WALL ELEMENTS, UNIT CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM AND METHOD

Abstract

A wall element comprises an inner surface, an outer surface, studs and at least one partial cavity and/or cavity. The studs are located between the inner surface and outer surface. The at least one partial cavity and/or cavity are also located between the inner surface and outer surface. The at least one partial cavity and/or cavity are designed to be filled with reinforced concrete The cavity and/or the partial cavity span from the top to the bottom and/or from side to side of the wall element.

Claims

1. Wall element, comprising an inner surface, an outer surface, studs and at least one partial cavity and/or cavity, wherein the studs are located between the inner surface and outer surface, and wherein the at least one partial cavity and/or cavity are also located between the inner surface and outer surface, and wherein the at least one partial cavity and/or cavity are designed to be filled with reinforced concrete, and wherein the cavity and/or the partial cavity span from the top (T) to the bottom (B) and/or from side to side of the wall element.

2. Wall element according to claim 1, wherein the at least one partial cavity or cavity are at least partially set up by the inner surface and outer surface and at least one stud.

3. Wall element according to claim 1, wherein the partial cavity is located along an edge area of the wall element, and wherein the partial cavity is designed to be combined with a corresponding partial cavity of a wall element or sealed by a wall element that is to be installed subsequently.

4. Wall element according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of an insulation, anchoring points for attachments, MEP installations.

5. A unit construction system comprising a first and a second wall element according to claim 1 which further support a slab element.

6. Unit construction system according to claim 5, wherein all elements are in fluidic communication.

7. Unit construction system according to claim 5 further comprising a third wall element installed subsequently to the first or second wall element, wherein at least one partial cavity in the edge area of the first and/or second wall element is forming a cavity together with the third wall element, and wherein the cavity/cavities is/are designed to be filled with reinforced concrete.

8. Unit construction system according to claim 5, wherein the slab element is positioned to lay on top of an inner edge of the wall element(s).

9. Unit construction system according to claim 5, wherein a formwork for the slab element is connected to the wall elements.

10. Unit construction system according to claim 5, further comprising a guide, designed to position the wall element.

11. Method for installing a unit construction system comprising the steps: Installing wall elements; Positioning slab elements; Pouring concrete such that the concrete is filling up the cavities in the wall elements.

12. Method according to claim 11, wherein the step of positioning the slab elements comprises a positioning of the slab elements to be in fluidic communication with the wall elements.

13. Method according to claim 11, wherein the step of installing the wall elements comprises alignment of partial cavities in the respective wall elements to form a cavity.

14. Method according to claim 11, wherein reinforcement is inserted into at least one cavity.

15. Method according to claim 11, wherein the step of placing the slab element comprises laying the slab element on top of an inner edge of the wall element(s).

16. Method according to claim 11, wherein the step of placing the slab element comprises placing a formwork for the slab element that is connected to the wall elements.

17. Method according to claim 11, further comprising the step of placing a guide prior to the step of installing the wall elements and the step of installing the wall elements comprises installing the wall elements by means of the guide.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0042] Further advantages and features of the present disclosure will be apparent from the appended figures. The figures are of merely informing purpose and not of limiting character. The figures schematically describe embodiments of the present application. Hence, the appended figures cannot be considered limiting for e.g. the dimensions of the present disclosure.

[0043] FIG. 1 depicts a schematic sectional top (or bottom) plan view of a wall element.

[0044] FIG. 2 depicts another schematic sectional elevation side view of the wall element depicted in FIG. 1.

[0045] FIG. 3 is a sectional top view (similar to FIG. 1) of a unit construction system.

[0046] FIG. 4 is a sectional top view (similar to FIG. 3) of a unit construction system.

[0047] FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a unit construction system.

[0048] FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an installation method of a unit construction system.

[0049] It is to be noted that in the different embodiments described herein same parts/elements are numbered with same reference signs, however, the disclosure in the detailed description may be applied to all parts/elements having the regarding reference signs. Also, the directional terms/position indicating terms chosen in this description like left, right, top, bottom, up, upper, down, lower, downwards, lateral, sideward are referring to the directly described figure and may correspondingly be applied to the new position after a change in position or another depicted position in another figure. All figures are not to scale and no indication of proportions should be taken.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0050] Initially referring to FIG. 1 a sectional top (or bottom) plan view of a wall element 10 is depicted. The sectional plane is parallel to a top or bottom plane (or side to side) of the wall element 10. The wall element 10 comprises three studs 40 to which an inner surface 20 and an outer surface 30 are attached. The studs 40 are positioned in the wall element 10 to run from the top to the bottom as can be seen in FIG. 1. Between the outer studs 40 on each side of the wall element 10 there is a third stud 40. The three studs 40 together with the inner surface 20 and outer surface 30 set up two cavities 60. There is insulation 80 positioned in the cavities 60 which is located on the inner surface 20. However, the insulation 80 could also be (additionally) located on the outer surface 30 (see FIG. 3) or completely fill up the cavity/cavities 60.

[0051] The outer studs 40 are offset towards the middle of the wall element or towards the stud 40 located in the middle of the wall element 10. This offset creates a partial cavity 50 in each edge area 70 of the wall element 10. There can be only one such partial cavity 50 comprised by the wall element 10.

[0052] FIG. 2 depicts another sectional view of the wall element 10 described above. The sectional plane of FIG. 2 is perpendicular to the plane of projection in FIG. 1. In other words the sectional plane of FIG. 2 is perpendicular to the sectional plane of FIG. 1 and lying in one of the cavities 60 depicted in FIG. 1. The wall element 10 is seen from the side. In FIG. 2 a partial cavity 50 is depicted at the top T of the wall element 10. There is an inner edge 95 of the wall element 10 such that a slab element 200 can be placed there (see below). At the top T the outer surface 30 extends further than the inner surface 20. Said extension is however optional. The inner surface 20 and the outer surface 30 can have the same height. When a slab element 200 or formwork for a slab element (not shown) is placed in contact with the inner edge 95 and concrete is subsequently poured on the slab element 200, the height of the outer surface 30 will determine the thickness of the slab (element).

[0053] The inner surface 20 is depicted to extend higher than a cavity bottom 51, however, the inner surface 20 may be flush with the cavity bottom 51. If concrete is poured into the partial cavity 50, in particular if the wall element 10 is in contact with a slab element 200 then the partial cavity 50 fills up with concrete and a beam is created that spans from side to side (left to right in FIG. 1).

[0054] FIG. 2 further depicts a guide 90 that is located at the bottom B of the wall element 10. The guide 90 can be fixed to a surface the wall element 10 is placed on. Here the guide 90 has the same width as an inner width of the wall element 10 such as to fit into the wall element 10. As the wall element 10 fits precisely on to the guide 10 it is easy to place the wall element(s) 10 when installing them. The guide 95 can only be placed sectionally (e.g. in areas the wall elements 10 are placed next to each other) or the guide 90 can run the entire length of the wall element (side to side, left to right in FIG. 1.) or be even longer such that multiple wall elements 10 can be placed on one guide 90. There is an insulation 80 located in the cavity 60 at the inner surface 20.

[0055] FIG. 3 depicts a sectional top view (similar to FIG. 1) of a unit construction system 100. The wall elements 11, 12, 13 essentially have the same structure as depicted in FIG. 1) but for the insulation 80 that is located at the outer surface 30. However, the second wall element 12 and the third wall element 13 have on one side a longer outer surface 30 on the respective partial cavities 50. Hence by placing the second and the third wall element 12, 13 next to each other, a (partial) cavity 50 is formed on the resulting corner (top right corner in FIG. 3). The first wall element 11 is depicted having a little distance to the second wall element 12 for sake of differentiation and ease of explanation. However, the wall elements 11, 12 can be positioned such that the inner surface 20 and the outer surface 30 touch each other (like at the corner, described above). The resulting (partial) cavity set up by the two partial cavities 50 of the first and second wall element 11, 12 can be filled with concrete such as the (partial) cavity 50 in the corner. The first and third wall elements 11, 13 have partial cavities 50 at their other ends that are depicted at the respective corners of the construction system 100 (left and bottom right) that in turn can be complimented with other partial cavities of further wall elements.

[0056] FIG. 4 depicts another sectional top view (similar to FIG. 3) of a unit construction system 100. Here, there are a first and second wall element 11, 12 depicted. The second wall element 12 has only a partial cavity on the right side. The two wall elements are depicted to be spaced apart from each other, however, they can be placed such as to touch each other (see above). The partial cavity 50 on the right side of the first wall element 11 is complemented by a surface (face) of the second wall element 12. Here, said surface comprises the inner surface and the outer surface as well as the stud 40. Hence, a cavity is formed that can be filled with concrete. Further, such gap may be closed by a sealing structure comprised by at least one of the wall elements to seal the partial cavity/cavities that is/are joined together by two wall elements.

[0057] FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a unit construction system 100. Slab elements 200 are positioned to lay on the top of the inner edge 95 of the respective wall element 10 (see detail A). Reinforcements 96 are placed into cavities 50. Horizontal reinforcements 97 are placed on the slab elements 200 bridging for example the area where two slab elements 200 are joined on a wall element 10 (left side in FIG. 5). The horizontal reinforcements 97 can also reach into the partial cavities 50.

[0058] Concrete 201 is poured on to the slab elements 200 as partially depicted in FIG. 5. The concrete 201 builds up a layer on top of the slab elements 200 and fills the (partial) cavities 50. There are vertical (partial) cavities 50 (see FIG. 1) having the reinforcements 96 and horizontal partial cavities 50 at the top T of the wall elements 10 (see also FIG. 2). Said cavities are also filled with concrete and hence form columns (vertical) and beams (horizontal). The wall elements 10 can be placed and aligned by means of the guides 90 (see FIG. 2). There can also be horizontal reinforcements that reinforce the resulting beams. The (partial) cavities 50 can be supported by temporary supports to bear the stress during pouring of the concrete.

[0059] An alternative would be to use dry slab elements where it is not necessary to pour concrete on top of them as they already have the desired thickness. In such case the concrete would only be poured into the (partial) cavities 50 (vertical and/or horizontal). Such slab elements can be placed as can be seen on the left in FIG. 5 where the slab elements meet on top of wall elements having a gap on the outer surface. Through this gap concrete can be poured into the (partial) cavities 50. Also, there can be openings in the slab elements through which concrete can be poured into the (partial) cavities 50.

[0060] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a method for installing a unit construction system 100 as described above. Essentially all the steps are already described above. In the first step wall elements 10 are installed and their partial cavities 50 are aligned. A guide 90 may be placed prior to the step of installing the wall elements. The guide 90 can be used to place and align the wall elements in the step of installing the wall elements. In the following step slab elements 200 are positioned. The slab elements 200 may be positioned to be in fluidic communication with the wall elements 10 such that concrete that is poured onto the slab elements 200 can flow into the said cavities. The slab elements 200 may be positioned to lay on the top of an inner edge 95 of the wall element(s).

[0061] In the next step reinforcements 96 are inserted into at least one (partial) cavity 50 or cavity 60. The reinforcements may be also in contact with the slab elements. In the next step concrete is poured to the slab elements 200 such that the concrete is filling up the (partial) cavities 50 and/or cavities 60 in the wall elements 10. The step of placing the slab element may comprise placing a formwork for the slab element 200 that is connected to the wall elements 10 in order to pour the slab element 200 in situ.

[0062] In all figures like reference signs are used for like or similar parts/elements as in the other figures. Thus, a detailed explanation of such part/element will only be given once for the sake of brevity. Reference numbers like first and second are meant for distinguishing purposes only, as the order may be changed voluntarily. The dimensions are exemplary, in particular the dimensions of the partial cavities and cavities. Both types of cavities (partial 50 and cavity 60) can be filled with concrete.

[0063] The embodiments depict possible variations of carrying out the subject matter of the application, however, it is to be noted that the subject matter of the application is not limited to the depicted embodiments/variations but numerous combinations of the here described embodiments/variations are possible and these combinations lie in the field of the skills of the person skilled in the art being motivated by this description.

[0064] The scope of protection is determined by the appended claims. The description and drawings, however, are to be considered when interpreting the claims. Single features or feature combinations of the described and/or depicted features may represent independent inventive solutions. The object of the independent solutions may be found in the description.

[0065] It is further to be noted that for a better understanding parts/elements are depicted to some extend not to scale and/or enlarged and/or down scaled.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0066] 10 wall element [0067] 11 first wall element [0068] 12 second wall element [0069] 13 third wall element [0070] 20 inner surface [0071] 30 outer surface [0072] 40 stud [0073] 50 partial cavity [0074] 51 cavity bottom [0075] 60 cavity [0076] 70 edge area [0077] 80 insulation [0078] 90 guide [0079] 95 inner edge [0080] 96 reinforcement [0081] 97 horizontal reinforcement [0082] 100 unit construction system [0083] 200 slab element [0084] 201 cast concrete [0085] T Top [0086] B Bottom