WO2003064787A2

WO2003064787A2 - Forming means

Info

Publication number: WO2003064787A2
Application number: PCT/IB2003/000287
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alberto Caredda
Original assignee: Caredda, Alfredo; Caredda, Bruno; Cara, Tiziano; Fadda, Paolo; Merea, Maurizio
Priority date: 2002-01-30
Filing date: 2003-01-30
Publication date: 2003-08-07
Also published as: WO2003064787A3; AU2003205935A1; ITMO20020021A1

Abstract

Forming means suitable for enabling an arch to be made in a building product comprises lamina support means (2) suitable for being arranged in an operating configuration (B) in which the lamina support means (2) supports building materials arranged for forming said arch and stabilizing means (6) arranged for locking said support means (2) in said operating configuration (B) of said support means (2).

Description

Forming means

The invention relates to forming means for building industry particularly suitable for making arches in building elements. For making arches in buildings a device is known comprising a plurality of mutually connected plates to constitute a support element formed in such a way as to substantially reproduce the form of the arches which have to be manufactured. The support plates are provided with a first surface suitable for having bricks and binding materials laid thereon, the bricks and the binding materials being arranged for forming said arches.

The plates further comprise a second surface, opposite to said first surface, from which, in a direction that is substantially perpendicular to the plate, an arm protrudes said arm being fixed to a rod. Such rod is arranged substantially parallelly to the plate and is provided with a slot which substantially extends along the entire length of the rod, inside which threaded pins can be caused to slide, each one of which is provided with a respective nut, that are suitable for allowing said bar to be connected with adjacent bars .

Each plate is provided at its ends with hinge elements arranged for enabling a plate to be fixed in an articulated manner to the plates which are adjacent to it. The following steps is followed to make an arch: on a support plane, for example the ground, a curved line is traced that corresponds to the form of the arch that has to be obtained; on said line a plurality of mutually hinged plates are positioned in such a way that they follow so as to form a polygonal line that is as close as possible to the curved line that defines the arch; the . nuts that are associated with the aforesaid threaded pins are tightened so as to fix the relative position of two adjacent bars; the device is picked^' up from the support plane, is positioned on the masonry and the building material is positioned on it.

The foregoing remarks show that the device now described requires a rather complicated setting-up phase: each plate has in fact to be positioned and fixed to the adjacent plates after being correctly positioned.

Furthermore, before assembling the different plates the line of the arch which has to be used as , a reference must be plotted, which is a difficult operation, especially for arches of considerable dimensions. Furthermore, any errors committed in plotting the line of the arch on the support plane cause imprecision in the product comprising the arch made with the prior-art device. Another drawback of the aforementioned device consists in poor precision inasmuch as the mutually associated plates do not define a true arch but a polygonal line that is an approximation of said arch. ' A further drawback of said device is that it can be used only to plot arches the lengths of which are multiples of the - length of the plates. In the case of arches the length of which is not multiple of the length of the plates an approximation has to be made and the product has to be finished by a particularly expert operator.

A still further drawback of the device described above is that it cannot be used to obtain concrete formworks.

Said device is in fact suitable for being rested on a masonry structure, but is not able to support itself to constitute a wall of said concrete formworks. An object of the invention is to improve the known systems for making arches in the building industry.

Another object of the invention is to obtain forming means which enables arches to be made said arches belonging to a wide range of forms and dimensions in building products.

A further object of the invention is to obtain forming means which can easily conform according to an arched shape and which is therefore suitable for acting as support element for building materials with which archβs are made in masonries. A still further object of the invention is to obtain forming means which enables arches to be simply made, said arches being formed of sections with different radiuses of curvature. A further object is to obtain- forming means shaped in such a way as to constitute a wall of a concrete formwork. In a first aspect of the invention, forming means is provided suitable for enabling an arch to be ;made in a building product, comprising support means suitable for being arranged in an operating configuration in which said support means supports building materials arranged for forming said arch and stabilising means arranged for locking said support means in said operating configuration, characterised in that said support means comprises lamina means.

In a preferred embodiment, the forming means further comprises positioning means arranged for positioning the support means according to a curved profile defining said arch.

In a second aspect of the invention, forming means is provided suitable for enabling an arch to be made in a building product, comprising support means suitable for being arranged in an operating configuration in which said support means supports building materials arranged for forming said arch and stabilising means arranged for locking said support means in said operating configuration, characterised in that further comprises positioning means arranged for positioning said support means according to a curved profile defining said arch.

In a preferred embodiment, said support means comprises lamina means . In another preferred embodiment, the positioning means comprises wire means connected to an end of the lamina means and slidably coupled with a further end of the lamina means opposite to said end. In this way, starting from a rest configuration in which the lamina means is substantially contained in one plane, when the wire means is tensioned the lamina means is arranged according to an arch of circumference.

The wire means can be tensioned until the lamina means are arranged according to a desired radius of curvature. After the lamina means has been suitably curved by acting on suitable positioning means, the forming means can be kept in the operating configuration in which the forming means has been brought following the previously described operations. Advantageously, the stabilising means comprises bar means, protruding from said lamina means and connectable together by means of rod means.

This aspect of the invention allows forming means to be obtained which is provided with positioning means by actuating which it is possible to automatically arrange the forming means according to an arch of circumference.

Furthermore, the use of positioning means enables the lamina means to be arranged according to arches of circumference and not according to polygonal lines that approximate said arches, which enables finished products to be made which are provided with a high degree of precision and which are substantially free of defects.

In a still further preferred embodiment, the forming means comprises support means arranged for supporting the forming means . The forming means can therefore be advantageously used to constitute walls of concrete formworks arranged for receiving inside them building materials which can be used to make building products. The invention may be better understood and carried out with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show some exemplifying and not limiting embodiments thereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of a forming means according to the invention, in a rest configuration; Figure 2 is a view like that of Figure 1 showing the forming means in an operating configuration;

Figure 3 is an enlarged, interrupted and partially sectioned detail of Figure 1 showing the wire means;

Figure 4 is a front view of forming means according to the invention, in a preferred embodiment;

Figure 5 is a view like that of Figure 4, partially sectioned, showing forming means according to the invention obtained according to another preferred embodiment;

Figure 6 is a view like that of Figure 2 showing the forming means associated with respective extension means;

Figure 7 is an interrupted plane view of the forming means and of the extension means associated therewith;

Figure 8 is a view like that of Figure 2, showing further forming means positioned on the forming means to make the forming means suitable for making a convex arch;

Figure 9 is a view like that of Figure 2, showing the forming means arranged in such a way as to enable an arch to be made said arch being formed of sections having different radiuses of curvature; Figure 10 is a side view of forming means associated with respective support means and arranged in such a way as to constitute a. wall of a concrete formwork;

Figure 11 is an exploded view of the forming means of Figure

6; Figure 12 is a perspective view from below of forming means according to the invention provided with bar means removable from the lamina means;

Figure 13 is a perspective view from above of the forming means of Figure 12.

Figures 1 and 2 show forming means 1 suitable for enabling an arch to be obtained in a building product.

The forming means 1 comprises support means 2 provided with lamina means 3 in which a first surface 4 can be identified that is arranged for receiving building materials resting on it, the building materials being arranged for forming said arch.

The forming means 1 can assume a rest configuration, indicated by the reference A in Figure 1, in which the lamina means 3 is substantially contained on a plane.

The forming means 1 can also be positioned according to an operating configuration, indicated by the reference B in Figure 2 in which the forming means 1 is arranged according to a portion of circumference to define the profile of the arch that has to be obtained.

Stabilising means 6 is associated to the lamina means 3, said stabilising means 6 being arranged for maintaining the forming means 1 in the operating configuration B corresponding to an arch having the required radius of curvature. The stabilising means 6 comprises bar means 7 that protrudes substantially perpendicularly from a second surface 5 of the lamina means 3, opposite to the first surface 4. The stabilising means 6 further comprises rib means 9 extending transversally in longitudinally consecutive sections of the lamina means 3 to enable the lamina means 3 to conform according to an arch of circumference, in a manner that will be better described below.

With reference also to Figure 4, each of the rib means 9 is provided with a first end 10 welded to the lamina means 3 and a second end 11, opposite to the first end 10, connected with one of the bar means 7.

Advantageously, the longitudinal sections occupied by the rib means 9 are separated from one another by a constant distance: in this • way, the bar means, in an operating configuration B, are arranged like the radiuses of the circumference an arch of which is defined by the lamina means 3.

Alternatively, as shown in Figure 5, the rib means 9 can be connected to the lamina means 3 through screws 12, each of which is provided with a respective nut 13, said screws ^' 12 passing through holes 80 (Figure 11) obtained in the lamina means 3 and through further holes 81 obtained in the rib means

9: in this way, by tightening the nuts 13 it is possible to firmly fix the rib means 9 to the lamina means 3. Furthermore, . by obtaining the holes 80 in longitudinally successive sections it is possible to select the position in which the rib means 9 may be placed to meet the needs of a user.

^•As shown in Figures 11 and 12, the screws 12 which have to be associated with the same rib means 9 are mutually connected by connecting rod means 82 which facilitates assembly.

The connecting rod means 82 can in fact be used to simultaneously insert a plurality of screws 12, each one in its respective hole 80. Similarly, by operating on the connecting rod means 82, a plurality of screws 12 can also be simultaneously extracted from their respective holes 80 to remove one of the_. rib means

•9 from the lamina means 3.

Advantageously, by loosening the nuts 13 and extracting the screws 12, the rib means 9 can be easily transferred from one position to another.

The stabilising means 6 further comprises rod means 14 arranged for connecting the bar means 7._. Each of the rod means 14 is provided with slot means 15 which extends longitudinally along the rod means 14, said slot means 15 being suitable for being coupled with threaded pin means 16, provided with respective nut means 18, with which the bar means 7 is provided.

The bar means 1 is provided with hole means 17 through which the threaded pin_. means 16 passes, the pin means 16 engaging the slot means 15 in such a way that the rod means 14 forms a frame 19 interconnecting the bar means 7. The frame 19 consists of a first row X and of a second row Y of rod means 14, each of the rod means of the first row X and of the second row Y interconnecting a pair of adjacent bar means 7 in such a way as to identify in the frame 19 a plurality of meshes 20 which, in the rest configuration A, have a substantially rectangular shape.

The frame 19 further consists of further rod means 14 each of which is arranged along one of the diagonals of the rectangles delimited by the meshes 20. In the rest configuration A, the nut means 18 is partially loosened in such a way as to enable the respective pin means 17 to slide inside the slot means 15, when the lamina means 3 is curved.

Once the lamina means 3 has been arranged according to a arch of circumference the nut means 18 is tightened to prevent reciprocal sliding of the rod means 14 and the bar means 7: in this way the stabilising means 6 constitutes a rigid body that keeps the lamina means 3 in the operating configuration B which has been described above. Advantageously, each of the rod means 14 has a knurled surface which improves adhesion to the surfaces of the other rod means 14 and the bar means 7, thereby facilitating locking of the stabilising means 6. The forming means 1 further comprises positioning means 22 arranged for positioning the lamina means 3 according to an arch of circumference.

The positioning means 22 comprises wire means 23 received in respective seat means 24 obtained in the rib means 9.

Advantageously, wire-guiding means 60 is associated with to the seat means 24, said wire-guiding means 60 being arranged for significantly limiting or even eliminate risks of breakage of the wire means 23. The seat means 24 comprises a plurality of seats 24a within which the wire means 23 can slide, each of said seats 24a being obtained in one of said rib means 9.

The rib means 9 comprises a first rib 9a arranged at a first end of the forming means 1 and a second rib 9b arranged at a second end lb of the forming means 1 opposite to the first end la.

The positioning means 22 comprises locking means 25 suitable for preventing the wire means 23 from sliding with respect to the first rib 9a and tensioning means 26, positioned at the second rib 9b, arranged for tensioning the wire means 23 thereby causing the lamina means 3 connected with the rib means 9 to curve.

The tensioning means 26 comprises shaft means 27 and manoeuvring means 28 which can be actuated to rotate the shaft means 27 so as to wind the wire means 23 around the shaft means 27.

By tensioning the wire means 23, it is therefore possible to simply position the lamina means 3 according to an arch of circumference, thereby by inducing the forming means 1 to move from the rest configuration A to the operating configuration B.

Figures 6 and 7 show further forming means 30 structurally analogous to the forming means 1 and suitable for being associated with the latter as an extension to enable particularly long arches to be made.

In particular, the forming means 1 is of the type shown in Figure 4, i.e. the forming means 1 has rib means 9 welded to the lamina means 3, whilst the further forming means 30 is of the type shown in Figure 6, in other words the further forming means 30 has rib means 9 fixed to the lamina means 3 by means of screws 12. As shown in Figures 12 and 13, the forming means 1 and the further forming means 30 are associated together by placing an end section 3b of the lamina means 3 of the further forming means 30 on a further end section 3a of the lamina means 3 of the forming means 1. Advantageously, from the further forming means 30 a number- of rib means 9 has been removed so as to obtain in the further forming means 30 a further end section 3b which has a preset extent in such a way that the overall ^' length of the lamina means obtained by the bringing together and partial overlap of the lamina means 3 of the forming means 1 and of the lamina means 3 of the further forming means 30 substantially matches exactly the length of the arch which has to be made. The section 3a and the further section 3b are kept in contact with each other by fixing means 32. As shown in Figure 12, the fixing means 32 may comprise clip means connected with the lamina means 3 of, the further forming means 30 and suitable for keeping the section 3a in contact with the further section 3b whilst allowing a slight reciprocal sliding in a longitudinal direction when the forming means 1 and the . further forming means 1 is moved from the rest configuration A to the operating configuration B.

The use of the further forming means 30 enables any length of arches to be obtained with a high degree of accuracy, it being possible to determine the corresponding length of the support means 2 with extreme accuracy by correctly choosing the length of the first section 3a which has to overlap the second section 3b.

To enable the forming means 1 to be associated with the further forming means 30, at the junction point appropriately shaped further rod means 14a is used.

The further rod means 14a comprises a first rod portion 33 arranged alongside of a second rod portion 34, said first rod portion 33 and second rod portion 34 being connected at the respective ends 33a and 34a. The first rod portion 33 and the second rod portion 34 are thus substantially contained not on the same plane but on mutually parallel planes.

In this way the forming means 1 can be connected to the further forming means 30, inasmuch as possible interference between the further rod means 34 and rod means 14b and 14c adjacent to the further rod means 34 is eliminated. Figure 8 shows still further forming means 40 which enables an arch having a convex external profile to be made. Said still further forming means 40 has a structure which is substantially analogous to that of the forming means 1, described previously.

The still further forming means 40 can be arranged in a still further operating configuration, indicated as C, by following the steps set out below. First, the wire means 23 is used to position the forming means 1 in an operating configuration B in which the forming means 1 is arranged according to a convex arch having a desired radius of curvature. The forming means 1 is kept in said operating configuration B by locking the respective stabilising means 6.

Subsequently, the still further positioning means 40 is placed on the forming means 1 in such a way that further lamina means 41 with which the still further forming means 40 is provided interact with the lamina means 3 of the forming means 1. As the further lamina means 41 is brought into contact with the lamina means 3, the further lamina means 41 is arranged according to a convex arch corresponding to the • concave arch identified by the lamina means 3. Subsequently, further stabilising^' means 42, with which the still further forming means 40 is provided, is locked so as to keep the still further positioning means 40 in the still further operating position C.

The still further forming means 40 may also comprise further wire means 43, said further wire means 43 is nevertheless not tensioned during the course of the previously described operations.

Alternatively, the still further forming means 40 does not comprise the still further positioning means. Figure 9 shows the forming means 1 arranged in such a way as to identify an arch which has a mixed profile comprising circumference portions alternating with straight sections.

To obtain an arch with such a mixed profile the stabilising means 6a, 6b e 6c, associated with straight zones H, K and L of the mixed-profile arch can be locked when the forming means is in a rest configuration A that is not shown.

Subsequently, tensioning means 26 is operated to tension the wire means 23 by inducing the lamina means 3 to curve.

However, during this operation only portions 3z and 3w of the lamina means 3 can curve, in other words the zones corresponding to the portions of the arch with a mixed profile in which the stabilising means 6d and 6e are still permitted to move .

Once the desired form of mixed profile has been obtained the stabilising means 6d and 6e are also locked to keep the forming means 1 in the required operating configuration B.

By proceeding in an analogous way to the previously described way arches can be obtained which have zones provided with different radiuses of curvature. In this case it is possible to tension the wire means until the lamina means are arranged according to an arch which has a first radius of curvature corresponding to the largest of the desired radiuses of curvature. It is now possible to lock the stabilising means associated with the portion of the lamina means to which the curvature thereby obtained is to be given.

The wire means 23 are subsequently further tensioned until the lamina means are arranged according to an arch with a further radius of curvature which is smaller than the first radius of curvature.

At this point the stabilising means is locked, said stabilizing means being associated with a further portion of the lamina means that is to be given said curvature. In this way, proceeding by subsequent steps, arches can be obtained which comprise sections with different radiuses of curvature .

Figure 10 shows holding means 50 that can be associated with the forming means 1, to enable the forming means 1 to be used to delimit a wall 70 of a concrete formwork.

The holding means 50 comprises a foot 52 from which a crosspiece 51 projects in a substantially perpendicular direction, said crosspiece 51 being suitable for being fixed to the rib means 9 by means of suitable fixing means 53. The holding means 50 further comprises further fixing means 54 arranged for being connected to the bar means of the forming means 1.

As, if the dimensions of the product to be made require it, further forming means 30 can be placed on the forming means 30, advantageously the holding means 50 are made from modular elements which can be superimposed one upon another. Also advantageously, a support base 55 is provided which is arranged for giving stability to the mutually superimposed holding means 50.

Claims

1. Forming means suitable for enabling an arch to be made in a ^building product, comprising support means (2) suitable for being arranged in an operating configuration (B) in which said support ^' means (2) supports building materials arranged for forming said arch and stabilising means (6) arranged for locking said support means (2) .in said operating configuration (B) , characterised in that said support means (2) comprises lamina means (3).

2. Forming means according to claim 1, and further comprising positioning means (22) arranged for positioning said support means (2) according to a curved profile defining said arch.

3. Forming means suitable for enabling an arch to be made in a building product, comprising support means (2) suitable for being arranged in an operating configuration (B) in which said support means (2) supports building materials arranged for forming said arch and stabilising means (6) arranged for locking said support means (2) in said operating configuration (B) , characterised in that further comprises positioning means (22) arranged for positioning said support means (2) according to a curved profile defining said arch.

4. Forming means according to claim 3, wherein said support means (2) comprises lamina means (3).

5. Forming means according to claim 2, or 4, wherein said positioning means (22) comprises wire means (23) connected to an end (9a) of said lamina means (3) and slidably coupled with at least one further end (9b) of said lamina means (3) opposite to said end (9a) .

6. Forming means according to claim 5, wherein said positioning means (22) comprises locking means (25) arranged for preventing said wire means (23) from sliding with respect to said end (9a) .

7. Forming means according to claim 5, or 6, wherein said positioning means (22) comprises tensioning means (26) arranged for tensioning said wire means (23) .

8. Forming means according to claim 7, wherein said tensioning means is arranged at said at least one further end (9b) .

9. Forming means according to claim 7, or 8, wherein said tensioning means (26) comprises shaft means (27) and manoeuvring means (28), said manoeuvring means being suitable for rotating said shaft means (27) to wind said wire means (23) around said shaft means (27) .

10. Forming means according to claim 2, or to any one of claims 4 to 9, wherein said stabilising means (6) comprises bar means (7) protruding from said lamina means (3) and connectable together through rod means (14) .

11. Forming means according to claim 10, wherein said rod means (14) is longitudinally provided with slot means

(15), said slot means 15 being suitable for receiving connecting pin means (16) arranged for interconnecting said rod means (14) and for connecting said rod means

(14) with said bar means (7) .

12. Forming means according to claim 10, or 11, wherein said rod means (14) has a knurled surface.

13. Forming means according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein said stabilising means (6) further comprises rib means (9) placed between said bar means (7) and said lamina means (3) and extending transversally in longitudinally consecutive sections of said lamina means (3) . ,

14. Forming means according to claim 13, wherein said rib means is welded to said lamina means (3) .

15. Forming means according to claim 13, wherein said rib means is connected to said lamina means (3) through screws (12) .

16. Forming means according to any one of claims 13 to 15 as appended to any one of claims 5 to 9, or to any one of claims 10 to 12 as appended to any one of claims 5 to 9, wherein said rib means (9) comprises seat means (24) arranged- for receiving said wire means (23).

17. Forming means according to any one of the preceding claims, and further comprising fixing means (32) arranged for connecting said forming means (1) to further forming means (30) analogous to said forming means (1) and shaped so as^' to form an extension of said forming means (1) .

18. Forming means according to claim 17 as appended to claim 2, or to any one of claims 4 to 16, wherein said fixing means (32) comprises clip means connected with said lamina means (3) .

19. Forming means according to claim 2, or according- to any one of claims 4 to 16, or according to claim 17 as appended to claim 2, or to any one of claims 4 to 16, or according to claim 18, and further comprising holding means (50) suitable for being placed on a support plane and arranged for enabling said lamina means (3) to be positioned in such a way as to be

₎ substantially perpendicular to said support plane.