WO2023002267A1

WO2023002267A1 - Modular formwork for the construction of reinforced concrete ribbed floors with specially configured spacers

Info

Publication number: WO2023002267A1
Application number: PCT/IB2022/055531
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mirco Pegoraro
Original assignee: Geoplast Spa
Priority date: 2021-07-21
Filing date: 2022-06-15
Publication date: 2023-01-26
Also published as: AU2021212159A1

Abstract

The invention refers to modular formwork for the construction of reinforced concrete ribbed floors, comprising a plurality of modular elements or formworks (100, 300) and a plurality of spacers (200) having a three- dimensional structure. Each spacer (200) has a three-dimensional structure, and comprises parts (210) for resting on a bed surface, means (220, 230) for the direct or indirect coupling to the lower edges (130, 330) of two or more formworks (100, 300) and means (240) for supporting and/or engaging reinforcement bars, and where the distance between said coupling means (220, 230) determines the distance between two or more formworks (100, 300) on the bed surface, while the distance of said parts (210) resting on the bed surface and said means (240) for supporting and/or engaging reinforcement bars determines the distance of the reinforcement bars from the bed surface.

Description

MODULAR FORMWORK FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF

REINFORCED CONCRETE RIBBED FLOORS WITH SPECIALLY CONFIGURED SPACERS DESCRIPTION

The present patent relates to formwork for the construction of reinforced concrete floors and in particular concerns a new type of modular formwork for the construction of reinforced concrete ribbed floors.

The prior art comprises various types of formwork, reusable or disposable, used for the construction of reinforced concrete ribbed floors.

Reusable formwork made of plastic material is also known in the prior art, comprising a monolithic domed body, with a horizontal, flat, or arched upper wall, on which the concrete is cast.

Said known reusable formwork has a substantially quadrilateral shape with four right angles, with a modular width and length, in the order of 60-100 cm, and comprises vertical or slightly inclined perimeter walls, with lower edges or lower feet for resting on a bed surface.

Said lower edges of the perimeter walls are specially shaped to couple directly with corresponding edges of identical and neighboring formwork.

The positioning of said formwork determines the pitch of the ribs that will be obtained with the concrete casting, and, more specifically, the shape and dimensions of said perimeter walls and of said lower supporting edges determine the width of said ribs.

One drawback of the systems of the prior art consists in the fact that they are unable to vary the width of these ribs, since, once the type of formwork to be used has been established, this width is, as noted, determined by the configuration of the formwork.

To vary the width of the ribs, for example to increase it, it is therefore necessary to position the formwork further apart, but this spacing operation must be done precisely according to the design, and certainly cannot be performed with approximate or artisanal methods.

Similarly, the laying of the reinforcement bars is also an operation that must be carried out with accuracy, ensuring that the bars are at a minimum distance from the bed surface. For this purpose, spacers for reinforcement bars are known which are installed between the formwork and serve as support elements for the bars. The use of these spacers, which must be installed after all the formwork is laid, complicates the installation of the formwork itself, consequently lengthening the laying times.

Another drawback of the formwork of the prior art is the fact that it has a rather limited resistance to foot traffic. In order to increase the resistance to foot traffic, the prior art comprises formwork that is equipped with an intermediate support element which extends from the horizontal upper wall to the ground.

For reasons related to stackability, said intermediate support element is normally made of a tubular frusto-conical or frusto-pyramidal wall which extends from the center of the upper wall and has a height equal to the height of the perimeter walls.

Formwork essentially consisting of polystyrene blocks is also known but due to recent regulations, the use of such material has been prohibited and consequently that formwork is banned, thus favoring the use of regenerated plastic formwork.

The object of the present patent is a new type of modular formwork for constructing reinforced concrete ribbed floors, which resolves the aforementioned drawbacks.

The main object of the present invention is the rapid installation of the formwork, which can also be adequately and precisely spaced according to the dimensions of the ribs required.

Another object is to enable the quick and proper positioning of the reinforcement bars as well.

A further object of the present invention is to maximize resistance to foot traffic, as a function of the size of the formwork.

Still another object is to minimize the weight and therefore the cost of the elements in question.

These and other direct and complementary objects are achieved by the new type of modular formwork for the construction of reinforced concrete ribbed floors, comprising a plurality of modular domed elements, hereinafter simply called formwork, with a quadrilateral shape with four right angles, each in turn comprising an upper horizontal wall as the bottom of the formwork, preferably flat, and perimeter walls.

Said perimeter walls are flared downwards, making the formwork stackable on identical formwork.

Said perimeter walls have lower edges configured to rest on a bed surface.

In the preferred embodiment, each formwork comprises at least one intermediate support element, comprising at least one wall, preferably with a tubular, frusto-conical, frusto-pyramidal or in any case flared shape so as to allow it to be stacked, and where said wall extends downwards from said upper wall, has a height equal to the height of said perimeter walls and comprises a lower foot configured to rest on a bed surface.

Said at least one intermediate element has the function of supporting the loads acting on the formwork, contributing, together with the perimeter walls, to the resistance to foot traffic.

In the preferred embodiment, each formwork comprises a number of said intermediate supporting elements which is a function of the dimensions of the formwork itself.

In particular, each formwork may comprise a number of intermediate support elements such that each of them is no more than 25-35 cm from the other support elements or from the perimeter walls of the formwork itself, where this distance is measured on said upper wall.

By way of example, if the formwork measures 100 cm per side in plan view, it is preferable that it is equipped with 9 of said intermediate support elements, arranged according to a 3 x 3 grid so that each support element is spaced from the others and the perimeter walls by 25 cm.

Thanks to this configuration, the resistance to foot traffic is maximized, and in practice, when a person walks normally on the formwork, his feet always rest near or in correspondence with at least one support element or a perimeter wall. The new formwork comprises a plurality of spacers, intended to be placed on the bed surface and to be constrained to the lower edges of the formwork, so as to ensure the proper positioning of the latter.

Said spacers, which will be described and claimed hereinafter, have the important function of spacing the formwork by the necessary distance, established by design, to produce ribs of the established width.

Therefore, using for example formwork of a single size, it will be possible to arrange them at variable distances according to the size of the spacers, which in turn will be chosen according to the design to be implemented.

Said spacers are also configured in such a way as to guide the workers to adopt the proper sequence to lay the formwork, since these spacers are configured in such a way as to have a laying direction, meaning in such a way that it is necessary to first lay a row of formwork, then the spacers and then a second row of formwork and so on.

Thus the procedure for laying the formwork is simplified and speeded up. Said spacers are also shaped in such a way as to also guide the proper laying of the reinforcement bars, which will be adequately spaced from the bed surface.

The characteristics of the new formwork will be better clarified by the following description with reference to the drawings, attached by way of a non-limiting example.

Figure 1 and Figure 2 show two three-dimensional views, respectively from above and from below, of a formwork (100) in a preferred embodiment. Figures la and 2a show two details of the formwork (100) of Figure 1, while Figures lb and 2b show two details of the formwork (100) of Figure 2. Figures 3 and 4 show two three-dimensional views, respectively from above and from below, of a spacer (200) in a preferred embodiment.

Figures 5 and 6 show two three-dimensional views, respectively from above and from below, of a formwork (300) of smaller dimensions than the formwork (100) of Figure 1, in an alternative embodiment.

Figure 7 shows a detail of the methods for attaching a spacer (300) to two formworks (100, 100') side by side.

The new modular formwork comprises a plurality of modular elements or formwork units (100, 300), in a rectangular shape with four right angles, each in turn comprising a preferably flat horizontal upper wall (110, 310) as the bottom of the formwork, and perimeter walls (120, 320).

Said upper wall (110, 310) and/or said perimeter walls (120, 320) may preferably be ribbed.

Said perimeter walls (120, 320) are flared downwards, making the formwork (100) stackable on identical formworks (300). Said perimeter walls (120, 320) have lower edges (130, 330) configured for resting on a bed surface.

Said lower edges (130, 330) comprise coupling means (400, 500) for coupling spacers (200) which will be described below.

In particular, said coupling means (400, 500) are preferably positioned at the corners (140, 340) and/or along the sides (150) of said lower edges (130, 330). In the preferred embodiment, each formwork (100, 300) comprises at least one intermediate support element (600), in turn comprising at least one wall (610), preferably having a tubular frusto-conical or frusto-pyramidal shape or in any case flared towards said upper wall (110, 310) so as to make it stackable.

Said support element (600) extends from said upper wall (110, 310) downwards, has a height equal to the height of said perimeter walls (120, 320) and comprises a lower foot (620) configured for resting on the bed surface. As noted, said wall (610) of said support element (600) is tubular and flared, that is, hollow internally to allow it to be stacked, and to allow a corresponding support element (600) of an identical formwork (100, 300) to be placed above it and inserted inside it.

For this purpose, said upper wall (110, 310) of the formwork (100, 300) comprises openings (160, 360) in correspondence with said support elements (600).

In the preferred embodiment, each formwork (100, 300) comprises a number of intermediate support elements (600) such that each of them is distant from the other support elements (610) or from the perimeter walls (120, 320) of the same formwork (100, 300) by no more than 25-35 cm, where this distance is measured on said upper wall (110, 310).

In the example of Figures 1 and 2, the formwork (100) measures 100 cm per side in plan view, and is therefore preferably equipped with 9 of said intermediate support elements (600), arranged according to a 3 x 3 grid so that each support element is 25 cm apart from the others and from the perimeter walls.

In the example of Figures 5 and 6, the formwork (300) measures 50 cm per side in plan view, and it is therefore sufficient for it to be equipped with a single central support element (600).

The new formwork comprises a plurality of spacers (200) shown in detail in Figures 3 and 4.

Each spacer (200) comprises a three-dimensional structure with a dual function, namely that of properly spacing two or more neighboring formworks (100, 300) on the bed surface, and of properly spacing the reinforcement bars from the bed surface itself.

Said spacer (200) may have right angles, with a square shape for example, but it can have any shape.

Said spacer (200) comprises support parts (210) to rest on the bed surface and coupling means (220, 230) suited to joint it to said coupling means (400, 500) on the lower edges (130, 330) of said formworks (100, 300).

In particular, said spacer (400) comprises at least two different types of said coupling means (220, 230), in order to determine their installation direction. Specifically, said spacer (400) comprises at least one coupling means (220) of a first type, configured to be superimposed and thus be coupled from above with a coupling means (400, 500) of a formwork (100, 300). In the preferred embodiment, said spacer (400) comprises two of said coupling means (220) of the first type positioned so that they are contiguous.

Said coupling means (220) of the first type comprise for example a pin (221) which protrudes downwards from a raised part (222) with respect to said support parts (210).

Said pin (221) has the dimensions and shape such that it can be inserted from above, with or without engagement, in a hole (420, 520) made on said coupling means (400, 500) of the lower edge (130, 330) of a formwork (100, 300).

Said coupling means (400, 500) of the formwork (100, 300) are in fact configured as described below: they comprise a raised part (410, 510) on which said hole (420, 520) for inserting said pin (221) of the spacer (200) is made.

Furthermore, said spacer (400) comprises at least one further coupling means (230) of the second type, configured to be placed under and thus coupled from below to a coupling means (400, 500) of a formwork (100, 300). In the preferred embodiment, said spacer (400) comprises two of said second type coupling means (230) positioned so that they are contiguous.

Said coupling means of the second type (230) comprise a pin (231) which protrudes upwards from a preferably raised part (232). Said pin (231) has dimensions and shape such as to be able to be inserted from below, with or without engagement, in said hole (420, 520) made on said coupling means (400, 500) of the formworks (100, 300).

Said coupling means (400, 500) of the formworks (100, 300) are in fact configured with a hollow part (430, 530) on the opposite side of said raised part (410, 510), inside which said raised part (232) of the spacer (200) is inserted so that said pin (231) slides into said hole (420, 520).

Said spacers (200) are thus configured in such a way as to have a direction of installation, meaning so that it is necessary to first lay a row of formworks, then the spacers and then a second row of formworks and so on, as shown in Figure 7. The proper direction of installation is for example indicated on the spacer (200) itself by means of suitable symbols.

Once a first formwork (100) or a first row of formworks has been laid, said spacer (200) is positioned so that at least one of said coupling means (220) of the first type is superimposed and then coupled to a coupling means (400) of the formwork (100).

A second formwork (100') or a second row of formwork is then positioned so that the coupling means (400') of said second formwork (100') is superimposed and then coupled to said second type of coupling means (230) of said spacer (200).

The distance between said coupling means (220, 230) of the spacer (200) determines the distance between the formwork (100, 300), that is, the width of the reinforced concrete rib that will be made.

In the preferred embodiment, said coupling means (220, 230) of the spacer (200) are arranged in correspondence with the four comers of a quadrilateral with four right angles, and more preferably a square.

Each spacer (200) further comprises means (240) for engaging and/or supporting one or more reinforcement bars.

In particular, said engagement and/or support means (240) are configured in such a way that the reinforcement bars placed on them are at a certain distance from the bed surface, that is from said support parts (210) of the spacer.

Said engagement and/or support means (240) are also preferably configured in such a way as to guide the laying of the bars, which will be arranged in a direction parallel or orthogonal to the directions (X, Y) identified by the straight lines determined by the joining of two contiguous coupling means (220, 230).

Said two directions (X, Y) therefore also identify the laying directions of the rows of formworks (100, 300). In the preferred embodiment, said engagement and/or support means (240) comprise two pairs of protrusions, partitions or walls (241), where said protrusions, partitions or walls (241) of each pair are aligned parallel to one of said directions (X, Y) identified by the straight lines determined by the joining of two contiguous coupling means (220, 230).

Said protrusions, partitions, or walls (241) comprise seats (242) for the insertion, with or without engagement, of reinforcement bars, and where the distance of said seats (242) from said supporting parts (210) is the distance at which said bars will be positioned with respect to the bed surface. Once the formworks (100, 300) and spacers (200) have been properly positioned, it will therefore also be possible to lay the reinforcement bars, which will be placed on said spacers (200) and properly oriented in said two directions (X, Y).

Therefore, with reference to the preceding description and the attached drawings the following claims are made.

Claims

1. Modular formwork for the construction of reinforced concrete ribbed floors, comprising a plurality of modular elements or formworks (100, 300), having a rectangular shape with four right angles, each in turn comprising a horizontal upper wall (110, 310) preferably flat which will be the bottom of the formwork, and perimeter walls (120, 320) with lower edges (130, 330) configured to rest on a bed surface, and where said perimeter walls (120, 320) are configured so that two facing perimeter walls (120, 320) of two formworks (100, 300) define the space in which to form a rib of the floor, characterized in that it also includes a plurality of spacers (200), each intended to be laid on said bed surface and to be constrained to the lower edges (130, 330) of at least two of said formworks (100, 300) in such a way as to space them, that is in such a way as to space the opposite side walls (120, 320) of said two formworks (100, 300) by a given distance.

2. Formwork according to claim 1, characterized in that each spacer (200) has a three-dimensional structure, and comprises parts (210) for resting on abed surface, means (220, 230) for direct or indirect coupling to said lower edges (130, 330) of two or more formworks (100, 300) and means (240) for supporting and/or engaging reinforcement bars, and wherein the distance between said coupling means (220, 230 ) determines the distance between two or more formworks (100, 300) on the bed surface, while the distance of said parts (210) resting on the bed surface and said means (240) for supporting and/or engaging reinforcement bars determines the distance of the reinforcement bars from the bed surface.

3. Formwork according to claim 2, characterized in that said lower edges (130, 330) of said formworks (100, 300) comprise coupling means (400, 500) suited to join said coupling means (220, 230) of said spacers (200), and wherein said coupling means (400, 500) are positioned at the corners (140, 340) or along the sides (150) of said lower edges (130, 330).

4. Formwork according to claims 2 and 3, characterized in that at least one of said spacers (400) comprises: at least one coupling means (220) of a first type, configured to be superimposed and thus coupled from above to a coupling means (400, 500) of a first formwork (100, 300), and at least one further coupling means (230) of the second type, configured to be placed under and thus coupled from below to a coupling means (400, 500) of a second formwork (100', 300').

5. Formwork according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said spacer (400) comprises two of said first type coupling means (220) positioned so that they are contiguous and two of said second type coupling means (230) positioned so that they are contiguous.

6. Formwork according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that said coupling means (220) of the first type comprise a pin (221) which protrudes downwards from a part (222) raised with respect to said support parts (210), and wherein said pin (221) has dimensions and shape such that it can be inserted from above, with or without engagement, in a hole (420, 520) made on said coupling means (400, 500) of the lower edge (130, 330) of a formwork (100, 300).

7. Formwork as per claim 4 or 5, characterized in that said coupling means of the second type (230) comprise a pin (231) which protrudes upwards from a preferably raised part (232), and wherein said pin (231) has dimensions and shape such that it can be inserted from below, with or without engagement, in a hole (420, 520) made on said coupling means (400, 500) of the lower edge (130, 330) of a formwork (100, 300).

8. Formwork according to claims 6 and 7, characterized in that said coupling means (400, 500) of the formwork (100, 300) comprise: a raised part (410, 510) on which said hole (420, 520) for inserting said pin (221) of the spacer (200) is made, and a hollow part (430, 530) on the opposite side of said raised part (410, 510), through which said pin (231) is inserted into said hole (420, 520).

9. Formwork according to claim 2, characterized in that said means (240) for engaging and/or supporting the reinforcement bars comprise two pairs of protrusions, partitions or walls (241), wherein said protrusions, partitions or walls (241) of each pair are aligned parallel to one of the directions (X, Y) defined by the straight lines determined by the joining of two contiguous coupling means (220, 230), and wherein said protrusions, partitions, or walls (241) comprise seats (242) for the insertion, with or without engagement, of reinforcement bars.

10. Formwork according to claim 1, characterized in that each formwork (100, 300) comprises at least one intermediate support element (600), in turn comprising at least one wall (610) extending from said upper wall (110, 310) towards the bottom, having a height equal to the height of said perimeter walls (120, 320) and comprising a lower foot (620) configured for resting on the bed surface, and wherein each formwork (100, 300) comprises a number of intermediate support elements (600) such that each of them is no more than 25-35 cm from the other support elements (600) and/or from said perimeter walls (120, 320) of the formwork itself, wherein this distance is measured on said upper wall (110, 310).

11. Formwork according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said wall (310) of said support element (600) is tubular frusto-conical or frusto- pyramidal or in any case flared to allow them to be stacked, and wherein on said upper wall (110, 310) there is an opening (160, 360) made at the level of each of said support elements (600) to allow the insertion of a support element (600) of an identical formwork in order to stack it.

12. Formwork according to claim 1, characterized in that said upper wall (HO, 310) and/or said perimeter walls (120, 320) of one or more of said formworks (100, 3600) are ribbed.

13. Formwork according to claim 1, characterized in that said perimeter walls (120, 320) of said formworks (100, 300) are flared downwards, making the formwork stackable on identical formworks. 14. Method for laying the formwork according to the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises the following steps, that is, the: laying of a first formwork (100, 300) or a first row of formworks; laying a first series of said spacers (200) so that at least one of said first type of coupling means (220) is superimposed and thus coupled to a coupling means (400) of the already laid formwork (100); laying of a second formwork (100') or a second row of formworks so that the coupling means (400') of said second formwork (100') is superimposed and thus coupled to said second type of coupling means (230) of said spacer (200). 15. Method according to claim 14, characterized in that it also comprises the step of laying a plurality of reinforcement bars on said already laid spacers

(200).