EP1924753B1

EP1924753B1 - Panel installation set and method of installing panel using the same

Info

Publication number: EP1924753B1
Application number: EP06768715.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Beom-Goo Son; Gil-Ho Kang; Keum-Shil Cho; Kwang-Min Kim
Original assignee: LG Chem Ltd
Current assignee: LG Chem Ltd
Priority date: 2005-09-16
Filing date: 2006-06-01
Publication date: 2016-11-09
Anticipated expiration: 2026-06-01
Also published as: KR20070032560A; WO2007032592A1; US20080066407A1; CN101091027A; EP1924753A1; KR100760334B1; EP1924753A4; TWI332048B; JP4685109B2; JP2008506873A; TW200823345A

Description

[Technical Field]

The present invention relates to a panel installation set attached or installed onto a wall of a building, and a method of installing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a panel installation set and a method of installing the same, having advantages of simply and easily installing panels to a wall of a building by assembling the panels in a sliding manner, and reducing installation cost by using minimal subsidiary material when installing panels.

[Background Art]

EP 0 708 213 A1 describes a panel installation set comprising a profile which connects panels with a wall-mounted base. At the sides facing the base, the panel comprises grooves which can be coupled with a projection of the profile. Further, a part of the profile may be screwed together with a wall or base.
WO 01/79620 A1 relates to a mortarless wall structure. The wall structure comprises support beams and blocks, wherein the operative connection between the blocks and the support beam is made at the rear of the block through one or more transversely oriented grooves. The support beam includes a substructure engaging portion, an extension and an attachment member that is configured as a dove-tailed rib.
Further panel installation sets are described in JP 62-185952 A , JP 07-279361 A and JP 05-156780 A . A spacer, having a buffering characteristic and deformability equal to or higher than those of an external wallboard, is described in US 5,924,256 A .
Generally, rectangular panels are attached to a wall, a ceiling or a floor of a building as finishing material. In particular, walls of buildings such as public houses, offices, and commercial buildings are finished with panels that can give a good appearance. The panels are installed through an attachment method using an adhesive, through a coupling method using rivets or screws, through a hanging method using a hanger, or through a method combining two or more of the above methods.
Among them, the hanging method is the easiest and simplest. The hanging method will be described below with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view and FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a method of installing panels according to the conventional art.
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, when installing a panel installation set 1 onto a wall W of a building in a hanging manner, a base frame F is first fixed to the wall W using brackets or screws C, and a first hanging member 2 is then fixed to the base frame F using screws C. Next, a second hanging member 3 is fixed to the rear surface of the panel set 1, and the second hanging member 3 is hung from the first hanging member 2 in order to attach the panel set 1 to the wall W of the building. In this instance, coupling members 4 such as rivets or screws are used to fix the second hanging member 3 to the panel set 1. The first hanging member 2 and the second hanging member 3 are securely fixed using the coupling members 4.
According to the conventional art, the panel installation is difficult and complex and incurs a large installation cost because it uses a lot of subsidiary material. For example, referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the first hanging member 2, the second hanging member 3, the coupling member 4 for coupling the first hanging member 2 to the second hanging member 3, and the coupling member 4 for fixing the second hanging member 3 to the panel 1 are needed as subsidiary material. Further, the conventional panel installation set and the conventional panel installation method has the further disadvantage of taking a long time of installation.
Referring to FIG. 2, when fixing the second hanging member 3 to the panel 1, the coupling member 4 is used. In this instance, if the coupling member 4 is inserted too shallowly into a hole of the panel 1, or the panel 1 has a hole having a shallow depth because it is too thin, coupling force is tool weak, so that the panels 1 are easily separated from each other.

[Disclosure]

[Technical Problem]

Accordingly, the present invention has been devised in consideration of the aforementioned problems and situations, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a panel installation set in which panels can be easily and securely assembled and installed onto a wall of a building using relatively little subsidiary material, and a method of installing panels using the same.

[Technical Solution]

In order to achieve the above objects and advantages, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a panel installation set comprising: a support member having a coupling projection; and a panel having a coupling groove into which the coupling projection is inserted.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a panel set comprising: a support member having a coupling groove; and a panel having a coupling projection to be inserted into the coupling groove.
The coupling protection and the coupling groove may have opposite shapes so as to mate with each other. The coupling projection and the coupling groove may have almost the same size, or the size of the coupling projection may be smaller than that of the coupling groove. In the case in which the coupling projection has a smaller size than the coupling groove, a packing member is used to fill a gap in the coupling groove after the coupling projection is inserted into the coupling groove.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of installing a panel using the panel installation set, comprising: fixing a support member having a coupling projection to a building; and inserting the coupling projection of the support member into a coupling groove of a panel.
According to a still further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of installing a panel using the panel installation set, comprising: fixing a support member having a coupling groove to a building; and inserting a coupling projection of a panel into the coupling groove of the support member.
The installation method may further comprise installing a base frame to the building, in which case the support member is fixed to the base frame.

[Advantageous Effects]

The panel set and the installation method of the panel set according to the present invention have the following advantages.
First, the panel installation set can be easily and simply installed and assembled without using subsidiary materials by using assembling structures provided to the support member and the panel.
Second, the panel installation set can be assembled at low installation cost because subsidiary material is not necessary.

[Description of Drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a method of installing a panel set according to the conventional art;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, taken along a vertical sectional line in FIG. 1, illustrating a method of installing a panel set according to the conventional art;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a support member of a panel installation set according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a panel of the panel installation set according to the first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the panel installation set according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the panel installation set being installed on a wall of a building;
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the support member shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 7 through FIG. 9 are cross-sectional views illustrating a variety of modifications of the support member;
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the panel installation set installed using the support member shown in FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 illustrate a panel installation set according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a panel of the panel installation set, installed to a wall of a building, and
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a support member and the panel shown in FIG. 11; and
FIG. 13 through FIG. 16 illustrate a panel installation set according to a third embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a method of installing a support member and a panel of a panel installation set, FIG. 14 is a front view illustrating a base frame and the support member installed on a wall of a building, FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional perspective view illustrating the panel and the support member assembled with each other, and FIG. 16 is a sectional view illustrating the panel and the support member assembled with each other, the sectional view taken along a direction different from the view in FIG. 15.

[Best Mode]

Hereinafter, a panel installation set and a panel installation method using the same will be described below. The accompanying drawings illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present invention, but must not be construed to limit the scope of the present invention.
The present invention provides a panel installation set used to assemble panels used as finishing materials of the surface, such as a wall, a ceiling, or a floor of a building, and further provides a method of installing panels using the panel installation set. Embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, the panel installation set comprises a support member 10 and a panel 20. Preferably, the panel installation set further comprises a base frame F to be directly fixed to a building. The support member 10 and the panel 20 have respective coupling means that can be coupled to each other in a sliding manner. The coupling means includes a coupling projection 15 and a coupling groove 25 into which the coupling projection 15 is inserted. As shown in FIG. 5, the coupling projection 15 is provided to the support member 10, and the coupling groove 25 is provided to the panel 20, or as shown in FIG. 11, the coupling projection 15 is provided to the panel 20 and the coupling groove 25 is provided to the support member 10.
FIG. 3 through FIG. 6 illustrate a panel installation set according to a first embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a support member, FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a panel, FIG. 5 is a sectional view illustrating the panel installed on a wall of a building, and FIG. 6 is a sectional view illustrating the support member shown in FIG. 3.
Referring to FIG. 3 through FIG. 6, the support member 10 of the panel installation set according to the first embodiment has a coupling projection 15 serving as a coupling means. In more detail, as shown in FIG. 3, the support member 10 includes a substrate 12, at least one coupling projection 15 protruding from the surface of the substrate 12, and a plurality of insertion holes 16 into which coupling means 30 are inserted.
The panel 20 has a coupling groove 25 on the surface thereof, the coupling groove 25 serving as a coupling means and having a shape opposite to the shape of the coupling projection 15. The coupling projections 15 of the support member 10 slide into respective coupling grooves 25 of the panel 20 from a lateral direction.
That is, the coupling projection 15 and the coupling groove 25 engage in a sliding manner, and the support member 10 and the panel 20 are difficult to separate from each other in a horizontal direction, the X direction in FIG. 5.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the coupling projection 15 comprises a connection part 15a extending from the surface of the substrate 12 in the perpendicular direction, and an insertion part 15b extending from respective sides of the connection part 15a and having tapered profiles at respective sides thereof, thereby forming a letter "T" shape. The coupling projection 15 has a shape opposite the shape of the coupling groove 25 formed in the panel 20. The coupling projections 15 may continuously extend or may discontinuously extend, forming an island arrangement. For example, the coupling projections 15 can be discontinuously arranged having respective gaps therebetween in the length direction, the left direction in FIG. 3, or can be continuously arranged to form a bar shape extending in the length direction. Fig. 3 illustrates the bar shape coupling protrusion 15.
A panel installation method using the panel installation set according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5.
First, a base frame F is fixed to a wall W of a building using a coupling member 30. Next, a support member 10 is fixed to the base frame F by the coupling member 30. A panel 20 is assembled to the support member 10 by sliding the panel 20 in the left or right direction so that the coupling projections 15 are inserted into the coupling grooves 25. The support member 10 can be assembled to the panel 20 before being fixed to the base frame F, and then the assembly of the support member 10 and the panel 20 is then fixed to the base frame F. When fixing the support member 10 to the base frame F in a direction rotated 90 degrees with respect to the direction in FIG. 5, the panel 20 slides in a vertical direction, that is, slides in up and down directions. The coupling member 30 is a screw, a rivet or a bracket.
Referring to FIG. 5, the panel 20 is simply installed in a sliding manner so as not to be easily separated in an X direction in FIG. 5. The coupling projection 15 may have a connection part 15a to provide a gap so that a head part 35 of the coupling member 30 is disposed in the gap when the support member 10 and the panel 20 are assembled.
The above described method can further comprise a step of applying an adhesive so that the support member 10 and the panel 20 are more securely attached. In more detail, an adhesive is applied in the coupling groove 25 of the panel 20 before installing the panel 20 on the support member 10, and then the panel 20 slides along the coupling projection 15 so that the coupling projection 15 and the coupling groove 25 are fixed securely.
FIG. 7 through FIG. 9 illustrate modified examples of the support member 10, and FIG. 10 is a sectional view illustrating the panel 20 installed to a wall W of a building using the support member 10.
Referring to FIG. 7, the support member 10 includes the substrate 12 and the coupling projection 15, and the substrate 12 has a plurality of insertion holes 16 through which respective coupling members 30 are inserted. Each insertion hole 16 has a guide recess 16a.
In more detail, the support member 10 shown in FIG. 7 does not have a connection part between the substrate 12 and an insertion part 15b. The coupling projection 15 has only the insertion part 15b which has tapered profiles at respective sides. That is, the insertion part 15 has a letter "T" shape. The insertion hole 16 has the guide recess 16a on which the head part 35 of the coupling member 30 is disposed. According to this embodiment, since the head part 35 of the coupling member 30 is disposed in the guide recess 16a as shown in FIG. 7, no gap is formed between the support member 10 and the panel 20 when the support member 10 and the panel 20 are assembled.
Referring to FIG. 8, the support member 10 can have a hollow 15c in the coupling projection 15. The hollow 15c is preferably formed along the length of the coupling projection 15. Thanks to the hollow 15c, the support member 10 becomes lighter and it is possible to reduce the cost of the support member 10.
Referring to FIG. 9, the support member 10 can have support protrusions 18 on the substrate 12. The support protrusions 18 are formed to protrude from the substrate 12 in the direction along which the coupling projection 15 extends at a right angle from the surface of the substrate 12. The support protrusions 18 prevent the panel 20 from becoming deformed. Referring to FIG. 10, when assembling the support member 10 and the panel 20, there is a gap between the support member 10 and the panel 20 due to the head part 35 of the coupling member 30. When the panel 20 is pressed with pressure P, the panel 20 is bent, or merely pushed according to the strength or the thickness of the panel 20 due to the protruding head part 35 of the coupling member 30. In this instance, the support protrusions 18 support the rear surface of the panel 20 to prevent the panel 20 from becoming deformed.
FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 illustrate a panel installation set according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a sectional view illustrating a panel 20 installed on a wall W of a building, and FIG. 12 is a sectional view illustrating the support member 10 and the panel 20.
Referring to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, a coupling projection 15 for assembling a support member 10 and a panel 20 is integrated with the panel 20 into a single body. A coupling groove 25 engaging with the coupling projection 15 is provided to the support member 10. In more detail, the support member 10 comprises a substrate 12, and a protrusion 14 integrated with the substrate 12, and the coupling groove 25 is formed in the protrusion 14. The coupling projection 15 to be inserted into the coupling groove 25 protrudes from the surface of the panel 20 and has an insertion part 15b that extends outward from a main body of the coupling projection 15 and is tapered. The method of assembling the support member 10 and the panel 20 are the same as the above described method. That is, the support member 10 is fixed to the base frame F fixed to a wall W of a building, and the panel 20 is then assembled to the support member 10 by sliding the coupling projection 15 of the panel 20 into the coupling groove 25 of the support member 10.
FIG. 13 through FIG. 16 illustrate a panel installation set according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a sectional view illustrating the sequence of assembling a support member 10 and a panel 20, FIG. 14 is a front view illustrating the support member 10 fixed to a base frame F on a wall of a building, FIG. 15 is a partial sectional view taken along a first direction and illustrating the assembled panel 20 and the support member 10, and FIG. 16 is a sectional view taken along a direction different from the view in FIG. 15.
Referring to FIG. 13, the support member 10 has a coupling projection 15 and the panel 20 has a coupling groove 25. The coupling projection 15 and the coupling groove 25 have a structure such that the coupling projection 15 can be inserted into the coupling groove 25 in the X direction. In more detail, the width D₁₅ of an end portion of the coupling projection 15 is the same as or smaller than the width D₂₅ of an entrance portion of the coupling groove 25. In FIG. 13, D₁₅ ≤ D₂₅. Accordingly, the coupling projection 15 can slide into the coupling groove 25 or can be inserted into the coupling groove 25 by pushing the coupling projection 15 toward the coupling groove 25 in the X direction.
In more detail, when assembling the panel 20 and the support member 10 in a sliding manner, the panel 20 is inserted into the support member 10 in a horizontal direction X, and is then moved down, so that the panel 20 hangs from the support member 10 as shown in the middle view in FIG. 13. In this instance, due to the size difference between the coupling projection 15 and the coupling groove 25, there remains a space S in the coupling groove 25 after the coupling projection 15 has been inserted into the coupling groove 25. Since the panel 20 moves in a vertical direction in the space S, the space S is preferably removed.
That is, in order to remove the space S, a packing member 40 is used.
The packing member 40 can be any member as long as it can prevent the panel 20 from moving in the space S. For example, the packing member 40 may be made of wood, silicon, rubber, synthetic resin molding body, or synthetic resin foam. As shown in FIG. 15, a plastic bar can be also used as the packing member 40. The plastic member 40 is preferably freely bendable. In order to tightly pack the space S, the packing member 4 has a sectional shape corresponding to the sectional shape of the space S.
In the panel installation set shown in FIG. 13, since the support member 10 and the panel 20 can be assembled in a sliding and inserting manner in the X direction in FIG. 13, the panel installation set may be useful to install panels to a wall W of a building, an end portion of a wall W of a building, a deeply recessed wall, or a ceiling, that is, to objects to which it is difficult to attach panels.
Referring to FIG. 14 through FIG. 16, a method of installing panels 20 to a wall W of a building using the panel installation set shown in FIG. 13 is described.
First, as shown in FIG. 14, the base frame F is fixed to a wall W of a building. Next, a plurality of the support members 10 is fixed to the base frame F using coupling members 30 at regular intervals. The panels 20 are assembled to the support members 10 in a sliding manner or by pushing the panels 20 toward the support members 10 in the X direction in FIG. 13. Next, the packing members 40 are provided in the spaces S in the coupling grooves 25 around the coupling projections 15.
In the above described method, a spacer 50 is preferably attached to the base frame F before the support members 10 and the panels 20 are assembled.
The spacer 50 is disposed between the base frame F and the panel 20, thereby preventing the panel 20 from bending when an external force is applied to the panel 20. The spacer 50 may be made of wood, metal, silicon, rubber, or synthetic resin foam. The spacer 50 may have adhesiveness on the surface thereof to enhance bonding force between the base frame F and the panel 20. For example, the spacer 50 has a bar shape, and is coated with an adhesive. The spacer 50 can also have adhesiveness by implementing the spacer 50 using silicon having adhesiveness. The spacer 50 also preferably has a hollow extending in the length direction thereof. For example, the spacer 50 is made of wood, metal, molded PVC extrusion, molded rubber, molded foamed rubber, silicon mold, molded foamed silicon, molded plastic or molded foamed plastic, or is coated with an adhesive.
As described above, the support member 10 and the panel 20 are made of metal, synthetic resin, wood, or combinations thereof. In more detail, the support member 10 is made of aluminum alloy or synthetic resin through an extrusion molding method. The panel 20 is made of veneer board, medium density fiberboard (MDF), high pressure laminate (HPL), or a material manufactured using a mixture of wood powder and synthetic resin binder. A decorative sheet that can give a good appearance is preferably attached to the surface of the panel 20. Although the installation method includes the step of installing the base frame F, this can be omitted if the installation surface is planar.
That is, if the installation surface is a planar surface, support members 10 are directly installed on a wall W of a building, and panels 20 are assembled to the support members 10. Accordingly, the panel installation set may comprise at least a support member 10 and a panel 20, and in which case installation method thereof comprises installing the support member 10 and installing the panel 20. In the case in which the installation surface is rough, the base frame is used in order to impart flatness to the installation surface.

[Industrial Applicability]

The panel installation set is useful to finish the surface of a building. As described above, since the panels 20 are assembled in a sliding manner or an insertion manner, the panels can be easily and simply assembled, and they are secured once they are assembled. The panel installation set has further advantages of reducing the cost of subsidiary material and the cost of installation.
Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

A panel installation set, comprising:
a support member (10) having a coupling projection (15); and

a panel (20) having a coupling groove (25) to engage with the coupling projection (15);

wherein the support member (10) has a substrate (12) having the coupling projection (15) on one surface thereof, and having an insertion hole (16) through which a coupling member (30) is inserted,

wherein the coupling projection (15) includes an insertion part (15b) extending from the surface of the substrate (12) and having tapered profiles at respective sides, and a head part (35) of the coupling member (30) is inserted into the insertion hole (16) and is disposed in a guide groove (16a) in the insertion hole (16),
wherein the support member (10) has a support protrusion (18) protruding from the surface of the substrate (12) in the direction in which the coupling projection (15) extends, and

wherein a width of an end of the coupling projection (15) is the same as or smaller than a width of an entrance of the coupling groove (25), and a space remaining in the coupling groove (25) after the coupling projection (15) has been inserted into the coupling groove (25) is packed with a packing member (40),

characterized in that the coupling projection (15) includes a connection part (15a) extending from a surface of the substrate (12) at a right angle, and an insertion part (15b) which extends from the connection part (15a) in respective side directions and is tapered,

the packing member (40) is a plastic bar, and

the coupling projection (15) has a hollow (15c) and that the panel installation set further comprises at least one spacer (50) disposed between the support members (10) to prevent the panel (20) from bending.