ITTO20120808A1 - CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM WITH MODULAR BLOCKS POSIBLE TO DRY, WITH METALLIC SUPPORTING STRUCTURE, PARTICULARLY SUITABLE FOR ANTI-SEISMIC CONSTRUCTIONS - Google Patents

Description

â € œSystem of construction with modular blocks that can be installed dry, with metal bearing structure, particularly suitable for anti-seismic constructionsâ €

TEXT OF THE DESCRIPTION

Field of invention

The present invention generally relates to construction systems and refers in particular to an improved system for the construction of masonry, specifically load-bearing masonry, and to the relative means for implementing it. The invention is aimed at a construction system specifically suitable for use in seismic areas.

Known technique

It is well known how today the construction of masonry has now lost the meaning it had before the advent of reinforced concrete: that is to say currently the construction of masonry is practically synonymous with the construction of dividing walls and certainly not of load-bearing walls as was in use. time.

The current practice of construction with reinforced concrete involves spans, reinforcements, containment caissons, and more, so even a small construction must still be carried out by experienced people.

On the other hand, the conventional construction technique for the construction of load-bearing walls, which involves the overlapping of staggered bricks joined with mortar, gives rise to drawbacks such as the difficulty of operating at high temperatures, when the ambient heat causes too early the drying of the mortar, not leaving it time to set, or the difficulty of operating at too low temperatures, when the reverse phenomenon occurs, ie when the frost hardens the mortar forming ice which compromises its mechanical resistance. Furthermore, the walls constructed in this way have a poor resistance to bending, a significant drawback in the case of areas subject to seismic shocks or hurricanes, in which the bending strength is essential for the walls to withstand the critical stresses that follow.

Before the advent of reinforced concrete, the only way to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks was to build very thick walls, with solid bricks, in order to create a force of gravity that was affected little or nothing by the lateral thrust due to the wind and / or to earthquakes. However, this solution involved some drawbacks, such as the weight of the masonry itself and the considerable cost of execution.

In contrast to the two conventional techniques described above, namely the technique of reinforced concrete and that of load-bearing walls, various attempts have been made in the past to propose new solutions, possibly free from the drawbacks of both techniques.

One of the most effective alternative solutions was the one described in the Italian patent 1,267,445, in which modular brick blocks with rectified faces and completely finished sides are provided, on the faces to be coupled, with a plurality of calibrated through holes, for the Use of pins or pins, having a length substantially equal to the thickness of the brick block and having a section equal to said holes, and able to be inserted, mutually locking and fixing said blocks. This system, although valid in many respects, has some drawbacks, such as the fact that the plurality of overlapping bricks constitutes a row of solid bricks, so the problem of the weight of said wall, even if with fewer rows of bricks side by side, it is not solved; the external faces are provided smooth and no air gap can be formed inside them between said side by side rows, so there is no insulating, thermal and / or acoustic layer between them; moreover, the pins are provided of limited length, in order to fix two layers of overlapping bricks together, so the raising of the wall must be carried out by inserting these pins in the holes left free by the subsequent rows, which certainly does not benefit the speed and at the cost of the execution, not least the impossibility of being able to verify whether the aforementioned joining elements have all been inserted into the bricks, otherwise the masonry will disintegrate due to natural disasters.

A construction system with dry-posable modular blocks, in which each block has at least a pair of through holes for the engagement of respective connecting pins, according to the preamble of the attached claim 1, is also known from document GB -A-2 350 129.

Purpose of the invention

Taking its cue from the solution discussed above proposed in the Italian patent 1,267,445, the present invention aims to provide an improved construction system which overcomes all the aforementioned drawbacks and allows the construction of masonry with overlapping elements in a simple and rapid way. A further object is to provide a system which allows the configuration of the modular block wall to be modified even after its installation, for an unlimited number of times.

Summary of the invention

In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the invention relates to a construction system with dry-posable modular blocks, in which each block has at least one pair of through holes for the engagement of respective connection pins, separate with respect to the blocks , said system being characterized in that it further comprises a metal bearing structure including at least one upper crosspiece, at least one lower crosspiece and at least two uprights which connect said upper and lower crosspieces to each other, so as to define a frame frame for containing a wall built with said modular blocks.

According to a further preferred feature, the aforementioned supporting metal structure rests on anti-seismic elastic elements.

In a preferred embodiment, the lower crosspiece of said supporting metal structure rests on anti-seismic elastic elements oriented in such a way as to allow controlled oscillations in the vertical direction of the construction, while the vertical uprights rest on buttresses by interposition of anti-seismic elastic elements. seismic systems oriented in such a way as to allow controlled oscillations of the building in a horizontal direction parallel to the plane of the block wall.

Again in the case of the preferred embodiment, the supporting metal structure has a three-dimensional configuration, defined by beams extending in three mutually orthogonal directions, and the aforementioned elastic elements comprise lower anti-seismic elements oriented vertically, and in contact with the bottom of the metal structure and lateral anti-seismic elements, in contact with the four sides of the metal structure, and oriented according to two mutually orthogonal horizontal directions.

Preferably, each beam of said bearing structure is provided with one or more metal plates screwed to its sides, for lateral containment of the blocks in contact with the beam.

Again in the case of the aforementioned preferred embodiment, the construction system comprises a first type of modular blocks, each having an upper face, a lower face, two end faces and two side faces and two through holes which lead to their ends. on said upper and lower faces and have their axes arranged in the longitudinal median plane of the block; and a second type of modular blocks, intended to be used to build the highest row of blocks in the wall within the frame of the metal frame, said second type of blocks having a body corresponding to one half of the block of the first type, obtained by cutting in the middle a block of the first type longitudinally, or transversely, in such a way that said blocks of the highest row can be removed from the front and rear with respect to the connection pins.

Thanks to the aforementioned characteristic, the configuration of the modular block wall can be modified for an unlimited number of times, after its first installation, for example to create one or more openings in the wall differently located, according to the needs.

The aforementioned connecting pins of the blocks are configured to fit without interference, i.e. with a very slight play, within the through holes of the blocks and have a length substantially equal to the height of each block, so that each pin is inserted halfway into the hole. a block and half in the hole of an overlying block and each pin has its upper end in contact with the lower end of the pin placed above it. Thanks to the fact that the pins are inserted with a very slight play within the corresponding holes, it is possible to reconstitute a column of pins within the aligned holes of the superimposed rows of blocks of an already completed wall, as well as guarantee the perfect execution of the wall by checking that the thorns protrude from the topmost row of blocks.

Thanks to the aforesaid characteristics, the construction system according to the invention allows to effectively overcome all the drawbacks of the known solutions.

Brief description of the figures

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description with reference to the attached drawings, provided purely by way of non-limiting example, in which:

- Figures 1, 2 show perspective views of two configurations of blocks provided in the system according to the invention,

- figures 3, 4 are sectional views of the blocks of figures 1, 2,

- figure 5 is a sectional view in enlarged scale of a connecting plug of the construction system according to the invention,

- figure 6 is a perspective view of a plurality of building blocks of the system according to the invention,

- figure 7 illustrates in a partial front view a wall of blocks made with the system according to the invention, with the relative metal supporting structure and the elastic anti-seismic elements associated with it,

- figure 8 is a partial perspective view showing on an enlarged scale the structure made with the system according to the invention, in an initial phase of laying the modular block wall,

- figure 9 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale illustrating the same structure in the final phase of laying the wall,

- figure 10 is a sectional view in a horizontal plane of a wall made with the system according to the invention,

- figures 11 and 14 are an elevation view and a plan view of the supporting metal structure of a building made with the system according to the invention, figure 11 corresponding to a section along line XI of figure 14, and

- figures 12 and 13 are enlarged scale views of the details XII and XIII of figure 11.

Detailed description of some preferred embodiments of the invention Figures 1, 2 illustrate two examples of modular blocks used in the construction system according to the invention, which differ from each other only for the fact that in the case of Figure 1 the form in plan of the block is square, while in the case of figure 2 the plan shape of the block is rectangular, with the long side substantially equal to twice the short side. The block, indicated as a whole with the reference number 1, comprises an upper flat face 2, a lower flat face 3, two end walls 4 and two side walls 5.

In the case of the example illustrated here, the building blocks 1 of the system according to the invention are made of wooden material. Preferably they consist of composite wood, for example laminated or laminated wood or chipboard. Of course, the use of wooden material and in particular of laminated wood is indicated here purely by way of non-limiting example, as it is evident that any other suitable material could be used (for example also lightened concrete or other materials). The example of a construction with glulam is clearly visible in figures 3, 4 which show how each block 1 is made up of a plurality of wooden slats 1a superimposed and glued together. The laminated wood body is also treated, in a manner known per se, with an agent of any known type capable of giving it the desired waterproofing characteristics. The details relating to the production technique of the laminated wood blocks are not indicated here, since, as already pointed out, they can be provided according to any known technique and do not fall, taken alone, within the scope of the invention.

The blocks of the construction system according to the invention are prepared with through holes opening at their ends on the two upper and lower faces 2, 3 of the block, for the engagement of connecting pins 6.

In the case of the block with a square plan (figure 1) there is a single central hole 6, while in the case of the block with a rectangular plan (figure 2) there are two through holes 6, spaced apart, whose axes are arranged in the plane longitudinal median of block 1. In the case of the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the height of each block 1 is substantially equal to half of the plan side of the block, if the block has a square plan, or to half of the short side of the block 1. block plan, if the plan is rectangular.

The through holes 6 are intended to be engaged with a slight play by connecting pins 7, preferably made of metallic material, for example stainless steel or aluminum. The pins 7 preferably have a tubular configuration, as clearly visible in Figure 5.

Again in the case of the preferred embodiment, each connecting pin 7 has a length substantially equal to the height of each block 1. Each connecting pin 7 is intended to occupy with its lower half the upper half of a through hole. a block, and with its upper half the lower half of a through hole in the block above. Furthermore, each connection plug, once the wall has been installed, is in contact at its upper end with the lower end of an overlying plug, and with its lower end with the upper end of a plug below it. The blocks of the lowest row and the highest row of the wall are exceptions. The blocks of the lowest row will have their through holes 6 which have their lower halves occupied by pins protruding from the base on which the blocks rest and having a length equal to half that of the pins 7 described above. Similarly, in correspondence with the uppermost course of the block wall, these blocks will have their through holes which are occupied, for their upper half by pins 7 '(figure 9) protruding from a structure above the block wall, these pins also having a length equal to half the normal length of a pin 7 of the type described above.

The aforementioned slight play between pin and block hole is small enough to prevent block positioning inaccuracies, but it is large enough to ensure that the connecting pins can be dropped into the mating holes of multiple overlapping blocks until they reach contact with a previously placed pin or with the base of the structure, if no pin is present in the holes. As will be indicated below, this gives the advantage that the absence of a plug protruding from an upper block of the wall after installation is a sign that the insertion of one or more plugs has been omitted and also It is possible in such a case to plan to place the missing pins even after the blocks have been laid. The expected play between pin and hole is for example a maximum of 3/10 of a millimeter for a hole diameter of 27 mm. More generally, a play in the order of at most 1-2 cents of the hole diameter can be foreseen.

Figure 6 shows in perspective view the way in which the blocks are preferably superimposed, in the case of standard blocks with a rectangular plan. As can be seen, the blocks of each row are arranged transversely with respect to the blocks of the underlying row and the row above, this possibility being offered, in the case of the preferred embodiment, by the fact that the longitudinal dimension of each block is equal to double of its transverse dimension.

As a consequence of the arrangement described above of the connecting pins 7, as the laying of the various courses of blocks proceeds, columns are created inside the aligned holes of the various overlapping blocks consisting of uninterrupted rows of connecting pins 7 having the their ends in contact with each other, thus ensuring continuity and solidity of the wall.

Figure 7 shows an example of a structure made by means of a construction system according to the invention. In the left part of the figure, the wall of blocks is represented in an intermediate phase of its installation, and the same is true for the right part, where the blocks are illustrated in section, so as to highlight the columns made up of connecting pins 7 overlapping each other.

According to an important feature of the invention, the construction system provides for the adoption of a metal bearing structure 8 for containing the wall consisting of the modular blocks 1. The bearing structure comprises at least one lower crosspiece 8A, at least one upper crosspiece 8B and two or more uprights 8C which connect the crosspieces 8A, 8B to each other.

As can be seen for example in Figures 8 and 9, each of the crosspieces 8A, 8B, as well as the uprights 8C, are constituted by a boxed metal structure which in the illustrated example has stiffening baffles 9 arranged in a cross shape inside it. It would of course be possible to use a metal structure with any other configuration, for example with a double T section.

The supporting metal structure 8 thus defined defines one or more frame configurations within which one or more walls constituted by the modular blocks according to the invention are contained.

With reference to the preferred embodiment described above, each of the crosspieces 8A, 8B and each of the uprights 8C has a front flat face 80A, a rear flat face 80B, and two further opposite flat faces 80C. These opposite flat faces are respectively an upper face and a lower face in the case of the crosspieces, while they correspond to two lateral vertical faces in the case of the uprights.

Each wall of modular blocks is made by superimposing several rows of blocks one on top of the other, starting from the upper face of the lower crosspiece 8A of the metal frame. This face is provided with half-thorns (not visible in the drawings) which are inserted, as already indicated above, in the lower half of the through holes of the lowest row of blocks. Once the first row of blocks has been laid, the connecting pins 7 are inserted into the upper halves, left free, of the through holes of these blocks, so that these pins 7 protrude from the upper faces of the blocks of the first row (see figure 8). Once the connection pins have been installed, the blocks of the second row can be laid and then continued in a similar way in order to obtain the wall, according to the configuration partially illustrated in figure 7, where the connection pins 7 overlapping each other constitute continuous columns of thorns having their ends in contact with each other.

With reference to figure 9, the last row of blocks at the top of the wall is made using modular blocks 1â € ™ of a second type, each corresponding to one half of a standard modular block, obtained by dividing the block according to a median transverse or longitudinal plane . The example illustrated in figure 9 refers to the case in which blocks 1â € ™ correspond to half of a standard block obtained by dividing the standard block according to a transversal plane. In this case, the blocks 1â € ™, instead of having through circular holes, have grooves 6â € ™ which extend for the whole height of the block starting from one of its end faces up to the center of the block. In this way, each of the blocks 1â € ™ can be inserted at the front and rear of the top of the wall by making the half-pins 7â € ™ which protrude from the lower face of the upper crosspiece 8B receive within the grooves 6â € ™.

Once the wall of modular blocks has been completed in the manner described above, the wall has its front face and its rear face substantially flush with the front and rear faces 80A, 80B of the metal frame. The metal supporting structure is completed with one or more metal plates 9 which are screwed, by means of a plurality of screws 90, onto the front and rear faces of the metal frame and partially protrude inside the defined frame of the frame so as to frontally contain and behind the blocks of the wall, along the perimeter of this wall. In this way, along the upper side of the wall, the plates 9 also prevent the blocks 1â € ™ from slipping out of the row at the top of the wall.

Figure 10 shows a section in a horizontal plane of the structure, in which a plurality of layers which are superimposed on the front face of the wall are also visible in section. These layers comprise, in the case of the illustrated example, an insulating panel 10 and two layers of laminated wood 11, between which a junction layer 12 is interposed. Figure 10 also shows, by way of example, a jamb 13 of a window.

According to an important characteristic of the present invention, the supporting structure 8 rests on the bottom of a tank 20 of reinforced concrete or metal material, with the interposition of elastic anti-seismic elements.

In the case of the preferred embodiment illustrated here, the lower crosspiece 8A of the metal frame rests on a base plane 20B of the tank 20 with the interposition of elastic elements 21 arranged in such a way as to allow controlled oscillations of the entire structure consisting of metal frame 8 with the walls of modular blocks 1 in the vertical direction. Furthermore, again in the case of the preferred embodiment, lateral uprights 8C of the metal frame 8 rest laterally against respective lateral walls 20A of the tank 20, by means of the interposition of elastic elements 22 oriented in such a way as to allow controlled oscillations of the entire construction consisting of metal framework with the walls of modular blocks in the horizontal direction parallel to the plane of the walls.

In the case of the illustrated example, each elastic element 21, 22 comprises a helical spring interposed between containment and support blocks 23.

Figures 11-14 show an example of implementation of the supporting metal structure for a building made with the system according to the invention. As visible in the drawings, the supporting metal structure 8 has a three-dimensional configuration defined by beams 8n extending in three mutually orthogonal directions (x, y, z). The structure 8 rests on the bottom of a tank 20 of reinforced concrete or metal carpentry with the interposition of the vertical springs 21. As can be seen in figure 14, the lateral anti-seismic elements 22 are in contact with the four sides of the metal structure 8 and they are oriented according to the two horizontal directions x, y orthogonal to each other.

The system according to the invention can be used to create walls of any desired configuration in correspondence with any cell of the three-dimensional metal structure described above. Furthermore, even after the installation of a wall, the latter can be subsequently modified to give it a different configuration, for example with a different arrangement of doors and / or windows, with simple and rapid operations.

Thanks to the aforesaid characteristics, the construction system according to the invention allows to effectively solve all the drawbacks of the known solutions. The modular block wall can be made extremely quickly, dry, even by inexperienced personnel. The metal supporting structure gives the entire construction the necessary structural characteristics. Finally, the adoption of elastic supports gives the structure the possibility of making controlled oscillations both in the vertical direction and horizontally in the plane of the wall, which is an essential condition to withstand even very high stresses due to natural phenomena such as earthquakes or hurricanes.

In a preferred embodiment, the holes 7 have a diameter comprised between 20% and 30%, and preferably equal to 27%, of the height of the modular block 1. In a concrete embodiment of the invention, the modular blocks 1 were made of fir wood and had a height of 100 mm and a rectangular plan of 200 x 400 mm. The holes in each block had a diameter of 27 mm. The pins 7 were metal tubes having a length of 100 mm and an external diameter such as to ensure an absence of interference with respect to the diameter of the holes in the blocks, with a maximum clearance of 3/10 of a millimeter. The radial thickness of the spines 7 was 2.7 mm.

As already indicated above, thanks to the fact that the pins are inserted with the aforementioned slight play within the corresponding holes, it is possible to reconstitute a column of pins within the aligned holes of the superimposed rows of blocks of an already completed wall, as well as guaranteeing the perfect execution of the wall by checking that the pins protrude from the highest row of blocks.

Naturally, the principle of the invention remaining the same, the embodiments and construction details may vary widely with respect to those described herein purely by way of example, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (10)

CLAIMS 1. Construction system with modular blocks (1) that can be installed dry, in which each block (1) has one or more through holes (6) for the engagement of respective connection pins (7), characterized in that said system further comprises a metal bearing structure (8) including at least one lower crosspiece (8A), at least one upper crosspiece (8B) and at least two uprights (8C) which connect said lower and upper crosspieces (8A) to each other. 8B), so as to define a frame frame for containing at least one wall built with said modular blocks (1). 2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that said supporting metal structure rests on anti-seismic elastic elements (21, 22). 3. System according to claim 2, characterized in that the lower crosspiece (8A) of said supporting metal structure (8) rests on anti-seismic elastic elements (21) oriented in such a way as to allow controlled oscillations in the vertical direction of the construction constituted by the structure load bearing (8) and from the wall of blocks (1) within it, while the vertical uprights (8C) rest on buttresses (20A) by interposition of anti-seismic elastic elements (22) oriented in such a way as to allow controlled oscillations of the construction in a horizontal direction parallel to the plane of the block wall (1). 4. System according to claim 3, characterized in that the supporting metal structure (8) has a three-dimensional configuration defined by beams (8n) extending in three mutually orthogonal directions (x, y, z) and that the aforementioned anti-seismic elastic elements comprise lower anti-seismic elements (21) oriented vertically, and acting on the bottom of the metal structure (8) and lateral anti-seismic elements (22), acting on the four sides of the metal structure and oriented according to two mutually perpendicular horizontal directions (x, y). 5. System according to claim 1, characterized in that each beam of said bearing structure (8) is provided with one or more metal plates (9) screwed to its sides, for the lateral containment of the blocks (1) in contact with the beam. 6. System according to claim 1, characterized in that said system comprises: - a first type of modular blocks (1), each having an upper face (2), a lower face (3), two end faces (4) and two side faces (5) and two through holes (6) which they flow at their ends on said upper and lower faces (2, 3) and have their axes arranged in the longitudinal median plane of the block, - a second type of modular blocks (1â € ™), intended to be used to build the highest row of blocks (1) in the wall within the frame of the metal frame, called second type of blocks (1â € ™) having a body corresponding to one half of the block (1) of the first type, obtained by cutting in half a block of the first type longitudinally or transversely, so that said blocks of the highest row can be inserted and removed from the front and rear of the connection pins (7.7â € ™), so the configuration of the modular block wall can be changed for an unlimited number of times after its first installation. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the connecting pins (7) of the blocks (1) are configured to fit without interference, i.e. with a slight play, within the through holes (6) of the blocks (1), . 8. System according to claim 7, characterized in that the connecting pins (7) of the blocks (1) have a length substantially equal to the height of the block (1), so that each pin is inserted halfway into the hole of a block and half in the hole of an overlying block and each pin (7) has its upper end in contact with the lower end of the pin (7) placed above it. 9. Modular building block, dry-layable, particularly for a system according to claim 1, said block (1) having a body with an upper face (2), a lower face (3), two end faces (4 ) and two lateral faces (5), and two circular through holes (6) which open at their ends on said upper and lower faces (2, 3) and have their axes arranged in the longitudinal median plane of the block (1), called holes (6) being configured to receive connection pins (7) between superimposed blocks, characterized in that said circular through holes (6) have a constant diameter for their entire length and are configured to receive said connection pins (7) without interference, i.e. with a slight play. 10. Block according to claim 9, characterized in that said block is constituted by a material selected from wooden material, for example composite wood, lightened porous concrete or the like.