Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
131~Cl;Cl~OUND /'~ND 013JI;.CTS OF TilE INV~N'rION
The present inventlon relates in yeneral to expansion
joint seal assemblies oE Lhe type used for sealing an expansion
joint space or gap in a roadway, bridge or the like against
the intrusion of dirt, ~ater, and other debris and contaminants
as for e.Yample mlght be encountered by expansion joints in
roadway and bridge installations. More specifically, the
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present invention relates to an elastomeric expansion seal
assembly formed of a sl~aped elastomeric diapilragm seal
member and a pair of elongated extruded metal anchor channels
installed on opposite sides of the gap or space to be protected
amd embedded in concrete slabs to achieve anchoring of the
_ diaphragm seal member between the anchor channels.
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$ ~ A persis-tent problem which has been encountered in
!, connection with expansion joint sealing s-trip assemblies of
the type to which the present invention is related is that
the retaining or mounting or anchoring bead portion of the
flexible or elastomeric seal member becomes dislodged from
one of the edge members forming the anchor formations for
the ends of the sealing diaphragm over part or all of the
longitudinal extent of the joint, so that the seal no longer
remains watertight and consequently ceases to perform a
; primary function for which it was provided. Numerous proposals
have been made for variations in desian of the edge bead
formations or mountiny portions along opposite edges of the
seal strip of expansion joint seal assemblies seeking to
minimize the possibility of failure of the anchoring or edye
retaining portions by dislodging of the seal strip member
from the edge retaining formation of the assembly. In the
case of expansion joint sealing strip assemblies having
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mountiny beacls along the longitudinal edges thereof to be
mounted in corrcspondingly shaped cavities of the edge
retaining or anchorillg componellts, a numbcr of specific
problems have been rccognized. In many oE the prior art
S expansion joint sealing strip assemblies, it has been very
difficult to shape the metal edge retaining or anchoring
members with a cavity for receiving the mounting beads along
; the edge of the sealing strip with a cavity oE properly
prccise cross-section which includes -the dosired degree of
high-tolerance along the length Oe the edge retaining
member. FrequentLy, the manufacture of such eclge retaining
metal devices as a metal extrusion with a shaped cavity
therein requires that the cavity be of precisely uniform
cross-section throughou-t the entire length of about a 16 foot
or more longitudinal length of the extrusion, as may be
required for a road or bridge joint, and in such lengths, it
has been found that the extruding of the edge retaining
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member fails to maintain appropriate uniformity in the
cross-sectional dimensions of the cavity along the entire
; longitudinal span required. ~lowever, it has been possible
to maintain the desired high-tolerance with respect to the
configuration and cross-sectional dimensions of the retaining
bead or edge portion of the expansion joint sealing strip.
, The discrepancy in the extent to which high-tolerances can
~ be maintained in the shape of the cavity and the shape of
; ; the bead formation results, of course, in frequent instances
of the bead becoming more easily dislodged from the cavity
; of the retaining member.
, Additionally, prohlems have been encoun-tered in developing
optimum designs for the shape of the ret-lning beads alony
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the edges of the sealincJ strip to faci]itate insertion of
the bead into the cavity oE the bead retaining anchor or
; edge melmbers. While eEforts have been made to facilitate
the introduction of beads into the retaining cavities by
making the beads hollow, permitting them to be more reaclily
compressed and deformed to be received in the retalning
cavity, -this also enables the hollow edge bead formations to
be more easily deformcd and pulled out of the retaining
cavities of the retaininq channel or anchor members under
various conditiol~s, particularly as hard or solid con-taminants
work into the cavity and as water intrudes into the cavity
,! and free~es.
jl Additionally, as cross-sectiona] design configurations
i ; of -the edge re-taining beads have been modified to resist
I intrusion of solid contaminants and water intrusion into the
, anchor member cavi-ty, it has become more and more di~ficult
- to manually extract the retaining bead portions of the
sealing strips from the retaining cavities when it is desired
to replace or service the sealing strips for the expansion
~ joints. While efforts have been designed to facilitate the
provision of snap-in-action insertion of the sealing strip
edge formations into the retaining cavities, it has been
discovered that the modification of the configuration of the
snap-in retaining beads to enable them to more easily snayped-
in also carries the disadvantage that they can be more
; easily pushed out. Also, while the configuration oE the
sealing material, usually made of an elastomer, such as a
high-grade neoprene or the like, is such as to allow the
retaining bead edge portions of the elastomer sealing strip
to move apart and together at skew angles, many shapes
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designed to permit th.e strip to open and close on skew angles
are such that -tearing and undue force on the sealing str.ip .is
encountered.
According to the present invention there is provided
an expansion joint seal assembly for sealing a roadway gap
and the like, the assembly including a pair of spaced apart
elongated anchoring ch.annel extrus:ion members -to be secured
in structural slab portions oppositel~ bounding the yap, each
of the anchoring channel members including a generally
rectangular cross-section channel-shaped body havin~ an
anchoring cavi.ty extending the length thereof open toward the
gap shaped to define a constricted entrance throat portion
opening to the gap through a front face of the channel member
and cornmunicating with a transversely enlarged, rearwardly
spaced inner retaining chamber portionj the constri.cted throat
: portion being bounded below by a rounded toe formation. The
retaining member portion has a generally oval vertically
elongated cross-sectional configuration whose major a~is lies
in an inclined plane declining in downwardly convergent
relation forming a small acute angle with a vertical center
plane of the gap and providing a flat ~ack wall paralleling
the inclined plane between opposed concave recessed troughs
forming the upper and lower bounding surEaces o~ the retaining
chamber. The assembly has an elongated resilient sealing
strip member for sealing the gap between the anchoring channel
members including an intermediate diaphragm web portion bounded
along each. longitudinal edge by enlarged anchoring bead
formations of like.cross-section, the web portion has a folded
cross-sectional configuration providing distor-table fold
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portions for maintaining seali.ng of the gap while acco~odating
expansion and contraction of the width thereof. The anchoring
bead formations each forms substantially a hollow triancl:le in
cross-section compri.sing a generally flat back wall portion
forming one side of the triangle and bottom and fron-t wall
: portions formin~ the other sides of the triangle and generally
converging toward the center of the gap. The back wall portions
joined upper and lower convex salient promontories whose
exterior surfaces conform in cross-sect;on to the surfaces
of the recessed troughs and back wall to intimately interfit
in the retaining chamber portion and anchor the sealing strip
therein. The bottom wall portion has a shallow concave trouyh
therein receiving the lower rounded toe formation in nesting
relation therewith.as a fulcrum about which the bead formation
pivots to insert the bead formation into the anchoring cavity.
According to an aspect of the invention, the bottom
and front wall portions intersect and form an apex located below
a horizontal reference plane extending through the vertical
midpoints of the back wall portions. The web portion joins
the bead formations at the apexes and forms with the bottom wall
portions the shallow concave trough immediately subjacent each
apex. :
It may be seen that the retaining beads and the cavity
are of novel coactive configuration correlated with corrugations
or folds of the sealing strip to facilitate insertion and
extraction of the retaining beads from the cavities of the
anchor channel members.
The initially hollow retaining bead formations along
the longitudinal edges of the sealing strip portion may be
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fillecl wlth semi-~.igid material to :Eacilitate lockiny of tlle
retaining bead ormations in the cavities of the anchor channel
members, but which.are also provided with tabs which coact
with por-tions of the cavities and retainlng bead formations
of novel shape facilitating extraction of the retaining bead
formations from the cavities when it is desired to replace or
service the sealing strips..
Other features objects, advantages and capabilities
of the present invention will become apparent from the following
detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying
~ drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invent.ion.
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13RI~L` DLSCRIPTION OF T11E FIGURFS
FIGURE l i.5 a perspective view oE an expansion joint
; sealing strip assembly for roadways and the like embodying
j the present invention;
1 FIGURE 2 is an end view of the e~pansion joint sealinq
; strip assembly including the elastomeric diaphracJ1n sealing
strip of one cxample ancl the pair of ~anchoring channels
therefor showiily their cross sectional configuration;
I¦ FIGURE 2~ :is a fragmentary view to enlarged scale
'j showing the left hand channel and anchoring bead portion;
',¦ FIGURE 3 is a view similar to the left hand half of
~' Fig. 2, showing the elastomeric diaphragm sealing strip in
process of being inserted into the anchoring cavity of the
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left hand anchoring channel;
' FIGURE 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing in
broken lines the web portion of the sealing strip in various
; stages of extension;
- FIGURE 5 is a view similar to Figures 3 and 4, showing
the sealing strip in process of being removed from the
; anchoring cavity of one of the anchoring channels; and
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FIGURES 6 and 7 are end view of sealing strips of other
; shapes that may be used.
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Dl;`T'~ll.l~D Dr.SCR~TION OF A Pl~EFERRÆD EMBOI~ItlENT
Referring to the drawings, whercin like reference
, characters de3ignate corresponcling parts throughout the
several figures, the expansion joint sealing strip assembly
for roadways, bridges and the like of the present invention
is indicated generally by the reference character 10 and
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comprises as the principal e]ements thereof an elastomeric
diaphraglll sealing strip 12 of rubber or similar flexibLy
deformable elastomeric composition, which is in the form of
an elongated sealing strip of uniform cross-section throughout
i having a length adequate -to span a gap or joint, as indicated
a-t 14, in a roadway, bridge or similar construction between
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- a pair of structural slab sections 16A,16B. The elastomeric
diaphragm sealing strip 12 generally comprises as its basic
- parts an intermediate web or diaphragm portion 18 formed of
one or a plurality of bends, folds, or recurved con~olutions
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extending between two marginal enlarged anchoring bead
formations 20 forming the opposite longitudinal edge portions
of the sealing strip 12. These enlarged anchoring baad
formations 20 are adapted to be received and held in the
anchoring cavities 22 of a pair of anchoring channels 24 of
like cross-sectional configuration, embedded or securely
affixed to the structur~l slab sections 16A,lGB located at
the upper portions of the confronting faces of -the slab
section 16A,16B bounding the joint or gap 14 with the anchor-
ing channels 2~ opening toward each other.
Each of the anchoring channels 24 are preferably formed
as extruded metal anchoring channels, formed for example o
steel, having what may be described as a distorted C-shaped
` ~0 cross-section, with the anchoring channels 24 in the illustrated
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em~odimellt havinc3 planiform ~arallel hori~ontal upper and
lower faces 2~A and 2~B and planiform rcar Eace 2~C joined
by roundcd corncrs. The bcad receiving anchoring cavity,22
in each anchoring channel 24 has a specially shaped cross- ;
section bounded by a flat planiform rear or base wall 25
lying in an inclin~d plane declining generally from the
upper rear corner of the upper'face 2~A downwardly toward
but somewhat rcarwardly of the front corner of the lower
face 2qB joining at its upper and lower ends a pair of
, opposed confronting concave recessed troughs forming upper
', and'lower concave retaining wi.ngs 25,27 located at the
;, opposite rear or root corners of the cavi-ty 22 latera]ly
bounding the enlarged retaining chamber 22~. The cavity 22
also includes a specially shaped entrance throat portion 22
which is of constricted transverse dimension relative to
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the top to bottom dimension of the retaining chamber 22A
, and is defined by a rounded upwardly convex toe formation 28
forming a rounded fulcrum in the lower region of the front
, face 24D of the channel 24 located at a level above the
' lowermost portion of -the lower retaining recessed trough 27,
while the upper portion of the entrance throat 22B is defined
by a rearwardly or inwardly declining ramp surface 29 having
rounded portions 29a,29b where it merges into the upperfront
corner portion of the channel 24 and into the forwardmost
portion of the upper retainer recessed trough 26.
While the enlarged anchoring bead formations 20 of the
elastomeric sealing strip 12 are of the same cross-sec-tional
configuration in each variation thereof, the intermediate
web or diaphragm portion 18 thereof may be in several forms,
one of which is illustrated in Figures 1 to 5 wherein the
wcb or diaphragm portion 18 executes three sinuous folds or
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rccurvcs, inclicate(l at 18a,18b and 18c which then join theanchoLin(J beacl formations 20 by upwardly and outwardly
archillg portions 13d and 13e. It will be appreciated,
however, that the web or diaphraglll 18 may simply employ a
single fold, wherein the ~eb or diaphragm portion 13 is
generally in the shape of a downwardly pointing V in cross-
section, or a greater number of sinuous or recllrving folds
than the three il]ustrdted in Figs. 1 through 5 may be
; employed, such as the shapes shown in Figs. 6 and 7.
, In either variation, the enlarged anchoring bead formation
; ~ 20 is of the special cross-sectional shape illustrated in
the Figures, having a hollow center 30, encompassed by a
straight rear wall 31 whose exterior surface conforms to and
is designed to butt flat against the rear or base wall 25 of
~the cavity 22, bouncled at each end by upper and lower convex
salient bulges or promontories 32,33, a short lower wall
portion 3a forming, in effect, the base of a generally
triangular hollow center 30, and a fron-t membrane wall 35
which extends along a downwardly divering plane relative to
the plane oE the rear wall 31. The lower face of the anchoring
bead formation 20 of the sealing strip 12 includes a shallow
downwardly concave trough portion 36 forming a recess into
which the toe formation 28 normally seats, and the web or
diaphragm poriton 18 joins the bead formation 20 substantially
at the zone where the lower wall portion 34 and front membrane
wall 35 mce-t, and extends initially toward the vertical
center plane of the cJap or joint along an upwardly arching,
slightly convex curved path. The anchoring bead formation
20 al~o inc~ude.s an upwardly inclining, tab-forming rib 37
; 30 extending from the upper portion of the front membrane wall
35 approximately at the uppermost reglon of the substantially
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triangular hollow ce:lter 30 of the be~d formation 20, which
normally lies flat a~ainst the upwardly and forwardly inclining
ram~) sur~acc 29 boundincJ the upper gcnerally triangular
nose formation 38 defined by the ramp surface 29 and rounded
surfacc portions 29a,29b, and the adjoining portions of the
upper flat exterior surface 2~ and the adjacent surface of
the uppermost concave recessed' trough 26.
When inscLtinc] the enlaryed anchoring bead formation 20
of the sealing stri,p 12 into the cavity 22 of each of the
anchoring chanllels 24, the bead formation is first introduced
in the position illustratecl in Fig. 3, wherein the lower
salient bulge or promontory 33 enters the lower portion of
the entrance throat 22B of the cavity 22 and protrudes
-, inwardly into ~,he enlarged retaining chamber 22A over the
lS rounded upwardly ex-tending toe formation 28 of the channel
2~. The elastomeric or rubber strip convolutions, for
example convolutions 18a and 18~ will assume the distorted
position illustrated in Fig. 3, exerting pressure toward the
anchoring channel 2~ and thus holding the lower salient
bulge 32 over the lower toe formation 28. The upper portion
of the elastomeric sealing strip Eorming the upper salient
bulge 32 can then be introduced into the cavity 22 by pressing
against the bead formation 20 in the trough-shaped zone
deEined between the upper salient bulge 32 and the tab-
forming rib 3'7 and compressing the hollow bead formation 20whilc rotating the lower bulge formation 33 over the rounded
toe 28 at the entrance throat to the cavity as shown in Fig. 3.
The anchoring bead formation 20 of the elastomeric sealing
strip 12 then fully enters the cavity 22 to assume the
?osition illustrated in Figs. l and 2.
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Once the el.lstomcric sealinc3 strip 12 i9 ingerted
within the anchorincJ channcls 24, it is very difficult to
remove the strip clue to thc location oE the web or diaphragm
portion 18 on the inserted bead formation 20 disposed in the
shaped cavi.ty 22, thus providing great holding power to
resist dislodging of the bead formations from the anchoring
channel cavities iE stones, dirt and debris get into the
jOint or gap 1~ betwecl~ the two channels 2~ and the wheel or
tire of a vehicle exerts pressure on this debris and forces
it downwardly into the joint against the web or diaphragm
portion 18. It will be observed from Fig. 4, illustrating
: various possible distorted positions of the diaphragm or web
portion 18, that the diaphragm convolutions flatten and
~; allow the channels 2~ to move apart easily without dislodging
15 the bead formations from -the anchoring channel cavities.
When and if incompressibles get on the elastomeric diaphragm
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or web portion 18, and the diaphragm portion takes a shape
such as shown in dotted lines at 39A or 39B, for example, the
lower salient bulge 33 tends to lock the sealing strip over
20 the rounded toe 28 forming the lower part of the entrance
throat to the cavity 22, so that even when the web or diaphragm
portion 18 is taken to its fullest compressed form, the lower
salient bulge 33 is held in place by the rounded upwardly
~ extendinc3 toe formation 28 as illustrated.
:: 25 ~he slope of the inclined plane in which the cavity rear
` wall 25 and the confronting surface of the rear wall 31 of
the anchoring bead formation 20 lies is such that when the
intermcdiate web or diaphragrn portion 18 is depressed, as to
the fully extended or less fully extended positions illustrated
30 in broken lines at 39A,39B, the line of the front membrane
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wall 35 alld the adjoi.lling portions of thc intermcdiate webor diapllracJm portion lB i5 approximately parallel to that
plalle, thus making thc sealiny s-trip lock over the toe
formation 28 of the anchoring channel 24. ~hcn the anchorinc3
S channels 2~ are closer together, or at less than their full
extension, the line defined by the front membrane wall 3S and
the adjoining portion of the ~intermediate diaphraqm or web
portion 28 is still in thc position that the extension oE the
diaphra~m portion dowllwardly will cause the rounded toe
formation 28 to lock the strip in pl.ace as the slope of the
rear wall 25 is still approximately parallel to these portions
of the sealing strip.
The sealing strip can be removed from the anchoring
channels 2~ by grasping the tab-forming rib 37, with pliers
or similar pulling tool, and pulliny and cutting through
the wall portion of the anchoring bead formation 20 between
. the upper salient bulge por-tion 32 and tab-forming rib 37,
with a knife or similar tool as indicated at ~0 in Fig. 5.
., If desired, the hollow center 30 of the anchoring bead
formation 20 of the strip can be filled with a semirigid
material, such as epoxy compounds or similar composi-tions,
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thus making the entire area of the generally triangular
~: anchoring bead formation 20 semisolid and thus locking it
- into the associated anchoring channels 2~. Still, the
sealing strip may be removed from the associated anchoring
. channels by pulling on the tab-forming rib 37 and cutting
. along the plane of the knife ~0 shown in ~i~. 5, as this
. produccs~ a rotating motion on the components of the anchoring
bead formation and with the upward pull the tab formation 37
~ and front membrane wall 35 and lower salient bulge 33 assume
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an ~lppro~im~tc straight line and rotate clbout thc toe
fo}mation 28 enabling rcmoval o~ the strip from the anchoring
Cll;lllllC ~ C3Vi t y .
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