Claims
- 1. In a reinforced, precast, prestressed insulated concrete panel formed from a bottom uncured concrete layer, an upper uncured concrete layer and an insulating layer between said concrete layers comprised of a plurality of insulating sheets arrayed intermediate said concrete layers in an abutting relationship to one another, and staple means passing through said insulating sheets and partially into said bottom and upper concrete layers before heat accelerated curing and forming a bond therewith to lock said layers in fixed relationship after curing such that said panels are self-supporting, and improvement comprising:
- insulating sheets dimensioned to span the width of said concrete panel and having a thickness sufficient to interpose a substantial barrier to the flow of heat between the concrete layers of said panel and said insulating sheets configured to have interlocking edges along oppposite edges thereof thereby forming an interlocked abutting insulating layer of adjacent sheet which prevents longitudinal separation and which substantially limit flow of heat through said edges by increasing the length of the heat transmission path and thereby reduce the possibility of stress cracks in the upper concrete layer aligned above said sheet edges caused by uneven transmission of heat during heat accelerated curing.
- 2. The insulating sheet of claim 1 wherein said interlocking edges comprise a notch cut along one edge of each insulating sheet and a complimentary interfitting notch cut along the other edge of each insulating sheet whereby a plurality of said sheets can be interlocked and positioned on said bottom concrete layer before the casting of said upper concrete layer.
- 3. The sheet of claim 1 wherein said locking edges comprises a first locking structure along one edge thereof and a second locking structure along the other edge thereof.
- 4. The invention of claim 3 wherein said first locking structure has an edge cross-section corresponding to the upper half of a fan-shaped mortise; and
- said second locking structure has an edge cross-section corresponding to the upper half of a tenon constructed and arranged for insertion into the mortise of said first locking structure.
- 5. The invention of claim 3 wherein said first locking structure and said second locking structure have 180.degree. symmetry.
- 6. A method for manufacturing reinforced precast, prestressed insulated concrete panels comprising the steps of:
- (a) casting a bottom layer of concrete;
- (b) forming an insulating layer by covering the bottom layer of concrete before curing with a plurality of insulating sheets, each of said sheets configured on abutting edges to provide a locking joint edge when joined to an adjacent sheet for forming an interlocking abutting insulation layer which substantially limits flow of heat through said edges by increasing the length of the heat transmission path and preventing longitudinal separation of said sheets such that stress cracking in the upper concrete layer above the interlocked sheet edges is reduced due to more even transmission of heat during curing;
- (c) inserting bond forming means through said insulating layer into said bottom uncured layer while leaving a portion of said means projecting above said sheets; and
- (d) pouring a top layer of concrete over the insulating layer and around said bond forming means that projects above said sheets and heat accelerated curing said concrete layers such that said bottom layer, insulating layer and upper layer are held together by said bond forming means such that said completed insulated concrete panel is self-supporting.
- 7. An insulated reinforced precast, prestressed concrete panel for use as wall and floor structures in buildings comprising:
- (a) a bottom layer of cast concrete;
- (b) an insulating layer comprised of a plurality of insulating sheets arrayed in an abutting relationship to each other on top of and covering said bottom layer of concrete, each of said sheets having interlocking edges along opposite edges thereof thereby forming an interlocked abutting insulating layer of adjacent sheets which substantially limit flow of heat through said edges by increasing the length of the heat transmissive path and prevents longitudinal separation.
- (c) an upper layer of concrete cast onto said insulating layer; and
- (d) staple means passing through said insulating sheets and partially into said bottom and upper concrete layers prior to curing, said staple means forming a bond between said layers after heat accelerated curing, such that said panel may be moved without causing separation of the layers.
- 8. The insulated concrete panel of claim 7 wherein said interlocking edges comprise a first locking structure along one edge thereof and a second locking structure along the other edge thereof.
- 9. The structure of claim 8 wherein said first locking structure has an edge cross-section corresponding to the upper half of a fan-shaped mortise and said second locking structure has an edge cross-section corresponding to the upper half of a tenon constructed and arranged for insertion into the mortise of said first locking structure.
- 10. The structure of claim 8 wherein said first locking structure and said second locking structure have 180.degree. symmetry.
- 11. The insulated concrete panel of claim 7 wherein said interlocking edges comprise a notch cut along one edge of each insulating sheet and a complimentary interfitting notch cut along the other edge of each insulating sheet whereby a plurality of said sheets can be interlocked and positioned on said bottom concrete layer before the casting of said upper concrete layer.
- 12. A method for reducing stress cracking in the manufacturing of reinforced precast, prestressed, insulated concrete panels for use as wall and floor structures in buildings comprising:
- (a) casting a bottom layer of concrete;
- (b) forming an insulating layer by covering the bottom layer of concrete before curing with a plurality of insulating sheets, each of said sheets; configured on abutting edges to provide a locking joint edge preventing longitudinal separation thereof when joined to an adjacent sheet and for increasing the heat transmission path length to reduce the possibility of stress cracks in concrete above said sheet edges caused by uneven transmission of heat during accelerated curing;
- (c) interlocking adjacent insulating sheets together along adjacent edges so as to form an interlocked insulating layer over said bottom layer of concrete;
- (d) inserting bond forming means through said insulating layer into said bottom uncured layer such that at least a portion of said bond forming means extends above the surface of said insulating layer;
- (e) pouring a top layer of concrete over the insulating layer and around said bond forming means; and
- (f) heat accelerated curing said concrete layers such that said bond means are firmly secured to both bottom and top layers of concrete so as to allow said cured insulated concrete panel to be moved without separating into separate sections due to the support provided by said bond means.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 281,999, filed July 10, 1981 now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (5)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
640458 |
Nov 1963 |
BEX |
4971 |
Jan 1906 |
GBX |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
281999 |
Jul 1981 |
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