BUILDING ELEMENT, A METHOD FOR THE MANUFACTURE THEREOF, A PROFILE AND A COMBINATION OF A PROFILE AND A PANEL

Abstract

A building element, comprising a profile and a panel, characterized in that the profile and the panel are mutually coupled by means of a deformation of the panel inside the profile. The profile preferably comprises a housing with an inner wall and an internal space defined within the inner wall and at least one access opening in the inner wall providing access to the inner space, wherein in the inner space at least a part of a form element is arranged, which form element is coupled to the inner wall on a side remote from the access opening, and wherein a thickness of the form element near the coupling to the inner wall is smaller than at a position between the coupling to the inner wall and the access opening.

Claims

1. A building element, comprising a profile and a panel, wherein the profile and the panel are mutually coupled by means of a deformation of the panel inside the profile.

2. The building element according to claim 1, wherein the profile comprises a housing with an inner wall and an internal space defined within the inner wall and at least one access opening in the inner wall providing access to the inner space, wherein in the inner space at least a part of a form element is arranged, which form element is coupled to the inner wall on a side remote from the access opening, and wherein a thickness of the form element near the coupling to the inner wall is smaller than at a position between the coupling to the inner wall and the access opening.

3. The building element according to claim 1, wherein the panel, in undeformed condition, comprises two main surfaces situated opposite each other, wherein the main surfaces each comprise a plate-shaped element of a material deformable when heated, and wherein between the two plate-shaped elements there is a deformable core material.

4. The building element according to claim 1, wherein a width of the access opening of the profile is substantially equal to a distance between the two main surfaces of the panel in undeformed condition.

5. The building element according to claim 3, wherein the core material comprises a non-solid material, for instance with a honeycomb structure or a foam structure with closed or open pores.

6. The building element according to claim 2, wherein the form element comprises a shoulder surface directed away from the access opening.

7. The building element according to claim 2, wherein the profile in the internal space comprises an inner wall which extends arcuately from the access opening to the coupling of the core material with the outer wall.

8. The building element according to claim 3, wherein the plate-shaped elements comprise a thermoplastic material, and wherein the plate-shaped elements preferably also comprise a fiber filling or fiber reinforcement.

9. The building element according to claim 1, wherein the profile comprises at least one material selected from a group consisting of a metal, a thermosetting material and a material with a resistance to deformation up to at least 170° C.

10. The building element according to claim 9, wherein the material with a resistance to deformation has a resistance to deformation up to at least 200° C.

11. The building element according to claim 9, wherein the material with a resistance to deformation has a resistance to deformation up to at least 250° C.

12. The building element according to claim 9, wherein the material with a resistance to deformation has a resistance to deformation up to at least 450° C.

13. A combination for manufacturing a building element according to claim 1, comprising a profile and a panel.

14. A method for manufacturing a building element according to claim 1, comprising the steps of joining the profile and the panel by inserting the panel into the access opening while deforming at least part of the panel inside the profile.

15. A method according to claim 14, comprising the step of deforming the two plate-shaped elements around the form element.

16. The method for manufacturing a building element according to claim 14, comprising the step of deforming the deformable core material.

17. A method according to claim 14, comprising the step of heating at least a part of the profile to a temperature at which at least a part of the panel is in a plastically deformable state and wherein the profile is in is in a non-plastically deformable state.

18. A method according to claim 17, wherein the temperature is between 150° C. and 650° C.

19. A profile for use in the building element according to claim 1, comprising a housing with an inner wall and an interior space and an access opening providing access to the interior space, wherein a form element is arranged in the interior space, which form element is coupled to the inner wall on a side remote from the access opening, and wherein a thickness of the form element near the coupling with the inner wall is smaller than at a position between the coupling with the inner wall and the access opening.

20. The profile according to claim 19, wherein the profile comprises a central material part with an internal space on different sides, each of said internal spaces with a form element and an access opening.

Description

[0032] The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to drawings. The drawings hereby show:

[0033] FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a first profile according to the invention,

[0034] FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a second profile according to the invention,

[0035] FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of a third profile according to the invention,

[0036] FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of a fourth profile according to the invention,

[0037] FIG. 5 is a sectional side view of a fifth profile according to the invention,

[0038] FIG. 6 is a sectional side view of a sixth profile according to the invention,

[0039] FIG. 7 is a sectional side view of a seventh profile according to the invention,

[0040] FIG. 8 is a side sectional view of an eighth profile according to the invention,

[0041] FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a profile according to FIG. 4,

[0042] FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a panel according to the invention, and

[0043] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional side view of a coupled panel and a profile according to the invention.

[0044] In the figures, the same parts are indicated by the same reference numerals. However, the parts necessary for a practical implementation of the invention are not all shown, because of the simplicity of the representation.

[0045] FIGS. 1 to 4 and 6 to 8 show various shapes of profiles 1 according to the invention. The profiles 1 each comprise a housing 2 with an inner wall 3 and a form element in the interior space 4 defined by the inner wall. An access opening 5 provides access from the environment 6 to the interior space 4. The form element has in each of the FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 a different shape. In FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, a neck 7 is provided between the form element 8, 9, 10 and the rear wall 12, while in FIG. 3, the form element 11 is formed directly on the rear wall 12.

[0046] In FIG. 4, deviating from FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, an arc-shaped design of the inner wall 3 is used.

[0047] FIG. 5 shows a variant of the profile 1 in which two form elements 8 are provided, analogous to the variant according to FIG. 1.

[0048] FIG. 6 shows a variant of the profile 1, analogous to the variant according to FIG. 1, wherein the form element 18 tapers to a point.

[0049] FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show a variant in which the dimension of the profile 1, measured from the access opening to the rear wall, is significantly shorter than in the other embodiments as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6. The walls 21, 22 and 23, 24 respectively are shorter than the walls 25, 26 of the other profiles. As a result, in the variant according to FIG. 8 shows the form element 20 partly outside the space defined by the side walls 23, 24. In the variant according to FIG. 7, the mold element 19 lies entirely within the walls defined by the side walls 21, 22, but the surface near the end of the side walls 21, 22 is flattened so that a substantially continuous surface with only two access openings to the space 4 is formed. To suitably place a panel in the internal space of the profiles according to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, a mold will preferably have to be placed on either side of the access openings to the internal spaces 4 in order to correctly insert the plate-shaped elements into the internal spaces 4.

[0050] In FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the profile 1 according to FIG. 4, wherein the curved shape of the inner wall 3 is visible.

[0051] FIG. 10 shows a panel 13 for use in the building element according to the invention, wherein two plate-shaped elements 14 are separated by a deformable core material 15, here with a honeycomb-shaped structure 16. The plate-shaped elements 14 are made of a thermoplastic material and contain a fiber reinforcement. When the profile 1 is heated to a temperature at which the thermoplastic material becomes deformable, the plate-shaped elements 14 will deform when the panel 13 is inserted into the access opening 5 of the profile 1 and through contact with the heated profile 1, causing the thermoplastic material to be deformed during further introduction of the panel 13 in the interior space 4 of the profile 1 and to take the form of the interior space 4 and finally to fill it completely. The fiber reinforcement or fiber filling in the thermoplastic will co-deform in the internal space 4, so that upon cooling to a temperature at which the thermoplastic stiffens, an inseparable coupling between panel 13 and profile 1 is obtained at that temperature.

[0052] FIG. 11 finally shows a side view in section of a coupled profile 1 and panel 13 through which the building element 17 according to the invention is obtained.

[0053] The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the figures. The invention is limited only by the appended claims.

[0054] The invention also extends to any combination of measures described above independently of each other.