Patent Application
20190194936
Not Applicable.
The present disclosure relates generally to packaging of systems for creating a durable seal between adjacent panels, including those which may be subject to seismic or temperature expansion and contraction and/or mechanical shear. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to a design for packaging and shaping/forming such expansion joint seal systems which facilitates transport, reduces material damage, the need for internal splices and waste.
Construction Panels Come In Many different sizes and shapes and may be used for various purposes, including roadways, sideways, and pre-cast structures, particularly buildings. Use of precast concrete panels for interior and exterior walls, ceilings and floors, for example, has become more prevalent. As precast panels are often aligned in generally abutting relationship, forming a lateral gap or joint between adjacent panels to allow for independent movement, such in response to ambient temperature variations within standard operating ranges, building settling or shrinkage and seismic activity. Moreover, these joints are subject to damage over time. Most damage is from vandalism, wear, environmental factors and when the joint movement is greater, the seal may become inflexible, fragile or experience adhesive or cohesive failure. As a result, “long lasting” in the industry refers to a joint likely to be usable for a period greater than the typical lifespan of five (5) years. Various seals have been created in the field.
Various seal systems and configurations have been developed for imposition between these panels to provide seals which provide one or more of fire protection, waterproofing, sound and air insulation. This typically is accomplished with a seal created by imposition of multiple constituents in the joint, such as silicone application, backer bars, and compressible foams.
Foam-based expansion joint seal systems are typically shipped in sticks, which often is a six-to-ten foot straight segment, or in rolls wherein the external layer is adhered to a release tape to permit the wrapping around a reel. Providing the joint seal system in a stick permits the product, in particular joint seals having a final width greater than one inch, to be compressed at the factory, i.e. pre-compressed, laterally, so the installer on site may remove the packaging and install the expansion joint seal system before it expands beyond the gap of the expansion joint. Higher compression ratios, coupled with slower release time, facilitate the installation and function of such precompressed, stick-based expansion joint seal systems. Alternatively, the expansion joint seal may be provided on a roll, where successive layers are wrapped around a center, permitting immediate compression during wrapping.
Each shipping system has shortcomings. With the stick, the compressed product is typically encased in a shrink wrap sleeve, which shrinks when heated. Unfortunately, this is applied to each stick, which is limited in length due to shipping sizes, typically to six to ten foot sections. As a result, during shipping, the stick may be subjected to bending forces, such as when loaded on a truck over other materials, which causes the shrink wrap to crack or fail along a seal, permitting the compressed product to expand through the resultant opening and rendering the product unusable. Because the packaging is sized for conventional shipment, the sticks are typically limited to not more than ten (10) feet. Even with the size limitation the sticks are too long for easy handling which can result in damage in transit or added delivery fees. As a result, the resulting sections must be joined with a splice to fit within the actual expansion joint. Moreover, because each stick is individually packaged, when the packaging is opened, the entire stick begins to expand. That portion which exceeds the required length is often lost as it is cut off because it expands to size greater than the intended gap, therefore is discarded. With the roll, because any compression is generally radially as each successive layer is deposited, compression is possible in only one direction, but difficult to control over time due to the varying radius of the material and the potential for localized areas of higher or lower compression.
The present disclosure therefore meets the above needs and overcomes one or more deficiencies in the prior art by providing a packaging of systems for creating a durable seal between adjacent panels. In particular, the present disclosure provides a foam-based expansion joint seal system which can be of longer length, shipped conventionally, facilitates constant and equal compression throughout the system, and precludes loss of large segments of material.
The disclosure provides an expansion joint seal system which includes a longitudinal body of foam in compression; a water-resistant constituent, the water-resistant constituent adhered to the longitudinal body of foam on a first surface or contained within the longitudinal body of foam in compression; and a casing helically encircling the longitudinal body of foam in compression and the water-resistant constituent.
Additional aspects, advantages, and embodiments of the disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the various embodiments and related drawings.
So that the manner in which the described features, advantages, and objects of the disclosure, as well as others which will become apparent, are attained and can be understood in detail; more particular description of the disclosure briefly summarized above may be had by referring to the embodiments thereof that are illustrated in the drawings, which drawings form a part of this specification. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical preferred embodiments of the disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope as the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
In the drawings:
Referring to
The system is particularly beneficial in connection with foam-based expansion joint seal systems, which are often supplied pre-compressed. Pre-compression of such expansion joint seal systems is desirable as installation of the uncompressed expansion joint system can be problematic given the length, often in multiple meters, resulting in long sections above the expansion joint while working in sections on centimeter basis. As the expansion joint seal system may be compressed at installation between one-fifth to one-half the original width to a final density in excess of 300 kg/m3, such installation of uncompressed product can be difficult. It is therefore desirable in the industry to provide the expansion joint seal systems compressed to a size less than the nominal expansion joint size, so the expansion joint seal can be removed from the packaging and rapidly installed before the expansion joint seal system can being to relax and thereby contact the adjacent substrate walls. The present disclosure maintains, and may provides, such precompression with additional benefits.
To facilitate removal of the casing 108, the casing may have a casing internal surface 110 which may have a low friction coefficient. The casing internal surface 110 may be a layer of the casing 108 or may be applied to the casing 108. A casing internal surface 110 having a low coefficient of friction may be particularly beneficial when the associated expansion joint seal system 102 and its compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 includes an adhesive at expansion joint seal system first and second sidewalls 150, 152.
The casing 108 may be overlapped as little as 15% of its width, or as great at 85%, though more or less is possible. As the overlap approaches 15%, the casing 108 provides beneficial tensioning and resilience against external damage.
To maintain the casing 108 in position, the casing may include an external surface with dinginess, such as a polyvinyl chloride or low density polyethylene, or adhesive, preferably an external adhesive surface, such that the successive layering of the casing 108 provides a bond to the prior layer, and, where desired, to the expansion joint seal system 102 or any boards or other materials abutting the expansion joint seal system 102, which may also have adhesive surfaces. Such materials may be applied to only the exterior to-be-overlapped portion, such that the ultimate exposed surface has no such property while bonding to the successive overlap. The casing 108, for example, may overlap 50% of itself with each successive application, where the overlapped exterior surface has an adhesive to bond to the successive application and therefore further retard any propagation of a tear in the resultant packaging 100.
Because the longitudinal body of foam 104 provides elasticity and compressibility in the packaging 100, the casing 108 may be constructed of an inelastic material. Alternatively, the casing 108 may be constructed of a material which is elastic. Regardless of the material from which the casing 108 is constructed, the casing 108 is applied under tension to maintain, and to impart at the level desired, compression to the longitudinal body of foam 104. Moreover, because the casing 108 includes multiple layers of the casing 108 along the expansion joint seal system 102, the failure at any point of the casing 108 does not result in the expansion joint seal system 102 being permitted to expand significantly and reduces the potential for unusable material. This marks a substantial departure from the prior art, wherein the shrink wrap packaging would fail due to impact or flexing, often initially splitting along a seam, and then further failing as the now-permitted expansion of the expansion joint seal system 102 further split the packaging and rendered the product unusable due to the force needed to recompress to the necessary width. The casing 108 may be an inelastic paper of sufficient strength to resist tearing and may be coated externally with a water-resistant layer to ensure maintenance of the packaging 100 in case of precipitation. When desired, conventional bandings can be applied about the packaging 100.
The casing 108 may be formed of a material of sufficient durability to withstand exposure to any additive such as a fire retardant, a hydrophobic additive, or a hydrophilic additive, which may be associated with the expansion joint seal system 102, such as by a coating, infusion or impregnation. Such fire retardants, in amounts sufficient to obtain a desired fire endurance rating under any of the various tests, such as E-119, UL 2079, UL 84, DIN 4102, etc., may otherwise adversely react with the casing 108.
The interior surface of casing 108 may be selected to ensure other materials do not adhere, or may be impermeable to ensure no leakage of additives. Water and airflow resistant constituents 106, may be additives 132 introduced before foaming such as by mixing into the isocyanate or polyol, or after such by infusion and/or impregnation, or may, instead be a layer 134 subsequently applied externally, such as an elastomer or may be internal membranes, force compensating and/or recovery spring members, or other systems known in the art. Notably, such water-resistant constituents 106 may have adhesive surfaces to which the casing 108 may apply pressure but to which the casing 108 should not adhere.
The casing 108 may further include compositions on some or all of its inner and outer surface which react when brought in contact, when the casing 108 is overlapped, and which may therefore provide a more durable chemical bond. The casing 108 may include a first chemically sensitive coating on a first surface and a second chemically sensitive coating on a second surface, where the first chemically sensitive coating is reactive to the second chemically sensitive coating. Likewise, the casing 108 may include heat reactive compositions on one or both surfaces or itself may be heat-reactive, such that the packaging 100 may be subjected to some degree of heating to increase the adhesion between layers of the casing 108, to cause further constriction by shrinking, or to alter other properties, such as permeability or ductility. Similarly, the casing 108 may be an insulating material, precluding substantial heat transfer to the expansion joint system 102. The casing 108 may therefore include cellulose, soy or carob oil derivatives.
Because the compression of the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 of the expansion joint seal system 102 is maintained by, and may be provided by, the casing 108, the packaging 100 permits the compression ratio of the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 to be adjusted as needed, such as higher compression or lower compression, even in the same stick or coil. Similarly, because the compression around a transition, a change in direction of the material, varies according to the length of each successive section 114, the tension maintained in the casing 108 during application may be reduced for those sections surrounding a transition. Beneficially, because the casing 108 is continually encapsulating, the expansion joint system 102 may include longitudinal bodies of foam 104 of different seal sizes, i.e, a continuation expansion joint 102 intended for use across a span which includes a section of narrower expansion joint width, avoiding the need for a field splice to accommodate the varying sizes. As a result, the casing 108 may be applied at varying radius, whether as a result of varying compression ratio upon application of the coating or due to the application of a common compression ratio as the expansion joint system 102 varies in dimension.
To ensure sufficient binding of the expansion joint seal system 102, the casing 108 may be overlapped such that a successive section 114 overlaps a prior section 112 by a quarter, 25%, of its width 116. Increased overlaps ensure the casing 108 remains tight against the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 of the expansion joint seal system 102, but consumes a substantially greater length of casing 108 and results in a thicker casing 108 which must be cut through prior to installation. The interior surface 110 of the casing 108 may include an adhesive edge 111, or may adhere by virtue of an electrostatic charge, or by a high friction surface, preferably on the exterior of the casing 108, or other systems known in the art to maintain the overlap.
The resulting packaging 100 permits dispatch of an expansion joint seal system 102 sized to, or above, the necessary length, avoiding the need for any field splice.
To aid cutting the expansion joint seal system 102 to the desired length, the casing 108 may include a distance indicator 146 at regular intervals, such as feet, yards, or meters. The presence of the distance indicator 146 outside the packaging 100 permits the packaging 100 to be cut to the needed length prior to cutting the casing 108 to open the packaging 100. The use of the casing 108 and, where desired, the distance indicator 146, permits a packaging 100 where the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 may have a length greater than ten feet.
Referring to
Referring to
Beneficially, because the casing 108 may be applied after the expansion joint seal system 102 is in lateral compression, maintaining compression of the expansion joint system system 102 in other planes is possible. The expansion joint seal system 102 may be subjected to a longitudinal compression in a section immediately subject to the helical encircling by the casing 108, such that the longitudinal compression is retained by the successive layering of the casing 108. Longitudinal compression may be desirable to ensure that, upon release in the expansion joint, the expansion joint seal system 102 is maintained in abutment with the end of the expansion joint and to ensure that any joint is maintained in position. Further, the expansion joint seal system 102 may be subjected to a vertical compression such that the expansion joint seal system height 228 is less than its operational height. Vertical compression may be desirable, particularly in connection with any surface cover over the expansion joint, such as a cover plate, to ensure the expansion joint seal system 102 abuts the cover plate after installation and, when desired, transfers any load from the cover plate to adjacent substrate. Further because the expansion joint seal system 102 is maintained in compression by the packaging 100, the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 may be provided with different shapes and profiles, such as chamfering at the lower sides, to facilitate compression and installation.
Unlike any packaging 100 known in the art, use of the casing 108 helically encircling the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 permits the longitudinal body of foam 104 to itself be helically curved, such that the longitudinal body of foam 104 is bent or curved into a different plane, off a central axis 402, and, while deflected or bent, helically bound with the casing 108, such that each successive section 114 of casing 108 is bound and a constant radius is provided to result in the application of a coiling from a casing 108 provided at the constant radius about that central axis, as illustrated in
Additional components may be incorporated into the expansion joint seal system 102 and included in the coil 400. One such component may include one or more longitudinal flexible members bonded to the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 at the longitudinal body of foam top 254 opposite the longitudinal body of foam bottom 256 and capable of transferring a load to the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104, which would have sufficient flexibility in the horizontal plane to permit the coiling if desired. Another component may one or more membranes, which may be permeable or impermeable, which may extend from one side of the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 to the other, or some portion thereof, which may be in the horizontal plane and which may permit coiling as well. Such membranes may be used to provide an air barrier, vapor permeability, hydrostatic head resistance, electromagnetic frequency/radio frequency interference insulators, or other functions known for association with expansion joint seal systems. Another component may be an elastomeric gland, wherein the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 may surround the gland, be incorporated in it, or some combination thereof. The packaging 100 provides the potential for lengths far in excess of conventional lengths and, where the gland permits coiling of the expansion joint seal system, the expansion joint seal system 102 may be coiled. Another component may be a combination of one or more flexible members, one or more cover plates, and one or more ribs, where the flexible member is attached to the cover plate and to the rib, such that the ribs extends into the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104. An increased number of cover plates, functional as a series of overlapping shields, may permit the expansion joint seal system 102 to be coiled vertically when packaged and facilitates constant and equal compression throughout the expansion joint seal system 102. Beneficially, the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104 may be offset with respect to these additional components, or extend past the end of the compressed longitudinal body of foam 104, such that the additional component provides a mating surface for another expansion joint seal system 100, to serve as a splice when desired. While a splice is ideally avoided in a run of the expansion joint seal system 102 by the present invention, should a second expansion joint seal system intersect the first, such as in a T or angled joint, such additional components may provide the splice.
Referring to
The expansion joint seal system 102 may be compressed prior to or during the application of the casing 108. For example, the expansion joint system 102 may be processed through one or more sets of rollers, such as depicted in
Alternatively, the boards 118, 120 may be applied to the sides of the expansion joint seal system 102 prior to the imposition of compression, such as by the rollers 602, 604 as previously described, or by a lateral press 702 as illustrated in
Alternatively, the casing 108 may itself be applied to introduce the compression of the longitudinal body of foam 104 in the expansion joint seal system 102 during encirclement. The casing 108 therefore provides a packaging 100 which may be provided without the structural support of boards 118, 120, which must be disposed after unpackaging. The casing 108 may be tensioned, such that once a first end of the casing 108 is affixed or bound to the expansion joint seal system 102, the casing 108 under tension may be wrapped about the expansion joint seal system 102, while the expansion joint seal system 102 is maintained in position, permitting the necessary amount of casing 108 to be released while the supply of the casing 108 revolves about the expansion joint seal system 102 or while the expansion joint seal system 102 is rotated about a central axis. Where the first board 118 and the second board 120 are used, the resultant compression would be limited to lateral compression. Where the expansion joint seal system 102 is directly encircled by the casing 108 with any board, the expansion joint seal system 102 may be compressed laterally and vertically (under compression between a longitudinal body of foam top and a longitudinal body of foam bottom). Where the rate of advance of the expansion joint seal system 102 is decreased immediately prior to the encirclement by the casing 108, the expansion joint seal system 102 may also be compressed longitudinally. Alternatively, where the rate of advance of the expansion joint seal system 102 is increased, the opposite occurs.
Beneficially, the casing 108 may be used in connection with expansion joint seal systems 102 which incorporate other components beyond a longitudinal body of foam 104, such as one or more membranes, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. 9,803,357 and by U.S. Patent Application Publication 2017-0159817, both by Schul International Company, LLC, each of which teach a membrane extending to or beyond the sides of the foam, which may therefore be positioned against one or more of the external surfaces for packaging. The casing 108 may thus contact the winged membranes or extensions, which may serve as the bond breaker or support for the now-compressed expansion joint seal systems 102, such that only the wrapping material is required reducing weight and waste.
A second layer of casing 108 may be applied about some or all of the expansion joint seal system 102 when encircled in the casing 108 to provide a second compression ratio in the applied area. When a second layer of casing 108 is used, the overlap may be reduced to less than 15% and may be entirely eliminated.
Referring to
Each precut segment 802 may provide a partially-sectioned triangle 804 of two partial cuts 806, 810 from, or near from, the foam top 254 to, or near to, the foam bottom 256 on a side 822 which can be removed with minimal effort from the longitudinal body of foam 104 to provide a gap wherein the longitudinal body of foam 104 can be bent to obtain a change in direction. Each precut segment 802 may provide right-angle cut nearly through the entirety of the longitudinal body of foam 104, which may be removed to enable to bending of the longitudinal body of foam 104 to permit a 90 degree change in direction. Alternatively, the same precut segment 802 may be removed and a nearly square block of longitudinal body of foam 104 inserted to permit a 270 degree change in direction. Beneficially, cuts 806, 810 in the longitudinal body of foam 104 may be provides as gaps, perforations, holes, missing or shaped sections and may be provided to alter air permeability of the foam 104 and may increase ease of installation.
Alternatively, or in addition, a marked segment 812 may be provided on the foam top 254 and side 822 to provide identification of the shape to be removed from the longitudinal body of foam 104 to provide a change in direction by provide a first mark 814 and a second mark 816 on the foam top 254 and a third mark 818 and a fourth mark 820 on the foam side, to define a triangle.
When desired, a second longitudinal body of foam 104 may be lapped or positioned in offset prior to being encircled by the casing 108 create desirable joining and/or function in a single packaging. Because expansion joint systems are intended for dynamic joints, where movement is expected and where structural elements and composition selection may be made to affect load transfer, water resistance, fire resistance, hydrostatic responsiveness, sealing properties, functional properties, and other properties known in the art, additional components may be included with the longitudinal body of foam 104 prior to being encircled by the casing 108. For example, rigid, semi-rigid or flexible support or connection members may be added to the longitudinal foam to increase recovery force and structural support, or flexible or compressible splines may be incorporated to into or in between the longitudinal body of foam. Any of these configurations may be used to facilitate splicing, bending, angling, transitioning or the like of the longitudinal body of foam 104 after removal from the packaging 100.
The foregoing disclosure and description is illustrative and explanatory thereof. Various changes in the details of the illustrated construction may be made within the scope of the appended claims departing from the spirit of the invention. The present invention should only be limited by the following claims and their legal equivalents.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/854,152 for Helically-packaged expansion joint seal system, filed Dec. 26, 2017, which is incorporated herein by reference, the benefit of and priority to are hereby claimed.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15854152 | Dec 2017 | US |
| Child | 16254269 | US |
