1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to building construction in general and in particular to a method and apparatus for forming walls and floors.
2. Description of Related Art
In the field of construction, concrete is known to be a desirable building material for many reasons. Concrete is known to have good compressive and cohesive strength as well as noise deadening as well as a large thermal mass. These characteristics and others may make concrete a desirable choice of building materials for constructions requiring good thermal efficiency, strength, sound deadening performance and good fire ratings.
Several known difficulties with concrete construction has limited its use in residential construction. In particular, the weight of precast concrete panels has limited their use with poured in place concrete being preferable. Poured concrete structures are formed by providing groups of walls or forms, surrounding a region which defines the space that the concrete is to fill once solidified or cured. Poured concrete construction has also been limited in it's use for residential construction due to the need to construct forms completely outlining the concrete formation. Construction of such forms has typically been too time consuming and, expensive for widespread adoption for residential construction. However, due to the above favorable characteristics of concrete, it has remained a common material for use in foundations of many structures.
An additional difficulty with concrete construction has been the need to separately insulate the concrete in colder climates. One previous attempt to address the current difficulties with poured in place concrete has been the use of insulated concrete forms. Insulated concrete forms (ICF) typically comprise interlocking modular blocks that have cavities in the interior thereof. The ICF forms are dry-stacked (without mortar) such that their cavities interconnect and are thereafter filled with concrete. After the concrete cures, the insulated forms are left in place to provide permanent building insulation.
A current difficulty with ICF is the lack of provision for spaces to locate wires, plumbing and the like within a wall formed with ICF as well as difficulty in securing cladding material to the ICF wall. As ICF blocks typically form a continuous solid surface on both the inside and outside of the wall, there is no space within such a wall to run wires, pipes and the like that are required within the building. Therefore there is little to no space between the ICF blocks and a cladding material within which to locate such wire and pipes. Conduits for such use may be provided, but these are often limited in their size and location thereby limiting choices of where to locate such services within the building.
Additionally, ICF blocks may be difficult to attach cladding, such as gypsum board and the like thereto due to the low strength properties of the polystyrene used to form the ICF blocks. In particular, conventional methods of securing gypsum board to studs, such as nails and screws are not applicable to securing such boards to ICF blocks as the nails and screws will not properly attach to the polystyrene. Attempts have been made to provide securing members or ties extending through the ICF block for fastening the gypsum board fasteners to. Such attempts however have required that a user locate such ties prior to installing the gypsum board both in a horizontal as well as a vertical direction whereas with traditional studs, the user is only required to locate the stud in a vertical direction. Additionally, the use of such ties, which are commonly formed of plastic, may be prone to melting during a fire leading to the gypsum board falling and thereby potentially adding fuel to the fire.
According to a first embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed an apparatus for forming a surface of a building partition having a cavity therein. The apparatus comprises an elongate support member extending between first and second ends, a first panel support extending substantially perpendicularly from the support member along a first plane selectably engageable with a rear surface of a first forming panel and a second panel support extending substantially perpendicularly from the support member along a second plane parallel and spaced apart from the first plane, the second panel being selectably engageable with a front surface of a second wall forming panel. The first and second wall forming panels are coplanar when supported by the first and second panel supports so as to form a continuous surface with the upright for forming a wall.
The building partition is selected from the group consisting of a wall, a ceiling or a floor. The support member may form an upright. The support member may form a beam. The first forming panel may be formed integrally with the first panel support for engagement with a second panel support of an adjacent apparatus. The first and second panels may comprise rectangular panels having widths corresponding to desired spacing for wall studs.
The elongate support member may comprise a z-shaped channel comprising the first and second panels supports and a web portion therebetween. The web portion of the support member may include bores therethrough. The elongate support member may comprise a u-shaped channel. The u-shaped channel may be adapted to be oriented perpendicular to the building partition to be formed. The u-shaped channel may have a long side and a short side, the first panel support extending from the short side, the second panel support extending from the long side. The long side of the support member may include bores therethrough.
The first and second panel supports may be formed integrally with the support member. The support member and the first and second panels may be formed of sheet metal. The support member may include slots at the first and second ends sized to pass over end brackets.
According to a further embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed a kit for forming a surface of a building partition having a cavity therein. The kit comprising at least one elongate support member extending between first and second ends, the support member having a first panel support extending substantially perpendicularly therefrom along a first plane and a second panel support extending substantially perpendicularly therefrom along a second plane parallel and spaced apart from the first plane. The kit further comprises at least two wall forming panels engageable upon either a front surface of the first panel support or a rear surface of the second panel support such that the first and second wall forming panels are coplanar when supported by the first and second panel supports so as to form a continuous first surface with the support member. The kit further comprises at least one insulated block being engageable to adjacent blocks to form a second surface in parallel spaced apart relation from the first form and at least one concrete tie operable to extend from the support member to the at least one block so as to cooperatively form a concrete form between the first and second surfaces for forming a building partition.
The block may be formed of polystyrene. The block may include an embedded bracket for securing an exterior siding fastener to. The second surface of the block may include a dovetail channel for engagement with concrete to be located between the first and second surfaces.
According to a further embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed a method of forming a surface of a building partition having a cavity therein. The method comprising locating an elongate support member above a floor surface at a position corresponding to the surface to be formed, the support member having first and second vertical support surfaces extending substantially perpendicularly therefrom, engaging a first panel to the front surface of the first support surface and engaging a second panel to the rear surface of the second support. The method further comprises forming a concrete partition between the support member and the first and second panels, removing the first and second panels and securing a facing panel to a second front surface of the second upright such that the concrete surface and the facing panel form a cavity therebetween.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention wherein similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view,
Referring to
Turning now to
The panels 50 comprise substantially planar members extending between first and second edges 52 and 54, respectively. In some embodiments, the panels 50 may be formed of dimensional lumber such as by way of non-limiting example a length of two by twelve dimensional lumber. In other embodiments, the panels may be formed of rectangular sections of plywood, plastic, metal or any other suitable material.
As illustrated in
The first panel support 16 of the elongate support member 12 also includes a connection bore 38 extending therethrough. The connection bore 38 is sized to receive a connection pin 80 therein. As illustrated in
With reference to
The front surface 106 of the insulated blocks 100 may have optional grooves 108 therein to provide an interlock between the insulated block 100 and concrete poured and set between the front and rear wall forms 11 and 13. As illustrated, the groove may have a dovetail cross section and may extend vertically along the front surface 106 of the blocks. Alternatively, the grooves 108 may have any other shape as desired by a user and may also extend horizontally or at an angle along the front surface 106. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Turning now to
The central portion 150 of the elongate support member 12 includes slots 36 extending perpendicularly thereacross each of the ends thereof. The slots 36 have a width and length sufficient to receive an end angle member therein as will be more fully described below. As illustrated, the slots 36 are positioned in the central portion 150 at a position such that an end member located therein will be adjacent to a front surface of the first panel support 152.
The central portion 150 of the elongate support member 12 also includes a transverse connection bore 180 extending therethrough. The transverse bore 180 is sized to receive a connection pin 182 therethrough. As illustrated in
With reference to
As described above, a plurality of insulated blocks 100 may be stacked together to form the rear wall form 13. As also described above each of the elongate support members 12 may include a tie rod 90 extending therefrom to the insulated blocks. It will be appreciated that each elongate support member may include one or more tie rods 90. A plurality of fasteners may then be passed through the insulated blocks 100 to engage within the tie rods so as to fix the width of the cavity 15. The width of the cavity will depend upon the thickness of the concrete wall desired to be poured and formed therein.
It will also be appreciated that the elongate support members 12 and panels 50 may also be utilized to form a concrete ceiling or floor barrier. In such uses, the first and second members 60 and 70 may be secured to walls or the like with a plurality of elongate support members 12 extending horizontally therebetween. The panels 50 may then be secured to the elongate supports as described above to form a bottom form for the concrete to be poured.
After the concrete has been poured and cured, the panels 50 may be decoupled from the elongate support members 12 by removing the fasteners. The elongate support members 12 will remain secured within or to the cured concrete. It will be appreciated that as the panels formed one boundary of the concrete barrier, the removal of the panels 50 will form a void, generally indicated at 134, behind the second panel support 18 generally indicated at 130 in
As illustrated in
In alternative embodiments, the elongate support members 12 may include a plurality of holes 40 or knock out portions located within the cavity 134 so as to permit plumbing, wiring and the like to be passed through the elongate support members 12. Additionally, frangible portions 42, comprising perforations within the second side 22 may be provided to assist with removing a portion of the second side and second panel support 18 where it is desired to remove such a section for passing larger objects past the elongate support member 12 or where it is desired to intersect and form a perpendicular building partition to the existing partition. By way of non-limiting example, where it is desired to form a ceiling at that location on an existing wall it may be advantageous to remove the second sides 22 and second panel supports 18 at that location so as to enable the first member 60 to be secured directly to the concrete.
Turning now to
While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.