Connecting element for mechanically connecting components

#The invention relates to a connection element for connecting building components effectively, especially building components such as, for example, wall, ceiling and floor elements, as are used in prefabricated building construction. Prefabricated building construction is understood to mean buildings that are intended to stand for a relatively long time as well as buildings that are used only for a relatively short time such as, for example, buildings for emergency accommodation after an earthquake, for military uses, for trade fair constructions etc..

#Various connection arrangements are known in prefabricated building construction for connecting wall, ceiling and floor elements. Frequently, for example, wall elements are push-fitted together and then the push-fit connections are bolted together. So-called brackets, which are screwed to the locations being connected, are increasingly being used in prefabricated building construction. Brackets are adequately known from the prior art so that reference is made merely by way of example to the document U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,311.

#There is, and there will also be in the future, a need to minimise work on site because work on site generally has to be carried out using local workers who may, depending on circumstances, be poorly trained or expensive. Furthermore, there are scarcely any possibilities for automating installation on site, as a result of which reduction of the costs arising on site can be achieved only with difficulty. A further problem is the construction time, which, in the case of laborious manual installation of wall elements, can be shortened only to a limited degree.

#The invention will be described below in greater detail with reference to exemplary embodiments and selected application examples in conjunction with the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

#FIGS. 1a-d show, in diagrammatic form, a first embodiment of the invention.

#FIGS. 2a-d show, in diagrammatic form, a second embodiment of the invention.

#FIG. 1 shows, in diagrammatic form, a first embodiment of the invention, wherein reference symbols 1a and 1b denote wall portions in which there is arranged the line connection, which consists of a large number of plugs 2a and a large number of couplings 2b matched thereto. The plugs 2a are held in an assembly holder 3a and the couplings 2b are held in an assembly holder 3b. The assembly holders are fastened in corresponding recesses in the wall portions. The recesses are so constructed that the wall portions can be pushed into one another and form a closed wall portion in the pushed-together state. FIG. 1a shows, in a side view, two wall portions 1a and 1b having recesses, in which assembly holders 3a and 3b are fastened by means of screw connections. It will be clear to the person skilled in the art that the fastening of the assembly holders 3a and 3b can be accomplished in various ways so that further explanations in this regard can be dispensed with. FIG. 1b shows the invention in a top view, wherein three line plugs 2a and three line couplings 2b can be seen. In the present case, sealing between the line plug 2a and the line coupling 2b is carried out by means of an O ring 4. When the two wall portions 1a and 1b are, as shown in FIG. 1c, brought together in the direction of the arrow, the line plugs 2a and the line couplings 2b come into engagement. In order to compensate for manufacturing tolerances, the line plugs 2a and/or the line couplings 2b are mounted in floating (i.e. laterally displaceable) manner. This measure guarantees a constraint-free and reliable connection. FIG. 1d shows the end state, wherein the three lines are connected to one another reliably and sealed. Additional constructional measures ensure that the two wall portions 1a and 1b are held in the position according to FIG. 1d.

#FIG. 2 shows, in diagrammatic form, a second embodiment of the invention, wherein assembly holders 3a and 3b have a centring device 5a, 5b, which guarantees reliable joining. The centring device is so dimensioned that the transverse forces that occur when the walls are joined together are reliably taken up, so that the coupling halves are not damaged by being brought together in misaligned manner. FIG. 2 is analogous to FIG. 1, so that the person skilled in the art will not need it to be described again.

#FIG. 3 shows, in diagrammatic form, a third embodiment of the invention, wherein there is provided a locking device 6 which reliably prevents the building components such as, for example, walls from coming apart again and, consequently, the coupling halves from becoming loose or, as a result, from being damaged in such a way that sealing is no longer ensured. In the present example, the locking device 6 has a pressure piston and cylinder arrangement 6a and also a locking piston and cylinder arrangement 6b, which are connected to one another by means of a hydraulic line 6c. When the building components and the coupling halves are reliably connected, there is exerted on the pressure piston of the pressure piston and cylinder arrangement 6a a force that displaces the piston, as a result of which the locking piston of the locking piston and cylinder arrangement 6b is pressed, by means of the hydraulic line 6c, into a recess 6d, as a result of which the building components are firmly and reliably connected to one another. The application of force to the pressure piston can be accomplished, for example, by utilising the force exerted on joining the building components together. In FIG. 3d it can be seen that the locking piston has engaged in the recess 6d.