NZ247968A - Joint member. - Google Patents

Description

2 a / fidko 8 L KSTi r\ Under the provisions of lation 23 (1) the feocjpl&te* ;Specification has been ante-dntsd ;.JAftyi 19^0.. ;NEW ZEALAND PATENTS ACT 1953 ;Divided out of Application No.: 229154 ;Prov. filed 17 May 1989 CAP Filed 23 May 1990 ;^2 ;N.Z. PATENT OFFICE ;23 JUN 1993 ;r\ f: L- E ) V £, 0 ;COMPLETE SPECIFICATION ;"Joint Edge Protection Member" ;WE ERNEST PATRICK SANSOM, a New Zealand Citizen, of 141 Orakei Road, Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand and ALBERT KEITH LEWIS, a New Zealand Citizen, of 102 Arney Road, Remuera, Auckland, New Zealand hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: ;-1- ;■' 2 4 7 0 ;hm t II ;This invention relates to a joint member. The joint system herein described can also be used as a nosing system and has been devised particularly though not necessarily solely for use in jointing operations in concrete floors. The method of use of such a joint member as well as other joint members and nosings formed thereby which provide for protection of concrete edges is disclosed and claimed in New Zealand Patent Specification No. 229154, the full content of which is hereby included by way of reference. ;Conventional industrial concrete floors require a joint system to initially control shrinkage and promote the resulting cracking to a predetermined grid system. These joints later act as temperature and movement control joints as well. At present common methods of sealing these joints are to seal the joint with an elastomeric sealant with a movement capacity which is normally in the region of +. 25%. Such a sealant properly placed can accommodate most normal temperature movements, however being elastomeric, the sealant is not hard enough to provide support to the concrete edge which then can suffer progressive damage from floor traffic. ;Alternatively the joint can be sealed with an epoxy type sealant with some flexibility. This solution gives support to the concrete edges, however in many instances the degree of flexibility of the sealant (+ 10%) is insufficient to cope with the joint movements experienced, and failure of the joint occurs by the sealant tearing away from the concrete. Again progressive damage then can occur from floor traffic. ;Thirdly the joint can be sealed with a mortar type filler which has no flexibility, and a low degree of adhesion. Movement creates a gap between the filler and the concrete edge and this edge is then prone to progressive damage from floor traffic. Obviously each of these three systems has limitations and disadvantages. ;1 c\ f r~> r> ;/ h $ -; 1 \ ;It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a joint member which will obviate or minimise the foregoing disadvantages in a simple yet effective manner which will at least provide the public with a useful choice. ;Accordingly, the present invention consists in a joint member for positioning between cementitious opposing faces of a slot, channel, or groove comprising: ;a base; ;an upright divider plate integral with or attached to said base and having a width substantially less in cross section than said base; ;a stabilizing means integral with or attached to said base for retaining said joint member in a desired orientation when said divider plate is positioned between said opposing faces in use; and resilient seal members extending from said joint member engageable with said opposing faces in use. ;Preferably, at least one said seal member extends from said base and/or said stabilizing means and any such seal member is of a material substantially more resilient than said base and said divider plate. ;Preferably, said base and said divider plate comprise a rigid plastic material having a hardness of approximately Shore D80. ;Preferably, said stabilizing means comprises a pair of spaced elongate plates integral with or attached to and extending downardly from said base. ;Preferably, said divider plate comprises: ;a head portion; ;a pair of parallel planar members extending downwardly from said head portion; and a cavity between said parallel planar members. ;Preferably, said divider plate is detachable from said base. ;-3- ;/• 7 r' o ;* » v; ...

Preferably, said seal members are attached to and extend upwardly from said base.

Preferably, said seal members are substantially flexible and have a hardness of approximately Shore D60.

In a further aspect the present invention consists in the joint member substantially as hereindescribed with reference to any of the accompanying drawings.

To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

One preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which, Figure 1 is a transverse cross sectional view of a joint member according to one preferred form of the invention, and Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the member of Figure 1 in vise.

Figure 3 is a transverse cross sectional view of a joint member according to another preferred form of the invention, and Figure 4 is a cross sectional view of the member in Figure 3 in use.

Referring to the drawings a joint member and a method of forming a nosing are provided as follows.

A joint member 1 is formed which in the preferred form has stabilizing means so that in use the joint member is retained substantially in a desired orientation. The stabilizing members may comprise a pair of planar members or plates 2 and 3 which are spaced apart so that the distance between their outwardly facing faces is a little ^ less than the width of a slot channel or groove into which the joint member 1 is to be placed in use. The plates 2 and 3 may be connected by a cross member 4 which may form the head of an inverted T-shaped member in the embodiment of Figure 1 and 2 or the base to which a substantially rectangular inverted U-shaped member is attached in the embodiment of Figure 3 and 4 in cross section. Insertion means are provided to enable the joint member to be placed into position in use. The insertion means may comprise a further plate member 5 lying in a parallel but displaced plane to the members 2 and 3 and which forms the stem or leg of the T-shaped member. Alternatively, the insertion means may comprise a substantially inverted U-shaped member 8 which is substantially narrower horizontally than the base or head 4 to which it is attached. In this preferred form of the invention the inverted U-shaped member has weakened point 9 at which it is connected to the base or head 4. Thus the insertion means 8 can be removed once the joint member 1 is in position.

Also provided are seal members and these may take the form of a pair of outwardly extending ribs or flanges 6 and 7 which may extend outwardly and upwardly as shown in Figures 1 and 3. These are made of a more resilient material so that in use they bear against the faces of the slot groove or channel as will be described further hereinafter.

In one preferred form of the construction the joint member 1 above described may be formed by a single extruded member but the material of the ribs 6 and 7 is substantially softer or more resilient than the material from which the remainder of the construction is made. Thus the remainder of the construction may be formed for example from a rigid PVC material having a hardness for example of the order of Shore D80 and a flexible material in the ribs may have a hardness of the order of ■" 24 7e( rwaa A « V / \ Shore A60. The colour is not essential but may be for example white or grey particularly to provide a neutral colour where visible in use in a concrete floor.

In use the system has been devised to be applied to conventional joints or saw cuts from for example 6mm in width and upwards, with a minimum depth of 30mm. The majority of industrial floor joint widths fall within the range of 6 to 10mm but the system described herein can be extended in principle to much larger joint widths especially in repair situations. Thus in a cementitious floor 10 a saw cut is formed in for example the known manner.

The channel, groove or slot 11 so formed is then thoroughly cleaned by use for example of a vacuum and/or compressed air to remove any dust and the joint should be cleaned, dried, free from laitance, loose material rust scale or grease. A joint member 1 according to the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 appropriate to the groove size 15 is then selected and placed into position with the extrusion central and parallel in the slot, channel or groove 11 and so that the top end 12 of the plate 5 is as close to flush with the concrete surface 13 as is practical. Again the part of the slot, channel or groove 11 above the seal members 6 and 7 should be cleaned if necessary and then a filling material is prepared to fill the gaps 14 and 15 each side of the dividing plate 5. A suitable filler is an epoxy sealant such as a general purpose pourable grout such as a two part, silica sand filled epoxy resin based, high strength, mortar grout Desirable strengths are such that the tensile strengths lies in the range of 20 to 25N/mm2, the compressive strength lies in the range of 90 to 100N/mm2 and the epoxy when filled as shown at 16 and 17 into the groves 14 and 15 is then allow to cure.

Full curing may take about seven days at 25°C. Initial cure for light traffic is 12 hours. Again the filler can be coloured to suit the situation. The epoxy sealants of 2 4 7 .0 - .q w, , „ . .J ® this type have a density of the order of 1.9 g/cm3, a minimum pot life of about 30 minutes @ 25°C and provide good chemical resistance to common acids, alkalis and solvents. It is desirable that the epoxy be finished flush with no slumping and the joint is then cleaned up and any masking tape and excess material removed.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 3 and 4 the joint member 1 is inserted in a slot, channel or groove 11 as previously described. The gaps 18 and 19 on either side adjacent the inverted U-shaped member 8 are then filled with epoxy sealant or the like as previously detailed. Once the sealant is substantially cured the inverted U-shaped member 8 is removed. This is possible because of the weakness at attachment points 9. A backing rod 20 is then preferably inserted in the cavity 21 formed where the inverted U-shaped member 8 originally was positioned. The backing rod 20 may be comprised of substantially compressible material such as foam or the like so that it does not drop to the bottom 22 of the cavity 21 but stays in a central position in the cavity 21 due to compressing forces for example. The backing rod 20 is preferably tubular in cross section. The cavity 23 above the backing rod 20 is then filled with a suitable sealant In one preferred form of the invention sealants such as THIOFLEX 600, EUROFLEX and FILAFLEX BNC, all approved for use in food preparation areas, may be used to fill the cavity 23.

Other equivalent materials may be used. In this preferred form of the invention the surface above the sealant in the cavity 23 is of concave dimensions. This is advantageous as it enables a substantial amount of stretch in the joint.

It will be found that the cured epoxy described herein will have excellent adherence to concrete or cementitious surfaces and little adherence to the PVC in one preferred embodiment of the invention shown in Figures 1 and 2. Consequently when and if the joint opens under shrinkage or temperature movement, the OA ■ : 't 1 fl »r <-/ ^ (j ' joint will open along the line of the rigid PVC strip leaving an epoxy nosing on each concrete edge, providing support and wear resistance when required.

If the joint is subject to any compressive forces, the strength of the epoxy is such as to distribute any likely forces through the cementitious slab in the manner that mortar joints have in the past The shape of the joint member 1 shown in Figures 1 and 2 enables the fixing of epoxy nosings, of sufficient depth, on the edges of slab joints, to minimise damage from traffic over the joint. It is possible to provide joint members suitable for various saw cut widths and the particular construction shown in the drawings copes with variation of width in a single saw cut The construction will seal the slot channel or groove to retain the fluid epoxy without substantial slumping and the stabilizing parts of the construction provide a self centering or easily centered construction so that the upper divider 5 is substantially symmetrical. The flexible sealing members 6 and 7 also play a role in these parts.

In the preferred embodiment of Figures 3 and 4 a joint member 1 and resultant joint is provided which is particularly designed for use in food preparation areas. In this preferred form of the invention no exposed gap can form at or near the joint as the joint is completely sealed as is the requirement in these areas. The use of suitable sealants in the cavity 23 between the epoxy nosings 18 and 19 ensures that the joint will pass health regulation standards and will distribute compressive or other forces.

Thus it can be seen that at least in the preferred form of the invention a joint member and/or a seal method of forming a joint are provided which will obviate or minimise the disadvantages found with present methods of sealing joints in concrete or the like floors. It will be apparent that the joint member will have other uses of a similar nature.

Claims (9)

, . o "n r\ ,0. . ' / i.\ if ' i i '• i! *' 9 WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A joint member for positioning between cementitious opposing faces of a slot, channel, or groove comprising: a base; an upright divider plate integral with or attached to said base and having a width substantially less in cross section than said base; a stabilizing means integral with or attached to said base for retaining said joint member in a desired orientation when said divider plate is positioned betv een said opposing faces in use; and resilient seal members extending from said joint member engageable with said opposing faces in use.

2. A joint member of claim 1 wherein at least one said seal member extends from said base and/or said stabilizing means and any such seal member is of a material substantially more resilient than said base and said divider plate.

3. A joint member as claimed in claims 1 or 2 wherein said base and said divider plate comprise a rigid plastic material having a hardness of approximately Shore D80.

4. A joint member as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said stabilizing means comprises a pair of spaced elongate plates integral with or attached to and extending downwardly from said base.

5. A joint member as claimed in claim any one of the preceding claims wherein said divider plate comprises: a head portion; a pair of parallel planar members extending downwardly from said head portion; and -9- 24 7 KSrj /■% / <J a cavity between said parallel planar members.

6. A joint member as claimed in claim 5 wherein said divider plate is detachable from said base.

7. A joint member as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said seal members are attached to and extend upwardly from said base.

8. A joint member as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said seal members are substantially flexible and have a hardness of approximately Shore D60.

9. A joint member substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any of the accompanying drawings. -10-