The present invention relates, generally, to building structures and, more particularly, to composite flooring systems for modular storage systems and insulated containment facilities, such as walk-in coolers, freezers, and other types of insulated containment structures.
Modular storage structures and insulated containment structures, such as freezers, walk-in coolers, and the like, often require flooring systems that can support large loads. In addition, the varying dimensions of the containment structures require that the flooring systems also be readily assembled in varying dimensions. Further, refrigerated containment structures require that flooring members be insulated to maintain low temperatures within the refrigerated structures. Walk-in coolers and freezers are often pre-fabricated using a modular design that allows the components of the structure to be shipped unassembled and assembled on-site at a user's facility. Such designs require the pre-fabrication of numerous light-weight panels that can be interlocked together to build a containment structures to a specified dimension. To accommodate future needs of the user for more storage space, the modular components are often designed to allow the containment structures to be easily enlarged.
The modular assemblies for walk-in coolers are provided in standardized dimensions, such that wall, ceiling, and floor panels can be assembled to provide refrigerated spaces having a variable dimension that is based on a combination of the standardized panels. To facilitate easy installation, the wall, ceiling, and floor panels are made of light-weight materials and fit together with tongue-and-groove joints that provide a secure interlocking arrangement.
The floors for the modular containment structures must be configured to be readily assembled with wall and ceiling components. In particular, floor panels for the modular units must be light in weight in order to provide the ready assembly characteristics needed for the containment unit, yet the floor panels must also be capable of supporting heavy loads. Further, the flooring panels must fit together to form a continuous, flat floor surface that is substantially free of dips or bumps at the panel interfaces. A flat smooth floor surface is necessary in order to easily move heavy articles across the floor. If uneven areas are present at panel interfaces, heavy articles can become lodged in recesses or press against raised areas, such that the articles cannot be freely moved across the floor.
Advanced floor designs are necessary to meet the demand for flexible, readily-assembled flooring panels that compatible with modular containment structures and can support heavy loading. Further, modular floor panels are necessary that fit together to form a substantially flat and uniform floor surface for easy movement for heavy articles across the floor.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, an insulated floor includes a first floor panel having a plurality of reinforcements. The reinforcements are substantially uniformly spaced from one another. Each reinforcement has at least one transverse opening therein. A panel sheet resides below the plurality of reinforcements and a decking member overlies the plurality of reinforcements. A tread surface overlies the decking member. Panel side walls extend vertically along the perimeter of the first floor panel. At least one locking member resides adjacent to a panel sidewall. At least one reinforcement of the plurality of reinforcements is configured to accommodate the at least one locking member. Insulation resides between the lower panel sheet and the decking member and resides in the at least one transverse opening.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a floor panel includes a series of panel reinforcements having mid-sections substantially equally spaced from one another. Panel sidewalls extend vertically along a perimeter of the floor panel. At least one locking member resides adjacent to at least one panel sidewall. The mid-sections of one or more floor reinforcements coincide with a corresponding locking member. At least one of the floor reinforcements has an axis that is aligned with and configured to accommodate a corresponding locking member.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, a floor includes a plurality of floor panels locked together by locking members. Each floor panel includes floor reinforcements with at least one reinforcement configured to accommodate a locking member.
Floor panel 10 also includes a screed 30 adjacent to outside portions 22 and 24 of sidewall 20. Screed 30 is configured to support vertical wall panels of the walk-in cooler or containment structure that are assembled over floor panel 10. Wall plate 30 includes a number of locking members 32 that couple with complimentary locking members in the wall panels to secure the wall panels to floor panel 10. Further, as will subsequently be described, interface portion 26 includes locking members 34 that couple with corresponding locking members in an adjacent floor panel (shown in
Floor panel 10 is constructed of materials that enable the floor panel to support heavy loads, while keeping the overall weight of floor panel 10 to a minimum.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, panel sheet 12 is constructed of sheet steel having a thickness of about 0.0179 to about 0.019 inches. The sheet steel is preferably a sheet steel coated with an alloy of aluminum and zinc. One such sheet steel is available under the trademark “Galvalume®” from Bethlehem Steel Corporation. This material is a sheet steel having a hot-dipped alloy coating having about 55% aluminum and about 45% zinc. Reinforcements 14 are preferably fabricated from non-thermally conductive molded fiberglass. Further, in one embodiment of the invention, decking member 16 is a fiberboard material having a thickness of about ¾ of an inch to about 1 inch. In a preferred embodiment, decking member 16 is plywood. The fiberboard material can, however, also be any of a number of composite fiberboard materials including pressed wood, composite board, and the like. Tread surface 18 is preferably constructed of an aluminum sheet having a thickness of about 0.1 inch. Alternatively, tread surface 18 can be stainless steel, or other hard, wear resistant material. Further, tread surface 18 can be designed with small channels or raised portions to create a corrugated tread plate or other type of gripping surface. To create a desired gripping surface, the tread surface 18 can be provided by numerous types of metals including aluminum, stainless steel, and the like.
To provide floor panel 10 with the ability to support high floor loading, reinforcements 14 are spaced across the span of floor panel 10 at substantially uniform spacing distances. In one embodiment of the invention, reinforcements 14 are spaced about 12 inches apart across floor panel 10. Those skilled in the art will appreciate, depending upon the particular building requirements, reinforcements 14 can be spaced apart at various distances as needed to provide a particular load-bearing capacity. For example, if higher load bearing strength is desired, reinforcements 14 can be spaced less than 12 inches apart. In other embodiments of the invention, the spacing distances can be 11 inches, or even 10 inches or less. Those skilled in the art will further recognize that practical limitations within the floor construction industry often require less than perfect precision with respect to construction dimensions. Accordingly, the term “substantially uniformly spaced” or “substantially equally spaced” means that the reinforcements are all spaced apart by distances within typical construction tolerances and the spacing distances can vary by, for example, up to plus or minus 10% to 15%.
For applications to refrigerated compartments, such as walk-in coolers and the like, the interior space between panel sheet 12 and decking member 16 is filled with insulation. In one embodiment of the invention, floor panel 10 is filled with a foamed-in-place urethane material. In a preferred embodiment, the urethane material is a polyurethane foam having an isocyanate polymer composition. The polyurethane is blown into the interior spaces of floor panel 10 using a blowing agent or other means of pressure induced filling. Once the polyurethane foam has cured, it has a density of about 2 pounds per cubic foot.
Floor panel 10 can be built in a variety of configurations. In order that a number of such floor panels can be assembled to form a floor having variable dimensions. A portion of a floor assembly 38 is illustrated in
A plan view of flooring panels 10 and 40 is shown in
Floor panel 10 includes locking members 64, 66 and 68. Floor panel 40 includes corresponding locking members 70, 72, and 74. To lock panels 10 and 40 together, the floor panels are brought close to each other by movement in the direction indicated by arrows 75, such that interior edge 76 of panel 10 abuts against interior edge 78 of panel 40. Once panels 10 and 40 are brought into contact with each other, as will be described in more detail below, cam mechanisms are activated in locking members 64, 66 and 68 that engage pins within locking members 70, 72 and 74, respectively.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, reinforcement 80 of floor panel 10 and reinforcement 82 of floor panel 40 are configured to accommodate locking members 66 and 72, respectively. As used herein, the term “accommodate” means that the reinforcement is configured at one or both ends to pass by the locking member and abut against the sidewall of the floor panel. The end configuration of the reinforcement permits the reinforcement to bypass the locking member while the middle portion or midsection of the reinforcement remains positioned at an equal distance from adjacent reinforcements. As will subsequently be described, various configurations are possible for accommodating locking members, such as locking member 66 and 72. In the embodiment illustrated in
As described above, in accordance with one aspect of the invention, the bifurcation of reinforcements 80 and 82 permits these reinforcements to be regularly positioned along the spans of their respective floor panels. The mid-section of reinforcements of 80 and 82 are spaced apart from adjacent reinforcements by the same distance as all of the other reinforcements of each floor panel. By configuring reinforcements 80 and 82 to accommodate locking members 66 and 72, respectively, a high strength floor is obtained that can support high floor loading. In the absence of configuring reinforcements 80 and 82 to accommodate locking members 66 and 72, the spacing distance would have to be altered, such that the mid-sections of reinforcements 80 and 82 would not be uniformly spaced in the same manner as the remaining reinforcements in each floor panel. An uneven spacing distance would weaken the floor and reduce its load bearing capability. Further, the inclusion of additional reinforcements; such that reinforcements were positioned on each side of locking member 66 and 72 would unnecessarily increase the weight of floor panel 10 and 40. Further, the reinforcement configuration permits the floor panels to be constructed with standardized internal component layout dimensions.
Reinforcement 82 is also configured to accommodate a locking member 92 positioned along interior edge 94 of floor panel 40. To accommodate locking member 92, reinforcement 82 is bifurcated into segments 96 and 98. Accordingly, reinforcement 82 is configured to accommodate two locking members and floor panel 40, while the mid-section of reinforcement 82 is spaced apart from adjacent reinforcements by the same uniform spacing as remaining reinforcements 44 and floor panel 40.
In another embodiment of the invention, reinforcement 100 of floor panel 10 is configured with a notch 102 to accommodate locking member 64. Notch 102 in reinforcement 100 provides a first transverse portion 104 that extends toward and abuts against locking member 64, and a second transverse portion 106 extends toward and abuts against interior edge 76 of floor panel 10. By placing notch 102 in reinforcement 100, the mid-section of reinforcement 100 can be spaced at equal distance from adjacent reinforcements 14 and at the same separation distance as remaining reinforcements 14 in floor panel 10. As illustrated in
A partial perspective view of portion 108 of floor panel 10 and a portion 110 of floor panel 40 is illustrated in
Those skilled in the art will recognize that the locking members can be provided in different sizes depending upon the desired pull strength. For example, where greater pull strength is desired, a deeper strike panel fastener can be used. Conversely, where less pull strength is necessary, a shorter strike panel fastener can be used. A panel fastener having a deeper strike will also have a larger casing dimension. Accordingly, as will subsequently be described, it is contemplated within the present invention that the reinforcements can adjusted to accommodate different sized locking members.
A cross-sectional view of the joint between floor panels 10 and 40 is shown in
Traverse openings 148 permits insulation material to be injected or inserted into the interior space of the floor panels and through the reinforcements to substantially fill the interior space of the floor panel. As described above, in one embodiment, polyurethane foam insulation is injected into the interior space of the floor panels.
In a preferred embodiment, reinforcement 140 is a molded fiberglass material. Preferably the fiberglass material has a low thermal conductivity, such that an insulated floor panel will not readily conduct heat. This is particularly advantageous where the inventive floor system forms the floor of a refrigerated containment structure, such as a walk-in cooler, freezer, and the like.
A perspective assembly view of a reinforcement 170 is illustrated in
As described above, the casing size of the locking members can change depending upon the pull strength of the locking member. The perimeter dimensions of the locking member casing will necessarily increase when the size of the locking member increases. To accommodate different sized locking members, the relative dimensions and assembly of the components of reinforcement 170 can be changed. For example, the length of parallel segments 174, 176, 182, and 184 can be increased or decreased depending upon the casing size of the locking members. Also, the overall length of the member connecting segments 172 and 180 can be changed. Further, the attachment position of transverse segments 172 and 180 can be changed. For example, rather than attaching transverse segment 180 to the ends of parallel segments 182 and 184 as shown in
As illustrated in
To illustrate the load bearing capability of floor panels constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention, two floor panels having a length of 70 inches, a width of 46.5 inches, and a thickness of 4 inches were constructed. The floor panels were constructed using 26 gauge Galvalume® panel sheets and sidewalls, ¾ inch thick plywood decking members, and a 0.1 inch thick aluminum tread surfaces. The interior space of the floor panel was filled with polyurethane foam insulation and reinforcements were spaced on 12 inch centers across the long dimension of the floor panel.
One of the two floor panels was subjected to compression load testing and a second floor panel was subjected to concentrated load testing. To carry out the compressive load testing five 18-inch wide by 24-inch long sections were cut from the first floor panel. The five panel sections were sequentially tested. Each panel section was placed in a horizontal position and force was applied over a 1-square foot area with a Baldwin universal test machine. Deflection readings were measured with a liner voltage deflection transducer attached to the test machine and an electronic load cell was used to measure the applied force. Compression force was gradually increased until the panel section exhibited a compressive load failure. The measured compressive load data is illustrated in Table 1.
Table 1 above shows the ultimate load supported by five floor sections from the first floor panel up to the point of compressive load failure, and the average load of the five sections.
The second floor panel was used to evulate the inventive floor panel's ability to with stand concentrated loads. The concentrated load bearing ability was evulated with both a 3-inch diameter and a 1-inch diameter disk. The 3-inch diameter disk was positioned near the panel edge and also in the center of the panel. A load was applied with a universal test machine at a uniform rate of 0.2 inches per minute. The loading disk was also placed near the edge of the panel. A linear voltage deflection tansducer was mounted across the width of the panel at the mid-span to monitor the deflections of the loading disk. The test was repeated with the loading disk moved to the center of the panel span. The same procedure was repeated using a 1-inch disk. The concentrated load testing was performed up to the point of failure of the floor panel. The results of the concentrated load test are shown in Table 2.
In Table 2, “Load @ P” is the load applied at the point of contact with the panel, “Deflection@ P” is the defection measured at the point of contact with the panel and “Max Load (lbf.)” is the pounds of force applied to the panel at the measurement point.
The test results show that for both the 1-inch diameter disk and the 3-inch diameter disk, the maximum concentrated load bearing ability of the panel was higher at the center of the panel then at the edge of the panel. Further, the testing showed that the panel was able to bear a larger concentrated load over a 3-inch diameter area than a 2-inch diameter area. The test results generally showed the substantial load bearing ability of floor panels constructed and arranged in accordance with the various embodiments of the invention.
Thus it is apparent that there has been described a high-strength composite floor that fully provides the advantages set forth above. Although the invention has been described and illustrated with reference with specific illustrative embodiments thereof, it is not intended that the invention be limited to those illustrative embodiment. Those skilled in the art will recognize that variations and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, the materials of construction can be varied to include high-strength composite materials, various metal alloys, high-density plastics, and the like. It is therefore intended to include within the invention all such variations and modifications as fall within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.