CA2036880A1 - Building foundation, floor assembly and method of installation thereof - Google Patents
Building foundation, floor assembly and method of installation thereofInfo
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- CA2036880A1 CA2036880A1 CA 2036880 CA2036880A CA2036880A1 CA 2036880 A1 CA2036880 A1 CA 2036880A1 CA 2036880 CA2036880 CA 2036880 CA 2036880 A CA2036880 A CA 2036880A CA 2036880 A1 CA2036880 A1 CA 2036880A1
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- floor assembly
- floor
- assembly
- sub
- foundation
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Abstract
BUILDING FOUNDATION, FLOOR ASSEMBLY
AND METHOD OF INSTALLATION THEREOF
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
The invention reduces considerably on-site labour costs for installing a foundation and a building floor. Accuracy is improved by pre-fabricating a floor assembly prior to installation on site. The invention includes placing a plurality of temporary supports on the site surface, accurately locating the floor assembly on the supports, and providing a space between the floor assembly and the surface. Forms are located on the surface generally below the floor assembly. Concrete is poured to occupy space between at least the form, the surface and a portion of the floor assembly so that, after the concrete is set, the supports are removed and the floor assembly is supported by the concrete. The floor assembly comprises upper and lower skins, with perimeter webs connecting the skins together adjacent peripheries of the skins to form a plenum chamber between the skins and the webs. Services and air can be supplied from the plenum chamber.
B182:662.37
AND METHOD OF INSTALLATION THEREOF
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
The invention reduces considerably on-site labour costs for installing a foundation and a building floor. Accuracy is improved by pre-fabricating a floor assembly prior to installation on site. The invention includes placing a plurality of temporary supports on the site surface, accurately locating the floor assembly on the supports, and providing a space between the floor assembly and the surface. Forms are located on the surface generally below the floor assembly. Concrete is poured to occupy space between at least the form, the surface and a portion of the floor assembly so that, after the concrete is set, the supports are removed and the floor assembly is supported by the concrete. The floor assembly comprises upper and lower skins, with perimeter webs connecting the skins together adjacent peripheries of the skins to form a plenum chamber between the skins and the webs. Services and air can be supplied from the plenum chamber.
B182:662.37
Description
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BUILDING FOUNDATION, FLOOR ASSFlqBLY
AND MET~101) OF INS~ALI~TIO~N TH13REOF
B~CRGRUUND OF T~13 INYENTION
The inven~ion rela~es to a building foundation and floor assembly, and method of installation thereof, in particular for use in residential house construction.
Foundations for houses are usually constructed using temporary concrete forms installed on load bearing earth and extending around a perimeter of the building.
Flowable foundation material, such as concrete, is poured into spaces between the forms and allowed to harden, after which the temporary forms are manually removed.
This method o foundation construction incurs many problems, particularly relating to the uneven ground conditions which require considerable preparation by on-side labour. Height and location of the forms must be controlled accurately, both with respect to horizontal and vertical locations. When constructing in inclement weather conditions, such as heavy rain, snow or freezing conditions, difficulties of achieving dimensional accuracy are compounded. Furthermore, when the foundations have been poured, much of the temporary form work canno~ be reused, resulting in wastage of forming material.
In some circumstances, in particular with relatively high form work, hydraulic pressure of a column of poured concrete can cause lower portions of the forms to shift upwardly, called "form uplift". This can cause severe problems.
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When a prior art foundation has hardened, the wooden structure of the building .is secured to an upper surface of the concret0. Typical3y, this upper surface is relatively rough, and i5 no~ completely level, and thus S when horizontal wooden strips, called plates, are mounted on the upper surfac~, they are supported in an uneven manner, and subjPcted ~o twisting and bending. The plates are usually secured to the concrete by vertical ~hreaded rods or sheet metal strips set in the concrete before the concrete is cured. The plates are secured to the rods by drilling holes in the plates to accept the rods, and securing the plates to the rods with nuts. Alternatively, the plates can be connected to the sheet metal strips by bending the strips to embrace the plates. Either method of securing the plates to the concrete is relatively inaccurate and subject to error, which has to be corrected at some other stage in construction.
Furthermore, when the floor joists and sub-floor have been installed a master carpenter is required to layout on the sub-~loor the positions of interior and exterior walls, doors, windows etc. This is time consuming, and, even when care is taken, is subject to error which results in time consuming corrections later on in the building process.
Many inventions have been developed in attempts to reduce some of the above problems. For ex~mple, U.S.
Patent 4,711,058 (Patton) discloses a permanent concrete form comprising a metallic sheet permanently connected to ; an insulated barrier. While this reduces form work wastage, excessive on-site labour and problems of achieving dimensional accuracy remain. U.S. Patents 3,673,750 (Bokvist el al) and 3,956,859 (Eingestrom) discloses heat and moisture insulating bloc~s placed around the perimeter of a foundation prior to pouring concreteO Excessive on-site labour, high foundation material costs and difficulty in maintaining accuracy ~3~
still remain. U.S. Patent 4,799,348 (Brami et al) discloses insulating a rigid slab for carrying a building but this also requires excess.ive on-site labour -for site preparation, installation of recoverable forms and the s need for accurate location of same. V.S. Patent 4,689,926 (MacDonald) discloses a method of providing an insulating structure beneath a buildin~ or platform, as opposed to a true foundation. In this method the building is initially supported above a shell of resilient plastic material to define a space between the building a~d the shell, ~7hich ~pace is substantially entirely filled with insulating foam. This is costly and would appear to be appropriate only for small buildings, such as mobile homes.
In the inventor's opinion, many of the inventions relating to building foundations disclosed in the patents above do not provide large reductions in on-site labour, nor reduce the necessity for accurate location of forms or placement of foundation material.
Furthermore, none of the patents above disclose a means for eliminating the co~tly and time consuming layout necessary to mark a sub-floor with locations of exterior and interior walls as previously described.
S~MMARY OF 1~ INV~NTION
The invention reduces the difficulty and disadvantages of the prior art by providing a method and apparatus which reduces considerably on-site labour, and removes the necessity of accurate location of temporary form work prior to pouring foundations. The invention permits pre-fabrication of floor assemblies which can be accurately pre-fabricated in a actory, using accurate and fast production tooling and semi-automatic or automatic assembly processes. The floor assemblies are thus produced to very close dimensional tolerances which are very difficult to attain on normal building sites. The 2~3~
floor assemblies are made in a siz~ which can be transported on conventional flat bed trucks to a building site, after which they can be accurately installed with minimal on-site skilled labour requirements. Furthermore, the time consuming layout of the sub-floor to define positions of exterior and interior walls, doors etc. can be carried out in the factory, thus reducing on-site labour costs and considerably increasing accuracy.
The invention also permits use of simple, relatively low cost concrete form work which can be easily installed on ~he site with relatively wide dimensional tolerances. Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment, the low cost and simple form work can be arranged in such a 15 manner that relatively low volumes of concrete are required to produce footings, when compared with other prior art foundations. Thus, less form work is required, with corresponding less concrete, and less time reguired in pouring the concrete, resulting in considerable savings im material and labour costs. It has been found that site preparation can be reduced considerably and a highly accurately located and installed floor assembly at first floor level can be installed on-site in considerably less time, and with a higher accuracy than with priox art methods.
A method according to the invention for installing a floor assembly and building foundation on a site surface comprises the following steps:
placing a plurality of supports on the surface, placing a floor assembly on the supports to provide a space between the floor assembly and the surface, locating form means on the surface with respect to the floor assembly so as to be spaced below the floor ass~mbly, supplying a flowable and set~able foundation material to occupy a portion of the space between at least the form means, the surface and a portion of the floor assembly, so that when the foundation material ha~ set, the floor assembly is supported on foundation material.
Preferably, $he method further .includes:
connecting a sub-wall to the floor assembly so as to extend downwardly from the floor assembly, the sub-wall having a sub-wall base spaced above the surface, locating the form means with respect to the sub-wall, supplying the foundation material to occupy a portion of the space between the sub-wall base~
the form means and the surface.
- For use in a building requiring more than one floor assembly, the method further includes:
placing a plurality of floor assemblies on the supports to provide respective spaces between the floor assemblies and the surface, interconnecting the ad~acent floor as~emblies together along adjacent joining portions thereof to form an assembled floor of a building, locating the form means on the surface to surround an overall periphery of the assembled .
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floor, so that when the foundation material is se~, ~he assembled floor is suppor~ed along ~he overall periphery thereof.
The supports are removed after the foundation material is set and can be used again elsewhere, and in some instances the form means can be permanently left on the foundations. Preferably, portions of service conduits have been previously loca~ed to extend through the floor as~emblies as installed, and can be interconnected after assembly of the floor assemblies.
A pre-fabricated floor and folmdation installation according to the invention comprises a first floor assembly having a firs~ upper skin and a first lowex skin, outer webs and trim webs connecting the skins together adjacent peripheries of the skins to form a plenum chamber between the skins and the webs. Foundation material is located on a site surface, and closely conforms to a lower portion of the floor a~semblies to support the floor assembly above the surface, and to resist lateral forces on the floor assembly. Thermal insulation cooperates with the lower sXin so as to assist in insulating the plenum chamber. Preferably~ at least one web has an opening and a service conduit is located between the skins and passes through the opening in the web. The conduit has an end located adjacent a portion of the periphery of the floor assembly. A plurality of inner webs extend between the ends of the assembly to divide the plenum chamber into plenum chamber portions, the inner webs having openings to interconnect the plenum chamber portions. The service conduit extends through at least some of the openings in the inner webs. Preferably, the lower portion of the assembly includes a sub-wall having a sub-wall base, the sub-wall extending downwardly from the floor assembly. Also, the foundation material closely conforms to the sub-wall base so as to support the floor assembly thereon ~nd to resist lat~ral forces on the foundation.
A detaile~ disclosuxe following, relating to drawings, describes a preferr0d mekhod and apparatus according to the invention, which is capable of expression in struc~ure other than that particularly described and illustrated.
DESClRIPTIOlN OF THE DRi~ INGS
Figure 1 is a simplified, fragmented, partially exploded isometric view of two prefabricated floor assembliès according to the inven~ionl a sub-wall according to the invention shown closely ad~acent one of the floor assemblies, and air handling equipment shown prior to installation on the other floor assembly, Figure 2 is a simplified, fragmented isometric view of a portion of one floor assembly installed, the floor assembly being emporarily supported on an adjustable temporary support, with portions of exterior and interior footings, and exterior and interior sub-walls installed, Figure 3 is a fragmented detail diagram showing joining portions of two adjacent skins, .~
Figure 4 is a diagram showing a building site after preparation, the site carrying several temporary supports to receive the floor assemblies, Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3, with one floor assembly temporarily supported, and a second floor assembly bei.ng lowered onto the supports prior to installation of sub-walls~
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Figure 6 is a fragmen~ed top plan diagram showing the joining portions of the two adiacent skins with guide means to facilitate initial engagement of corner portions of the skins, Figure 7 is a vi~w similar to Figure 3, showing three floor assemblies fully installed with sub-walls fitted, showing form means before removal, Figure 8 is a simplified, fragmen~ed perspective generally similar to Figure 2, showing the floor assembly temporarily supported, and alternative foundation form means installed prior to pouring concrete.
DETAIL~D DISCLOSU~B
Figures_1 through 3 ~or buildings of normal size, a plurality of prefabricated floor assemblies are required, the floor assemblies being generally similar, and differing only in specific features, such as dimensions, services, etc.
dependant on the location of the particular floor assembly within the building.
In Figure 1, a pre-frabricated first floor assembly 10 has a first upper skin 12 and a first lower skin 14, the skins being rectangular, and having generally equal dimensions so that peripheries of the skins can be aligned with each other within respective vertical planes as shown.
The upper skin 12 serves as a portion of a final sub-floor of an assembled floor, and has layout markings 15, shown in broken outline, defining locations of exterior walls, interior walls, doors, windows etc. as is well known. ~hese markings can be marked very ~3~g~
, accurately on the upper panel 12 in ~he factory, and thus can be closely controlled and eliminate the costly and time consuming layout normally occurring on-si~e.
~he assembly 10 has a longitudinal axis 16, and a plurali~y of inner webs 18 disposed parallel ko the axis 16 and interconnec~ing the upper and lower skins.
Peripheral outer webs 20 and 22 are parallel to the inn~r webs and extend along parallel side edges 24 and 25 respectively of the upper skin 12, and interconnect aligned paxallel edges of the lower ~kin 14. The side edges 24 and 25 are thus parallel to the axis 16 and provide longer sides of the rectangle, but in Figure 1 are fragmented and shown relatively short. Peripheral trim webs 26, one only being shown in Figure l, extend along opposite shorter edges of the rectangle of the first skin, one shorter end edge 28 being shown. The peripheral webs are similarly connected to the edges of the upper and lower skins so as to define a ~enerally hollow rectangular block with ad;acent peripheries of the skins connected together to form a plenum chamber 32 between the skins and the webs. It can be seen that the plurality of inner webs 18 extending between the trim webs ak the opposite ends of the assembly divide the plenum chamber 32 into a plurality of plenum chamber portions 34. The inner webs have a plurality of openings 36 for conduit clearance as will be described, and to interconnect the plenum chamber portions so tha~ air can circnlate between different portions of the skinO
Thermal insulation 40, such as a rigid expanded plastic, is connected to a lower surface of the lower skin 14 to cooperate therewith and ~o assist in insulating the plenum chamber. Similarly, thermal insulation 41 also extends along an inner face of the outer web 20 and other peripheral webs which define portions of evenkual outer edges of the buildin~. An air handler 37, such as a fan and heat exchanger, shown separated in Figure 1, cooperates with an opening 35 in an upper skin 39 of a second floor assembly 38, sc as to supply hea~ed or cooled air to a similar plenum chamber within the assembly 38 for distribution in~o the assembly 10 and into other floor assemblies of the building. The heat exchanger can be a portion of a conventional heating system, or air conditioning system, or both, depending on the application. The upper skin 12 also has a heat register opening 48 communicaking with the plenum chamber to receive heated air therefrom, and other heat register openings, not sho~7n, can be provided to distribute heated or treated air w.ithin the building.
Service conduits such as supply waker conduit 42, and waste water conduit 44, extend between the skins 12 and 14 and through at least some of the openings 36 of the inner webs 18 between the outer webs 22, and also through respective clearance openings 46 in the upper skin 12. It can ba seen that the conduits 42 and 44 extend upwardly through the respective openings 46 in the upper skin 12 and can be connected to appropriate conduits when the building is completed, ~o as to supply water to, and return waste water from, various appliances within the building.
When the assemblies are transported to the site, or stored, usually with one on top of the other, spacer blocks, not shown, are provided to protect projecting upper ends of the conduits 42 and 44 extending from a lower floor assembly from damage due to an adjacent upper floor assembly resting on top of the lower floor assembly. The use of spacer blocks is well known, and also facilitates slinging of the floor assemblies for handling and later installation as is well known.
In the preferred embodiment, a sub-wall 54 eventually will extend along and downwardly from a portion of a periphery of the floor assembly 10, i.e. ad~acent the ~3~3~
outer web 20 of the side edge 24 to eventually form an outer foundation wall of the building. Irhe sub-wall 54 includes a foundation wall sheathing 56 which can be preserved wood sheathing such as plywood, having an upper wall portion 58 whicll is securable to the outer web 20 using conventional fasteners. The sub-wall 54 also includes upper and lower plates 60 and 62, with a plurality of vertically extending, laterally spaced, studs 64 supporting the plates, one stud only being shown in Figure 1.
Referring to Figure 2, a temporary adjustable support 65 is supported on a site surface 69 to temporarily support a portion of weight o~ the floor assembly as will be described. The temporary support 65 has a tripod base portion 71 having three downwardly extending legs, with lower pads 72 provided at ends of each leg. A threaded shaft 73 is extendable and retractable of the tripod base portion, and carries an upper pad 75 at an upper end which engages the lower skin of the floor assembly.
In Figure 2, for clarity of illustration, ~he sub-wall 54 of Figure 1 is not shown connected to the edge 24 as it would be when completed. Instead, the peripheral trim web 26 is shown fitted with a similar sub-wall 66 which extends downwardly from adjacent the edge 28 of the skin. ~he sub-wall 66 has a lower plate 67 to provide a sub-wall base as before, which cooperates with an exterior foundation footing 68. Similar sub-walls, not shown, are provided adjacent outer edges o~
other floor assemblies to cooperate with respective exterior foundation footings.
In Figure 2, the cooperation between the sub-wall 66 and the exterior foundation footing 68 is as follows. The foundation footing 68 is constru~ted on-site, following conventional methods, and thus ~3~o~
contrasts with the pre fabrica~ed construction of the floor assembly and sub-walls as previously described.
Thus, flowable foundation ma~erial, eg. concrete, i5 poured between a pair of forms, namely inner and outer s forms 74 and 76, the forms being supported in vertical manner as shown res~ing on a prepared site surface 69.
The forms are cut in lengths to approximately follow contours of the surface 69 to pxevent excessive loss of concrete. Upper edges of the forms can be disposed relatively inaccurately when compared with conventional forms. The outer form 76 is secured to the sub-wall 66 so as to be generally co-planer therewith, that is adjacent surfaces of the outer form 76 and the sub-wall 66 are within the same generally vertical plane. The inner form means 74 is located by a metal strip 77 passing in a loop from the outer form means 76~ The forms 74 and 76 are disposed below an outer periphery of the floor assembly and provide a sufficiently wide footing. Ground stakes, not shown, can be added as needed to provide additional support for the forms.
It can be seen that a lower surface of the lower plate 67, i.e. the sub-wall base, is spaced above the site surface 69 by a vertical spacing 78, which can vary considerably depending on the levelness of the site surface, location of the lower plate 67, and other factors as will be described. Preferably, to ensure full support of the plate 67, excess concrete is poured to ensure the cured concrete surface is above the lower surface of the plate 67 to produce a shoulder 80 in the concrete. This provides support for the plate against lateral force of the back-filled soil, thus eliminating the need for metal straps or rods as used in the prior art.
For most buildings, interior foundation walls are also required to provide intermediate support for relatively long joists extending between oppositely located foundation walls extending along outer peripheries of the building. Thus, one or more addi~ional interior sub-walls, for example ~n in~erior sub-wall 82, would be located at a position remote from a periphery of the floor assembly to provide an interior founda~ion wall S of the building. Similarly to the sub-walls 54 and 66, the interior sub-wall 82 has upper and lower plates 84 and 86 connected toge~her by a plurality of vertically disposed, laterally spaced studs 88 and an interior - foundation wall sheathing 89. An interior foundation footing 90 is similarly produced between spaced forms 91 and 92 in a similar manner to the foundation footing 68.
Referring again to Figure 1, the second floor assembly 38 has the second upper skin 39 and a second lower skin 100, outer webs 102 and 104~ and trim webs, not shown, interconnecting the skins together adjacent peripheries thereof as before to form a plenum chamber 106 between the skins and ~he webs. The second floor assembly 38 also includes a plurality of inner webs 108 extending between ends of the assembly to divide the plenum chamber into plenum chamber portions, the inner and outer webs having openings 110 to interconnect the plenum chamber portions.
Similarly to the first floor assembly 10, service conduits 112 and 114 extend through at least some of the openings 110 in the inner and outer webs, and ha~e outer ends adjacent edges of the skins, some of which are also located beneath an access opening 115, which is normally kept closed by a complementary undesignated door.
The outer ends of the service conduits 112 and 114 carxy known couplings 116 and 118 which are accessible through the opening 115 when the floors are assembled, to permit the conduits 112 and 114 to be connected by ~he couplings 116 and 118 respectively to adjacent aligned end portions of the service conduits 42 and 44 of the first floor assembly. Clearly, each æervice conduit located between the skins may have at least one end located ~3~
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adja~ent a portion of the periphery of ~he floor assembly, to permit coupling together of conduits, and to facilitate transportation and storage o the floor assemblies.
Referring to Figures 1 and 3, the first and second floor assemblies 10 and 38 have first and second joining portions 1~2 and 124 respectively, the joining portions being complementary -to each other. The joining portion 122 of the first floor assembly has an I-beam shaped outer web 22, the I-beam ha~ing upper and lower horizontal flanges 128 and 130 respectively, which are interconnected by a vertical web 132. It can be seen that the flanges of the I-beam web 22 serves as a projection 126 for the joining portion of the first floor assembly. An upper surface 134 of the upper flange provides an upper male surface, and a lower surface 136 of the lower flange provides a lower male surface. The upper and lower male surfaces are critical and extend outwardly of the first upper and lower skins respectively with respect to the joining portion. ~he upper male surface 134 is spaced below an upper surface of the first upper skin 12 by an upper space 140, i.e. thickness of the skin 12. Similarly, ~he lower male surface 136 is spaced above a lower surface of ~he first lower skin 14 by a lower spacing 142, i.e. thickness of the skin 14.
Usually, the upper skin 12 is thicker than the lower skin 14 because the skin 12 serves as a sub-floor, and thus the upper spacing is greater than the lower spacing.
The lower skin 14 stiffens the floor assembly, and seal6 and insula~es the plenum chamber 32 for air distribution as described.
The joining portion 124 of the second floor assembly 38 is a female portion and has a recess 146 to receive the I-beam or projection o~ the first floor assembly. The recess 146 is defined in part by critical surfaces of the upper and lower skins g8 and 100, namely an upper female surface 150, and a lower female 2 j~ (jr~) ~
surface 152. The upper fe~ale surface is a lower sur~ace of the upper skin 39 and thus is spaced below an upper surface of the upper skin by the upper spacing 140, assuming the two upper skins 12 and 39 have the same thicknessO Similarly, the lower female surface is an upper surface of the lower skin 100 and thus is spaced above a lower surface of the lower skin by the said lower spacing 142, assuming both lower skins 14 and 100 are of the same thickness.
When the floor assemblies are connected together, the upper and lower skins of the second floor assembly are closely adjacent the upper and lower ~langes 128 and 130 of the I-beam, and can be secured thereto by fastener means, e.g. screws 144, passins through at leas-~ an edge portion of the upper skin 98 of second 100r assembly to connect to the projection or upper flange of the I beam.
As seen in Figure 1, the outer web 102 of the second assembly 3~ is I-beam shaped similarly to the ou~er web 22 of the first assembly 10. ~hus, the assembly 38 has a recess along one joining portion, and complementary projection along the opposite joining portion, and thus can cooperate with a third similar assembly not shown, to provide an assembled floor. Also, to facilitate joining between the two assemblies, complementary male and female guide means 162 and 164 are fitted to adjacent corn~rs of the assemblies 10 and 38.
These guide means require accurate installation, which is preferably carried out off~site in the controlled environment of the assembly shop. Similarly to the conduits projec~ing from the skins, the guide means should be protected from damage during storage and transportation, as they are required to be very accurately located. Further description of the guide means is found with the reference to Figure 6.
Referxing again to Figure 3, to facilitate initial engagement of th~ complementary surfaces of the projection 126 with the recess 146, preferably shallow tapers are provided on the complementary surfaces 134 and 150, and 136 and 152. This shallow tapering is sufficient to provide clearances adjacen~ outer edges of the surfaces of approximately 2 to 3 mms. (appxoximately one eighth of an inch) on each side, so that the surfaces ~an be brought smoothly together, thus reducing chances of grain splinters from interfering with complete engagement.
Also, glue is preferably provided along the complementary surfaces prior to engagement, the glue serving not only to provide bonding when dried, but to provide a lubricant to enable smooth connection of the surfaces during assembly.
OPERATION
Fiaures 1 throuqh 7 The foundation and floor assemblies are installed at a suitable building site as follows. The floor assemblies are transported to the site from a manufacturing or storage facility in the condition as ` 25 shown in Pigure 1. Thus/ the sub walls ars disassembled from the floor assemblies, and the portions of the conduits projecting from the upper suxfaces of lower assemblies are protected from upper assemblies by suitable spacers. It is anticipated that a normal flat bed ~railer with a truck crane could carry sufficient floor assemblies for one or two normal-sized houses, which are unloaded on the site by a crane. Typical weight of a ~loox as.sembly would be between approxima~ely 700 and 1200 kgs.
(appproximately 1500 and 2500 lbs.), and thus a medium capacity truck crane is all that would be required.
The site surface 69 has been prepared minimally, by clearing organic overburden, so as to obtain a load ~ 3 bearing sub~strata upon which concrete can be poured.
There is no requirement for accurate setting out of the foundation plan on the site, nor is ~here any requirement for excessive site levelling work due to the versatility of the present invention. Moderate variations in vertical height can be accommodated easily by suitable choice of heights of sub-walls and of footings. On a relatively steeply inclined slope, several di-fferent sub-walls of different heights could he used so as to be stepped to provide a series of staggered foundations if needed to follow the slope. Shallow sl~pes of up to 1 in 20 can be accommodated by using a constant sub-wall height with a tapering footing height. As stated previously, each sub-wall is pre-fabricated prior to delivery, and thus can be manufactured with dimensional tolerance standards far higher than normally obtainable with on-site labour.
Referring to Figure 4, a plurality of the temporary adjustable supports 65 are set upon the surface 69, and disposed at locations as required to support each floor assembly with negligible deflection.
Prior to setting the floor assemblies on the supports, the upper pads 75 of the supports are levelled, using builder's levels or other leveling systems. Each floor assembly, in turn, is supported by the crane and carefully and slowly lowered and set in a required location with respect to property lines etc., as the final location of the floor assembly clearly determines the final location of the building. Reference points can be established by use of taut strings located near the supports, thus defining locations of edges of the floor assemblies, so as to facilitate initial set up of the floor assemblies.
Referring to Figures 5 and 6, the assembly 10 is supported on some supports 65, and is lPveled by final adjustment of the supports using the builder's levels, etc. An adjoining floor assembly, such as the floor 2 ~
assembly 38, is carried on a bridle 158 supported from the crane so as to be generally level. The assembly 38 is slowly lowered until a corner 160 of the as~embly 38 is closely adjacent to a corner 159 af the assembly 10. In this position, the two floor assemblies are essentially co-planar, and essentially all of the weight of the floor assembly 38 is still carried by the bridle 158.
As previously described, to facilitate initial engagement of the corners o the two adjacent assemblies 10 and 38, the male and female guide means 162 and 164 at the adjacent corners 159 and 160 of the assemblies 10 and 38 coopera~e as follows. The male guide means is a plate carrying a pin 162 which is secured to extend essentially vertically upwardly fro~ adjacent the corner 159. The female guide. means 164 is a recessed plate member 165 having a base portion 166 secured to an upper surface of the skin 38. The pla~e member 165 also has a V-shaped recess 163 defined by a pair of outwardly diverging edges of arm portions 167 and 168. The arm portions extend outwardly from the joining portlon 124 of the assembly 38 towards the assembly lO, and have outer ends space~ apart at a distance several times greater than the diameter of the pin 162. An inner end of the recess 163 is slightly greater than the diameter o~ the pin to provide a secure and accurate seating therein.
Preferably, the arm portions extend slightly upwardly out of a plane of the upper surface of the skin to resist tendency af the arm portions to gouge the surface of the skin 10.
To facilitate guiding the assemblies together, the two corners 159 and 160 can be drawn closely into engagement with each other by a qimple winching system as follows. A first winching system 170, such as a hand-operated ratchet "come-alon~", extends between anchors 171 and 172 temporarily connected to end portions of the two floor assemblies 38 and 10. When the winching ~$~
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system 170 is operated, the corner 160 can be carefully moved closer towards the final position with respect to the corner 159, the movement being guided by the guide means 162 and 169. Thus the female surfaces of the upper and lower skins 98 and lO0 ~Figure 3) adjacent the corner 160 engage thQ upper and lower flanges 128 and 130 ~Figure 3) of the ~oining edge of corner 159 of the first floor assembly. Care should be taken to ensure that adjacent edges at the corner are aligned, and, due to close manufacturing tolerances of the assemblies, ~t should be possible ~o obtain a snug ~it between the two corners only of the ad~acent floor assemblies.
Thus, in summary, it can be seen in Figure 6 that when initially al~gning the assemblies, the pin 162 is relatively easily received between the two axms of the guide means 164, and as the assemblies are brought closer together, the pin moves towards the inner portion of the recess until it is received within the inner end, at which position the complementary joining portions of the corners of the skin are fully engaged. At this point, there will be a triangular-shaped gap defined by oppositely facing joining portions 122 and 124 of the two skins which are disposed as an angle 174. A second winching syste~ 176 can be connected to anchors 177 and 17~ temporarily connected to opposite end faces of the two assemblies 38 and 10. The second winching system is actuated to draw oppositely facing joining portions 124 and 122 into engag~ment with each other, thus reducing the angle 174 to zero. If the second assembly 138 sags under its own weight, some portions of the assembly 38 will require raising a æhort distance to facilitate smooth engagement with the first assembly 10. When the floor assemblies have been levelled and connected together using the screws 144, the service conduits can be similarly connected, using the appropriate couplings which can be accessed through the access opening 115. Thus, the method includes interconnecting the ends of adjacent service conduits 2~'t.~ 3g~
together to provide an interconnected service conduit extending between khe intexconnected floor assemblies.
This requires providin~ an access opening ad~acent a ~oining portion having a recess, which permits an installer to reach into the recess, align appropria~e service conduits, and couple them together with the respective coupling. The access opening is closed by th~
appropriate door when no longer in use.
10Referring to Figures 1 and 2, when all the floor assemblies are connected together to form the assembled floor, the sub-walls are installed to extend around the periphery of the assembled floor so that they are located directly beneath the outer periphery of an appropriate floor assembly, and are spaced above the surface of the site by a minimum space 78 that provides a sufficient depth of concrete for required strength, that is typically about 7 - 15 cms. ~3 or 6 inches). As stated previously, if the site is sloping, sub-walls of varying heights can be installed, so as to provide a series of s~epped sub-walls. At all times, minimum spacing between the sub-wall base and the surface should be between 3 and 6 inches. Sub-walls prefabricated in 15 cm (6 inch) increments are probably acceptable, requiring the footings to vary in depth between 3 and 12 inches.
Referring to Figure 2, when the sub-wall 66 is installed, the respective outer form 76 can be nailed to an outer surface of the sub-wall, and additionally located with some earth stakes if needed. Thus, in contrast with prior art methods known to the inventor in which the building structure is located after, and with respect to, a previously pxepared foundation structure, in the present invention the form means and resulting foundation structure are positioned with respect to the installed sub-wall extending downwardly from the previously positioned floor assembly. This is considered to be a major advantage, in that the floor assembly has been '~J~3~
.
accurately located, and ~he sub-wall and foundation structure are then, in effect, bui~t downwardly from an accurately located floor. This enables the foundation structure to accommodate terrain variations adjacent the periphery of the floor.
The inner form 74 can khen be located inwardly of the outer form to provide a sufficient width of footings. Suitable metal straps 77 can be used to locate the inner form relative to khe outer form and ~ithin a generally vertical plane as shown. It is seen tha~ the outer form is automatically located flush against the outer surface of the sub wall and thus, provides a flush finish to an outer wall of the footing when the outer form is removed.
Interior foundation walls remote from the outer periphery of the assembled floor are similarly established by securiny the interior sub-wall 82 to ~he lower skin of tha assembly in the required location, and then prov.iding the pair of spaced interior forms 91 and 92 on either side in a manner similar to the peripheral forms.
At this stage, it can be seen that the method according to the invention is characterized by supporting a plurality of supports on the surface, and placing a floor assem~ly on the supports to provide a space between the floor assembly and the surface. The sub-wall is located to extend along a portion of the periphery of the floor assembly to form an outer foundation of the assembled floor. This is followed by locating form means on the surface with respect to the periphery of ~he floor assembly so as to be spaced below the floor assembly.
portion of the outer form means is connected to the sub-wall to control location of the outer form means.
A supply of flowable and settable foundation material is now installed, for example conventional ~,~3~
"rea~y-mix~ concrete, which can be pumped to fill the space between the form means, the surface and sub-wall base as required. Clearly, there has to be sufficient volume of concrete within the form means to fully embrace the sub-wall base, i.eO a lower surface of the lower plate, to provide full support along a lower surface ~hereof. Preferably, there is sufficient concrete to fill the space somewhat above the lower surface of the sub-wall base, typically between 1 and 2 cms. extra (i.e. betwaen one half inch and one inch extra), which augments securing of the lower plate in the concrete by providing a~ least the shoulder 80 on one side of the plate to resist movement of the plate laterally. Because the foundation material closely conforms to the sub-wall base, the resulting concrete shoulder 80 eliminates ~he prior art requirement for sheet metal strips set in the foundation material, or for vertical rods or other connecting means which are normally used to connect the lower plate to the foundation.
Nhen the concrete has ~et the temporary supports 65 can be lowered and xemoved, so that completed floor is then supported on the sub-walls and footings as shown in Figure 7. Normal wall construction can then commence, using the accurately located markings 15 on the upper skins 12 and 39.
~LTERNATIV~S
The description above is assuming that two or more floor assemblies are required to produce a comple~ed floor. ~learly, for a small building, or where manufacturing, transportation and lifting facilities ~re of sufficient capacity, a single floor assembly could be used to produce a complete floor for a single building, which would not require joining of two or more floor assemblies together. Thus, the sub walls would extend 2~(3~
completely around the singl0 floor assemhly and there would then be no r~quirement for connecting portions, as shown, and clearly many of the benefits of the invention would still result.
Figure 8 The assemblies previously described disclose sub-walls of treated wood, which is not always acceptable because of local building code requirements, public acceptance etc. An alternative structure according to the invention can utilize concrete foundations which extend from the site surface to ~ lower surface of the lower skin of the floor assembly, thus eliminating the need for lS separate, prefabricated wooden sub-walls. This alternative requires considerably more concrete than the previously described embodiment, and alæo requires more forming material, but otherwise functions essentially equivalently.
A portion of the floor assembly 10 is shown temporarily supported on one of several supports 65. An alternative foundation structure or form means 180 according to the invention includes an outer form means 182, and an inner form means 184, the form means being located on a prepared site surface 181 as shown.
The outer form means 182 has an upper portion 186 secured to an outer web 26 and a lower portion 188 adjacent the site surface. An edge of the lower portion should be fairly close, i.e. within 5 - 10 cmm (about 2 - 4 inches) of the site surface to reduce loss of concrete. The upper portion 186 has at least one delivery opening 185, and a plurality of breather openings 187 located closely b~neath a plane of the floor assembly. The inner form means 184 has a lower portion 190 located adjacent the site surface 181 and secured to the outer form means 182 by metal straps 192 lying along the site surface. The straps 192 tie the form means together to resist hydraulic ~ $ ~
.
pressure of concrete. A stiffener 194 is used to strengthen a 10Wer edge of the form means 184 against hydraulic pressure of the poured concre-te, the inner form means being a relatively thin piece of plywood.
The inner form means 184 has an upper portion 196 sandwiched between and connect~d to two thin metal plates 198 and 199 extending along a lower surface of the floor assembly to locate the upper portion 196 of 10the inner orm means. ~ha upper portions 186 and 196 of the form means are spaced apart by a spacing 200 to provide an adequa~ely wide bearing surface of concrete wall to contact the ~loor assembly.
15Thus, in summary, it can be seen that the method of the invention when using the alternative foxm means is characterized by the foundation material being located on the site surface and closely conforming to a lower portion of the floor assembly to suppor~ the floor assembly above the surface. The method further includes locating the outer form means 182 to extend from a portion of the periphery of the floor assembly to the site surace, and locating the inner form means 18~ ~o extend be~ween the floor assembly and the surface. The inner form means is disposed generally ad~acent to, but spaced inwardly of, the outer form means so as to provide a foundation space 201 defined by the inner and outer form means, and adjacent portions of the floor assembly 10 and the site surface 181. It is also seen that the outer form means is located by securing with fastening means to an adjacent periphery of the floor assembly, and the inner form means is located by securing with fastener means to positions disposed inwardly of the adjacent periphery of the floor assembly.
In operation, the alternative form means 180 is used very similarly to the previously described embodiment, with the exception that the outer form 2 ~ ~3 ~ /~ ("J
means 182 is removed after pouring, so as to expo~e an outer face of the concrete founda~ion extending downwardly from the floor assembly to the site. ~lso, in most cases, the inner form means 184 will remain in place as it will usually be difficult to extract and does not present problems when left in place.
The method is characterized by supplying the foundation material ~hrough the delivery opening 185, i.e.
from a pipe, not shown, and permitting the concrete to flow into the foundation space 201, covering the metal strips 192, and filling the space progressively upwardlyO
As volume of concrete builds up within the space 201, air is displaced from the upper portion of the foundation lS space through the breather openings 187 so as to reduce void formation in the foundation material. Clearly, as the foundation material is supplied in*o this space, location of the inner and outer faces of the foundation means is controlled by the inner and outer iorm means 182 and 184. In this way the foundation material occupies only the foundation space, while leaving an empty innermost space between inner portions of the floor assembly, the site surface, and the inner form means.
As before, when the foundation material has set, the supports 65 are lowered and removed. The outer form means is removed to expose an outer surface of the concrete foundation wall, and any inadvertent voids therein resulting from entrapped air or poor flowing concrete can be manually filled.
It can be seen that the methods described above relating to the two different types of foundation means are generally similar, in that, in both instances, the floor assemblies are located accurately on temporary supports, after which form means are located and foundation material is poured onto the site surface. As the concrete is poured, it moves upwardly to cooperate with a lower surface of the floor assembly and simultaneously accommodates variations in spacing between the site surface and the levelled floor assembly.
Clearly, when the foundation material has set, the temporary supports and forms can be removed, leaving the floor assembly accurately located on the foundation material.
ln B182:662.1
BUILDING FOUNDATION, FLOOR ASSFlqBLY
AND MET~101) OF INS~ALI~TIO~N TH13REOF
B~CRGRUUND OF T~13 INYENTION
The inven~ion rela~es to a building foundation and floor assembly, and method of installation thereof, in particular for use in residential house construction.
Foundations for houses are usually constructed using temporary concrete forms installed on load bearing earth and extending around a perimeter of the building.
Flowable foundation material, such as concrete, is poured into spaces between the forms and allowed to harden, after which the temporary forms are manually removed.
This method o foundation construction incurs many problems, particularly relating to the uneven ground conditions which require considerable preparation by on-side labour. Height and location of the forms must be controlled accurately, both with respect to horizontal and vertical locations. When constructing in inclement weather conditions, such as heavy rain, snow or freezing conditions, difficulties of achieving dimensional accuracy are compounded. Furthermore, when the foundations have been poured, much of the temporary form work canno~ be reused, resulting in wastage of forming material.
In some circumstances, in particular with relatively high form work, hydraulic pressure of a column of poured concrete can cause lower portions of the forms to shift upwardly, called "form uplift". This can cause severe problems.
2~$~
When a prior art foundation has hardened, the wooden structure of the building .is secured to an upper surface of the concret0. Typical3y, this upper surface is relatively rough, and i5 no~ completely level, and thus S when horizontal wooden strips, called plates, are mounted on the upper surfac~, they are supported in an uneven manner, and subjPcted ~o twisting and bending. The plates are usually secured to the concrete by vertical ~hreaded rods or sheet metal strips set in the concrete before the concrete is cured. The plates are secured to the rods by drilling holes in the plates to accept the rods, and securing the plates to the rods with nuts. Alternatively, the plates can be connected to the sheet metal strips by bending the strips to embrace the plates. Either method of securing the plates to the concrete is relatively inaccurate and subject to error, which has to be corrected at some other stage in construction.
Furthermore, when the floor joists and sub-floor have been installed a master carpenter is required to layout on the sub-~loor the positions of interior and exterior walls, doors, windows etc. This is time consuming, and, even when care is taken, is subject to error which results in time consuming corrections later on in the building process.
Many inventions have been developed in attempts to reduce some of the above problems. For ex~mple, U.S.
Patent 4,711,058 (Patton) discloses a permanent concrete form comprising a metallic sheet permanently connected to ; an insulated barrier. While this reduces form work wastage, excessive on-site labour and problems of achieving dimensional accuracy remain. U.S. Patents 3,673,750 (Bokvist el al) and 3,956,859 (Eingestrom) discloses heat and moisture insulating bloc~s placed around the perimeter of a foundation prior to pouring concreteO Excessive on-site labour, high foundation material costs and difficulty in maintaining accuracy ~3~
still remain. U.S. Patent 4,799,348 (Brami et al) discloses insulating a rigid slab for carrying a building but this also requires excess.ive on-site labour -for site preparation, installation of recoverable forms and the s need for accurate location of same. V.S. Patent 4,689,926 (MacDonald) discloses a method of providing an insulating structure beneath a buildin~ or platform, as opposed to a true foundation. In this method the building is initially supported above a shell of resilient plastic material to define a space between the building a~d the shell, ~7hich ~pace is substantially entirely filled with insulating foam. This is costly and would appear to be appropriate only for small buildings, such as mobile homes.
In the inventor's opinion, many of the inventions relating to building foundations disclosed in the patents above do not provide large reductions in on-site labour, nor reduce the necessity for accurate location of forms or placement of foundation material.
Furthermore, none of the patents above disclose a means for eliminating the co~tly and time consuming layout necessary to mark a sub-floor with locations of exterior and interior walls as previously described.
S~MMARY OF 1~ INV~NTION
The invention reduces the difficulty and disadvantages of the prior art by providing a method and apparatus which reduces considerably on-site labour, and removes the necessity of accurate location of temporary form work prior to pouring foundations. The invention permits pre-fabrication of floor assemblies which can be accurately pre-fabricated in a actory, using accurate and fast production tooling and semi-automatic or automatic assembly processes. The floor assemblies are thus produced to very close dimensional tolerances which are very difficult to attain on normal building sites. The 2~3~
floor assemblies are made in a siz~ which can be transported on conventional flat bed trucks to a building site, after which they can be accurately installed with minimal on-site skilled labour requirements. Furthermore, the time consuming layout of the sub-floor to define positions of exterior and interior walls, doors etc. can be carried out in the factory, thus reducing on-site labour costs and considerably increasing accuracy.
The invention also permits use of simple, relatively low cost concrete form work which can be easily installed on ~he site with relatively wide dimensional tolerances. Furthermore, in the preferred embodiment, the low cost and simple form work can be arranged in such a 15 manner that relatively low volumes of concrete are required to produce footings, when compared with other prior art foundations. Thus, less form work is required, with corresponding less concrete, and less time reguired in pouring the concrete, resulting in considerable savings im material and labour costs. It has been found that site preparation can be reduced considerably and a highly accurately located and installed floor assembly at first floor level can be installed on-site in considerably less time, and with a higher accuracy than with priox art methods.
A method according to the invention for installing a floor assembly and building foundation on a site surface comprises the following steps:
placing a plurality of supports on the surface, placing a floor assembly on the supports to provide a space between the floor assembly and the surface, locating form means on the surface with respect to the floor assembly so as to be spaced below the floor ass~mbly, supplying a flowable and set~able foundation material to occupy a portion of the space between at least the form means, the surface and a portion of the floor assembly, so that when the foundation material ha~ set, the floor assembly is supported on foundation material.
Preferably, $he method further .includes:
connecting a sub-wall to the floor assembly so as to extend downwardly from the floor assembly, the sub-wall having a sub-wall base spaced above the surface, locating the form means with respect to the sub-wall, supplying the foundation material to occupy a portion of the space between the sub-wall base~
the form means and the surface.
- For use in a building requiring more than one floor assembly, the method further includes:
placing a plurality of floor assemblies on the supports to provide respective spaces between the floor assemblies and the surface, interconnecting the ad~acent floor as~emblies together along adjacent joining portions thereof to form an assembled floor of a building, locating the form means on the surface to surround an overall periphery of the assembled .
.
`' . - ~ :,: ' , .
2~3~
floor, so that when the foundation material is se~, ~he assembled floor is suppor~ed along ~he overall periphery thereof.
The supports are removed after the foundation material is set and can be used again elsewhere, and in some instances the form means can be permanently left on the foundations. Preferably, portions of service conduits have been previously loca~ed to extend through the floor as~emblies as installed, and can be interconnected after assembly of the floor assemblies.
A pre-fabricated floor and folmdation installation according to the invention comprises a first floor assembly having a firs~ upper skin and a first lowex skin, outer webs and trim webs connecting the skins together adjacent peripheries of the skins to form a plenum chamber between the skins and the webs. Foundation material is located on a site surface, and closely conforms to a lower portion of the floor a~semblies to support the floor assembly above the surface, and to resist lateral forces on the floor assembly. Thermal insulation cooperates with the lower sXin so as to assist in insulating the plenum chamber. Preferably~ at least one web has an opening and a service conduit is located between the skins and passes through the opening in the web. The conduit has an end located adjacent a portion of the periphery of the floor assembly. A plurality of inner webs extend between the ends of the assembly to divide the plenum chamber into plenum chamber portions, the inner webs having openings to interconnect the plenum chamber portions. The service conduit extends through at least some of the openings in the inner webs. Preferably, the lower portion of the assembly includes a sub-wall having a sub-wall base, the sub-wall extending downwardly from the floor assembly. Also, the foundation material closely conforms to the sub-wall base so as to support the floor assembly thereon ~nd to resist lat~ral forces on the foundation.
A detaile~ disclosuxe following, relating to drawings, describes a preferr0d mekhod and apparatus according to the invention, which is capable of expression in struc~ure other than that particularly described and illustrated.
DESClRIPTIOlN OF THE DRi~ INGS
Figure 1 is a simplified, fragmented, partially exploded isometric view of two prefabricated floor assembliès according to the inven~ionl a sub-wall according to the invention shown closely ad~acent one of the floor assemblies, and air handling equipment shown prior to installation on the other floor assembly, Figure 2 is a simplified, fragmented isometric view of a portion of one floor assembly installed, the floor assembly being emporarily supported on an adjustable temporary support, with portions of exterior and interior footings, and exterior and interior sub-walls installed, Figure 3 is a fragmented detail diagram showing joining portions of two adjacent skins, .~
Figure 4 is a diagram showing a building site after preparation, the site carrying several temporary supports to receive the floor assemblies, Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 3, with one floor assembly temporarily supported, and a second floor assembly bei.ng lowered onto the supports prior to installation of sub-walls~
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~3~
Figure 6 is a fragmen~ed top plan diagram showing the joining portions of the two adiacent skins with guide means to facilitate initial engagement of corner portions of the skins, Figure 7 is a vi~w similar to Figure 3, showing three floor assemblies fully installed with sub-walls fitted, showing form means before removal, Figure 8 is a simplified, fragmen~ed perspective generally similar to Figure 2, showing the floor assembly temporarily supported, and alternative foundation form means installed prior to pouring concrete.
DETAIL~D DISCLOSU~B
Figures_1 through 3 ~or buildings of normal size, a plurality of prefabricated floor assemblies are required, the floor assemblies being generally similar, and differing only in specific features, such as dimensions, services, etc.
dependant on the location of the particular floor assembly within the building.
In Figure 1, a pre-frabricated first floor assembly 10 has a first upper skin 12 and a first lower skin 14, the skins being rectangular, and having generally equal dimensions so that peripheries of the skins can be aligned with each other within respective vertical planes as shown.
The upper skin 12 serves as a portion of a final sub-floor of an assembled floor, and has layout markings 15, shown in broken outline, defining locations of exterior walls, interior walls, doors, windows etc. as is well known. ~hese markings can be marked very ~3~g~
, accurately on the upper panel 12 in ~he factory, and thus can be closely controlled and eliminate the costly and time consuming layout normally occurring on-si~e.
~he assembly 10 has a longitudinal axis 16, and a plurali~y of inner webs 18 disposed parallel ko the axis 16 and interconnec~ing the upper and lower skins.
Peripheral outer webs 20 and 22 are parallel to the inn~r webs and extend along parallel side edges 24 and 25 respectively of the upper skin 12, and interconnect aligned paxallel edges of the lower ~kin 14. The side edges 24 and 25 are thus parallel to the axis 16 and provide longer sides of the rectangle, but in Figure 1 are fragmented and shown relatively short. Peripheral trim webs 26, one only being shown in Figure l, extend along opposite shorter edges of the rectangle of the first skin, one shorter end edge 28 being shown. The peripheral webs are similarly connected to the edges of the upper and lower skins so as to define a ~enerally hollow rectangular block with ad;acent peripheries of the skins connected together to form a plenum chamber 32 between the skins and the webs. It can be seen that the plurality of inner webs 18 extending between the trim webs ak the opposite ends of the assembly divide the plenum chamber 32 into a plurality of plenum chamber portions 34. The inner webs have a plurality of openings 36 for conduit clearance as will be described, and to interconnect the plenum chamber portions so tha~ air can circnlate between different portions of the skinO
Thermal insulation 40, such as a rigid expanded plastic, is connected to a lower surface of the lower skin 14 to cooperate therewith and ~o assist in insulating the plenum chamber. Similarly, thermal insulation 41 also extends along an inner face of the outer web 20 and other peripheral webs which define portions of evenkual outer edges of the buildin~. An air handler 37, such as a fan and heat exchanger, shown separated in Figure 1, cooperates with an opening 35 in an upper skin 39 of a second floor assembly 38, sc as to supply hea~ed or cooled air to a similar plenum chamber within the assembly 38 for distribution in~o the assembly 10 and into other floor assemblies of the building. The heat exchanger can be a portion of a conventional heating system, or air conditioning system, or both, depending on the application. The upper skin 12 also has a heat register opening 48 communicaking with the plenum chamber to receive heated air therefrom, and other heat register openings, not sho~7n, can be provided to distribute heated or treated air w.ithin the building.
Service conduits such as supply waker conduit 42, and waste water conduit 44, extend between the skins 12 and 14 and through at least some of the openings 36 of the inner webs 18 between the outer webs 22, and also through respective clearance openings 46 in the upper skin 12. It can ba seen that the conduits 42 and 44 extend upwardly through the respective openings 46 in the upper skin 12 and can be connected to appropriate conduits when the building is completed, ~o as to supply water to, and return waste water from, various appliances within the building.
When the assemblies are transported to the site, or stored, usually with one on top of the other, spacer blocks, not shown, are provided to protect projecting upper ends of the conduits 42 and 44 extending from a lower floor assembly from damage due to an adjacent upper floor assembly resting on top of the lower floor assembly. The use of spacer blocks is well known, and also facilitates slinging of the floor assemblies for handling and later installation as is well known.
In the preferred embodiment, a sub-wall 54 eventually will extend along and downwardly from a portion of a periphery of the floor assembly 10, i.e. ad~acent the ~3~3~
outer web 20 of the side edge 24 to eventually form an outer foundation wall of the building. Irhe sub-wall 54 includes a foundation wall sheathing 56 which can be preserved wood sheathing such as plywood, having an upper wall portion 58 whicll is securable to the outer web 20 using conventional fasteners. The sub-wall 54 also includes upper and lower plates 60 and 62, with a plurality of vertically extending, laterally spaced, studs 64 supporting the plates, one stud only being shown in Figure 1.
Referring to Figure 2, a temporary adjustable support 65 is supported on a site surface 69 to temporarily support a portion of weight o~ the floor assembly as will be described. The temporary support 65 has a tripod base portion 71 having three downwardly extending legs, with lower pads 72 provided at ends of each leg. A threaded shaft 73 is extendable and retractable of the tripod base portion, and carries an upper pad 75 at an upper end which engages the lower skin of the floor assembly.
In Figure 2, for clarity of illustration, ~he sub-wall 54 of Figure 1 is not shown connected to the edge 24 as it would be when completed. Instead, the peripheral trim web 26 is shown fitted with a similar sub-wall 66 which extends downwardly from adjacent the edge 28 of the skin. ~he sub-wall 66 has a lower plate 67 to provide a sub-wall base as before, which cooperates with an exterior foundation footing 68. Similar sub-walls, not shown, are provided adjacent outer edges o~
other floor assemblies to cooperate with respective exterior foundation footings.
In Figure 2, the cooperation between the sub-wall 66 and the exterior foundation footing 68 is as follows. The foundation footing 68 is constru~ted on-site, following conventional methods, and thus ~3~o~
contrasts with the pre fabrica~ed construction of the floor assembly and sub-walls as previously described.
Thus, flowable foundation ma~erial, eg. concrete, i5 poured between a pair of forms, namely inner and outer s forms 74 and 76, the forms being supported in vertical manner as shown res~ing on a prepared site surface 69.
The forms are cut in lengths to approximately follow contours of the surface 69 to pxevent excessive loss of concrete. Upper edges of the forms can be disposed relatively inaccurately when compared with conventional forms. The outer form 76 is secured to the sub-wall 66 so as to be generally co-planer therewith, that is adjacent surfaces of the outer form 76 and the sub-wall 66 are within the same generally vertical plane. The inner form means 74 is located by a metal strip 77 passing in a loop from the outer form means 76~ The forms 74 and 76 are disposed below an outer periphery of the floor assembly and provide a sufficiently wide footing. Ground stakes, not shown, can be added as needed to provide additional support for the forms.
It can be seen that a lower surface of the lower plate 67, i.e. the sub-wall base, is spaced above the site surface 69 by a vertical spacing 78, which can vary considerably depending on the levelness of the site surface, location of the lower plate 67, and other factors as will be described. Preferably, to ensure full support of the plate 67, excess concrete is poured to ensure the cured concrete surface is above the lower surface of the plate 67 to produce a shoulder 80 in the concrete. This provides support for the plate against lateral force of the back-filled soil, thus eliminating the need for metal straps or rods as used in the prior art.
For most buildings, interior foundation walls are also required to provide intermediate support for relatively long joists extending between oppositely located foundation walls extending along outer peripheries of the building. Thus, one or more addi~ional interior sub-walls, for example ~n in~erior sub-wall 82, would be located at a position remote from a periphery of the floor assembly to provide an interior founda~ion wall S of the building. Similarly to the sub-walls 54 and 66, the interior sub-wall 82 has upper and lower plates 84 and 86 connected toge~her by a plurality of vertically disposed, laterally spaced studs 88 and an interior - foundation wall sheathing 89. An interior foundation footing 90 is similarly produced between spaced forms 91 and 92 in a similar manner to the foundation footing 68.
Referring again to Figure 1, the second floor assembly 38 has the second upper skin 39 and a second lower skin 100, outer webs 102 and 104~ and trim webs, not shown, interconnecting the skins together adjacent peripheries thereof as before to form a plenum chamber 106 between the skins and ~he webs. The second floor assembly 38 also includes a plurality of inner webs 108 extending between ends of the assembly to divide the plenum chamber into plenum chamber portions, the inner and outer webs having openings 110 to interconnect the plenum chamber portions.
Similarly to the first floor assembly 10, service conduits 112 and 114 extend through at least some of the openings 110 in the inner and outer webs, and ha~e outer ends adjacent edges of the skins, some of which are also located beneath an access opening 115, which is normally kept closed by a complementary undesignated door.
The outer ends of the service conduits 112 and 114 carxy known couplings 116 and 118 which are accessible through the opening 115 when the floors are assembled, to permit the conduits 112 and 114 to be connected by ~he couplings 116 and 118 respectively to adjacent aligned end portions of the service conduits 42 and 44 of the first floor assembly. Clearly, each æervice conduit located between the skins may have at least one end located ~3~
-14~
adja~ent a portion of the periphery of ~he floor assembly, to permit coupling together of conduits, and to facilitate transportation and storage o the floor assemblies.
Referring to Figures 1 and 3, the first and second floor assemblies 10 and 38 have first and second joining portions 1~2 and 124 respectively, the joining portions being complementary -to each other. The joining portion 122 of the first floor assembly has an I-beam shaped outer web 22, the I-beam ha~ing upper and lower horizontal flanges 128 and 130 respectively, which are interconnected by a vertical web 132. It can be seen that the flanges of the I-beam web 22 serves as a projection 126 for the joining portion of the first floor assembly. An upper surface 134 of the upper flange provides an upper male surface, and a lower surface 136 of the lower flange provides a lower male surface. The upper and lower male surfaces are critical and extend outwardly of the first upper and lower skins respectively with respect to the joining portion. ~he upper male surface 134 is spaced below an upper surface of the first upper skin 12 by an upper space 140, i.e. thickness of the skin 12. Similarly, ~he lower male surface 136 is spaced above a lower surface of ~he first lower skin 14 by a lower spacing 142, i.e. thickness of the skin 14.
Usually, the upper skin 12 is thicker than the lower skin 14 because the skin 12 serves as a sub-floor, and thus the upper spacing is greater than the lower spacing.
The lower skin 14 stiffens the floor assembly, and seal6 and insula~es the plenum chamber 32 for air distribution as described.
The joining portion 124 of the second floor assembly 38 is a female portion and has a recess 146 to receive the I-beam or projection o~ the first floor assembly. The recess 146 is defined in part by critical surfaces of the upper and lower skins g8 and 100, namely an upper female surface 150, and a lower female 2 j~ (jr~) ~
surface 152. The upper fe~ale surface is a lower sur~ace of the upper skin 39 and thus is spaced below an upper surface of the upper skin by the upper spacing 140, assuming the two upper skins 12 and 39 have the same thicknessO Similarly, the lower female surface is an upper surface of the lower skin 100 and thus is spaced above a lower surface of the lower skin by the said lower spacing 142, assuming both lower skins 14 and 100 are of the same thickness.
When the floor assemblies are connected together, the upper and lower skins of the second floor assembly are closely adjacent the upper and lower ~langes 128 and 130 of the I-beam, and can be secured thereto by fastener means, e.g. screws 144, passins through at leas-~ an edge portion of the upper skin 98 of second 100r assembly to connect to the projection or upper flange of the I beam.
As seen in Figure 1, the outer web 102 of the second assembly 3~ is I-beam shaped similarly to the ou~er web 22 of the first assembly 10. ~hus, the assembly 38 has a recess along one joining portion, and complementary projection along the opposite joining portion, and thus can cooperate with a third similar assembly not shown, to provide an assembled floor. Also, to facilitate joining between the two assemblies, complementary male and female guide means 162 and 164 are fitted to adjacent corn~rs of the assemblies 10 and 38.
These guide means require accurate installation, which is preferably carried out off~site in the controlled environment of the assembly shop. Similarly to the conduits projec~ing from the skins, the guide means should be protected from damage during storage and transportation, as they are required to be very accurately located. Further description of the guide means is found with the reference to Figure 6.
Referxing again to Figure 3, to facilitate initial engagement of th~ complementary surfaces of the projection 126 with the recess 146, preferably shallow tapers are provided on the complementary surfaces 134 and 150, and 136 and 152. This shallow tapering is sufficient to provide clearances adjacen~ outer edges of the surfaces of approximately 2 to 3 mms. (appxoximately one eighth of an inch) on each side, so that the surfaces ~an be brought smoothly together, thus reducing chances of grain splinters from interfering with complete engagement.
Also, glue is preferably provided along the complementary surfaces prior to engagement, the glue serving not only to provide bonding when dried, but to provide a lubricant to enable smooth connection of the surfaces during assembly.
OPERATION
Fiaures 1 throuqh 7 The foundation and floor assemblies are installed at a suitable building site as follows. The floor assemblies are transported to the site from a manufacturing or storage facility in the condition as ` 25 shown in Pigure 1. Thus/ the sub walls ars disassembled from the floor assemblies, and the portions of the conduits projecting from the upper suxfaces of lower assemblies are protected from upper assemblies by suitable spacers. It is anticipated that a normal flat bed ~railer with a truck crane could carry sufficient floor assemblies for one or two normal-sized houses, which are unloaded on the site by a crane. Typical weight of a ~loox as.sembly would be between approxima~ely 700 and 1200 kgs.
(appproximately 1500 and 2500 lbs.), and thus a medium capacity truck crane is all that would be required.
The site surface 69 has been prepared minimally, by clearing organic overburden, so as to obtain a load ~ 3 bearing sub~strata upon which concrete can be poured.
There is no requirement for accurate setting out of the foundation plan on the site, nor is ~here any requirement for excessive site levelling work due to the versatility of the present invention. Moderate variations in vertical height can be accommodated easily by suitable choice of heights of sub-walls and of footings. On a relatively steeply inclined slope, several di-fferent sub-walls of different heights could he used so as to be stepped to provide a series of staggered foundations if needed to follow the slope. Shallow sl~pes of up to 1 in 20 can be accommodated by using a constant sub-wall height with a tapering footing height. As stated previously, each sub-wall is pre-fabricated prior to delivery, and thus can be manufactured with dimensional tolerance standards far higher than normally obtainable with on-site labour.
Referring to Figure 4, a plurality of the temporary adjustable supports 65 are set upon the surface 69, and disposed at locations as required to support each floor assembly with negligible deflection.
Prior to setting the floor assemblies on the supports, the upper pads 75 of the supports are levelled, using builder's levels or other leveling systems. Each floor assembly, in turn, is supported by the crane and carefully and slowly lowered and set in a required location with respect to property lines etc., as the final location of the floor assembly clearly determines the final location of the building. Reference points can be established by use of taut strings located near the supports, thus defining locations of edges of the floor assemblies, so as to facilitate initial set up of the floor assemblies.
Referring to Figures 5 and 6, the assembly 10 is supported on some supports 65, and is lPveled by final adjustment of the supports using the builder's levels, etc. An adjoining floor assembly, such as the floor 2 ~
assembly 38, is carried on a bridle 158 supported from the crane so as to be generally level. The assembly 38 is slowly lowered until a corner 160 of the as~embly 38 is closely adjacent to a corner 159 af the assembly 10. In this position, the two floor assemblies are essentially co-planar, and essentially all of the weight of the floor assembly 38 is still carried by the bridle 158.
As previously described, to facilitate initial engagement of the corners o the two adjacent assemblies 10 and 38, the male and female guide means 162 and 164 at the adjacent corners 159 and 160 of the assemblies 10 and 38 coopera~e as follows. The male guide means is a plate carrying a pin 162 which is secured to extend essentially vertically upwardly fro~ adjacent the corner 159. The female guide. means 164 is a recessed plate member 165 having a base portion 166 secured to an upper surface of the skin 38. The pla~e member 165 also has a V-shaped recess 163 defined by a pair of outwardly diverging edges of arm portions 167 and 168. The arm portions extend outwardly from the joining portlon 124 of the assembly 38 towards the assembly lO, and have outer ends space~ apart at a distance several times greater than the diameter of the pin 162. An inner end of the recess 163 is slightly greater than the diameter o~ the pin to provide a secure and accurate seating therein.
Preferably, the arm portions extend slightly upwardly out of a plane of the upper surface of the skin to resist tendency af the arm portions to gouge the surface of the skin 10.
To facilitate guiding the assemblies together, the two corners 159 and 160 can be drawn closely into engagement with each other by a qimple winching system as follows. A first winching system 170, such as a hand-operated ratchet "come-alon~", extends between anchors 171 and 172 temporarily connected to end portions of the two floor assemblies 38 and 10. When the winching ~$~
19~
system 170 is operated, the corner 160 can be carefully moved closer towards the final position with respect to the corner 159, the movement being guided by the guide means 162 and 169. Thus the female surfaces of the upper and lower skins 98 and lO0 ~Figure 3) adjacent the corner 160 engage thQ upper and lower flanges 128 and 130 ~Figure 3) of the ~oining edge of corner 159 of the first floor assembly. Care should be taken to ensure that adjacent edges at the corner are aligned, and, due to close manufacturing tolerances of the assemblies, ~t should be possible ~o obtain a snug ~it between the two corners only of the ad~acent floor assemblies.
Thus, in summary, it can be seen in Figure 6 that when initially al~gning the assemblies, the pin 162 is relatively easily received between the two axms of the guide means 164, and as the assemblies are brought closer together, the pin moves towards the inner portion of the recess until it is received within the inner end, at which position the complementary joining portions of the corners of the skin are fully engaged. At this point, there will be a triangular-shaped gap defined by oppositely facing joining portions 122 and 124 of the two skins which are disposed as an angle 174. A second winching syste~ 176 can be connected to anchors 177 and 17~ temporarily connected to opposite end faces of the two assemblies 38 and 10. The second winching system is actuated to draw oppositely facing joining portions 124 and 122 into engag~ment with each other, thus reducing the angle 174 to zero. If the second assembly 138 sags under its own weight, some portions of the assembly 38 will require raising a æhort distance to facilitate smooth engagement with the first assembly 10. When the floor assemblies have been levelled and connected together using the screws 144, the service conduits can be similarly connected, using the appropriate couplings which can be accessed through the access opening 115. Thus, the method includes interconnecting the ends of adjacent service conduits 2~'t.~ 3g~
together to provide an interconnected service conduit extending between khe intexconnected floor assemblies.
This requires providin~ an access opening ad~acent a ~oining portion having a recess, which permits an installer to reach into the recess, align appropria~e service conduits, and couple them together with the respective coupling. The access opening is closed by th~
appropriate door when no longer in use.
10Referring to Figures 1 and 2, when all the floor assemblies are connected together to form the assembled floor, the sub-walls are installed to extend around the periphery of the assembled floor so that they are located directly beneath the outer periphery of an appropriate floor assembly, and are spaced above the surface of the site by a minimum space 78 that provides a sufficient depth of concrete for required strength, that is typically about 7 - 15 cms. ~3 or 6 inches). As stated previously, if the site is sloping, sub-walls of varying heights can be installed, so as to provide a series of s~epped sub-walls. At all times, minimum spacing between the sub-wall base and the surface should be between 3 and 6 inches. Sub-walls prefabricated in 15 cm (6 inch) increments are probably acceptable, requiring the footings to vary in depth between 3 and 12 inches.
Referring to Figure 2, when the sub-wall 66 is installed, the respective outer form 76 can be nailed to an outer surface of the sub-wall, and additionally located with some earth stakes if needed. Thus, in contrast with prior art methods known to the inventor in which the building structure is located after, and with respect to, a previously pxepared foundation structure, in the present invention the form means and resulting foundation structure are positioned with respect to the installed sub-wall extending downwardly from the previously positioned floor assembly. This is considered to be a major advantage, in that the floor assembly has been '~J~3~
.
accurately located, and ~he sub-wall and foundation structure are then, in effect, bui~t downwardly from an accurately located floor. This enables the foundation structure to accommodate terrain variations adjacent the periphery of the floor.
The inner form 74 can khen be located inwardly of the outer form to provide a sufficient width of footings. Suitable metal straps 77 can be used to locate the inner form relative to khe outer form and ~ithin a generally vertical plane as shown. It is seen tha~ the outer form is automatically located flush against the outer surface of the sub wall and thus, provides a flush finish to an outer wall of the footing when the outer form is removed.
Interior foundation walls remote from the outer periphery of the assembled floor are similarly established by securiny the interior sub-wall 82 to ~he lower skin of tha assembly in the required location, and then prov.iding the pair of spaced interior forms 91 and 92 on either side in a manner similar to the peripheral forms.
At this stage, it can be seen that the method according to the invention is characterized by supporting a plurality of supports on the surface, and placing a floor assem~ly on the supports to provide a space between the floor assembly and the surface. The sub-wall is located to extend along a portion of the periphery of the floor assembly to form an outer foundation of the assembled floor. This is followed by locating form means on the surface with respect to the periphery of ~he floor assembly so as to be spaced below the floor assembly.
portion of the outer form means is connected to the sub-wall to control location of the outer form means.
A supply of flowable and settable foundation material is now installed, for example conventional ~,~3~
"rea~y-mix~ concrete, which can be pumped to fill the space between the form means, the surface and sub-wall base as required. Clearly, there has to be sufficient volume of concrete within the form means to fully embrace the sub-wall base, i.eO a lower surface of the lower plate, to provide full support along a lower surface ~hereof. Preferably, there is sufficient concrete to fill the space somewhat above the lower surface of the sub-wall base, typically between 1 and 2 cms. extra (i.e. betwaen one half inch and one inch extra), which augments securing of the lower plate in the concrete by providing a~ least the shoulder 80 on one side of the plate to resist movement of the plate laterally. Because the foundation material closely conforms to the sub-wall base, the resulting concrete shoulder 80 eliminates ~he prior art requirement for sheet metal strips set in the foundation material, or for vertical rods or other connecting means which are normally used to connect the lower plate to the foundation.
Nhen the concrete has ~et the temporary supports 65 can be lowered and xemoved, so that completed floor is then supported on the sub-walls and footings as shown in Figure 7. Normal wall construction can then commence, using the accurately located markings 15 on the upper skins 12 and 39.
~LTERNATIV~S
The description above is assuming that two or more floor assemblies are required to produce a comple~ed floor. ~learly, for a small building, or where manufacturing, transportation and lifting facilities ~re of sufficient capacity, a single floor assembly could be used to produce a complete floor for a single building, which would not require joining of two or more floor assemblies together. Thus, the sub walls would extend 2~(3~
completely around the singl0 floor assemhly and there would then be no r~quirement for connecting portions, as shown, and clearly many of the benefits of the invention would still result.
Figure 8 The assemblies previously described disclose sub-walls of treated wood, which is not always acceptable because of local building code requirements, public acceptance etc. An alternative structure according to the invention can utilize concrete foundations which extend from the site surface to ~ lower surface of the lower skin of the floor assembly, thus eliminating the need for lS separate, prefabricated wooden sub-walls. This alternative requires considerably more concrete than the previously described embodiment, and alæo requires more forming material, but otherwise functions essentially equivalently.
A portion of the floor assembly 10 is shown temporarily supported on one of several supports 65. An alternative foundation structure or form means 180 according to the invention includes an outer form means 182, and an inner form means 184, the form means being located on a prepared site surface 181 as shown.
The outer form means 182 has an upper portion 186 secured to an outer web 26 and a lower portion 188 adjacent the site surface. An edge of the lower portion should be fairly close, i.e. within 5 - 10 cmm (about 2 - 4 inches) of the site surface to reduce loss of concrete. The upper portion 186 has at least one delivery opening 185, and a plurality of breather openings 187 located closely b~neath a plane of the floor assembly. The inner form means 184 has a lower portion 190 located adjacent the site surface 181 and secured to the outer form means 182 by metal straps 192 lying along the site surface. The straps 192 tie the form means together to resist hydraulic ~ $ ~
.
pressure of concrete. A stiffener 194 is used to strengthen a 10Wer edge of the form means 184 against hydraulic pressure of the poured concre-te, the inner form means being a relatively thin piece of plywood.
The inner form means 184 has an upper portion 196 sandwiched between and connect~d to two thin metal plates 198 and 199 extending along a lower surface of the floor assembly to locate the upper portion 196 of 10the inner orm means. ~ha upper portions 186 and 196 of the form means are spaced apart by a spacing 200 to provide an adequa~ely wide bearing surface of concrete wall to contact the ~loor assembly.
15Thus, in summary, it can be seen that the method of the invention when using the alternative foxm means is characterized by the foundation material being located on the site surface and closely conforming to a lower portion of the floor assembly to suppor~ the floor assembly above the surface. The method further includes locating the outer form means 182 to extend from a portion of the periphery of the floor assembly to the site surace, and locating the inner form means 18~ ~o extend be~ween the floor assembly and the surface. The inner form means is disposed generally ad~acent to, but spaced inwardly of, the outer form means so as to provide a foundation space 201 defined by the inner and outer form means, and adjacent portions of the floor assembly 10 and the site surface 181. It is also seen that the outer form means is located by securing with fastening means to an adjacent periphery of the floor assembly, and the inner form means is located by securing with fastener means to positions disposed inwardly of the adjacent periphery of the floor assembly.
In operation, the alternative form means 180 is used very similarly to the previously described embodiment, with the exception that the outer form 2 ~ ~3 ~ /~ ("J
means 182 is removed after pouring, so as to expo~e an outer face of the concrete founda~ion extending downwardly from the floor assembly to the site. ~lso, in most cases, the inner form means 184 will remain in place as it will usually be difficult to extract and does not present problems when left in place.
The method is characterized by supplying the foundation material ~hrough the delivery opening 185, i.e.
from a pipe, not shown, and permitting the concrete to flow into the foundation space 201, covering the metal strips 192, and filling the space progressively upwardlyO
As volume of concrete builds up within the space 201, air is displaced from the upper portion of the foundation lS space through the breather openings 187 so as to reduce void formation in the foundation material. Clearly, as the foundation material is supplied in*o this space, location of the inner and outer faces of the foundation means is controlled by the inner and outer iorm means 182 and 184. In this way the foundation material occupies only the foundation space, while leaving an empty innermost space between inner portions of the floor assembly, the site surface, and the inner form means.
As before, when the foundation material has set, the supports 65 are lowered and removed. The outer form means is removed to expose an outer surface of the concrete foundation wall, and any inadvertent voids therein resulting from entrapped air or poor flowing concrete can be manually filled.
It can be seen that the methods described above relating to the two different types of foundation means are generally similar, in that, in both instances, the floor assemblies are located accurately on temporary supports, after which form means are located and foundation material is poured onto the site surface. As the concrete is poured, it moves upwardly to cooperate with a lower surface of the floor assembly and simultaneously accommodates variations in spacing between the site surface and the levelled floor assembly.
Clearly, when the foundation material has set, the temporary supports and forms can be removed, leaving the floor assembly accurately located on the foundation material.
ln B182:662.1
Claims (31)
1. A method of installing a floor assembly and building foundation on a site surface, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) placing a plurality of supports on the surface, (b) placing a floor assembly on the supports to provide a space between the floor assembly and the surface, (c) locating form means on the surface with respect to the floor assembly so as to be spaced below the floor assembly, (d) supplying a flowable and settable foundation material to occupy a portion of the space between at least the form means, the surface and a portion of the floor assembly, so that when the foundation material has set, the floor assembly is supported on the foundation material.
(a) placing a plurality of supports on the surface, (b) placing a floor assembly on the supports to provide a space between the floor assembly and the surface, (c) locating form means on the surface with respect to the floor assembly so as to be spaced below the floor assembly, (d) supplying a flowable and settable foundation material to occupy a portion of the space between at least the form means, the surface and a portion of the floor assembly, so that when the foundation material has set, the floor assembly is supported on the foundation material.
2. A method as claimed in Claim 1, further including:
(a) connecting a sub-wall to the floor assembly so as extend downwardly from the floor assembly, the sub-wall having a sub-wall base spaced above the surface, (b) locating the form means with respect to the sub-wall (c) supplying the foundation material to occupy a portion of the space between the sub-wall base, the form means and the surface.
(a) connecting a sub-wall to the floor assembly so as extend downwardly from the floor assembly, the sub-wall having a sub-wall base spaced above the surface, (b) locating the form means with respect to the sub-wall (c) supplying the foundation material to occupy a portion of the space between the sub-wall base, the form means and the surface.
3. A method as claimed in Claim 2, further characterized by:
(a) locating the sub-wall to extend along a portion of a periphery of the floor assembly to form an exterior foundation wall of the building, (b) connecting a portion of the form means to the sub-wall to control location of said portion of the form means.
(a) locating the sub-wall to extend along a portion of a periphery of the floor assembly to form an exterior foundation wall of the building, (b) connecting a portion of the form means to the sub-wall to control location of said portion of the form means.
4. A method as claimed in Claim 2, further characterized by:
(a) locating the sub-wall at a position remote from a periphery of the floor assembly to provide an interior foundation wall of the floor assembly, (b) locating the form means on either side of the interior foundation wall.
(a) locating the sub-wall at a position remote from a periphery of the floor assembly to provide an interior foundation wall of the floor assembly, (b) locating the form means on either side of the interior foundation wall.
5. A method as claimed in Claim 1, further including:
(a) placing a plurality of floor assemblies on the supports to provide respective spaces between the floor assemblies and the surface, (b) interconnecting adjacent floor assemblies together along adjacent joining portions thereof to form an assembled floor of a building, (c) locating the form means on the surface to surround an overall periphery of the assembled floor, so that when the foundation material is set, the assembled floor is supported along the overall periphery thereof.
(a) placing a plurality of floor assemblies on the supports to provide respective spaces between the floor assemblies and the surface, (b) interconnecting adjacent floor assemblies together along adjacent joining portions thereof to form an assembled floor of a building, (c) locating the form means on the surface to surround an overall periphery of the assembled floor, so that when the foundation material is set, the assembled floor is supported along the overall periphery thereof.
6. A method as claimed in Claim 5, in which:
(a) connecting a plurality of sub-walls to respective floor assemblies to extend downwardly from outer edges of respective floor assemblies, the sub-walls having sub-wall bases spaced above the surface, (b) locating a plurality of form means with respect to respective sub-walls, (c) supplying the foundation material to occupy portions of the spaces between the sub-wall bases, the form means and the surface.
(a) connecting a plurality of sub-walls to respective floor assemblies to extend downwardly from outer edges of respective floor assemblies, the sub-walls having sub-wall bases spaced above the surface, (b) locating a plurality of form means with respect to respective sub-walls, (c) supplying the foundation material to occupy portions of the spaces between the sub-wall bases, the form means and the surface.
7. A method as claimed in Claim 1 in which (a) locating the form means includes locating an outer form means to extend from a portion of a periphery of the floor assembly to the surface.
8. A method as claimed in Claim 7 in which:
(a) locating the form means includes locating an inner form means to extend between the floor assembly and the surface, the inner form means being disposed generally adjacent to, but spaced inwardly of, the outer form means, so as to provide a foundation space defined by the inner and outer form means and adjacent portions of the floor assembly and the surface, (b) and when supplying the foundation material, controlling location of outer and inner faces of the foundation material by the outer and inner form means so that the foundation material occupies only the foundation space, while leaving an essentially empty innermost space between the floor assembly, the surface and in the inner form means.
(a) locating the form means includes locating an inner form means to extend between the floor assembly and the surface, the inner form means being disposed generally adjacent to, but spaced inwardly of, the outer form means, so as to provide a foundation space defined by the inner and outer form means and adjacent portions of the floor assembly and the surface, (b) and when supplying the foundation material, controlling location of outer and inner faces of the foundation material by the outer and inner form means so that the foundation material occupies only the foundation space, while leaving an essentially empty innermost space between the floor assembly, the surface and in the inner form means.
9. A method as claimed in Claim 7, further characterized by:
(a) locating the outer form means by securing with fastening means to the adjacent periphery of the floor assembly.
(a) locating the outer form means by securing with fastening means to the adjacent periphery of the floor assembly.
10. A method as claimed in Claim 8, further characterized by:
(a) locating the inner form means by securing with fastening means to positions disposed inwardly of the adjacent periphery of the floor assembly, and inwardly of the outer form means by a space to provide a finished foundation of sufficient width to contact and support the floor assembly.
(a) locating the inner form means by securing with fastening means to positions disposed inwardly of the adjacent periphery of the floor assembly, and inwardly of the outer form means by a space to provide a finished foundation of sufficient width to contact and support the floor assembly.
11. A method as claimed in Claim 8, further characterized by:
(a) while supplying the foundation material to the foundation space, permitting air to be displaced from upper portions of the foundation space to reduce void formation in the foundation material.
(a) while supplying the foundation material to the foundation space, permitting air to be displaced from upper portions of the foundation space to reduce void formation in the foundation material.
12. A method as claimed in Claim 1, further characterized by:
(a) removing the supports after the foundation material has set.
(a) removing the supports after the foundation material has set.
13. A method as claimed in Claim 5, further characterized by:
(a) providing the plurality of floor assemblies with portions of service conduits extending therethrough, (b) placing the plurality of floor assemblies on the supports so as to be adjacent each other so that ends of the portions of service conduits are adjacent each other, (c) interconnecting adjacent floor assemblies together along adjacent connecting portions thereof to form an assembled floor of a building, (d) interconnecting the ends of adjacent service conduits together to provide an interconnected service conduit extending through the assembled floor.
(a) providing the plurality of floor assemblies with portions of service conduits extending therethrough, (b) placing the plurality of floor assemblies on the supports so as to be adjacent each other so that ends of the portions of service conduits are adjacent each other, (c) interconnecting adjacent floor assemblies together along adjacent connecting portions thereof to form an assembled floor of a building, (d) interconnecting the ends of adjacent service conduits together to provide an interconnected service conduit extending through the assembled floor.
14. A pre-fabricated floor assembly and foundation installation for a building comprising:
(a) a first floor assembly having a first upper skin and a first lower skin, outer webs and trim webs connecting the skins together adjacent peripheries of the skins to form a plenum chamber between the skins and the webs, (b) foundation material located on a site surface and closely conforming to a lower portion of the floor assembly to support the floor assembly above the surface and to resist lateral forces on the floor assembly, (c) thermal insulation cooperating with the lower skin to assist in insulating the plenum chamber.
(a) a first floor assembly having a first upper skin and a first lower skin, outer webs and trim webs connecting the skins together adjacent peripheries of the skins to form a plenum chamber between the skins and the webs, (b) foundation material located on a site surface and closely conforming to a lower portion of the floor assembly to support the floor assembly above the surface and to resist lateral forces on the floor assembly, (c) thermal insulation cooperating with the lower skin to assist in insulating the plenum chamber.
15. An assembly as claimed in Claim 14, further including:
(a) at least one web having an opening, (b) a service conduit located between the skins and passing through the opening in the web, the conduit having an end located adjacent a portion of the periphery of the floor assembly.
(a) at least one web having an opening, (b) a service conduit located between the skins and passing through the opening in the web, the conduit having an end located adjacent a portion of the periphery of the floor assembly.
16. An assembly as claimed in Claim 14, further including:
(a) a plurality of inner webs extending between the periphery of the assembly to divide the plenum chamber into plenum chamber portions, (b) the inner webs having openings to interconnect the plenum chamber portions.
(a) a plurality of inner webs extending between the periphery of the assembly to divide the plenum chamber into plenum chamber portions, (b) the inner webs having openings to interconnect the plenum chamber portions.
17. An assembly as claimed in Claim 16, in which:
(a) a service conduit extends through at least some of the openings in the inner webs.
(a) a service conduit extends through at least some of the openings in the inner webs.
18. An assembly as claimed in Claim 14, further including:
(a) the lower portion of the assembly includes a sub-wall extending downwardly from the floor assembly, the sub-wall having a sub-wall base spaced above the surface, (b) the foundation material closely conforming to the sub-wall base so as to support the floor assembly thereon and to resist lateral forces on the floor assembly.
(a) the lower portion of the assembly includes a sub-wall extending downwardly from the floor assembly, the sub-wall having a sub-wall base spaced above the surface, (b) the foundation material closely conforming to the sub-wall base so as to support the floor assembly thereon and to resist lateral forces on the floor assembly.
19. An assembly as claimed in Claim 18, in which:
(a) the sub-wall extends along a portion of a periphery of the floor assembly to form an outer foundation wall of the building.
(a) the sub-wall extends along a portion of a periphery of the floor assembly to form an outer foundation wall of the building.
20. An assembly as claimed in Claim 18, in which:
(a) the sub-wall is located at a position remote from a periphery of the floor assembly to provide an interior foundation wall of the building.
(a) the sub-wall is located at a position remote from a periphery of the floor assembly to provide an interior foundation wall of the building.
21. An assembly as claimed in Claim 14, further including:
(a) a second floor assembly having a second upper skin and a second lower skin, outer webs and trim webs interconnecting the second skins together adjacent peripheries of the skins to form a plenum chamber between the skins and the webs, the second floor assembly having a joining portion, (b) the first floor assembly having a joining portion generally complementary to the joining portion of the second floor assembly.
(a) a second floor assembly having a second upper skin and a second lower skin, outer webs and trim webs interconnecting the second skins together adjacent peripheries of the skins to form a plenum chamber between the skins and the webs, the second floor assembly having a joining portion, (b) the first floor assembly having a joining portion generally complementary to the joining portion of the second floor assembly.
22. An assembly as claimed in Claim 21, in which:
(a) the joining portion of the first floor assembly has a projection with upper and lower male surfaces extending outwardly of the first upper and lower skins respectively with respect to the joining portion, the upper male surface being spaced below an upper surface of the first upper skin by an upper spacing, and the lower male surface being spaced above a lower surface of the first lower skin by a lower spacing, (b) the joining portion of the second floor assembly having a recess to receive the projection of the first floor assembly, the recess being defined in part by an upper female surface spaced below an upper surface of the second upper skin by the said upper spacing, and a lower female surface being spaced above a lower surface of the second lower skin by the said lower spacing, (c) fastener means passing through at least a portion of the upper skin of the second assembly to connect to the projection of the first floor assembly.
(a) the joining portion of the first floor assembly has a projection with upper and lower male surfaces extending outwardly of the first upper and lower skins respectively with respect to the joining portion, the upper male surface being spaced below an upper surface of the first upper skin by an upper spacing, and the lower male surface being spaced above a lower surface of the first lower skin by a lower spacing, (b) the joining portion of the second floor assembly having a recess to receive the projection of the first floor assembly, the recess being defined in part by an upper female surface spaced below an upper surface of the second upper skin by the said upper spacing, and a lower female surface being spaced above a lower surface of the second lower skin by the said lower spacing, (c) fastener means passing through at least a portion of the upper skin of the second assembly to connect to the projection of the first floor assembly.
23. An assembly as claimed in Claim 22, in which:
(a) the joining portion of the first skin has a I-beam shaped outer web, the I-beam having upper and lower horizontal flanges interconnected by a vertical web, an upper surface of the upper flange providing the upper male surface, and a lower surface of the lower flange providing the lower male surface.
(a) the joining portion of the first skin has a I-beam shaped outer web, the I-beam having upper and lower horizontal flanges interconnected by a vertical web, an upper surface of the upper flange providing the upper male surface, and a lower surface of the lower flange providing the lower male surface.
24. An assembly as claimed in Claim 14 in which:
(a) an upper surface of the upper skin bears layout markings to indicate future positions of at least walls of the building.
(a) an upper surface of the upper skin bears layout markings to indicate future positions of at least walls of the building.
25. A floor assembly comprising:
(a) upper and lower skins, each skin having a respective periphery, (b) outer webs and trim webs connecting the skins together adjacent the peripheries of the skins to form a plenum chamber between the skins and the webs, (c) thermal insulation cooperating with the lower skin.
(a) upper and lower skins, each skin having a respective periphery, (b) outer webs and trim webs connecting the skins together adjacent the peripheries of the skins to form a plenum chamber between the skins and the webs, (c) thermal insulation cooperating with the lower skin.
26. A floor assembly as claimed in Claim 25, further including:
(a) at least one web having an opening, (b) a service conduit located between the skins and having an end located adjacent a portion of the periphery of the floor assembly.
(a) at least one web having an opening, (b) a service conduit located between the skins and having an end located adjacent a portion of the periphery of the floor assembly.
27. A floor assembly as claimed in Claim 25, further including:
(a) a plurality of inner webs extending between the peripiphery of the assembly to divide the plenum chamber into plenum chamber portions, (b) the inner webs having openings to interconnect the plenum chamber portions.
(a) a plurality of inner webs extending between the peripiphery of the assembly to divide the plenum chamber into plenum chamber portions, (b) the inner webs having openings to interconnect the plenum chamber portions.
28. A floor assembly as claimed in Claim 27, in which:
(a) a service conduit extends through at least some of the openings in the inner webs.
(a) a service conduit extends through at least some of the openings in the inner webs.
29. A floor assembly as claimed in Claim 25, further including:
(a) the lower portion of the assembly includes a sub-wall having a sub-wall base, the sub-wall being extendable along and downwardly from a periphery of the floor assembly to form an outer foundation wall of the building.
(a) the lower portion of the assembly includes a sub-wall having a sub-wall base, the sub-wall being extendable along and downwardly from a periphery of the floor assembly to form an outer foundation wall of the building.
30. A floor assembly as claimed in Claim 25, in which:
(a) at least a portion of the periphery of the assembly has a joining portion, the joining portion having at least one surface adapted to cooperate with a complementary surface of a joining portion of an adjacent skin.
(a) at least a portion of the periphery of the assembly has a joining portion, the joining portion having at least one surface adapted to cooperate with a complementary surface of a joining portion of an adjacent skin.
31. A floor assembly as claimed in Claim 25 in which:
(a) an upper surface of the upper skin bears layout markings to indicate future positions of at least walls of the building.
B182:662.26
(a) an upper surface of the upper skin bears layout markings to indicate future positions of at least walls of the building.
B182:662.26
Priority Applications (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| AU13299/92A AU1329992A (en) | 1991-02-22 | 1992-02-21 | Building foundation and floor assembly |
| PCT/CA1992/000075 WO1992014886A1 (en) | 1991-02-22 | 1992-02-21 | Building foundation and floor assembly |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US48339890A | 1990-02-22 | 1990-02-22 | |
| US07/483,398 | 1990-02-22 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA2036880A1 true CA2036880A1 (en) | 1991-08-23 |
Family
ID=23919902
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 2036880 Abandoned CA2036880A1 (en) | 1990-02-22 | 1991-02-22 | Building foundation, floor assembly and method of installation thereof |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA2036880A1 (en) |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AU727660B2 (en) * | 1997-04-08 | 2000-12-21 | Smart Masonry (Holdings) Pty Ltd | Slab construction method |
-
1991
- 1991-02-22 CA CA 2036880 patent/CA2036880A1/en not_active Abandoned
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AU727660B2 (en) * | 1997-04-08 | 2000-12-21 | Smart Masonry (Holdings) Pty Ltd | Slab construction method |
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