Claims:
I claim
1. An assembly for mounting a plate upon a support structure, comprising a first anchor member formed on said support structure; a second anchor member formed on said plate; adjustable supension means interconnecting said anchor members, said adjustable suspension means including a bolt connected with one of said anchor members and deflectible relative thereto, the other of said anchor members having an upper edge; a hook-forming element of U-shape adjustably receiving said bolt and having a pair of shanks formed with hooks resting upon said edge engaging therebehind; a nut threaded onto said bolt and bearing upon said element; and articulating means interposed between said second member and said bolt.
2. The assembly defined in claim 1 wherein said support structure is a rough building and said plate is a facade-forming slab.
3. The assembly defined in claim 2 wherein said first member is formed with a horizontal ledge, said hooks engaging over said ledge, said bolt emerging from the rear of said slab.
4. The assembly defined in claim 3 wherein said element has a bight interconnecting said shanks and formed with a bore receiving said bolt with play, said nut being accommodated between said shanks.
5. The assembly defined in claim 3, further comprising a reingorcing web interconnecting said shanks at said hooks.
6. The assembly defined in claim 3 wherein said bolt extends rearwardly from said slab at an obtuse angle thereto.
7. The assembly defined in claim 3, further comprising an adjustable spacer interposed between said slab and said structure.
8. An assembly for mounting a plate upon a support structure, comprising a first anchor member formed on said support structure; a second anchor member formed on said plate; and adjustable suspension means interconnecting said anchor members, said adjustable suspension means including a bolt connected with one of said anchor members and deflectible relative thereto, the other of said anchor members having an upper edge; a hook-forming element of U-shape adjustably receiving said bolt and having a pair of shanks formed with hooks resting upon said edge engaging therebehind, and a nut threaded onto said bolt and bearing upon said element, said first member being formed with a horizontal ledge, said hooks engaging over said ledge, said bolt emerging from the rear of said slab, said element having a bight interconnecting said shanks and being formed with a bore receiving said bolt with play, said nut being accommodated between said shanks.
9. The assembly defined in claim 8 wherein said support structure is a rough building and said plate is a facade-forming slab.
10. The assembly defined in claim 9 wherein said bolt is elastically deflectably connected with said second anchor member.
11. The assembly defined in claim 9, further comprising a reinforcing web interconnecting said shanks at said hooks.
12. The assembly defined in claim 9 wherein said bolt extends rearwardly from said slab at an obtuse angle thereto.
13. The assembly defined in claim 9, further comprising an adjustable spacer interposed between said slab and said structure.
Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
My present invention relates to a mounting assembly for securing a facade plate or slab to a building structure, and, more particularly, to a system for mounting the facade-forming slab on a building structure with three degrees of freedom of adjustment of the slab relative to the support.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In modern building construction it has become a common practice to form the building facing or facade from a plurality of facade-forming plates or slabs having the desired aesthetic character and appearance and providing a protective shell or face along a wall of the structure. It is not uncommon to use, for this purpose, sandwich or laminated panels of concrete or other mineral material, complete with insulating layers, or simple slabs of concrete, stone or the like. The outer face of the slab may be prefinished, e.g. by grinding or polishing, or provided with a desirable texture of color during casting of the slab or by subsequent rooling, carving or sandblasting. Typical slabs of this type or concrete slabs formed from a mix containing large-size aggregates and sandblasted to expose the aggregate particles and thereby provide a pleasing texture and coloration.
It has been proposed to mount such slabs on a building framework (i.e. steel, girders, beams and columns or on a concreted framework, on reinforced concrete frameworks or on raw masonry or monolithically cast walls) by bolt arrangements anchored to the building structure. Such systems have, however, the disadvantage that proper alignment of the facade slabs is difficult and adjustment of the position of each slab is time-consuming and laborious.
It has been proposed, moreover, to provide anchors in the supporting structure and in the facade-forming slab and to interconnect these anchors by connecting slabs or elements which can be formed on one of the anchors and engage the other. For such systems it is also necessary to provide spacers at the anchoring assembly to properly retain the facade-forming slab at a given distance from the supporting structure. In general, these prior-art systems have the disadvantages that they allow insufficient mobility of the facade-forming slab relative to the supporting structure to accommodate the various degrees of adjustment which are eseential for proper alignment, plumbing and orientation of the facade-forming slab.
It also should be noted that conventional anchoring assemblies, attachment systems and mounting arrangements for securing facade-forming slabs to supporting structures have the disadvantage that the assembly is incapable of withstanding all of the stresses and forces which develop during mounting of the slab and after it has been positioned.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved mounting assembly for securing a facade-forming slab to a supporting building structure whereby the disadvantages of earlier systems can be avoided.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an anchoring system for securing a facade plate to the raw or unfinished building structure which enables the slab to be emplaced with ease and yet affords the possibility of adjustment in several directions.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a building construction system or arrangement of the general character described which, however, is greatly simplified by comparison with earlier systems and yet allows substantially three degrees of freedom of adjustment of the facade-forming slab.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are attained, in accordance with the present invention, with a mounting system for securing a slab, e.g. a facade-forming or facing plate, to a support (e.g. the rough or unfinished building structure), which comprises anchor means on the supporting structure forming a generally horizontal ledge, a hook-type connecting member on the slab engageable over this ledge, and a bolt-and-nut anchor tying the hook member to the slab. According to an important feature of the invention, the mouth of the hook is turned downwardly and the hook has the configuration of an U, the bight of which receives the nut-and-bolt connection which constitutes a variable-effective-length member between the slab and the ledge.
Another important feature of the invention resides in the connection of the hook to the slab via the nut-and-bolt connection which permits deflection or relative displacement of the hook and the slab in a plane perpendicular to the slab and more or less angularly relative thereto. The deflection preferably has a center located outwardly of the slab and along the bolt member by means of which the slab is retained at the hook.
The present invention thus provides a device for fastening wall plates or slabs to the external faces of building structures especially for the fastening of the facade slabs to unfinished building faces, which comprises an anchor member formed on and secured to the building structure, a connecting member provided with a hook formation engageable with the fixed anchor member of the building structure, and an adjustable variable-length link between the connecting element and the slab. A spacing element can also be provided between the slab and the support structure. The adjusting device may consist of the U-shaped suspension hook mentioned earlier and a variable length bolt arrangement cooperating with the hook, the hook having downwardly turned shank ends both of which overhang the ledge or anchor member on the building structure. Rotation of the nut relative to the bolt varies this spacing between the slab and the hook while the yieldable or deflectible character of the bolt permits transverse adjustment.
The connecting member or hook-forming member can be of a number of different configurations. For example, the shanks of the U may extend perpendicularly to the plane of the slab and to the building structure and can lie in vertical planes, the bight being generally cylindrical and having vertical generatrices. In this case, the bolt may have a vertical portion received within the bight and anchored to the hook at the top thereof via the adjusting nut. The mouth of the hook can be formed by a pair of downwardly turned projections of the shanks. Alternatively, the shanks may lie in vertical planes while the bight is semicylindrical and is defined by straightline generatrices inclined to the plane of the slab and the building face. In this case, at least a portion of the length of the bolt externally of the slab is similarly inclined and received between the shanks of the U. In still another construction, the hook may be formed with a web between the shanks through which a bore is formed to accommodate the bolt; in the latter case, the nut can be accommodated between the shank of the U.
Deflectability of the hook-forming member relative to the slab may be insured by providing play between the bolt and the hook-forming member, although I prefer to render the free end of the bolt emerging from the slab somewhat deflectible, either by cantilevering this free end so that it can plastically or elastically deform or by providing an articulation along the bolt, i.e. between its free end and the point at which the bolt is anchored to the slab.
The system described above provides numerous advantages over conventional systems for fastening slabs or fastening plates to buildings. Firstly, at least three degrees of freedom of adjustment of the slab are ensured. In other words, the slab can be adjusted horizontally with respect to its spacing from the building, can be adjusted vertically with respect to the position of the slab vis-a-vis the supporting ledge, and can be adjusted horizontally parallel to this ledge if the latter extends along the building structure. The deflectability of the bolt also permits a somewhat angular adjustment of the slab about a horizontal axis. These adjustments are permitted without stressing the anchor arrangement. Furthermore, the slab can simply be lowered until the hook engages the ledge and hence mounting of the slab is simplified. The system is also of simple and inexpensive construction and torque and torsional stresses are practically excluded.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is a side-elevational view of the assembly, according to the present invention, showing the slab in its mounted state and with parts thereof in vertical cross section.
FIG. 2 is a detail view, in vertical section, of an anchor mounted upon the bending structure according to another embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 3 is an elevational view taken in the direction of arrow III of FIG. 1, partly broken away;
FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 1 illustrating another embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 5 is an end view of the hook member of the system of FIG. 4; and
FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 1 showing another embodiment.
SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION
In FIGS. 1 and 3, I have shown a device for mounting a prefabricated concrete facade-forming slab 1 on the face 2a of an unfinished or raw building structure generally represented at 2. The slab 1 may be of rectangular configuration and preferably has an outer face 1a which is exposed when the slab is in place to provide a pleasing appearance. This face 1a may be textured in any of the ways previously described or can be polished or otherwise finished. The surface 2a of the rough building structure may be unfinished but is concealed by the facing slab 1.
The assembly for suspending the slab 1 from the building structure 2 comprises an anchor element 3 which is shown to be formed with a vertical flange 3a extending in the horizontal direction and embedded in the concrete of the building structure. A leg 3b extends forwardly from this flange and forms the floor of a horizontally elongated recess 2b formed in face 2a of the building structure 2. The leg 3b, in turn, terminates in an upwardly turned horizontal ledge 15 forming a suspending edge for the hook. At spaced locations, the flange 3a may be provided with threaded holes 3c into which bolts 3d can be screwed to lock the hook at any selected position of adjustment in the horizontal direction which is perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1 and thus is parallel to the ledge 15 (see the arrow A in FIG. 3).
The mounting assembly also includes an anchor element 5 embedded in the slab 1 and here shown to be a reinforcing bar or stirrup which has a vertical portion 5a parallel to the face 1a of the slab. The upper portion of the bar 5 is bent rearwardly at 5b at an obtuse angle (preferably between 100° and 170°) while an U-shape 4 has its shanks 4a and 4b welded to this rearwardly bent portion of the anchorage. A hinge member 12 has an eye through which the bight 4c of strap 4 is passed so that pivotal movement of this member 12 about an axis B perpendicular to the plane of the paper if FIG. 1 and parallel to the plane of the paper in FIG. 3, is permitted.
Elements 4 and 5 serve to anchor to the facade-forming slab 1 and adjusting device represented generally at 6, 7, 8 which supports the slab 1 upon the anchor 3 previously described. This adjustment mechanism comprises a hook 6 of an U configuration such that a pair of shanks 9 are formed in a common plane, i.e. the plane of the axis C (FIG. 1). The free ends of the shanks 9 are turned downwardly to form hooks 9a with mouths connected by a web 14 in the form of a channel adapted to rest upon the ledge 15. The bight 11 of the U-shaped hook is formed with an axially extending bore 10 accommodating the shaft or bolt 7 which, at its free end, threadedly receives an adjusting nut 8. The other end of the bolt 7 is secured to the pivot member 12 previously described. The pivot 12, of course, allows relative angular movement of the slab and the adjustment structure (arrow D in FIG. 1) while accommodating linear movement in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the plane of the plate as represented by arrow E. Vertical movement in the direction of arrow F is likewise accommodated by rotating the nut 8. A spacer device may also be provided as shown at 20 if desired. The spacer device is here a sleeve 21 embedded in the concrete of structure 2 and a threaded stud 22 adjustably received in the sleeve and provided with a prismatic head 23 which can be engaged by a wrench. A pedestal 24 increases the area of attack of the spacer device upon the slab and thus distributes the applied force thereon. It should be noted that once the slab is suspended by its hook from the ledge 15, the spacing between it and the building structure can be adjusted via the device 20 whereas the height of the slab can be established by the variable-length adjusting device 7, 8. The horizontal position of the slab can be established by moving the entire suspension system along the ledge 15 as previously described. It will be apparent that, as an alternative to the articulation 12, 4, shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, simple deflectibility of the bolt 7 can be afforded in other ways with similar results. Some of these variations will be described below.
In the systems of FIGS. 1 and 3, moreover, I provide between the wall of bore 10 and the bolt 7, some play or clearance to enable the nut 8 to be threaded onto the bolt to adjust the height. Furthermore, member 12 not only is able to swing about the axis B but may shift as represented by arrow G (FIG. 3) along the bight 4c of the strap 4 to provide an additional degree of freedom without releasing the suspension. When the slab is in place, member 12 can be located or welded fixed to member 4 or permitted to remain displaceable relative thereto. Member 12 can be permanently mounted on member 4 or removable therefrom.
In the modification shown in FIG. 2, the ledge 115 is formed by a plate 103 bolted at 103a to the face 102a of the support structure 102. The bolt 103a may also serve to spead an expansion anchor 103b which is inserted into a hole 102b drilled in the concrete body 102. In this case, the shanks 109 and the reinforcing web 114 of the hook-forming member 106 engage the ledge 115 along the external face fo the building structure. The system is intended to permit mounting of slabs 1 even when a special anchorage has not been provided during the forming of the supporting structure 102.
FIGS. 4 and 5 show another embodiment of the present invention wherein the slab 201 is provided with a vertical anchor bar 205 which lies parallel to be exposed face 201a and the concealed face 202a of the slab and the supporting structure respectively. In this embodiment, the adjustment bolt 207 is unthreaded. The hook-forming member 206 has an U profile or U-shaped horizontal cross section and comprises a cylindrical bight 209a and a pair of vertically extending shanks 209 between which the bolt 207 is accommodated. In the region 216 at which the bolt emerges from the slab 201, it is elastically deflectible to permit adjustment in the direction of arrow H. The other forms of adjustment, of course, are identical to those previously described. In this case, the nut 208 bears agains the horizontal surfaces 218 at the top of the U while downwardly turned noses 217 define the hooks at the upper ends of each of the shanks 209. A washer 219 is disposed between the nut and the surfaces 218. In this embodiment, the support structure 202 is formed with a channel 202b, the lower edge of which is defined by an overhanging plate 203 secured by anchors 203a in the concrete. The upper edge 215 of this plate, of course, forms the suspension ledge for the hook-forming member 206. In the system of FIG. 1, the articulation 4, 12 was accommodated in a recess 230 cut out of the rear upper corner portion of the slab. A similar recess 230 accommodates the suspension device in the embodiment of FIG. 4 and a spacer arrangement 220 is provided between the slab and the support structure for purposes already described. In the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, moreover, the surfaces 218 lie perpendicularly to the plate 203 and the ledge 215.
In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, the slab 301, which is spaced from the building structure 302 by the spacer device 320 as previously described, is formed with a recess 330 accommodating a hook-forming member 306. By contrast to the system of FIG. 4, in which the generatrix of the bight of the hook-forming member 206 was vertical and parallel to the plane of the slab, in the embodiment of FIG. 6, the generatrix of cylindrical bight 309a is inclined at an obtuse angle to the plane of the slab, the angle having the same range as given above in connection with FIG. 1. The shanks 309, however, lie in vertical planes and rest against the anchor plate 303 which is secured to the support 302 as previously described. A ledge 315, over which the hooks 317 extend, has likewise been described previously. In this embodiment, however, the bolt 307 is bent at an obtuse angle to the anchor 305 and is deflectible between the hook-forming member 306 and the point at which the reinforcing bar 305 emerges from the slab. The nut 308 here bears upon a shaped washer 319 having a concave face 319a cooperating with the complementary curved faces 318 of the hook-forming member 306 which allows relative angular displacement of the bolt and the hook-forming member in the direction of arrow J. A ball-shaped or spheroidal surface or an inclined surface permitting spheroidal surface or an inclined surface permitting such movement is preferred.