The present invention relates to a building panel adapted to be mounted at a ceiling or wall of a room so that a framework of the building panel has a room-facing side and a building-facing side, wherein a textile is extended over the room-facing side of the framework, the textile having a first surface facing the framework and a second surface generally visible from said room.
Such building panels can generally be used to cover interior surfaces in buildings, for instance in auditoriums, open-plan offices, etc. In such fields as architecture and interior design there is often a need for panels for covering of boundaries of a room, such as the ceiling, the walls or partitions placed within the room. Such panels can serve purely aesthetic purposes but can also be used to actively alter a room's characteristics, for instance relating to acoustic and thermal properties of the room.
WO 2005/073482 A2 discloses a system of building panels for suspended ceilings. Each building panel includes a frame composed by profile members, and a room-facing side of the building panel is formed by a textile suspended between the profile members. Different tensioning systems are disclosed whereby the textile may be stretched evenly over the opening of the frame and thereby form a smooth flat surface visible from the room. However, whereas the building panels disclosed are excellent when a smooth flat textile surface is desired, these building panels are generally not suitable if a curved textile surface is required. On the other hand, if these building panels are required to be relatively large, a correspondingly large tensioning force is necessary in order to maintain the textile appropriately stretched, and in the case of very large building panels, the weight of the textile would inevitably weigh down the textile in the central area of the frame, and it would be impossible to achieve a flat textile surface.
In the fields of architecture and interior design, curved and/or very large building panels may be required for different reasons, such as for aesthetic or practical purposes.
The object of the present invention is to provide a building panel suitable for extending flat or smoothly curved textile surfaces of any desired size.
In view of this object, a mesh is laminated onto the first surface of the textile, the mesh is attached to the framework by means of a number of connectors, and each connector has a first end in the form of a gripper inserted between a part of the mesh and the textile and a second end attached to the framework.
Thereby the mesh and the textile laminated with the mesh may at suitable points be attached to the framework in order for the mesh and textile to follow the surface contour of the framework whether the surface contour is flat, concave or convex. The framework may have any desired size, because an increased weight of the textile may be carried by a correspondingly increased number of connectors. Because the gripper forming the first end of the connectors is inserted between a part of the mesh and the textile, the gripper is not visible from the room.
In an embodiment, the first and second ends of each connector are mutually connected by means of a tensioned spring. Thereby, by adapting the spring constant of the spring, the mesh and textile may in an even better way smoothly follow the surface contour of the framework.
In an embodiment, each connector has the form of a tension coil spring having a first end which is formed integrally with a first hook forming the gripper at the first end of the connector and having a second end which is formed integrally with a second hook at the second end of the connector, and the second hook is attached to the framework. Thereby, a standard tension coil spring having a first and a second hook formed by the respective ends of the spring coil may be used to form the connector.
In an embodiment, the mesh is formed from a resilient material, and the mesh, when it is in its relaxed state, before being attached to the framework, forms a flat surface. Thereby, the mesh and textile may in an even better way smoothly follow the surface contour of the framework without forming bends or creases possibly revealing parts of the framework on the second surface of the textile.
In an embodiment, the stiffness of the mesh is adapted to the stiffness of and the areal weight of the textile so that the second surface of the textile extends in a smooth and even manner Thereby, the mesh and textile may in an even better way smoothly follow the surface contour of the framework.
In an embodiment, the mesh has been laminated onto the first surface of the textile by means of adhesive, and the adhesive does not cover or covers only part of the textile covered by the mesh openings. Thereby, it may be avoided that pores of the textile are clogged by the adhesive and it may therefore be possible to balance the acoustic and thermal comfort of a building by means of the building panel.
In an embodiment, the mesh has been laminated onto the first surface of the textile by means of heat lamination, and a heat activated adhesive in the form of a slit film net or web has been arranged between the mesh and the textile. Thereby, the lamination of the mesh onto the textile may be facilitated and it may by means of the slit film net or web be ensured that the adhesive does not cover or covers only part of the textile covered by the mesh openings. Consequently, as also mentioned above, it may be avoided that pores of the textile are dogged by the adhesive and it may therefore be possible to balance the acoustic and thermal comfort of a building by means of the building panel.
In an embodiment, the room-facing side of the framework includes at least one concave area, and wherein, at each concave area of the room-facing side of the framework, the mesh is attached to the framework by means of at least one connector. Thereby, building panels having a variety of curved surfaces may be provided wherein it may be ensured that the mesh and textile smoothly follow the surface contour of the framework. In the concave areas of the room-facing side of the framework, the at least one connector may ensure that the mesh and textile smoothly follow the surface contour of the framework, and in flat or convex areas of the room-facing side of the framework, the mesh and textile may also smoothly follow the surface contour of the framework, at least because the mesh may be attached to the framework by means of connectors in surrounding concave areas of the room-facing side of the framework.
In an embodiment, the second surface of the textile includes at least one concave area and at least one convex area, and at least at each concave area of the second surface of the textile, the mesh is attached to the framework by means of at least one connector.
In a structurally particularly advantageous embodiment, the framework includes a number of criss-crossed beams at least substantially forming a surface contour followed by the laminate of the mesh and textile. Thereby, the mesh may ensure that the textile smoothly follows the surface contour of the framework also in areas formed between the criss-crossed beams.
In a structurally particularly advantageous embodiment, each beam is provided with a number of fixation cutouts which are mutually spaced in the longitudinal direction of the beam and which the second end of a connector may engage for connection with the beam. Thereby, connectors may easily be arranged at suitable positions when assembling the building panel, and it may thereby by visual feedback be ensured that the textile actually smoothly follows the surface contour of the framework. By means of the fixation cutouts, the connectors may easily be brought into engagement with the framework without the need for additional elements.
In a structurally particularly advantageous embodiment, at each fixation cutout, a connector cutout is formed in an edge of the beam, said edge supporting the laminate of the mesh and textile, and the connector cutout is adapted to receive a connector attaching the mesh to the framework. Thereby, each connector may freely extend between the fixation cutout and the mesh, and it may thereby be ensured that the connector is free to tension the mesh and textile in a suitable manner so that the mesh and textile smoothly follow the surface contour of the framework.
In an embodiment, the framework is surrounded by a frame composed by profile members, each profile member has a rounded outer edge connecting a room-facing side of the profile member with a building-facing side of the profile member, the textile is bent about the rounded outer edges of the profile members, and an edge part of the textile is fixed to the building-facing side of the profile members. Thereby, it may ensured that the edges of the building panel are smooth and only the textile is visible.
In an embodiment, the edge part of the textile that is bent about the rounded outer edges of the profile members is not laminated with the mesh, so that a border of the mesh is located next to the room-facing side of the profile member. Thereby, it may be ensured that the textile smoothly follows the rounded outer edges of the profile members independently of the stiffness of the mesh. In order to ensure that the mesh and textile smoothly follows the surface contour of the framework, it may be preferred that the mesh is rather stiff, and in this case, it may be especially advantageous when the part of the textile that is bent about the rounded outer edges of the profile members is not laminated with the mesh, as otherwise, it could be difficult or even impossible to ensure that the textile smoothly follows the rounded outer edges of the profile members.
The present invention further relates to a method of manufacturing a building panel adapted to be mounted at a ceiling or wall of a room so that a framework of the building panel has a room-facing side and a building-facing side, whereby a textile is extended over the room-facing side of the framework, the textile having a first surface facing the framework and a second surface generally visible from said room.
The method is characterised by that, before extending the textile over the room-facing side of the framework, a mesh is laminated onto the first surface of the textile, by that, after extending the textile over the room-facing side of the framework, the mesh is attached to the framework by means of a number of connectors, and by that each connector has a first end in the form of a gripper which is inserted between a part of the mesh and the textile and a second end which is attached to the framework. Thereby, the above described features may be obtained.
In an embodiment, the first and second ends of each connector are mutually connected by means of respective springs which are tensioned by the attachment of the mesh to the framework by means of the connectors. Thereby, the above described features may be obtained.
In an embodiment, the mesh is being laminated onto the first surface of the textile by means of adhesive so that the adhesive does not cover or covers only part of the textile being covered by the mesh openings. Thereby, the above described features may be obtained.
In an embodiment, the mesh is being laminated onto the first surface of the textile by means of heat lamination, and a heat activated adhesive in the form of a slit film net or web is being arranged between the mesh and the textile. Thereby, the above described features may be obtained.
In an embodiment, the room-facing side of the framework includes at least one concave area, and whereby, at each concave area of the room-facing side of the framework, the mesh is being attached to the framework by means of at least one connector. Thereby, the above described features may be obtained.
In an embodiment, the framework includes a number of criss-crossed beams at least substantially forming a surface contour to be followed by the laminate of the mesh and textile, each beam is provided with a number of fixation cutouts which are mutually spaced in the longitudinal direction of the beam, and the second end of each connector is brought into engagement with a respective fixation cutout for connection with the beam. Thereby, the above described features may be obtained.
In an embodiment, at each fixation cutout, a connector cutout is formed in an edge of the beam, the laminate of the mesh and textile is arranged so that it is supported by said edge, and each connector is arranged in a respective connector cutout in order to attach the mesh to the framework. Thereby, the above described features may be obtained.
In an embodiment, the framework is surrounded by a frame composed by profile members, each profile member has a rounded outer edge connecting a room-facing side of the profile member with a building-facing side of the profile member, and the textile is bent about the rounded outer edges of the profile members, and an edge part of the textile is fixed to the building-facing side of the profile members. Thereby, the above described features may be obtained.
Preferably, the textile is bent about the rounded outer edges of the profile members and fixed to the building-facing side of the profile members after attaching the mesh to the framework by means of the connectors. Thereby, it may be ensured that the dimensions of the mesh and textile in all directions fit the surface contour of the framework before the edge parts of the textile are fixed to the building-facing side of the profile members. Thereby, the mesh and textile may smoothly follow the surface contour of the framework and the textile may fit the rounded outer edges of the profile members without forming bends or creases.
In an embodiment, before bending the textile about the rounded outer edges of the profile members, an edge part of the textile that has to be bent about said rounded outer edges is delaminated from the mesh, and the delaminated edge part of the mesh is cut off, so that a border of the mesh is located next to the room-facing side of the profile members, when the edge part of the textile has been bent about said rounded outer edges and has been fixed to the building-facing side of the profile members. Thereby, the above described features may be obtained. Furthermore, the dimensions of the mesh and the textile may be adapted to the framework and the rounded outer edges of the profile members during mounting of the mesh and textile on the framework, whereby correct dimensions may be ensured in an easy way.
The invention will now be explained in more detail below by means of examples of embodiments with reference to the very schematic drawing, in which
A textile 5 is extended over the room-facing side 3 of the framework 2, and the textile 5 has a first surface 6 facing the framework 2 and a second surface 7 generally visible from the room when the panel is mounted at a wall or ceiling of the room. Furthermore, before extending the textile 5 over the room-facing side 3 of the framework 2, a mesh 8 has been laminated onto the first surface 6 of the textile 5. The mesh 8 is attached to the framework 2 by means of a number of connectors 9, one of which is illustrated in more detail in
In the illustrated embodiment, each connector 9 has the form of a standard tension coil spring 15 having a first end which is formed integrally with a first hook 34 forming the gripper 11 at the first end 10 of the connector 9 and having a second end which is formed integrally with a second hook 35 at the second end 13 of the connector 9, and the second hook 35 is attached to the framework 2. Thereby, preferably, a commercially readily available standard tension coil spring having a first and a second hook formed by the respective ends of the metal thread or wire forming the spring coil may be used to form the connector 9.
Preferably, the mesh 8 is formed from a resilient material, and when the mesh 8 is in its relaxed state, before being attached to the framework 2, it preferably forms a flat surface. Thereby, the mesh 8 and textile 5 may in an even better way smoothly follow the surface contour of the framework 2 without forming bends or creases possibly rendering parts of the framework visible from the second surface 7 of the textile 5. The stiffness of the mesh 8 may advantageously be adapted to the stiffness of and the areal weight of the textile 5 in order to ensure that the second surface 7 of the textile 5 extends in a smooth and even manner.
The mesh 8 may for instance be made of a plastic material, such as polyester, but any material suitable in terms of mainly stiffness and areal weight may be employed, such as for instance metal. In an advantageous embodiment, the mesh 8 may be formed as a monofilament polyester mesh.
If the mesh 8 is formed as a monofilament mesh, the monofilament may have a diameter of for instance from about 0.1 millimetres to about 3.0 millimetres, and preferably from about 0.5 millimetres to about 2.0 millimetres.
Independently of the monofilament or wire diameter, the mesh 8 may for instance have a minimum opening or space cloth of from about 1.0 millimetres to about 20 millimetres, preferably from about 1.0 millimetres to about 10 millimetres, and most preferred from about 3.0 millimetres to about 7 millimetres. The opening or space cloth is defined as the distance between adjacent parallel monofilaments or wires.
The textile 5 extended over the room-facing side 3 of the framework 2 may be a nonwoven or woven fabric in the form of a flexible material formed by natural or artificial fibres, yarn or thread. The textile 9 is preferably of a material or structure that allows air to diffuse through it.
Preferably, the mesh 8 has been laminated onto the first surface 6 of the textile 5 by means of an adhesive 16 in such a way that the adhesive 16 does not cover or covers only part of the textile 5 covered by the mesh openings 17. The mesh openings 17 are best visible in
As illustrated in
Furthermore, in the embodiment shown, in order to strengthen the connection between two beams 19, 20 arranged at right angles to each other, a connection piece 46 is arranged at the connection between the two beams 19, 20. Such a connection piece 46 may be arranged at all the connections between angled beams 19, 20, or just at some connections. Preferably, at least at the corner connections of the framework 2, connection pieces 46 are arranged, as it is seen in
As it may further be seen in
It should be noted that, as explained above, the present invention is especially advantageous when the room-facing side 3 of the framework 2 has a double curvature or a compound curvature; however, the invention is equally applicable when the room-facing side 3 is flat or just convex, just concave or any combination thereof, because the connectors 9 may in any case be employed in order to even better ensure that the mesh 8 and textile 5 follow the room-facing side 3 of the framework 2.
As indicated in
Furthermore, as also best visible in
As illustrated in
Each profile member 27, 28 is mounted on the framework 2 in that each end of the beams 19, 20 forming the framework 2 is provided with a tab 53 inserted into a serrated track 54 of the respective profile member 27, 28. As seen in
Preferably, the edge part 32 of the textile 5 that is bent about the rounded outer edges 29 of the profile members 27, 28 is not laminated with the mesh 28, so that a border 33 of the mesh 8 is located next to the room-facing side 30 of the profile members. This may preferably be achieved by that, before bending the textile 5 about the rounded outer edges 29 of the profile members 27, 28, an edge part 32 of the textile 5 that has to be bent about said rounded outer edges 29 is delaminated from the mesh 8, and the delaminated edge part of the mesh 8 is cut off, so that the border 33 of the mesh 8 is located next to the room-facing side 30 of the profile members 27, 28, when the edge part 32 of the textile 5 has been bent about said rounded outer edges 29 and has been fixed to the building-facing side 31 of the profile members 27, 28.
When, as explained just above, the edge part 32 of the textile 5 that is bent about the rounded outer edges 29 of the profile members 27, 28 is not laminated with the mesh 28, it may be ensured that the textile 5 smoothly follows the rounded outer edges 29 of the profile members 27, 28 independently of the stiffness of the mesh 8. In order to ensure that the mesh 8 and textile 5 smoothly follows the surface contour 21 of the framework 2, it may be preferred that the mesh 8 is rather stiff, and in this case, it may be especially advantageous when the part 32 of the textile 5 that is bent about the rounded outer edges 29 of the profile members 27, 28 is not laminated with the mesh 8, as otherwise, it could be difficult or even impossible to ensure that the textile 5 smoothly follows the rounded outer edges 29 of the profile members.
It is noted that preferably, firstly the mesh 8 is attached to the framework 2 by means of connectors 9 at suitable locations in order to make the mesh 8 and textile 5 smoothly follow the surface contour 21 of the framework 2, and secondly, the textile 5 is bent about the rounded outer edges 29 of the profile members 27, 28, and the edge part 32 of the textile 5 is fixed to the building-facing side 31 of the profile members 27, 28. Thereby, the dimensions of the mesh 8 and the textile 5 may be adapted to the framework 2 and the rounded outer edges 29 of the profile members 27, 28 during mounting of the mesh 8 and textile 5 on the framework 2, whereby correct dimensions may be ensured in an easy way.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/IB2017/052669 | 5/8/2017 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2018/206998 | 11/15/2018 | WO | A |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20200165820 A1 | May 2020 | US |