GB2320511A

GB2320511A - Supporting building floors

Info

Publication number: GB2320511A
Application number: GB9724086A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roger Arthur Bullivant
Original assignee: Roxbury Ltd
Current assignee: Roxbury Ltd
Priority date: 1996-11-19
Filing date: 1997-11-17
Publication date: 1998-06-24
Anticipated expiration: 2017-11-17
Also published as: GB2320511B; GB9724086D0; GB9623965D0

Abstract

A building structure such as conservatory comprises an outer base member 10 extending around the periphery, and formed from a pre-cast concrete beam, which has a lip 12 to support a floor member 14 or paving slabs 20. These are also supported at intervals by a support 22 comprising a metal bar or tube, which may be in sections, and has a load spreader 26, 28. The lower end of the bar may be threaded to allow the pile to be screwed into the ground. The slabs 20 may be 3 metres square.

Description

Improvements in or relating to the Erection of Building Structures The present invention concerns improvements in or relating to the erection of building structures, especially but not exclusively the floors of said structures at or near ground level.

There are presently employed many means for constructing the floor of the ground floor of a building structure and many of these methods, which need not be described in detail here, require that, at one or more points across the gap which the floor spans, support members are provided to prevent the floor from sagging.

In the past these support members have often been constructed as pillars or walls from brick or block and this in turn requires the construction of a foundation or footing for the brick or block pillar or wall.

Additionally the floor has been further supported on beams or joists which, in turn, are supported by the support structures.

The provision of support structures and the use of beams or joists gives rise to additional expense and it is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate these and other disadvantages of these prior arrangements.

According to the present invention there is provided a building structure having a floor located at a predetermined distance above ground level and spaced supports for said floor, at least one support comprising a tube or bar driven into the ground until a predetermined upward reaction is achieved, and load spreading means at the top of said tube or bar on which the floor or a floor support member may rest.

Preferably said tube or bar is a steel bar normally used as a concrete reinforcement and having a diameter of 20 mm. Preferably the bar is galvanised or otherwise coated to protect it from corrosion. It may be formed from a plurality of interconnected sections.

Alternatively the tube or bar is a pile which can conveniently be a prefabricated concrete single component or sectional pile, or can be a pile which is formed in situ by any known pile forming technique.

Further alternatively, the tube or bar can be a column of consolidated particulate stone or a column or consolidated ameliorated earth.

Preferably when the tube or bar is a steel bar said load spreading means comprises a plate with a socket on its underside, said socket being adapted to receive the upper end of the tube or bar projecting out of the ground.

Alternatively when the bar is a pile or column said load spreading means comprises an inverted cone formed or placed on the top of the pile or column, being fixed thereto or formed integrally therewith.

Preferably when the tube or bar is a steel bar said supports are arranged in a grid pattern so that they may support paving slabs which form the floor.

Alternatively, they may be arranged linearly to support floor joists of wood or other material.

In a further alternative arrangement when the bar is a pile or column the supports are arranged in a grid pattern so that they may support prefabricated floor slabs. The prefabricated floor slabs may be 3m square or any other suitable rectangular configuration and size.

Preferably the grid pattern is regular.

Alternatively when an outside dimension of the structure is greater than an undivided multiple of the outside dimension of a slab a gap is provided between lines of slabs, the width of the gap corresponding to the difference between the said multiple and the said outside dimension of the building structure Preferably a reinforced beam is cast in situ in said gap.

Preferably the area of the load spreading arrangements at said gap are increased such that the arrangement extends across and beyond the gap.

Load bearing walls may be built on the said cast in situ beam.

Preferably alternative panels in the form of elongate members are provided for use at the perimeter of the building structure, particularly where the tops of the supports are at different levels, the elongate members spanning the gap between adjacent supports at the periphery which lie below floor level to provide an upper surface at floor level on which floor slab can be laid.

Preferably those floor slabs which are used at the perimeter of the building have a textured surface on their edges representing, for example, brickwork.

An alternative member for use at the perimeter of the building structure is a reinforced concrete beam having a flange at its lower end and an upstanding web the upright axis of which is inclined relative to the upright axis of the flange such that the upper face of the web is off-set relative to the upper face of the body.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a cross-section through part of a building structure according to one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 shows a cross-section through part of a building structure according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 shows a plan part of a building structure according to Fig. 2 and Fig. 4 shows a side elevation of part of a building structure built on sloping ground.

The building structure, for example a conservatory, comprises an outer base member extending around the periphery of the conservatory formed from pre-cast concrete beam 10. Alternatively, brickwork and/or masonry can be used. The beam 10, which does not from part of the present invention, is provided with an inwardly directed lip 12 intended to support the outer periphery of a floor member 14. In another embodiment, the beam 10 is provided with a substantially planar horizontal top surface instead of the lip 12 to support the floor member 14. The beam may be supported by a piling arrangement 16 which also does not form part of the present invention and will not be described in detail. The outer wall of the conservatory may be constructed on the upper face 18 of the beam 10. A load spreader in the form of a plate 17 is first placed on top of the piling arrangement 16, the plate 17 being located by means of a tubular spigot 19. A bedding material such as a cementitious sand mix or bitumen can be disposed between the plate 17 and he beam 18.

The floor of the conservatory is provided by a plurality of paving slabs 20 which, conveniently, are dimensioned 600 mm x 600 mm. Clearly each slab 20 as well as being supported on the ledge 12, needs support across the area which the floor is to span and for this reason a plurality of supports are provided, one of which 22 is shown in the drawing. It will be realised that there will be a similar support at each intersection of neighbouring slabs.

The support 22 comprises a metal bar, having projections from its outer surface, of the type normally used as reinforcement in reinforced concrete. The bar is conveniently galvanised to protect it from corrosion but, in certain circumstances, need not be galvanised or may have other protective coatings applied thereto, for example, plastics material.

Using a relatively simple hand held impact tool the bar is driven into the ground until a predetermined upward resistance to further downward movement is experienced. In some situations, the operator may measure the distance of penetration, if previous calculations have indicated the distance required to provide a required resistance. For instance, when driving into chalk, the chalk may liquify, so that resistance cannot be measured at the time of driving, but will return as the chalk re-solidifies. If the depth of penetration is sufficient it may be necessary to use a further section 22' of the bar and this is achieved by use of any suitable interconnecting means 24.

When the bar is driven to the predetermined distance of resistance, a level is carefully marked on it and, if necessary the extra top length of bar is cut off by any suitable cutting means, for example a hydraulic shear or a power saw. A load spreader in the form of a plate which is conveniently 125 mm/sq.

is placed on the top of the rod, the plate 26 being located by means of a tubular spigot 28 fixed to and protruding from its under face and adapted to receive the bar 22 therein. When a plurality of said support structures 22 have been located below the area to be floored the area can be floored by laying slabs 20 thereon, the slabs spanning the gap between adjacent plates 26 and, at the periphery of the conservatory, the ledge 12. A bedding material such as a cementitious sand mix or bitumen can be disposed between the plates 26 and the slabs 20. The floor can then be completed by any suitable means, for example, by applying a screed thereto and thereafter tiling or laying any other suitable floor covering thereon.

In a first modification which would involve the use of less supports and a timbered floor, the joists spanning the floor can be supported at intervals between their ends by supports 22 of the type described above.

In a further modification where the ground on which the structure is to be erected may be subjected to heave, that is soil movement on change in moisture content of the upper strata of the soil, that part of the bar passing through the ground which is liable to heave may be smooth sided, only the lower portions of the bar being provided with projections so that these projections anchor the bar against movement of the ground, even if the upper ground layer are moving over the smooth portion of the bar.

In a further modification, rather than driving the bar 22 into the ground, It may be provided at its lower end with a rudimentary screw construction so that it can be screwed into the ground utilising a torque driver at ground level.

This modification is particularly suitable for use in ground subject to heave, the screw threads being provided only on the lower portion of the bar.

Various other modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention, for example, the load spreaders 26 can be much enlarged and span the gap between adjacent supports 22 either parallel to one or both edges of the slab or diagonally thereto. The floor may be formed from pre-cast concrete lengths or slabs of considerably greater dimensions than those described above.

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 illustrate a modification where the slabs are of considerably greater dimension than those described with reference to Fig. 1.

For example the square slabs illustrated in Fig. 3 can have a side length of 3 meters. Obviously, in view of the greater self load and supported loads involved, the support 122 must be capable of sustaining greater loads. This is achieved by using any suitable piling system, for example precast reinforced concrete piles which are hammered or vibrated into the ground and which, as described with reference to Fig. 1, can be sectional or piles which are cast in situ by any suitable pile forming technique or columns of compacted particulate stone or compacted ameliorated earth.

A load spreader 126 is provided at the top of each pile 122. The load spreader is conveniently an inverted conical frustum which is either pre-cast and attached to the top of the driven pile or alternatively is formed in situ as part of the pile forming technique. It provides a relatively wide area to support the corner of a slab 120.

The floor slab 120 is prefabricated at a site remote from that on which the building structure has to be erected, and can take any convenient form.

In this modification the plurality of piles are driven at predetermined locations around the periphery of the building structure and, to a lattice pattern, within the building structure, the piles being arranged at 3 metre centres such that 3 metre square slabs can be placed thereon in edge to edge abutting relationship to provide a floor for the building.

If the building has dimensions which are not a multiple of 3 metres then specially dimensioned non-standard panels can be readily pre-cast and used as appropriate, the piles being driven to support the corners of the non-standard panels, once again, at appropriate centres.

Conveniently the slabs 120 extend to the outer limit of the building structure and the walls of the structure can be build thereon, for example above the reinforced edge region 142. To give rise to a visually continuous surface it is convenient that the edge faces of at least the outer slabs 120 have a textured finish, for example, if a brick wall has to be built above the slab then the texture can resemble brickwork. This is illustrated in Fig. 4.

Fig 4 also illustrates how additional members can be utilised when the building structure is being erected on sloping ground. The chain line G in Fig. 4 shows the ground level and it will be observed that the right hand pile 122 has the upper surface of its support core 126 above those of the remaining two piles shown in the drawing. To accommodate this difference in level additional slab like members 160 are utilised at the building periphery. These slabs can be of a similar construction to the slab shown in Fig. 2 but they are considerably less width as they effectively form a beam spanning the gap between adjacent piles. They provide at their top a level surface coincident with the surface of the top of the right hand pile 122 such that the floor slabs 120 can be laid at the same level.

An alternative arrangement for dealing with buildings having external dimensions which are greater than an undivided multiple of the external dimension of a slab which avoids the need to manufacture the specially dimensioned non-standard panels referred to above is illustrated in Fig. 5.

In this arrangement the oversize d is provided in the form of a gap extending in a straight line across the structure parallel to the abutting edges of the slabs. Two such gaps 170 are shown in Fig. 5 and it will be readily appreciated that, with the exception of the gaps, standard size panels are employed and placed, as described above, in edge-to-edge abutting relationship, the corner of each slab being supported on a load spreading arrangement 126 on top of each pile. Enlarged load spreading arrangements 172 are provided on the top of the piles below the gaps 170 so that the load spreading arrangement extends under the corner of the slabs defining the gaps so that these slabs remain, as before, supported at their corners on an extended load spreading arrangement 172.

By the use of a suitable shuttering beneath the gap (if necessary) and the placement of reinforcement in the gap, after pouring concrete into the channel defined by the base shuttering and the facing edges of the slabs defining the gap, a reinforced, cast in situ, beam is provided in each gap and it will be realised that this as well as taking up the oversize and enabling the use of standard size slabs throughout the floor, is capable of withstanding increased load, depending upon its design parameters, and can, if necessary, support internal load bearing walls.

Fig. 6 shows a modified beam which can be utilised at the outer perimeter of the structure, especially where it is built in sloping grounds. That is the beam illustrated in Fig. 6 can be used in place of the modified panels 120,160 shown in Fig. 4. The beam 180 has a flange 182 which, in use, is outwardly directed. It has an upstanding web 184 which is inclined to the perpendicular from the transverse axis of the flange whereby the upper load bearing face 186 of the web, upon which it is intended to support the slabs 120, is laterally off-set from the upper face 188 of the flange the flange, upon which it is intended to support a cladding for the building structure of, for example, brickwork. The off-set provides a suitable insulation gap between the cladding and an internal wall supported either on the upper surface 186 of the beam or on the upper surface of a floor structure placed thereon.

Whilst endeavouring in the foregoing specification to draw attention to those features of the invention believed to be of particular importance it should be understood that the Applicant claims protection in respect of any patentable feature or combination of features hereinbefore referred to and/or shown in the drawings whether or not particular emphasis has been placed thereon.

Claims

1. A building structure having a floor located at a predetermined distance above ground level and spaced supports for said floor, at least one support comprising a tube or bar driven into the ground until a predetermined upward reaction is achieved, and load spreading means at the top of said tube or bar on which the floor or a floor support member may rest.

2. A structure according to claim 1, in which the tube or bar is a steel bar normally used as a concrete reinforcement.

3. A structure according to claim 1 or 2, in which the tube or bar has a diameter of 20 mm.

4. A structure according to claim 1, 2 or 3, in which the tube or bar is galvanised to protect it from corrosion.

5. A structure according to claim 1, 2 or 3, in which the tube or bar is coated to protect it from corrosion.

6. A structure according to any of claims 1 to 5, in which the tube or bar is formed from a plurality of interconnected sections.

7. A structure according to any of claims 1 to 6, in which the load spreading means comprises a plate with a socket on its underside, said socket being adapted to receive the upper end of the tube or bar projecting out of the ground.

8. A structure according to any preceding claim, in which the tube or bar is a pile.

9. A structure according to claim 8, in which the pile is a prefabricated concrete single component or sectional pile.

10. A structure according to claims 8 or 9, in which the pile is a pile which is formed in situ.

11. A structure according to any preceding claim, in which the support comprises a column of consolidated particulate stone or a column of consolidated ameliorated earth.

12. A structure according to any preceding claim, in which the load spreading means comprises an inverted cone formed or placed on the top of the tube, bar, pile or column, being fixed thereto or formed integrally therewith.

13. A structure according to any preceding claim, in which supports are arranged linearly to support floor joists of wood or other material.

14. A structure according to any preceding claim, in which supports are arranged in a grid pattern so that they may support paving slabs which form the floor.

15. A structure according to any preceding claim, in which supports are arranged in a grid pattern so that they may support prefabricated floor slabs.

16. A structure according to claim 15, in which the prefabricated floor slabs are square or any other suitable rectangular configuration.

17. A structure according to claim 16, in which the floor slabs are 3m square.

18. A structure according to any of claims 14 to 17, in which the grid pattern is regular.

19. A structure according to any of claims 14 to 17, in which when an outside dimension of the structure is greater than an undivided multiple of the outside dimension of a slab a gap is provided between lines of slabs, the width of the gap corresponding to the difference between the said multiple and the said outside dimension of the building structure.

20. A structure according to claim 19, in which a reinforced beam is cast in situ in the gap.

21. A structure according to claims 19 or 20, in which the area of the load spreading means at said gap are increased such that the load spreading means extends across and beyond the gap.

22. A structure according to claims 20 or 21, in which load bearing walls are built on the said cast in situ beam.

23. A structure according to any preceding claim, in which panels in the form of elongate members are provided for use at the perimeter of the building structure, the elongate members spanning the gap between adjacent supports at the periphery which lie below floor level to provide an upper surface at floor level on which floor slabs can be laid.

24. A structure according to claim 23, in which those floor slabs which are used at the perimeter of the building have a textured surface on at least one edge.

25. A structure according to claim 24, in which the textured surface represents brickwork.

26. A structure according to any preceding claim, in which a member is provided for use at the perimeter of the building structure, the member being a reinforced concrete beam having a flange at its lower end and an upstanding web the upright axis of which is inclined relative to the upright axis of the flange such that the upper face of the web is off-set relative to the upper face of the body.

27. A building structure substantially as described above with reference to the accompanying drawings.

28. Any novel subject matter or combination including novel subject matter disclosed, whether or not within the scope of or relating to the same invention as any of the preceding claims.