EP3783160A1

EP3783160A1 - Spacer for steel reinforcements

Info

Publication number: EP3783160A1
Application number: EP19788792.0A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jorge Cases Aparicio
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-04-16
Filing date: 2019-04-15
Publication date: 2021-02-24
Also published as: ES2727501A1; WO2019202183A1; EP3783160A4

Abstract

The spacer object of this invention makes possible to retain a metal element of the framework of a slab without the need to carry out a conventional tying by wire or clipping, in a simple and fast way, it has a fixing element that performs this function at the same time once the assembly is fixed to the formwork board in a single operation, this also allows its use in inclined roofs, guaranteeing the correct position of the reinforcements while avoiding their buoyancy. The small contact surface with the formwork allows it to be used in exposed floors. Intended for the industrial construction sector.

Description

Technical sector

The present invention is in the field of construction, more specifically in the conformation of concrete structures in buildings and infrastructure.

Background of the invention

In the field of architecture and engineering, the techniques and procedures for the realization of a reinforced concrete floor are known, this structural element can be horizontal: forming the separation of the different floors of a building, or inclined in the case of the roofs. These mixed structures of steel and concrete requires that the metallic elements are located precisely where they were calculated, respecting the distances between them as well as the distance of these metallic elements within the design of the slab edge, respecting the lightning elements if any as in the case of bidirectional slabs, waffle slabs or lightened slabs. Cooperating in the construction of the floors requires a temporary or permanent element on which the concrete is poured, which forms a kind of mold known as formwork, due to its versatility and lightness in traditional systems, recoverable formwork formed by pieces is used on site made of wood supported by a plurality of height-adjustable metal struts.
The use of spacers to guarantee the correct covering of the reinforcements and facilitate the task of fixing or tying in a more comfortable way is well known in the sector, these are made with ceramic materials or concrete, although they are mostly manufactured in plastic material, such as describes the American patent with publication number US2013/0125798 of the inventor Clayton W. lowery that describes a chair-like element with a support base for the formwork of an annular nature and that rises in the shape of a truncated cone that presents fins that receive and they hold to the metallic elements by means of interference or clipping. This solution with slight geometry modifications are provided by other applicants granting the same function, as can be seen in patents US 2012/0233956 of Inventor Wayne D. Fey or in US 8099925 of inventor Wade S, Coons . These types of solutions are difficult to use in inclined floors since they do not have specific means to be anchored to the formwork structure, so it is not guaranteed that they will remain in their position especially at the moment of pouring the concrete, which compromises the forged safety, also these solutions are not valid when elements of lightning are used because that could produce the flotation of the frame with them.
Other models also are not suitable for the slabs of concrete because of the large contact surface of the base with the board which then becomes visible.
The applicant is therefore unaware of solutions such as the one advocated in the present invention.

Object of the invention

Equipping the construction sector of a single and low cost element that facilitate and ensure the fixing of metal elements forming the forging of a structure, by an operation that optimizes fixture times thereof, apply both horizontal slabs and roofs, whether it is lightweight slabs or not. The spacer object of the present invention must allow in a single step to retain the metal element and fix the spacer itself to a recoverable formwork made of wood or other materials, as well as allow its use in exposed floors due to its low contact surface with the formwork.

Description of the invention

The recommended spacer for steel reinforcements consists of a main body designed to house a bar of the steel reinforcement of a concrete floor and means to retain it within the body referred to while the body of the spacer is fixed to the deck of a wooden framework or other materials, because of its simplicity and low cost manufacturing the spacer is preferably in plastic materials. To achieve both aforementioned tasks, the body of the spacer has three support points made up of three legs, one of which has a through opening in its longitudinal direction, on these legs a body emerges with a opening centered perpendicular to the formwork that lightens the spacer and makes it easier for the concrete to penetrate through said opening during concreting, it also has another opening concentric to the opening of the leg described above; In order to conveniently house the reinforcement bar in the body, the latter has a notch substantially parallel to the plane of the slab, the open area of which leaves the opening concentric to the leg free. Once the reinforcement has been inserted into this notch, the recommended spacer has means to retain it and in turn fix the spacer to the formwork, these means differ depending on the nature of the panels, in the case of wooden formwork panels or boards these means are materialized by means of a fixing element made up of a piece that acts as a nail of a preferably plastic nature that therefore has a head and a point, this nail is inserted into the opening of the body that is concentric to the opening of the leg, in this way the bar of the reinforcement is confined in the notch, by means of the action of a hammer on the head of the nail the tip of the nail penetrates the wooden board of the formwork, fixing the assembly. The action of retaining the reinforcement and fixing the spacer to the formwork board is carried out in a simple way, guaranteeing the design dimensions, and the absence of problems such as buoyancy, a common circumstance especially in lightened slabs. Its fixed to the formwork board allows the use on sloping floors or decks.
Versions have been provided for the case of formwork formed by metal plates where the fixing means consist of blocking the reinforcement by introducing a wire rope or flange through the concentric opening to the leg and the leg opening by means of a loop, this flange or the wire rope can be easily inserted between the joints of the formwork panels and fixed with conventional means such as tightening the wire rope by twisting it, or others in which to carry out this operation there is a nail characterized by having in its end to the head of a laminar shape that is similarly inserted through the opening of the spacer body and the opening of the leg, the portion projecting to the forging of this laminar shape can be bent while retaining the whole in a simple and efficient way.
To allow in case of exposed slabs minimal impact visual of the spacers object of this invention, the support legs have a rounding at its ends which minimizes the contact surface thereof with the formwork , achieving good stability and integration with the concrete. The color of the separator and the nail, being plastic in nature, is easy to manufacture in a range close to the color of the concrete, contributing this mimicry to make them practically imperceptible in exposed floors.
The three-legged shape allows the concrete to be placed between them in the concreting, leaving as little plastic as possible exposed to the outside and stiffening the area by means of the concrete.
Versions have been provided in which the nail has a notch close to its tip in order to facilitate, after removing the formwork, to break the nail by means of a sharp blow at this weakened point, flush with the concrete slab formed when it is eliminated with this impact. the portion of nail that remained in the form board. Or others in which the nail has different geometries on the surface of the portion that penetrates the formwork in order to create a firmer retention when it penetrates the wood, this is solved by conventional means such as a spiral engraving, grooved or indentations.
In some occasions, such as the case of small slabs where there is no risk of the reinforcements moving, versions have been provided where the retaining nail has a length that is substantially less than the housing formed by the spacer openings and its leg, acting only as a locking mechanism of the reinforcement without being fixed in the formwork structure.

Description of the drawings

For a better understanding of what is described in the present specification, some drawings are attached in which, by way of example, a list of the figures of the proposed invention is represented.

Figure 1 shows an isometric view of the spacer and its fixing nail, where it can be seen:
1. 1. Spacer element
2. 2. Legs
3. 3. Leg with opening
4. 4. Spacer opening concentric to leg 3 and leg 3 opening
5. 5. Through-hole spacer centered on legs
6. 6. Fixing element
Figure 2 shows an isometric view of the spacer with the fixing element going through the openings of the latter.
Figure 3, the tip (7) of the fixing element, the head (8) and the notch (9) can be seen.
Figure 4 shows a spacer located on a formwork board (10) in a working situation; the fixing element is nailed to the board while retaining the reinforcement bar (11).
Figure 5, the spacer can be seen prior to the placement of the fixing element, the leg that presents the opening is located on the joint of the formwork panels (12).
Figure 6 shows the retention nail used in the metal formwork (13) equipped with a cylindrical body (14) from which a metal laminar body (15) emerges at its distal end.
Figure 7 shows the insertion of the retention nail inserted between the joining line of two metal formwork elements and the bending of the metal laminar body of the nail, retaining the assembly.
Figure 8 shows the fixing of the spacer and frame assembly by means of a loop made with a wire rope (16) and its retention and tying by twisting exerted by a pin (17).

Description of a preferred embodiment

A preferred embodiment is cited by way of example, the materials used in its manufacture, as well as the application methods and all the accessory details that may be presented, as long as they do not affect their essentiality, being independent of the object of the invention.
A preferred embodiment of the spacer for steel reinforcements is proposed, it has means to be able to be placed comfortably in a horizontal slab as well as in a roof, the spacer (1) made of plastic materials has three legs, two of them are solid (2) while the third leg (3) figure 1 has a opening made in its longitudinal direction; a portion of the spacer of a cylindrical nature is raised on these legs, this body has a concentric opening (5) and is internal to the legs of a through nature, this opening lightens the spacer and favors its integration into the mass during the pouring of the concrete. The reinforcement element that we want to fix is housed in the spacer thanks to a notch in the described cylindrical body of a nature substantially parallel to the slab and whose free area coincides with the opening of the leg. It also has another opening (4) coinciding with the one in the leg (3) in such a way that an element that retains the frame can be inserted through these, closing the notch in Figures 4, 7 and 8. In this preferred embodiment, the element that guarantees the retention of the reinforcement (11) and fixation of the assembly to a formwork formed by wooden boards (10) figure 4 is constituted by the nail (6) figure 1, the cooperation of the nail with the spacer it allows to guarantee a fast and efficient fixing, allowing work on roofs as well as on lightened slabs, as already explained.
It has a special advantage for use in exposed slabs by having the spacer means to minimize the contact surface with the formwork elements, this minimization is achieved by reducing the contact surface to the three legs which in turn present a rounding in their extremes in order to make the spacer practically imperceptible after removal of the formwork, this uniqueness is enhanced by the choice of a color in its manufacture close to the concrete used.

Claims

Spacer for steel reinforcement characterized by allowing a metal element of the reinforcement (11) to be attached to the spacer (1) while the spacer is anchored to the formwork board, it has three legs to support it, where one of them (3) has an opening (4) in its longitudinal direction, on the legs emerges the body of the spacer, which has a vertical opening centered on its body (5) and a second positioned concentric to the made in the leg (3), in order to house the metal element of the frame, the body has a notch that is substantially parallel to the slab, which leaves the area of the openings (4) of the leg and body of the spacer free, cooperating with the spacer (1) has a conventional fixing element that is inserted into the opening of the spacer coinciding with the leg and through it, blocking the notch and the outlet of the frame retaining its end in the formwork.
Spacer for steel reinforcement according to claim 1, characterized by that the fastening element is constituted by a preferably plastic nail (6), whose diameter will be substantially smaller than the aligned openings (4) of the body and the leg defined with a tip and a head; when placed in said opening and nailed to the formwork board, it retains the reinforcement as well as the spacer.
Spacer for steel reinforcement according to claims 1 and 2 characterized by that its fixing element (6) has a notch (9) near its tip and the base of the forging to facilitate its breaking in this area in the stripping operation.
Spacer for steel reinforcement according to claim 1 characterized by presenting its legs a rounding in the contact area with the formwork minimizing the surface.
Spacer for steel reinforcement according to claim 1 characterized by that its fixing means are constituted by a nail (13) composed of a cylindrical portion (14) made of plastic material from which a metallic laminar body departs (15) which is inserted between the formwork plates and which, due to its rigidity, is allowed to be bent, fixing the assembly.
Spacer for steel reinforcement according to claim 1, characterized by that the fixing means are formed by tying by means of a wire rope (16) that is inserted through the coincident spacer and leg openings, as well as inserted between the formwork panels allowing their fixation by conventional means such as a twisting of it aided with a pin (17).
Spacer for steel reinforcement according to claim 1, characterized by that the fixing means are formed by binding by means of a conventional flange that is inserted through the matching spacer and leg openings, as well as inserted between the formwork panels allows its fixation by conventional means such as tightening the rack/ratchet assembly.