insulation
24 may be provided, which however does not contact the inside
face 140 of the cover elements 14, so that air can circulate
in this region.
Water itself that penetrates into the facing system 10
can be drained off in a very simple way through the channels
19, 190, which are formed by the groovelike indentations 18,
180 between the inside face 140 of the covering surfaces of
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the cover element 14 and the aforementioned groovelike
indentations 18, 180 of the second legs 16, 160; see Figs. 5
and 6.
At least the outward-pointing faces of the load-bearing
elements 13 and of the cover elements 14 as well as of the
sheathing element 12, but in particular the outer faces 140
of the cover elements 14, can be provided with a coating 23,
in order to increase the corrosion resistance.
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