The present invention relates, in general, to the field of systems and methods for forming hardened elements from a flowable material such as may be employed in concrete forming. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for concrete forming of particular utility in the construction of concrete foundation footings, pavement and the like.
Conventionally, concrete foundation footings, or footers, pavement and the like utilize 2×10 or other heavy dimensional lumber as a form which must be transported to a work site and laboriously erected prior to the pouring of concrete. Due to the weight of the wood and the relatively long lengths required, large trucks or trailers must be employed to move the material from one location to another. Moreover, such wooden members are generally not readily useable for repeat applications as they must be cut to shape for each particular job.
Advantageously provided herein is a compact, lightweight and readily reusable concrete forming system and method for forming foundation footers, pavement and the like utilizing a unique roll form comprising a flexible, substantially self-supporting material capable of being transported and deployed from a rolled form.
In a particular embodiment of the present invention disclosed herein, the roll form may comprise a long flat roll with a main center forming surface section and a flange along each edge. The flanges may be attached with a flexible material continuous along the seam with the main center section. When the roll form is rolled off of a spool and laid flat, the flanges are able to be rotated substantially 90 degrees along the seam. When positioned vertically and upon installation, the top and bottom flanges are folded out to form a “C” shape with 90 degree corners.
The flanges are provided with anchoring holes positioned with a uniform spacing and may also comprise half circle notches along the edges also with a uniform spacing. The holes enable the form stakes, or anchor screws, to hold the roll form in place by driving the form stake through the holes and into the ground or other underlying substrate. The stakes also ensure that the flanges do not fold back into their flat position in a generally coplanar relationship to the center forming surface. Notches, if utilized with the roll form allow for the use of additional stakes and may be placed along the edge for ease of removal by pulling up and away from the form with a stake pulling device. Such notches can also be used as a measurement tool as they can be spaced at commonly used increments standard to the industry.
When the unrolled roll form material is maintained in the vertical “C” position with form stakes it is now made rigid and able to hold poured concrete. A second roll form is then placed opposite to the first roll form to provide the other side of the concrete form employing the same method. Ties, or straps, which may be made of the same flexible, self-supporting material are used to connect across the pair of opposing roll forms to add holding strength against the pour pressure of the flowing concrete.
The width of the roll form, (the center forming surface section with flanges in the flat rolled up position) can be advantageously manufactured to the desired width of the footing to be formed and therefore be used as a template to locate the footing edge between two points placed on the ground. The flat roll edges can be placed in a straight line between the points and the edge along the dirt can be marked with chalk, paint or other means. The roll form may then be folded out and placed along the edge just drawn. Both edges can then be marked to indicate the opposite line for the second form.
Lines placed longitudinally along the center main section, or forming surface, can be used to indicate the top of the poured surface of the concrete. The lines can be used as a measure of depth for the concrete at increments common to the industry.
The roll forms maintained in the vertical “C” position through the use of the form stakes can be made to provide curvilinear and angled shapes by incising or cutting the flanges, such as through the holes and notches provided. By cutting the flange the roll form is able to bend and curve to form corners and radiused footings and edges. Cuts can be made with a hand-held utility knife or shear. Sheet metal shears are readily available and sufficient for this purpose.
After the concrete has been allowed to cure and the form stakes and straps removed, the roll form can again be rolled up on a spool and transported to the next work site. Splices of the roll form can be achieved easily by abutting the ends of two roll form portions and overlapping a splice made of a piece of the same roll form material and width of the flange with holes that are spaced to match the roll form flange holes. Form stakes are then placed through the splice holes and form holes all the way through and into the ground to hold everything in place.
Roll form ties, or straps, across opposing roll forms may be made of the same material and width of the flange with a hole placed a distance of the desired width of the foundation footing or pavement. Such straps span across from the top flange to the top flange of the opposite form and are staked through to the ground. In a similar manner, corner ties of varying angles can be manufactured with holes lining up with form flange holes to form at any angle.
The roll form of the present invention can also be stepped by stacking cut sections and placing the flanges on top of each other and staking all the way through to the ground with form stakes or anchor screws.
When not in use as a form and when being transported to or from a work site, several spools of the roll form disclosed herein can fit on a common shaft and then loaded onto a truck bed, trailer, self-propelled vehicle etc. Spools can be wound or unwound manually or through the use of a power device.
Roll forms can be readily manufactured in all standard sizes common to the industry or made to order in custom sizes. Common sizes would be used for pouring concrete for building foundation footings, sidewalks, driveways and landscaping. Shapes that can readily be produced through the use of the roll form can be rectilinear with angular corners to curves of any radius or a combination of rectilinear, angular and curved. Roll forms can be used for both structural and decorative applications.
While many products are available for concrete forming, the roll form of the present invention has numerous advantages over all of them in it can be rolled out, used, then rolled back up with minimal effort. Other advantages and features of the present invention include being able to utilize the form edge to locate its placement, that it is lightweight, easy and fast to position and take down following use. In addition, the material used in the construction of the roll form, for example, a flexible but rigid self-supporting vinyl, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or other plastic material, is readily reusable and recyclable.
Particularly disclosed herein is a form for producing a hardened element formed of a flowable material. The form comprises an elongated, substantially self-supporting portion of flexible material comprising at least one forming surface for abutting the flowable material. First and second flanges are hingedly affixed to respective first and second edges longitudinally of the forming surface and a plurality of corresponding anchoring holes are uniformly placed along the first and second flanges.
Also particularly disclosed herein is a method for producing a concrete form which comprises supplying at least one spool of elongated roll form material comprising a forming surface thereof having first and second hingedly affixed flanges along upper and lower edges thereof with the flanges presenting regularly spaced anchoring holes. At least two portions of the roll form material are unwound from the spool and are placed in a generally parallel and spaced apart relationship. The flanges of the at least two portions of said roll form are positioned perpendicularly to, and in a direction opposite to, the forming surface of each of the two portions of the roll form. Anchor screws are extended through at least some of the anchoring holes in the flanges to secure the at least two portions of the roll form to the ground. In use, concrete may then be poured between the forming surfaces of each of the two portions of the roll form.
The aforementioned and other features and objects of the present invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of a preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
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In a representative embodiment of the present invention, the roll forms 102 may comprise a flexible but rigid self-supporting vinyl, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or other plastic material. In this regard, the flanges 104 may form a part of the same material as the forming surfaces 106 and a hinged attachment between the flanges 104 and forming surfaces 106 may be effectuated by scoring a longitudinal line between the two elements to enable the positioning of the flanges 104 with respect to the forming surfaces 106. In like manner, the flanges 104 might also be affixed to the forming surfaces 106 by means of an adhesive binding or other suitable means. Although anchor screws 112 have been illustrated as one means of securing the roll forms 102 to the ground, it should be noted that other devices such as stakes, pins, pegs, spikes or reinforcing bar material may also be employed.
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The flange 104 seam hinge line can be made by adhering a binding or tape-like material between the flange 104 and the forming surface 106 or by chemically or thermally weakening the interface between the two. Alternatively, the material comprising the roll forms 102 may be scored along the hinge line or a piano-type hinge mechanism employed.
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While there have been described above the principles of the present invention in conjunction with specific apparatus and methods, it is to be clearly understood that the foregoing description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of the invention. Particularly, it is recognized that the teachings of the foregoing disclosure will suggest other modifications to those persons skilled in the relevant art. Such modifications may involve other features which are already known per se and which may be used instead of or in addition to features already described herein. Although claims have been formulated in this application to particular combinations of features, it should be understood that the scope of the disclosure herein also includes any novel feature or any novel combination of features disclosed either explicitly or implicitly or any generalization or modification thereof which would be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art, whether or not such relates to the same invention as presently claimed in any claim and whether or not it mitigates any or all of the same technical problems as confronted by the present invention. The applicant hereby reserves the right to formulate new claims to such features and/or combinations of such features during the prosecution of the present application or of any further application derived therefrom.
As used herein, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a recitation of certain elements does not necessarily include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly recited or inherent to such process, method, article or apparatus. None of the description in the present application should be read as implying that any particular element, step, or function is an essential element which must be included in the claim scope and THE SCOPE OF THE PATENTED SUBJECT MATTER IS DEFINED ONLY BY THE CLAIMS AS ALLOWED. Moreover, none of the appended claims are intended to invoke paragraph six of 35 U.S.C. Sect. 112 unless the exact phrase “means for” is employed and is followed by a participle.
The present invention is a continuation-in-part and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/229,906 filed Mar. 29, 2014 for “Method of Forming Concrete Utilizing Roll Forms”. The present invention is related to, and claims priority to, U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. Nos. 61/807,039 filed Apr. 1, 2013 for “Concrete Forming System” and 61/947,696 filed Mar. 4, 2014 for “Concrete Forming System”, the disclosures of which are herein specifically incorporated by this reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 14229906 | Mar 2014 | US |
Child | 14711713 | US |