1. Object of the Invention
The present invention relates, as indicated in the title thereof, to a cement mortar panel with prestressed biaxial reinforcement, as well as to the manufacturing process thereof, which more precisely relates to a panel of the type prefabricated from cement mortar which, in the construction of buildings, is designed to close openings in the structure of a building, both the external openings, in which case the visible face thereof is textured to form the facade, and the internal openings, in which case no texture is needed on its visible face, which delimit the internal courtyards of the building.
2. State of the Art
The present applicant is holder of patents ES 2 220 189, U.S. Pat. No. 6,857,241, utility models ES 1 041 896, ES 1 045 543, ES 1 057 874 and ES 1 057 875 and of patent applications EP 1 203 850 and WO0104433.
All the above mentioned patents and regional and international patent applications disclose the process and/or means for the manufacture of a lightweight panel made with cement mortar which is for closing the openings in the structure of a building to form the external and internal facades thereof. The panel is of reduced thickness in the range of 2 to 6 cms and has a prestressed biaxial reinforcement. The panel is provided inserted in the mass thereof and extending out from the hidden face thereof with shaped means for anchorage to the structure of the building. The means preferably are formed by lengths of straight omega section galvanized steel sections.
The said omega type section lengths inserted in the mass of the panel have the drawback that, apart from the operation of insertion of the said omega shaped sections in the mortar and consequently the operation of maintaining them stable therein until the time when the mass of mortar is sufficiently hard at the onset of setting of the mortar to be able to rely on the stability of said omega shaped lengths being delicate and rather laborious, the fact that said omega shaped lengths project out from the hidden face of the panel causes problems of space in transportation and storage, without excluding the risk of scratches that may be caused in such situations on the visible faces thereof.
In order to overcome the abovementioned drawback, the solution has been adopted of providing the panel itself with versatile operating means allowing versatile operations to be performed therewith, either for carrying out, in principle, handling and transportation operations of, finally, for installation and anchorage thereof in the building structure.
In accordance with the above solution, there has been developed the cement mortar panel with prestressed biaxial reinforcement of the present invention. Accordingly, this cement mortar panel is formed by a slab of cement mortar having a thickness ranging from 2 to 7 cms and including a prestressed biaxial reinforcement. The reinforcement is formed by two series of prestressed cables or rods. The cables or rods are parallel and equidistant within one same series and cross each other orthogonally without being attached to one another to form a grid. The cement mortar slab is provided with means for versatile operating on the panel assembly allowing it to be handled and/or attached to the structure of a building. The said versatile operating means are occluded in the mass of cement mortar, without extending from any of the surfaces thereof and are inserted in some of the spaces between the meshes. At the same time they themselves form, on one part, means for retention thereof in the set mass of the cement mortar and, on the opposite part, anchoring means both for panel handling members and members for fixation thereof to the building structure.
One feature of the invention consists of the fact that the means for versatile operating on the cement mortar panel are embodied by plugs which are inserted in the cement mortar mass prior to its setting and are located in the inner space of the grid formed by the biaxial reinforcement, in such a way that the retaining means thereof are housed in said cement mortar mass under the prestressed reinforcement without extending to the visible face of the panel, while the anchoring means both for panel handling members and members for the fixation thereof to the building structure have the end portion thereof flush with the surface of the hidden face of the panel.
One alternative to the foregoing feature is constituted by the possibility that the means for versatile operating on the cement mortar panel are embodied by holes made in the cement mortar mass during or after the setting thereof and situated in the inner space of the reinforcement grid, in which appropriate versatile operating means are anchored or there are provided panel handling members and/or members for fixation to the building structure which are successively directly inserted in said holes.
Further features of the invention related to the implementation of the versatile operating means in the form of a plug inserted in the mass of the panel are established by the following facts:
a—the plug forming the panel versatile operating means consists of a short thick body having at one end the means for retaining it within the set mortar, while the rest forms the anchoring means.
b—the plug forming the versatile operating means is formed by a body made from a material selected from the group comprising metals, synthetic and man-made plastics, ceramic materials, cement mortars and hydraulic cements.
c—the retaining means provided in the plugs are formed by one or more shoulders extending radially from an end perimetrical portion with which the corresponding end of the plug body is limited, preferably in form of a flange.
d—the radially extending shoulder forming the retaining means is provided with arrangements of the group comprising slots and holes for the passage of at least one of the reinforcements.
e—the anchoring means provided in the plug are formed by a deep axial blind hole which is provided with internal reliefs and opens in a centre of a flat annular end surface which limits the correspond end of the plug body and which is flush with the hidden face of the panel, the internal reliefs provided in said deep axial blind hole being formed by reliefs of the group comprising screw threads, bayonet fittings and barbed surfaces.
A further feature of the invention is constituted by the fact that the anchoring means of the plug are temporally complemented by handling members which are insertable, preferably threadedly, in the deep axial blind hole thereof and which, in their inserted position project beyond the surface of the flat annular end surface limiting the corresponding end of the plug body, with a threaded end portion.
A further feature of the invention lies in the fact that the handling member temporally engageable in the deep axial blind hole of the plug anchoring means consists of a holding rod which is provided at one end thereof with a portion complementary to the anchoring means and which is preferably threaded and, at the other end comprises a gripping portion which is complementary to an automatic gripping device which allows for handling of the panel.
A further feature of the invention resides in the fact that the member for final fixation of the panel in the building structure, while remaining operable, has one end inserted in the deep axial blind hole of the plug anchoring means and another end, opposite the former, forming a threaded portion which extends from the hidden face of the panel and passes through a polygonal plate. This plate forms, on one of its sides, the seat thereof in a cradle of the building structure, at the same time as it is associated with positioning means thereof on said threaded portion allowing it to be firmly located at any point along said threaded portion to adjust the distance of the panel from the building structure.
A further feature of the invention, directly associated with the foregoing one, lies in the fact that the building structure, in which the cement mortar panel with prestressed biaxial reinforcement is installed, comprises cross member sections which, horizontally fixedly attached to uprights at one of their sides, have the opposite end to the fixed one overhanging and forming an upwardly open channeled cradle, which forms a seat for the polygonal plate incorporated in the fixation members inserted in the anchoring means of the versatile operating means.
Further features of the invention, which are associated with the foregoing two, consist of the means for positioning the polygonal plate on the threaded portion of the fixation member may be formed by arrangements of the group comprising a threaded sleeve which, being fixedly attached to the polygonal plate, rotates along said threaded portion of the fixation member or a through hole in the polygonal plate for said threaded portion in cooperation with two nuts, one on each side of the polygonal plate which rotate along said threaded portion in the sense of positioning and fixing it at a point at a set distance from the building structure.
Yet another feature of the invention is constituted by the fact that the polygonal plate forming the positioning means is seated at one of its edges on the lower side of a C-shaped section horizontally installed in the structure, at the same time as the threaded portion of the fixation member, which extends from the panel and is attached to said polygonal plate, crosses through the open space formed lengthwise between the two flanges of the said C-shaped section. In this case, the dimension of the C-shaped section is narrower than the vertical dimension of the polygonal plate in its seated position therein, while having at its upper side on the upper flange, opposite to the side on which the polygonal plate is seated, passage gaps dimensioned for the vertical insertion of the polygonal plates mounted in the panels. The purpose of this is that in the final installed position of the panel the polygonal plates are situated at points of the C-shaped section where there are no passage gaps.
A further alternative feature of the foregoing lies in the fact that the member for final fixation of the panel in the building structure, while remaining operable, consists of a screw which, retained in the building structure, may be screwed into a screw thread provided in the deep axial blind hole of the anchoring means of the plug inserted in the panel.
A further feature of the invention, associated with the handling members, consists of the fact that the said handling members formed by the support rods, at the same time as they are fixed in the axial blind holes of the plug bodies forming the anchoring means, retain a closure plate which with its Teflon-coated active surface engages the flat annular end surfaces of the plug bodies and the mortar surface forming the hidden face of the panel, encapsulating the mold.
A further feature of the invention is constituted by the fact that each of the automatic gripping devices consists of a mechanism which is of the type driven by means selected from the group formed by electric, pneumatic and hydraulic means and is provided with gripping means which are complementary to the gripping portion of the handling members. A plurality of these automatic gripping devices is incorporated in a horizontal frame which is provided with vertical movement and spacers which limit its seating on the mold while they are located in the frame in accordance with the positioning contemplated for the insertion of the plugs in the fresh mass of the cement mortar which will form the panel.
A further feature of the invention lies in the fact that the surface of the mold on which the cement mortar mass for forming the visible face of the panel rests comprises a bottom wall which is formed by a Teflon-coated sheet which may be provided with a defined pattern on its surface and side walls against which the said mortar mass must be applied to form the edges of the panel and which are formed by Teflon-coated plates having no defined pattern.
Finally, on the other hand, the invention comprises a process for correctly carrying out the manufacture of the panel having prestressed biaxial reinforcement of the invention, which process, using substantially flat metal molds having a bottom wall and side molding walls and a closure cover, consists essentially of the following steps:
a. providing in each of the molds a biaxially stressed reinforcement formed by two series of steel cables or rods, in each of which the cables or rods are mutually coplanar, parallel and equidistant, with the orthogonal superpositioning thereof forming a grid.
b. pouring a mass of cement mortar in the mold and leveling its thickness.
c. inserting in spaces of the grid a plurality of plugs, as the versatile operating means which, after the mortar has set, are provided with panel handling and/or fixation members.
d. closing the upper surface of the mold with a mold encapsulating cover.
e. transferring the closed mold to a modular tunnel kiln in which the mortar is pre-cured.
f. progressively removing the molds from the tunnel kiln and stripping the pre-cured panel from each of them.
g. post-curing the pre-cured panels, and
h. quality control and trimming the external branches of the reinforcement elements.
Further features of the process of the invention consist of the following conditions:
i. the pre-curing step in the modular tunnel kiln is effected by maintaining the mold with the mortar, the reinforcement and the versatile plugs at a temperature of 50° C. for 7 hours.
ii. the post-curing step in modular tunnel kiln is effected by maintaining the pre-cured panel at a temperature of 50° C. and humidity of 95% for 48 hours.
iii. The bottom wall, the side walls and the mold closure cover are coated with a layer of Teflon on their surfaces which contact with the cement mortar mass.
To facilitate the understanding of the foregoing ideas, there are described hereinbelow some preferred embodiments of the object of the invention, wherein there are brought together the manufacturing process and the product thereby produced, consisting of a cement mortar panel with prestressed biaxial reinforcement, with reference to the accompanying drawings which, in view of their merely illustrative nature, do not affect the scope of the invention. In the drawings:
With regard to the above mentioned versatile operating means for the panel 1, the retaining means 5, as shown in
The internal reliefs 8 provided in the deep axial blind hole 7 of the plugs 3 forming the attachment means 6 are of the group comprising screw threads such as those shown in
As shown in
One possible embodiment of the said handling member 12 consists of an anchoring rod 13 which is provided at one end thereof with an anchoring portion 14 which is complementary to the anchoring means 6 of the plug 3, and at the other end it comprises a gripping arrangement 15 with which an automatic gripping device 16 may engage as shown in
According to a first stage of use of the versatile operating means embodied by the plug 3, the handling member 12 may be screwed in the screw thread 8 of the deep axial blind hole 7 of said plug 3 and consists of a support rod 13 which, as shown in
In a second, and normally definitive, stage of use of the said versatile operating means embodied by the plug 3, as shown in
In
The building structure 22 is formed mainly by transverse sections 26 which are fixedly attached horizontally to uprights 27 by one of their edges 28f while at their opposite edge they form an upwardly open channel-shaped cradle 29. Such cradle 29 forms a seat for one edge 30 of the polygonal plate 25 which is attached to the final fixation members 21 inserted in the anchoring means 6 of the versatile operating means formed by the plug 3. The polygonal plate 25 is seated by the edge 30 of one of its sides in the cradle 29, at the same time as it is associated with positioning means therefor on said threaded portion of the end 24 allowing it to be fixedly located at any point along said threaded portion to adjust the distance from the panel 1 to the building structure 22 and thereby assure that the visible faces 10 of the facade panels are coplanar.
As shown in
In
As shown in
In
In
In
In the foregoing figure it is to be noted that the polygonal plate 25A is capable of being inserted vertically in the C-shaped section 47 thanks to the passage gap 54 to reach the position shown in phantom line of the polygonal plate 25C, after which this polygonal plate 25C is moved to the left of the drawing to reach the position of the polygonal plate 25A. In this position the polygonal plate 25A can no longer move vertically, thereby ensuring the positioning of the panel 1.
In
The manufacturing process of the present cement mortar panel with prestressed biaxial reinforcement is achieved by molding of the cement mortar in metal molds which may be arranged with one of the major dimensions thereof in a vertical position or with the two major dimensions in a horizontal position. The horizontal position is preferably adopted for the manufacture of flat surfaced panels and the vertical position for the manufacture of panels having a curved, irregular or mixed surface.
The appropriate molds for the said molding operation are made from metallic materials, especially steel, and are formed by a lower base plate for making the visible face of the panel, side walls for forming the panel edges and a closure cover for encapsulating the mold to avoid evaporation of the water from the mortar in the setting stage.
The metal base plate may be smooth and support a sheet of synthetic or other material with an ornamental texture to embellish the visible face of the panel, or, this metal base plate may be directly provided with the said ornamental texture. In all cases, it is highly desirable that the active surface of the plate is covered with a coating of Teflon.
In turn, the side walls and the closure cover have no type of texture, since the surfaces molded by them are hidden in the building, but it is desirable that their active surfaces which contact the cement mortar or are facing it are covered with a layer of Teflon.
Complementarily, the molds will be mounted in mold holder frames which incorporate the prestressing means for the biaxial reinforcement which will be hidden in the cement mortar mass of the panel, forming an assembly which is moved for insertion in the tunnels for pre-curing and post-curing the cement mortar and for stripping the panel from the mold after the mortar has set.
With the molds as succinctly described above, the steps of the process of the invention for the manufacture of the cement mortar panels with prestressed biaxial reinforcement are as listed below and shown in
a.—placing in each of the molds A a biaxially stressed reinforcement formed by two series of steel cables or rods, in each of which series the cables or rods are coplanar, parallel and equidistant one from another, with the orthogonal overlaying of them forming a grid.
b.—pouring a mass of cement mortar A1 in the mold and leveling the thickness.
c.—inserting in spaces of the grid A2, as versatile operating means, a plurality of plugs which, once the cement mortar has set, are provided either with handling members or panel fixation members.
d.—closing the upper surface of the mold A3 with a mold encapsulating cover to avoid evaporation of the water from the cement mortar during the pre-curing and post-curing steps of the set mortar.
e—transferring the closed mold to a modular tunnel kiln B in which the cement mortar is pre-cured.
f.—progressively removing the molds from the tunnel kiln B, mold stripping C of the panel pre-cured in each of them and cleaning D of the molds for reuse.
g.—post-curing of the pre-cured panels in tunnel kilns E and
h.—quality control F and trimming the external portions of the prestressed biaxial reinforcement.
i.—drying in store G, surface H, cleaning I and painting J.
The pre-curing step in modular tunnel kiln is effected by holding the mold with the cement mortar, the reinforcement and the plugs of the versatile operating means at a temperature of 50° C. for 7 hours, while the post-curing step in modular tunnel kiln is effected by holding the panel stripped from the mold at the end of pre-curing at a temperature of 50° C. and 95% humidity for 48 hours.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
U200700993 | May 2007 | ES | national |
U200702060 | Oct 2007 | ES | national |
This application claims the benefit of and priority to and is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/600,165, filed Sep. 3, 2010, which is a national stage application filed under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT/ES2007/000706, filed Dec. 3, 2007, which application claims further priority from Spanish Application No. U200700993, filed May 14, 2007, and Spanish Application No. U200702060, filed Oct. 11, 1007.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12600165 | Sep 2010 | US |
Child | 14136847 | US |