A supporting structure for a wall or roof partition

Abstract

A supporting structure (102) for a wall or a roof partition (104;120) of a building structure (100), comprises an internal core structure (114) extending in a longitudinal direction, and first and second external covering profiles (106) for at least partially covering the core structure (114). The covering profiles (106) define inwardly and outwardly facing surfaces (108) facing one another, with slits (116) being formed at the inwardly facing surfaces (108). The core structure comprises at least two bands of material (114) which are mutually offset. The supporting structure (102) is suitable as a post, pillar, column, lath, batten, rafter, truss, girder, bar, or beam for a wall or roof partitions of a greenhouse, a cabin or shanty, a wall of a house, a stand-alone wall or roof partition, such as pent roof, a canopy, a fence, a windbreak or a solar panel structure The bands of material (114) are interconnected at their ends only and are pre-tensioned to provide stiffness, and may be configured to minimize their thermal conductivity.

Claims

1. A supporting structure for a wall or a roof partition, comprising: an internal core structure extending in a longitudinal direction; first and second external covering profiles extending in the longitudinal direction for at least partially covering the internal core structure, each of the first and second external covering profiles defining inwardly facing surfaces facing one another; wherein the internal core structure extends between and engages into respective slits in the inwardly facing surfaces of the first and second external covering profiles; characterized in that the internal core structure comprises at least two bands of material which are mutually offset in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, wherein each of the at least two bands of material defines respective end portions at its opposite ends when seen in the longitudinal direction; the at least two bands of material are interconnected only at their end portions; the supporting structure further comprises bracket structures for pre-tensioning the at least two bands of material in the longitudinal direction, the bracket structures attaching to the opposite ends of each of the at least two bands of material and interconnecting the at least two bands of material; each one of the bracket structures extends beyond the respective end portions of the at least two bands of material in the longitudinal direction.

2. The supporting structure according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least two bands of material comprises of a solid piece of material.

3. The supporting structure according to claim 1, wherein each of the at least two bands of material, when seen in a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, extends by a first dimension in one direction and by a second dimension in a second direction, which is perpendicular to the first direction, and wherein the first dimension is at least three times the second dimension, and wherein the first dimension is transverse to the inwardly facing surfaces of the covering profiles.

4. The supporting structure according to claim 1, wherein the at least two bands of material are made from a non-metallic material or from a composite component.

5. The supporting structure according to claim 4, wherein the at least two bands of material have a thermal conductivity of at most 5 W/mK at 20 C.

6. The supporting structure according to claim 1, comprising a biasing structure for biasing the first and second external covering profiles towards one another.

7. A building structure comprising a wall or roof partition and at least one supporting structure for supporting the wall or roof partition, the at least one supporting structure comprising: an internal core structure extending in a longitudinal direction; first and second external covering profiles extending in the longitudinal direction for at least partially covering the internal core structure, each of the first and second external covering profiles defining inwardly facing surfaces facing one another; wherein the internal core structure extends between and engages into respective slits in the inwardly facing surfaces of the first and second external covering profiles; wherein, the internal core structure comprises at least two bands of material which are mutually offset in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, wherein each of the at least two bands of material defines respective end portions at its opposite ends when seen in the longitudinal direction; the at least two bands of material are interconnected only at their end portions; the supporting structure further comprises bracket structures for pre-tensioning the at least two bands of material in the longitudinal direction, the bracket structures attaching to the opposite ends of each of the at least two bands of material and interconnecting the at least two bands of material; each one of the bracket structures extends beyond the respective end portions of the at least two bands of material in the longitudinal direction.

8. The building structure according to claim 7, wherein the at least one supporting structure comprises at least two supporting structures, and wherein the bracket structure attaches to the at least two bands of material of each of the at least two supporting structures.

9. The building structure according to claim 8, wherein the longitudinal direction of a first one of the at least two supporting structures extends at an angle relative to the longitudinal direction of a second one of the at least two supporting structures, and wherein the angle is defined by the bracket structure.

10. The building structure according to claim 8, wherein the at least two bands of material of each respective one of the at least two supporting structures are interconnected by a cross element of the bracket structure.

11. The building structure according to claim 8, comprising at least three supporting structures, a first one of which extends transversely to the other two, and wherein the bracket structure attaching to said other two supporting structures extends through an opening formed in the bands of the first supporting structure.

12. The building structure according to claim 8, comprising at least three supporting structures, a first one of which extends transversely to the other two, and wherein the bracket structure is arranged in the vicinity of the ends of three of the supporting structures to provide a tensioning force to them in at least two directions.

13. The building structure according to claim 11, wherein a first one of the supporting structures extends in a vertical column of a wall partition of the building structure, and wherein the longitudinal direction of the first supporting structure extends vertically, and wherein two other ones of the supporting structures extend in a roof partition of the building structure, and wherein the longitudinal direction of said other ones of the supporting structure extends horizontally or at an acute angle relative to the vertical direction.

14. The building structure according to claim 7, wherein the at least one supporting structure comprises at least two such supporting structures providing a ground-to-ground tensioning system extending from at least two ground attachment points through the at least two supporting structures.

15. The building structure according to claim 14, wherein the at least two supporting structures comprise at least two upright supporting structures and at least one transversely extending supporting structure, and wherein the bands of material of the at least two upright structures and the transversely extending structure are pre-tensioned and mutually interconnected by the bracket structures.

16. The supporting structure according to claim 3, wherein the first dimension is perpendicular to the inwardly facing surfaces of the covering profiles.

17. The supporting structure according to claim 4, wherein the composite component is non-metallic.

18. The building structure according to claim 12, wherein a first one of the supporting structures extends in a vertical column of a wall partition of the building structure, and wherein the longitudinal direction of the first supporting structure extends vertically, and wherein two other ones of the supporting structures extend in a roof partition of the building structure, and wherein the longitudinal direction of said other ones of the supporting structure extends horizontally or at an acute angle relative to the vertical direction.

19. The building structure according to claim 8, wherein the at least one supporting structure comprises at least two such supporting structures providing a ground-to-ground tensioning system extending from at least two ground attachment points through the at least two supporting structures.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] Embodiments of the invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0037] FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a building structure according to the invention including a plurality of supporting structures of the invention;

[0038] FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sections of embodiments of supporting structures according to the invention;

[0039] FIGS. 4 and 5 depict embodiments of interconnections between adjacent embodiments of supporting structures according to the invention;

[0040] FIGS. 6-8 illustrate embodiments of bracket structures for interconnecting supporting structures according to the invention;

[0041] FIGS. 9-12 illustrate further embodiments of building structures according to the invention;

[0042] FIGS. 13-18 illustrate further embodiments of supporting structures according to the invention;

[0043] FIG. 19 shows a cross-section of an embodiment of a building structure according to the invention in the form wall or roof partition;

[0044] FIG. 20 shows a cross-section of an embodiment of a building structure according to the invention in the form of a double-glazed window section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] To the extent the same reference numbers are used in multiple drawings herein, elements designated by such reference numbers may only be referred to once, it being understood that identical or equivalent elements having identical or equivalent functions are designated by the same reference numbers in the drawings.

[0046] The building structure 100 shown in FIG. 1 forms a greenhouse comprising a plurality of wall and roof partitions 104 supported by a plurality of supporting structures 102. The supporting structures are provided as upright posts, including corner posts for supporting the wall partitions, and as trusses and laths for supporting the roof partitions.

[0047] FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sections, in a cross-sectional view perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the supporting structures 102, of embodiments of supporting structures 102 according to the invention. In each one of the embodiments, the supporting structure 102 comprises two covering profiles 106 of, e.g., a wooden material. Each of the covering profiles defines inwardly facing surfaces 108 facing each other as well as right side surfaces 110 and left side surfaces 112, each pair of right side surfaces 110 lying flush with one another, and each pair of left side surface lying flush with one another. A core structure is provided, the core structure comprising two bands of material 114 made from, e.g., a metallic material, plastics, or reinforced composite plastics. Each band of material 114 extends into a slit 116 formed in the covering profiles 106. A biasing structure in the form of a screw or bolt connection 118 is provided for securing the covering profiles 106 and bands of material 114 of the core structure in place. A wall or roof panel 104, which in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is in the form of a window or solar panel, is held in place between the covering profiles 106 and abutted in overlapping manner by their inwardly facing surfaces 108. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the partition 104,120 may, e.g., be in the form of a single-layer structure, such as a single-layer window glass, whereas in the embodiment of FIG. 3, the partition 104,120 is in the form of a multiple-layer structure, such as, e.g., a double-glazed window, see FIG. 20.

[0048] FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate embodiments of interconnections between supporting structures 102.

[0049] As shown, each pair of bands of material 114 of the core structure of the supporting structures 102 comprise at its ends a cross element 122 forming part of a bracket structure comprising a connecting pin or bolt 126 and a bracket 124. In the embodiment of FIG. 5, the bracket defines the angle between the two pairs of bands of material 114 and thus of the supporting structures 102, of which only one is shown in FIG. 5.

[0050] FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate a first embodiment of a bracket structure comprising bracket 124, connecting pin or bolt 126, and a cylindrical element 128 for extending into and engaging corresponding holes in the pair of bands of material, as shown in FIG. 7.

[0051] In the embodiment of the bracket structure shown in FIG. 8, the bracket 124 comprises two bracket parts, 124a and 124b, which are mutually secured at a variable or fixed angle at connecting part 124c. The angle defined between the bracket parts 124a and 124b thus defines the angle between the pairs of bands of material 114, into which the cylindrical parts 128 engage, and thus the angles between the associated supporting structures.

[0052] The exemplary embodiment of a building structure shown in FIG. 9 comprises three supporting structures, a first one of which extends vertically in an upright post of the building structure and the other two extend horizontally in a horizontal bar of the building structure. A bracket structure comprising bracket 124 and connecting pin or bolt 126 attaches to the horizontally extending supporting structures, whereby the connecting pin or bolt of the bracket structure extends through an opening 134 formed in the bands of material 114 of the vertically extending supporting structure. Folded flaps 130 are formed integrally with the bracket 124 to engage an inner circumferential edge of openings 132 formed in the bands of material 114.

[0053] The embodiment of FIG. 10 comprises four supporting structures, a first one of which extends vertically in an upright post of the building structure, two extend horizontally in a horizontal bar of the building structure, and a fourth one extends upwardly at an inclined angle along a roof rafter. A U-shaped bracket 124e attaches to the bands of the vertically and horizontally extending supporting structures through tensioning bolt 136 and a further bracket 124d. For the rafter structure, the bracket 124d is likewise engaged by a bolt 136 attaching to a backing plate 138 integrally formed with the bracket 124e.

[0054] FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of a building structure comprising a rafter crossing a pair of lathes. The rafter extends upwardly at an inclined angle, and the lathes extend horizontally. Bracket structures comprising brackets 124 and connecting pin or bolt 126 attach to the supporting structures of the lathes, whereby the connecting pin or bolt of the bracket structure extends through opening 134 formed in the bands of material 114 of the supporting structure of the rafter. At the upper end of the rafter, bracket 124 attaches to an angled further bracket 124f through bolt 136 for connection to a supporting structure of a cross-bar of rafter (not shown). As shown in FIG. 12, a like bracket 124g may be employed at a junction between respective supporting structures of a vertically extending post and left and right rafters.

[0055] FIGS. 13-18 illustrate assembly systems of embodiments of supporting structures of the invention for providing a ground-to-ground tensioning system extending from ground attachment points 140a and 140b through vertically extending posts as well as rafters to provide increased structural stability of a building incorporating the supporting structures. As shown in FIGS. 14, 15, 17 and 18, various brackets 124g, 124h, 124i, and 124j are provided to match the mutual angle of bands of material being interconnected.

[0056] As shown in FIG. 19, a wall or roof panel 104 may comprise an outer shell 104a and a core 104b of, e.g., an insulating material. In the embodiment of FIG. 20, the wall or roof partition 104 comprises a double glazed window section 104c.