GB2514164A - Balcony - Google Patents

Abstract

A kit of parts comprising a plurality of balcony modules10a-10h having an upper surface and side walls; the modules are interconnectable side by side, preferably by bolts through pre-drilled holes in the sidewalls to provide a balcony floor which can then be installed on a balcony support 32. The modules may be identical and may include a bottom surface to act as an integral soffit. The balcony modules may be extruded aluminium box section tubing with internal ribs and diagonal bracing for strength. The balcony support may include multiple cantilever beams projecting from a wall over which hollow sections of the balcony modules are slid.

Description

BALCONY

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a balcony and to a kit for forming a balcony.

Background of the Invention

Metal balconies are often specified in the plans drawn up by architects for new or existing buildings. These balconies may be decorative, but in many cases must be structurally secure and capable of supporting the load of several people as well as the furniture (balustrades, panels, handrails, etc.) needed to make the balcony safe.

Generally either the architect or engineer will prepare drawings for the balcony which specify to a metalworker how it should be made. In the majority of cases, the detail will have steel beams coming out from the building, surrounded by an edge frame, often with smaller intermediate members to provide adequate support for the flooring and the soffit underneath the balcony (if applicable). The metalworker will cut and drill the components and weld them together. The mild steel parts will then be galvanised, then after that the intermediate is members and finishes will be assembled, either in a factory or in position on the building.

The above method is generally acceptable and has produced satisfactory results for many years, but has numerous problems which have to be addressed in each instance of installation: Time -it takes a substantial amount of time to make up each balcony. As balconies are generally individually specified (unless multiple balconies are being produced for a single building, or identical balconies are being produced for identical buildings, e.g. on a new housing development), all the various necessary components of each balcony have to be procured, cut up, drilled, set up on jigs and welded before the balcony/balconies can be transported to site for installation.

Lack of standardisation -As mentioned above, there is little or no repetition in the designs of balconies; each architect or engineer will specify something slightly different even for each of their own projects. As a result, complex engineering calculations have to be gone through each time to ensure the safety and security of the balcony. The metalworker has to buy special components each time and set up special jigs, etc. As the process of designing, certifying, setting up, ordering components and manufacturing the balcony has to be repeated for each different design, this process requires the involvement of skilled workers for each stage of the production of each new balcony and also increases the timescale for the production of balconies due to the need to repeat these steps each time.

s * Flooring -often the flooring for a balcony is desired to be timber. Ideally the metal framework of the balcony would be constructed by a metalworker and the timber finish would be provided by a timber specialist. However, this often does not work with balconies.

Without the timber flooring in place, it is not safe to walk onto the balcony to do any further work. The flooring therefore has to be assembled before installation, and this then ends up being done by the metalworkers in order to assemble the complete balcony before lifting it into position.

* Tolerances -due to the (timber) flooring having to be assembled off-site as part of the balcony, this has to be manufactured or cut to a line where it is hoped the edge of the building and doorways will end up. In reality, due to building tolerances, there are often problems where a balcony is lifted into place and the positioning is not accurate or consistent, resulting in gaps between the assembled balcony and the building which then have to be filled or covered.

* Catching drips/spills -where a building (such as a block of flats) is designed with a "stack" of balconies (i.e. a number of balconies immediately above each other) there is always the risk that someone on a balcony above you could spill liquid (e.g. a hot drink) and this may down onto the balcony below, for example through gaps in the flooring/framework or over the edges. Currently the only way to stop this is to install "drip trays" built into the balcony.

However, this is tricky and expensive and therefore due to cost and hassle factors, is often omitted.

* Soffits -the underside of a traditional balcony often looks unattractive with lots of beams and bolts and support members which are visible once the balcony is installed. Typically a soffit is installed on the underside of the balcony to hide all of this. However, this adds to the complexity of both the balcony and the installation process and so in practice is often omitted, leaving the ugly underside visible.

The present invention aims to address one or more of the above problems with existing balcony construction and fitting processes.

Summary of the Invention

Accordingly, at their broadest, aspects of the present invention provide a kit for a balcony which comprises a plurality of modules which are interconnectable to form a balcony, a balcony assembled from such a kit and a method of assembling a modular balcony and attaching it to a building or other construction.

A first aspect of the present invention preferably provides a kit for a balcony, the kit comprising: a plurality of balcony modules, each balcony module having an upper surface and side walls and being interconnectable to the other balcony modules to form a balcony in which the upper surfaces of the modules together form an upper surface of the balcony.

By providing a plurality of balcony modules which together assemble to make a balcony, a set of standard components can be provided that assemble to form a balcony of known (or selected) dimensions. By choosing the number of modules used, the size of the final balcony can be determined amongst a range of standard sizes.

Furtheimore, since the balcony modules have been prepared in advance and are of standard sizing, the time required to design and produce the balcony can be significantly reduced compared to bespoke designs by architects/engineers for each balcony.

Moreover, the balconies formed from the assembly of each combination of balcony modules can be subject to testing and necessary engineering calculations in advance, such that the balcony can be installed without the need for additional testing or calculations, thereby also reducing the time needed to specify and install a balcony and keeping the total cost of manufacturing and installing the balconies low.

The balcony modules are preferably formed by extrusion, more preferably from extruded aluminium. Extrusion allows foi the creation of modules which are identical in cross-sectional profile, and can be cut to a desired length. It is also a rapid and efficient manufacturing process (in terms of cost and space). Aluminium balcony modules are preferred due to the suitability of aluminium for extrusion, as well as the high strength-to-weight of aluminium, which means that the assembled balconies are not overly heavy and so can be easily lifted into position and readily supported by the building or other structure to which they are being attached.

In one embodiment, all of the balcony modules are identical in all dimensions (subject to usual manufacturing tolerances). This means that the manufacturer only has to have tooling and manufacturing facilities for a single module and that a range of balconies can be constructed from the single base module size.

S In an alternative embodiment, the balcony modules are identical in their cross-sectional dimensions, but have a number of different predetermined lengths. The architect/designer can then choose the depth of the balcony from the predetermined lengths and the width of the balcony as a multiple of the modular width.

Preferably the balcony modules each have a substantially rectangular cross-section which is sub-divided into a plurality of rectangular sections. A rectangular cross-section allows for the balcony modules to be joined to each other and secured. The plurality of rectangular sections can serve to strengthen and stiffen the structure, and/or to engage with the supporting members extending from the building to support and secure the balcony.

More preferably at least one of the rectangular sections is uninterrupted along the length of the module in order to allow for engagement with a supporting beam from the building to which the balcony is to be attached. This allows the balcony to be lowered onto, or slid onto, the supporting beam(s).

Additionally, the balcony modules may have diagonal bracing in at least one of the plurality of rectangular sections. This diagonal bracing serves to stiffen the modules.

The upper surface of the balcony modules may be ribbed. This can provide a non-slip surface for the balcony. These ribs can also hide the modular nature of the balcony construction.

As the assembled and installed balcony will have an upper surface, there is always a safe surface for working on. It is therefore possible for the balcony to be fitted to the building and then have (additional) flooring constructed in situ. This means that specialist flooring trades can be used to install the flooring. This also means that the flooring installed can be made to measure on site, thus ensuring a good fit with the edge of the building and potentially avoiding any gaps. The platform provides a surface which can easily and cost effectively have floor finishes applied. These may be fixed directly to the surface but may also have a water-proofing system (for example, a liquid based water-proof/membrane) installed to the deck and/or have raised floor finishes.

Preferably the modules each have a lower surface. This lower surface can contribute to the overall structural integrity of the modules and of the assembled balcony. It can also act as a soffit to hide the internal structure and connections of the balcony, potentially also including the beams which support the balcony in place against the structure. In the event of drips penetrating the joints on the upper surface, the lower surface may also act as a drip tray to catch drips or spills and divert them to the edge of the balcony. This lower surface also provides the option for fixtures etc (for example lighting) to be easily installed on the underside of the balcony edge.

The modules may have pre-drilled holes in each of the side walls to permit connection of the modules to each other by bolts or other fasteners. This can allow for a very rapid assembly of the modules into a complete balcony.

The kit of the present aspect may include any combination of some, all or none of the above described preferred and optional features.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a balcony made from assembling a kit according to the above first aspect (including some, all or none of the optional or preferred features of that aspect).

At its broadest, a third aspect of the present invention provides a method of installing a balcony to a building or other structure where the balcony is assembled from a plurality of modules.

Preferably the third aspect provides a method of installing a balcony to a building or other structure, the method including the steps of: installing support members to the building or other structure to support the balcony when in place; selecting a plurality of balcony modules to form a balcony of pre-determined size, each balcony module having an upper surface and side walls and being interconnectable to the other balcony modules to form a balcony; assembling the balcony modules to form a balcony; and attaching the assembled balcony to the support members.

Preferably the balcony modules are the balcony modules making up the kit of the first aspect above, and may have some, all or none of the optional or preferred features of that aspect.

The step of assembling may include bolting the balcony modules together.

In a preferred embodiment the step of attaching the balcony to the support members includes suspending the balcony level with the support members and sliding the balcony substantially horizontally over the support members. This can allow for quick and easy installation of the balcony to the building.

Brief Descrirtion of the Drawings Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a balcony module forming part of an embodiment of the present invention; and Figures 2 shows a perspective view of a balcony according to an embodiment of the present invention being attached to a building structure.

Detailed Descriotion Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a balcony module 10. The module 10 is made from a large aluminium extruded profile measuring 180mm high by 375mm wide. The module 10 is a rectangular profile with a 5mm wall thickness.

Internal ribs 12 and diagonal bracers 14 provide additional stiffness. The module has a three section profile with the outer-most sections 18 housing the diagonal bracers 14 (which are preferably provided on opposite diagonals, as shown in Figure 1, but could be in the same direction), and the central section 16 being void to allow fitting of the module to a building as described below.

It will be appreciated that the modules could be made to different sizes and have a different number of sections to that shown in Figure 1. However, it is preferable that the sections are identically sized to provide even strength and stiffness across the module. It is also preferable that the modules have an odd number of sections and that either the central section or a plurality of sections which are equally spaced about the central section is/are void for attachment to the building structure as this allows for stability and even distribution of the load of the balcony when the balcony is installed to a building structure.

The upper surface 15 of the module is formed with a ribbed finish. This finish provides for a non-slip type finish to a completely balcony. Alternatively, additional flooring (e.g. timber decking) may be laid on top of the modules of the completed balcony.

The lower surface 17 is formed as an integral part of the extruded module and provides a ready-finished soffit when the modules are assembled into a balcony since it serves to hide the internal portions of the module and the connections (the bolts connecting the modules, as well as the beams supporting the balcony). The module 10 shown in Figure 1 is typically 1200mm long and has pre-drilled holes (not shown) in the side walls 13 at either end to allow bolts to pass through to connect multiple modules together.

Each module 10 has a powder-coated or anodised type finish applied after manufacture, meaning that no additional finishing is required once the balcony is assembled and installed.

Figure 2 shows an assembled balcony 20 being installed to a building structure 30. The balcony 20 is formed from 8 modules iDa-i Oh, each of which are modules as shown in Figure 1. The balcony 20 is assembled by selecting the required number of modules ba-lOh and securing the modules to each other, either off-site or on-site, by securing bolts 22 through the pre-drilled holes.

A stock of modules can be kept in a warehouse or other storage and a completed balcony can then be assembled within a few minutes and requiring less skilled workmanship as the only actions required are the securing of the modules to each other by the bolts 22.

The building structure 30 has been prepared for the balcony by securing a steel frame 31, having a plurality of steel arms 32 (formed from I-beam steel sections) projecting from it, to the building structure. As the size of the modules is known, the spacing of these arms 32 is also known and can be readily constructed in advance. Alternatively, these arms 32 can be attached directly to the building structure, without the frame 31.

In installation, the assembled balcony is lifted by a crane to the position shown in Figure 2 and can then be "slid" horizontally onto the arms 32 such that each arm 32 passes through a void section 16 of the balcony modules lOa-bOh. The weight of the balcony 20 is then supported by the arms 32. Further connections (e.g. bolts) can be made between the arms 32 and the balcony 20, but this is generally unnecessary. Whilst this example describes and shows the supporting arms 32 and the modular sections 20 parallel to each other, other applications may involve the modular sections 20 installed at right angles to the supporting aims 32 instead.

Due to the modular and consistent nature of the balconies constructed in this way, the engineering calculations regarding stress and support can be carried out once in advance and are then applicable in respect of all balconies assembled by this method, resulting in considerable time and cost savings for the project as a whole.

As shown in Figure 2, the balcony 20 and arms 32 may be engineered and designed such that it is only necessary for a proportion of the modules 1 Oa-1 Oh (in this case half) to be directly supported by arms 32 which bear the weight of the balcony. This is generally preferable as the assembly and fitting of the arms 32 to the building structure becomes one of the more complex and time-consuming pads of the installation, meaning that a 1-to-i relationship between modules 10 and arms 32 is undesirable.

A decorative cover may be fitted to the outer edge of the balcony to hide the internal structure of the balcony. Typically this would be provided along with any balustrade/walling being fitted around the balcony.

Similarly, flooring can be added to the balcony once it has been installed. As the extruded modules provide for an existing floor structure, it is possible for this flooring to be fitted and installed once the balcony 20 has been installed on the building structure 30. This means that the flooring can be laid by specialist contractors and can also be cut to fit the exact profile of the wall of the building.

Although the embodiments of the invention described above have been set out with precise dimensions it will be apparent to the skilled person that these dimensions are purely illustrative of specific embodiments of the present invention and that the dimensions can be varied depending on the configuration of the balcony desired without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (13)

1. CLAIMS1. A kit for a balcony, the kit comprising: a plurality of balcony modules, each balcony module having an upper surface and side walls and being interconnectable to the other balcony modules to form a balcony in S which the upper surfaces of the modules together form an upper surface of the balcony.
2. 2. A kit according to claim 1 wherein the balcony modules are identical.
3. 3. A kit according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the balcony modules each have a substantially rectangular cross-section which is sub-divided into a plurality of rectangular sections.
4. 4. A kit according to claim 3 wherein the balcony modules have diagonal bracing in at least one of the plurality of rectangular sections.
5. 5. A kit according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein at least one of the rectangular sections is uninterrupted along the length of the module in order to allow for engagement with a supporting beam from the building to which the balcony is to be attached.is
6. 6. A kit according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the upper surface is ribbed.
7. 7. A kit according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the modules each have a lower surface.
8. 8. A kit according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the modules have pre-drilled holes in each of the side walls to permit connection of the modules to each other by bolts or other fasteners.
9. 9. A kit according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the balcony modules are extruded.
10. 10. A balcony formed by assembling a kit according to any one of the preceding claims.
11. 11. A method of installing a balcony to a building or other structure, the method including the steps of: installing support members to the building or other structure to support the balcony when in place; selecting a plurality of balcony modules to form a balcony of pre-determined size, each balcony module having an upper surface and side walls and being interconnectable to the other balcony modules to form a balcony; assembling the balcony modules to form a balcony; and attaching the assembled balcony to the support members.
12. 12. A method according to claim 11 wherein the step of assembling includes bolting the balcony modules together.
13. 13. A method according to claim 11 or claim 12 wherein the step of attaching the balcony to the support members includes suspending the balcony level with the support members and sliding the balcony substantially horizontally over the support members.