GB2200667A

GB2200667A - Floor and wall separation restraints

Info

Publication number: GB2200667A
Application number: GB08702442A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Frank Johnson
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-02-04
Filing date: 1987-02-04
Publication date: 1988-08-10
Also published as: GB8702442D0

Abstract

A restraining apparatus 1 comprising an elongate member with securing means 3 for attachment to a floor 5, and brick gripping means 7 for attachment to a wall 13. The securing means is in the form of an enlarged end region 3 and the brick gripping means takes the form a bent portion 1 which can engage over a brick 9, with the remainder of the elongate member 1 extending generally horizontally over a floor area. A layer of concrete (19 Fig. 3) is then applied to the floor area (17 Fig. 3) with the elongate member embedded therein. The apparatus thus holds the wall 13 and concrete floor (19 Fig. 3) together even in the event of subsidence in area (17 Fig. 3). <IMAGE>

Description

DESCRIPTION IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO FLOOR AND WALL RESTRAINTS.

The present invention relates to apparatus and method of restraining floors and walls.

More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method of restraining concrete floors and walls. Conventionally, when constructing a building, trenches are first excavated in the desired pattern and brick walls are constructed on concrete footings in these trenches. When the walls have reached a certain height, the damp-proof course membrane is located over the terrain within the walls, which is usually in-filled with hard core, and over the walls themselves. The membrane within the walls is then covered with a concrete mix which forms the floor of the building. The floor is thus supported on the hard core in-fill and by friction with the walls.

However, as time goes on, the hard core in-fill can sometimes subside and when this happens the concrete floor tends to tilt, i.e. it drops on one side. This tilting, besides providing an undesirable inclined floor suface, can and does, also push the wall of the building outwards, thereby breaking the mortar, disturbing the line of the buildings, and possibly damaging the damp course besides weakening the structure of the building. Clearly this is an expensive problem which can be dangerous if not rectified.

The aim of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method of restraining concrete floors and walls, to thus overcome the above problem.

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for restraining walls and floors, comprising means for gripping at least one brick and securing means for attachment to a floor.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the apparatus comprises an elongate steel member with an enlarged region, preferably at one end, forming said securing means, and a part rectangular-shaped dog-leg deformed section at its other end, forming said brick gripping means. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, an enlarged region i.e. securing means, may be provided at each end region of the elongate steel member, with the brick gripping means formed in the middle region thereof.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of restraining floors and walls, comprising the steps of constructing a wall section to at least partially define a desired floor area, mounting at least one piece of restraining apparatus on said wall section so as to project over the area to form the adjacent floor, each piece of said apparatus including means for gripping at least one brick, and securing means for attachment to a floor, and subsequently covering the floor area with a layer of concrete in which said securing means of each piece of said apparatus is embedded.

In a preferred embodiment of this further feature of the present invention, each piece of restraining apparatus comprises an elongate steel member with an enlarged region, preferably at one end, forming said securing means, and a par t-rectangular-shaped dog-leg deformed section at its other end, forming said brick gripping means. The part-rectangular-shaped dog-leg deformed section is located over the upper course of bricks of the partially completed wall, preferably over the damp-proof course membrane extending thereover, so that said elongate member projects above and generally parallel to, the said floor area which is preferably covered by the damp-proof course membrane. The floor area is then covered with a layer of concrete to a depth such that the said enlarged end region of the elongate member is embedded in the concrete.Preferably a number of these elongate steel members are secured at spaced-apart locations around the partially completed wall so that the concrete floor, when cured, is supported by the elongate members should subsidence occur in the hard-core in-fill on which the concrete and damp-proof course membrane are initially laid. In this way any subsequent tilting of the concrete floor or resultant wall damage, is avoided.

In an alternative embodiment of this further aspect of the present invention, each piece of restraining apparatus has an enlarged region forming securing means at each end region of said elongate member, with a generally rectangular dog-leg deformed section formed in the middle region thereof. This restraining apparatus is used on a wall section dividing two floor areas, with the said deformed section being engaged over the dividing wall section, so that the opposite end regions of the apparatus projects over and generally parallel to, the adjacent floor areas. The said end regions are subsequently embedded in respective layers of concrete which, when cured, form the adjacent floors.

In all of the above described forms of the present invention the restraining apparatus is preferably equal to or thinner than a mortar layer between courses of bricks. In this way the normal construction of the walls is unaffected by the present inventidn.

Whilst the brick gripping means described hereinabove are formed by a generally part-rectangular, dog-leg deformed section of the elongate member, any other -desired form of brick gripping means may be substituted, e.g. bolts. Further, whilst said securing means described hereabove is formed by an enlarged end region, said securing means may take any other desired form, e.g. bolts, one or more holes in the elongate member, the mere surface of the elongate member, etc.

The present invention will now be further described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig.l is a perspective view of one embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention; Fig.2 illustrates the embodiment of Fig.l, in use; Fig.3 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the present invention; and Fig.4 illustrates the embodiment of Fig.3, in use.

The embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings, comprises an elongate steel member 1 which has an enlarged end region 3, i.e. a split and spread end region, which forms securing means for attaching-said elongate member 1 to a floor 5, and a part-rectangular dog-leg deformed section 7 which forms brick gripping means. The deformed section 7 is dimensioned to snugly fit over å standard building brick 9 - see Fig.2, - with parallel side sections 11 and 12 engaging parallel side faces of the brick 9. In this way, the elongate member 1 is supported as a cantilever on the brick 9, with the elongate member 1 extending substantially horizontally, as shown in Fig.2.As an alternative to the enlarged end region forming said securing means, one or more holes may be provided in the elongate member or the mere surface area of the elongate member may be sufficient to frictionally grip the floor to which it is attached. Other desired forms of securing means, e.g. bolts, can of course be also used.

During construction of a building, a number of such elongate members 1 are located at spaced-apart locations along a partially completed wall 13, with said deformed section 7 of each elongate member 1 snugly engaged over the wall 13 and a damp-proof course membrane 15 trapped therebetween. The elongate members 1 each extend over part of the floor area 17 covered by the membrane 15 and deformed by the wall 13, with the elongate members 1 spaced from the membrane 15. The membrane 15 is then covered with a layer of concrete 19 which covers the cantilever portion of said elongate members 1. When the concrete has cured, the elongate members 1 support the concrete floor 19 on the wall 13 by means of deformed sections 7, even if subsidence should occur beneath the membrane 15. Further, the enlarged end regions 3 prevent the elongate members 1 from sliding out of the concrete.Thus, the wall 13 and concrete floor 19 are securely held together.

During remedial work when repairing a floor and wall, the parallel side 11 is omitted so that the brick gripping means can be merely slid between adjacent brick courses after the mortar has been partially removed to provide a suitable aperture.

A further embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings. This further embodiment comprises an elongate member 21 with enlarged end regions 23 at each end thereof, and a part-rectangular dog-leg deformed section 25 in the middle region thereof. As evident from Fig.4, this further embodiment is used in the same manner as the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2, but is for use as a dividing wall 27 for supporting two adjacent floor areas 29,31. Alternative brick gripping means and securing means can, of course, be provided.

Both of the above-described embodiments of the present invention are made of metal, e,g, steel.

However, any suitably strong material can alternively be used. Further, as evident from Figs. 2 and 4, the elongate members 1,21 are each of a thickness equal to or less than the layer of mortar 33 usually used between brick courses. In this way the normal construction of the brick wall is not affected by the mounting of said elongate members 1,21.

The present invention thus provides a simple means and method of positively supporting a concrete floor in an adjacent wall, whilst also positively holding the wall and floor together.

Claims

1. Apparatus for restraining walls and floors, comprising means for gripping at least one brick, and securing means for attachment to a floor.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said apparatus comprises an elongate member with an enlarged region forming said securing means and a deformed or bent region forming said brick gripping means.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which said enlarged region is formed at one end region of the elongate member.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 or 3, in which the deformed or bent region is located at an end region of the elongate member remote from said enlarged region.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, in which an enlarged region is provided at each end region of the elongate member with a deformed or bent region located between said end regions.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 5, in which the or each enlarged region is formed by one end region of the elongate member being split and spread.

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims'2 to 6, in which the deformed or bent region is a partrectangular-shaped dog-leg section.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said apparatus comprises an elongate member and said securing means are formed by one or more bolts or holes through said elongate member.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 8, in which the apparatus comprises an elongate member and said brick gripping means are formed by one or more bolts passing through the elongate member.

10. A method of restraining floors and walls comprising the steps of constructing a wall section to at least partially define a desired floor area, mounting at least one piece of restraining apparatus on said wall section so as to project over an area to form an adjacent floor, each piece of said apparatus including means for gripping at least one brick, and securing means for attachment to a floor, and subsequently covering the floor area with a layer of concrete in which said securing means of each piece of said apparatus is embedded.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10, in which the or each piece of restraining apparatus comprises an elongate member with an enlarged region at one end forming said securing means, and a part-rectangularshaped dog-leg deformed section at the other end forming said brick-gripping means, said method including engaging said deformed section over a brick in the wall section with the remainder of the elongate member extending generally horizontally over and spaced above the adjacent floor area, and embedding said remainder of the elongate member in the layer of concrete.

12. A method as claimed in claim 10 or claim 11, in which the brick gripping means are located over a damp-proof course membrane which extends over the wall section and said adjacent floor area.

13. A method as claimed in claim 10, in which each piece of restraining apparatus comprises an elongate member with securing means at each end thereof and with the brick gripping means located therebetween, said method including locating said apparatus with the brick gripping means engaging the top of the wall section and with the remainder of the elongate member extending on both sides of the wall section generally horizontally over and spaced above the floor area directed by the wall section, and covering the floor area on both sides of the wall section with a layer of concrete in which said securing means are embedded.

14. Apparatus for restraining walls and floors, constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

15. A method of restraining floors and walls substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.