IL292694B1 - Method and spacers for laying welded reinforcing mesh - Google Patents

Description

METHOD AND SPACERS FOR LAYING WELDED REINFORCING MESH TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention generally relates to the field of concrete reinforcement and more particularly, the present invention relates to concrete spacers used to support reinforcement welded mesh. BACKGROUND ART [0002]When building concrete slab for floor or roof, reinforcement welded mesh is placed at some height from the casting base on which the concrete will be poured. To place the reinforcement mesh at the proper height, plastic spacers, usually in the form of long chairs are used. These plastic chairs are first spread on the casting base. Then a reinforcing welded mesh is laid on them. Note that the plastic chairs are not attached to the reinforcing mesh, so the move when the reinforcing mesh is laid on them. Therefore, large quantity of plastic chairs are required. id="p-3" id="p-3" id="p-3" id="p-3" id="p-3" id="p-3"

[0003]The reinforced welded mesh is comprised of spaced apart longitudinal steel rods on which transverse spaced apart steel rods are placed. At each junction the longitudinal rods are welded to the transverse rods. The mesh is either rectangular or square, and typically its size is 6 meters by 2.5 meters. Typically, the distance between the longitudinal rods and the distance between the transverse rods is between 10 cm and 20 cm, thus the mesh is comprised of multiple squares or rectangles the sizes of which are between 10X10 cm to 20X20 cm. id="p-4" id="p-4" id="p-4" id="p-4" id="p-4" id="p-4"

[0004]In order place the mesh at the required height above the casting base, plastic or other bar chairs are placed on the casting base. After the bar chairs are laid on the casting base, the reinforcement meshes are placed on the bar chairs. The bar chairs can move during the placement of the reinforcing meshes, so the bar chairs are placed close to each other. The bar chairs are not connected to the reinforcing mesh, so they move, and often flip. Hence the hole process of laying the bar chairs and properly putting the reinforcement mesh on them is labour- intensive. id="p-5" id="p-5" id="p-5" id="p-5" id="p-5" id="p-5"

[0005]A different approach is to lay the reinforcement mesh on the casting base and thereafter manually lift the mesh to place special spacers at each junction of the mesh. This is also labour-intensive process. In both procedures many spacers and bar chairs must be used id="p-6" id="p-6" id="p-6" id="p-6" id="p-6" id="p-6"

[0006]There is a need for a cheap and easy to implement device and method for properly placement of reinforcing mesh for the preparation of concrete slabs.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION id="p-7" id="p-7" id="p-7" id="p-7" id="p-7" id="p-7"

[0007] The present invention provides a device for supporting reinforcing welded rod mesh used for the building of concrete slab or floor and a method for using said device. The spacer device according to this invention is comprised of two perpendicular chair rod supporting elements each having plurality of legs. One chair supporting element has two clips that enable to firmly attach the spacer to the rod that will be down when the mesh is laid. Four rod supporting elements, specially shaped, are mounted on the other chair supporting element that support the rod which will be up when the mesh is laid. On the intersection of the supporting chairs there are four guides that help to align the spacer in place. id="p-8" id="p-8" id="p-8" id="p-8" id="p-8" id="p-8"

[0008] Note that the spacer is attached at the junctions of the mesh. Because of its long supporting area, a small number of spacers are required to provide proper support to the reinforcing rod mesh. One spacer can provide proper support to an area of about 1 square meter of the reinforcing rod mesh. id="p-9" id="p-9" id="p-9" id="p-9" id="p-9" id="p-9"

[0009] It is further the object of the present invention to provide a spacer which ameliorates the amount of labor required to prepare the floor for concrete pouring. Therefore, the spacers are attached to the reinforcing mesh while the mesh is in vertical position, and only after the spacers are attached, the reinforcing rod mesh is laid on the casting base. This is possible because the spacer is firmly fixed to the mesh, and will stay in place when the mesh is laid.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [0010]Fig 1 shows top view of a section of reinforcing mesh. id="p-11" id="p-11" id="p-11" id="p-11" id="p-11" id="p-11"

[0011]Fig 2 is a cross section A-A of the section of the mesh presented in figure 1. id="p-12" id="p-12" id="p-12" id="p-12" id="p-12" id="p-12"

[0012]FIG 3 is an isometric view of the spacer. id="p-13" id="p-13" id="p-13" id="p-13" id="p-13" id="p-13"

[0013]FIG 4 shows the spacers attached to the reinforcing mesh. id="p-14" id="p-14" id="p-14" id="p-14" id="p-14" id="p-14"

[0014]FIG 5 presents details of the shape of the top rod support of the spacer. id="p-15" id="p-15" id="p-15" id="p-15" id="p-15" id="p-15"

[0015]FIG 6 shows details of the bottom rod clip of the spacer. id="p-16" id="p-16" id="p-16" id="p-16" id="p-16" id="p-16"

[0016]FIG 7 presents a mesh with plurality of spacers attached before laying it on the surface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0017]The invention will be described more fully hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which certain possible embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather these embodiments are provided so that the disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. id="p-18" id="p-18" id="p-18" id="p-18" id="p-18" id="p-18"

[0018]In the following description, the same numerical references refer to similar elements. The embodiments, geometrical configurations, materials mentioned and/or dimensions shown in the figures or described in the present description are embodiments only, given solely for exemplification purposes. id="p-19" id="p-19" id="p-19" id="p-19" id="p-19" id="p-19"

[0019]Fig 1 shows top view of a section of reinforcing mesh. The mesh is comprised of longitudinal metal rods 110 and transverse metal rods 120 which are either on top of the longitudinal rods or beneath it. In the figure the transverse rods are beneath the longitudinal rods. Typically, the diameter of the rods is between 6 and 12 mm. The distance between the longitudinal rods and between the transverse rods is between 10cm and 20cm. As shown in fig 2, which is a cross section A-A of fig 1, the rods are welded 212 at each junction of the longitudinal rods and the transverse rods, thus forming a mesh with square openings. id="p-20" id="p-20" id="p-20" id="p-20" id="p-20" id="p-20"

[0020]An isometric view of the spacer 300according to the invention is presented in fig 3. It is designed to be attached to the junctions of the reinforcing mesh. The spacer made is one piece unit, is comprised of a cross shaped base on which rod clamps and guides are mounted. The center of the cross shaped base 305 is square shaped from which four equal sized chair support elements 310a, 310b, 320a and 320b are extended. Under the center of the cross shaped base and the four chair support elements there are plurality of legs 330 . These legs determine the hight of the reinforcing mesh above the bottom of the floor or ceiling. This structure enables the poured concrete to penetrate under the chair support elements and the center of the cross shaped base. One pair of opposite chair support elements 310a 310b supports the bottom rod of the reinforcing mesh, and the other pair of chair support elements 320a, 320b supports the top rod of the reinforcing mesh. On each of the chair supporting elements that supports the bottom rod of the reinforcing mesh, 310a 310b there are clips 312a 312b which are used to firmly attach the spacer to the bottom rod of the reinforcing mesh, so that the rod is laid on the chair supporting elements. A detailed description of a clip will be given in a following paragraph. On each of the top rod chair supporting elements 320a, 320b there are two top rods supporting elements 322a , 322b . A detailed description of a top rod supporting element will be given in a following paragraph. On the center of the cross shaped base there are four guides 340that help to align the spacer in place while attaching it to the reinforcing mesh. . id="p-21" id="p-21" id="p-21" id="p-21" id="p-21" id="p-21"

[0021]Detailed description of one clip 312 is shown in fig 6. The clip is comprised of two flexible units 610, 620 which edge jaws 612, 622 shaped so that the rod is pressed against the surface 630 of the supporting element. id="p-22" id="p-22" id="p-22" id="p-22" id="p-22" id="p-22"

[0022]Detailed description of one top rod supporting element 322a is shown in fig 5. The circle 510a represents the position of a bottom rod which lies on the surface 500 which is the surface level to which the bottom rod is pressed against by the clips 312 . Circle 512b shows the position of the top rod. Note that the sloped surfaces of the top supporting element 540 hold the top rod in the proper place on top of the bottom rod. The same applies to a bottom rod of higher diameter 520a , where the corresponding top rod 520b is in place. The same applies to a bottom rod of higher diameter 530a , where the corresponding top rod 530b is in place. Thus, the special shape of the top rod supporting elements provides proper rest for the top rod when the bottom rod is attached to the spacer. id="p-23" id="p-23" id="p-23" id="p-23" id="p-23" id="p-23"

[0023]The method for efficiently using the spacer is as follows. The mesh is positioned in vertical state. To provide proper support for the reinforcing mesh, there is a need to attach at least one spacer for every one square meter of the mesh, as shown in fig 7. The spacers 300 are attached to one side of the mesh 700 at junctions of longitudinal and transverse reinforcing rods. Only after attaching all spacers to the mesh, the mesh is horizontally laid on the casting base, so that it is supported by the spacers. id="p-24" id="p-24" id="p-24" id="p-24" id="p-24" id="p-24"

[0024]Fig 4 demonstrates the attachment of one spacer to the mesh at one junction point. In the figure, the transverse rods 120 are referred to as the bottom rods. The spacer is pushed to the bottom rod 120 so that clips 312a and 312b are holding the bottom rod 120 . In that position the top rod 110 is supported by top rod supporting elements 322a and 322b . Note that if the longitudinal rods are to be the bottom rods, the spacer is rotated 180 degrees and the procedure of attachment as described above is repeated. The mesh is laid on the casting base so that the supporting pins 330 rest on the casting base. id="p-25" id="p-25" id="p-25" id="p-25" id="p-25" id="p-25"

[0025] The spacer is made of plastic material. The number of clips as well as their shape can be modified to suit the reinforcing mesh, so the number and shape of the rod support elements. Note that the structure of the spacer provides stable support because of the wide base which includes plurality of supporting legs. The spacer can be used with either square or rectangular reinforcing meshes. id="p-26" id="p-26" id="p-26" id="p-26" id="p-26" id="p-26"

[0026]The use of the described above spacer significantly reduces the amount of work needed to properly lay reinforcing meshes in place. Because of the good support for both the longitudinal and transverse rods at the junctions of the mesh, fewer spacers are required per area of the mesh to provide proper support. Also, the spacers are attached when the mesh is vertical, preventing the need to bend to attach the spacer.

Claims (3)

1.METHOD AND SPACERS FOR LAYING WELDED REINFORCING MESHCLAIMS 1. A spacer device for supporting reinforcing welded rod mesh used for the building of concrete slab or floor, the device, made of one piece, is comprised of: a. cross shaped base on which bottom rod clips, top rod supporting elements and spacer alignment guides are mounted; the cross shaped base includes squares shaped base from which four equal sized chair support elements are extended; b. plurality of legs are attached under the square shaped base and the four chair support elements; c. on one opposing pair of the chair supporting elements there are clips with which the spacer is attached to the bottom rod of the reinforcing mesh; at least one clip on each chair supporting element, d. on each of the other opposing pair of chair support elements there are at least one top rod supporting elements; and e. Plurality of guides mounted on the center of the cross shaped base for aligning the spacer in place during installation.

2. The spacer device for supporting reinforcing welded rod mesh according to claim 1, where the inner surface of top rod supporting element is inclined so that it supports the top rod at the exact height of the top of the bottom rod, when the two rods have the same diameter.

3. The spacer device for supporting reinforcing welded rod mesh according to claim 1, built from plastic material.