The present invention relates to a shear connector structure or system for connecting adjacent concrete wall panels positioned to form a vertical concrete wall of a building. When concrete wall panels are cast in a precast concrete plant for delivery to the building site or are cast on a concrete floor of the building for tilting the panels to form vertical wall panels, the concrete panels are cast with embedded corner or angle strips which are welded to elongated reinforcing bars or members or rebars embedded in the concrete. The steel corner strips are located in the concrete so that when the concrete panels are positioned or tilted upwardly, the corner strips are located in opposing relation on the inside vertical corners of the concrete panels. After the concrete panels are positioned vertically in adjacent relation to form a concrete wall, a flat metal shear connector plate is welded to the opposing metal corner strips for maintaining horizontal alignment and strength to the connected concrete wall panels.
Since a plurality of vertically spaced flat shear connector plates are commonly welded to the opposing corner strips across each vertical joint between adjacent concrete panels, it is necessary for an electric welding person to be elevated to each of the vertically spaced connector plates at each joint where the person is supported by a ladder or a bucket mounted on an arm of a truck or other vehicle. Thus significant time is required for a welding person to be elevated to each connector plate across each joint between adjacent wall panels. Also, at many building sites, it is frequently a problem in obtaining an experienced welding person. In addition, the welded plates form rigid connections between adjacent wall panels at each vertical joint. As a result, when the adjacent concrete panels expand or contract slightly with changes in temperature, it is not uncommon for a weld to break or a metal corner strip to break away from a corner portion of the concrete panel. This sometimes requires the corner strip and corner portion of the concrete panel to be repaired.
The metal shear connector system of the present invention simplifies the construction and installation of adjacent concrete wall panels and overcomes the problems described above in the use of welded shear connector plates by eliminating the time required for welding the shear connector plates to the embedded steel corner strips in adjacent concrete wall panels. The shear connector system also provides for slight movement between adjacent concrete panels in response to thermal expansion and contraction of the adjacent panels.
In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, metal angle corner strips with welded steel threaded studs are embedded in only one corner portion of each concrete wall panel when the panel is cast at the construction site for a tilt-up building or when it is cast at a precast plant. Usually, a plurality of vertically spaced corner strips are embedded in one corner portion of each panel so that the strips are vertically spaced after the panels are positioned vertically as wall panels. Each angle corner strip has a flange with spaced threaded holes for receiving corresponding bolts. The corner strips may also have holes for attaching the strips with nails or screws to the forms used for casting the wall panels.
A substantially flat metal shear connector plate has a set of holes, and one portion of the plate is connected to the flange of the corner connector strip by bolts threaded into a threaded hole or bore within a stud welded to the flange of the connector strip. The threaded hole may also be formed by a nut or a wire coil anchor welded to the flange. The metal connector plate extends across the joint between adjacent concrete wall panels, and the opposite side of the connector plate is secured to the adjacent concrete wall panel by threading self-tapping concrete anchor screws into drilled holes within the adjacent concrete wall panel. Each self-tapping concrete anchor screw extends through an elongated hole or slot within the shear connector plate and provides for thermal expansion and contraction of the connected adjacent concrete wall panels.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description, the accompanying drawings and the independent claims.
In accordance with the present invention, the inside surfaces of the adjacent concrete panels are connected by a shear connector system or structure 20 at vertically spaced intervals along the height of the panels. Each of the connector structures 20 includes a metal or steel connector member or right angle corner strip 22 which has a flange 24 embedded in the inner surface of the concrete panel 12 and a right angle flange 26 embedded in the end of the concrete panel 12. Two concrete stud members 35 are also embedded in the concrete panel 12 and have outer end portions welded to the flange 26 of the corner strip 22. When the concrete wall panels 12 are cast in a precast plant or on the floor of a tilt-up building, each of the corner strips 22 is positioned within the forms for the panels so that after the concrete cures, each of the corner strips 22 are embedded in the panel as shown in
As disclosed in
The shear connector structure 20 also includes a substantially flat metal connector plate 40 (
As shown in
While
While the shear connector structure for adjacent concrete panels herein described and its method of installing constitute a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise structure and method disclosed, and that changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
This application is a continuation-in-part of design patent application Ser. No. 29/706,493 and claims the benefit of its filing date of Sep. 20, 2019.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20210148109 A1 | May 2021 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 29706493 | Sep 2019 | US |
Child | 17160870 | US |