Patent Application
20130326982
An insulated concrete sandwich panel system for use in a tilt-up wall, and specifically a system for sandwiching a rigid insulation panel within two layers of concrete.
Insulated concrete panel systems are commonly employed in building structures requiring higher insulation and a heat transfer resistance or an “R-value,” which conventional concrete can provide only with additional insulating materials. Due to the expense and unwieldy size of large, composite wall panels, “tilt-up” concrete building wall-panels are often used. Tilt-up wall-panels are poured into forms on a ground surface, allowed to cure and then tilted-up and into position around the building. Often, insulating the tilt-up wall-panels is desired, especially in climate controlled warehouses and storage facilities, and in storage buildings for refrigerated, perishable goods. Concrete panels can be insulated from the interior with a rigid insulation panel, typically formed of a foam sheeting, often placed to the interior of the concrete wall.
In sandwich types of tilt-up wall constructions, the concrete with insulation walls are often constructed on-site, rather than built as a unit and shipped to the construction site. However, with sandwiching together layers of concrete with a rigid insulation sheet, shrinkage in the curing process and later thermal expansions or contractions in the concrete can cause rippling and cracking of the interior insulation panel or sheet. A system is needed for sandwiching together layers of concrete with a rigid sheet of insulation that reduces eventual rippling and cracking of the interior insulation sheet, attributable to adhesion of the layer of concrete with the rigid insulation sheet.
The following is a disclosure of the present invention that will be understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Reference characters included in the above drawings indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, as discussed herein. The description herein illustrates one preferred embodiment of the invention, in one form, and the description herein is not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention in any manner. It should be understood that the above listed figures are not necessarily to scale and that the embodiments are sometimes illustrated by fragmentary views, graphic symbols, diagrammatic or schematic representations, and phantom lines. Details that are not necessary for an understanding of the present invention by one skilled in the technology of the invention, or render other details difficult to perceive, may have been omitted.
The invention provides a system for an insulated concrete sandwich panel, and specifically a system for sandwiching layers of concrete on both sides of a rigid insulation panel as a “non-composite” unit, in that the layers of concrete are able to expand and contract independently of the rigid insulation.
A preferred embodiment of a non-composite insulated concrete sandwich panel system 10 is shown in
As shown in
After pouring the lower concrete layer 12 on a ground surface 11, shown in
The terms “approximately” or “approximate” are employed herein throughout, including this detailed description and the attached claims, with the understanding that the terms denote a level of exactness as typical for the skill and precision in the generally applicable field of technology.
The slip-faced insulation panel 18 is placed onto and attached to the lower concrete layer 12 with a tie 20, as shown in
As shown in
The thickness and thermal efficiency of the insulation panel 25 depends on the desired end-use specifications needed for the finished sandwich panel 10. The slip-faced insulation pane 118 is preferably a rigid material, typically formed of a polystyrene, polyurethane or similarly insulating, closed-cell expanded type of foam material, in panel or sheet form, having a thickness typically in the range of approximately 1 to 12 inches, and a preferred thickness between 2 and 4 inches.
The adhesion of the lower slip-sheet 26 to the lower side 28 of the insulation panel 25 and the adhesion of the upper slip-sheet 27 to the upper side 29 of the insulation panel may be a glue, a thermal fusion, or by shrink-fitting the film material to the insulation panel. Preferably, the film material is a plastic coating, such as vinyl, polypropylene, or alternatively a metal foil material. Most preferably the film material is a polyethylene film having a thickness of approximately 1 mm. Alternatively, the film material may be sprayed, dipped or painted onto the insulation panel. Any thin film-like material that provides the slip properties required for the purposes of the present invention could be employed as the film material for the outer and inner slip-sheets to form the slip-faced insulation panel 18.
The upper slip-sheet 27 and the lower slip-sheet 26 reduce eventual cracking, puckering and curling of the slip-faced insulation panel 18, typically attributable to an adhesion of the lower concrete layer 12 and the upper concrete layer 24 to the slip-faced insulation panel. With the slip-sheets placed between the concrete and insulation, the rigid insulation panel 25 can slip or float independently of the thermal shrinking and expansion of the concrete layers. The lower slip-sheet is free to slip upon the lower concrete layer, and the upper slip-sheet is free to slip upon the upper concrete layer. This unique release of the slip-faced insulation panel from the concrete layers results in the non-composite insulated concrete sandwich panel system 10 of the present invention, which reduces or eliminate cracking of the rigid insulation sheet or panel, that is typically attributable to adhesion of the layer of concrete to the rigid insulation panel. Instead, the lower slip-sheet of the slip-faced insulation panel is ‘slip-able’ upon the lower concrete layer, and the upper slip-sheet of the slip-faced insulation panel is ‘slip-able’ on the upper concrete layer.
After the slip-faced insulation panel 18 is placed upon the lower concrete layer, the upper concrete layer 12 can be poured onto the slip-faced insulation panel and allowed to cure. The entire insulated sandwich panel system 10, with the unique non-composited features of the present invention, is now ready to be tilted up and set into place just as a conventional composite tilt-up panel, as is well known to those persons knowledgeable or skilled in the installation of tilt-up panels and related structural systems.
In compliance with the statutes, the invention has been described in language more or less specific as to structural features and process steps. While this invention is susceptible to embodiments in different forms, the specification illustrates preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention, and the disclosure is not intended to limit the invention to the particular embodiments described. Those with ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other embodiments and variations of the invention are possible, which employ the same inventive concepts as described above. Therefore, the invention is not to be limited except by the following claims, as appropriately interpreted in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.
