US2115682A

US2115682A - Expansion joint

Info

Publication number: US2115682A
Application number: US711826A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hutzenlaub Eugen
Original assignee: FIRM PAUL LECHLER
Current assignee: FIRM PAUL LECHLER
Priority date: 1933-03-04
Filing date: 1934-02-17
Publication date: 1938-04-26
Anticipated expiration: 1955-04-26

Description

Patented Apr. 26, 1938 EXPANSION JOINT Eugen Hutaenlaub, Stuttgart, Germany, assignor to the firm Paul Lechler, Stuttgart, Germany No Drawing. Application February 11, 1934, Serial No. 711,826. In Germany March 4, 1933 3 Claims. (01. 94-418) .The present invention relates to a composition of matter useful in filling cracks, expansion joints, seams, crevices and grooves in concrete highways, stone, brick, cemented or concrete 5 walls. chimney stacks, supporting columns or indeed any structure or structural element exposed to the weather. The fillingmaterial may also be used in patching and filling up the cracks, fissures, grooves, crevices and the like which may oexist in wood, granite, sandstone and the-like.

It is generally known that in localities in which the temperature variation from the beginning to the end of the year is great, that masonry, for example, may develop serious and deep-seated cracks or fissures'permitting the ingress of moisture with its destructive effects, and 'of course the appearance of the masonry also will be very unsightly. This proposition may be illustrated with reference to concrete highways in the northeast section of the United States, where from January to the following December, the range of atmospheric temperature may be from 105 F., to 14 F., below zero. Under these extreme variations of temperature, a concrete highway is apt to develop serious cracks, crevices and fissures.

- The internal stress caused by such extreme temperature variation may so disrupt the road sur-- face as to require extensive repairs in the form of filling and patching of large .areas.

an Prior to the present invention it has been the practice to patch or fill in crevices, expansion joints, pits, grooves and the like, produced in concrete and other material with asphalt. The patching of concrete or other light colored building material with asphalt presents of course an unsightlyappearance, due to. the black colorot asphalt; For example, a concrete highway which has suffered deterioration due to the formation of cleepseated cracks and fissures, when patched with asphalt presents an unsightly appearance due to the contrast between the black asphalt and the light colored concrete road. This defect has been the subject of experimentation and it has been proposed to lighten asphalts by the removal of the so-called asphaltenes. The asphaltenes are substances'of obscure chemical composition present in asphalts, and their removal results in a lightening of the color of the remaining asphalt. However the removalof the asphaltenes causes a decrease in the plasticity of the asphalt. pearance of asphalt; it is also pointed out that during extremely hot summer weather the asphalt used in-patching masonry or concrete becomes soft, and if it is used to patch the walls of admixed with fillers.

a building it often happens that the asphaltsof- ,tens to the extent that it becomes somewhat fluid,

and therefore it is apt to flow out of the crevices. or fissures of vertical walls in which it has been placed. Furthermore, while asphalt is a heat 5 plastic substance, it is a substance which possesses virtually no elasticity, and as a result sudden shocks are apt to disrupt and disintegrate the solid asphalt.

The present applicant overcomes the diflicul- 1o ties and deficiencies encountered in the use of asphalt, by employing a rubber latex com-position Rubber latex asis well known is a light colored substance, and because of this fact it may be colored with any pigment, 15

lake or dyestutf to produce a color which may be 1 made to matclr the structural elements which it may be used to patch. The applicant has found that the addition of flne fibres of asbestos to latex gives a mixture oi. light color, and there- 20 fore when latex is mixed with fine asbestos fibres, the mass has about the color and appearance of concrete or cement. The use of pigments such as iron-oxide, chrome green, ochre, carbon black and the like gives a color which may be used to 25 match a colored building or other structure.

Fillers such as zinc oxidemay also be used and a rubber vulcanizer such as sulphur or sulphur chloride maybe added. 7

The kind'and the amount of mineral organic 30 substance that should be mixed with thelatex depends entirely upon the physical and chemical propertiesthat are desired, and these can be varied within wide limits to suit the purpose for which .it is to be employed. .It should be pointed 5 out thatcaeutchouc is a substance which is resistant to both acid and alkali.

The asbestos/fibres impart to the mass an extraordinary toughness and resistance to extreme weather conditions. The mass also possesses 40 elasticity after the breakage of the latex dispersion. The breaking of the dispersion caused by the removal of water eiiects a cementing of the particles of caoutchouc with each other and with the filler material, so that the mass becomes quite dense.

I "treated with ammonia or simflar alkali is not 50 In addition to the unsightly aplike. I v 55 Without limiting the invention to the precise details therein specified, the following specific examples illustrate the present invention and no doubt, numerous modifications, within the spirit of the present invention other than those disclosed in the said examples, will be suggested to those skilled in the present art.

Example I 40 parts by weight of an aqueous dispersion of rubber latex of the usual technical grade, and which has been preserved with ammonia or similar alkali is mixed with 2 parts by weight of Turkey red oil and then 30 parts by weight of asbestos fibres consisting of a mixture of asbestos in powdered form and fibres not greater than 1 mm. in length, are added. 5 parts by weight of zinc oxide, 22 parts by weight of asbestos fibres varying in length irom 1 to 5 mm. and finally 1 part by weight of flowers of sulphur are added to the above mixture. The ingredients are thoroughly mixed. The resulting mixture is a light colored, pasty mass, which when used to fill in or patch cracks, fissures, grooves and the like, aiiords a strong and elastic seal against the ingross of frost and moisture. The material itself possesses high strength and coherency. The mass may be given the appearance and color of sandstone by adding ochre.

Example I I The following ingredients are thoroughly mixed together:

Parts by weight Rubber latex 50 Ammonium oleate 3 Asbestos fibres of varying length but not greater than 1 mm 47 In this modification the asbestos fibres are so intermixed with the rubber particles as to give a firmbond and the mass possesses good mechanical strength and elasticity and does not require the addition of fillers to produce this effect.

Example III The following ingredients are thoroughly mixed together:

Parts by weight 8 The above mixture is stirred until a homogeneous mixture results.

The above mentioned emulsion is compounded by thoroughly mixing Parts by weight Solvent nap Ammonium oleate 3 Water- 47 The rubber latex used in the present process may be any good commercial grade containing at least 12% and not more than 60% rubber solids. The solvent naphtha used in preparing the emulsion described in Example III is. that fraction of coal tar oil distilling between 155 C. and 180 C.

The vulcanizing agent such as sulphur or sulphur chloride described above, may be substituted by any known cold vulcanizing agent, and furthermore rubber accelerators such as the aryl substituted guanidines, mercapto benzothiazoles or the like may be used.

The filling and patching material described by the present invention may be carefully worked into the cracks and crevices intended to be filled. It is sometimes advisable, however, to apply a priming coat of ordinary rubber latex or a ground paint.

The above mentioned solvent naphtha may be substituted by any known solvent for rubber such as benzol, xylol, toluol, carbontetrachloride.

The term voids" includes the space between concrete slabs in a pavement or architectural structure such as the restraining wall of a dam, and also includes cracks, crevices, seams and the like in the body of said slabs.

I claim:

1. In combination, pavement or structural slabs in spaced relationship to each other and in the spaces thus formed a material forming an expansion joint comprising asbestos admixed with natural rubber latex and also containing an organic solvent, said material being adapted to expand and contract responsive to changes in the size of the said spaces caused by thermal expansion and contraction of the said slabs, to fill and seal the said spaces and which seal is durable and highly resistant to outdoor exposure.

2. In combination, pavement or structural slabs in spaced relationship to each other and. in the spaces thus formed a material forming an expansion joint comprising asbestos admixed with natural rubber latex, an organic solvent, a stabilizing agent and a rubber vulcanizing agent, said material being adapted to expand and contract responsive to changes in the size of the said spaces caused by thermal expansion and contraction, to fill and seal the said spaces and which seal is durable and highly resistant to outdoor exposure.

3. In combination, pavement or structural slabs in spaced relationship to each other and in the spaces thus formed a material forming an expansion joint comprising 28 to 50 parts by weight of rubber latex and 47 to 52 parts by weight of asbestos and an organic solvent, said material being adapted to expand and contract responsive to changes in the size of the spaces caused by thermal expansion and contraction of the said spaces, and which seal is durable and highly resistant to outdoor exposure.

EUGEN HUTZENLAUB.