Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Form-work for concrete
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Background of th_ invention
This invention relates to form-work of the kind used
for the construction of concrete decks, roadways,
sidewalks, etc.
Poured concrete structures formed along the surface of
the ground, such as concrete decks, roadways, sidewalks,
etc. are typically constructed by preparing a firm bed
upon which the deck is to rest. Border defining forms are
provided for confining the uncured concrete mixture to a
desired border contour, which may be straight or curved.
A concrete mixture is poured over the prepared bed to fill
the form and the surface of the poured concrete is trowled.
After the concrete has cured, the forms are removed.
Two types of form-work are typically used for
constructing concrete decks, namely structures of wood
formed of boards and stakes fastened by nails and
structures of specially formed metal form boards and stakes
held together by rigid metal wedges. The wood form-work
structures are typically constructed by driving stakes
into the ground at intervals along a stake line that
follows the desired edge contour of the deck. Then, boards
are placed against the stakes and are nailed thereto.
Usually, the stakes are displaced by the force of nailing,
making it virtually impossible to locate the edge board at
the precisely desired location. Moreover, the edge boards
tend to break while being dismantled and they typically
have a very low number of repeated uses.
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The metal type form-work structures have been known
for a number of years and typically include a metal
formboard with connector means for connecting to stakes.
One such device is described in Langford, U.S. Patent
3,910,545, issued October 7, 1975. In this design a steel
wedge is driven through a projecting flange of an edge
plate. The repeated wedging of the stake within the
flange causes gauling of the stakes and/or the flanges.
As a consequence, the accuracy of the system deteriorates
with use.
Another type of metal form-work is described in
Stegmeier, U.S. Patent 4,340,200 issued July 20, 1982. In
that design, a spring clip arrangement is utilized which
hooks around the edges of the edge plate of the
lS form-work. A stake passes through the clip member.
However, this system does not provide a solid wedging
system and relies on a spring clip for the accuracy of
location. This spring clip assembly is both difficult to
manufacture and difficult to use.
Summary of the invention
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According to the present invention a new type of metal
form-work has been developed which substantially overcomes
the deficiencies of the above systems. A main component
of the form-work system of this invention is an edge beam
which includes an elongated edge plate having a front face
and a rear face. A pair of web portions project outwardly
from the rear face and a flange member is joined to the
free end of each of these web portions. Each flange member
includes a plate portion extending outwardly of the web
and substantially parallel to the edge plate and a lip
portion extending inwardly of the web. A pair of connector
members are provided for connecting to the lip portions of
the flanges. Each of these connector members comprises a
plate with a hole for receiving a stake, an offset portion
at one edge of the plate for receiving a wedge member and
a connector flange at the opposite edge of the plate, which
connector flange includes a J-shaped hook portion for
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hooking around the flange lip of the edge beam. An
abutment face is also provided on the connector flange for
engaging a stake. Finally, a wedge member is provided
which is adapted to engage the offset flanges of the
connector member such as to hold the connector members
together and force the connector member abutment faces
into tight engagement with a stake passing through the
holes.
Since the stakes are wedged between flat faces, there
are few wear problems and the wedge members can easily be
driven back out of the assembly when the concrete deck has
cured.
The edge beam itself is an important part of the
present invention and has numerous advantages. Thus, the
web portions typically have a width of about l to 6 inches.
Beams with the wide web portions are very strong and rigid
~tructures which can be used for long straight lengths of
form-work while permitting the stakes to be widely spaced.
The narrower web portions permit easy shaping of the edge
2~ beam into various curved sections such as may typically be
used for a deck surrounding a swimming pool.
The combination of the edge plate and the parallel
flange member at the opposite end of the web portion has
the advantage of providing a convenient means for
supporting either straight or curved vertical extensions
to the height of the edge plate.
Brief descri~ion of the drawings
The foregoing as well as other features and advantages
of the apparatus of the present invention will become more
apparent upon a consideration of the following detailed
description and claims together with the accompanying
drawings in which:
Fig. l is a perspective view of a portion of form-work
for constructing a concrete deck structure;
Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the assembled device of
the invention;
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Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the arrangement shown in
Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a connector member;
Fig. 5 is a sectional view of a wedge member;
Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a corner assembly
according to the invention;
Fig. 7 is a sectional view of an edge beam with a
straight extension;
Fig. 8 is a sectional view of an edge beam with a
rounded projection; and
Fig. 9 is an edge beam with an alternative connector.
Description of the preferred embodiments
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Figure 1 shows the form-work of the present invention
assembled for a curving section of form-work. It includes
the edge beam 10 supported by stakes 13 via hook connectors
18 and wedges 29.
Looking at the details of the assembly in Figures 2 and
3, it will be seen that the edge beam 10 includes a verti-
cal plate portion 14 with web portions 15 extending
2~ ~utwardly from the rear face thereof. The free ends of the
web portions 15 include flange members, each having a plate
portion 16 substantially parallel to edge plate 14 and a
lip portion 17 extending inwardly of the web 15. The edges
of the plates 14 and 16 may include a bead or rounded
projection 33 and 34 respectively.
For assembly, the edge beam 10 is placed on the ground
12 as shown in Figure 2 and two connector hook members 18
are hooked to the lips 17. Each one of these connector
hook members 18 includes a flat main body portion 20 with
a stake-receiving hole 19 extending therethrough. The
outer end of main body portion 20 includes an offset
portion 2] providing an inwardly directed face portion 22
perpendicular to main body portion 20 and an outer face 23
parallel to the inner face 22.
The other end of the main body portion 20 includes a
f]ange member 24 perpendicular thereto, this flange having
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at one end thereof a rounded projection or bead 25 and
opposite thereto a flat abutment face 26. The other end
of flange 24 includes an arm portion 27 with a hook 28.
This hook 28 is designed to firmly catch against the inner
edge of lip 17 of the edge beam 10.
With the connector plates 18 slipped over a stake 13
and hook portions 28 hooked around lips 17, wedge member
29 is slid over the offset portions 21 of the connector
plates 18.
As can be seen from Figure S, the wedge 29 includes a
main body portion 32, a pair of arm member 30 for hooking
around the connector plate offset portions 21 and a
tapering slide face 31 which provides the wedging action.
Thus, the wedging face 31 is driven along the edge face 22
lS of offset portion 21 until the entire assembly is rigid.
Thus, as can be seen from Figure 3, the stake 13 is forced
firmly against the abutment faces 26, while the hooks 28
firmly hold the edge beam 10 in place. The assembly is
then ready for pouring a concrete deck 11.
An edge beam with relatively wide web portions lS is
shown in Figure 7. This inc]udes a vertical extension 35
; for edge plate 14. The extension is held in place by means
of a hook portion 40 which hooks around the bead 33 of
plate 14 and an angle brace 36 with a hook portion 41
which hooks around bead 34 of f]ange 16. This can easily
be snapped in place.
; Another form of snap in extension is shown in Figure 8
which has particular application for edge beams with a
relatively narrow web portion. In this case a rounded
extension 37 is formed having a pair of hooked portions 42
which snap in between the beads 33 and 34.
Another mode of utilizing the edge beam 10 is shown in
Figure 9. Here, a T-bolt 38 has been placed within the
lips 1~ and this can then be used for bolting any struc-
tural component, e.g. angle brace 39, to the inner face of
the edge beam 10.
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The edge beam, connector plates 18 and wedge members 29
can all be conveniently be extruded aluminum parts. This
means that they are light, easy to store and easy to use.
Although the invention has been described in connection
S with preferred embodiment thereof, it wil be appreciated by
those skilled in the art that various changes and modifica-
tions can be made without departing from the spirit of the
invention. Therefore, it is intended that the coverage of
the invention be limited only by the language of the claims
and its equivalent.
