Method Of Producing A Light Room Element

Abstract

A method of producing a light bathroom element by using steel cassettes with a U-formed section. The cassettes are formed out of steel sheets which are first covered on one side with a plastics material and then bent into a desired U-form such that the plastics layer also appears on the seam surfaces between the cassettes. The adjacent cassettes are joined together by heating the seam portions so as to momentarily molten the plastics layers thereon and to wedge them together in a water-tight manner.

Description

This invention concerns a method of producing a light room element, e.g., a bathroom element, including equipment and rising mains, out of steel cassettes with a U-formed section.

The element may comprise the fixed equipment of a bathroom, the electric installations, the pipe distributions, and the rising mains from storey to storey.

When construction has been industrialized, main attention has been directed to the skeleton components, and the other constructions, such as sanitary rooms, have been given little consideration.

A light bathroom element has been intended for use both in precast building skeletons and in building skeletons cast on the site. Into building skeletons cast on the site, the element is introduced after concreting of the skeleton but before installation of the facades.

In aiming at industrial building, attempts have been made to reduce the heavy concrete construction and to improve the internal variability of the flats. Even the transport and lifting equipment impose their restrictions on the weight of the element. On the other hand, attempts are made to bring to the building site as large and as extensively refined element units as possible. Out of the above reasons, we have attempted to develop a light bathroom element.

An industrial heavy concrete bathroom, as well as wood element and plaster boards, are previously known. Light woodwork is, however, to an unduly great extent "tailor's work." The suitability of wooden constructions to moist rooms is also questionable. A foam-plastics-filled construction made of plastics is also known, but besides expensive rawmaterials this construction also has the drawbacks of mould work required by the manufacturing and the high inflammability of the rawmaterials to be used.

Some metallic bathroom constructions have appeared on the market, too. It is, however, difficult to make these room units corrosion-proof and water-proof, and the floor construction causes either a high threshold from the other space into the bathroom or a big hole in the intermediate-floor construction, which is structurally inconvenient and hard to arrange satisfactorily from the viewpoints of fire and sound technology.

In the bathroom, washing machines and centrifuges are often located, and these machines have caused unpleasant vibration in the constructions of a light bathroom.

The object of this invention is to avoid the above drawbacks. The method according to the invention is mainly characterized by

COATING STEEL SHEETS CONSTITUTING THE MATERIAL OF THE STEEL CASSETTES ON ONE SIDE WITH A PLASTICS LAYER;

BENDING THE STEEL SHEETS INTO A DESIRED U-form such that the plastics layer also appears on the seam surfaces between the cassettes; and

joining the cassettes by heating the seam portions of the cassettes in such a way that the plastics layers thereon are momentarily molten and wedged together in a water-tight manner.

A bathroom element manufactured according to this method has, despite its low weight, a sufficient weight as accommodated in the floor slab, which absorbs the noises coming from the machine or from steps.

The constructions can be made of entirely non-flammable materials, whereby it is easy to satisfy the fire requirements of the constructions even in objects with the highest requirements.

Neither do the sewer and pressure-water pipes of plastics to be used cause any special fire protection operations.

Both in theory and in practice it can be proved that inside moisture does not penetrate into the construction or cause concentration of moisture inside the construction.

With the earlier methods it has been difficult to protect the elements from moisture during transport and storage at the site, but the construction of the present invention is totally insensitive even to strong moisture.

The plastics seam between the cassettes also endures the temperature differences required during transport, installation and use and gives this cubic object a very high rigidity of assembly.

Due to cellular wall construction, all electrical cables and water pipes can be installed as sunken-in. Out of the same reason the metallic noise can be effectively muffled, and in this way the internal noise-insulation of the flat is improved.

The noise insulation between flats is also improved, because the element is placed on flexible cushions as separate from carrying structures.

In order to improve noise insulation, tightness and corrosion resistance, the pipe ducts are fitted with rubber packings.

The construction may be accompanied by developed joints of air-conditioning, sewer and water pipes and joint pieces delivered together with the element so that joining work can be easily accomplished on the site.

The element may also comprise the electricity center of the dwelling, a box for supply conductors, installed inside and outside electricity-consuming points of the bathroom, and a possibility of connecting is provided for the other internal electricity-consuming points of the dwelling.

A steel sheet has come to the market that is at the steel factory fitted with a plastics surface of a desired colour or pattern and that is delivered by the factory as having a desired width in rolls of 2 to 5 tons.

The weight of an element manufactured according to the invention is only about 20 per cent of the weight of a bathroom element of concrete. The sheet cassette forms a rigidifying wall construction by means of the outer lining and a mineral-wool board installed in the cassette. The outer lining additionally functions as fire insulation and the mineral-wool board as improver of the acoustic properties and as obstacle of buckling. Since no pipes are needed in the bottom slab of the element, the thickness of the floor construction does not prevent easy access into the bathroom, and in the intermediate floor only one opening is needed, required by the rising mains. The floor is smooth underneath, for which reason no grooves are required in the intermediate floor. As a complete element, the bathroom is fully finished with inside surface treatment, sanitary furnishings, all electrical equipment and boxes, also on the outer surface of the element, with doors and all conductors, the joining of which conductors is the only operation to be carried out on the site.

The invention will now be described more in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a steel sheet cassette.

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the cassette according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows, on a larger scale, a cross-section of a seam between two adjacent cassettes.

The floor of the bathroom element can be made of structural light-aggregate concrete. By shaping a wood or metal joist or the floor slab, a construction is obtained that, as surfaced, together with the floor slab forms a water-tight though. The floor surface may consist either of a plastics carpet or of ceramic tiles. If necessary, floors with finished surfaces may be stored in a small space on top of each other.

The wall construction is assembled out of steel-sheet cassettes 1 coated with a plastics layer 4 before bending, the bendings 2, 3 of which act as rigidifiers of the skeleton. The edges have been bent so that the sheets 1, 5 can be seamed as water-tight. The water-tight seaming takes place so that the seam 8 is heated by means of the induction method, high-frequency method or resistors. At the top and bottom ends the cassette is bent in the same way so that the cassette can also be positioned upside down. A mineral-wool insulation, the fibres of which are perpendicular to the outer lining, is installed inside the cassette. The insulation acts as an additional rigidifier and improves the acoustic properties of the element.

As additional rigidifier and transport protection, outside the element, a hard fiber-glass board, asbestos-cement board, semihard wood-fiber board, plaster board or similar is fastened.

In the top bendings of the cassettes there is a wooden or metallic list, to which the wall and ceiling cassettes are fastened.

The ceiling has a construction identical with that of the walls.

The element may comprise noise- and fire-insulated rising sewer mains, rising cold-water, hot-water and circulating water mains, ventilation ducts, and an electric panel of the flat and a common rising main duct for electric cables. For the kitchen or any other moist space there are connecting terminals.

All of these rising mains are installed through one opening in the vault. The rising-mains system is suitable ofor the intermediate floor solutions of the "BES" recommendation. Installation manholes are included in the element.

One important feature according to the invention is that the steel sheets 1 are plastics-covered before bending, whereby the plastics surface 4 also covers the joining surfaces 2, 6 of the seam between adjacent cassettes 1, 5 and, as fully finished, constitutes the inside surface of the room element. The waterproof joining of the cassettes 1, 5 takes place so that the plastics surfaces 4, 7 at the seam 8 are molten together, whereby no metal welding is required in the assembly. In the production, half-automatic or fully automatic machines known per se can be used economically, depending on the magnitude of the series.

The assembly work can be accomplished as an extensively rationalized assembly-line work like in automobile and refrigerator industry.

Variation of product size and other factors can be arranged easily.

Claims

What we claim is:

1. A method of producing a light room element, e.g., a bathroom element, including equipment and rising mains, out of steel cassettes with a U-formed section, characterized in

coating steel sheets constituting the material of the steel cassettes on one side with a plastics layer;

bending the steel sheets into a desired U-form that the plastics layer also appears on the seam surfaces between the cassettes; and

joining the cassettes by heating the seam portions of the cassettes by means of the induction method such that the plastics layers thereon are momentarily molten and wedged together in a water-tight manner.

2. A method of producing a light room element, e.g., a bathroom element, including equipment and rising mains, out of steel cassettes with a U-formed section, characterized in

coating steel sheets constituting the material of the steel cassettes on one side with a plastics layer;

bending the steel sheets into a desired U-form such that the plastics layer also appears on the seam surfaces between the cassettes; and

joining the cassettes by heating the seam portions of the cassettes by means of the high frequency method such that the plastics layers thereon are momentarily molten and wedged together in a watertight manner.

3. A method of producing a light room element, e.g., a bathroom element, including equipment and rising mains, out of steel cassettes with a U-formed section, characterized in

coating steel sheets constituting the material of the steel cassettes on one side with a plastics layer;

bending the steel sheets into a desired U-form such that the plastics layer also appears on the seam surfaces between the cassettes; and

joining the cassettes by heating the seam portions of the cassettes by means of electric heating resistors such that the plastics layers thereon are momentarily molten and wedged together in a water-tight manner.