The invention generally relates to the installation of concrete forms for creating walls, columns, and other non-horizontal concrete structures. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus for positioning and locking concrete forms for receipt of concrete, thereby maintaining a desired distance and geometric shape and preventing the forms from separating and distorting the shape during the filling operation and simplifying the removal and preventing the loss of the apparatus after removal from the concrete forms.
The current methods for preparing concrete forms for construction projects are manpower-intensive, material-intensive, do not properly maintain the desired spacing easily, are costly, and inefficient. One common method for pouring a concrete wall requires two forms to be placed parallel with a desired wall thickness represented by distance between the forms. In the United States, the thickness of concrete is usually specified in inches, and common thicknesses are from 4-12 inches. The form builders then insert a multitude of heavy threaded rods into holes in the forms at various locations. The threaded rods extend through each of the concrete forms. Form builders then place a multitude large washers and nuts on protruding threaded rods. The nuts are tightened using a wrench to create the desired spacing width between the two forms. The form builders then cut blocks to the desired thickness and place them inside the cavity to maintain this thickness of the cavity between the forms and to prevent them distorting to less than the desired spacing.
After pouring and curing of the concrete, the form builders disassemble the concrete forms. During this deconstruction process, the nuts and washers are often lost since they are separate loose components and require replacement. Additionally, the threaded rods may be damaged during removal or may have to be cut off and left in place. Problems removing the threaded rods is to be expected since the threads inherently bond with the poured concrete and resist motion required to remove them after the concrete has hardened.
Adjacent forms are clamped together with multi-piece clamps that are assembled to grip adjoining portions of forms after the forms are brought into close proximity. These multi-piece clamps present an analogous problem to the problems of the threaded rods discussed above. Upon removing the clamps after the concrete is poured, pieces are often lost requiring replacement.
The current method for constructing and deconstructing concrete forms using threaded rod, nuts, washers, wrenches, spacer blocks, and multi-piece clamps have significant disadvantages that are manpower intensive, time intensive, equipment intensive, costly, wasteful, and ultimately inefficient.
The present invention overcomes these shortcomings by providing an apparatus that allows one skilled in the art, such as a form builder, to quickly construct and disassemble concrete forms with equipment that is relatively large and not easily lost at the construction site. The apparatus also prevents the concrete forms from moving inwardly or outwardly thus maintaining a consistent thickness of the concrete. Further, the assemblies maintain the desired geometric shape of the form. Additionally, the apparatus does not require tools for assembly or disassembly of the concrete forms. The apparatus may include an elongated locking pin, a retainer, and a form connector.
There have thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in this application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods, and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiment and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.
As the smaller end 108 of the locking pin 100 is placed inside a pin hole 510 defined through the concrete form 500, it will easily penetrate pin holes 510 through both concrete forms 500, but the diameter of the larger end 106 prevents the locking pin 100 from passing all the way through the pin hole 510 of the first concrete form 500. This tapered surface 104 from the larger end 106 to the smaller end 108 allows the user to easily place the concrete form locking pin 100 into the forms for set up and facilitates easier removal the locking pin 100 after the concrete has dried, bonding to the pin's surface to some extent. The surface 104 of the locking pin 100 may be coated with a release agent that allows the locking pin 100 to be more easily removed after the concrete pour. Also, a user may alternate the locking pins 100 entering from the different sides of the concrete forms 500 so that once they are locked in position, the tapered shape will also help prevent blowouts due to the concrete pressure.
Each locking pin 100 preferably defines several locking slots 110 near both the larger 106 and the smaller ends 108. These locking slots 110 slidingly engage a channel 204 defined in a head 202 of the retainer 200. See
The retainer 200 may be rotated about the connecter 300 to engage the locking slots 110. The preferred method of engaging the locking slots 100 is to engage them from the top with the retainer 200, so that if movement was to occur and loosen the connecter 300, the retainer 200 would remain in place by the force of gravity preventing release of the concrete form 500. The curved edge 206 allows the user to rotatingly engage and disengage a locking slot 110 while the connecter 300 is affixed to the concrete form 500. Without the curved edge 206, the channel 204 would not be able to rotatingly engage a locking slot 110 while the retainer 200 is affixed to a form 500 by the connecter 300. Without the curved edge 206 a user would have to simultaneously engage the concrete form 500, the locking pin 100, the retainer 200 and the connector 300, making the assembly of the forms difficult.
The T-connector 306 allows a user to place the connecter 300 in engagement with the retainer 200 through the adjustment slot 210 and also engage a concrete form 500. The T-connector 306 is placed through an inner rail slot 508 of the concrete form 500. The user may rotate the connecter handle 302 causing the T-connecter 306 to rotate and engage slot 508. This engagement prevents the connecter 300 from disengaging from the concrete form 500. A user may then hold the connector handle 302 and rotate the tightener 304 to engage the retainer 200 and to secure it in place against the concrete form.
Incorporated by reference is quick release clamp (U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,376 Eberhardt et al.) (the “'376 Patent”) that may replace the tightener 304 and the threaded rod 402. In addition to the threaded embodiment disclosed herein, it would be apparent to one skilled in the art to employ a quick release clamp to engage the retainer 200 and secure it to the form 500. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,921 for a “safe quick-release bicycle axle fastener” (hereinafter the “'921 Patent”). Applicant incorporates the '387 Patent and the '921 Patent by reference, particularly
If it is desired to allow the retainer 200 to be separated from the connecter 300, the retaining washer 406 may be omitted from the construction. Additionally, the connector handle 302 may be removable to facilitate the removal of the retaining washer 406 thereby allowing a user to separate the connector 300 and retainer 200. The handle 302 may have mated thread to affix to the threaded rod 402. Other methods of attaching the handle 302 to the threaded rod 402 allowing a user to remove the handle 302 would be apparent to one skilled in the art.
The metal frame of the concrete form 500 comprises side rails 502 defining pin holes 510 therein or adjacent thereto, and inner rails 504 defining inner rail slots 508. A face sheet 506 is affixed to the steel frame. Multiple concrete forms 500 may be connected side-by-side such that they create an extended single form to create a continuous wall when concrete is poured into the space defined between opposing concrete forms 500. Inner rails 504 typically create a grid pattern throughout the concrete form 500 to provide rigidity of the concrete form 500 and to prevent concrete from blowing out through the face sheet 506. Defined in the inner rails 504 there may be defined a multitude of inner rail slots 508. Also, in the inner rails 504 or side rails 502, there may be defined a multitude of pin holes 510 allowing for various placement of the locking pins 100 depending on the desires of the user and the type of construction that is involved.
A user may release the concrete form 500 by rotating the tightener 304 in the opposite direction from above thereby releasing the retainer 200 allowing it to freely move. The user may disengage the retainer 200 from the locking pin 100 allowing the locking pin 100 to be removed. The locking pin 100, if it has the preferable tapered surface 104 must be forced out the same side as the larger end 106 protrudes from. Once the locking pins 100 are removed the concrete forms any also be removed leaving a finished concrete structure.
As described earlier, a series of locking slots 110 may be created near each end 106, 108 of the locking pins 100. This series of locking slots 110 provides a user the ability to adjust the width of the cavity 702 created between opposing concrete forms 500 by selecting different locking slot 110 to achieve a desired distance. Additionally, a user may use different locking slots 110 to create a tapering effect in the thickness of the concrete slab in the horizontal direction and/or vertical direction.
This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 15/906,598 filed Feb. 27, 2018.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20220290450 A1 | Sep 2022 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15906597 | Feb 2018 | US |
Child | 17169043 | US |