GB2277541A

GB2277541A - Decorative concrete slab; method of moulding

Info

Publication number: GB2277541A
Application number: GB9408379A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Masaru Oiwa; Masami Hisada; Hiroharu Ogasawara
Original assignee: Inax Corp
Current assignee: Inax Corp
Priority date: 1993-05-01
Filing date: 1994-04-28
Publication date: 1994-11-02
Also published as: GB9408379D0; JPH06317001A

Abstract

A decorative concrete slab includes a decorative piece 14 such as a tile fixed onto the upper surface of a concrete matrix 12, and is provided on each side with a raised spacer 16 in the form of an integral piece, which, when a plurality of such decorative concrete slabs are arranged side by side, abuts against the side of the adjacent slab to ensure a given space therebetween. A method for forming a decorative concrete slab includes moving four sides of a frame together so as to touch the edges of tile 14, and casting concrete above the tile; thus the sides of the tile and the concrete are coplanar. <IMAGE>

Description

DECORATIVE CONCRETE SLAB, METHOD FOR MAKING THE SAME AND FORMING FRAME USED WITH THE METHOD BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a decorative concrete slab including a tile or other decorative piece fixed onto the upper surface of a concrete matrix, a method for forming the decorative concrete slab, and a frame used with the forming method.

PRIOR ART So far, concrete slabs obtained by forming concrete having a predetermined thickness have been used for paving or other purposes. In recent years, however, much attention has been paid to decorative concrete slabs obtained by decorating the upper surface of concrete matrixes with tiles or other decorative pieces, because of their attractive appearance.

A typical example of such concrete slabs, i.e., a decorative concrete slab with a decorative tile has conventionally been made by such a method as shown in FIG. 13.

As can be seen from FIG. 13, frame pieces 100 are latticed together to make a concrete-forming frame divided into a plurality of forming zones. A flowable concrete material is cast onto a tile 102 placed on the bottom of each forming zone, and is then solidified to make a decorative concrete slab 104 having the tile 102 made integral with a concrete matrix 103 (see FIG. 14). In this way a plurality of such decorative concrete slabs 104 are formed simultaneously.

When with the thus obtained decorative concrete slabs 104 are used for paving, they are placed side by side at given intervals, as shown in FIG. 14(it), with the gaps therebetween filled with a sand or other joint filler material.

Much difficulty is involved in making tiles - used as decorative pieces - of strictly controlled dimensions; that is, some dimensional variation is unavoidable in the case of tiles.

Therefore, when the frame pieces 100 are latticed together to make concrete-forming zones as in FIG. 14(ia), those zones must be dimensioned so as to receive the largest one of the preselected tiles 102.

Inevitably, however, this causes the tile 102 placed on the bottom of each zone to be more or less spaced on the sides away from the inner sides of the frame pieces 100.

In this state, a concrete material, if cast into the forming zone, will penetrate into the resulting gap.

The resulting decorative concrete slab 104 is aesthetically damaged because, as shown in FIG. 14(ib), the concrete matrix bulges out of the sides of the tile 102.

It is much difficult, and takes too long, to achieve paving with such decorative concrete slabs 104, because to keep the gap between adjacent tiles 102 and 102 constant results in a variation in the gap between adjacent decorative concrete slabs 104. Moreover, jointing becomes unattractive.

When conventional decorative concrete slabs 104 are used for paving, they are only jointed together by sand that is likely to subside with time. If a heavy body, e.g., a vehicle runs over such subsiding pavement, rotational force will then act on the decorative concrete slabs 104 in the direction shown by an arrow in FIG. 14(ii), causing the pavement to become irregular.

A primary object of the invention is to solve such problems mentioned above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the first aspect of the invention, there is provided a decorative concrete slab including a decorative piece such as a tile fixed onto the upper surface of a concrete matrix, characterized by being provided on each side with a raised spacer in the form of an integral piece, which, when a plurality of such decorative concrete slabs are arranged side by side1 abuts against the side of the adjacent decorative concrete slab to ensure a given space therebetween.

Preferably, the sides of the decorative piece conform to the sides of the concrete matrix to make the same planes.

Preferably, the raised spacer extends in the thickness direction of the decorative concrete slab.

Preferably, the upper end of the spacer is located below the surface of the decorative piece by a given distance.

According to the second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of making a decorative concrete slab including a decorative piece such as a tile fixed onto the upper surface of a concrete matrix, characterized by involving the steps of making a forming frame which is built up of independent frame pieces for forming the sides of said concrete matrix, putting together said frame pieces so that they can be engaged with the sides of said decorative piece1 thereby forming a single forming zone, and casting a concrete material in said forming zone for solidification so that decorative pieces and concrete matrix are integrally fixed.

According to the third aspect of the invention, there is provided a forming frame for making a decorative concrete slab including a tile or other decorative piece fixed onto the upper surface of a concrete matrix, characterized in that said a forming frame which is built up of independent frame pieces for forming the sides of said concrete matrix, thereby making a single decorative concrete slab, said frame pieces being put together so that they can be engaged with the sides of said decorative slab, thereby defining a single forming zone for forming said concrete matrix.

q Preferably, the frame pieces are slightly longer than the sides of the decorative concrete slab to be made and aretput together in such a way that the side end of one frame piece is engaged with the inner side of the other.

According to the invention as recited in Claim 1, there is provided a decorative concrete slab which is provided on the sides with raised spacers as integral pieces. Such concrete slabs can be placed side by side with a constant gap between them, because the spacers of one slab can be engaged with the sides of the adjacent slabs. It is thus possible to save the labor and time needed for paving or other purposes.

As recited in Claim 1, these spacers can be much more advantageously used for the case where the sides of each decorative piece are flush with, or on the same plane as, the sides of each concrete matrix.

The present decorative concrete slabs, each made up of a decorative piece and a concrete matrix that is flush on the sides with the sides of the decorative piece, can be placed side by side with a constant gap between them, whereby well-jointed pavement can be achieved.

According to the invention recited in Claim 3, the spacers are extended in the thickness of the decorative concrete slab. Even when a heavy body, e.g., a vehicle applies rotational force on a pavement built up of such decorative concrete slabs, the prevention of rotation of the decorative concrete slabs is effectively achieved because-of the fact that the spacers of one slabs are engaged with the sides of the adjacent slabs1 so keeping the pavement smooth.

According to the invention recited in Claim 4, the upper ends of the spacers are located below the surface of the decorative piece by a given distance. When the decorative concrete slabs are used for paving, this enables the spacers to be shielded by a jointing material such as sand, so making the pavement look fine.

According to the invention recited in Claim 5, there is provided a method of making a decorative concrete slab including a decorative piece such as a tile fixed onto the upper surface of a concrete matrix, which involves the steps of making a forming frame which is built up of independent frame piece to form the individual sides of said concrete matrix, putting together said frame pieces so that they can be engaged with the sides of said decorative piece, thereby forming a single forming zone, and casting a concrete material in said forming zone for solidification to form one decorative concrete slab.

According to this forming method, the inner sides of the frame pieces can be tightly engaged with the sides of decorative pieces such as tiles varying in size.

Therefore, it is assured that the sides of the concrete matrix can be flush with the sides of the decorative piece by casting a concrete material in the forming zone and solidifying that material integrally with the decorative piece.

According to the present method, the frame pieces can be dismantled; that is, even spacers with the upper ends located below the surface of the decorative piece by a given distance can be easily formed and removed from the forming frame.

The invention recited in Claim 6 is directed to a forming frame suitable for use with the forming method as recited in Claim 5. According to the invention recited in Claim 7, there are provided frame pieces that are slightly longer than the sides of the decorative piece to be made and are put together in such a way that the side end of one frame piece is engaged with the inner side of the other.

According to the frame pieces, the invention can be carried out even with decorative pieces varying in size, because the adjacent frame pieces can be engaged with each other at a different position.

v BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the decorative concrete slab according to the invention, FIG. 2 illustrates what advantages are obtained when the same decorative concrete slab is used for paving, FIG. 3 represents the plane and sides of a forming frame for the same decorative concrete slab, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the same forming frame, FIG. 5 represents one of the frame pieces shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, FIG. 6 illustrates the procedure of making the decorative concrete slab 10 shown in FIG. 1, using the forming frame shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, FIG. 7 represents another embodiments of the forming frame and apparatus according to the invention, FIG. 8 represents still another embodiments of the forming frame and apparatus according to the invention, FIG. 9 is an exploded view of a part of FIG. 8, FIG. 10 illustrates in what direction the frame piece of FIG. 8 is urged, FIG. 11 represents the procedure of making a decorative concrete slab, using the forming frame and apparatus shown in FIG. 8, FIG. 12 represents a base with which a plurality of sets of the forming frames and apparatus shown in FIG. 8 are fixedly placed side by side, FIG. 13 illustrates a conventional method of making decorative concrete slabs, and FIG. 14 illustrates the problems with conventional decorative concrete slabs and production methods.

DETAILED EXPLANATION OF THE INVENTION This invention will now be explained, by way of example but not by way of limitation, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a decorative concrete slab 10, in which a square tile 14 used as a decorative piece is fixed onto the upper surface of a square concrete matrix 12. It is here to be noted that the decorative concrete slab 10 is of 150 mm2 in size and 60 mm in thickness, with the concrete matri 12 and tile 14 being of 50 mm and 10 mm in thickness, respectively.

In the decorative concrete slab 10, the sides of the concrete matrix 12 are flush with the sides of the tile 14; they are on the same plane.

The concrete matrix 12 is provided on each side with a raised spacer 16, which is made integral with it. The spacer 16 ascends straightforward from the lower end of the concrete matrix 12, and the upper end of the spacer 16 is located below the lower end of the decorative piece by a given distance.

It is here to be noted that the spacer 16 is of 10 mm in width, 35 mm i, height and 5 mm in thickness.

FIG. 2 is presented to illustrate what advantages are obtained when suctr decorative concrete slabs 10 are used for paving. Jn order to obtain a constant gap between adjoining slabs 10, only the slabs 10 need be placed side by side such that the spacer on the side of one slab is engaged with the side of the other slab, as shown.

In the decorative concrete slab 10 mentioned above, the sides of the concrete matrix 12 are flush with or, in another parlance, on the same plane with, the sides of the tile 14. What is needed to keep the gaps (joints) between the tiles 14 constant is only to place the slabs 10 side by side in such a way that the spacer on the side of one slab is engaged with the side of the other. It is also possible to achieve a well-jointed pavement.

With the decorative concrete slabs 10 according to this embodiment, it is possible not only to carry out paving within a short period of time but to obtain a fine pavement as well.

In addition, even when some rotational force is applied as by a heavy body on the pavement built up of such decorative concrete slabs 10, it is unlikely that such force may cause them to rotate, thus preventing the pavement from becoming rough. This is because the spacers 16 on the sides of one slab are in firm engagement with the associated sides of the adjoining slabs.

It is to be understood that each spacer 16 can be shielded by sand or other joint filling material during paving, because it is located below the upper surface of the slab 10 by a given distance.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is shown a forming frame 18 for making the decorative concrete slab 10 mentioned above. This forming frame 18 is made up of four frame pieces 20 put together by means of bolts 22. More specifically, one side of one frame piece 20 is engaged with the inner side cf another frame piece 20, with the inner side being engaged with the side end face of still another frame piece 20. Then, the frame pieces 20 are put together by means of the bolts 22 to make the forming frame 18.

Each frame piece 20 is illustrated in FIG. 5 at great length. As shown, the frame piece 20 is provided in one side with internally threaded holes 24 for threadedly receiving the bolts 22 and in the vicinity of the other side end with slots 26 through which bolts are to be inserted in the thickness direction. As illustrated, each slot 26 is long in the longitudinal direction.

Each frame piece 20 is provided in the inner side to form the slab with a recess 28 to form the spacer, and in the vicinity of the lower end with a groove 30 into which a sealing material is to be fitted.

The frame piece 20, on the other hand, is provided on the outer side with d rib 32 extending along the longitudinal direction.

It is here to be understood that the frame piece 20 (about 165 mm) s slightly larger than the tile 14 in the longitudinal direction.

J FIG. 6 illustrate how to form the decorative concrete slab 10 with the use of a forming frame 18 built up of the frame pieces 20.

In the conventional method as mentioned above, tiles are fitted into a lattice form of forming zones. In accordance with the instant method, however the frame pieces 20 are engaged with the sides of the horizontally placed tile 14, as shown in FIGS. 6(1) and (II). Then, the bolts 22 are inserted through the slots 26 in one frame piece 20, and screwed into the internally threaded holes 24 in the associated frame piece 20, thereby clamping the frame pieces together.

Although there is generally a certain variation in the size of the tiles 14, such a variation is well taken up during the clamping of the frame pieces 20, because the associated frame piece 20 can be slid within the range of the slots 26 to determine where the frame pieces 20 are bolted together. In other words, the instant method enables the inner sides of the frame pieces 20 to be tightly engaged with the sides of the tile 14 irrespective of the size of the tile 14.

Then, a flowable concrete material is cast into the forming zone defined by the forming frame 18 built up in the way mentioned above, as shown in FIG.

6(III).

Following the solidification of the concrete material, the frame pieces 20 are dismantled for removal of the decorative concrete slab 10, as shown in FIG.

6(IV).

FIG. 7 represents another embodiment of the forming frame and apparatus according to the invention. As illustrated, the apparatus is designed to hold frame pieces 34 in association with the sides of the decorative concrete slab 10 by means of turnable arms 36. A leaf form of springs 40 are fitted onto the shafts 38 of the arms 36 to bias the frame pieces 34 inwardly.

In operating this apparatus, the arms 36 and frame pieces 34 are turned upward, as shown by dott-andsdash lines. Then, while the ar ns 36 are turned downward, a tile 14 is supplied to the apparatus downward.

While slightly moved back against the biasing forces of the springs 40, the frame pieces 34 are turned downward until their inner sides are tightly engaged at their lowermost positions with the sides of the tile 14.

Then, a concrete material is cast into the forming zone defined above the tile 14 for solidification therewith.

Following the solidification of the cast concrete material, the frame pieces 34 are turned upward with the arms 36, whereby the formed decorative concrete slab 10 can be removed.

The instant embodiment can dispense with the clamping and unclamping of the frame pieces 34 by such clamping bolts 22 as mentioned above, because the frame pieces 34 are engaged with the sides of the tile 14 with the use of the biasing forces of the springs 40. This makes it possible to automate the production of the decorative concrete slabs 10.

Still another embodiment of the forming frame and apparatus according to the invention is illustrated in FIG. 8, in which reference numeral 50 stands for frame pieces, each supported on a set of sliders 52. More specifically, the frame piece 50 is, as shown in FIG. 9, provided on its outer side with arms 54 and 56, and a supporting block 58 is provided on the sliders 52, so that the arms 54 and 56 can be turned upward or downward by the supporting block 58 through a shaft 60 passing through them.

Fitted onto the shaft 60 are springs 57, by which the arms 54 and 56 and hence the frame piece 50 is biased in the direction shown by arrows A in FIGS. 8 and 10, viz., in the direction in which its side end is engaged with the inner side of the adjacent frame piece 50.

On the other hand, the sliders 52 are slidably fitted onto supporting rods 62 so that they can be moved in the axial direction of the rods 62. Fitted onto the supporting rods 62 are coil springs 64, by which the sliders F2 and the frame piece 50 thereon are biased in the inward direction, shown by arrows B in FIG.

10.

It is here to be understood that each supporting rod 62 is supported by brackets 68 and 70 provided on the base 66.

A tile 14 is supplied to the forming frame and apparatus, while the frame pieces 50 are turned upward, as shown in FIG. 11(I). Then, the frame pieces 50 are turned downward, while the tile is allowed to go down, as shown in FIG.

11 (it). Then1 a concrete material is cast into a forming zone defined on the insides of the frame pieces 50, followed by solidification for making it integral with the tile 14 (FIG. 11(111)).

The thus formed decorative concrete slab 10 can be removed from the forming frame 10 by turning the frame pieces 50 upward, as shown in FIG.

11(IV).

It is to be understood that the instant forming frame and apparatus are more convenient for producing a plurality of decorative concrete slabs 10 simultaneously, if a plurality of such frames and apparatus are placed side by side on a common base 70.

In the instant embodiment, a plurality of the forming frames and apparatus are designed to be fixed by mounting holes 74 (see FIG. 8A) on the base 72.

While the invention has been explained at great length with reference to some embodiments that are presented by way of example alone, it is understood that the invention is applicable to decorative slabs made up of stone or other decorative material. In addition, it is possible to reduce the amount of decorative concrete slabs as by using Chamotte or other light material as concrete aggregate or using electrical furnace slag for a part of cement. Thus, many other changes or modifications may be possible without departing from the scope of the invention, as recited in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A decorative concrete slab including a decorative piece such as a tile fixed onto the upper surface of a concrete matrix, which is provided on each side with a projecting spacer in the form of an integral piece, which, when a plurality of such decorative concrete slabs are arranged side by side, abuts against the side of the adjacent decorative concrete slab to ensure a given space therebetween.

2. A decorative concrete slab according to Claim 1, wherein the sides of the decorative piece conform to the sides of the concrete matrix to lie on common planes.

3. A decorative concrete slab according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the spacer extends in the thickness direction of the decorative concrete slab.

4. A decorative concrete slab according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the upper end of the spacer is located below the surface of the decorative piece by a given distance.

5. A method of making a decorative concrete slab including a decorative piece such as a tile fixed onto the upper surface of a concrete matrix, which involves the steps of making a forming frame of independent frame pieces for forming the sides of said concrete matrix, putting together said frame pieces so that they can be engaged with the sides of said decorative piece, thereby forming a single forming zone, and casting a concrete material in said forming zone for solidification to form the decorative concrete slab.

6. A forming frame for making a decorative concrete slab including a tile or other decorative piece fixed onto the upper surface of a concrete matrix, wherein said forming frame is built up of independent frame pieces for forming the sides of said concrete matrix, thereby making a single decorative concrete slab, -said frame pieces being put together so that they can be engaged with the sides of said decorative piece, thereby defining a single forming zone for forming said concrete matrix.

7. A forming frame according to Claim 6, wherein the frame pieces are slightly longer than the sides of the decorative piece to be made and are put together in such a way that the side end of one frame piece is engaged with the inner side of the other.

8. A decorative concrete slab substantially as described with reference to the drawings.

9. A method of making a decorative concrete slab substantially as described with reference to the drawings.

10. A forming frame for making a decorative concrete slab substantially as described with reference to the drawings.