ENTRETOISE, EN PARTICULIER A FIXER AUX ARMATURES DU BETON ARME

SPACER, MORE PARTICULARLY FOR SECURING TO REINFORCEMENTS FOR REINFORCED CONCRETE

Abrégé anglais

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A spacer for concrete reinforcements, comprising a
moulded member having two ends of a wire stirrup projecting
therefrom, the curved connecting part of the stirrup being
anchored in the moulded member and the intersecting ends of the
resilient wire stirrup being bent towards one another to clip on
the reinforcements rod by turning the spacer.

Revendications

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A spacer for attachment to a reinforcing element
for reinforced concrete comprising a moulded member, a stirrup
of resilient wire having a base portion embedded in said moulded
member, and two protruding wire ends extending from the upper
surface of the moulded member in the direction of each other
with an acute angle between said protruding ends and said sur-
face, with said wire ends intersecting each other above said
surface and spaced for clamping the reinforcing element between
the protruding ends and the surface of the moulded member by
placing the free ends of said protruding wire end beyond the
intersection point astraddle of the reinforcing element and
forcing the spacer down to it while turning the spacer substan-
tially 180° about an axis through the point of intersection of
said protruding wire ends.
2. A spacer according to claim l, wherein at least
respective end portions of said wire ends are curved in opposite
directions relative to a general vertical plane containing said
stirrup, said ends bent for passing each other so as to partly
entwine at the point of intersection.
3. A spacer according to claim 2, characterised in
that the curves begin at the point of intersection of the wire
ends.
4. A spacer according to claim 3, characterised in
that each of the curves form a quarter-circle.
5. A spacer according to claim l characterised in
that the wire ends form an angle of less than 60° with the sur-
face of the moulded member.
6. A spacer according to claim 5, characterised in
that the angle is less than 15°.

7. A spacer according to claim l characterised in that




the moulded member is made of concrete.
8. A spacer according to claim 1 characterised in that
the wire stirrup is made of spring steel.
9. A spacer according to claim 1 characterised in that
in the region of the stirrup portions which extend form the
moulded member, the moulded member has an inwardly extending
recess.
10. A spacer according to claim 9, characterised in
that the recess is slot-shaped.

Description

;385

The present invention relates to a spacer, more
particularly for securing to reinforcements for reinforced
concrete, comprising a moulded member and two ends of a wire
stirrup projecting therefrom, the curved connecting part of
the stirrup being anchored in the moulded member.
In the case of a known moulded member of the aforemen-
tioned kind, made of concrete and having wire anchored therein,
the spacer is secured to a reinforcement by winding the projecting
wire ends around the reinforcement and twisting the wires together.
In this manner, a reinforcing mat is provided with a sufficient
number of such spacers and, with the spacers facing downward,
is placed on the formwork, so that the mat is held at a distance
from the formwork and can be completely surrounded with concrete.
The present invention provides a spacer of the
aforementioned kind which can easily and rapidly be secured to
a bar, e.g. a reinforcement or the like, and remains fixed in
the position in which it is secured.
According to the present invention there is provided
a spacer particularly for securing to reinforcementsthe reinforced
concrete, comprising a moulded member having two ends of a
wire stirrup projecting therefrom, a curved connecting part of
the stirrup being anchored in the moulded member, the ends of
the wire stirrup which is made of resilient material, being
bent towards and intei-secting one another.
Thus in accordance with the invention, the ends of the
wire stirrup, which is made of resilient material, are bent
towards one another and intexsect. According to an advantageous
- embodiment of the invention, the inner angle between the wire
ends and the surface of the moulded member is less than 60C.
According t~ another advantageous eature, in order to ensure
that the spacer can be used for rods having a variety of

different diameters or cross-sections, the distance of the wires
from the surface of the moulded member is at least three times


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as great as the smallest diameter ana a-t most twice as great
as the largest diameter or cross-section of anat leas-t
appr~ximately square or round bar, to be held in spaced
relationship. If, ~or example, the wire spacing is 3 cm and the
internal angle is approx. 40, the spacer can be rapidly and
permanently secured to rods having a diameter between approx. 8
and 18 cm, by placing it on the rods and twisting it.
The present invention will be further illustrated
by way of the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a side sectional view of a spacer according
to one embodiment of the inVention,
Fig. 2 shows the spacer of Fig. 1 from above,
Fig. 3 shows the spacer of Fig.l from above after
it has been secured to a rod,
Fig. 4 is a sectional side view of a spacer according
to another embodiment of the invention having specially shaped
wire ends,
Fig. 5 is a top view of the spacer in Fig. 4, and
Fig. 6 is a top view o~ the last-mentioned spacer of
Fig. 4 after it has been secured to a rod.
Fig. 1 shows a moulded member 1 of concrete or another
suitable material, e.g. plastics, in which a wire stirrup 2 is
embedded, the stirrup being made more particularly of spring
steel, the curved portion and part of the projecting ends
being embedded.
According to the invention, the projecting wire ends
4, 5 are bent in opposite directions, so that they intersect
and include an angle less than 60, preferably less than 5-15,
with the surface 6 of moulded member 1. They are given a
length such that spacer 7 can easily by placed on a rod 8, more
particularly a reinforcement, e.g. of a reinforcing mat, and

the spacer can be secured to rod 8 by rotating the spacer about



-- 2

~0763~35

180 around its longitudinal axis.
This process is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. In Fig. ~, a
rod 8 lies in a fork formed by the intersecting wire ends 4 and 5.
When spacer 7 is rotated, ends 4 and 5 are resiliently bent apart
and, as a result of their resilient action and inclined position
with respect to surface 6, the spacer snaps on to rod 8. When
it is further rotated, it becomes secured to rod 8 by the
frictional contact between surface 6 and rod 8 on the one hand
and between rod 8 and wire ends 4, 5 and their resilient action
on the other hand. This final state is shown in Fig. 3.
An advantageous further embodiment of the invention is
~hown in Fi~s. 4 - 6. In this embodiment, ends 4 and 5,
substan~ially at the point of intersection 9, are formed into
a curve 10, 11 e.g. a ~uarter-circle, so that curves 10, 11
project in the interlacing direction from the plane clamped by
the wire stirrup. Consequently, when spacer 7 is rotated on
rod 8, curves 10, 11 interlace and produce a closing force which
pulls member 1 against rod 8. Conse~uently, spacer 7 is very
efficiently secured to rod 8, as a result of the special shaping
of ends 4 and 5.
The spacer can be used for all kinds of rods, bars,
bar portions or the like having a suitable cross-section, e.g.
also when parts are embedded in plastics, in which case use
can be made of plastics rods or a plastics lattice of rods and
spacers, using a plastics moulded member.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, moulded
member 1 has a recess 12 extending outwardly in the direction of
the outwardly bent portions of the ends 4, 5 and extending from
surface 6, inwardly towards stirrup 3. The width of recess 12
is at least eaual to the wire diameter. This prevents parts of
member 1 bréaking o~f when ends 4, 5 are bent outwards.

Preferably, recesses 12 are in the form of slots.