Patent Application
20130270727
This invention relates to the process of forming a concrete column having a textured and colored surface and especially to a process of making an elastomer mold sleeve for lining a concrete column forming tube prior to pouring the concrete to make the concrete column.
Concrete columns are typically constructed using a concrete column forming tube which is positioned on site for forming the concrete column. The concrete column form tube is then filled with concrete to form a concrete column. The concrete column forming tube is then stripped from the cured concrete column. Concrete column forming tubes are commonly constructed of partially overlapped or spirally wound plies of paper adhered together and defining an inside wall surface of a predetermined diameter. These forming tubes receive poured concrete therein which is cured and set up to produce a concrete column. The forming tubes are then stripped away leaving the produced concrete column. In the typical spirally wound concrete column forming tube construction, the spiral seam lines are present on the inside wall surface of the forming tube which results in spiral lines molded on the outside surface of a produced concrete column.
In the prior U.S. patent to Rummage et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,270, a flexible cylindrical liner is positioned in a generally friction-fit relationship within a concrete forming tube. The flexible liner which is constructed of a paperboard layer is used to cover the spiral seam lines in the inside wall surface of a rigid tube to prevent the formation of seam lines on the outside surface of the produced concrete column.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,595,168 to Goodwin, a separate all plastic tubular liner is positioned inside a rigid cylindrical tube of partially overlapped spirally wound plies of paper adhered together in order to eliminate the spiral seam lines on the surface of the concrete column and provide a moisture barrier on the inside wall of the forming tube.
In the U.S. patent to Weekers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,142, a concrete column forming tube is fabricated with a thin flexible paper wall which is collapsible into a flat shape which may be wound into a reel to facilitate transport, handling and storage.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,874,016 to Bacon, Jr. et al., a concrete column forming tube has a smooth inside coated surface to produce a concrete column which eliminates the spiral seam lines in the resulting concrete column.
In the van de Camp U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,749, a concrete column forming tube tear strip is formed therein which enhances the removal of the concrete column forming tube from the formed concrete column.
Other concrete column forming tubes may be seen in the E. L. Hart, Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,914,833 for a paper tube forming a concrete column and in the B. D. Clarkson U.S. Pat. No. 2,836,874 for a paper tube concrete form. The E. S. Reid U.S. Pat. No. 2,888,043 is a multiple section concrete forming paper tube while the U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2006/0016150 to Fournier is for a paperboard formwork and method for forming concrete structures which uses a tubular envelope as a wall assembly nested within the axial hollow of the tubular envelope.
The present invention is directed towards a process of forming a concrete column utilizing a standard concrete column forming tube and has a flexible and compressible sleeve shaped to line the inside of the tube to produce a concrete column having a textured and colored surface. A concrete column is made with a desired surface texture and color in one easy step which does not have the seam lines of a typical concrete column forming tube and produces a column which does not look like formed concrete.
A process of forming a concrete column having a textured and colored surface uses a concrete column forming tube lined with a flexible and compressible elastomer sleeve having randomly dispersed rigid granular material encapsulated therein. The flexible and compressible elastomer sleeve is formed by mixing a liquid elastomer, such as a latex or silicone elastomer, with a rigid granular material, such as granular pumice, and applying the mixture over a textured, generally cylindrical form and curing the liquid elastomer. A colorant may be applied to the surface of the flexible and compressible elastomer sleeve to form a concrete column having a colored and textured surface. The process of forming a concrete column having a textured surface includes the selecting of a rigid elongated concrete column forming tube having a generally smooth interior wall. A cylindrical form is made having a textured surface thereon and has a circumference slightly smaller than the concrete column forming tube circumference. Liquid latex or silicone or other elastomeric material is mixed with a rigid granular material, such as a granular pumice, and the mixture is coated on the outside of the cylindrical form and cured thereon to form a flexible column forming tube mold sleeve having rigid particles dispersed therein. The latex having the rigid granular material therein is cured to form a resilient and compressible latex having the rigid granular material randomly dispersed therein which is removed from the textured generally cylindrical form. The elastomer sleeve may have a predetermined colorant applied to the inside thereof. The elastomer sleeve is attached to the inside of a concrete column forming tube and concrete is poured into the concrete column forming tube having the mold sleeve attached therein. The concrete is then cured to form a concrete column. The column forming tube and mold sleeve is then removed to produce a concrete column having a textured surface.
A flexible and compressible sleeve for a concrete column forming tube has a generally cylindrical shape and is formed of an elastomeric material, such as latex or silicone, and has randomly dispersed rigid granular material, such a pumice, encapsulated therein. The sleeve has a textured surface and may have a colorant on the inside surface thereof to form a sleeve mold sized to line the inside wall of a concrete column forming tube so that a concrete column can be formed having a textured and colored surface. The resilient material sleeve will compress when concrete is poured into the column forming tube to compress against the rigid granular materials encapsulated therein to form a textured surface on the surface the concrete column.
The accompanying drawings which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention incorporates and constitutes a part of the specification to illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the description serves to explain the principles of the invention.
In the drawing:
Referring to the drawings,
In
As seen in the sectional view of
The elastomeric sleeve 18 is shown attached to the inside of the concrete column forming tube 10 in
The concrete column forming tube 10 and the flexible and compressible sleeve 18 is being removed from the cured concrete column 28 in
The flexible and compressible sleeve 18 is made of a liquid elastomer having a randomly dispersed rigid granular material 21 encapsulated therein and shaped to be slightly smaller than the inside circumference of a concrete column forming tube. The sleeve 18 may also be coated with a colorant for lining a concrete forming tube to form a concrete column with a textured and colored surface 27. The granular material can be a pumice or other irregular shaped rigid granular material which is unevenly dispersed throughout the elastomer sleeve 18 to give the concrete column surface an irregular textured surface 27 which may also have a colored surface.
It should be clear at this time that a method and apparatus have been provided for forming a concrete column 28 having a textured and colored surface 27. However, it should be clear that the present invention is not to be considered as limited to the forms shown which should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.
