INSULATED CONCRETE WALL

MUR DE BETON ISOLE

English Abstract

The present invention relates to poured concerete walls and, more particularly, to poured concrete walls including a layer of thermal insulation for reducing heat transfer in which the insulation layer is secured to the concrete wall at the time of pouring the concrete.

French Abstract

La présente invention concerne des murs en béton coulé et, en particulier, des murs en béton coulé comportant une couche d'isolation thermique destinée à réduire le transfert thermique, dans lesquels on fixe la couche d'isolation au mur de béton au moment de couler le béton.

Claims

CLAIMS:
1. A system for thermally insulating a wall of poured
concrete comprising:
a) first and second wall forms horizontally
spaced apart;
b) at least two tie strips spaced vertically
apart and having ends connected to said first and
second wall forms;
c) each of said tie strips having at least one
slot;
d) wedge means extending through said slot of
each tie strip; and
e) said slots and wedge means being located
between said first and second wall forms for
securing a layer of thermal insulation between said
first and second wall forms during the pouring of
the concrete.
2. The system of Claim z wherein said wedge means have
a hollow central portion whereby said wedge means
fractionally engage said tie strips in said slots.
3. The system of Claim 2 wherein said wedge means are
composed of plastic.
9

4. A system for increasing the insulating R value of a
wall of poured concrete comprising:
a) first and second wall means for holding
poured concrete; said first and second wall means
being horizontally spaced apart;
b) horizontally extending tie strip means,
connected to said first and second wall means, for
securing said wall means in horizontally spaced
relationship to each other;
c) hole means in said tie strip means, said hole
means being positioned in said tie strip means at a
position between said first and second wall means;
and
d) securement means for securing a vertically
extending layer of insulation in place between said
first and second wall means, said securement means
extending horizontally through said hole means in
said tie strip means for engaging both said
insulation layer and said poured concrete.
5. The system of Claim 4 wherein said hole means
comprise first and second holes extending through
said tie strip means, and wherein said securement
means comprise first and second securing means
extending horizontally through said first and second
hole means for engaging said vertically extending
layer of insulation in place between said first and
second wall means during pouring of said poured
concrete wall.
10

6. The system of Claim 5 wherein said first and second
holes comprise horizontally extending slots in said
tie strips means.
7. The system of Claim 5 wherein said securement means
comprise first and second securing means for
frictionally engaging opposite sides of said
insulation layer for preventing said insulation
layer from rising during the pouring of the
concrete.
8. The system of Claim 7 wherein said first and second
securing means comprise flexible wedge means for
engaging both said insulation layer and said poured
concrete.
9. The system of Claim 8 wherein each of said first and
second securing means comprise flexible plastic
wedges of a size and shape to snap into and be
secured by said slots in said tie strip means.
10. A tie strip for securing first and second form walls
during the pouring of a concrete wall between said
form walls comprising:
a) elongated strip means having first and second
ends for securing said first and second form walls
in horizontally spaced relationship during and after
the pouring of concrete therebetween; and
11

b) said elongated strip means including at least
one horizontally extending slot means of a size and
shape for receiving and retaining at least one
flexible wedge means for engaging and securing a
vertically extending layer of insulation during the
pouring of the concrete, and wherein
c) said elongated strip means includes two
horizontally extending slots of a size and shape for
receiving and retaining two flexible wedge means
positioned on opposite sides of laid vertical
insulation layer.
11. A tie strip for securing first and second form walls
during the pouring of a concrete wall between said
form walls comprising:
a) elongated strip means having first and second
ends for securing said first and second form walls
in horizontally spaced relationship during and after
the pouring of concrete therebetween; and
b) said elongated strip means including at least
one horizontally extending slot means of a size and
shape fox receiving and retaining at least one
flexible wedge means fox engaging and securing a
vertically extending layer of insulation during the
pouring of the concrete, and wherein
c) said flexible wedge means comprise wedges
having a hollow central portion, and said wedges are
of a size and shape so as to be inserted into and
12

frictionally retained by said horizontally extending
slot means.
13

Description

101520CA 02265135 .2005-07-21INSULATED CONCRETE WALLFIELD DF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to poured concrete wallsand, more particularly, to poured concrete wallsyincluding a layer of thermal insulation for reducing heattransfer in which the insulation layer is secured to theconcrete wall at the time of pouring the concrete.BACKGROUNDConcrete walls are commonly formed by pouringconcrete between inner and outer forms and, after.hardening, insulation materials for reducing the thermalR value may be added to the concrete walls. In order todo so, frame members may be applied to the concrete wall,(fl1020CA 02265135 1999-03-10such as by using pneumatic guns and concrete nails, andthen the insulating material may be secured to the framemembers. Alternatively, the insulation may be secured tothe concrete wall by concrete nails. Such multi—stepassembly procedures are both time consuming and costly.Thus, there has long been a need for a system and amethod whereby poured concrete walls may be formed andinsulated at the same time in one step.SUMMARYThe present invention provides an apparatus andmethod for securing an insulation layer in place whilethe concrete is poured between conventional forms, andfor continuing to secure the insulation layer to thepoured concrete wall after the forms have been removed.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFIG. 1 is a sectional View of a poured concrete wallwith a thermal insulation layer secured thereto;FIG. 2 is a cross—sectional View taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;FIG. 3 is an enlarged side—elevational view of onetie strip;FIG. 4 is a top plan view of a wedge which isinserted into the tie strip;101520CA 02265135 1999-03-10FIG. 5 is an enlarged, side elevational view of oneform of support element for securing the insulation layerto the concrete wall prior to, during, and after theconcrete is poured;FIG. 6 is a front plan view of the support elementl’taken along line 6-6 of FIG. J;FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the support elementtaken along line 7-7 of FIG. 5;FIG. 8 is an elevational view of a plurality ofinsulation panels secured to the concrete wall by aplurality of support elements;FIG. 9 is a vertical cross—sectional view of aportion of the concrete wall showing an alternativeposition of the insulation layer; andFIG. 10 is a horizontal cross—sectional View of theconcrete wall taken along view line 10-10 of FIG. 9.DETAILED DESCRIPTIONReferring first to FIG. 1, numeral 10 designates aconcrete wall which has been poured between first andsecond conventional forms 12 and 14. Forms 12, 14 areheld together by metal strips or ties 16 as inconventional practice. However, as shown most clearly inFIG. 3, each of ties 16 includes a non—conventional slot10152025CA 02265135 1999-03-1017 for a purpose hereinafter described. Numeral 18represents a conventional footing for supporting thewall, and numeral 20 represents a plurality ofconventional reinforcing bars ("rebar") which extendhorizontally through the poured concrete to add strengthto the wall.The structure described thus far is typical of themanner of forming poured concrete walls. After theconcrete hardens, forms 12 and 14 are removed and theconcrete wall is complete. If insulation is to be added,frame members (not shown) must be secured to the wall, orsheets or rolls of insulation must be secured bypneumatic nailing guns. As previously stated, thisdouble—step procedure is both time consuming and costly.In the present invention, layers or panels ofinsulation 22 are secured in place before the concrete ispoured between forms 12, 14. The means for securing theinsulation in place during the pouring of the concretecomprise clips or wedges 23 and anchors or connectors 24.Clips or wedges 23, hereinafter wedges, are shown indetail in FIGS. 2 and 4. Each wedge comprises a moldedpiece of plastic, such as polypropylene, which is in theform of a double—ended V—shape with an open hole 26 inthe central region. As such, the wedges are flexible andresilient so that they may be squeezed together in the10152025CA 02265135 1999-03-10center portion and inserted into slots 17 of ties 16.Upon insertion, the center portions of the wedges expandsuch that grooves 28 lock in ties 16 and the wedgesextend horizontally. As shown most clearly in FIG. 2,approximately one~half of each wedge becomes embedded inthe insulation panel, and the other half becomes embeddedin the poured concrete. As a result, the insulationpanels become locked to fixed ties 16 so that thelightweight panels cannot "float" upwardly when theconcrete is poured.In addition to ties 16 and wedges 23, the presentinvention provides anchors or connectors 24 as shown inFIGS. 1 and 5-7. Preferably, connector elements 24 are inthe form of a web portion 32 having openings 34 so thatthe poured concrete passes through and fills the openingsas shown in FIG. 1. Thus, as the concrete hardens,connectors 24 become bound and locked in the concrete.As further shown most clearly in FIGS. 1 and 5-7,each connector 24 includes an enlarged head portion 36which extends laterally and vertically at a right anglerelative to the web portion. Thus, when the web portionof each connector passes through a slot 38 in theinsulation panel as shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, the panel isretained by head portion 36 while the web portion isretained in and by the concrete. In the preferredembodiment, it will be understood that the area of theLf‘.102025CA 02265135 1999-03-10insulation surrounding slot 38 may be recessed orcounter—sunk such that the exposed surface of theconnector head is flush with the surface of theinsulation. However, the thickness of the head portion isonly in the order of 1/4 inch or less such that counte:~sinking is not necessary.Also in the preferred embodiment, stiffening sidebars or ribs 37 may be added as most clearly shown inFIGS. 5 and 7, and the stiffening ribs may be providedwith barbs 39 for engaging in insulation layer 22. Also,the upper and lower portions of connectors 24 may beprovided with barbs 41 which further engage and hold theinsulation panel in place. In addition, in order toaccommodate walls of either 6 or 8 inches in thickness,the horizontal length of connectors 24 may bemanufactured of a uniform 8 inch length, and with grooves42 as shown in FIG. 5 near the tip of the connector suchthat the tip may be easily broken off for 6 inch walls.In the foregoing description, connectors 24 may beheld in place during the concrete pouring by virtue of atight frictional fit between the web portion 32 and slot38 of the insulation panel and the frictional engagementof barbs 39 and 41. However, a substantially greatersecuring of the connectors may be effected by providingone or more notches, grooves or hook portions 40 as shownin FIGS. 1 and 5. These hook portions may be engaged by10152025CA 02265135 1999-03-10rebar 20 so as to positively lock connectors 24 in placebefore, during and after the concrete is poured.Connectors 24 may be composed of any rigid material,but they are preferably composed of molded plastic suchas for example, polypropylene or polyethylene. Suchmaterials may be easily molded, are of low thermalconductivity and are low cost. Most importantly, theyprovide an excellent medium for receiving nails, screws,staples or other means through heads 36 for securing thelater installation of additive wall materials such asplaster board, paneling or other finishing layers.Insulation layer 22 may be composed of anycommercially available material of low thermalconductivity, but is preferably composed of rigid panelsof expanded or extruded polystyrene. In addition to thethermal insulation value of such panels, their inherentproperties provide a vapor barrier and their thermalproperties are not deteriorated by moisture.From the foregoing description of one preferredembodiment it will be apparent that numerous variationsin the details will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art. For example, as shown in FIGS. 9 — 10,insulation layer 22' may be positioned within theinterior of concrete wall 10 during the pouring of theconcrete. This is of particular benefit in the pouring ofconcrete walls for commercial—type buildings where no101520CA 02265135 1999-03-10additional finishing of the interior wall is to beprovided for after the pouring. In this situation, ties16' are provided with two slots 17 and 17' and, as shownin FIG. 10, two wedges 23 and 23' are engaged in theseslots such that approximately half of each wedge isembedded in foam insulation 22' and the other halfbecomes embedded in the poured concrete. In any event,wedges 23 and 23', and ties 16‘ with double slots 17, 17'positively engage the insulation layer 22' and hold itsecurely, and against floating or otherwise movingupwardly or sideways during the pouring of the concrete.This embodiment produces an insulated wall of the same Rvalue as previously described, but with the insulationlayer contained within the concrete wall despite the verysubstantial buoyant forces which are encountered in thepouring of the concrete.Accordingly, it will be understood that theforegoing description is purely illustrative of theprinciples of the invention, and that the invention isnot intended to be limited other than as expressly setforth in the claims interpreted under the doctrine ofequivalents.

Representative Drawing