Patent Application
20220333335
The present invention is related to the technical field of construction systems, especially with structures and mechanisms of forms for concrete casting and molding. Particularly, the present invention refers to a structure or mechanism of folding, prefabricated, self-supporting form, to be applied in the construction industry, which is based on various types of geometries providing superior resistance and stability for the concrete and other construction material casting process.
Retaining walls are conceived as a type of rigid retaining structure, intended to contain different types of materials.
Since ancient times, various types of load-bearing walls have been built, from adobe, stone, through pastes and mortars that are precursors to concrete. The Romans promoted the use and application of concrete through a technique known as Emplectum, consisting of creating two outer sheets of stone ashlars, filled with a lime-sand-rubber mortar. This construction technique has been repeated with variants throughout history.
Sometimes stone was replaced by mud in the form of adobe, that is, a sun-dried mud brick.
In turn, the technique known as mud wall involves a form of construction consisting of imprisoning mud between two laminates or wooden formwork, which is later compacted into successive layers using mallets or rammers.
The most used material to build load-bearing walls is brick, which originated as an evolution of adobe, whose difference lies in the firing process that gives it superior strength and durability. A variant of the brick load-bearing wall is the one made with concrete block.
Currently, concrete is confined through formworks until it sets and hardens.
In turn, the emergence of steel, capable of withstanding tensile stresses, made possible the appearance of reinforced concrete and metal structures, which radically modified the building methods, rendering load-bearing walls obsolete. At present, these walls are only used in minor works, such as soil retaining walls, in public works and in basements, the rest of the structure being a combination of beams and pillars, so the walls rarely carry out load-bearing or structural functions, and their sole purpose is to compartmentalize or isolate spaces.
Until the end of the 19th century, masonry and stone walls were built. From the 20th century mass concrete and reinforced concrete walls began to be built, largely displacing the previously used materials.
This is how the retaining wall construction industry has traditionally used the manufacture of various types of forms or formwork in materials such as wood, agglomerates or metals in general, within which the concrete is poured.
Another alternative in manufacturing retaining walls is the use of concrete blocks, which are reinforced with steel rods and poured concrete.
However, in the technical field of the construction of retaining walls, there are no effective solutions that allow to dump the material in an agile, prefabricated, ultra-light, cost-effective way and with an ultimate design, such as the one provided by the present invention. For example, in the field of patents related to the state of the art close to the invention, document CA2988452 reveals a structural wall with a wooden, metal, plastic, polycarbonate or another resistant material structure having no diagonal or cross reinforcement blocks in its longitudinal axis or, by default, its structure is reticulated and/or articulated. This wall obtains the necessary rigidity through a structure external to its longitudinal axis by means of different diagonal elements, fixed to the vertical structural elements or pillars, to allow the pouring or filling inside with materials that give habitability benefits to this wall.
Patent application CN103132630 relates to a cellular slab, prefabricated foamed cement construction wall. Hexagonal prismatic bodies which are made of foamed plastic are combined into a steel wire net. The steel wire net screen is in the shape of an equilateral triangle. A pyramid-shaped positioning box which is made of hard plastic attaches the steel cable to the net to secure the positioning. This way, honeycomb-shaped spaces can be formed between the foamed-plastic hexagonal prismatic bodies. The honeycomb-shaped building wall body is created when foamed cement is poured into the spaces. The slab-type precast foamed cellular cement construction wall can be used in all kinds of buildings.
Under these conditions, the present invention solves the problem related to the construction of retaining walls by means of a folding, prefabricated, self-supporting tailor-made mass-cut mechanism or structure form, based on light and inexpensive products.
In the first observation, the invention is a mechanism or structure of a folding, prefabricated, self-supporting form, which does not require a structure. It is configured in different geometric shapes, based on internal casting chambers or ducts, interconnected between each other through perforated holes. The form has an assembly between its walls through fissures or assembly cuts, creating an architecture and engineering of superior resistance and stability.
In the preferred modality of the invention, the form has a stepped pyramid geometric shape, for the construction of retaining walls.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the form can be applied in different and varied uses with different types of geometry.
In the preferred modality of the invention, the configuration of the system is based on a form from main structural elements modules and cross elements, using lightweight materials, such as cardboard, plastic or similar lightweight materials, which are coupled by means of died channels in the material of the form, providing a staggered geometry, which in turn, produces multiple figures.
In this modality, the staggered pyramidal geometry from the joining of the form modules allows to dump the mixture to be chosen, including but not limited to, materials such as sand, gravel, cement and mixtures thereof, as well as natural soil, incorporating enzymes, making up retaining walls and architectural figures of superior resistance and stability, which in turn, are likely to be covered with soil, different types of plants and decorative vegetation.
Additionally, the modules of the prefabricated form can be mass-cut using any die cut method or laser technology. This way the form of the present invention is tailor-made, using both light and inexpensive products.
This foldable form mechanism or structure facilitates the dumping and retention of the filling material, while said material undergoes the setting (drying) stage and produces the desired retention result.
The invention provides a practical, agile and economical solution to build retaining walls and various types of complementary applications.
The objects described above, as well as the relevant additional objects, will be explained in detail and with the necessary sufficiency in the descriptive chapter below, which is the basis of the claims chapter.
The figures show the following details:
The present invention satisfies the need to provide an effective, agile and cost-effective mechanism to build retaining walls and various types of complementary applications, of superior resistance and stability, which in turn, are susceptible of being covered with soil, different types of plants, decorative vegetation and mixtures thereof.
The description of the modality of the present invention is not intended to limit its scope, but rather to serve as a particular example thereof. A person skilled in the art is expected to understand that the equivalent modalities do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention in the widest extent possible.
For a better understanding of the present invention, certain technical terms used in its description will be detailed below.
In the context of the present invention, “form” will be understood as the system that functions as a set of casting chambers, understood as modules or molds, in which the concrete and other materials are poured.
The concrete or other materials are poured into the form where the setting or drying process takes place.
The form (1) object of the present invention comprises a plurality of terminal structural elements (2) that carry a plurality of assembly channels or cavities (7); a plurality of main structural elements (3) that have a plurality of perforated holes (6) inside and a plurality of assembly channels or cavities (7); and a plurality of cross elements (4) that have a plurality of assembly channels or cavities (7) and that are connected transversely to said terminal structural elements (2) and to said main structural elements (3) by means of said assembly channels or cavities (7), creating casting chambers (5). Additionally, said casting chambers (5) are interconnected with each other, through said perforated holes (6) in the main structural elements (3).
In a preferred modality of the invention, said terminal structural elements (2), said main structural elements (3) and said cross elements (3) that are part of the form (1), object of the present invention, are manufactured from a lightweight material that can be selected, for example, and without limiting the scope of the present invention, from the group consisting of cardboard, corrugated cardboard, wood, plastic wood, metals, aluminum, rigid polyethylene plastics, polypropylene, nylon, Teflon, PVC, methacrylate, and rigid laminate materials, as well as combinations thereof.
With respect to said terminal structural elements (2) and said main structural elements (3), they can have any shape imagined by a person with average knowledge in the technical field without this limiting the scope of the present invention. In a preferred modality, the surface of said terminal structural elements (2) and said main structural elements (3) may have the shape of polygons, orthogonal polygons, pentagons, hexagons, warped polygons where the sides do not meet on the same plane, and figures composed of lines and curves arranged in a three-dimensional space.
In a preferred modality of the invention, the form (1) is applied to build retaining walls. In this preferred modality, without this limiting the scope of the present invention, the form (1) is made up of terminal structural elements (2), main structural elements (3) and cross elements (4) that are previously laser cut or die cut. This preferred modality, for example, and without limiting the scope of the present invention, allows said terminal structural elements (2), said main structural elements (3) and said cross elements (4) to form the casting chambers (5) in a staggered pyramidal shape, creating various geometric shapes.
In another preferred modality of the present invention, without this limiting the scope of the requested protection, the assembly channels or cavities (7), which are present in said terminal structural elements (2), said main structural elements (3) and said cross elements (4) are previously laser cut or die cut. This preferred modality, without this limiting the scope of the present invention, has the advantage that said laser cutting or die-cutting allows said assembly channels or cavities (7) to be given a special geometry that adapts precisely to the shape of the structure to be reinforced or contained. In this way, without limiting the scope of the present invention, said terminal structural elements (2), said main structural elements (3) and said cross elements (4) can be coupled with each other with much precision and allow the form (1) that is the object of the present invention to grow in a modular fashion as necessary, as shown schematically in
As previously mentioned, the main structural elements (3) that are part of the form (1) that is the object of the present invention, comprise perforated holes (6) that join together the casting chambers (5) defined in the form (1). Said perforated holes (6) allow the dumping to be connected through the different casting chambers (5) to create the desired geometry of the form (1) in a monolithic structure.
As shown in
The form (1), object of the present invention has various types of geometries with different inclination angles. This is as foldable, be prefabricated, self-supporting, tailor-made form, cut or die-cut in series; it does not require glue or any type of adhesive, and it is made from light and cost-effective products.
In a preferred modality of the present invention, without this limiting its scope, the geometry of the form (1) is ensured by means of an assembly or joining element present in at least two of the form terminal structural elements (2) or the main structural elements (3) (1). Said assembly or joining element comprises internal assembly cuts (8). Additionally, in this preferred modality, at least one of the cross elements (4) has fixing and coupling elements (9) matching said internal assembly cuts (8); for example, but not limited to, projections that ensure the desired geometry and then allow the dumping process being shaped up with the respective architecture, creating a monolithic body result.
The internal assembly cuts (8) are presented in the folding form (1) object of the present invention depending on the shape of the casting chambers (3).
As shown in
As seen schematically in
Examples of application of the form (1) object of the present invention will be described below. Said examples are intended to provide a better understanding of the invention, but do not limit its scope. Additionally, technical characteristics described in different examples can be combined with each other, or with any of the previously detailed technical characteristics, in any way imagined by a person with average knowledge in the technical field, without limiting the scope of the present invention.
The form (1) can be assembled and subsequently be subject to a casting process without surrounding elements; or it can be abutted against a curved or flat surface to act as a retaining wall or construction wall.
The resistance of the retaining walls will depend on the casting material chosen. The walls can be covered with concrete, soil, natural gardens, sand, straw, wood and all kinds of exterior finishes.
The dumping into the form must be done on a firm and compact floor. The form (1) is quick and easy to assemble and dumping is completed in a few hours. For the particular case of the construction of retaining walls, the geometry of the form (1) must be based on stepped molds, thus resulting in an inclined wall that offers much greater retaining strength than a vertical wall.
The dumping process is carried out in layers, step by step. Each layer must undergo the corresponding setting or drying process before the subsequent layer is poured.
In the case of a (1) corrugated cardboard form, the dumping takes place in 5 to 100 cm layers. These values may be modified according to the material used in the manufacture of the form (1).
The form (1) can have various applications, such as stair casting, construction of living spaces, porches, columns, furniture construction (
The casting chambers (5) of the form can be made of non-degradable material and can be used as cultivation beds, for which they can be filled with fertile soil (
In addition to the consequent pouring with concrete, the casting chambers of the form (1) can be covered with natural soil or fertile soil and different types of vegetation (
Although the present invention has been described with the preferred modalities shown, it is understood that any modification or variation that retains the spirit and scope of this invention is intended to be within the scope of the appended claims.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2019/058038 | 9/23/2019 | WO |
