This Utility application is based on Design application 29/620,136, filed Jul. 14, 2016 and Design application 29/620,137, filed Jul. 14, 2016.
This invention relates to preformed sections of relatively “lightweight” concrete or preformed sections manufactured from a combination of lightweight concrete and polyurethane foam. This invention further includes a method for constructing a wall from a plurality of the preformed sections via a binding agent such as polyurethane foam, or without a binding agent (“dry stacking”) when the constructed wall is not exposed to harsh climates or constructed indoors. More particularly, the plurality of lightweight preformed sections include interlocking peripheral portions or “fingers” configured to engage cooperating portions of adjacently disposed preformed sections to form a wall structure that can receive a deformable material (when specified) such as concrete, mortar, grout or preferably, polyurethane foam or similar binding polymer to stabilize the resulting wall for indoor or outdoor use. The preformed sections manufactured from lightweight concrete and poly urethane foam provides added insulation when the preformed sections are used to construct outer walls of a building.
Concrete walls formed from blocks or sections of concrete for indoor and/or outdoor use are common for both private and commercial locations. Prior art concrete walls have included binding components for securing together blocks that are vertically or horizontally adjacent to increase the stability of the concrete wall when completed. However, prior art block constructed walls have not included preformed sections fabricated from lightweight concrete with interlocking fingers or from a combination of lightweight concrete and polyurethane. Nor have prior art concrete walls included preformed concrete sections having interlocking side portions for horizontally adjacent sections and interlocking bottom and top portions for vertically adjacent sections for every concrete section of every tier of sections used to construct a wall. Further, prior art block constructed walls have not included the insertion of a rod through an aperture vertically extending through horizontally interlocked fingers of concrete blocks of the constructed wall from a top tier to a bottom of blocks. Nor has prior art block constructed walls included the filling of the vertical apertures, after rods have been inserted therein, with a compound that ultimately hardens to maintain the positions of respective horizontal locking fingers of adjacently disposed lightweight concrete sections.
A need exists for preformed sections of concrete together with a method for constructing a wall that minimizes costs and maximizes wall stability by using relatively light weight and stackable concrete sections secured together with interlocking top, bottom and side portions. The needed method including interlocking side portions having apertures extending vertically through all interlocked side portions with a reinforcement rod extending through each aperture, then adding a polyurethane foam or similar polymer injected into the aperture to bind the interlocking side portions and the reinforcement rods together.
Further, a need exists for providing a relatively lightweight “double wall” configuration with a polyurethane layer between adjacently disposed surfaces of the double wall to increase wall stability when the wall is exposed to extreme weather conditions, including but not limited to relatively strong winds.
The present invention includes concrete section configurations for constructing a wall structure having an ornamental front wall, and first and second opposing side portions having “locking fingers.” The first and second side portion locking fingers are configured to horizontally interlock with cooperating second and first side portions (respectively) of horizontally and adjacently disposed and identically configured concrete sections. Each side portion of each concrete section includes a vertical aperture that ultimately aligns with a cooperating aperture in a horizontally adjacent concrete section. The interlocking end portions of adjacently disposed concrete sections form a single vertical aperture through the respective interlocked end portions. Each aperture through the interlocking end portions ultimately receives a stabilizing rod extending through the entire aperture, and a binding compound that ultimately hardens to maintain the position of the rod relative to the respective interlocked side portions, thereby maintaining the position of the respective interlocked concrete sections irrespective of weather conditions engaging the surface of the concrete sections. Adjacent concrete sections can be orientated lineally or angularly to form corners, the side portions of the adjacent concrete sections will still interlock to form a vertical aperture extending through both interlocked side portions of the adjacently disposed concrete sections.
To increase the stability of a wall constructed via multiple tiers of the concrete sections of the present invention, a bottom wall locking perturbation or “bottom locking finger” is included with each concrete section of each tier above the first tier of concrete sections. Each bottom locking finger is snugly inserted into a receiving recess provided in a top wall portion of each concrete section of each tier (except the top tier) that ultimately forms a wall having a predetermined configuration with corresponding dimensions.
The stability of the concrete wall resulting from the interlocked concrete sections can be increased by adding a second concrete wall adjacent and parallel to the first concrete wall such that a layer of polyurethane foam is sandwiched between congruently orientated wall surfaces. The polyurethane foam ultimately hardens to bind the two wall surfaces together.
An alternative lightweight concrete section configuration includes a rectangular or square configuration having a decorative front outer wall and a back planar wall with a recess that receives polyurethane foam that ultimately hardens, resulting in a lightweight concrete section having substantially the same strength characteristics of a standard all-concrete section. To increase the “binding force” between the hardened polyurethane and wall surfaces of the recess in the back wall, a fiberglass mesh is secured via glue or similar binding elements to a bottom wall surface of the recess. The fiberglass mesh includes apertures dimensioned to promote the flow of the polyurethane through the mesh and into congruent engagement with the bottom wall surface of the recess.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome many of the disadvantages associated with prior art concrete sections for constructing a concrete wall. A principal object of the present invention is to provide a relatively inexpensive, lightweight concrete section for constructing a wall. A feature of the concrete sections is multiple “locking fingers” extending from each side wall of each concrete section. A feature of the locking fingers is that engaging side wall end portions of adjacently disposed concrete sections are able “mesh” or interlock to stabilize the wall that is ultimately constructed. An advantage of the invention is that the interlocking concrete sections maintain wall stability when a dry wall formed from concrete sections is constructed, or when relatively high wind velocities engage a constructed wall that includes mortar to bind adjacent concrete sections together.
Another object of the present invention is to secure together interlocking fingers of cooperating end portions of adjacent concrete sections. A feature of the locking fingers of cooperating end portions of the adjacently disposed concrete sections is a vertical aperture extending through each locking finger, resulting in an aperture extending vertically through both interlocking ends of the adjacently disposed concrete sections, resulting in a vertical aperture extending from a top surface to a bottom surface of a constructed wall. Another feature of the locking fingers is the insertion of a stabilizing rod through each resulting vertical aperture such that the stabilizing rod extends from the top surface to the bottom surface of the constructed wall, thereby binding interlocking fingers of adjacently disposed concrete blocks together. Yet another feature of the locking fingers is the injection of a binding agent into the aperture after the stabilizing rod has been inserted into the aperture. An advantage of the invention after the binding agent hardens, is that the concrete wall that is ultimately constructed via the concrete sections is stabilized without using any mortar or similar binding agent between engaging surfaces of any vertically or horizontally adjacently disposed concrete sections.
Yet another object of the present invention is to secure together top and bottom portions of vertically adjacent concrete sections of adjacently disposed tiers of the concrete sections. A feature of the concrete sections is a bottom wall locking perturbation or “bottom locking finger” extending from a bottom wall of each concrete section in each tier of concrete sections above the first or bottom tier that engages the foundation for the constructed wall. Another feature of the concrete sections is a top wall having a bottom locking finger receiving recess disposed in a predetermined portion of the top wall of each concrete section in each tier of concrete sections including the first tier, but excluding the top tier of concrete sections. Each bottom locking finger is snugly inserted into a cooperating receiving recess in a top wall portion of a concrete section immediately below the bottom locking finger. An advantage of the bottom locking finger is that the bottom locking finger prevents the “sliding” or horizontal movement of concrete sections as the sections are disposed upon a lower tier of concrete sections. This “horizontal locking” of the concrete sections occurs via the cooperation between the bottom locking fingers and the locking fingers of the side portions, the side portions include a stabilizing rod through apertures in the respective side portions of adjacent, horizontally disposed concrete sections.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight concrete section with the side portion locking fingers described above, but without the bottom locking finger and top recess. A feature of the concrete section is a substantially centrally disposed recess that is filled with polyurethane foam that ultimately hardens to form a lightweight concrete section composed mostly of hardened polyurethane. Another feature of the concrete section is side portion locking fingers configured to interlock with side portion locking fingers of adjacent lightweight concrete sections, each locking finger having a vertical aperture that ultimately aligns with cooperating apertures in vertically and horizontally adjacent concrete sections. The aligned cooperating apertures form a single vertical aperture extending from a top wall of a top tier through a bottom wall of a bottom tier of respective vertical and horizontal adjacent lightweight concrete sections. Each aperture extending through the resulting wall ultimately includes a stabilizing rod extending through the entire aperture, and a binding compound such as polyurethane that ultimately hardens. An advantage of the lightweight, mostly polyurethane concrete sections with a stabilizing rod extending through aligned apertures and the hardened polyurethane in the apertures is that the lightweight sections reduce the cost of constructing a wall having substantially the same “strength” and weather resistant characteristics as a similar wall constructed from lightweight concrete.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a lightweight concrete section having improved insulation characteristics. A feature of the concrete section is a polyurethane foam center surrounded by a relatively light weight material such as foamed concrete or an aggregate of concrete and shale. An advantage of the concrete section is that the “structural strength” of the concrete section promotes stacking and increases the insulation rating of the resulting wall, which is relevant when the resulting wall forms the outer wall of a building.
The foregoing invention and its advantages may be readily appreciated from the following Detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring to
Referring now to
The first locking finger 20 is positioned a distance below a top planar wall 30 (with a longitudinal dimension of proximately twenty-seven inches) of the concrete section 10 to form a vertical wall 23 having the same length as the length of the outer vertical walls 21 and 25. A top planar wall 32 of the first locking finger 20 is parallel to and disposed vertically below the top planar wall 30 of the concrete section 10, and a bottom planar wall 34 of the first locking finger 20 is parallel to and with equal dimensions with the top planar wall 32 of the first locking finger 20, resulting in a substantially square configured (from front, top or side elevation views) first locking finger 20. The bottom planar wall 34 of the first locking finger 20 is parallel to and disposed vertically above a top planar wall 36 of the second locking finger 24 of the first end portion 18 of the concrete section 10. A bottom planar wall 40 of the second locking finger 24 is parallel to and with equal dimensions with the top planar wall 36 of the second locking finger 24, resulting in a vertical wall 27 having the same length as the length of the outer vertical walls 21 and 25 to form a substantially square configured (when viewing from both front, top or side elevation views) first recess 28 and a substantially square configured second locking finger 24. The planar bottom wall 40 of the second locking finger 24 is coplanar with a bottom wall 42 (having a longitudinal dimension of proximately twenty-seven inches) of the concrete section 10.
The concrete sections 10 further include a second end portion 44 having a third locking finger 46 with an outer vertical wall 47 and with a third vertical aperture 48, and a fourth locking finger 50 with an outer vertical wall 51 and with a fourth vertical aperture 52. The outer vertical walls 47 and 51 are substantially the same length. The third and fourth locking fingers 46 and 50 are vertically separated substantially the same distance as the length of the outer vertical walls 47 and 51 to form a second recess 54. The third locking finger 46 is disposed a distance below the top planar wall 30 of the concrete section 10 to form a vertical wall 49 having the same length as the length of the outer vertical walls 47 and 51. A top planar wall 56 of the third locking finger 46 is coplanar with the top planar wall 30 of the concrete section 10. A bottom planar wall 58 of the third locking finger 46 is parallel to and with equal dimensions with the top planar wall 56 of the third locking finger 46, resulting in a substantially square configured (from front, top or side elevation views) third locking finger 46.
The bottom planar wall 58 of the third locking finger 46 is parallel to and disposed vertically above a top planar wall 60 of the fourth locking finger 50 of the second end portion 44 of the concrete section 10. A bottom planar wall 62 of the fourth locking finger 50 is parallel to and with equal dimensions with the top planar wall 60 of the fourth locking finger 50, resulting in a vertical wall 53 having the same length as the length of the outer vertical walls 47 and 51 to form a substantially square configured (from front, top or side elevation views) fourth locking finger 50. The square configured planar bottom wall 62 of the fourth locking finger 50 is parallel with and disposed vertically above the bottom wall 42 of the concrete section 10.
The method for constructing a lineal concrete wall via the concrete sections 10 is illustrated via
The method for constructing a wall using concrete sections 10 begins by providing two concrete sections 10 and disposing the sections 10 relatively close together as illustrated in
The next step is to vertically and axially align the third and fourth vertical apertures 48 and 52 of the first concrete section 12 with the first and second vertical apertures 22 and 26 of the second concrete section 13, resulting in all four apertures being in vertical axial alignment to receive a stabilizing rod 64 that completely inserts through all four apertures. The preferred stabilizing rod 64 is a section of metal “rebar” having a diameter of about one-half times the diameter of the vertically aligned apertures, which are cylindrically configured and identically dimensioned. The stabilizing rod 64 has a length substantially equal to the cylindrical axis of the four apertures. The stabilizing rod 64 includes a relatively small plate 66 secured to a top end of the rebar 64. The plate 66 is dimensioned to maintain the position of the stabilizing bar 64 relative to the concrete section 10 after the stabilizing bar 64 is inserted into the aligned apertures.
The first and second concrete sections 12 and 13 are then lineally aligned for forming a “straight” portion of the concrete wall, or angularly joined to form a ninety degree angle to construct a corner portion of a concrete wall (see
A relatively liquid binding agent (such as polyurethane foam) is then injected into the aligned apertures of the joined second end portion 44 of the first concrete section 12 and the first end portion 18 of the second concrete section 13 with the stabilizing rod 64 inserted through the aligned apertures. After the binding agent hardens, the stabilizing rod 64 and the second end portion 44 of the first concrete section 12 and the first end portion 18 of the second concrete section 13 are rigidly secured together, thereby maintaining the relative positions of the first and second concrete sections 12 and 13 when repeating the method of joining concrete sections 10 together to ultimately construct a concrete wall, irrespective of the completed wall being lineally or angularly configured.
The method of the present invention can be used to construct a second lineal wall 68 adjacent and parallel to a first lineal wall 70 (see
The method of the present invention can be used to construct a second angular wall 76 adjacent to and with the same angular configuration as a first wall 78 (see
Referring now to
Referring to
The second locking finger 124 of the concrete sections 110a in the first tier 111, include a planar bottom wall 140 that is coplanar with a bottom wall 142 of the concrete section 110. For a second tier 115 of concrete sections 110 and for every tier of concrete sections above the second tier 115, the concrete sections 110 include a second locking finger 125 that extends below the bottom wall 142 such that a planar bottom wall 141 of the second locking finger 125 is disposed below the bottom wall 142 of the concrete section 110. The second locking finger 125 in the second tier 114 of concrete sections 110a is dimensioned and configured to snugly insert a lower portion of the second locking finger 125 into a second locking finger receiving recess 117 in the top wall 130 of a cooperating concrete section 110 in the first tier 111 of concrete sections 110, thereby preventing the “sliding” or horizontal movement of concrete sections 110 as the sections 110 are disposed upon a lower tier of concrete sections. This “horizontal locking” cooperates with the locking fingers of the side wall portions of the concrete sections 110 to maintain the horizontal position of each concrete section 110 as the section 110 assembles a “dry staked” concrete wall or a concrete wall that uses binding agents between adjacent sections 110. Each concrete section 110 of every tier includes the second locking finger receiving recess 117 in the top wall 130.
The second locking finger 125 of the concrete sections 110 in all tiers above the first tier 111 includes the same second vertical aperture 126 that is in the second locking fingers 124 in the concrete sections 110 of the first tier 111. After the first tier 111 of concrete sections 110 have been positioned on a foundation 149, the second tier 114 of concrete sections 110 are disposed upon the first tier 111 such that the first and second vertical apertures 122 and 126 in the first and second locking fingers 120 and 125 align with an aperture 127 in the bottom wall 129 of the receiving recess 117. The bottom wall aperture 127 extends vertically through the respective concrete section 110 to allow a stabilizing and/or reinforcement bar 64 to extend completely through two vertically adjacent concrete section 110 in two vertically adjacent first and second tiers 111 and 115, thereby increasing the vertical and horizontal stabilizing of a completed concrete wall after a stabilizing material or binding agent such as grout or mortar is injected into the apertures with the stabilizing rods 64 already disposed therein.
The concrete sections 110 further include a second end portion 144 having a third locking finger 146 with a third vertical aperture 148 and a fourth locking finger 150 with a fourth vertical aperture 152. The third and fourth locking fingers 146 and 150 are vertically separated a predetermined distance that forms a second recess 154. The third locking finger 146 is disposed such that a top planar wall 156 of the third locking finger 146 is coplanar with the top planar wall 30 of the concrete section 110, and such that a bottom planar wall 158 of the third locking finger 46 is parallel with the top planar wall 130 of the third locking finger 146, resulting in a substantially square configured (from front, top or side elevation views) third locking finger 146. The bottom planar wall 158 of the third locking finger 146 is parallel with a top planar wall 160 of the fourth locking finger 150 of the second end portion 144 of the concrete section 110, resulting in a substantially square configured second recess 154 when taking front, top or side elevation views of the second recess 154. The fourth locking finger 150 includes a planar bottom wall 162 that is parallel with the planar top wall 160 of the fourth locking finger 150, resulting in a substantially square configured (from front, top or side elevation views) fourth locking finger 150. The planar bottom wall 162 of the fourth locking finger 150 is parallel with and disposed vertically above the bottom wall 142 of the concrete section 110.
The method for constructing a lineal concrete wall via the concrete sections 110 and 110a illustrated in
Referring to
After inserting stabilizing rods 164a, 164b and 164c through each aligned group of apertures through both the second and first tiers 115 and 111, a binding agent such as grout, mortar or polyurethane is injected into the apertures and around the stabilizing bar 164 to horizontally and vertically secure all concrete sections 110 in first and second tiers 111 and 115. The method of assembly for the concrete sections 110 can be repeated for a third tier (not depicted) upon the second tier 115 by snugly inserting a second locking finger 125 of the third tier into a receiving recess 117 in a top wall 130 of a concrete section 110 in the second tier 115, then inserting stabilizing rods 164 through respective aligned apertures in the third, second tier 115 and first tier 111, followed by injecting the grout, mortar or polyurethane into the aligned apertures.
Referring now to
To construct a preselected wall, a predetermined number of concrete sections 200 dimensioned as required to form the wall are filled with polyurethane to ultimately form a planar polyurethane wall flush with the inner planar wall 204 of the concrete section 200. After the polyurethane has hardened, predetermined number of concrete sections 200 can be assembled using polyurethane, mortar or similar bonding material to construct the preselected wall. If the dimensions or use of the preselected wall require stability above that provided by a typical bonding agent, a vertical stabilizing bar 212 can be included in the construction of the preselected wall.
The stabilizing bar 212 can be a standard rebar or similar metal material that extends through the concrete section 200 via vertical apertures 214 through the top and bottom outer walls 205 and 207, and corresponding top and bottom inner side walls 209. The stabilizing bar 212 is ultimately rigidly secured to the concrete section 200 via a polyurethane foam (or similar material that “sets-up” or otherwise hardens) that has solidified after being deposited into the recess 206 in the horizontally positioned concrete section 200. The deposited polyurethane ultimately “fills” the recess 206 until the level of the polyurethane is “flush” with the inner wall 204, thereby covering the stabilizing bar 212 with end portions snugly extending through the vertical apertures 214 in the top and bottom outer walls 205 and 207 a predetermined distance. The stabilizing bar 212 can protrude from the top and/or bottom outer walls 205 a distance that promotes securing a first tier of sections 200 to a foundation, or securing a first tier of sections 200 to a second tier. The liquid polyurethane engages both the bottom wall 210 of the recess 206 and the fiberglass mesh 208, thereby increasing the “grip” of the hardening polyurethane upon the bottom wall 210 of the recess 206. After the polyurethane completely hardens, the precast concrete section 200 is capable of being vertically positioned at a location selected by the user to complete a predetermined lightweight concrete wall having a preselected designs or configurations.
As an alternative to the stabilizing bar 212 remaining in the polyurethane, as the polyurethane hardens and becomes semi-rigid, the stabilizing bar 212 is slidably removed from the precast concrete section 200 and the concrete section 200 is manually disposed at a position that cooperates with adjacent concrete sections 200; whereby, the aperture (not depicted) formed by the removal of the stabilizing bar 212 is lineally aligned with similarly formed apertures in vertically adjacent concrete sections 200 to enable polyurethane to pour into aligned apertures of the vertically adjacent concrete sections 200. The polyurethane vertically deposited into an upper concrete section 200 flows into a lower concrete section 200 and ultimately hardens, thereby replacing the removed vertical stabilizing bars 212 to provide a vertical stabilizing member for the resulting concrete wall.
To horizontally stabilize horizontally adjacent precast concrete sections 200, a horizontal stabilizing bar 216 can be installed through the recess 206 in the inner wall 204 via horizontal apertures 218 in the outer side walls 203 and through corresponding inner walls 204 such that the placement of the apertures 218 disposes the horizontal stabilizing bar 216 under the vertical stabilizing bar 212. To horizontally position one stabilizing bar 216 through a predetermined number of concrete sections 200, the sections 200 are adjacently and horizontally disposed such that horizontal apertures 218 through all of the sections 200 are axially aligned; whereupon, a stabilizing bar 216 is snugly inserted though all of the aligned apertures 218 such that adjacent planar side walls 203 are in congruent engagement. Polyurethane is then poured into the recess 206 and allowed to harden; whereupon, all the horizontally joined concrete sections 200 are vertically positioned upon a foundation that allows for insertion of any vertical bars 212 protruding from an outer bottom wall 207 of the joined concrete sections 200. Alternatively, the horizontally joined concrete sections 200 can be disposed upon a first tier of vertically disposed concrete sections 200 such that all protruding vertical bars 212 from either tier have been removed or otherwise adjusted to promote the cooperative vertical joining of the two tiers.
Similarly to the vertical stabilizing bar 212, the horizontal stabilizing bar 218 can remain in the polyurethane and after the polyurethane hardens, the horizontal stabilizing bar 218 horizontally stabilizes horizontally adjacent precast concrete sections 200. As with the vertical bar 212, the horizontal bar 218 can be slidably removed from the concrete section 200 when the polyurethane is in a semi-hardened state, which results in a horizontal aperture extending through the polyurethane after it hardens. After multiple concrete sections 200 are adjacently positioned such that all horizontal apertures are lineally aligned, polyurethane in a liquid state can be pumped or otherwise urged into the horizontal aperture, thereby horizontally stabilizing the aligned concrete sections 200 to promote the construction of a predetermined lightweight concrete wall. Also, the method of the present invention pertaining to aligned concrete sections 200 need not include the vertical or horizontal stabilizing bars 212 and 218 inserted through the polyurethane when the predetermined wall includes one tier of concrete sections 200. In place of the stabilizing bars 212 and 281, mortar or other well known binding agent can be used to secured the concrete sections 200 together as the predetermined wall is assembled.
Referring to
Once the bottom portion 231 has solidified, the screws 238 and the channels 236 are integrally secured to the bottom portion 231, such that the channels 236 perpendicularly engage opposing inner side wall portions 254 of the vertical concrete wall 233, each channel 236 being displaced an equal distance from a center point 244 of a top wall 235 of the bottom portion 231. The top edge 240 of the channels 236 and the top edge 246 of the vertical concrete wall 233 are vertically spaced the same distance from the top wall 235 of the bottom portion 231. A self-leveling polyurethane liquid or polyurethane foam is disposed in the recess 237 and in between the metal channels 236 such that when the polyurethane has hardened a polyurethane planar wall is formed that is coplanar with the top edge 246 of the vertical wall 233 and the top edge 240 of the channels 236, thereby providing a solid, stackable, lightweight concrete section 230 that can be elevated and secured proximate to adjacent vertically orientated sections 230 via the now vertically orientated channels 236 with fasteners well known to those of ordinary skill in the art to ultimately form a lightweight wall having an outer configuration defined by the impression formed into the outer wall 232 of each concrete section 230.
In the event that a vertical portion of the wall formed by the concrete sections 232 requires a stabilizing member, one or more stabilizing rods 64 as described above and in
Irrespective of the configuration of any of the concrete sections described above, multiple rows of horizontal ridges 250 (see
The foregoing description is for purpose of illustration only and is not intended to limit the scope of protection accorded this invention. The scope of protection is to be measured by the following claims, which should be interpreted as broadly as the inventive contribution permits.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 29620136 | Jul 2016 | US |
Child | 15962199 | US | |
Parent | 29620137 | Jul 2016 | US |
Child | 29620136 | US |