Wall linings

Abstract

The invention relates to lining systems for building surfaces such as walls or ceilings. The structure uses at least two spaced parallel rails, adjustable connectors sliding on the rails and panel attachment members secured to the rails by the connectors and serving to support facing panels, for example gypsum wall boards. The connectors are adjustable in three mutually perpendicular directions being slidable along the rails and along the attachment members and adjustable to vary the spacing between the rail and the attachment member. Panels may be secured to the attachment members by any suitable means such as screws, clips, adhesives or edge engagement. Attachment members may be elongated, in the form of studs, or short locally operative clips. The lining system enables irregularities of the underlying structure to be accommodated and a planar lining produced.

Description

The present invention relates to linings for building structures, such as walls, and provides means for attaching panels to a supporting wall surface or structural framework.

The invention provides means whereby the spacing of wall lining panels from the supporting surface or frame can be varied to compensate for irregularities in the underlying wall surface or frame or to provide access ways for services, and it avoids the use of water-gauged cementitious materials by which panels such as plasterboards have in the past been attached to wall surfaces. It will be appreciated that in most cases a structure intended primarily for lining a vertical wall surface can, perhaps with minor adaptations, be used to provide a suspended ceiling and vice versa, and the expressions "wall surface" and "wall lining" should be construed accordingly.

In accordance with this invention, at least two rails are provided for spaced parallel attachment to a wall surface, and panel attachment members are connected to the rails by connectors which are adjustable in three mutually perpendicular directions, being slidable along the rail and along the attachment members and adjustable to vary the spacing between the respective panel attachment member and the associated rail portion.

The connector may be a single integral member which can be mounted on the rail in several positions, for examle by the provision of a suitable number of grooves or recesses in which the rail may run. Alternatively, the connector may comprise two or more portions, one of which is formed for mounting on the rail, either in one or a number of positions, and the others of which are attached to the first mentioned portion by means which enable the relative positions of the two portions to be varied or adjusted.

The panel attachment member may be an elongate, horizontally or, more usually, vertically extending member provided with means such as flanges for engaging or supporting the edges of adjacent panels or wallboards. Alternatively, the attachment members may be individual clips, adapted to engage adjacent wallboards or panels locally in the vicinity of each connector. The attachment member may be so formed as to embrace the edges of the wallboards or panels, to engage grooves or kerfs in the edges of the boards or panels or to be driven into the edges of the boards or panels, they may have tab portions to be bent against the face of boards or panels to retain them, or they may provide fixing for conventional wallboard fastenings such as self-tapping screws, clips or adhesives. Screws or bend-over tabs can be used where the joint between adjacent boards is to be covered with a cover strip or filled with a joint filling compound, as with tapered edged plasterboards. The other means of attachment can be used with various forms of board including plasterboard, chipboard and plywood panels, which may have any desired edge profile.

The invention provides means for attaching wallboards or panels to an underlying wall surface which permits adjustment of the boards or panels in three mutually perpendicular directions. This enables wallboards or panels to be assembled to form wall linings having an accurate or planar overall face irrespective of irregularities in the underlying supporting wall surface. Where the wall is so irregular that it exceeds the capacity for adjustment of one connector, it is still possible to construct an acceptable lining by using extension pieces in conjunction with the connector to extend its range of adjustment.

The invention affords the additional advantage that cold bridging and pattern staining of the mounted wall lining panels can be avoided by making the connectors of insulating material, for example of plastics material.

Furthermore, the generally planar spacing between the front of the rails and the rear surfaces of the panel attachment members is uninterrupted, except at the connectors and it is therefore possible to insert insulating material, for example a glass fibre quilt, over almost the entire area of the wall lining. By the provision of resilient connectors of suitable construction the possibility of acoustic benefits is afforded.

Wall linings according to this invention can be rapidly erected, at least in part by relatively unskilled labour. The process of erection is entirely dry, no time being lost in preparing conventional water-gauged cementitious bonding materials and no phasing of operations, for example to allow time for drying out, necessary, so that erection can be carried out in a single pass if desired.

The invention will be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cut away perspective view showing one form of wall lining attachment according to the invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are similar views, illustrating two other forms of wall lining using the attachment means shown in FIG. 1 in conjunction with conventional means of fixing;

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of three forms of board or panel engaging member suitable for the purposes of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of three forms of board or panel engaging clip suitable for the purposes of the invention;

FIG. 6 shows four alternative cross-sections of board or panel engaging members or clips;

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 are perspective views of three forms of connector suitable for the purposes of this invention; and

FIG. 10 shows one example of a spring clip suitable for use with the invention.

To deal first with one example of a complete system embodying the invention, there is shown in FIG. 1 a portion of wall 20 to which is attached a substantially horizontal rail 21 of generally C section. The rail may be attached to the wall by any convenient fixing means such as nails 22, screws or by shot firing.

A connector 23, which in this embodiment is a single component is mounted on the rail 21 with a twist-in action and is slidable therealong. The rail engaging portion 24 of the connector is provided at two opposite edges with a series of grooves 26 occupying part of the length of the connector. When in position on the rail, the connector portion 24 is supported by the lower flange 28 of the rail, which runs in a selected one of the grooves 26, while the upper edge eof the connector portion is retained by the upper flange 29 of the rail, which engages a corresponding one of the upper grooves 26.

The other end 25 of the connector is of generally U section the arms of which carry at their ends opposed inwardly directed flanges 31. These flanges form a groove or recess 33 of generally T-section to receive an appropriately shaped vertical member.

The board or panel attachment member 34 shown in FIG. 1 is of generally H section, the web and one pair of flanges 35 of which can be a snap-in or sliding fit in the T-shaped groove or recess 33 in the connector end 25. The other flanges 36 of the member 34 engage kerfs or grooves in the edges of a pair of adjacent panels 37 to retain the panels in position. The depth of the groove 33 in relation to the dimensions of the member 34 are preferably such that the flanges of the portion 25 bear against the rear faces of the panels 37, so that these are tightly held on the member 34. Tabs can also be lanced out of the web portion of the panel supporting member 34 to provide additional support to the rear shoulder of the panel edge. It is further preferable that the rear shoulders of the panels bordering the edge kerfs should be shorter than the shoulders at the front face, so that the web of the member 34 can be accommodated between them while permitting the front faces of the panels 37 to come together to form a close butt joint.

Any suitable number of horizontal rails may be attached to the supporting substrate, which will usually be a wall of brick, concrete or blocks, but could be a frame, as of concrete, timber or metal. It is preferred, however, that at external corners the rails should not abut, but that one rail should pass above but preferably in contact with the other and terminate in such positions that boards or panels carried by the respective rails can be supported near their edges in mutual abutment to form a neat external corner in the lining.

The rail 21 shown in FIG. 1 is of a configuration generally to be preferred, but rails of L, J, T, U or H section can also be used, depending on the shape of the connector and the orientation of the rail. As will be appreciated from FIG. 1 the preferred connectors can be mounted on the preferred rail in any position by a simple "twist-in" action, but with some of the other rail sections these must be mounted at a free end and slid along. All such rails can conveniently be formed from strip metal such as steel and also can be extruded in metal or plastic.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show applications of the present invention in conjunction with conventional means of panel fixing such as screws or adhesive. Items similar to those shown in FIG. 1 bear the same reference numerals and will not be described again. In the case shown in FIG. 2, tapered edged plasterboards 40 are attached to the panel supporting member 34 by self-tapping screws 41 and the joint and screw heads obscured by the conventional means of drywall jointing and head spotting 42.

In FIG. 3, tapered edge plasterboards 40 are also used, but are attached by single screws 43 with large washers 44 overlapping the tapered front surfaces of both adjacent boards. The panel attachment member 45 is generally similar to that employed in FIG. 2 but is formed to a slightly different configuration with an offset flange 46. The screw heads and washers can, as in FIG. 2, be covered by conventional drywall jointing techniques, shown in the drawing, the jointing being cut away in the upper part to show the screw head and washer.

It can be readily appreciated that other fixing techniques such as the use of gunned adhesive can be used with the same or other forms of panel, such as timber, and various means of obscuring or emphasising the joint, as by means of trims or profiles, employed. A further example of a means of fixing panels or wallboards to flanged attachment members, such as those shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is a hook-shaped resilient clip having a leadin portion for facilitating engagement with a perforation or slot in the attachment member, a clipping portion for releasably securing the clip to the attachment member, and a tail portion for fixing the clip to the panel. Such clips are described in our co-pending British Application No. 20303/73.

Panel attachment members in the form of short clips are shown at 50, 51 and 52 in FIG. 4 and are respectively of H, J and C section. The member 50 is intended for use in the manner illustrated by FIG. 1 or FIG. 2 and is intended to retain a pair of adjacent coplanar boards or panels. The member 51 is intended to support a single panel at an internal corner or where the lining terminates. The member 52 also supports a single panel, but two similar members can be used back-to-back to support a pair of adjacent panels. These members can suitably be rolled from strip metal such as steel or can be extruded in metal or plastic.

Three forms of clip are illustrated in FIG. 5 and are intended to fit in T shaped grooves or recesses in individual connectors. The clip 53 is of generally T section and is provided with oppositely directed teeth or fangs 54 which may be driven into the edges of a pair of adjacent panels. The clip 55 is generally similar but provided with only one set of teeth 56 for engaging a single panel. The clip 58 is of generally T section but has two end portions which can be bent over against the front faces of a pair of adjacent panels to retain the same. In the drawing, one portion 58 has already been bent while the bent position of the other portion is indicated by chain dotted lines.

The vertical members or clips can have a cross-section which enables them to be snapped into appropriately shaped recesses or grooves in the connectors and FIG. 6 shows four possible cross-sections for such members, corresponding in function to the member 50 in FIg. 4. It is to be understood that these configurations are shown by way of example only. Similar provision can of course be made in the case of the other members and clips illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.

In the case of connectors many configurations are possible within the scope of the invention. Connectors may engage with the rails and panel supporting members and the parts of multipart connectors with each other in many combinations of male or female interlocking relationships. FIG. 7 shows a preferred type of single integral connector for use with the arrangement of FIG. 1. In this case the component forms its own extension piece since the wider flanges 60 to the rear of grooves 26 will engage with the housing 33 designed in the example for a rail 50 (see FIG. 3). Such a component may conveniently be made by moulding plastics material. FIG. 8 shows a connector formed of spring steel, and the successive corrugations 61 serve the same purpose as the grooves 26 in the connector of FIG. 7. The terminal portion 62 of the connector 64 is formed with a T shaped slot 63 and is inclined to the horizontal when the connector is in position so that the spring steel exerts a frictional grip on a vertical rail of the form shown at 50 in FIG. 4.

The two portions of a two-part connector can be interconnected by various means. One example of a two-part connector is shown in FIG. 9 and consists of a rear portion 70 formed with a single groove 71 to run on the upstanding flange of a J-section rail and having in one end face a recess 72 provided internally with opposed lateral grooves 73. The front portion 74 of the connector has a body formed with a T-section groove or recess 75 to receive a clip or elongated panel attachment member and is formed with a T-section extension 76 for location within the recess 72 in the rear portion 70, the flanges 77 engaging a selected pair of grooves 73.

Other means can be employed to connect the two portions of two-part connectors. For example, they may be joined by a threaded connection which enables the length of the connector to be adjusted by relative rotation of the portions. An alternative way of providing for adjustment of the position of the connector on the rail, in the case of a C section rail as shown at 21 in FIG. 1, is to form a helical peripheral groove for engagement with the flanges on the rail, performing the same function as grooves 26 but capable of continuous adjustment. This may provide the sole means of attachment in the case of a unitary connector, or means for adjustably mounting the first portion of a two-part connector.

The invention as described above is intended to provide the main structure of linings for walls, but it will be understood that ancillary features can readily be incorporated, such as internal or external corner trims, ceiling trims and skirtings. The dimensions of the connectors can be selected or extension connectors used so as to produce a cavity of the necessary size for the passage of service pipes, wiring and other installations.

An alternative panel fixing device, which forms a feature of this invention but clearly has utility apart from structures using the adjustable connectors that characterise this invention, is shown in FIG. 10. It utilises an H-section attachment member 80 having rear flanges 81 and front flanges 82. The edges of the panels 37 are disposed behind the front flanges 82 and a spring clip 83 is shaped to grip the rear flanges 81 and has two resilient wings or leaves 84 extending forward on respective opposite sides of the panel attachment member 80, to bear on the rear faces of the panels 37.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A lining structure for attaching panels to a supporting building surface or frame, said structure comprising at least two rails provided for attachment to the surface or frame, said rails being substantially parallel to each other, panel attachment members adapted to engage and support lining panels, and connectors operatively associated with said rails, and said panel attachment members for connecting said panel attachment members to said rails so that they are adjustable in three mutually perpendicular directions, said connectors being provided with a plurality of parallel flanges containing a plurality of grooves disposed therebetween, said associated rail being slidably disposed in any one of said plurality of grooves, and the connectors also being provided with a recess which is adapted to engage and slidably retain the associated panel attachmennt member, said panel attachment member extending in a direction at right angles to the rails.

2. A lining structure according to claim 1 wherein said connector comprises at least two portions, one of which is formed with said grooves and mounted on the rail and the other of which is attached to the first-mentioned portions by means which enable the relative positions of the two portions to be varied or adjusted.

3. A lining structure according to claim 1 wherein said panel attachment member is an elongate member provided with flanges for engaging the edges of adjacent panels or wall boards.

4. A lining structure according to claim 1 wherein said attachment members are individual clips adapted to engage adjacent wallboards or panels locally in the vicinity of each connector.

5. A lining structure according to claim 1 wherein said panel attachment member is an elongate member and said panels are fixed to said members by means of screws, clips, adhesives and like fixing means.

6. A lining structure according to claim 1 wherein said connector is a single integral member having said flanges and grooves at one end thereof and said recess at the opposite end thereof.

7. A lining structure according to claim 6 wherein said recess at said opposite end of said connector is shaped to fit the terminal one of said flanges at said one end of said connector, whereby at least two such connectors can be joined together to provide a greater spacing between said rail and said panel than is afforded by the use of one of said connectors.