ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR CONNECTING THIN-WALLED ROOF OR FACADE PANELS TO A SUBSTRUCTURE AS WELL AS A KIT HAVING SUCH AN ATTACHMENT MEANS AND A SEALING WASHER AND A KIT HAVING SUCH AN ATTACHMENT MEANS AND A SEALING WASHER AND A MAGAZINING-BELT, RESPECTIVELY

Abstract

An attachment means for connecting thin-walled roof or facade panels to a substructure has a shaft on one end region with a point and on the other end region with a head. A number of longitudinal grooves are provided on the shaft which extend parallel or substantially parallel to the central longitudinal axis X of the shaft. The head of the attachment means has a flat-head at a side of which facing the shaft a washer is formed, which radially protrudes outwards from the flat-head. A fine thread is formed on the shaft at least in some regions. Further the invention relates to a kit having such an attachment means and a sealing washer and a kit having such an attachment means and a sealing washer and a magazining-belt, respectively, and a method for connecting a thin-walled roof or facade panel to a substructure.

Claims

1. Attachment means for connecting thin-walled roof or facade panels to a substructure, the attachment means being drivable into the thin-walled roof or facade panels and the substructure to be connected by means of an automatic nail gun without or substantially without any rotational movement, the attachment means comprising: a shaft having a non-threaded point at one end region and a flat-head at the other end region, the flat-head having an external hexagonal outer profile; longitudinal grooves provided on the shaft extending parallel or substantially parallel to a central longitudinal axis of the shaft; a circular ring-shaped washer at a side of the flat-head facing the shaft, the circular ring-shaped washer radially protruding outwards from the flat-head; a fine thread on the shaft at least in some regions, said longitudinal grooves extending along an entire length of the fine thread and beyond the fine thread into the non-threaded point; and a circular ring-shaped sealing washer pushed on the shaft and arranged thereon such that the circular ring-shaped sealing washer contacts a lateral surface of the circular ring-shaped washer facing the shaft, the circular ring-shaped sealing washer having an inner diameter that corresponds to an outer diameter of the fine thread and an outer diameter that in an uncompressed state of the sealing washer substantially corresponds to an outer diameter of the circular ring-shaped washer.

2. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the attachment means is suitable for connecting the thin-walled roof or facade panels in the form of roof or facade metal cladding sheets, PVC panels, Plexiglas panels or polyester panels in trapezoidal profile shape or wave profile shape to the substructure, in particular a wooden substructure.

3. (canceled)

4. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the nail screw is configured so that the position of the nail screw driven into the components can be adjusted by means of a screwdriver and/or that the nail screw can be unscrewed from the components by means of the screwdriver.

5. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal grooves comprise three longitudinal grooves arranged evenly distributed over a peripheral surface of the shaft.

6. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal grooves extend up to or to just before the circular ring-shaped washer.

7. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal grooves have a semicircular, V-shaped or U-shaped cross-sectional profile.

8. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal grooves have a depth which corresponds to the depth of the fine thread formed on the shaft.

9. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the outer diameter of the fine thread is between 3 and 5 mm.

10. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the fine thread has self-cutting thread flanks.

11. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the fine thread is double threaded.

12. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the external hexagonal outer profile of the flat-head of the attachment means is configured for engagement with a screwdriver, which is complementary thereto.

13. (canceled)

14. Attachment means according to claim 9, wherein the circular ring-shaped sealing washer is made of ethylene-propylene-diene-rubber.

15. Attachment means according to claim 14, wherein the inner diameter of the sealing washer is less or equal to the outer diameter of the fine thread.

16. (canceled)

17. A kit comprising: an attachment means comprising a shaft having a non-threaded point at one end region and a flat-head at the other end region, the flat-head having an external hexagonal outer profile; longitudinal grooves provided on the shaft extending parallel or substantially parallel to a central longitudinal axis of the shaft; a circular ring-shaped washer at a side of the head facing the shaft, the circular ring-shaped washer radially protruding outwards from the flat-head; a fine thread on the shaft at least in some regions, said longitudinal grooves extending along an entire length of the fine thread and beyond the fine thread into the non-threaded point; and the attachment means comprising a nail screw that is drivable into the thin-walled roof or faade panels and the substructure to be connected by means of an automatic nail gun without or substantially without any rotational movement; and a circular ring-shaped sealing washer made of ethylene-propylene-diene-rubber, EPDM, associated with the attachment means, wherein the sealing washer has an inner diameter that corresponds to an outer diameter of the fine thread of the shaft of the attachment means and is in particular less or equal to the outer diameter of the fine thread, and an outer diameter that in an uncompressed state substantially corresponds to an outer diameter of the circular ring-shaped washer.

18. (canceled)

19. A kit according to claim 17, wherein the circular ring-shaped sealing washer is pushed on the shaft and arranged thereon such that the circular ring-shaped sealing washer contacts a lateral surface of the circular ring-shaped washer facing the shaft.

20. A kit according to claim 17, wherein the kit further comprises a magazining-belt in the form of a smooth elastic plastic strip, dimensioned for a plurality of attachment means of similar type, in which the attachment means can be magazined.

21. A kit according to claim 20, wherein the magazining-belt comprises an elongated base section, which defines a longitudinal axis L of the magazining-belt, and a plurality of tab-like lateral sections, which are formed at the both longitudinal sides of the base section and which each have a passage opening being in particular open in the direction of a distal end of the respective lateral section facing away from the base section, wherein always two lateral sections formed at the opposing longitudinal sides lie pairwisely opposite each other and can be turned down from a plane common with the base section to a position substantially perpendicular to the base section, in which position both passage openings of the lateral sections are aligned coaxially to each other such that the shaft can be pushed into both passage openings and is then positioned in the magazining-belt perpendicular to the longitudinal axis L of the magazining-belt and parallel to the base section.

22. A kit according to claim 21, wherein a plurality of recesses are formed centrally in the base section of the magazining-belt.

23. A method for connecting a thin-walled roof or facade panel to an underlying substructure, comprising: driving a nail screw according to claim 14 through the thin-walled roof or facade panel into the substructure by means of an automatic nail gun without or substantially without any rotational movement, wherein the connection between the roof or facade panel and the substructure is sealed by compressing the circular ring-shaped sealing washer between the circular ring-shaped washer and a surface of the roof or facade panel.

24. A method according to claim 23, wherein the method further comprises: adjusting a position of the driven nail screw by means of a screwdriver; and/or unscrewing the nail screw from the substructure and the roof or facade panel by means of the screwdriver.

25. A method according to claim 23, wherein the roof or facade panel is a roof or facade metal cladding sheet, a PVC panel, a Plexiglas panel or a polyester panel in trapezoidal profile shape or wave profile shape, and wherein the substructure is a wooden substructure.

26. Attachment means according to claim 1, wherein the outer diameter of the fine thread is 4.2 mm.

Description

[0025] Further features and advantages of the present invention will be become apparent by means of the following description of an embodiment of the attachment means according to the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. Therein is:

[0026] FIG. 1 a schematic view of an attachment means according to the invention in the form of a nail screw without sealing washer;

[0027] FIG. 2 a schematic view of an attachment means according to the invention in the form of a nail screw with sealing washer;

[0028] FIG. 3 a cross-section along section line A-A according to FIG. 1 or 2;

[0029] FIG. 4 a schematic partial view of an exemplary magazining-belt to magazine the attachment means according to the invention;

[0030] FIG. 5 a schematic total view of the magazining-belt, which is only partially shown in FIG. 4, having a plurality of attachment means according to FIG. 2 magazined therein; and

[0031] FIG. 6 a schematic view of a connection of a trapezoidal metal sheet with an underlying wooden substructure by means of two attachment means according to the invention according to FIG. 2, which have different lengths.

[0032] The FIGS. 1 to 3 show schematic views of an attachment means 1 according to the invention in the form of a nail screw 1.

[0033] The nail screw 1 has a shaft 2 on one end region of which a point 3 and on the other end region of which a flat-head 4 are formed, wherein the flat-head 4 has an external hexagon shape. Such an external hexagon profile can easily be brought into engagement with a screwdriver, which is complementary thereto. Certainly it is also possible to provide the flat-head 4 with an arbitrary other outer profile or an inner profile such as for example a cross recess or a simple recess. At the side of the flat-head 4 facing the shaft 2 a washer 5 is formed, which radially protrudes outwards from the flat-head 4. A fine thread 6 is formed on the shaft 2. The fine thread 6 may be an arbitrary single or multi thread, preferably a double thread. In the present case the fine thread 6 has self-cutting thread flanks 7. Three longitudinal grooves 8 are provided on the shaft 2 which extend parallel to the central longitudinal axis X of the shaft 2 and are arranged evenly distributed over the peripheral surface of the shaft 2. More precisely in the present embodiment the longitudinal grooves 8 extend from the end section of the shaft 2 in which the point 3 is formed along the entire fine thread section to just before the washer 5. In another embodiment which is not shown here the longitudinal grooves 8 may also extend only over a partial section of the shaft 2 provided with the fine thread 6. As in particular can be seen in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 3, the longitudinal grooves 8 have a substantially U-shaped cross-sectional profile and a depth which corresponds to the depth of the fine thread 6 formed on the shaft 2. But, in an embodiment not shown here, the longitudinal grooves 8 may also have a semicircular or V-shaped cross-sectional profile.

[0034] In the attachment means 1 shown in FIG. 2, a circular ring-shaped ethylene-propylene-diene-rubber, EPDM, sealing washer 9 is pushed on the shaft 2 of the attachment means 1 such that it contacts a lateral surface 10 of the washer 5 facing the shaft 2. In this embodiment the inner diameter of the sealing washer 9 substantially corresponds to the outer diameter of the fine thread 6. But, in other embodiments, the inner diameter of the sealing washer 9 may for example also be less than the outer diameter of the fine thread 6 in order to clamp the sealing washer 9 by utilizing an elastic restoring force of the sealing washer 9 tightly on the shaft 2. As can be seen in FIG. 2 as well, the outer diameter of the circular ring-shaped sealing washer 9 substantially corresponds to the diameter of the circular ring-shaped washer 5.

[0035] The embodiment of the nail screw 1 according to the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 can be magazined in a magazining-belt 11. Such a magazining-belt 11 in the form of a smooth elastic plastic strip is exemplary shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. However, arbitrary other magazining-belts 11 are also conceivable as long as they are suitable to magazine a nail screw 1 according to the invention. From FIG. 2 it can be seen that the magazining-belt 11 comprises an elongated base section 12, which defines a longitudinal axis L of the magazining-belt 11, and a plurality of tab-like lateral sections 13, which are formed at the both longitudinal sides of the base section 12. The lateral sections 13 each have a passage opening 14 being in particular open in the direction of a distal end 15 of the respective lateral section 13 facing away from the base section 12. Preferably the lateral sections 13 are formed integrally with the base section 12. Always two lateral sections 13 formed at the opposing longitudinal sides lie pairwisely opposite each other and can be turned down from a plane common with the base section 12 to a position substantially perpendicular to the base section 12. The last-mentioned position of the lateral sections 13 with respect to the base section 12 is shown in FIG. 5. It can be seen that both passage openings 14 of the lateral sections 13 are aligned coaxially to each other and that the shaft 2 is pushed into both passage openings 14 and positioned in the magazining-belt 11 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis L of the magazining-belt 11 and parallel to the base section 12. In this way in the example of FIG. 5 overall thirty nail screws 1 according to the invention are magazined in the magazining-belt 11.

[0036] The magazined nail screws 1 shown in FIG. 5 are nail screws 1 according to FIG. 2, hence nail screws 1 having an annular sealing washer 9, although the longitudinal grooves 8 cannot be seen in FIG. 5 due to the small illustration of the single nail screws 1. Furthermore in the magazining-belt 11 of FIGS. 4 and 5 a plurality of recesses 16 is formed centrally in the base section 12 of the magazining-belt 11. In the present example the number of recesses 16 is exactly half the number of lateral sections 13 and the recesses 16 have a substantially rectangular shape having pointed extensions at two edges of the rectangle. The recesses 16 for example serve to save material costs.

[0037] FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of a connection of a thin-walled hard trapezoidal metal sheet 17 with an underlying wooden substructure 18 by means of two nail screws 1 having an annular sealing washer 9 according to the invention according to FIG. 2, which have different lengths. For achieving the connection shown in FIG. 6 each nail screw 1 was driven through the trapezoidal metal sheet 17 into the underlying wooden substructure 18 by means of an automatic nail gun substantially without any rotational movement. Here one of both nail screws 1 was driven into the trapezoidal metal sheet 17 at a position I at a high point of the trapezoidal metal sheet 17. That is why it first extends through a cavity 19 between the trapezoidal metal sheet 17 and the wooden substructure 18 and only then into the wooden substructure 18. By contrast, the other nail screw 1 was driven into the trapezoidal metal sheet 17 at a position II at a low point of the trapezoidal metal sheet 17. This is why it directly extends into the wooden substructure 18 after penetrating the trapezoidal metal sheet 17. In order to ensure a connection that is similarly strong at position I as at position II, the nail screw 1 at position I has a shaft 2, which is correspondingly longer as compared to the shaft 2 of the nail screw 1 at position II. As can be seen from FIG. 6 as well, the circular ring-shaped sealing washer 9 is only slightly compressed and the outer diameter of the sealing washer 9 corresponds substantially to the diameter of the annular washer 5. Furthermore the sealing washer 9 is undamaged due to missing formation of chips.

[0038] If the position of the nail screw 1 driven into the components 17, 18 is to be adjusted or if the nail screw 1 is to be removed from the connected components 17, 18, it is turned by means of a screw driver and thereby cuts a threaded portion in the components 17, 18 through its self-cutting thread flanks 7. Hereby an easy unscrewing of the nail screw 1 from the components 17, 18 is facilitated. As already previously described, it also contributes to such an easy unscrewing that the longitudinal grooves 8 are arranged axially parallel and evenly distributed over the peripheral surface of the shaft 2.

[0039] Further, the attachment means 1 is heat-treated, in this embodiment austempered, to have a sufficient strength.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

[0040] 1 attachment means [0041] 2 shaft [0042] 3 point [0043] 4 flat-head [0044] 5 washer [0045] 6 fine thread [0046] 7 self-cutting thread flank [0047] 8 longitudinal groove [0048] 9 sealing washer [0049] 10 lateral surface of the washer [0050] 11 magazining-belt [0051] 12 elongated base section [0052] 13 tab-like lateral section [0053] 14 passage opening [0054] 15 distal end [0055] 16 recess [0056] 17 trapezoidal sheet [0057] 18 wooden substructure [0058] 19 cavity