Curtain wall

Abstract

Curtain wall including mullion profiles, transom profiles and panels, where the mullion profiles extend vertically, with the transom profiles being fixed at right angles to the mullion profiles, where the transom profiles and the mullion profiles define rectangular openings. The panels are placed in the openings to close these openings, where the panels are secured by means of first glazing beads, that are attached to the mullion profile by means of first attachment aids, where the first attachment aids and the mullion profiles are designed to attach the first attachment aids to the mullion profile, where the first attachment aids and the first glazing beads are designed to snap the first glazing beads onto the first attachment aids.

Claims

1. A curtain wall comprising: one or more mullion profiles, one or more transom profiles and one or more panels, wherein the one or more mullion profiles consist of monolithic profiles, wherein the one or more mullion profiles do not comprise any perforations towards an outside of the curtain wall, wherein the one or more mullion profiles extend vertically, wherein the one or more transom profiles are attached at right angles to the one or more mullion profiles, wherein the one or more transom profiles and the one or more mullion profiles define rectangular openings, wherein the one or more panels are placed in said openings to close the openings, wherein side edges of the one or more panels are fitted in rabbets of the mullion profiles and of the transom profiles with seals, wherein the rabbets in the mullion profiles have a fixed indivisible width and wherein the one or more panels are secured along an inside of the curtain wall in the mullion profiles by means of first glazing beads that are composed of a rigid material and are provided with a respective said seal and are attached to the mullion profiles by means of first attachment aids, wherein the first attachment aids and the one or more mullion profiles are configured to snap the first attachment aids onto the mullion profiles, wherein the first attachment aids and the first glazing beads are configured to snap the first glazing beads onto the first attachment aids in a direction parallel to a plane of a respective panel of the one or more panels.

2. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the first attachment aids and the first glazing beads are designed to snap the first glazing beads together with the seals onto the first attachment aids in the direction parallel to the plane of the respective panel.

3. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the first glazing beads are made of aluminium.

4. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the first attachment aids are made of plastic.

5. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the first attachment aids and the one or more mullion profiles are designed to snap the first attachment aids to the mullion profiles in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the respective panel, wherein the first attachment aids and the first glazing beads are designed to snap the first glazing beads onto the first attachment aids in the direction parallel to the plane of the respective panel.

6. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the first attachment aids are profiles that extend over only a portion of a length of the first glazing beads.

7. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the first glazing beads are each secured to a respective mullion profile of the one or more mullion profiles by at least two first attachment aids that are spaced apart.

8. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the one or more panels are glass panels.

9. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the first glazing beads are fixed to mullion profiles only by means of first attachment aids.

10. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the transom profiles are Z-profiles with a first vertical leg directing upward and located on an inside of the transom profile and a second vertical leg directing downward and located on an outside of the transom profile and a horizontal section between the first and second leg.

11. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the seals are formed by flexible plastic or rubber.

12. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the one or more mullion profiles and the first glazing beads are arranged such that the first glazing beads rest against the mullion profiles, with a side of the first glazing beads facing away from the respective panel in question.

13. The curtain wall of claim 12, wherein the second glazing beads are fixed to transom profiles only by means of second attachment aids.

14. The curtain wall of claim 1, wherein the one or more panels are fixed by means of second glazing beads that are attached to the transom profiles by means of second attachment aids, wherein the second attachment aids and the one or more transom profiles are adapted to attach the second attachment aids to the transom profiles, wherein the second attachment aids and the second glazing beads are designed to snap the second glazing beads to the second attachment aids.

15. The curtain wall of claim 14, wherein the second attachment aids are profiles that extend over only a portion of a length of the second glazing beads and that the second glazing beads are each attached to a respective transom profile of the one or more transom profiles, by at least two second attachment aids that are spaced apart.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) With the intention of better showing the characteristics of the invention, a preferred configuration according to the present invention is described hereinafter by way of an example, without any limiting nature, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

(2) FIG. 1 schematically represents an outer view of a curtain wall according to the invention;

(3) FIGS. 2 and 3 schematically represent a cross-sectional view of the curtain wall of FIG. 1 taken along line II-II, in which parts are omitted for clarity's sake in both figures;

(4) FIG. 4 schematically represents a cross-section of the curtain wall of FIG. 1 along line IV-IV;

(5) FIG. 5 schematically represents a cross-section of the curtain wall of FIG. 1 along line V-V;

(6) FIG. 6 schematically represents a part of the curtain wall of FIG. 1 and shows a step in the manufacturing procedure of the curtain wall of FIG. 1;

(7) FIG. 7 schematically represents the result of the step of FIG. 6 in a view according to F7;

(8) FIG. 8 schematically represents a part of the curtain wall of FIG. 1 and shows a step in the manufacturing process of the curtain wall of FIG. 1;

(9) FIGS. 9 and 10 schematically show parts of the curtain wall of FIG. 1 in perspective;

(10) FIG. 11 schematically shows a next step in the manufacturing process of the curtain wall of FIG. 1 in perspective;

(11) FIG. 12 schematically represents in cross-section analogous to FIG. 5 a next step in the manufacturing process of the curtain wall of FIG. 1;

(12) FIGS. 13 and 14 schematically represent in side view, and top view respectively, a next step in the manufacturing procedure of the curtain wall of FIG. 1, and

(13) FIGS. 15 and 16, schematically represent in side view, and top view respectively, a next step in the manufacturing procedure of the curtain wall of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(14) The curtain wall 1 shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 consists of a structure of vertical mullions 2 between which horizontal transoms 3 are attached. In the openings formed by the mullions 2 and the transoms 3, panels are placed, in this example, but not necessarily, glass panels 4, which are seated with their edges in the mullions 2 and the transoms 3.

(15) The mullions 2 are formed by mullion profiles 5 with a width B1 of 56 mm. The mullion profiles 5 are shown separately in a cross-sectional view in FIG. 6.

(16) The vertical mullion profiles 5 consist of four sub-profiles, namely an aluminium tubular sub-profile 6 on the inside, an aluminium sub-profile 7 on the outside and two plastic insulation profiles 8. These four sub-profiles 6, 7, 8 are assembled into a monolithic entity by means of rolling, i.e. mechanical deformation of lips on the aluminium sub-profiles 6, 7 to clamp the plastic profiles 8.

(17) The mullion profiles 5 have a lateral undercut groove on both sides, namely a deep lateral groove 9 on one side, in FIGS. 2 and 3 on the right side, and a shallow groove 10 on the other side. The deep lateral groove 9 has a depth D1 of 28 mm, and the shallow lateral groove 9 has a depth D2 of 14 mm.

(18) Both grooves 9 and 10 serve as a rabbet 11 for the side edges of the panels 4. The access opening 12 of the lateral grooves 9, 10 has a horizontal dimension, which is 54 mm wide. The maximum horizontal dimension A2 of the lateral grooves 9, 10 is approximately 76 mm.

(19) The sub-profiles 6, 7 and 8 of the mullion profiles 5 are inseparably connected to each other, which means that they cannot be uncoupled from each other without causing irreversible damage. This means that the grooves 9 and 10 cannot be opened without damage and thus that the width A1 of the access opening 12 is a fixed size. At the bottom 9′ and 10′ of the two lateral grooves 9, 10 a narrow second groove 13 is provided.

(20) The transoms 3 are mainly formed by transom profiles 14 onto which an aluminium glazing beads 15 are attached to the outside of the curtain wall 1. The transom profiles 14 are shown separately in a cross-sectional view in FIG. 8.

(21) The transom profiles 14 are Z-shaped profiles, having a first vertical leg 16 on the inside, a second vertical leg 17 on the outside and a section 18 between both legs 16, 17.

(22) The transom profiles 14 have a total height H1 of 56 mm and a horizontal dimension A3 of 64 mm.

(23) It is important to note that in a slanting direction, deviating approximately 60° from the horizontal direction, the transom profiles 14 have a much smaller dimension A4 of about 34 mm as shown in FIG. 8.

(24) The transom profiles 14 consist of three sub-profiles, namely an aluminium inner sub-profile 19, a portion of which forms the first leg 16, an aluminium outer sub-profile 20, a portion of which forms the second leg 17 and a plastic insulation profile 22. These three sub-profiles 19, 20, 22 are firmly attached to each other by means of rolling, i.e. mechanical deformation of lips on the aluminium sub-profiles 19, 20 in order to clamp the plastic profiles 22.

(25) The inner and outer section profiles 19, 20 are each provided with an internal chamber 23.

(26) As illustrated in FIG. 4, the glazing beads 15 are provided with clipping parts 21 or other fastenings in order to attach them to the transom profiles 14, for example against the vertical leg 17 on the outside of the curtain wall 1.

(27) As is particularly apparent from FIG. 5, the glazing beads 15 are provided with water drainage openings 24 at a small distance from the mullion profiles 5. Such drainage openings 24 may additionally also be provided in one or more other locations in the glazing beads 15. This depends on the length of the transoms 3.

(28) The transom profiles 14 are attached to the mullion profiles 5 because parts of the transom profiles 14, and more specifically the first and second legs 16, 17, rest in the recesses 25 shown in FIGS. 7 and 11 in the walls 26 of the lateral grooves 9, 10 of the mullion profiles 5 and are vertically supported by the bottom edge 27 of these recesses 25. How this is achieved will be explained later.

(29) At the ends of the transom profiles 14, sealing pieces 28, 29 are provided that are made of rubber with a Shore hardness of 75. These sealing pieces 28, 29 fit exactly into the lateral grooves 9, 10 of the mullion profiles 5 and seal these grooves 9, 10 off in the vertical direction to prevent possible infiltration water coming into grooves 9 and 10 and constitute as such a vertical barrier, so that the water cannot possibly pass through to an underlying module—the so-called waterfall principle or cascade drain, but possible infiltrated water is individually drained from each panel (or facade plane) separately.

(30) The transom profiles 14 are preferably equipped to drain this water to the outside of the curtain wall 1, with the upper side of the transom profile 14 slanting downwards to the outside of the curtain wall 1, for example.

(31) The raised leg 16 on the inside of the curtain wall prevents water from infiltrating to the inside.

(32) Details of these sealing pieces 28, 29 and the manner in which they are attached to the transom profiles 14 will be addressed later. These sealing pieces 28 and 29 are shown in FIGS. 3, 9 and 10 and are preferably manufactured in a single piece by injection moulding or the like.

(33) In order to secure the attachment of the transom profiles 14 to the mullion profiles 5, the transom profiles 14 on the inside of the second leg 17 are provided with an undercut groove 30. At one or both ends of this undercut groove 30 is a rod, in this example an aluminium slat 32 mounted in the groove 30 so that it can be slid in the groove. When mounted, the slat 32 extends beyond the undercut groove 30 with a protruding end, said end is fitted in a second groove 13 of the mullion profiles 5 and acts as a lock.

(34) Due to the fact that the groove 30 and the slat 32 are located on the inside of the outer vertical leg 17 of a transom profile 14, the transom profile 14, in its end position, can be locked from the inside during the construction of the curtain wall 1 by sliding slat 32 from a groove 30 into a groove 13 of a mullion profile 5.

(35) The side edges 33 of the glass panels 4 are secured in the lateral grooves 9, 10 of the mullion profiles 5 by being fitted between the outer profile 7 of the mullion profiles 5 and the vertical glazing beads 34 on the inside of curtain wall 1. In this setup, rubber gaskets 35 are placed between the outer profile 7 and the glass panels 4, and between the vertical glazing beads 34 and the glass panels.

(36) Glazing beads are profiles made out of a rigid material and which serve with the aid of a gasket to accommodate the play between the thickness of the panels 4 and the width A1 of the rabbet 11 or rather: to accommodate the differences in thickness between thicker or thinner panels. These glazing beads have a width that has to be adjusted to the thickness of the panels that are to be installed.

(37) The vertical glazing beads 34 are attached to the mullion profiles 5 by means of first attachment aids 36, used in two variants, namely a first variant 36A for use in the deep lateral groove 9 and a second variant 36B for use in the shallow lateral groove 10.

(38) These first attachment aids 36 are PVC profiles with a profile length of approximately 3 cm. At a distance of approximately 60 cm, they are snapped onto the mullion profiles 5 and the vertical glazing beads 34 are in turn snapped onto the first attachment aids 36.

(39) The glazing beads 15 protrude to a certain height above the section 18 of the transom profiles 14 and together with the upwardly directed leg 16 of the transom profiles 14, they form a rabbet 37 for the lower edge 39 of an upper glass panel 4.

(40) The lower edge 39 of the glass panels 4 is supported by glass supports 40 that are attached to the first leg 16 of the transom profiles 14, near the mullion profiles 5, as shown in FIG. 5.

(41) The lower edge 39 of the glass panels 4 is fitted between the glazing beads 15 on the outside of the curtain wall 1 and a horizontal glazing bead 42 on the inside. There are rubber gaskets 35 inserted between the glazing beads 15 and the glass panels 4 and between the horizontal glazing beads 42 and the glass panels 4, as shown in FIG. 4.

(42) The horizontal glazing beads 42 are attached to the transom profile 14 by means of second attachment aids 43 on the inside of the curtain wall 1 as shown in FIG. 4.

(43) These second attachment aids 43 are PVC profiles with a profile length of approximately 3 cm. They are attached to the transom profiles 14 at intervals of about 60 cm and the horizontal glazing beads 42 are snapped onto the second attachment aids 43.

(44) The upper edge 44 of the glass panels 4 is fitted between the glazing beads 15 on the outside of the curtain wall 1 and another horizontal glazing bead 45 on the inside which is provided with a rubber gasket 35 and which is snapped directly onto the transom profile 14.

(45) It is noted that in some figures parts have been omitted to make other parts more visible. This is especially true of FIGS. 2 and 3, where in FIG. 2 mainly the sealing pieces 28, 29 and the ends of the transom profiles 14 are omitted, and in FIG. 3, mainly the glass panels 4, the vertical glazing beads 34 and the first attachment aids 36 for the vertical glazing beads 34 are omitted.

(46) The manufacture and construction of the curtain wall 1 as described above is as follows.

(47) First, the mullion profiles 5 and transom profiles 14 are prepared. At the positions where the transom profiles 14 are to be connected to the mullion profiles, the mullion profiles are provided with recesses 25, especially in the walls 26 defining the access opening 12 of the lateral grooves 9, 10. This is shown by means of shading in FIG. 6, which indicates where material of the mullion profiles 5 is removed, for example by milling. The obtained result is shown in FIG. 7.

(48) The transom profiles 14 are also prepared. At their ends, a part of the transom profile 14 is milled for a length of about 11 mm. Shading indicates this part in FIG. 8.

(49) These steps are normally, but not necessarily, automated and performed in a specialized workshop before the profiles 5,14 are transported to the location where the curtain wall 1 is to be built.

(50) Next, the required glass supports 40 and second attachment aids 43 are provided in a groove routed for this purpose in the first leg 16.

(51) Subsequently, sealing pieces 28, 29 are slid on the ends. These are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 and exist in two variants, i.e. a first variant 28 as shown in FIG. 9, to be placed on the end of a transom profile 14 intended to be fitted into the shallow lateral groove 10 of the mullion profiles 5 and a second variant 29, as shown in FIG. 10, to be placed on the end of a transom profile 14 intended to be fitted in the deep lateral groove 9 of the mullion profiles 5.

(52) The pre-assembled sealing pieces 28, 29 attached to the transoms both have an upper surface 46 formed from planes slanting to a lowest point 47 away from the bottom 9′ or 10′, respectively of the grooves 9 and 10 in which the sealing pieces 28, 29 are fitted. Also, both sealing pieces 28, 29 have a recess 48 for receiving the ends of the transom profiles 14 with two ridges 49 with corresponding positions and formats relative to the chambers 23 in the transom profiles 14.

(53) These recesses 48 do not fully extend through the sealing pieces 28, 29. The walls 51 perpendicular to the transom profiles 14, i.e. the rear walls in FIGS. 9 and 10, are completely closed. The sealing pieces 28, 29 sealingly fit with these walls 51 against the bottom 9′ and 10′ of a groove 9 or 10 in which they have been mounted.

(54) In top view, the sealing pieces 28, 29 are sized to fit precisely in the lateral grooves 9, 10.

(55) Both sealing pieces 28, 29 are also provided with air chambers 50, wherein at the position of the air chambers 50, the outer wall is relatively thin so that the air chambers 50 are deformable.

(56) The sealing pieces 28 according to the first variant are fixed permanently onto the transom profiles 14, for example by means of glue. The sealing pieces 29 of the second variant are slid onto the transom profiles 14 and are not secured further onto the transom profiles 14.

(57) Then a previously mentioned aluminium slat 32 is fitted into the undercut groove 30 of the second leg 17 at both ends of the transom profiles 14.

(58) Next, the mullion profiles 5 are mounted in their desired position.

(59) Hereafter, the transom profiles 14, in an orientation in which they are rotated about 60° on their longitudinal axis and in which they are not horizontal, are held in the plane defined by the mullion profiles 14, as shown in FIG. 11.

(60) The transom profiles 14 are now brought to a horizontal orientation, as indicated by arrow P, with the ends being inserted into the lateral grooves 9, 10 of the mullion profiles 5. Due to the direction of rotation of the transom profiles 14, rotated around their profile direction, these ends easily fit in the access openings 12 of these lateral grooves 9, 10.

(61) Then the transom profiles 14 are moved downwardly until they are in their desired position, i.e. at the recesses 25 in the mullion profiles 5. Then the transom profiles 14 are rotated as indicated by arrow Q. The situation as shown in FIG. 12 is now reached.

(62) The transom profiles 14 need to be rotated even further, starting from the situation as shown in FIG. 12. Because this requires relatively much force, preferably a tool 52 is used. This is a tool 52 with a head 53 with a partially complementary shape to the transom profile 14 and a lever 54 attached to the head 53. The lever 54 of the tool 52 is moved in the direction of arrow Q until the transom profile 14, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, is positioned in its end orientation in the recesses 25.

(63) The sealing pieces 28, 29, more specifically their air chambers 50, deform considerably during this operation, but resume their original shape when the transom profile 14 is in its final orientation. The sealing pieces 28, 29 hereby completely close the lateral grooves 9, 10 in the vertical direction.

(64) Next, the glazing beads 15 are attached with the gaskets 35 to the sub-profile 20 of the transom profiles 14 on the outside of the curtain wall. This can easily be done from the inside of the curtain wall using the clips 21.

(65) The glass supports 40 are pushed into their desired place, i.e. about 20 mm from the mullion profiles 5, and second attachment aids 43 are shifted until they are spread out over the length of the transom profiles 14, and the first attachment aids 36 for the vertical glazing beads 34 are snapped into their place as shown schematically in FIGS. 13 and 14.

(66) The glass frame are already provided with rubber gaskets 35 and neoprene blocks 55 are glued onto the glass supports 46, as shown in FIG. 5.

(67) The slats 32 in the undercut grooves are pushed outwardly until they slide with an end into the second groove 13. They are then fixed in that position, for example with a little glue or by a screw. The transom profiles 14 can now no longer separate from the mullion profiles 5.

(68) The construction can now be provided with glass panels 4.

(69) First, a wooden block 56 with a recess 57 for the first leg 16 is temporarily placed over the first leg 16. On top of this a glass panel 4 is placed in a slanted orientation. This is illustrated in FIGS. 15 and 16. The side edge 33 of the glass panel 4 that fits in the deep lateral groove 9 is now shuffled into this lateral groove 9 as indicated by arrow R.

(70) Next, the other side edge 33 is shuffled along the opposite mullion section 5 as indicated by arrow S. To this end, the depth D1 of the groove 9 must be sufficient to shuffle the glass panel 4 sufficiently deep into this groove 9 with a pivotal movement of the glass panel 4 towards the shallow groove 10 and to then shuffle the glass panel 4 to the right, so that the glass panel 4 fits with both side edges 33 about 10 mm into a groove 9 or 10.

(71) Then the glass panel 4 is centered so that it fits approximately 10 mm into both lateral grooves 9, 10 and then it is lowered onto the neoprene blocks 55. The wooden block 56 can now be removed.

(72) Next, the horizontal and vertical glazing beads 34, 42, 45 and their gaskets 35 can be applied. The glazing beads 34, 42, 45 can simply be snapped into place along the inside of the curtain wall 1. At the upper horizontal glazing bead 45, this is done directly onto the transom profile 14. The lower horizontal glazing bead 42 is snapped onto the second attachment aids 43 and through this onto the transom profile 14. The vertical glazing beads 34 are snapped onto the first attachment aids 36 and through this onto the mullion profile 4.

(73) Now the final curtain wall 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, is built.

(74) It is noted that, outside of the parts where the glass supports 40 are attached and located just next to the mullion profiles 5, the transom profiles 14 have no bearing function for the glass panels 4.

(75) If water reaches the horizontal gaskets 35 on the outside, this water is diverted to the outside through the drainage openings 24 into the glass frames 15 as shown in FIG. 5. If water gets to the vertical gaskets 35 into the lateral grooves 9, 10, it is diverted via the upper surfaces 46 of the sealing pieces 28 and 29 to the transom profiles 14 and from there it is drained to the outside via the drain openings 24 in the glass frames 15.

(76) If wind or other causes engender slight deformations of the curtain wall 1, the transom profiles 14 can slide a few millimetres into the sealing pieces 29 according to the second variant, which causes less stress to the curtain wall 1. Movements and deformation can also be absorbed by rubber sealing pieces 28 and 29 without jeopardizing the waterproofness of the curtain wall 1.

(77) Although the construction method described above is done from the inside, it is also possible from the outside, although an installation from the inside usually has advantages.

(78) The present invention is by no means limited to the embodiment described as an example and shown in the drawings, but a curtain wall according to the invention can be realized in all kinds of variants, without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined by the claims.