Apparatus and methods for moldable and customizable structures

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6536168
  • Patent Number
    6,536,168
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, June 15, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, March 25, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
Improved apparatus and methods for making, assembling and constructing a standardized wall and floor or ceiling panel made of a cementitious material, or similar material, for walls, ceilings, roofs and foundations. An embodiment of the invention implements both pre-cast and cast in place steel reinforced systems of interconnected panels to form a monolithic building structure. A panel unit is formed with longitudinal cavities and interconnected transverse cavities and when used in a structural system, a panel is connected to adjoining panels using an alignment plug. The interconnected panels thus provide passages or ducts for piping, wires and other conduit to run uninterrupted from panel to panel, wall to wall and wall to floor, which can be accessed through a closable access opening. A continuity alignment pipe or a shear transfer bar may be used in the structure. The panel may be customized by providing a door or window opening for applications calling for such embodiments.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The field of the invention is apparatus and methods for making, assembling and constructing structures such as dwellings or the like. It is expected that the 21


st


century will see a severe shortage of housing, especially low income housing. This shortage is expected to be even more acute for those living in poverty conditions and for persons in need of homeless shelters in urban areas of the industrialized world. There is a need for smaller and more affordable housing, including housing for needy persons seeking shelter or refuge. The positive effect adequate shelter has on a human being is obvious.




There is also a need for housing that is less expensive and longer lasting. Most U.S. dwellings are made of wood frame construction. This includes wood beams, wood columns and plywood that is nailed, strapped and bolted together using a series of studs and plates. Standard wood frame construction has many problems and consequently, has spawned a number of industries to cope with pest control, fire control, sound control and energy control, among others. The net effect of this is to increase the cost of home ownership, including homeowners' insurance. These costs can be viewed as wasted funds that could be redirected into income producing efforts. It is estimated that U.S. families spend a tremendous amount of money on this type of home protection compared to their counterparts elsewhere.




Insulated concrete forms, or “ICF”, uses foam blocks which are filled with concrete and steel. This process works on walls, not on ceilings, and most importantly, it requires carving passages into the foam material for conduits and the like. Another construction material is pre-cast concrete, which has been in existence for a long time. Some pre-cast concrete designs allow for grout or pipe openings however, no system is known to exist which is designed to encompass the requirements of a dwelling or similar structure.




Cast-in-place systems are also used. This process is the most common method of construction in Europe and South America. In this process, all foundations, floors, beams and ceilings are made of poured in place concrete. Walls are added later by using bricks or blocks which are later finished with plaster. The “tilt-up” method of construction casts concrete walls in place using embedded attachments for wooden or metal roofs. When cured, the walls are tilted upward into place. This method is prevalent in industrial building applications.




Another well known method uses what is known as hollow core panels having a series of parallel cells. These conventional panels are mostly used as floor planks in high rise buildings. The conventional process to manufacture these uses a long bed, 500 feet or longer typically, which looks like an airport runway. The conventional hollow core panels are cast on the long bed with the equipment, materials and personnel moving along the bed as the hollow core panels are formed in a continuous span. The continuous span of hollow core panels never moves until it is cut up and loaded for transport to the installation site. This procedure includes a significant amount of down time, due to time lost to transportation of personnel and materials. Cavities conventionally have been created in structural panels in a variety of ways, including using inflatable tubes or augers. All these techniques have met with limited success.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention is a solution to many of the problems associated with conventional apparatus and systems. In one embodiment, the invention combines pre-cast systems with cast-in-place systems creating a structure that is stronger, longer lasting, non-flammable and extremely resistant to bio-degradation. The invention creates both access to, and interconnection of, electrical lines and plumbing throughout an entire structure. It also eliminates most of the drilling necessary by skilled tradesmen, such as electrical work and plumbing work. It provides access to electrical and plumbing circuits and easy access to such systems for repair, maintenance and upgrading. The inventive panel can be made in a production line, allowing personnel, equipment and materials to remain in a specific location while the panel travels through the manufacturing process.




Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved apparatus and methods for making a useful panel made of a cementitious material, or other material, for walls, ceilings, roofs and foundations for dwellings or the like. It is an object of the present invention to provide improved methods of construction using panels of the type shown and described herein.




It is an object of the invention to utilize a novel combination of pre-cast and cast-in-place concrete with a series of interconnected reinforced posts and beams to provide a stronger structure.




It is an object of the invention to provide a monolithic structure so that in the case of terrain slippage, the structure would move as a complete unit, minimizing or eliminating breakage into pieces.




It is an object of the invention to provide permanent access to wiring and pipes through a removable plate on the wall of a structure.




It is an object of the invention to provide a novel system of permanent passages in a structure to permit the placement of, and later access to, plumbing, electrical, telephone, television, heating ducts and other circuits and services without the need to tear down walls or drill conduit passage holes.




It is an object of the invention to provide methods to access plumbing and electrical circuits in a structure to construct, maintain or upgrade them.




It is an object of the invention to provide a method for transferring shear forces across ceiling and floors in a structure to create a diaphragm.




It is an object of the invention to provide a novel structure for dwellings and the like that is non-flammable, not attacked by pests, is bullet proof and flood resistant.




Other and further objects will appear to those skilled in the art from the specification and drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is an end view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention showing a wall panel;





FIG. 2

is a perspective view of a wall panel;





FIG. 3

is an enlarged sectional view taken on line


3





3


of

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 4

is a perspective view of a ceiling panel;





FIG. 5

is an enlarged sectional view taken on line


5





5


of

FIG. 4

;





FIG. 6

is an end view of the ceiling panel;





FIG. 7

is a perspective view of a wall panel with a window opening;





FIG. 8

is a perspective view of a wall panel with a door opening;





FIG. 9

is a perspective view showing the junction of two side-by-side ceiling panels and a shear transfer bar;





FIG. 10

is a perspective view of an alignment plug for aligning joined panels;





FIG. 11

is a perspective view of a wall panel with typical plumbing, wiring and fixtures installed;





FIG. 12

is a perspective view of an expandable liner tube;





FIG. 13

is a perspective view of an expander unit;





FIG. 14

is an end view of the expander unit, showing the collapsed and expanded positions;





FIG. 15

shows a typical panel joint using an alignment plug;





FIG. 16

is a perspective view of the ends of multiple interconnected liner tubes in an expanded configuration; and





FIG. 17

is a perspective view illustrating a cast-in-place system of interconnected wall panels and ceiling panels in a monolithic structural embodiment of the invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




In a preferred embodiment,

FIGS. 1 and 2

show the novel panel


10


in a wall configuration. The panel


10


is preferably made of concrete, a cementitious material or other materials known to skilled persons to have similar properties. The concrete or other material is preferably reinforced with steel reinforcing bars or fibers with similar properties. The panels


10


can be manufactured in various widths, heights and thicknesses as requirements may dictate and the panel


10


can be custom molded in place, or made remotely and transported to an installation site.




Preferably, the wall panel


10


has a plurality of cell cavities


12


as shown in FIG.


1


. The cell cavities


12


, which preferably span the longitudinal length of the panel


10


, will be vertically oriented when the panel


10


is used as a wall in a dwelling or other structure. The cell cavities


12


are surrounded by top


13




a


, bottom


13




b


and ribs


14


as shown in

FIG. 1

, which are designed to sustain the applied loads. The concrete material making up the panel


10


is preferably reinforced with reinforcing steel bars


16


and wire mesh


17


to strengthen the panel


10


and allow it to sustain the different loads and forces that the structure may be subjected to. In the preferred embodiment, the panel


10


is made with end ribs


15


angled slightly, creating v-groove 15v as illustrated in

FIG. 15

for demonstrative purposes.




The preferred embodiment includes transverse interconnection openings


18


,


19


,


20


,


21


,


22


and


23


as labeled and shown in FIG.


2


. In this embodiment, the openings


19


-


23


provide transverse pathways between cell cavities


12


and as can be appreciated by skilled persons, providing pathways for conduit used in dwellings and other structures. In this embodiment, interconnection openings


18


and


19


shown in

FIG. 2

may be designated for plumbing pipes, openings


20


and


21


for electrical circuit wiring, opening


22


for alignment of and access to door and window openings and opening


23


for general purposes. Continuity alignment pipe


27


is preferably used to link wall panels


10


together and maintain conduit access across cell cavities


12


that may have to be filled with concrete or other cementitious material. In the preferred embodiment, the panel


10


includes baseboard access


28


(shown in

FIGS. 7

,


8


and


11


) with removable cover


28




a


permitting access to interconnection openings


18


,


19


and


20


shown in FIG.


2


. Access to interconnection opening


23


is facilitated too in the case of a lower wall panel


10


.




In a preferred embodiment,

FIG. 4

shows a floor/ceiling panel


30


. This panel


30


is preferably made of concrete, a cementitious material or other materials known to skilled persons to have similar properties. The concrete or other material is preferably reinforced with steel reinforcing bars or fibers with similar properties. The panels


30


can be manufactured in various widths, heights and thicknesses as requirements may dictate and to accommodate longer spans. The panels


30


can also be custom molded in place or made at a remote manufacturing facility and transported to an installation site.




This floor/ceiling panel


30


has cell cavities


32


as shown in

FIGS. 4

,


5


and


6


forming a hollow core panel. The cell cavities


32


will vary in height since thicker panels


30


may be required and are within the scope of the invention. Preferably, the cell cavities


32


span the longitudinal length of the panel


30


as shown in FIG.


4


. In a preferred embodiment, the width of cell cavities


32


is the same as the width of cell cavities


12


(for wall panel


10


) to allow for proper alignment of conduit that spans between a wall panel


10


and floor/ceiling panel


30


. The cell cavities


32


are surrounded by faces


33




a


,


33




b


and ribs


34


which are designed to sustain the applied loads. The concrete material of the panel


30


is reinforced with reinforcing steel bars


36


and wire mesh


37


as is known to skilled persons. Additional reinforcing steel bars


46


for shear strengthening is preferably placed as shown in

FIGS. 5 and 6

. The panel


30


is preferably made with end ribs


35


angled slightly, creating a v-groove 35v as demonstrated in FIG.


9


.




The preferred embodiment includes transverse interconnection openings


40


and


41


as shown in

FIG. 4

to provide transverse pathways running between cell cavities


32


. Interconnection openings


40


are preferably designated for general purpose and act in a similar fashion as transverse openings


18


-


23


described previously. Continuity alignment pipe


27


shown in

FIG. 2

is also used to link floor/ceiling panels


30


together in a similar fashion as for wall panels


10


, using interconnection openings


40


, and maintain conduit access across cell cavities


32


that may have to be filled with concrete or other cementitious material. Top/bottom access hole


39


allows for the continuation of cell cavities


12


from lower wall panel


10


, through floor/ceiling panel


30


and to the next upper wall panel


10


. Preferably, the panel


30


is provided with openings


38


as shown in

FIG. 4

so that appropriate shear transfer reinforcing and concrete can be inserted into the cell cavities


32


to create a structural link between adjacent floor/ceiling panels


30


. As shown in

FIG. 9

, shear transfer bar


44


is preferably used to hook together steel reinforcing bars


45


continuing from wall panel


10


into floor/ceiling panel


30


. The shear transfer bar


44


lessens or eliminates the need to spot tie or weld shear transfer bar


44


to steel reinforcing bars


45


. Preferably, the floor/ceiling panel


30


includes a rebar passage


43


as shown in

FIGS. 4 and 9

to facilitate placement of the reinforcing bars


45


. As shown in

FIG. 9

, side hole


41


permits placement of the shear transfer bar


44


between panels


30


to form an integral structural unit.




A preferred embodiment of a wall panel


10


with door opening


50


is shown in FIG.


8


. The wall panel


10


can be molded in place or manufactured at a manufacturing plant and then transported to a construction site for installation. Wall panels


10


can be manufactured with different sized door openings


50


.

FIG. 7

shows a preferred embodiment of wall panel


10


with window opening


52


. The window opening


52


can also be manufactured in different sizes and shapes as requested by the builder or building developer.





FIG. 17

shows a monolithic structural system


54


assembled from the wall panels


10


and floor/ceiling panels


30


. In a preferred assembly method, floor/ceiling panels


30


are used as a floor and the wall panels


10


are placed in a vertical orientation rising from floor panels


30


with another set of floor/ceiling panels


30


forming a ceiling or base for the next higher floor. Preferably, alignment plug


58


shown in

FIG. 10

is utilized. In this embodiment, one end of the alignment plug


58


is sized to snugly fit onto the opening of cell cavity


12


of a wall panel


10


and the opposite end of the alignment plug


58


fits snugly onto the top/bottom access hole


39


of the floor/ceiling panel


30


as shown in FIG.


15


. This allows the wall panel


10


to remain aligned with the floor/ceiling panels


30


as shown in

FIG. 15

, by aligning the cell cavities


12


at the lower end of wall panel


10


with the top/bottom access holes


39


of the floor panel


30


and for the next higher floor, aligning the cell cavities


12


at the upper end of wall panel


10


with the holes


39


of the ceiling panel


30


. The alignment plug


58


can be made of a solid material such as concrete and left in the structure after competed as in

FIG. 15

, or alignment plug


58


can be made of conventional pliant materials so it can be folded and then removed through the baseboard access


28


. Wall panels


10


are placed next to each other as shown in FIG.


17


and alignment maintained by the use of continuity alignment pipes


27


shown in

FIG. 2

, to link wall panels


10


. Preferably, corner wall


10


connections use modified continuity alignment pipes


27


which are bent in a 90 degree configuration known to skilled persons, to allow passage of pipes and wiring around corners.




In the preferred method, once walls


10


have been assembled on one level, say the first floor of a dwelling, alignment plugs


58


are placed on top of the walls in the manner described above, to facilitate placement of the ceiling panels


30


. Thereafter, reinforcing steel


45


is placed as needed and preferably hooked together using shear transfer bars


44


where appropriate. End cell cavities


12


and


32


are then filled with a cementitious material, such as concrete creating a continuous post/beam/post configuration as shown in FIG.


17


. The assembled structure


54


in

FIG. 17

shows one embodiment of this configuration with the filled cavities


60


shown interconnecting the panels


10


and


30


.




In

FIG. 11

a typical wall panel


10


is shown with utilities in place including parts of the electrical circuit including light switch


63


and electrical wiring


64


to control light fixture


66


. The wiring


64


passes through the transverse interconnection opening


20


and cell cavities


12


. Another circuit passes wiring


64


through opening


20


, connects to AC plug


68


though cell cavity


12


and continues out of the panel


10


though opening


20


at the opposite end of panel


10


to an AC circuit of an adjacent wall panel


10


. This demonstrates one advantage of both transverse and longitudinal conduit passages.

FIG. 11

also shows plumbing pipes


70


and


72


running through the wall panel


10


through openings


18


and


19


respectively.





FIG. 16

illustrates a preferred method of making a panel through the use of an expander unit


80


and liner


81


. As shown in

FIG. 13

, expander unit


80


is preferably comprised of four members


80




a-d


linked together as shown in

FIGS. 13-14

. Members


80




a-d


can be spread apart or brought closer together manually or by pneumatically operated or electrically operated devices known to skilled persons. As shown in

FIG. 16

, liner


81


is placed on the collapsible structure


80


to form the cavities. Once the concrete or similar material has been poured and adequately set or cured, the expander unit


80


is collapsed and removed. The liner


81


is then preferably removed a few hours later.




Another preferred method is shown in

FIG. 16

, where cross-sectional bar


83


is inserted in each location where openings are required. This cross-sectional bars


83


passes through holes


81




h


in liner


81


, shown in





FIG. 12

, and through passages in expander unit


80


. Once the concrete or similar material has adequately set or cured, bars


83


are removed prior to collapsing the expander unit


80


. Alternatively, liner


81


is made without any holes and a transverse interconnection opening can be made by suspending and compressing a polystyrene or similar compressible material shown as plug


85


in

FIG. 16

between fully expanded cells. This alternative preferred method inhibits the seepage of watery concrete into the openings and cavities. This method is preferably used to create openings for top/bottom access holes


39


, AC plug


68


, light fixture


66


and light switch


63


.




While embodiments of the present invention and modifications thereto have been shown and disclosed in the drawings and specification, alternate embodiments of the present invention will be apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art and this application is intended to include those embodiments within the full breadth and scope of the claims. The present invention is not limited by any parameters described herein and the present invention need not include all of the features disclosed in the single embodiment, but rather one or more features may be included.



Claims
  • 1. A structure including:a plurality of side abutting, one-piece, cementitious, wall panels; each panel comprising: a first end; a second end spaced apart from said first end in a longitudinal direction; a first side; a second side spaced apart from said first side in a transverse direction; a top; a bottom; a plurality of parallel cavities spanning from said first end to said second end between said top and said bottom; and one or more pathways for conduits for utilities; each said pathway spanning transversely between said cavities and between said cavities and said sides and exiting said sides at a predeterinined location so as to align with a pathway exiting an abutting wall panel; a baseboard access comprising a plurality of baseboard openings in said top adjacent said first end and substantially travesing between said sides; said baseboard openings providing access to a plurality of said cavities and at least one said pathway such that conduits can be threaded between said parallel cavities.
  • 2. The structure of claim 1 wherein each said panel includes:removable cover means for covering said baseboard access.
  • 3. The structure of claim 1 further including:a plurality of side abutting, one-piece, cementitious, ceiling/floor panels; each ceiling/floor panel comprising: a first end; a second end spaced apart from said first end of said ceiling/floor panel in a longitudinal direction; a first side; a second side spaced apart from said first side of said ceiling/floor panel in a transverse direction; a top; a bottom; a plurality of parallel cavities spanning from said first end of said ceiling/floor panel to said second end of said ceiling/floor panel between said top of said ceiling/floor panel and said bottom of said ceiling/floor panel; a plurality of openings through said top and said bottom adjacent said first end and adjacent said second end and substantially traversing between said sides of said ceiling panel; said ceiling/floor panel openings providing access to a plurality of said ceiling/floor panel cavities for threading conduits between said parallel cavities of said ceiling/floor panel; one or more pathways for conduits spanning transversely between said ceiling/floor panel cavities and between said cavities and said sides and exiting said sides at a predetermined location so as to align with one or more pathways exiting an abutting ceiling panel; at least one said pathway being accessible through said plurality of openings; wherein: said plurality of ceiling/floor panels are joined top said plurality of plurality of wall panels such that a plurality of said cailing/floor panel openings align with a plurality of said wall panel parallel cavities so as to provide a pathway for conduits therebetween and access for threading conduits therebetween and transversely through said ceiling/floor panels.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Number Name Date Kind
2010294 Dovell Aug 1935 A
3529389 Wilkens Sep 1970 A
4276730 Lewis Jul 1981 A
4616459 Shubow Oct 1986 A
4896469 Wright Jan 1990 A
5411782 Jarvis et al. May 1995 A
6233891 DeCosse May 2001 B1