Self-and load-supporting component

• US 20040074205A1
• Filed: 08/13/2003
• Published: 04/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Erich Wiesner
• Original Assignee: Erich Wiesner
• Inventors: Stache, Michael
• Application Number:
  US10/333,174
• Publication Number:
  US 20040074205A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 52/783.11
• CPC Class Codes: E04C 2/36 spaced apart by transversely-placed strip material, e.g. honeycomb panels honeycomb or other core members for layered products B32B

Abstract

The invention relates to a self-supporting and load-transferring construction element (1) with at least one, preferably two cover layers (7), on which preferably several strip-shaped spacing elements (18) are placed, distributed on an inner facing surface (15a) of the cover layer (7), which are joined to the cover layer (7) in a non-positive and/or a positive join by means of a curable joining and/or fixing means (70). The cover layer (7) and/or the spacing elements (18) are made from randomly oriented wood or wood material elements (73) joined by a binder with cavities (75) and pores (74) disposed in between them. Disposed in a joining region (71) between the cover layer (7) and the spacing elements (18) is a joining and/or fixing zone (80) comprising cured joining and/or fixing means (70) and wood or wood material elements (73) and/or pores (74) and/or cavities (75), which has a higher mechanical strength than regions of the cover layer (7) and/or spacing elements (18) adjoining the joining and/or fixing zone (80).

Claims

1. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element with at least one cover layer, on which preferably several strip-shaped spacing elements are positioned, distributed across an inner facing surface of the cover layer, and, in the longitudinal extension, the spacing elements are joined by their joining surfaces directed towards the facing surface, in at least certain regions, to the facing surface of the cover layer in a non-positive and/or a positive join by means of a curable joining and/or fixing means, characterised in that the cover layer (7) and/or the spacing elements (18) are made from randomly oriented wood or wood material elements (73) joined by a binder, in particular wood chips and/or wood-type fibre materials, with cavities (75) and pores (74) in at least certain regions between the wood or wood material elements (73), and at least a main dimension (79) of the wood or wood material elements (73) of the cover layer (7) is bigger, by a multiple, in the region of the joining surfaces (16a, 16b) than a thickness (27) of the spacing elements (18), and/or the joining surfaces (16b) of the spacing elements (18) and the inner facing surface (15a) of the cover layer (7) sit in a butting arrangement with one another and are joined to one another by nothing more than the joining and/or fixing means (70).

2. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element with at least one cover layer, on which preferably several strip-shaped spacing elements are positioned, distributed across an inner facing surface of the cover layer, and, in the longitudinal extension, the spacing elements are joined by their joining surfaces directed towards the facing surface, in at least certain regions, to the cover layer in a non-positive and/or a positive join by means of a curable joining and/or fixing means, in particular as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the cover layer (7) and/or the spacing elements (18) is/are made from randomly oriented wood or wood material elements (73) joined by a binder, in particular wood chops and/or wood-type fibre materials with cavities (75) and pores (74) in at least certain regions between the wood or wood material elements (73), and at least a main dimension (79), in particular a length, of the wood or wood material elements (73) is bigger in the joining region (71) for the spacing elements (18) than the thickness (27) of the spacing elements (18) and/or in the joining region (71) for the spacing elements (18), the free-flowing joining and/or fixing means (70) penetrates the joining surface (16b) of the spacing elements (18) and/or penetrates the inner facing surface (15a) of the cover layer (7) in the joining region (71), and the pores (74) of the wood or wood material elements (73) and/or cavities (75) are filled by the joining and/or fixing means (70) and/or the cured joining and/or fixing means (70) adheres to or is absorbed by the wood or wood material elements (73).

3. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element with at least one cover layer, on which preferably several strip-shaped spacing elements are positioned, distributed across an inner facing surface of the cover layer, and, in the longitudinal extension, the spacing elements are joined by their joining surfaces directed towards the facing surface, in at least certain regions, to the cover layer in a non-positive and/or a positive join by means of a curable joining and/or fixing means, in particular as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the cover layer (7) and/or the spacing elements (18) is/are made from randomly oriented wood or wood material elements (73) joined by a binder, in particular wood chips and/or wood-type fibre materials with cavities (75) and pores (74) in at least certain regions between the wood or wood material elements (73), and a joining and/or fixing zone (80) is formed in the joining region (71) between the cover layer (7) and the spacing elements (18), and joining and/or fixing zone (80) bonded to the wood or wood material elements (73) and/or pores (74) and/or cavities (75) is formed in the cover layer (7) and the spacing elements (18) by the cured joining and/or fixing means (70), and the joining and/or fixing zone (80) has a higher mechanical strength than the regions of the cover layer (7) and/or spacing elements (18) adjoining the joining and/or fixing zone (80).

4. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element with at least two cover layers, spaced at a distance apart from one another by means of several strip-shaped spacing elements distributed across their mutually facing inner facing surfaces of the cover layers and the joining the surfaces of the spacing elements directed towards the facing surfaces are joined in at least certain regions in the longitudinal extension in a positive and/or non-positive to the cover layers by a joining and/or fixing means, in particular as claimed in one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the spacing elements (18) are spatially deformed transversely to their longitudinal extension, in particular are of a waved shape, and/or the spacing elements sit with their joining surfaces (16b) in a butting arrangement on the inner facing surface (15a) of the cover layer (7) and the cover layers (7) and the spacing elements (18) are made from wood material, and the amount of material in the cover layers (7) for a minimum span width or length (4) of 6 m is less than 0.03 m³/m² facing surface (15a, 15b), preferably between 0.01 and 0.024 m³/m² facing surface (15a, 15b), and the amount of material used for the strip-shaped non-flat spacing elements (18) is less than 0.005 m³/m² construction element (1), preferably between 0.0035 and 0.0043 m³/m² of the construction element (1).

5. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element with at least two cover layers, spaced at a distance apart from one another by means of several strip-shaped spacing elements distributed across their mutually facing inner facing surfaces of the cover layers, and the joining surfaces of the spacing elements directed towards the facing surfaces are joined to the cover layers in the longitudinal extension in a positive and/or non-positive join in at least certain regions by a joining and/or fixing means, in particular as claimed in one of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that a core layer (11) is formed by strip-shaped, non-flat spacing elements (18) spatially deformed transversely to their longitudinal extension, in particular of a waved shape, and constitutes between 50% and 98% of the volume of the construction element (1) and the spacing elements (18) distributed across the facing surface (15a) of the cover layer (7) account for between 10% and 50%, in particular 20% of the volume of material in the construction element (1).

6. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the cover layer (7) is a board (76) made from wood or wood material elements (73) in a spatially random arrangement and joined to one another by a binder, in particular wood chips and/or wood-type fibres, with cavities (75) and pores (74) in at least certain regions between the wood material elements (73), in particular FPY board, MDF board (76), for example FPY board (76).

7. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the spacing element (18) is made from board strips (77) of wood or wood material elements (73) in a spatially random arrangement and joined to one another by a binder, in particular wood chips and/or wood-type fibres, with cavities (75) and pores (74) in between at least certain regions of the wood material elements (73), in particular FPY board strips, MDF board strips (77), for example FPY board strips (77).

8. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the cover layer (7) or the board (76) from which it is formed has at least two facing layers (37) or facing layer regions extending across their thickness (14) parallel with one another with respect to the orientation of the wood or wood material elements (73) and at least one intermediate layer (36) or intermediate layer region extending transversely thereto and the wood or wood material elements (73) of the facing layers (37) or of the facing layer region extend in planes in the longitudinal extension of the cover layer (7) substantially parallel with the inner facing surface (15a).

9. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that the cover layer (7) is preferably a multi-ply wood material board, in particular an OSB board (76).

10. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 7, characterised in that the spacing element (18) or the board strip (77) from which it is made has across its thickness (27) at least two facing layers (39) or facing layer regions extending mutually parallel with the orientation of the wood or wood material elements (73) and at least one intermediate layer (40) or intermediate layer region extending transversely thereto, and the wood or wood material elements (73) of the facing layers (39) or of the facing layer region extend in planes in the longitudinal extension of spacing element (18) substantially perpendicular to the narrow end face (28).

11. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 10, characterised in that the spacing element (18) is preferably a multi-ply wood material board strip, in particular an OSB board strip (77).

12. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 11, characterised in that the thickness (27) of the spacing element (18) is between 4 mm and 8 mm, for example 5 mm.

13. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 12, characterised in that the thickness (14) of the cover layer (7) is between 6 mm and 14 mm, for example 8 mm.

14. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 13, characterised in that the joining surfaces (16b) of the spacing elements (18) directed towards the cover layer (7) extend parallel with the flat inner facing surface (15a) and the spacing elements (18) are aligned perpendicular to the inner facing surface (15a) of the cover layer (7) and sit against them in a butting arrangement.

15. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 2 to 14, characterised in that the cavities (75) in the cover layer (7) bounded by the wood material elements (73), optionally crossing in a plane parallel with or perpendicular to the inner facing surface (15a), extend parallel with and/or at least slightly inclined with respect to the facing surface (15a) and the pores (74) are distributed irregularly across a surface of the wood or wood material elements (73).

16. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 2 to 15, characterised in that the cavities (75) in the spacing element (18) bounded by the wood material elements (73), optionally crossing in a plane parallel with or perpendicular to the inner joining surface (16b), extend perpendicular to and/or at least slightly inclined with respect to the facing surface (15a) and the pores (74) are distributed irregularly across a surface of the wood or wood material elements (73).

17. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that joining and/or fixing zone (80) extending between the cover layer (7) and the spacing elements (18) across a part of the thickness (14) of the cover layer (7) and the height (9) of the spacing element (18) thereof has an approximately T-shaped join cross section in a joining region (71) and a maximum join cross section (82) of a first region of the joining and/or fixing zone (80) projecting in the direction of the spacing element (18) is bounded by the minimum thickness (27) of the spacing element (18) and a minimum join cross section (81) of another region of the joining and/or fixing zone (80) projecting in the direction of the cover layer (7) is bigger than the maximum thickness (14) of the spacing element (18).

18. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the joining and/or fixing means (70) is an adhesive, in particular a glue which fills the pores and cavities to a depth of at least 2 mm.

19. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 18, characterised in that the adhesive is chosen from the group of synthetic adhesives and includes urea formaldehyde condensation resins or melamine formaldehyde condensation resins or melamine urea condensation resins or phenol formaldehyde condensation resins or resorcinol adhesive.

20. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 19, characterised in that the spacing elements (18) are shaped in at least one spatial direction and in particular are of a wave-shaped design and mutually spaced narrow end faces (28) and width end faces (23, 24) bound a substantially rectangular cross section, and at least one joining region (71) is formed by the joining and/or fixing zone (80) between a spacing element (18) and the cover layer (7) and/or between two spacing elements (18) extending adjacent to one another and/or the cover layer (7).

21. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 20, characterised in that the spacing elements (18) are shaped in at least one spatial direction and in particular are of a wave-shaped design and the joining regions (71) between the spatially shaped spacing elements (18) and the cover layer (7) are arranged at mutually spaced points (72) in the longitudinal direction of the spacing element (18) and at a distance from one another in the direction extending transversely to the longitudinal direction, the distance being bigger than the thickness (27) of the spacing elements (18), and the spacing elements (18) are mutually supported on adjacent spacing elements (18), at least in part-regions, or may be shifted relative thereto.

22. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 21, characterised in that the construction element (1) has cover layers (7) purposely spaced apart by the height (9) of the spacing elements (18) and extending parallel with one another by reference to the orientation of the wood or wood material elements (73), and/or at least one piece made from a material other than wood or wood material is arranged on an external facing surface (15b) of the cover layer (7) and/or in a recess set into the cover layer (7).

23. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 22, characterised in that the construction element (1) has cover layers (7) purposely spaced apart by the height (9) of the spacing elements (18) and one of the two cover layers (7) is a plastic panel, in particular a transparent and optionally coloured panel, for example plexiglass.

24. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 23, characterised in that at least one fibre matting of subsequently expanding raw materials forming a layer (43) is provided between the spacing elements (18) and the cover layer (7) and/or on an external facing surface (15b) remote from the spacing elements (18), which has a porous surface and is displaced with inorganic insulating material, in particular pulverised silicate.

25. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 24, characterised in that a layer (43) is provided on the outer facing surface (15b) in the form of a plastics or film or paint or varnish coating or melamine resin finish.

26. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 24 or 25, characterised in that the layer (43) is an optionally coloured adhesive layer at least partially pressed into the cover layer (7), e.g. melamine urea resin, formaldehyde resin or phenol formaldehyde resin.

27. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 26, characterised in that the external facing surface (15b) is smooth or has a structural pattern at least in part-regions.

28. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 27, characterised in that the cover layer (7) and the spacing elements (18) are made from a flame-retardant material.

29. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 28, characterised in that the wave-shaped spacing elements (18) are disposed parallel with and offset from one another by a half wavelength, preferably in the direction of the longitudinal extension of the construction element (1), and an opening width (26) measured between two consecutive turning points (78) in a longitudinal extension of the spacing elements (18) is between 800 and 3000 mm, in particular between 2000 and 2800 mm, for example 2500 mm, and an opening width (25) between two adjacent spacing elements (18) measured transversely to the longitudinal extension of the spacing elements (18) is between 200 and 700 mm, in particular between 300 and 500, for example 400 mm.

30. Use of the construction element as claimed in one of claims 1 to 29 in environments susceptible to earthquakes and/or on soft earth foundations as a wall and/or ceiling element for a support structure.

31. Use of the construction element as claimed in one of claims 1 to 29 as a shuttering board.

32. Method of producing a self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 29, in which at least one substantially endless bottom cover layer is unreeled from a roller and fed continuously along in a feed direction at a pre-definable speed, characterised in that a joining and/or fixing means (70) is firstly applied to a bottom cover layer (7) and/or spacing elements (18) at pre-defined joining regions (71) and the core layer (11) incorporating the spacing elements (18) and the bottom cover layer (7) are aligned with one another and the core layer (11) is then placed on the planar inner facing surface (15a) of the bottom cover layer (7) rolled out flat, after which the joining and/or fixing means (70) is cured until at least some of the spacing elements (18) are fixed in position relative to the bottom cover layer (7) and construction elements (1) are cut to a predetermined length (4) from the endless web.

33. Method of producing a self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 1 to 29, in which at least a bottom cover layer cut to a given format is fed in timed cycles in the feed direction on part-sections disposed one after the other, characterised in that a core layer (11) consisting of spacing elements (18) is made in a format matching the bottom cover layer (7), after which, in one part section (99), a joining and/or fixing means (70) is applied to the inner facing surface (15a) and/or bottom joining surfaces (15b) of the bottom cover layer (7) and/or the spacing elements (18) at predetermined joining regions (71) for spacing elements (18), and the core layer (11) is aligned with the bottom cover layer (7), after which the narrow end face (26) and the flat inner facing surface (15a) of the spacing elements (18) and the bottom cover layer (7) are placed one on top of the other and the joining and/or fixing means (70) is cured until at least some of the spacing elements (18) are fixed in position relative to the bottom cover layer (7).

34. Method as claimed in claim 32, characterised in that, after applying a pre-determined volume of joining and/or fixing means (70) to the inner facing surface (15a) of the top cover layer and/or on top joining surfaces (16b) of the spacing elements (18) in pre-determined joining regions (71) for spacing elements (18), a top, essentially endless cover layer (7) is unreeled from a roller and pulled on top of the core layer (11) with a pre-determined clamping force.

35. Method as claimed in claim 32 or 34, characterised in that the core layer (11) is placed on the inner facing surface (15a) in the longitudinal or widthways direction of the bottom cover layer (7) in timed cycles depending on the speed and/or depending on the length (97) of the core layer (11).

36. Method as claimed in claim 33, characterised in that another top cover layer (7) is aligned with the bottom cover layer (7) and once joining and/or fixing means (70) has been applied in at least certain regions on the top narrow end faces (28) of the spacing elements (18) and/or the inner facing surface (15a) of the cover layer (7), they are placed one on top of the other, preferably in a butting arrangement and joined to one another in joining regions (71).

37. Method as claimed in one or more of claims 32 to 36, characterised in that when the spacing elements (18) and the cover layer(s) (7) have been placed one against the other, they are pressed together with a pre-definable pressing force and optionally under the action of temperature or the effect of microwave energy or in a high-frequency radiation field.

38. Method as claimed in one or more of claims 30 to 37, characterised in that several flat board strips (77) are aligned in a row immediately adjacent to one another and, before or after positioning the core layer (11) on the inner facing surface (15a) of the cover layer (7), specific adjacent, flat board strips (77) are firstly joined to one another in specific joining regions (71) for the spacing elements (18) between mutually adjoining width end faces (23, 24) by means of the joining and/or fixing means (70) applied in an intermittent or linear pattern, the joining regions (71) between two board strips (77) being offset in the longitudinal extension thereof from the joining regions (71) of the other board strips (77) to be mutually joined, and, before or after positioning, board strip parts located between the joining regions (71) are pulled apart and opened out under the action of force to form a lattice constituting the core layer (11).

39. Method as claimed in one or more of claims 32 to 38, characterised in that several flat board strips (77) are aligned immediately adjacent to one another in a row and are pulled apart and opened out under the action of force into a lattice forming the core layer (11) and predefined joining regions (71) between mutually adjacent width end surfaces (23, 24) are joined to one another by means of the joining and/or fixing means (70) applied in an intermittent or linear pattern, after which the core layer (11) is joined to the spacing elements (18) in predefined joining regions (71) by means of the joining and/or fixing means (70) applied in an intermittent or linear pattern to the inner facing surface (15a) firstly of the bottom and/or then the top cover layer (7).

40. Method as claimed in one or more of claims 32 to 39, characterised in that the spacing elements (18) are made in the form of wave-shaped, preformed, for example compression moulded or extruded, board strips (77) of wood material, after which, preferably after placing the wave-shaped formed spacing elements (18) on the inner facing surface (15a) of the bottom cover layer (7), the spacing elements (18) are joined to one another in predefined joining regions (71) between mutually adjacent width end faces (23, 24) by means of the joining and/or fixing means (70) applied in an intermittent or linear pattern.

41. Method as claimed in one or more of claims 32 to 40, characterised in that before positioning the top cover layer (7), a flame-retardant, heat-insulating, noise-insulating filler material (51) is metered and introduced into cavities (21) or chambers bounded by the wave-shaped spacing elements (18) and the cavities (21) or chambers are sealed off so as to be air-tight.

42. Method as claimed in one or more of claims 32 to 41, characterised in that spacing elements (18) and/or the cover layer (7) are ground in predefined joining regions (71) at the narrow end faces (28) and joining surfaces (16b) and/or the inner facing surface (15a) and/or the width end faces (23, 24).

43. Method as claimed in one or more of claims 32 to 41, characterised in that after assembling the construction element (1), a finishing process, in particular a surface treatment, e.g. grinding, varnishing, coating, surface hardening, is applied, preferably to an external facing surface (15b) of at least one cover layer (7), and/or fixing means for cladding elements or support elements, e.g. for roof tiles, and/or a protective film, e.g. plastic film, bitumen film, are applied in another work process.

44. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element with two cover layers, joined to one another in a non-positive and/or positive join by means of several spacing elements distributed across the facing surfaces of the cover layers directed towards one another, characterised in that the cover layers (7) and the spacing elements (18) are preferably made from up to 50% wood and/or wood material and the proportion of wood in the cover layers (7) for a minimum span width or length (4) of 6 m is less than 0.04 m³¹ m² facing surface (15a, 15b), preferably between 0.01 and 0.035 m³/m² facing surface (15a, 15b), and the proportion of wood in the strip-shaped non-flat spacing elements (18) is between 0.0015 and 0.01 m³/m² of the construction element (1).

46. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 44 or 45, characterised in that the construction element (1) has a first cover layer (7), optionally reinforced with layers of materials other than wood or wood fibres at least in a part-region in order to absorb compression loads and, lying opposite, another cover layer (7) with at least one layer (36;

37;

53;

54) at least in a part-region for absorbing tensile load.

47. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 46, characterised in that several construction elements (1) overlap with one another in at least certain regions are arranged one on top of the other and joined to one another.

48. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 47, characterised in that the first construction element (1) has at least one other construction element (1) arranged above the first construction element (1) which projects beyond it along at least one longitudinal end face (3) and/or width end face (5) or terminal-side end region (33).

49. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 48, characterised in that at least one of several construction elements (1) arranged one on top of the other has cover layers (7) with diffusion-promoting orifices.

50. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 49, characterised in that at least one cover layer (7) of at least one construction element (1) is made from a diffusion-promoting material.

51. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 50, characterised in that the facing surface (15a, 15b) of the cover layer (7) directed towards and/or remote from the spacing elements (18) is provided with a metallic or non-metallic layer or a plastics, preferably water-repellent film, which is adhered and/or applied thereto as a veneer.

52. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 51, characterised in that at least one of the cover layers (7) constitutes a flat defined melt-down zone (52) of at least one construction element (1).

53. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 52, characterised in that the layer (43) is made from a material which releases water at increased temperatures.

54. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 53, characterised in that the cover layer (7) is made up of facing layers (37) joined to one another and at least one intermediate layer (36).

55. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 54, characterised in that the cover layer (7), and in particular the intermediate layer (36) is made from a fibre prepreg.

56. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 55, characterised in that the intermediate layer (36) extending perpendicular or transversely to the facing layer (37) is made from strips (38) of a rectangular cross section, preferably of wood and/or wood materials, adhered to one another and compressed.

57. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 56, characterised in that a vapour barrier is provided in the cover layer (7) between layers (36;

37;

53;

54) or plies (55;

56) or on at least one facing surface (15a;

15b) of the cover layer (7).

58. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 57, characterised in that the layers (36;

37;

53;

54) or plies (55;

56) of the cover layer (7) and/or spacing elements (18) of several construction elements (1) to be joined to one another are joined in an endless non-positive and/or positive join, in particular glued.

59. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 58, characterised in that the cover layers (7) and/or the spacing elements (18) are lapped or dovetailed so that several construction elements (1) can be endlessly joined.

60. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 59, characterised in that the facing surface of the cover layers (7) remote from the core layer (11) is coated or sealed with a wear-resistant material.

61. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 60, characterised in that the cover layers (7) and/or side walls (13), spaced at a distance apart from one another by the spacing elements (18) and joined to one another in a non-positive and/or positive join, extend at an angle to one another.

62. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 61, characterised in that the cover layers (7) and/or the side walls (13) extend at an angle towards one another in the direction of the length (4) and/or a height (12) of the construction element (1).

63. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 62, characterised in that the construction element (1) has at least one curved or arcuate cover layer (7).

64. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 63, characterised in that two mutually adjacent spacing elements (18) are positioned at a distance apart from one another and form a free space or passage.

65. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 64, characterised in that the spacing element (18) is provided in the form of at least one web (19) which is non-flat in its longitudinal direction and is wave-shaped in particular.

66. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 65, characterised in that at least one other spacing element (18) extending in a straight line or another web (30) extending in a straight line is disposed between adjacent and non-flat wave-shaped spacing elements (18) or webs (19).

67. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 66, characterised in that the webs (19;

30) have at least one facing layer (39) and at least one intermediate layer (40).

68. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 67, characterised in that several bar-shaped strips spaced at a distance apart from the in the direction of a height (9) of the webs (19;

30) are disposed transversely to the longitudinal direction of the webs (19;

30) between mutually spaced and parallel cover layers (39).

69. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 68, characterised in that a cavity (21) or chamber that is airtight and vapour-permeable on all sides is formed between the non-flat or wave-shaped web (19) and/or the straight web (30) and/or a strip-shaped side wall (13) in the assembled state.

70. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 44 to 69, characterised in that at least one of the terminal side end regions (33) of the construction element (1) is provided with a closing strip, on which at least one air-permeable and vapour permeable membrane or a vapour valve is disposed.

71. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 44, characterised in that joining elements (31) in the form of recesses (35) and/or projections are provided in the terminal side end region (33) of the construction element (1) or cover layers (7), in particular in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal extension of the spacing elements (18), for receiving complementary joining elements of a joining region (31).

72. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 71, characterised in that at least one of the cover layers (7) has at least one recess (35) and/or projections.

73. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 71 or 72, characterised in that the recess (35) is provided in the form of support and/or joining surfaces (34) extending towards one another at an incline in a direction opposite the terminal side end region (33).

74. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 71 to 73, characterised in that the cover layer (7) has at least one support and/or joining surface (34) extending at an incline to the longitudinal extension of the construction element (1) serving as the joining element (31).

75. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 71 to 74, characterised in that the spacing elements (18) of immediately adjacent construction elements (1) abutting with one another by their end faces locate in one another and/or overlap with one another and are joined to one another in a non-positive and/or positive join in the overlapping or joining region (32).

84. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element comprising two spatially deformed and/or multi-layered cover layers, which are joined to one another in a positive and/or non-positive join by means of several spacing elements distributed across the facing surfaces of the cover layers, in particular as claimed in one claims 44 to 82, characterised in that the spacing elements (18) and/or side walls (13) extending between the cover layers (7) are supported in a load-transferring arrangement at least in part-regions in order to transmit force to adjacent spacing elements (18) and/or side walls (13).

45. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element with two cover layers, joined to one another in a non-positive and/or positive join by means of several spacing elements distributed across the facing surfaces of the cover layers directed towards one another, characterised in that a core layer (11) consists of strip-shaped and non-flat spacing elements (18) and constitutes between 50% and 98% of the volume of the construction element (1) and the spacing elements (18) distributed over the facing surface (15) of the cover layer (7) accounts for between 10% and 50% of the material volume of the construction element (1), and narrow end faces (28) of the spacing elements (18) are aligned substantially parallel with the facing surface (15) of the cover layers (7).

76. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element with two cover layers, joined to one another in a positive and/or non-positive join by means of spacing elements distributed across the facing surfaces of the cover layers directed towards one another, characterised in that the cover layers (7) and/or spacing elements (18) have several layers (53;

54) with crossing plies (55;

56) made from wood and/or wood material crossing over the individual layers (53;

54) by reference to the fibre directions (61;

62) and the number of those plies (56) of which the fibre direction (62) of the veneer layers extends substantially parallel with the longitudinal direction of the cover layer (7) or spacing element (18) is greater than the number of those plies (55) in which the fibre direction (61) extends transversely to the longitudinal direction of the cover layer (7) or the spacing element (18).

77. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 76, characterised in that the plies (55;

56) of the spacing elements (18) and/or the cover layers (7) overlap within one another in the longitudinal direction and the individual plies (55;

56) are joined to one another, in particular glued.

78. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in claim 76 or 77, characterised in that the layers (53) of the cover layers (7) directed towards the spacing elements (18) have several plies (55) with the fibre direction (61) extending transversely to the longitudinal extension of the cover layers (7), which are at least partially overlapped by at least one other layer (54) with several plies (56) with a fibre direction (62) extending in the longitudinal extension of the cover layers (7) and are joined to one another.

79. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 76 to 78, characterised in that the individual plies (55;

56) of the cover layers (7) or spacing elements (18) are preferably symmetrical with one another by reference to a longitudinal mid-plane or transverse mid-plane of the construction element (1).

80. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 76 to 79, characterised in that a joining region (59) between veneer sections (57;

58) disposed immediately one behind the other is overlapped by at least one ply (55;

56) of the cover layer (7), and/or the spacing element (18) of the construction element (1) of another ply (55;

56) of the same or the other layer (53;

54) is in full surface contact and the joining regions (59) are offset from one another in the longitudinal direction of the cover layer (7) and/or the spacing element (18) of the individual plies (55;

56).

81. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 76 to 80, characterised in that the mutually facing side faces, in particular end side faces, of the veneer sections (57;

58) overlap with or sit against one another in a butting arrangement or are lapped in at least certain regions of the joining region (51) and joined to one another, in particular adhered.

82. Self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as claimed in one or more of claims 76 to 81, characterised in that at least one layer (53;

54) of the spacing elements (18) and/or cover layers (7) is made from materials other than wood or wood materials.

83. Use of the self-supporting and load-transferring construction element as a roof element.