Patent Application
20060179755
I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a panel system for forming poured concrete walls.
II. Description of Related Art
There are many previously known panel systems for forming poured concrete walls, floors and ceilings, hereinafter collectively referred to as walls. Furthermore, a number of these previously known systems utilize reusable aluminum panels.
In these previously known aluminum panel systems, the panels are generally rectangular in shape having a top, bottom and two spaced apart sides. At least two panels are positioned in a spaced-apart relationship relative to each other and form a concrete receiving cavity therebetween. Consequently, after the entire panel system has been erected in the shape of the desired poured concrete wall, the concrete is poured into the cavity and allowed to set. Thereafter, the aluminum panels are removed from the formed concrete wall and reused in subsequent projects.
There are many situations, however, where it is desirable to attach a firring strip to the poured concrete wall. This is particularly true for an above the ground poured concrete wall.
Previously, in order to attach firring strips to the poured concrete wall it has been necessary to attach the firring strip to the poured concrete wall after the concrete has set by shooting a nail through the firring strip and into the concrete wall utilizing a specialized gun which propels the nail through the stud and into the wall using an explosive charge. This previously known method, however, suffers from several disadvantages.
First, the equipment, as well as the nails and explosive charges used to propel the nails through the firring strip and into the concrete wall, are relatively expensive and difficult to use. Furthermore, the use of such equipment may lead to injury of the installer due to splintering of the firring strip and/or chip fracture of the concrete wall while the nail is driven into the wall.
A still further disadvantage of these previously known systems is that the nails oftentimes do not provide a sufficiently secure attachment of the firring strip to the concrete wall. This, in turn, can lead to failure of the wall itself by the unwanted and undesirable detachment of the firring strip from the wall.
A still further disadvantage of these previously known methods for attaching firring strips to a wall is that, although ideally the concrete wall is perfectly vertical once poured, in practice the face of the concrete wall is oftentimes not precisely vertical after the wall has been poured and set. When this happens, firring strips attached to the wall must be shimmed in order to render the firring strip vertical. This, however, is a difficult and time-consuming procedure. Furthermore, even when the firring strips are properly shimmed so that the face of the firring strip is vertical, oftentimes the faces of the firring strips will not be aligned in the same vertical plane along the length of the wall. When this happens, the final wall material attached to the firring strips will likewise not lie in a vertical plane and thus result in an unacceptable final wall surface.
The present invention provides a panel system for poured concrete walls which overcomes all of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the previously known systems.
In brief, the panel system according to the present invention comprises at least two generally rectangular panels which are arranged so that the panels are spaced apart from each other. In doing so, a cavity is formed between the facing panels designed to receive poured concrete. Preferably, the panels are constructed of aluminum and, in a practical application, many panels are attached together in a side-by-side relationship to form the perimeter of the desired final concrete wall.
At least one, and preferably a plurality, of attachment bosses are removably mounted to at least one of the panels so that, when the panels are positioned in preparation for a concrete pour, the attachment bosses are positioned within the cavity. Consequently, following the concrete pour, the bosses become embedded within the concrete wall.
A fastener is attachable to each attachment boss following the concrete pour and after the concrete has set and the panels have been removed. These attachment bosses are preferably vertically aligned with other, preferably at predetermined horizontal distances from each other, e.g. at horizontally spaced intervals of sixteen inches, so that a free end of each fastener protrudes outwardly from the poured concrete wall. Preferably, each fastener comprises a bolt having an enlarged head and a threaded shank which threadably engages an internally threaded bore in the attachment boss.
The fasteners are utilized to attach a firring strip to the poured concrete wall. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the firring strip is made of a flexible material, such as plastic or nylon, and includes a channel dimensioned to snap onto the fastener heads thus attaching the firring strip to the fasteners and simultaneously attaching the firring strips to the concrete wall. Since the fasteners are preferably threadably attached to the attachment bosses, the precise spacing of the enlarged head of the fasteners relative to the poured concrete wall may be adjusted by rotatably adjusting the fastener in its associated attachment boss. In this fashion, the fastener heads may be adjusted so that they all lie in a common vertically oriented plane so that the subsequent attachment of the firring strip to the fastener heads also vertically aligns the firring strips in a vertical plane.
A better understanding of the present invention will be had upon reference to the following detailed description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views, and in which:
With reference first to
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Preferably, the attachment boss 32 is of a one-piece plastic construction although materials, such as nylon, steel, other metals, or the like may alternatively be used.
With reference now particularly to
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The attachment bosses 32 can also be removably mounted to the panel 22 by a temporary adhesive.
As best shown in
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Alternatively, if the attachment bosses 32 are removably secured to the panel 22 as shown in
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Preferably, the firring strip 70 is constructed of a flexible material and, preferably, comprises a one-piece plastic or nylon extrusion. Therefore, in order to attach the firring strip 70 to the fastener heads 46 as shown in
Consequently, in practice, after the concrete wall has been poured and the fasteners 40 secured to their associated attachment bosses 32 such that the heads 46 of the fasteners 40 are aligned with each other, the firring strips 70 may be easily and rapidly snap mounted onto the fasteners 40, and thus attached to the concrete wall 60. Since the attachment bosses are aligned at predetermined intervals, e.g. sixteen-inch horizontal spacing, any desired conventional wall treatment may be thereafter attached to the firring strips 70 in the conventional fashion.
Although the fasteners 40 have been described as threaded fasteners which threadably engage a threaded bore in the attachment bosses 32, it will be understood that other types of fasteners which attach in different fashions to the attachment bosses 32 may alternatively be used without deviation from either the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, the attachment bosses 32 may merely comprise a solid plug into which a screw may be driven.
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Similarly, it may be understood that, although in the preferred embodiment of the invention the firring strips 70 snap onto the fasteners 40, any other conventional means may be used to attach the firring strips to the fasteners 40.
Having described my invention, however, many modifications thereto will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which it pertains without deviation from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.
