Patent Application
20080224023
This invention relates to a concrete wall form. More particularly, this invention relates to a form adapted to pour tiers of liquid concrete.
Concrete walls are well known and used in many types of construction. Forming a concrete wall typically requires assembling a wall form and filling the wall form entirely with liquid concrete.
Some concrete walls include rebar or other strengthening members. These strengthening members are typically positioned within the wall form prior to filling the wall form with liquid concrete. Some wall forms include insulative panels that hold the liquid concrete while solidifying and remain after the liquid concrete hardens. Other wall forms use panels that are removed after the concrete hardens.
Filling the wall form may include pouring liquid concrete into the top of the wall form. The liquid concrete flows through the wall form and past the strengthening members. Disadvantageously, the flow of liquid concrete may not entirely surround the structural members. Such a result leaves voids in the liquid concrete, which remain as the concrete solidifies. Voids can decrease the strength and durability of the resulting concrete wall. Further, liquid concrete may build up and harden on the strengthening members near the top of the wall. This narrows the pour passage through the wall and may weaken the bond between the strengthening members and the surrounding concrete when the concrete hardens.
Also, some wall forms, such as foam wall forms, are unable to support the liquid concrete. Filling the entire wall form with liquid concrete may damage the wall form from the weight of the liquid concrete. That is, because liquid concrete near the bottom of the form offers little support to the remaining liquid concrete, the concrete wall form supports much of the weight of the liquid concrete. In some cases, such as larger concrete walls, the weight of the liquid concrete damages the wall form prior to the concrete solidifying, which may prevent wall construction or significantly increase construction time.
It would be advantageous to form a concrete wall without voids due to structural elements within the concrete. It would be further advantageous to support the liquid concrete as it solidifies and prevent build up of concrete on strengthening members.
An example concrete wall form assembly includes a frame having a plurality of studs. A first panel and a second panel fasten to the plurality of studs. The first panel and the second panel span the studs to provide a wall form that has a concrete receiving cavity having a cavity height. The wall form includes an aperture for moving concrete through the wall form to the concrete receiving cavity. The aperture has a first aperture height less than the concrete receiving cavity height.
An example concrete wall panel includes a panel attachable to a plurality of studs to partially define a concrete receiving cavity. The panel defines an aperture for moving liquid concrete through the panel to the concrete receiving cavity. The liquid concrete moves through the panel transverse to a direction defined by an outer surface of the panel.
An example method of forming a concrete wall includes communicating a first layer of concrete through a form at a first position and communicating a second layer of concrete at a second position. The second position is located above the first position.
The various features and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the currently preferred embodiment. The drawings that accompany the detailed description can be briefly described as follows:
The example wall form assembly 10 includes a frame 14 having a plurality of studs 18, as shown in the partial cut-away view of
In this example, the first panels 26 include a first aperture 38 and a second aperture 42. The first aperture 38 is positioned at an approximate height h1 from the bottom portion of the wall form assembly 10 while the second aperture 42 is positioned at a approximate height h2. Liquid concrete 46 moves into the concrete receiving cavities 34, 35 through the first aperture 38, the second aperture 42, or through a top pour opening 50. Liquid concrete 46 moving through the first aperture 38 and the second aperture 42 includes a horizontal component. That is, in this example, liquid concrete 46 moving through the first aperture 38 and the second aperture 42 moves transverse to the face of the first panel 26. As known, pumping or pouring liquid concrete are methods of moving liquid concrete 46.
The studs 18 include a plurality of stud holes 54. A first rebar support 58 extends through some of the stud holes 54 approximately at the height h1. A second rebar support 62 extends through other stud holes 54 approximately at the height h2.
To form a concrete wall, a first tier 66 of liquid concrete moves through one of the first aperture 38 in the first panels 26. The first tier 66 partially fills the concrete receiving cavity 34 with liquid concrete 46 approximately to height h1. As the first rebar 58 extends through the stud holes 54 in the studs 18 approximately at same height, filling the concrete receiving cavity 34 to the height h1 just covers, in this example, the first rebar 58 with liquid concrete 46. Pouring the first tier 66 through the first aperture 38 instead of through the first opening 50 lessens concrete build up on the second rebar support 62 when filling the first tier 66 as the liquid concrete 46 moves through the first aperture 38 instead of the first opening 34.
In this example, an operator forming the concrete wall fills concrete receiving cavity 50 and then fills the adjacent concrete receiving cavity 35. The operator continues to fill other concrete receiving cavities (not shown) until reaching a desired wall length. Although only two concrete receiving cavities 34, 35 are shown, those skilled in the art, and having the benefit of this disclosure may understand that other arrangements can be used to achieve a desired wall shape or arrangement.
A second tier 70 of liquid concrete 46 is added to the concrete receiving cavity 34 through the second aperture 42. In this example, the second tier 70 is added after the first tier 66 solidifies. Thus, the first tier 66 of solidifying concrete provides some support to the second tier 70 of liquid concrete as the second tier 70 solidifies. Further, an intersection 86 of the first tier 66 and the second tier 70 corresponds approximately to the height h1 of the first rebar 58. Tiering the liquid concrete 46 in this manner ensures that the first rebar 58 is adequately surrounded with liquid concrete 46. In one example, an operator filling the concrete receiving cavity 34 visually inspects the coverage of the first rebar 58 prior to adding the second tier 70.
The second aperture 42 has a height h2. The location of the second rebar 62 corresponds approximately to height h2. The second tier 70 fills the concrete receiving cavity 34 to the height h2. The second tier 70, in this example, partially surrounds the second rebar 62, and an operator filling the concrete receiving cavity 34 may visually inspect the second tier will filling. As with the first tier 66, an operator may manipulate the liquid concrete 46 to facilitate coverage of the second rebar 62 and adequate filling of all portions of the concrete receiving cavity 34.
Adding a third tier (not shown) of liquid concrete 46 through the top openings 50 fills the remaining portions of the concrete receiving cavity 34. The intersection 90 between the third tier and the second tier 70 of liquid concrete 46 corresponds approximately to the location of the second rebar 62. In this example, a third tier is added through the top opening 50 after the second tier 70 has solidified. Thus, the second tier 70 and the first tier 66 provide support to the third tier of liquid concrete 46.
After filling the concrete receiving cavity 34 with a tier of liquid concrete 46, a plug 74 may be placed in the first aperture 38 to prevent liquid concrete 46 from flowing back through the first aperture 38 prior to the liquid concrete 46 in the first tier 66 solidifying. In one example, the plug 74 is a foam plug, such as an expanded polystyrene plug, having a chamfer 75 for guiding the plug 74 into the first aperture 38, as shown in
The first panels 26 and second panels 30 may be insulative foam panels, for example. Each sheet of foam is preferably a two-inch thick sheet of extruded polystyrene. Sheets of extruded polystyrene are readily available from a number of sources such as the Dow Chemical Company. Other example material for the first panels 26 and second panels 30 are plywood, OSB, oriented strand board, a cementitious panel, or other suitable material.
The first panels 26 and second panels 30 are secured to opposite sides of the frame 14 using fasteners 42 such as approximately three-inch long deck screws. Two-inch wide furring strips 40 may distribute the loading of the fasteners 42 along vertical portions of the panels 26, 30 sandwiching the foam panels 36, 38 between the furring strips and the studs 12.
The first panels 26 and the second panels 30 may remain after the liquid concrete 46 solidifies to a sufficient level, to form a portion of the wall, such as when using insulative foam panels. In other examples, the first panels 26 and second panels 30 may be removed. The remaining solidified concrete forms a wall including the first tier 66, the second tier 70, and the third tier. The studs 18 and the remaining portions of the frame 14 remain along with the first rebar 58 and second rebar 62 to add support to the wall.
Although in this example, the apertures 38, 42, have heights approximately corresponding to the heights of the first rebar 58 and the second rebar 62, other aperture arrangements are possible. For example, the first panels 26 may include an additional aperture 94, as shown in
In another example, the rebar 58, or other type of reinforcement structure extends throughout the concrete receiving cavities 34, 35 such as a mesh type reinforcement structure. In such an example, the apertures 38, 42, and 94, are arranged to facilitate liquid concrete 46 distribution around the reinforcement structure, and may not correspond to the specific location of the reinforcement structure. The distribution and quantity of the apertures 38, 42, and 94 depends in part on the overall shape of the wall. For example, taller walls would include apertures spaced 2-3 feet apart extending along the height of the wall.
Other example arrangements may includes the first aperture 38 located in the first panels 26 while a second aperture 42 is located in the second panels 30. Further, studs 18 may include the first aperture 38 or the second aperture 42 to provide additional pathways for liquid concrete 46 into the concrete receiving cavities 34, 35. Other examples may include the first aperture 38 located between the first panels 26, the second panels 30, and the studs 18.
The preceding description is exemplary rather than limiting in nature. Variations and modifications to the disclosed examples may become apparent to those skilled in the art that do not necessarily depart from the essence of this disclosure. The scope of legal protection given to this disclosure can only be determined by studying the following claims.
