Insulated concrete wall system

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6279285
  • Patent Number
    6,279,285
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, July 29, 1999
    25 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 28, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
An insulated concrete wall structure having a concrete wall with opposing wall surfaces. The concrete wall has several vertically and horizontally spaced wall ties imbedded within the concrete wall and extending between the wall surfaces. Positioned between the vertically spaced wall ties are a series of elongated retaining strips such that the retaining strips are substantially parallel to the wall surface. Insulating panels such as polystyrene foam boards are located between the horizontally spaced wall ties and retained in position by the retaining strips. In one aspect of the invention, each insulating panel has a groove formed along its vertical edge for receiving and engaging the elongated edge of the retaining strips. The present wall system is advantageous in that an insulated concrete wall can be readily formed using conventional wall forms in approximately the same amount of time as conventional uninsulated poured concrete walls.
Description




BACKGROUND




This invention relates generally to poured concrete wall systems and, more particularly, concerns a method and apparatus for forming insulated concrete walls.




Concrete walls can be formed in various ways. Some are constructed from concrete blocks on footings, some can be made from prefabricated members, and others can be formed by pouring or pumping in uncured concrete between rigid forms. The wall forms are generally planar structures and typically are made of wood, aluminum, steel, or combinations of these materials. For poured walls, two series of coplanar wall forms are held in a spaced apart, generally parallel relationship to create the cavity which will form the concrete wall. The wall forms are typically held in the correct spaced-apart relationship by a series of retaining ties extending between the form assemblies. The retaining ties commonly include holes formed in each end whereby pins are used to join adjacent coplanar forms together. Once the wall forms are in place, concrete is poured into the cavity between the forms and, after the concrete has cured, the forms are disassembled for reuse. The protruding ends of the ties are then broken off.




Poured concrete walls have many benefits over other types of concrete walls. They can be quickly constructed, are relatively easy to construct, are versatile, and durable. One drawback of all concrete walls however, is that they are poor insulators. A typical concrete wall has an insulating “R” value of approximately 1.0.




To improve the insulating qualities of concrete walls, several methods have been developed for incorporating polystyrene sheets within the concrete wall, or on one or both exterior surfaces of the concrete wall. A concrete wall with 2.5 inches of polystyrene insulation on one side has an insulating “R” value of approximately 13.0. Similarly, a concrete wall with 2.5 inches of polystyrene insulation on both exterior surfaces of the wall has an insulating “R” value of approximately 26.0.




Present methods of insulating concrete walls, however, suffer from the drawback of adding considerable time and labor to construct the concrete wall. One known method in particular uses special parallel foam sheets held together by metal members. This system is difficult and time consuming to set up, and requires additional external supports to prevent the foam walls from bulging due to the weight of the concrete. Another drawback of some insulated concrete wall systems is that they require unique and unconventional wall forms. This also can add additional time, labor and, ultimately, cost to the finished concrete wall.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved insulated concrete wall system and method. It is another object of the present invention to provide an insulated concrete wall system using conventional wall forms.




Another object of the present invention is to provide an insulated concrete wall having an exterior surface which readily accepts fasteners in order to attach additional materials to the wall.




According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects and advantages are attained by an insulated concrete wall structure having a concrete wall with opposing wall surfaces. The concrete wall has several vertically and horizontally spaced wall ties imbedded within it. Positioned between the vertically spaced wall ties are a series of elongated retaining strips such that the retaining strips are substantially parallel to the wall surface. Insulating panels such as polystyrene foam boards are located between the horizontally spaced wall ties and retained in position by the retaining strips. In one aspect of the invention, each insulating panel has a groove formed along its vertical edge for receiving and engaging the elongated edge of the retaining strips.




An advantage of the present invention is that an insulated concrete wall can be readily formed using conventional wall forms in approximately the same amount of time as conventional uninsulated poured concrete walls. The present invention also provides and insulated poured concrete wall which is less expensive than known insulated concrete wall systems.




Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon reading the following detailed description and dependent claims, an upon reference to the accompanying drawings.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




For more complete understanding of this invention, reference should now be had to the embodiments illustrated in greater detail in the accompanying drawings and described below by way of examples of the invention. In the drawings:





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of an insulated concrete wall system according to one embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a perspective view of a retaining strip for use in the wall system of

FIG. 1

;





FIGS. 3

,


4


and


5


are alternative embodiments of retaining strips which can be used in the wall form system of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 6

is an alternative arrangement for the wall tie and retaining strips for use in the wall system of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 7

is a side view of the insulated wall system as shown in

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 8

is a plan view of a preferred wall tie for use with the present invention; and





FIG. 9

is a plan view of an alternative embodiment for the insulating wall panel for use in the wall system of FIG.


1


.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIG. 1

, there is shown a perspective view of a portion of a wall forming system


10


in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The system


10


includes a plurality of concrete wall forms


12


. Adjacent wall forms


12


are held in a coplanar relationship by connecting pins


14


. The two series of coplanar wall forms


12


are held in an opposing spaced apart, parallel relationship by a plurality of wall ties


16


. Connecting pins


14


pass through each end of the wall ties


16


to maintain the spaced apart parallel relationship of each series of coplanar wall forms


12


. Wall forms


12


are conventional and can be constructed of wood, aluminum, iron, steel, or a combination of these materials. Typically, the wall forms


12


are constructed of aluminum.




The metal forms


12


are typically 2-6 feet wide and 4-8 feet high, although they can be provided of any increment of width and height. Connecting pins


14


, which may be of the spring-actuated connecting rod type, are used to hold adjacent form members together to form one side of the wall. Once in position, the spaced- apart wall forms


12


form a cavity for receiving uncured concrete.




Insulating panels


18


are positioned adjacent to interior surfaces along one of the row of wall forms


12


. Preferably, the insulated panel


18


includes grooves


20


formed in opposing vertical edges of the insulating panel


18


. The groove


20


engages an elongated edge


28


of the retaining strips


22


. Preferably, the ends


24


of the retaining strips


22


are secured to the wall ties


16


by notches


26


formed in the wall ties.




In operation, once the wall forms


12


are assembled with the connecting pins


14


and wall ties


16


, a plurality of insulating panels


18


and retaining strips


22


are positioned inside the wall forms


12


and along one wall surface. The strips


22


are placed between the vertically spaced-apart wall ties


16


and held in place by the notches


26


and the grooves


20


in the form panels


18


. The insulating panels


18


are secured in place by the retaining strips


22


. Since the retaining strips


22


engage the insulating panel


18


, the location of the retaining strips


22


dictate the location of the insulating panels. Accordingly, the notches


26


are preferably located such that the insulating panel


18


is maintained adjacent one of the interior wall surfaces. In this way, a cavity


30


remains between the insulating panel


18


and the opposing parallel spaced apart wall form


12


while the adjacent wall form


12


provides additional support for the insulating panel


18


.




The insulating panels


18


can be made of any insulating material which has some structure, but preferably are made of a polystyrene foam material. The panels


18


are preferably provided in similar sizes and shapes as the sections of wall forms. Thus, the panels


18


can be 2-6 feet in width and 4-8 feet in height, but can be provided of any incremental width and height. The panels


18


also can have any desired thickness, with the thicker materials having a greater insulating “R” value. Typically, the panels


18


are 2-3 inches in thickness.




The retainer strips


22


can be made of any material, such as wood, plastic or metal. The strips are relatively thin—on the order of one-eighth inch in thickness—and about 1-4 inches wide. The width of the strips is correlated to the depth of the grooves


20


in the insulating panels


18


, since each strip


22


is positioned between two abutting panels


18


. The height or length of the retraining strips


22


is dependent upon the distance between adjacent ties


16


, but typically are about one foot in length. The retaining strips also should be made of a material to which conventional fasteners, such as screws and nails, can be secured.




To create the wall, uncured concrete is poured into the cavity


30


. In this regard, the term “poured” is to be taken to include any method or manner in which concrete can be inserted into the cavity


30


, whether by hand, from a concrete truck chute, from a pumping system, etc. Once the concrete is set (typically 12-24 hours), the forms


12


are removed by releasing the connecting pins


14


from the holes


32


of the wall ties


16


. The forms


12


are then pulled away from the concrete wall. Once the pins and forms are removed, the concrete wall remains with the wall ties


16


imbedded within, and insulating panel


18


bonded to one side thereof. A portion of the wall ties


16


will remain extending out of the wall surface as well as the face of the insulating panel


18


. These end portions are broken or snapped off as described below with reference to FIG.


8


.




Although the wall structure of

FIG. 1

is shown with only one insulating panel, a second insulating panel can similarly be installed adjacent the opposing wall form


12


. This is shown by phantom line


18


′ in

FIGS. 1 and 7

. In such a configuration, the finished concrete wall would have both exterior surfaces covered by insulating panels


18


and


18


′. Also, if only one insulating surface is provided, it typically is situated on the concrete wall so it faces the interior of the building. In this manner, the wall can be finished over the insulation in a conventional manner.





FIGS. 2

,


3


, and


4


show different embodiments for the retaining strip


22


of the wall system of FIG.


1


. The retaining strip


22


as shown in

FIG. 2

is configured to be positioned between the wall ties


16


with the ends


24


engaging the notches


26


of their respective vertically spaced wall tie


16


. The elongated edge


28


maintains the insulating panel


18


(

FIG. 1

) in place by engaging the groove


20


of insulating panel


18


. The retaining strips


22


are preferably constructed of wood or plastic, or any other building material which would accommodate screws, nails or other fasteners.




In this way, the retaining strips


22


also serve the function as a fastening device for siding or drywall, for example, to be attached to the finished concrete wall.





FIG. 3

shows an alternative embodiment for the retaining strips. The retaining strip


40


includes cutout portions


42


which are formed to fit over the wall tie


16


rather than between the wall ties


16


. The retaining strip


40


can include several of the cutout portions


42


and can be equal to or greater in length than the height of insulating panel


18


and wall form


12


.





FIG. 4

shows another embodiment for the retaining strips. In this case, the retaining strip


44


includes one or more cutout portions


46


to again fit around the wall ties


16


rather than between the wall ties


16


. The retaining strip


44


differs from that of

FIG. 3

in that it includes curved elongated edges


48


which engage the groove


20


of the insulating panel


18


and aid in sliding the insulating panel


18


in place as shown in FIG.


1


.





FIG. 5

shows another alternative embodiment wherein the retaining strips


50


and wall ties


51


are provided as a one-piece member.




Furthermore, as shown in

FIGS. 2

,


3


and


4


, the elongated edges


28


,


41


and


48


of retaining strips


22


,


40


and


44


, respectively, can be chamfered or beveled to aid in engaging grooves


20


of insulating panels


18


. Likewise, as shown in

FIG. 1

, grooves


20


can be chamfered or beveled to aid in engaging the elongated edges of retaining strips


22


,


40


or


44


.





FIG. 6

shows another embodiment for the wall tie and retaining strips for use in the present wall form system. As shown in

FIG. 6

, the retaining strip


54


can be “H”-shaped whereby an insulating panel


61


can be held between the two upstanding members


55


,


56


. In this way, the groove


20


(

FIG. 1

) would not have to be formed in the insulating panel


61


. The retaining strip engages the wall tie


57


by raised portion


58


which could be formed as part of the wall tie


57


or retaining strip


54


, or a separate piece placed in the notch


60


of the wall tie


57


.




Referring to

FIG. 8

, the preferred form of wall tie


16


is shown. The tie has breakaway V-notches


34


formed near each end to allow that portion of the wall tie


16


which extends beyond the planar surface of the concrete wall to be readily broken away or snapped off. Breakaway V-notches


34


are preferably formed at a location in the wall tie


16


such that, after breaking off the end portion


36


, the remaining ends of the wall ties


16


lie below the exterior wall surface. In this way, the finished wall surface will be void of any protrusions, and ready to receive, for example, drywall or paneling. If desired, several sets of pairs of notches


26


could be provided in the wall ties


16


in order to accommodate insulating panels of different thickness. These additional notches are shown as phantom notches


27


.




The wall ties


16


also have holes or openings


32


at each end for receiving the connecting pins


14


. The ties


16


further have a plurality of recesses


29


which are used to locate and position reinforcing rods in the concrete wall, if they are utilized in the construction process. Also, as can be seen in

FIG. 8

, the wall ties


16


are symmetrical at each edge and end so that they will always be positioned properly in the construction process.





FIG. 9

shows an alternative embodiment for the insulating panels used in the present wall system. The insulating panel


60


includes grooves


62


along the elongated edges thereof for engaging the retaining strips and holding the panel


60


in place against one surface of wall forms. The panel further includes recesses


64


formed parallel to and adjacent one face of the panel


60


. Recesses


64


engage additional retaining strips to allow building materials such as drywall or paneling to be attached to the face of the panel


60


once the wall forms are removed and the wall completed.




From the foregoing, it will be seen that there has been brought to the art a new and improved insulated concrete wall structure which overcomes the drawbacks of prior insulated concrete walls. In particular, the present concrete wall structure provides an insulated concrete wall which can be constructed in approximately the same amount of time as an uninsulated concrete wall using conventional wall forms.




While the invention has been described in connection with one or more embodiments, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to those embodiments. On the contrary, the invention covers all alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as may be included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.



Claims
  • 1. A wall system for forming an insulated concrete wall comprising:at least two spaced apart wall forms forming opposing wall surfaces defining a cavity for receiving uncured concrete; a plurality of vertically and horizontally spaced wall ties connecting said forms and maintaining said spaced apart relationship of said forms; an insulating panel located adjacent one of said wall surfaces of said spaced apart wall forms and between said horizontally spaced wall ties, and at least one elongated retaining strip extending between adjacent vertically spaced wall ties, said insulating panel having edges retained by said retaining strip.
  • 2. The wall system of claim 1 wherein each of said wall ties has a pair of notches formed therein proximate each end of said wall tie, each of said notches for receiving one end of an elongated retaining strip such that an elongated retaining strip extends between each pair of adjacent vertically spaced wall ties.
  • 3. The wall system of claim 1 wherein said at least one elongated retaining strip extends between adjacent vertically spaced wall ties such that said elongated retaining strip is substantially parallel to said wall surface of said forms.
  • 4. The wall system of claim 1 wherein at least one edge of said insulating panel has a groove formed therein for receiving an elongated edge of said retaining strip.
  • 5. The wall system of claim 1 further comprising a second insulating panel located adjacent the other of said wall surfaces of said spaced apart wall forms, said second insulating panel having edges retained by retaining strips.
  • 6. The wall system of claim 1 wherein each of said plurality of wall ties has breakaway portions formed therein such that upon breaking away an end portion of said wall tie, said wall tie extends below each of said wall surfaces.
  • 7. The wall system of claim 1 wherein each of said elongated retaining strips has at least one cut-out portion formed therein, each cut-out portion engaging one of said wall ties such that said elongated retaining strip is substantially parallel to said wall surface of said forms.
  • 8. The wall system of claim 7 wherein each of said elongated retaining strips are greater than or equal in height to said insulating panels.
  • 9. In a wall system for forming insulated concrete walls comprising a plurality of spaced apart wall forms forming opposing wall surfaces defining a cavity for receiving uncured concrete, a plurality of connecting pins connecting adjacent co-planar wall forms, a plurality of vertically and horizontally spaced wall ties extending between opposing wall forms and at least one insulating panel located within said cavity between said horizontally spaced wall ties, each of said wall ties comprising:a pair of breakaway notches formed near each end of said wall tie, and an opening formed in each end of said wall tie for engaging said connecting pins, an improvement comprising: a pair of notches formed in each end of said wall tie for connecting an elongated retaining strip such that said retaining strip engages an edge of said insulating panel.
  • 10. The wall system of claim 9 wherein the improvement further comprises:a second pair of notches formed in each end of said wall tie for connecting an elongated retaining strip such that said retaining strip engages an edge of said insulating panel.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/116,177 filed Jan. 18, 1999 and Provisional Application Serial No. 60/119,974 filed Feb. 12, 1999, respectively.

US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
3374984 Mueller Mar 1968
4426061 Taggart Jan 1984
4574550 Maschhoff Mar 1986
5692356 Baxter Dec 1997
5987830 Worley Nov 1999
6079176 Westra et al. Jun 2000
Foreign Referenced Citations (3)
Number Date Country
16595 Nov 1928 AT
641403 Dec 1963 BE
991423 Apr 1962 GB
Provisional Applications (2)
Number Date Country
60/116177 Jan 1999 US
60/119974 Feb 1999 US