DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] FIG. 1 schematically shows a cross-section of a construction profile 1 according to the present invention. The profile 1 comprises a bottom 3 and two side walls 11 and 21. Preferably and as shown, the bottom 3 has a central part which is raised with respect to edge parts of this bottom. The profile 1 comprises two profile halves 10 and 20, which are connected to each other by an insulating strip 2. The first profile half 10 has a first side wall 11 and a first bottom section 14, which mutually make an angle of substantially 90°. The bottom section 14 comprises three bottom section parts 15, 16, 17, wherein the first bottom section part 15 connects to the side wall 11, wherein a second bottom section part 16 connects to the first bottom section part 15 and makes an angle with it, and wherein the third bottom section part 17 connects to the second bottom section part 16 and makes an angle with it, all such that the three bottom section parts 15, 16, 17 define a generally S-shaped contour wherein the third bottom section part 17 is directed substantially parallel to the first bottom section part 15. The mutual distance D between the first bottom section part 15 and the third bottom section part 17, measured perpendicularly to the surface of those bottom section parts 15 and 17, is determined by the size of the said angles and by the length of the intermediate second bottom section part 16, as will be clear to a person skilled in the art.

[0024] Within the context of the present invention, it is possible that the bottom section 14 is an entirely flat bottom section, such that the three bottom section parts 15, 16, 17 are aligned with each other. However, the embodiment as shown is preferred because the S-shaped contour offers an increased strength.

[0025] In FIG. 1, some detail variations are illustrated for the end of the first side wall 11 directed away from the bottom section 14. In a first variation, illustrated at A, the end of the side wall 11 is simply straight. In this case, the construction profile 1 is also indicated as a U-profile 1U.

[0026] In a second variation, illustrated at B, the first side wall 11 is provided with an end strip 12 which is folded inwards with respect to the side wall 11 over an angle of approximately 90°. In this case, the construction profile 1 is also indicated as a C-profile 1C. An advantage of the C-profile with respect to the U-profile is the increased stiffness of the side wall 11.

[0027] Within the context of the present invention, however, more variations are possible. By way of example, a variation of the U-profile of detail A is shown at C, in which the first side wall 11 is provided with an end strip 12, which is folded inwards over an angle of approximately 180°. Further, a variation of the C-profile of detail B is shown at D by way of example, in which the first side wall 11 is provided with a first end strip 12 which is folded inwards with respect to the first side wall 11 over an angle of approximately 90°, and a second end strip 13 which is folded inwards with respect to the first end strip 12 over an angle of approximately 180°, back to the first side wall 11.

[0028] In a manner similar as discussed above regarding the first profile half 10, the second profile half 20 has a second side wall 21 and a second bottom section 24 which comprises three bottom section parts 25, 26, 27, which bottom section parts together define a substantially S-shaped contour. In respect of the free end of the second side wall 21, the same applies as that what has been mentioned in the above with respect to the free end of the first side wall 11, but this is not illustrated separately in FIG. 1.

[0029] The two profile halves 10 and 20 are arranged next to each other, wherein their bottom sections 14 and 24 are directed towards each other, and wherein the third bottom section part 17 of the first bottom section 14 has an end segment 18 which overlaps an end segment 28 of the third bottom section part 27 of the second bottom section 24. The width of the overlap is indicated at L in FIG. 1. The mutually overlapping bottom segments 18 and 28 are connected to each other by the strip 12 between them.

[0030] In the embodiment schematically shown in FIG. 1, the first bottom section part 15 of the first bottom section 14 is aligned with the first bottom section part 25 of the second bottom section 24. This implies that the vertical distance between the third bottom section part 27 of the second bottom section 24 and the first bottom section part 25 of the second bottom section 24, indicated in FIG. 1 at d, is smaller than the corresponding distance D between the third bottom section part 17 of the first bottom section 14 and the first bottom section part 15 of the first bottom section 14.

[0031] The two bottom sections 14 and 24 together, i.e. the six bottom section parts 15, 16, 17, 27, 26, 25 together, form the bottom 3 of the construction profile 1. The side walls 11 and 21 mutually are substantially parallel.

[0032] The strip 2 is made of a material which has good sound-insulating properties and which has good thermal insulating properties. A preferred material which has appeared suitable is a durable and weather-resistant 40° Shore EPDM-rubber. The thickness of the strip 2 can for instance be chosen in the range of 1 to 5 mm, but is preferably chosen in the range of 2 to 4 mm. The width of the strip 2, which preferably corresponds to the overlap L, can for instance be chosen in the range of 10 to 50 mm or larger, but has in a preferred embodiment a width of about 15-25 mm, wherein a width of about 20 mm is most preferred.

[0033] The total width of the construction profile 1, i.e. the distance between the two side walls 11 and 21, can be chosen as desired. Although in that case the overlap L and the width of the strip 2 can vary also, the width of the strip 2 is preferably always set at the same value. Varying the total width is then preferably done by varying the width of the third bottom section parts 17 and 27, while keeping constant the width of the remaining bottom section parts and of the end segments 18 and 28.

[0034] FIGS. 2 and 2A schematically show a longitudinal section of the two overlapping bottom segments 18, 28 and the strip 2 in between. The strip 2 can be a contiguous strip, as illustrated in FIG. 2A, but in the variation of embodiment indicated in FIG. 2, the strip 2 is an interrupted strip, such that separate strip sections 2A and 2B are visible in FIG. 2, with gaps 4. In the region of these gaps 4, the bottom sections 14 and 24 are thus not connected to each other. Hereby, a further improvement of the insulation can be achieved, both as regards thermal transmission and as regards sound transmission, without this affecting the strength of the profile. For practical reasons, however, the contiguous strip illustrated in FIG. 2A is preferred.

[0035] FIG. 3 is a perspective view which illustrates the use of the construction profile 1 according to the present invention in an application situation. In the application situation shown in FIG. 3, a skeleton 30 of a double wall 31 for an outer wall 32 has been built with the construction profile 1. A U-shaped construction profile 1U is arranged on a floor; the same applies to the ceiling, but this is not shown. In the U-shaped construction profile 1U lying on the floor, C-shaped construction profiles 1C are arranged, substantially perpendicular to the lying U-shaped floor profile 1U and with a regular mutual distance. Insulation mats 35 are arranged between the C-shaped uprights IC. Wall panels 36, for instance plasterboards, are arranged to the U-shaped beams 1U and the C-shaped uprights 1C. The skeleton 30 formed by the profiles 1U, 1C is capable of fully supporting the double wall 31, and can stand free from the outer wall 32, such that a cavity is present between the outer wall 32 and the double wall 31.

[0036] Regarding heat and sound, such a double wall 31 has an insulating effect which is determined on the one hand by the insulating mats 35 and the wall panels 36, and on the other hand by the construction profiles 1. When using conventional metal profiles, which are made as a whole, the bottom of the profile forms a thermal bridge between the side walls of the profile, and also there is a good sound transfer. In the case of the profile 1 proposed by the present invention, such a heat transfer and sound transfer is counter acted because the metal bottom sections 14 and 24 do not touch each other. Either they are attached to each other by the strip 2 with heat-insulating and sound-insulating properties or they are even entirely free from each other (interspaces 4).

[0037] FIG. 4A schematically shows a top view of a part of a strong wall 40 constructed using conventional profiles 41. Such a strong wall 40 is provided with finishing plates 46A, 46B at both sides. In such walls thermal insulation is no primary requirement, but sound insulation is very important. In order to meet those requirements while using conventional profiles 41, so-called double skeleton framework is used, in fact consisting of two half-walls placed next to each other, wherein the one skeleton supports the one wall and wherein the other skeleton supports the other wall. In that case, the uprights 44A, 44B of the two different skeletons are placed at a mutual distance A to each other. It is true that a good insulation is achieved by this, but building such a wall requires relatively much labor and material and thus is relatively expensive. Furthermore, environmental problems are associated with this: since the profiles are usually manufactured of galvanized iron, the use of a double skeleton implies a double environmental burden regarding zinc.

[0038] FIG. 4B is a comparable view of a strong wall constructed with profiles 1 as proposed by the present invention. With those profiles, it is possible to build a wall 27 in single skeleton framework offering the same or improved insulating properties. It can be recognized in FIG. 4B that a single upright 48 (profile 1C) supports both the one finishing plate 46A as the opposite finishing plate 46B. The total thickness of the wall 40 can thus be reduced, and building can be performed simpler and quicker.

[0039] Now, a preferred method for manufacturing a profile according to the present invention will be explained, referring to FIGS. 5 and further. As basic material, use is made of galvanized iron strips 41, which are provided on a roll 50 in a desired width and with large length. Although the profiles proposed by the present invention can be manufactured from another metal, galvanized iron strips are preferred.

[0040] In a first process step, the metal strip 51 is wound off the supply roll 50, and at least one edge part 52 of a surface 53 of this strip 51 is subjected to pre-processing actions. These pre-processing actions comprise consecutively:

[0041] a grinding process for roughening this edge portion 52, indicated at 52A in FIG. 5;

[0042] a degreasing process with any suitable grease-solvent, indicated at 52B in FIG. 5.

[0043] Subsequently, an adhesive primer 54 is applied to the roughened and degreased edge portion 52. A commercially available adhesive primer can be used here; an adhesive primer which has appeared suitable is, for instance, the adhesive primer which is available from the company HENKEL under the name CHEMOSEAL.

[0044] A strip 51 provided with adhesive primer 54 in this way is also indicated as preprocessed strip 61 in the following. Such a preprocessed strip 51 is considered a first intermediate product in the context of the present invention. If desired, this intermediate product can, preferably after the adhesive primer 54 has dried, be wound again on a supply roll 59, and then can be kept in storage for some time. Further processing steps can then be performed on the basis of a preprocessed strip 61 wound on a supply roll 59, as will be discussed in the following by way of example. However, it is very well possible to perform the following processing steps directly following the preprocessing actions discussed above.

[0045] In a following process step, two of such preprocessed strips 61 are connected to each other. It is noted that the two preprocessed strips 61 to be attached to each other can be mutually identical strips, such that no separate supplies of left and right strips are necessary. Further it is noted that, if the following process step is performed directly following the preprocessing actions discussed above, use can be made of two preprocessing stations for preprocessing two strips 51 in parallel.

[0046] As shown in FIG. 6A, a first preprocessed strip 61₁ is wound off from a first supply roll 59₁, the strip 61₁ substantially being directed horizontally and the surface 53₁ provided with adhesive primer being on top. An EPDM rubber 2 is applied to the surface portion 52 provided with adhesive primer 54. Preferably, the EPDM rubber 2 is injected as a viscous mass by means of one or more nozzles 62, which can be stationary. The EPDM rubber can leave the nozzle 62 as a continuous flow, such that a continuous ridge or bead of EPDM rubber 2 is thus applied to the strip 61₁, as shown, but the rubber can also leave the nozzle 62 with intervals and thus be applied as a series of consecutive pads.

[0047] It is noted that the thickness of the rubber ridge is shown exaggeratedly large in FIG. 6A.

[0048] It is further noted that, during application, the EPDM rubber can have a temperature of approximately 20-25° C. (room temperature), but if desired it is also possible to apply the rubber at a slightly raised temperature of approximately 40-60° C.

[0049] A second preprocessed strip 61₂ is wound off from a second supply roll 59₂, which is arranged in mirror image and slightly displaced with respect to the first supply roll 59₁, wherein the second preprocessed strip 61₂ is directed substantially parallel to the first preprocessed strip 61₁ and the surface 53₂ provided with adhesive primer is at the underside. The two preprocessed strips 61₁ and 61₂ are displaced with respect to each other in such a way that the respective edge parts 52₁, 52₂ provided with adhesive primer are aligned with each other, wherein the surfaces 53₁, 53₂ provided with adhesive primer are facing each other. The two supply rolls 59₁ and 59₂ can be arranged directly above each other (albeit axially displaced with respect to each other), as shown.

[0050] Subsequently, the two strips 61₁, 61₂ with the EPDM rubber 2 in between are brought to a raised temperature and pressed against each other. The temperature achieved here is for instance approximately 180° C. As will be clear to a person skilled in the art, the composition of EPDM rubber can vary in practice, and a suitable temperature can vary depending on the exact composition.

[0051] Subsequently, the two strips 61₁, 61₂ and the EPDM rubber 2 are allowed to cool down. After having cooled down sufficiently, the rubber 2 has sufficient intrinsic strength and sufficient adhesion with the two strips, such that it can be strained mechanically. The thus-formed combination of the two strips 61₁, 61₂ and the EPDM rubber 2, which will hereinafter be indicated as composite strip 71, is considered a second intermediate product in the context of the present invention. This composite strip 71 can directly be further processed for forming a construction profile, but it can also, as intermediate product, be wound on a supply roll 69 for later processing. In this case, it is preferred to avoid small radii of curvature, such that the winding roll for the composite strip preferably has a relatively large diameter of for instance approximately 80 cm.

[0052] In a preferred continuous process, the strips 61₁, 61₂ are guided through a series of subsequent rollers 63, as shown in FIG. 6A, which press the strips 61₁, 61₂ against each other at the correct mutual distance, which mutual distance defines the final thickness of the EPDM strip to be formed. The series of rollers forms a roller train, wherein a first set of rollers in the roller train are also adapted to supply heat to the strips 61₁, 61₂ and the rubber 2 in order to let this reach a temperature of about 180° C., while a second set of rollers in the roller train are also adapted to withdraw heat from the strips 61₁, 61₂ and the rubber 2 in order to achieve a certain desired cooling of the composite strip. Preferably, it is assured that the temperature of the composite strip has dropped to approximately 40-60° C.

[0053] In a subsequent stage, the composite strip 71 is folded by means of rollers to a gutter shape in a continuous process. Such a folding process by means of rollers is known per se and is, therefore, not described extensively.

[0054] Preferably, a raised central part 5 (see FIG. 7A) is formed in the bottom part 3 by two rollers 81, 82 (FIG. 8) cooperating with each other, wherein the one roller 81 is provided with a recess 83 and the other roller 82 is provided with a corresponding elevation 84, wherein the elevation 84 of this second roller 82 presses the central part of the material of the gutter into the recess 83 of the first roller 81. The recess 83 of the first roller 81 has a first recess section 83A intended to support a part of the third bottom section part 27 of the second bottom section 24 to be formed, and a second recess section 83B intended to support the entire third bottom section part 17 of the first bottom section 14 to be formed, including the end segment 18 thereof. The elevation 84 of the second roller 82 has a first elevation section 84A intended to press away a part of the third bottom section part 17 of the first bottom section 14 to be formed, and a second elevation section 84B intended to press away the entire third bottom section part 27 of the second bottom section 24 to be formed. Each roller can be comprised of two segments, as shown.

[0055] An important advantage of the composite strip 71 according to the present invention is that the rubber connection material 2 is confined between two metal parts 61₁, 61₂, whereby it is possible to perform the shaping of the raised central bottom part 5 by means of rollers 81, 82. Such shaping step by means of rollers is not or hardly possible if a rubber coupling strip would have an H-profile, or if the two bottom halves are connected to each other by means of rivets.

[0056] Then, ends of the composite strip 71 are folded over approximately 90° by means of folding rollers (not shown) in order to form the folded end edges 12 of a C-profile (see FIG. 7B); this step can be omitted if a U-profile is to be formed. By means of a subsequent set of folding rollers, side wall parts 11 and 21 are folded over substantially 90° with respect to the bottom part 3 (see FIG. 7C).

[0057] In the above, it has been described that the first bottom section parts 15 and 25 of the two bottom sections 14 and 24 can be aligned with each other. In that case, those two bottom section parts 15 and 25 will both rest on a floor in the case of a profile used as a bottom profile (see profile 1U in FIG. 3). In that case, it might happen that sound which reaches the one wall, reaches the other wall via the bottom contact. Therefore, the present invention provides a variation of embodiment which provides additional insulation against contact sound, which variation of embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 9. In this variation of embodiment, the first bottom section part 15 of the first bottom section 14 is at a higher level than the first bottom section part 25 of the second bottom section 24, such that, in the case of placing on a floor, the first bottom section part 15 of the first bottom section 14 remains free from this floor. The first bottom section 14 is then supported by a support strip 90 of a suitable sound-damping material, such as for instance a neoprene-like material which is to be placed separately, and the first bottom section 14 is pressed downwards onto this support strip 90 by its own weight and by the second bottom section 24, which is secured to the floor by means of for instance screws (not shown). This support strip 90 can be placed under the first bottom section part 15 of the first bottom section 14 or, as shown, under the third bottom section part 17 of the first bottom section 14. This support strip 90 can have a thickness of about 3 mm.

[0058] In the embodiment illustrated, the third bottom section part 17 of the first bottom section 14, under which this support strip 90 is placed, is above the third bottom section part 27 of the second bottom section 24. Then, when the third bottom section part 17 of the first bottom section 14 is pressed by the third bottom section part 27 of the second bottom section 24, the rubber strip 2 is put under strain of tension. Preferably, the support strip 90 is placed under that bottom section part which is the lowest of the two bottom section parts, i.e. the third bottom section part 27 of the second bottom section 24 in FIG. 9; in that case, the rubber strip 2 is put under pressure when the third bottom section part 27 of the second bottom section 24 is pressed by the third bottom section part 17 of the first bottom section 14.

[0059] It will be clear to a person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments discussed above but that several variations and modifications are possible within the protective scope of the invention as defined in the attached claims. For instance, it is possible that the profiles are used for constructing a skeleton of a ceiling.

[0060] In the above, the profile has been described for constructing a skeleton of a separation wall. Separation walls are relatively light-weight walls. However, it is also possible to manufacture the profiles with such a thickness and strength that they can act as building construction parts of a supporting wall.