IES80752B2 - A heat insulated lintel - Google Patents

Abstract

A lintel (1) is provided and has a pair of spaced apart elongate plate members (2,3) for supporting the inner and outer leaves of a cavity wall, and a connecting member for housing an infill body (50) of insulation. The connecting member is channel shaped, formed from side webs bridged by a further top web (7). A tongue (10) is punched out of the side web (4) to retain the infill body (50). An infill body plaster adhesion means (30) may be provided for keying to plaster.

Description

The present invention relates to a lintel of the type comprising a pair of spaced apart elongate plate members for supporting the inner and outer leaves of a cavity wall and a connecting member, of inverted channel shape formed from a pair of side webs at least one of which is substantially vertical, between the plate members for housing of a solid infil body of heat insulation material.

Such a lintel is described and claimed in U.K. Patent Specification No. 2258255 and the lintel of this Patent Specification, has adhesion enhancing means on the lintel in the form of a sheet of plastics material which defines keying recesses for receiving mortar. A similar plaster key for infil material is described in U.K. Patent Specification No. 2307921. Both of these Patent Specifications illustrate insulation material in the channel portion which insulation material in the form of an inset or infil body of a heat insulation material. This body is generally formed from pre-formed sheets of expanded polystyrene board or some other plastics material. It is important to provide a infil body which fills the void in the connecting member and further remains therein 0 during subsequent handling and eventual installation.

This is usually achieved by making the solid infil body of slightly greater dimensions than the inverted channel shape and then forcing the infil body into the connecting member after the lintel has been formed. The problem with this is that subsequently the infil body falls out of the finished lintel. A still further problem arises with many lintels in that there is a need to key the surface of the infil material into the mortar or grout.

The present invention is therefore directed to providing a lintel which will overcome the problem of the housing of a solid infil body of heat insulation material within a connecting member of inverted channel shape forming part of the lintel and secondly to providing a lintel that will ensure there is adequate keying between the smooth infil body and the grouting or plaster. r\ r S o Further the invention is directed towards providing improved plaster adhesion between an elongate plate member for supporting an inner or outer leaf of a cavity wall and the required plaster or grouting material Statements of Invention According to the invention there is provided a Lintel of the type comprising a pair of spaced apart elongate plate members for supporting the inner and outer leaves of a cavity wall and a connecting member of inverted channel shape formed from a pair of side webs at least one of which is substantially vertical, between the plate members for housing of a solid infil body of heat insulation material characterised in that a side web has infil body engagement means for retention of the infil body within the connecting member.

This relatively simple improvement in the construction of such lintels overcomes a major problem with infil bodies of insulation in that they will no longer fall out of the lintel prior to being placed in situ. Ideally the infil body engagement means is a tongue on the side web bent inwardly and upwardly with respect to the connecting plate member.

Such a simple tongue has been found surprisingly to work in practice contrary to what one would expect there is no need for a multiplicity of closely spaced apart tongues which would reduce the strength of the lintel. The tongue may be of substantially triangular shape terminating at its apex in an infil body piercing barb.

The tongue is preferably punched out of the side web and ideally adjacent each exposed end edge of the side web. This ensures no diminution of strength where load bearing is critical. An infil body plaster adhesion enhancing means may be provided comprising a sheet having an infil body engaging face with infil keying means thereon and an obverse plaster engaging face having re-entrant plaster retaining formations thereon and in which the sheet has alongitudionally arranged peripheral lip for extending beyond a side web beneath the adjacent elongate plate and spaced apart therefrom to form a further plaster retaining recess.

The infil keying means may comprisess an upstanding web engaging plate with an inwardly and downwardly directed infil engaging barb.

Preferably the re-entrant plaster retaining formations are provided by elongate strips depending therefrom and alternately extending towards and away from an adjacent strip and ideally where adjacent strips extend away from each other an additional upstanding lip is mounted on a strip intermediate the ends thereof projecting across the gap between the adjacent strips.

In another embodiment of the invention an elongate plate member is provided with plaster adhesion enhancing formations.

These plaster adhesion enhancing formations may be punched out of the plate member and comprise protrussions rising arcuately across the plate between two substantially parallel spaced apart deformation lines, arcuate edge portions being at least partially separated from the plate for additional plaster adhesion.

This is not alone an efficient and effective way of ensuring adequate adhesion but it also provides additional rigidity to the lintel Detailed Description of the Invention The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description of some embodiments given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig 1 is a perspective view of part of a lintel according to the invention, Fig. 2 is a side view of the portion of the lintel illustrated in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is an end view of the portion illustrated in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a perspective view of an infil body plaster adhesion enhancing means according to the invention, Fig. 5 is an end view of the infil body plaster adhesion enhancing means of Fig. 5 is an end view of the plaster adhesion enhancing means, Fig. 6 is a plan view of the plaster adhesion enhancing means, Fig- 7 is a side view of the plaster adhesion enhancing means, 0 Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a fully assembled lintel according to the invention, Fig. 9 is an end view of portion of an alternative construction of a lintel according to the invention, Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a fully assembled alternative constructional lintel according to the invention, Fig. 11 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 7 of this alternative lintel according to the invention.

Referring to the drawings and initially to Figs. 1-8 thereof there is illustrated a lintel, implicated generally by the reference numeral 1 which is only fully shown in Fig. 8. The lintel 1 comprises a pair of spaced apart elongate plate members 2 and 3 for supporting the inner and outer leaves respectively of a cavity wall, not shown, and a connecting member of channel shape formed from a pair of upright webs 4 and 5. The web 4 is substantially vertical throughout its length while the web 5 is initially substantially vertical and is then cranked at 6 to form an inclined portion. The side webs 4 and 5 are bridged by a further top web 7. The side web 4 has an infil body engagement means which comprises a tongue 10 punched out of the side web 4 and bent inwardly and upwardly with respect to the adjacent plate member 2. The plate member 2 is provided with plaster adhesion enhansing formations which are protrusions 15 punched out of the plate member 2 rising arcuately substantially parallel spaced apart deformation line 16 having arcuate edge portion 17 which are partially separated from the plate member 2 to form recesses eighteen for additional plaster adhesion. The construction can be most clearly seen in Fig. 2 The Plate member 3 is not provided with plaster adhesion enhancing formations but is cranked adjacent its outer edge 20. at 21 to form a drip lip 22 Referring to Figs 4 to 7 inclusive there is provided aninfil body plaster adhesion enhancing means indicated by the rerference numeral 30. The adhesion enhancing means 30 comprises a sheet 31 having an infil body engaging face which has an infil keying means thereon formed from a standing web engaging plate 33 with having on its uppper extremity an infil engaging barb 34. The plate 33 extends below the sheet 31 to carry a longitudionally extending peripheral lip 35. On the obverse face of the sheet 32 there is provided elongate strips 40 depending therefrom and alternately extending towards and away (from each other to form alternate recesses 41 and 42. It will be noted that where adjacent strips 40 extend away from each other an additional upstanding lip 43 is mounted on the strip 40 intermediate the ends thereof and projecting across the gap between the adjacent strips 40 so that the recesses 41 so formed provide re-entrant recesses for the keying of plaster. Finally there is illustrated in Fig. 8 a fully assembled lintel with an infil body 50 mounted therein.

To assemble the lintel 1 the lintel 1 is initially formed from a sheet of metal in conventional manner with the protusions 15 and the tongues 10 again punched out in conventional manner. Then the infil body 50 is pushed into the channel formed between the side webs 4 and 5 and the top web 7. Then adhesion enhancing means 30 is pushed up between the infil body 50 and the side web 4 with its lip 35 extended beyond the side web 4 beneath the plate member 2 and spaced apart therefrom to form as will be seen a further plaster retaining recess. The lintel is then ready for use and can be handled and transported conventional manner. The tongues 10 will prevent the infil body 50 falling out of the inverted channel formed by the side webs 4,5 and the top web 7 because they are rigidly secured within the channel. It will also retain the adhesion enhancing means 30. The lintel 1 can be used when required in conventional manner with the normal plastering taking place and the adhesion enhancing means 30 providing sufficient adhesion between the infil body and the plaster and at the same time the protrusions 15 will ensure sufficient keying of the plate member 2 to the plaster.

Referring now to Figs. 9 to 11 inclusive, there is illustrated another lintel according to the invention indicated generally by the reference numeral 60, in which parts similar to that described with reference to the previous drawings are identified by the same reference numerals. In this case the Lintel 60 is a flat type Lintel which would be used on block work for internal cavity walls with a rendered outer leaf. In this embodiment where tongues 10 provided on each side web 4 and 5 and the plate members 2 and 3 are at the same height and each have protrusions 15 Further a pair of adhesion means 30 are provided.

It is envisaged that the barb forming the tongue may be of triangular shape terminating at its apex in an infil body piercing barb. Further it is envisaged that instead of using a tongue integral with the side web as an infil body engagement means that other infil body engagement means may be used, to construction which will be relatively easily appreciated. However, it is envisaged that the punching of the infil body engagement means out of the sideweb is advantageous. It would not greatly reduce the load bearing properties of the side web. Further the particular form of plaster adhesion enhancing formations formed on the elongate plate members are such as not to reduce greatly the inherent rigidity, if anything they will add to it.

It will be envisaged that the infil body plaster enhancing means may be profitably made from a plastics material.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments here and before described which may be varied within the scope of the claims.

Claims (6)

1. A Lintel of the type comprising a pair of spaced apart elongate plate members for supporting the inner and outer leaves of a cavity wall and a 5 connecting member of inverted channel shape formed from a pair of side webs between the plate members for housing of a solid infil body of heat insulation material characterised in that a side web has infil body engagement means for retention of the infil body within the connecting member.

2. A Lintel as claimed in claim 1 in which the infil body engagement means is a tongue on the side web bent inwardly and upwardly with respect to the connecting plate member and may have a triangular shape terminating at its apex in an infil body piercing barb and may be 15 punched out of the side web.

3. A Lintel as claimed in 1 or 2 in which infil body plaster adhesion enhancing means is provided comprising a sheet having an infil body 20 engaging face with infil keying means thereon and an obverse plaster engaging face having re-entrant plaster retaining formations thereon and in which the sheet has a longitudionally arranged peripheral lip for extending beyond a side web beneath the adjacent elongate plate and spaced apart therefrom to form a further plaster retaining recess.

4. A Lintel as claimed in claim 3 in which the infil keying means comprises an upstanding web engaging plate with an inwardly and downwardly directed infil engaging barb and in which the re-entrant plaster retaining formations may be provided by elongate strips depending therefrom and 30 alternately extending towards and away from an adjacent strip and ideally where adjacent strips extend away from each other an additional upstanding lip is mounted on a strip intermediate the ends thereof projecting across the gap between the adjacent strips. Alternatively an elongate plate member is provided with plaster adhesion enhancing formations which may be punched out of the plate member and

5. Comprise protrussions rising arcuately across the plate between two substantially parallel spaced apart deformation lines, arcuate edge portions being at least partially separated from the plate for additional plaster adhesion.

6. 10 5. A Lintel substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.