EP0593431B1

EP0593431B1 - A method of manufacturing an insulated/insulatable reinforced building element in concrete

Info

Publication number: EP0593431B1
Application number: EP90912341A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Thorleif Ausdal
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1989-08-25
Filing date: 1990-08-21
Publication date: 1996-03-06
Anticipated expiration: 2010-08-21
Also published as: HUT64126A; EP0593431A1; HU9200541D0; ATE135072T1; NO893418D0; FI920708A0; FI96982C; DE69025775T2; WO1991002862A1; AU6169290A; ES2086410T3; DE69025775D1; NO893418L; FI96982B; HU212543B; CA2064893A1; AU642155B2; CA2064893C

Abstract

A rational production process for the manufacturing of insulated/isolatable building elements (foundation, wall, roof, ceiling or floor elements) in reinforced (4, 11, 12) concrete and having pegwood-forming ledges (4') connected (16, 17) to the reinforcement (4, 11, 12) and joining a concrete plate (2) via reinforced (11, 12) concrete ribs (3). For the casting process, a rectangular horizontally oriented upward open casting mould (13, 13') is utilized. One type of element is to have spaced cavities (15) for the subsequent embedment of soft insulation mats. For this type of elements, one uses a casting mould (13, 13') having spaced fixed cavity boxes (14), the spacings therebetween accomodating said pegwood-forming ledges (4'). A connection between said ledges (4') and said reinforcement (11, 12, 16, 17) is established within said mould (13, 13'). A main reinforcing net (4) is now positioned and attached to the reinforcing means (12) of the ledges (4'). Thereafter, concrete is filled into the mould. Prior to, during or immediately subsequent to hardening, one may effect the desired working on the freely accesible to surface (2) of concrete.

Description

The present invention relates to a method for making insulatable reinforced building elements (foundation, wall, roof, ceiling or floor elements) in concrete, one side face of said element being formed by a reinforced concrete plate, the other side face thereof exhibiting nailing strips in the form of wooden battens extending in at least one of two mutually right-angled directions and connected to the reinforcement, reinforced concrete ribs extending in at least one of said directions, joining said wooden battens and said reinforced concrete plate, and wherein is used a rectangular horizontally orientated upwardly open casting mould having a horizontal bottom as well as four side walls, said casting mould having one dimension corresponding to either the length/height of use of the resulting building element or to a multiple of said length/height of use, said reinforcement comprising a reinforcing net to be fixed in a position parallel to the bottom surface of the casting mould and assigned spacers, preferably in the form of reinforcing members fastened to said wooden battens, and wherein concrete is filled into said casting mould from above after the connection between said reinforcing net and said spacers has been established.
A building or construction element of the abovementioned type exhibits a high compression, tensile and bending strength in relation to weight per surface area unit, but is quite complex in its construction. Therefore, it has hitherto been difficult to arrive at a rational production method for making building elements as defined above.
In accordance to current technique, casting is effected in such a manner that a continuous concrete face is formed at the bottom face of a casting mould and such a method involve technical disadvantages and limitations in the manufacturing step.
Another disadvantage of known casting technique is that no steps are taken in order to facilitate a working of the concrete surface, e.g. decoratively (facing, admixing shingle in the surface layer etc.). Facing of the concrete face is impossible when the element is laying in the mould, because said face is quite inaccessible in this position. Of course, one may place a layer of shingle - as resulting surface layer on the concrete face - at the bottom of the mould, but such a method is less controllable, and the results thereof have mostly been very poor.
SE-B-416 572 discloses a building element, namely a wall element exhibiting some of the features of the introductorily disclosed structure. The method for its manufacturing distinguishes itself through the use of a mould lacking fixed cavity boxes; placing rigid isolation plates and wooden ledges which form fixing battens alternatively side by side at the bottom of the mould; connecting said wooden ledges or battens by ties either in a previous working operation, or subsequent to their embedment while resting against the mould bottom; embedding a main reinforcement, e.g. in the form of a reinforcing net, to be located in a plane extending parallel to the side faces of the resulting element; filling the mould with concrete from above and allowing said concrete to harden, possibly after having performed desired working on its freely accessible top surface; and removing the element from the mould.
CH-A-590 987 discloses a building element exhibiting some of the features of the introductorily defined structure wherein nailer-forming wooden beams are connected to the reinforcement through the intermediary of connecting means. This prior art building element comprises rigid panels, preferably of insulation material and accomodating a substantial portion of the total cross-sectional area of the element.
The building element of SE-B-416 572 and that of CH-A--590 987 comprise rigid isolation plates which, usually, are very expensive as compared to soft isolation mats of similar or superior insulating properties. The methods according to these prior art publications require comprehensive formwork operations.
The object of the present invention is to indicate a very rational method of manufacturing building elements of the introductorily defined kind, i.e. of the kind lacking casted-in rigid isolation plates and instead exhibiting countersunk cavities; wherein the wooden battens are connected directly to the reinforcement, and wherein the reinforcing net is fixed in position by connection to upright reinforcing means, thereby eliminating or substantially reducing said disadvantages, deficiencies and limitations of the prior art.
To this end, the invention is characterized by the use of a casting mould having cavity boxes for forming countersunk cavities for the subsequent embedment of insulation mats, said cavity boxes being securely anchored to the casting mould bottom as well as being spaced in at least one of said directions, said spaces corresponding to the dimensions of said nailing strips, which are positioned in the casting mould within said spaces between adjacent cavity boxes, resting against the bottom surface of the casting mould with said spacers being attached to said nailing strips either before or after said nailing strips are positioned in the casting mould, said spacers then being attached to said reinforcing net.
Thus, the method according to the invention is to be utilized in connection with one main type of the present building elements only, namely elements having cavities for the subsequent embedment of soft insulation mats.
Consequently, when casting elements having cavities for subsequent embedment of soft insulation mats, a casting mould is used having permanent cavity boxes, the spacing thereof somewhat exceeding the width of said nailer-forming wooden battens, the width of the cavity boxes somewhat exceeding the width of said mats. The casting mould is elongated rectangular and upward open as well as having a flat bottom and short walls extending along the lateral and end edges. For example, the mould may have a length of 50 metres. The lateral and end walls may have a height of about 15 centimetres. Preferably, the width is adapted to a standard measure for the height/width of use of the resulting element. In connection with such a large efficient mould length as of the order 50 metres, it is, of course, a supposition that the resulting casted element subsequently is being cut into the necessary lengths/heights of use.
Firstly, in the spacings between the cavity boxes on the mould bottom, one places the nailer-forming wooden battens which previously or after their insertion into the mould, respectively, have been provided with upright reinforcement means for subsequent connection to the main reinforcement of the element. In wall elements, cavity frames for doors/windows are thereafter placed upon the cavity boxes and the wooden battens. The main reinforcement of the element which may consist of a cross reinforcement in the form of a net (having cavities for the door/window cavity frames), is now placed parallel to the mould bottom, and is kept adequately spaced from the top of the cavity boxes through the reinforcement net's connection to the upright reinforcement means of the wooden battens. Thereby one achieves partly a temporary attachment of the reinforcement net at a desired level above the mould bottom and at an intentional distance from the resulting upper concrete surface, and partly that the wooden battens in the finished element are securely anchored to the main reinforcement.
Everything is now ready for casting, which may take place very rationally because of the large area of filling (the cavity boxes are countersunk in relation to the "filling opening" represented by the entire efficient area of the mould). For example, it is feasible to use a so-called production jig arranged above the casting mould and movably therealong, and wherefrom the concrete may be distributed. Application of mould oil, hoisting of the casted element as well as transportation of the latter for storage etc., may also be effected by means of a production jig.
Along one edge of the casting mould, prior to casting, a girder or beam may be embedded, and possibly a wooden beam along the other edge. Thus, the elements to be manufactured may, beyond the previously mentioned general shape, exhibit constructive differences or differing detail designs.
In a way of manufacturing as outlined above, the resulting concrete face of the element is located uppermost; this being in marked contrast with prior art casting technique wherein the concrete face is being formed at the bottom face of the casting mould. According to the invention, it is, therefore, easy to work on the upward facing concrete surface as desired. For example, said surface may be assigned a desired surface layer through appropriate working of the concrete face or through the application of decorative materials, e.g. shingle, upon the same.
Examplary embodiments of the invention are further described in the following, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

figure 1 in perspective view shows an element of the general type advantageously manufacturable by means of the method according to the invention;
figure 2 is a sector of a longitudinal section through a mould containing a precast element having cavities for the embedment of loose soft insulation mats, wherein the nailer-forming wooden battens and said cavities extend laterally of the longitudinal direction of the casting mould; and
figure 3 in a simplified perspective view shows the casting mould in connection with a particular arrangement of a cavity frame for a resulting window cavity in a wall element.

In figure 1 the reference numeral 1 generally denotes a house building element of the kind concerned.
The element 1 consists of a concrete plate 2 having lateral ribs 3 in this embodiment. The continuous side face of the concrete plate 2 is indicated by 2'. Both the concrete plate 2 and its ribs 3 are reinforced. For the concrete plate 2, the cross reinforcement net 4 is visible at the upper left corner of figure 1.
The reinforced concrete ribs 3 carry nailer-forming wooden battens 4' casted thereon. The element shown in figure 1 has also a wooden beam 5 extending along its upper edge.
Between the ribs 3 are formed cavities 6 countersunk in relation to one side face of the element as represented through the front faces of the wooden battens 4'. These cavities 6 are shaped in order to receive loose soft insulation mats 7.
When the insulation mats 7 are embedded, card board 8 forming vapour barrier is nailed thereon. Thin wooden battens 9 are nailed on the outside of the card board plates 8 using the wooden battens 4' as nailing strips.
The element 1 may thereafter be provided with e.g. panel 10, building or covering plates or the like, nailed thereon. It appears from figure 1 that the main reinforcement, the net 4, is connected to a longitudinal reinforcing rod 11, e.g. in the form of a so-called cam steel, whereto are welded short reinforcing bows or inclined struts 12, the connection between the main reinforcement net 4 and the bows 12 being effected by means of ordinary binder wire or in any other convenient way.
The continuous side face 2' of the concrete plate 2 opposite the ribs 3 and the wooden battens 4', may be plain. However, whenever another surface structure is desired, e.g. when shingle, facing etc. is being used, this is very easy to perform in connection with the production process according to the present invention already when the element is still occupying the casting mould, giving rise to large production-technical advantages concerning the surface treatment.
Figure 2 shows a short sector of a longitudinal cross-section through a casting mould, here represented by the bottom 13 and two adjacent lateral cavity boxes 14, the top edge of the mould being indicated at 13'. The cavities which are defined by the cavity boxes 14 and are to serve for the reception of subsequently embedded loose soft insulation mats 7, are indicated at 15.
For the manufacturing of elements having lateral or longitudinal cavities 15 for soft insulation mats, the method is as follows:
An upward open rectangular mould 13, 13' is used having permanent cavity boxes 14 placed with a spacing corresponding to the width of the nailer-forming wooden battens 4' desired to be used. When manufacturing most types of elements, the cavity boxes 14 will extend in the lateral direction of the mould. For floor elements and tall walls only, a longitudinal orientation of the cavity boxes 14 will be preferred.
Between the cavity boxes 14 are embedded wooden battens 4' having a thickness equal to only a fraction of the height of the cavity boxes 14 and the width of which being adapted to the spacing between the cavity boxes 14, so that the wooden battens 4' when resting against the bottom 13 of the mould with their future front face, fill said spacing entirely.
The wooden battens 4' are thereafter at each end connected to the cam steel 11 by means of in per se known clips 16 having a spike 17 which is driven into the wooden batten 4'.
When this is done, the reinforcement net 4 is placed and fixed at appropriate level below the top 13' of the mould through the connection to the upright reinforcing bows 12 welded to the cam steel 11. The upper ends of the bows 12 are attached to the reinforcement net 4 by means of common binder wire.
The casting mould is thereafter ready to receive the concrete supplied from above by means of e.g. a production jig movable in the longitudinal direction of the mould; said jig may be a multi-function jig (for the application of mould oil, hoisting and possibly transportation of the finished element etc.). During the casting process, the wooden battens 4' are secured by casting to the concrete ribs 3, which are reinforced partially through the cam steel, partially through the bows 12, simultaneously as the wooden battens are connected to the reinforcement.
After the mould has been filled with concrete, the top concrete surface is freely accessible to be worked on in non-hardened/hardened condition; this in contrast with prior art casting technique wherein the concrete surface 2' is formed at the bottom 13 of the mould.
In figure 3, the spacings between adjacent cavity boxes 14 are indicated at 18. A cavity frame 19 for a resulting window cavity is placed upon some cavity boxes and has suspended lugs 20 shaped to engage into the spacing 18 and seal the same with regard to the cavity frame 19, so that concrete cannot penetrate into the frame 19 via said spacings. Around cavities for doors/ /windows, nailing ledges (not shown) are placed. Additionally, one may place beams at the resulting top edge and possibly at the bottom edge of the element to be manufactured.
The attachment of the cam steel 11 and the bows 12 on the wooden battens 4' may take place optionally prior to the embedment of the wooden battens 4' into the mould or subsequent to their embedment into the same.

Claims

A method for making insulatable reinforced building elements (1), such as foundation, wall, roof, ceiling or floor elements, in concrete, one side face of said element (1) being formed by a reinforced (4) concrete plate (2), the other side face thereof exhibiting nailing strips in the form of wooden battens (4') extending in at least one of two mutually right-angled directions and connected (16, 17) to the reinforcement (11, 12, 4), reinforced concrete ribs (3) extending in at least one of said directions, joining said wooden battens (4') and said reinforced concrete plate (2), and wherein is used a rectangular horizontally orientated upwardly open casting mould having a horizontal bottom (13) as well as four side walls, said casting mould having one dimension corresponding to either the length/height of use of the resulting building element (1) or to a multiple of said length/height of use, said reinforcement comprising a reinforcing net (4) to be fixed in a position parallel to the bottom surface (13) of the casting mould and assigned spacers (11, 12), preferably in the form of reinforcing members fastened to said wooden battens (4'), and wherein concrete is filled into said casting mould from above after the connection between said reinforcing net (4) and said spacers (11, 12) has been established, characterized by the use of a casting mould having cavity boxes (14) for forming countersunk cavities (15) for the subsequent embedment of insulation mats (7), said cavity boxes (14) being securely anchored to the casting mould bottom (13) as well as being spaced in at least one of said directions, said spaces corresponding to the dimensions of said nailing strips (4'), which are positioned in the casting mould within said spaces between adjacent cavity boxes (14), resting against the bottom surface (13) of the casting mould with said spacers (11, 12) being attached to said nailing strips (4') either before or after said nailing strips (4') are positioned in the casting mould, said spacers (11, 12) then being attached to said reinforcing net (4).
A method as set forth in claim 1, characterized by facing the free top surface of the concrete plate (2) when the element to be made is still embedded within the casting mould (13).
A method as set forth in claim 1 or 2, usable when making wall elements having at least one through-going cavity for window(s)/door(s), thereby using one or more square cavity frames to be placed on top of said fixed cavity boxes of the casting mould, characterized by the use of one or more loose cavity frames (19) provided with suspending lugs (20), which are brought into engagement with the spacing slot between adjacent fixed cavity boxes (14), so that said slot is sealed with respect to said cavity frame (19), thus preventing undesired penetration of concrete into the latter.