FR2564881A1 - Device for moulding a shell on an articulated modular structure and method of multi-directional moulding in one or more layers with the possibility of integrated insulation and air-void (cavity) - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a double shuttering device 1 and 2 intended for moulding a shell 3 and including especially a one-sided support 4 fitted with traversing pins 5. The support, consisting of standard elements, is modular and articulated, adapting to the composition of all geometrical shapes. The external brackets 6 and the retractable parts 8 determine the shape of the shell. The variable position of the brackets, which are held in place by locking slides 10, enables the shell to be moulded in successive layers, resulting in a method for high-performance insulation with air-void (cavity). A technique of general access enables the implementation of the device in space as well as the actual moulding of the shell to be facilitated. The invention applies particularly to the construction of multi-purpose shell buildings moulded on site as a single part.

Description

 The present invention relates to a device for making a wall or a shell by progressive molding of material between two forms, as well as a molding process resulting from the device and making it possible to greatly facilitate operations and to obtain, if necessary, a thick shell. composed of several layers, possibly of different materials.

 The invention only relates to the molding of liquid or pasty material, suitable for its progressive installation without breaking of cohesion, the hardening occurring subsequently, as is the case for concrete or plaster, and therefore necessitating Day maintain the wall of defined thickness which is made, a double formwork (one of quid side), insofar as this wall is not necessarily horizontal ais can be very inclined, even vertical led.

 Regularly molding a wall or shell under these conditions poses tedious problems to be solved. Most often, we improvise solutions to set up the formwork, with more or less well-adapted means, and we spend a lot of time to obtain the expected result. In general, we have become accustomed to this fact of choosing other solutions than molding to make a wall, for example masonry -3 'a brick wall, or better the installation of prefabricated plates nested between pillars or fixed on frames.

The object of the present invention is to rehabilitate the molded shell because of all the advantages which it presents, by a rational technique making it possible to industrialize its production on site. One of the particularly interesting, but not restrictive, fields of application of the invention is that of building in general. This description aims to develop both a device and a process for validly constructing a wide variety of concrete buildings-molds, molded on site in a single piece. The goal is to apply the concept on a large scale known for the incomparable resistance of a part with a curved surface, even of very thin @:
No more pillars or siding, no more roofing or roofing, May; only a thin shell of concrete in one piece, and a few more (fig. I and 2). This leads to considerable savings in the material thanks to its cohesion without assembly or connection, and thanks to the continuous curve which allows the return of the load forces in the shell itself from top to bottom, by simple pressure work on its thickness.

 The means consists on the one hand of exploiting the resources of the modular geometry of the surfaces in the reslisation of the support structure of the forms, by the assembly of standardized parts, and on the other hand of rationalizing the mode of molding to make its easy and fast execution.

 One of the above methods for molding a wall under double formwork consists in retaining the formwork elements on either side of the wall to be molded by nuts screwed to the ends of sleeved pins, which pass through the wall. As the formwork elements are mounted, they are held in the desired position relative to the previous ones by props, arranged on demand on each side.

 The device which is the subject of the invention tends to improve to a large extent the implementation of this double formwork molding process, with through pins, by making its use systematic, easy and rapid, both for the installation and for the removal of formwork, and above all whatever the size, thickness, shape and inclination of the wall or shell to be produced.

 Let (l) and (2) be the two forms to be put in place to mold a shell (5), (see fig. 3). According to the invention, particular importance will be given to the design of a single support (4) consisting of only one side of the shell to be produced.

It is from this unilateral support that all the rest of the system
will depend closely. Note that each time the shell must be tilted, the support is located on the side below because it is load-bearing, just as it is inside the shell when the latter is curved or tends to close, creating an internal volume. . Generally for better understanding, we designate the support side as being the interior side of the shell to be made, even if it is only a simple flat vertical wall as may be the case. Consequently the formwork on the support side will be called internal formwork (l) and the other the external formwork (2). Figure 5 shows the section of a portion of the device at the pins, and Figure I a side view outside, showing only the support elements of the support.

 Pins (5), that is to say rigid and straight rods, preferably made of steel, are threaded at regular intervals in the support and outwards, perpendicular to the shell to be molded. They are locked in position on the support by any means, but so that they can be easily removed later, from the inside. These pins have a constant section over their entire free length in the space outside the support. The interior formwork (i) is placed in abutment on the support. Then put the flanges (fi) at the end of the pins, in abutment on sleeves (7) (for example plastic) threaded on the pins. The length of the sleeves is determined according to the desired thickness of the shell to be molded.

The external formwork (2) is then placed opposite the formwork (i) and as the material to be molded is poured (for example concrete), this formwork (2) is kept pressed against the flanges (6) by the force of gravity resulting from the mass of the material being cast.

 An improvement according to the invention consists in interposing intermediate retaining pieces (8) between the support (4) and the first formwork (1) in a thickness interval obtained nar of the shims (9) threaded beforehand on the pins before sleeving . The parts (8) are designed to be simply placed on the support face of the support, their positioning being ensured by small stops. The formwork (1) is no longer disposed on the support but on these intermediate parts (8). Composed of juxtaposed elements. the formwork is cut to fit the contour of the shims (9) whose thickness in the direction of the pins is such that their internal face is at the same level as the molding face of the formwork. These support devices (8), easily removed from the inside of the support after hardening 1u b! .Ton, by dislodging them by a short translational sliding, make it possible to remove the shell when the time comes, while leaving it in direct support on the shims (9), that is to say on the support, which will only be dismantled later. Ln effect the inner face of the shell has been molded directly from the shims and as this shell does not acquire sufficient strength to wear on its own until long after it has hardened, this makes it possible to recover all of the accessories much more quickly. of formwork that goes between reused, as we will see later, to continue the construction of the building.

 In general, the pins (5) are round rods threaded at their outer end, and the flanges (6) are fixed in abutment against the sleeves (7) by a simple wing nut screwed on each pin, the length of which is suitable for the thickness of the shell, so as not to have a large thread stroke to screw to lock the nut.

 According to one embodiment of the invention, the nut is replaced by a stop slide (10) with locking and quick release which can be moved and positioned instantly at any point of the spindle. This system is particularly practical when the shell is made in successive phases, in several layers, as we will see in the following description.

We will choose an appropriate design of stop slide, tightening either on a smooth or threaded spindle on any length (system with two half-sleeves tightened by a conical ring, or other). In this way, the flanges can be quickly fixed at variable spacing distances from the support, according to the different phases of the overall process.

With regard to the actual support (4) of the device which is the subject of the invention, it is characterized by several important features:
a) All the clamps which constitute it are simply straight beams which are very resistant both to bending and to longitudinal pressure and traction, (validly made, for example, of steel tube), of cross section suitable for the load at fiuyport er.

 b) All these straight beams are connected to each other end to end, by fittings with several branches, either by pinned or bolted sleeving, or by any other means.

 c) The assembly of the side members most generally constitutes a volume wall, structured in the three dimensions of the space, and the external face (or one of the faces; 'it is a straight structure) corresponds on the surface of the hull to be produced and will serve as a support.

 According to an improved embodiment of the invention, the length of the beams is standardized for categories, distinguishing in particular the external beams (li) from the internal beams (12), and the volume wall obtained by their assembly is structured so regular. The assembly can then be carried out according to a rigorously repetitive process from groups of identical beams.

The best case for total standardization is that of FIG. 5 corresponding to the construction of a flat wall: All of the beams without exception can be identical. The support face of the structured volume wall is made up of equal squares.

FIG. 6 represents the support of a shell with a cylindrical surface: in this case the bearing face is still composed of equal squares, but the circumferential spars on the inside are necessarily smaller than on the outside, and moreover the length internal (or radial) beams, corresponding to the thickness of the structure, is determined according to its radius of curvature. Finally, in the case of FIG. 7 representing a pyramidal structure intended to form a conical surface shell, there is only one row by row standardization.

 In these three cases, as in many cases of regular geometric surfaces, even complex such as parabolic, hyperbolic, elliptical etc., we can in this way achieve an infinite variety of shells on modular support.

 The modular breakdown of the bearing surface of the bearing structure will allow from there to standardize in their design all the formwork accessories (1,2,3, o and 8), in particular with a view to their continuous connection of surface, both on the abscissa and on the ordinate. Thus Jr example, the intermediate support devices (8) fit one after the other, from module to module, similarly the external flanges (6) whose ends overlap in alignment of spindle to spindle by row of The formwork elements, superimposed in one direction, are placed end to end in the other direction, which generally ensures surface continuity. Finally the pins (5) and the shims (9) have the same standard position on all the horizontal beams of the same series.

 According to one embodiment of the supporting structure, the rac cords; ensuring the assembly of the side members have their different fixed and rigid branches with respect to each other, forming invariable angles between them. This is very suitable if the support formed in this way is intended to mold a large number of times the same shell, curved according to the same radius of curvature.

 -but if the curve must change, we must change the fittings, because certain angles will necessarily vary.

 According to a more sophisticated embodiment, the branches of the assembly fittings relating to the direction of the curve are designed so that the fixing of the spar corresponding to each of them is articulated thereon on an axis (13), ( see fig. 8 showing a cylindrical structure).

From the same standard beams, it is thus possible by pivoting to vary the angle (14) and thereby the radius of curvature, according to the importance which one wishes to give to the curve of the shell to be molded. However, for the supporting structure to be rigid and to correspond to the desired curve, it is necessary to block the angles (1-1) at the chosen value, by means of cross-pieces (15) connecting transverse and circumferential external beams to the determined position. radinux internal beams. The locking cross-pieces are of course fittings themselves also on the axis. In this way, we can give the supporting structure the radius of curvature that we want, from the same standard beams.

 Continuing with the example of the cylindrical structure, fig. 9 shows in section two semi-cylindrical structures of different radii obtained with the same external and internal spars and the same cross-pieces: a structure with 6 facets and the other with th facets. According to this design, only the length of the radial beam increases as a function of the radius of curvature, to give the structure a surfacing resistance in all cases. But we can also make it a stantlarl piece, for example by constituting two sliding tubes 1 Xun (J-ns the other, bolted together at the respective position determined by the desired length for the whole. Thus from the point of view of the production tool, we can make support structures for cylindrical buildings-copuses of all dimensions if we have a large number of only cin @ standard parts: 3 beams, 1 cross and I connector.

The assembly operation Cle la structure is a succession of simple and repetitive gestures in an established order module by molecule and by row of modules. The process is studied with a lot of evening in order to make its execution easy and above all very fast, thanks in particular to standardization.

 Finally, there is provision for the invention to be able to produce the hulls, the shape of which is a composition of different geometrical surfaces connected together, most generally without breaking the curve. For example, the shell in fig. 1 is a frusto-conical surface extended by a spherical cap. Fig.2 is a shell building consisting of a semi-cylindrical body terminated at each end by a quarter of a sphere, all with a constant radius of curvature.

 A final point to note regarding the device object <I of invention, is read all the side members without exception constit-nt the support being straight for their optimum resistance and because of the principle of versatility, the only organs that will constitute the curve of the hull are the intermediate support pieces (e) for the inside face @ and the flanges (6) for the outside face. These bodies will therefore have to be adapted; at each variant contours of curve.

 With regard to the hull molding process, we first recall that it is necessarily carried out from bottom to bottom as soon as there is an inclination, according to a progressive placement of the formwork and the material pouring (concrete or other).

 The design of the device on an internal fixed unilateral support with rapid displacement of the external formwork in a variable thickness position on pins, will make it possible to easily produce, if necessary, a shell composed of several successive layers, superimposed from the inside towards the outside. , without touching the support. This makes it possible to make laminated shells of specific materials. As soon as a layer is poured and hardened, it is opened and it is pressed on to pour or lay the next layer. Indeed, one can interpose in the shell of the most diverse materials, either for example hollow bricks to increase its thickness while lightening it proportionally, or even an insulation material.

 According to a particular application of this process, (see fig. 10), a first layer of concrete is poured (1), then after formwork stripping on the pins are wedges (22) made of hard wood for example, the length of which on spindle corresponds to the total thickness of the insulation provided. A first layer of insulating material (25) is then placed, for example caps of expanded polystyrene, pre-cut to fit the contour of the shims and arranged end to end.

Then on this first layer are fixed studs (24), of the same material or other, regularly spaced, on which a second layer of insulation is placed as before. Finally, the external flanges are again fixed in abutment on sleeves, themselves in abutment on the shims (22), in order to pour the final external concrete layer (20). (If necessary, a polyethylene film will be inserted before this last layer so as not to dampen the insulation)
After hardening and formwork removal, a double concrete shell is obtained, containing double insulation and an interstitial vacuum, all in absolute continuity over the entire surface of the building thus constructed.

Note: for the application of this large-scale process, it is planned to have the insulation complex produced with an integrated vacuum industrially, to put everything in place in a single element, or at least obtain the intermediate pads directly incorporated by molding of one or other of the two layers.

Finally, it is possible to envisage applying this process with a view to obtaining an even more sophisticated insulation comprising several successive empty spaces. This technique is all the more interesting as it allows the total absence of a thermal bridge, the wedges (optional) placed between the two shells, being designed to eliminate any conduction phenomenon. If in addition it is desired to connect the two shells together, they can be tightened together on the shims by bolts (21) passing through the whole at the locations of the pins. The bolts are sheathed by the plastic sleeves which remain in place, the head and the nut being provided with an insulating washer. In this way, conduction is also avoided.

 This method according to the invention makes it possible to obtain very high performance insulation. In addition, the interstitial vacuum in continuous propagation inside all the slump of the building thus produced, allows its air conditioning (heating or also refrigeration) by the wall, by air circulation (hot or cold) in closed circuit. This air conditioning technique, in addition to saving considerable energy, also results in great stability of the indoor air thanks to the constancy and uniformity of the temperature throughout the volume of the building.

 With regard to the actual construction method relating to the invention, namely the positioning of the hull in space, 13 essential difficulty of implementation is linked to the hull size that is envisaged, and relates access to all points of both the supporting structure and the hull itself.

 If it is easy to build a vertical cylinder or even a vertical truncated cone with low conicity, from bottom to top, from level to level, it is however more difficult to access the hull from the inside, because of the supporting structure, when the latter inclines in space to tend towards the horizontal.

This is the case, for example, of the semi-cylindrical shell with a horizontal axis, and its derivatives. In this case, one way to overcome this difficulty is to build both the structure and the hull in a joint horizontal progression, span (vertical) after span, always from bottom to top and both sides at the same time, as the 'we connect to the top of the vault. Retention of the poured concrete is ensured by the provisional positioning during molding on each trap of a stopper (16) (see fig.

11) between the two forms on the side of the horizontal progression, stop bead which is removed at the end and as the molding of the next span, to allow the joining of material from the hull.

 Always for the same type of geometrical shape of hull, built in progress @orizontale, and according to u @ mode of application of the process object of the invention, one obtains a possibility of total access by setting up a éc @ af # rolling bearing (17) (see fig. 12), the shape of which conforms from the inside to that of the modular bearing structure, and of which an extension, also following the profile of the hull, overhangs it on the outside from the side of the progression @ horizontal. This scaffolding is reduced in length because it only serves to access one span at a time. It is designed according to the same method as the structure, but rests on the ground on a chassis with fixed wheels allowing it to be moved easily in the sense the construction. This scaffolding is provided with a step-step staircase for access to the mounting of the structure on the internal side, and another outside of the flow to be produced, in direct proximity thereof, and has lateral offset. At each advance of the scaffolding, by the distance of one span at a time, successive steps are taken to assemble a span of supporting structure, connected to the previous span, then to molding of the corresponding span of the hull, also connected to the previous one as we saw previously.

 Note: the scaffolding can be fitted with a mechanical powered lift allowing concrete and the various structural and formwork elements to be conveyed to the upper part of the building.

 Finally, by extension of the same concern for rationalizing the work of implementation, always for the same type of hull with constant profile, the invention includes the installation of an articulated rolling ladder (18) placed directly on the hull, outside, and following its profile perpendicularly to the axis. Each articulation rests on two aligned wheels, which allows easy movement of the whole ladder in the longitudinal direction. This articulated ladder can be offset laterally with respect to the wheels, so that the latter roll on the molten hull but allowing direct access to the next span for its formwork. @lle is indeed intended to facilitate this operation, @just as the various possible operations of finishing of the hull (application of a coating etc ...). The articulated ladder can be towed independently or connected to the rolling scaffold, as in fig. 1 ', at a distance determined by the formwork time.

 In conclusion, according to the different implementation options of the present invention, namely one part of the formwork device on a modular structure, the other part of the molding process in its many ways, it can be envisaged in an extremely easy and effective way, the making of hulls of all kinds, all shapes and all dimensions.

(Boats, tankers, marine floats, tanks of all kinds, silos etc ...). However, it seems to be read it is in the sector of construction of buildings in general, (including the individual house), that the invention will find its greatest prospects for application, this because of the very significant economy. to achieve, compared to traditional constructions and often higher quality, (especially with integrated insulation).

The more the production tool will be improved (articulated modular structure, formwork elements and various accessories), which is very well justified by its continuous repetitive use, the more the cost of labor will be reduced.

 To conclude, let us point out one of the many other advantages of the invention, unexpected but not negligible, namely the particular resistance of the hull-building to certain natural disasters on the one hand to hurricanes, cyclones etc ..., because it does not have any connected part and because of its curved and aerodynamic forms, on the other hand to earthquakes because built without foundations but on simple sole of seat on soft ground, its great overall cohesion of matter allows it not to undergo the deformations of the basement.

Claims (8)

 1) Double formwork device (I and 2) for molding a shell (3), consisting in particular of a one-sided support (4) supporting the first formwork (1), and removable pins (5) fixed on the support and passing through perpen <licularly the molding shell, at the free end of which flanges (6) are fixed in abutment on sleeves (7) to hold the second formwork (2), the device being characterized in that intermediate supporting parts retractable (8) are interposed between the support and the first formwork, in a thickness interval obtained by shims (9) threaded on pins before sleeving. This first formwork is cut to fit the contour of the shims, and its molding face comes at the same level as the internal face of the shims.  2) Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the flanges are retained at a distance of variable spacing relative to the support, according to the various possible successive phases of the molding process, by stop slides (lO) with locking and quick release, which can be fixed at any point along the length of the pins.  3) Device according to claim l, characterized in that all the parts constituting the actual support are 'straight beams, the only members which can if necessary be curved, (depending on the possible curve that we want to give the shell), being the worst of the intermediate support and the flanges, whose two forms conform to the forms.  4) Device according to claims 1 and 3, characterized in that the support is obtained by a repetitive method of assembly end to end of groups of standardized beams (external beams (11) and internal beams (12)), constituting a volume wall, regularly structured in three dimensions, and whose bearing surface, broken down into flat facets all identical (or identical row by row), fits exactly into the surface of the shell to be made, whether it is planar , curved, pyramidal or other. The support is thus made up of a modular structure, and all the formwork accessories (1, 2, 5, 6, 8), standardized according to the bearing face of the base module (s) , are designed and positioned with a view to their continuous surface connection (both on the abscissa and on the orthosis).  5) Device according to claims 1, 3 and X, characterized in that some of the external beams constituting the modular structure are assembled siir pivoting axes (13), either in one direction only (ex: cylindrical surface) or in several directions (ex : spherical surface), the angles (14) that the articulated beams thus form between them being variahles but determined and calibrated according to the desired radius of curvature of the hull, by the position of a cross; (15), also mounted on axes, and connecting the articulated external beams to the internal (or radial) beams.  6) Device according to claims 1, 3, t and 5, characterized in that the shell which it generates constitutes in whole or in part is a simple geometric surface, such as a flat, curved surface (cylindritue, conical, spherical etc.), or pyramidal, or else a more elaborate geometric surface (parabolic, hyperbolic etc.), that is to say a composition of different geometric surfaces connected together.  7) A method of progressive molding from bottom to top of a shell, resulting from the device according to claims l and 2, characterized in that one realizes either a simple shell, or a shell composed of several layers obtained in successive phases in further apart before each phase the flanges (6) and the formwork (2), and using the previous layer count formwork side support.  8) Method according to the preceding claims, characterized in that a shell is made from bottom to top but according to a horizontal progression bay by bay (that is to say by vertical row of modules), by the provisional establishment during the molding of each span of a stop bead (IG) between the two forms on the side of the horizontal progression, stop bead which is removed as the next span is molded to allow the material junction (the hull.  g) Method according to claim 8, characterized in that a rolling scaffold (17) is used, provided with stepped walkways, the shape of which conforms inside that of the vertical section of the modular bearing structure, and whose an extension overhangs it outside on the side of the horizontal progression. At each advance of the scaffolding, one span at a time, successive steps are taken to erect a span of supporting structure connected to the preceding span and then to mold the corresponding span of the hull.  10) Method according to claims 8 and 9, characterized in that one uses an articulated and offset rolling one (18), placed on the outside of the hull following its curve, and designed to be towed in the direction of the horizontal progression either by the rolling scaffolding, or independently, to facilitate the operations of external formwork and finishing of the hull.  ti) Method according to all the preceding claims, characterized in that a shell is made up of two outer layers (19 and 20) of hard material (such as concrete), entirely enclosing between them a thermal insulation complex consisting either a simple thickness of insulating material (such as polystyrene), or a composition of several thicknesses of insulating material and one or more void interstitial thicknesses. The two hard outer layers are joined to each other in a constant spacing, by bolts (21) passing on the one hand the sleeve holes left at the location of the pins in the two layers, and on the other part of the inner shims (2 ') threaded on the pins after stripping of the first layer. The insulating plates (23) are precut to fit the contour of the shims (22), the last thickness serving as formwork on the support side to mold the last hard layer. The empty thicknesses are obtained by placing studs (24) of insulating material, regularly spaced, on one or the other of the two adjacent faces which they thus keep apart.