Flat building element

Abstract

A building element is provided which comprises a panel of non-metallic material having a pair of flat and parallel faces, namely a top face and a bottom face, and a plurality of lateral faces extending between the flat and parallel faces, at least one beam of metallic material, having a pair of opposed faces, namely a proximal face and a distal face, and a plurality of connection elements of metallic material that rigidly connect the at least one beam to the panel. Each beam is arranged along a respective lateral face of the panel with the proximal face in contact with the lateral face. Each connection element is a plate element comprising a first portion, which is inserted into a respective seat provided on a respective lateral face of the panel and is fixed therein by an adhesive, and a second portion which protrudes from said respective lateral face.

Claims

1. A flat building element comprising: a panel of non-metallic material having a pair of flat and parallel faces, namely a top face and a bottom face, and a plurality of lateral faces extending between said flat and parallel faces, at least one beam of metallic material having a pair of opposed faces, namely a proximal face and a distal face, and a plurality of connection elements of metallic material that rigidly connect said at least one beam to the panel, wherein said at least one beam is arranged along a respective lateral face of said plurality of lateral faces of the panel with the proximal face in contact with said respective lateral face of said plurality of lateral faces, and wherein each connection element of said plurality of connection elements is a plate element comprising a first portion, which is inserted into a respective seat provided on said respective lateral face of said plurality of lateral faces of the panel and is fixed therein by an adhesive, and a second portion, which protrudes from said respective lateral face of said plurality of lateral faces.

2. The flat building element of claim 1, wherein said at least one beam comprises a pair of beams arranged along a pair of opposed and parallel faces of said plurality of lateral faces of the panel.

3. The flat building element of claim 1, wherein said adhesive comprises an epoxy resin-based mixture.

4. The flat building element of claim 1, wherein said first portion of each connection element of said plurality of connection elements has a plurality of holes.

5. The flat building element of claim 1, wherein said second portion of each connection element of said plurality of connection elements is connected to the beam by interlocking connection or welding.

6. The flat building element of claim 1, wherein said second portion of each connection element of said plurality of connection elements has at least one hole for connection to a respective connection element of said plurality of connection elements of an adjacent flat building element through threaded fasteners.

7. The flat building element of claim 1, wherein each connection element of said plurality of connection elements has an L-shaped cross-section, and wherein said respective seat is an L-shaped seat.

8. The flat building element of claim 1, wherein said distal face of said at least one beam has a plurality of holes for insertion of threaded fasteners for connection of said at least one beam to a respective beam of an adjacent flat building element.

9. The flat building element of claim 1, wherein the panel is a multi-layer panel and/or a panel of wooden material.

10. The flat building element of claim 1, wherein the lateral faces of the panel extend perpendicular to said flat and parallel faces.

11. A building system comprising a plurality of flat building elements, each flat building element of said plurality of flat building elements comprising: a panel of non-metallic material having a pair of flat and parallel faces, namely a top face and a bottom face, and a plurality of lateral faces extending between said flat and parallel faces, at least one beam of metallic material having a pair of opposed faces, namely a proximal face and a distal face, and a plurality of connection elements of metallic material that rigidly connect said at least one beam to the panel, wherein said at least one beam is arranged along a respective lateral face of said plurality of lateral faces of the panel with the proximal face in contact with said respective lateral face of said plurality of lateral faces, and wherein each connection element of said plurality of connection elements is a plate element comprising a first portion, which is inserted into a respective seat provided on said respective lateral face of said plurality of lateral faces of the panel and is fixed therein by an adhesive, and a second portion, which protrudes from said respective lateral face of said plurality of lateral faces.

12. The building system of claim 11, wherein each flat building element of said plurality of flat building elements is connected to an adjacent flat building element through threaded fasteners.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

(1) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a flat building element according to an embodiment of the present disclosure,

(2) FIG. 2 is a further perspective view of the building element of FIG. 1,

(3) FIG. 3 is an axonometric view of a connection element of the building element of FIG. 1,

(4) FIG. 4 is a partially-exploded perspective view of the beams and of the connection elements of the building element of FIG. 1, from which the panel has been cancelled for the sake of clarity, and

(5) FIG. 5 is a plan view of a portion of a building system made as a slab and obtained by connection of building elements according to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(6) With reference first to FIGS. 1 and 2, a flat building element according to the present disclosure is generally indicated E.

(7) The building element E defines the basic module of a modular building system with which it is, for example, possible to make horizontal building structures (see FIG. 5).

(8) The building element E basically comprises: a panel P of non-metallic material, preferably wood or other similar material, at least one beam T (two beams, in the embodiment shown herein) of metallic material, preferably steel, and a plurality of connection elements B, made as plate elements, through which each beam T is rigidly connected to the panel P.

(9) As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the panel P has a pair of flat and parallel faces, namely a top face S and a bottom face I, and a plurality of sides or lateral faces L, that extend between the top face S and the bottom face I, preferably perpendicular thereto.

(10) Each beam T is arranged along a respective lateral face L of the panel P. In addition, each beam T is arranged in such a way that the respective longitudinal axis is directed parallel to the top face S (or to the bottom face I) of the panel P.

(11) The beams T are preferably elements with a hollow cross-section, for example with a cross-section of rectangular shape, and have a pair of opposed faces 12 and 14, namely a proximal face 12 (that is, a face facing towards the panel P) and a distal face 14 (that is, a face facing towards the opposite side with respect to the panel P). The distal face 14 has connection holes 16, through which suitable threaded fasteners (not shown) can be inserted to provide a mechanic connection between two beams T of two adjacent building elements E.

(12) With reference also to FIG. 3, in the proposed embodiment the connection elements B have a substantially L-shaped cross-section or, in broader terms, a cross-section of such a shape as to extend along at least two non-parallel directions, in order to allow for the transmission of loads to the beams T along the two principal directions of the panel P.

(13) Each connection element B comprises a first portion 20 adapted to be connected to the panel P and a second portion 22 adapted to be connected to a beam T. The first portion 20 is inserted into a special seat 18 (in the present case, where the connection element B has an L-shaped cross-section, an L-shaped seat) provided on a respective lateral face L of the panel P and fixed therein by an adhesive, for example by an epoxy resin-based adhesive. The first portion 20 has a plurality of holes 24 to facilitate the adhesive connection with the panel P. The adhesive may thus be percolated inside the seats 18 so as to ensure the permanent fixing of the connection elements B to the panel P. The firmness of the connection between the connection elements B and the panel P is ensured by the presence of the holes 24 in the first portion 20 of the connection element B.

(14) The second portion 22 of each connection element B protrudes outwardly from the respective side L of the panel P. The second portion 22 has a groove 25, a tab 26 and a slotted hole 27 in the tab 26. Each connection element B is mechanically connected to the respective beam T, by interlocking and subsequent welding in the area of the groove 25 of the connection element B (see FIG. 1).

(15) The proximal face 12 of the beam T is thus in contact with the respective lateral face L of the panel P where the seat 18 is provided and into which the first portion 20 of the connection element B is inserted.

(16) Furthermore, by threaded fasteners (not shown) inserted into the slotted holes 27, the second portion 22 of a connection element B is mechanically connectable with the second portion of a connection element fixed to the adjacent beam of an adjacent building element.

(17) The precision required to obtain a firm and resistant connection between the connection elements B and the beams T is made possible by the modern laser cutting techniques, that can reach a cutting precision up to even 0.1 mm. The same connection elements B are also preferably obtained by laser cutting process starting from a suitable metal profile.

(18) In a preferred configuration of the present disclosure, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the building element E comprises a single panel P of rectangular shape, which is made of wooden multi-layer cross-laminated material and is connected to two steel beams T with a hollow rectangular cross-section through a plurality of connection elements B which are made as plate elements having an L-shaped cross-section and are arranged on the lateral faces L of the panel P, wherein the first portions 20 of the connection elements B are connected to the seats 18 of the panel P by epoxy resin and the second portions 22 of the connection elements B are connected to the beams T by interlocking and welding. According to such a configuration, therefore, the beams T are arranged substantially in the same plane as that of the panel P and, accordingly, the building elements E are also arranged substantially in the same plane, once connected with the respective adjacent beams T to one another.

(19) Alternative configurations may however be envisaged, wherein the building element E comprises a greater number of panels P, be they arranged side-by-side on the same plane or arranged on angled planes, or wherein the beams T are connected to the panel P along at least one of the other sides of the panel, even by suitable modifications of the shape of the beams T in plan view and/or by suitable modifications of the shape of the cross-section of the beams T.

(20) The panel P of each building element E may have, in plan view, a shape other than the rectangular one illustrated in the drawings, for example a trapezoidal or parallelogram shape. The panel P may also have one or more openings and/or one or more through or blind holes.

(21) The beams T may have a cross-section other than the one illustrated herein, for example an hexagonal, octagonal or, more generally, a polygonal cross-section.

(22) The present disclosure also relates to a building system comprising a plurality of flat building elements, as shown in FIG. 5. Such a building system is obtained by assembling a plurality of building elements E according the present disclosure side-by-side. For example, the connection between two adjacent building elements E can be obtained by insertion of suitable threaded fasteners (not shown) in the slotted holes 27 of a connection element B of the first building element E so as to connect that connection element B with a respective connection element B of the second building element E, adjacent to the first one.

(23) The advantages obtainable with the use of a building element according to the disclosure for making a modular building system are, for example, the following: lightness: the system ensures an improved lightness, both in structural and in architectural terms, reaching a high load-bearing capacity to weight ratio. In this respect, also the environmental sustainability is improved, by virtue of the reduced need of material, the design constraints remaining unchanged; compactness: the side-by-side arrangement of the beams T with respect to the panel P allows to obtain an overall thickness that is smaller than that of the existing solutions, with clear advantages at the design stage (possibility to reduce the thickness allocated to the structure of the slabs, of the walls, of the coverings etc.) and at the construction stage (saving of space dedicated to storage and transport, ease of assembly and handling, ease of removal for replacement and maintenance); dry-mount assembly: the system is designed to be assembled in situ with simple connection operations using screws and/or nuts, without adding mortar or other glue components, which facilitates and accelerates the assembly procedure; automation: the system is designed to allow quick manufacturing and marking of the components in the prefabrication stage, and its basic components, that is panels, beams and connection elements, can be manufactured by manufacturing processes using electronically-controlled machine tools; seismic-resistance: the use of building elements according to the present disclosure to make the horizontal floor structures and the vertical walls of a building provides the entire structure with high resistance and stiffness properties, both under horizontal loads and under vertical loads, thereby significantly limiting the damages that may be caused by seismic events, first of all by virtue of the reduction in the seismic structural mass.

(24) The principle of the disclosure remaining unchanged, embodiments and constructional details may vary widely from those described by way of non-limiting examples, without thereby departing from the scope of the disclosure as described and claimed herein.