Temporary adjustable support brace

Abstract

A system and method for securing an insulated concrete wall to keep the wall straight and plumb during construction, independent of any other bracing structure or scaffolding frame. The system uses the lower previously constructed section of the wall as a secure anchoring base for the continued construction of the wall. The system uses a member that is vertically placed and attached against the insulated form wall with at least one securing extension that passes thru the foam panel and into the cavity of the wall before concrete is placed within the wall cavity. After concrete is placed in the lower section and additional rows of insulated forms are placed on top of the lower wall, a vertical brace is attached to the lower vertical member so that it extends above the lower poured section of the wall. A vertical upper member is then attached to the upper section of the insulated form wall in proper alignment with the vertical brace. A securing adjustment device is attached to the upper member and the brace allowing for the upper section of the formed wall to be properly aligned and plumbed. This system and method is now repeated with the upper section of the formed wall to become the lower section of the formed wall. The system is repeated until the final desired wall height is reached.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to insulated concrete form (ICF) wall bracing, and more particularly to a system and method for bracing and aligning an insulated concrete wall form.

2. Prior Art

Conventional building construction utilizes concrete walls that are normally produced by constructing form walls, pouring concrete into the space between the walls and, upon setting of the concrete, removing the form walls. A conventional concrete form wall is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,289 to Strickland. The form wall includes a pair of spaced opposed panels made from plywood and defining therebetween a space into which fluid concrete is poured in forming the wall. Horizontally spaced vertical stiffeners or strongbacks are provided outwardly of each plywood panel to provide major strengthening for the panel support structure. Elongated beams or walers are also provided to extend horizontally along the outer side of each panel. An outwardly opening pocket formed as part of the waler retains a wooden nailer to which the plywood form panel can be nailed, screwed or otherwise fastened to the waler.

Another system for temporarily attaching a reinforcing beam to a poured concrete structural member is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,838 to Truitt et al. An insert is adapted to be set in the poured concrete member. The insert has a body that creates a void in the concretestructural member and leg members that are partially set in the poured concrete with portions thereof extending through the body of the insert so as to be free of concrete. A special bolt engages the leg members and provides a means for securing a reinforcement beam to the concrete structural member.

More recent building systems involve the use of insulated concrete forms (ICFs), which use a foam insulating material to construct permanent concrete form walls. The form walls are typically constructed by placing separate building components (also known as form blocks) upon each other. The concrete is then poured and the form walls are left in place after the concrete hardens to become a permanent part of the wall. Advantages provided by the use of ICFs include a reduction in the number of operations normally associated with building construction and generally the elimination of a need to provide further insulation. An example of particularly advantageous types of ICFs appears in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,390,459; 5,657,600; and 5,809,727 to Mensen (Mensen), the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. In general, the ICFs taught by Mensen are made from a building component or block that includes first and second foam side panels. The side panels are preferably made of expanded polystyrene and are arranged in spaced parallel relationship with their inner surfaces facing each other. Plastic bridging members hold the side panels together against the forces applied by the fluid concrete. Each bridging member includes end plates, which may be arranged to line up when the components are stacked to form furring strips for attachment of finishing materials with the advent of the use of stay-in-place forms or permanent concrete form work, such as ICFs, there is a need in the building construction art for an efficient, cost-effective and reliable system and method to support and align the walls during construction. Commercial, institutional and industrial buildings often require walls higher than 8 to 12 feet (herein referred to as “tall wall” in order to incorporate machinery, warehousing and high wall assemblies. Existing bracing systems used in ICF tall wall construction become much more labor intensive as the height of the wall increases {such as when the ICF is used to construct a wall of greater than 12 feet in height).

Accordingly, a bracing system such as shown in FIG. 1 has been used in ICF wall construction. This known system includes a vertical channel 120 that is connected to the ICF blocks before they are filled with concrete using screws 122 that pass through the channel 120 an into exposed end plates 124 of the plastic bridging members in the ICF blocks. As discussed above, the end plates 124 of each bridging member in the ICF blocks may be arranged to line up when the ICF blocks are stacked. The resulting “furring strip” provides the support for the vertical channel 120. A two-piece diagonal bracing pole 130 is joined at the threaded ends of each piece of the pole by a turnbuckle 132, which allows for adjustments in the length of pole 130. The diagonal pole is attached to the ground or sub-floor at one end 130, and to the channel 120 at the opposite end 130. A standard scaffold angle 140 is also attached to the channel 120 to support scaffolding upright 150 and planks 152. Adjustments in the length of diagonal pole 130 by turning turnbuckle 132 result in the end 130 of pole 130 either pushing or pulling on vertical channel member 120, thus affecting the angle of the wall formed from the stacked ICF blocks. The disadvantages of this type of alignment system for tall walls include height limitations imposed by the length of the channel 120, and the loads of both scaffold planking and construction crew are part of the formed wall structure.

A tall wall bracing system is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,296 to Klassen et al. This system uses a type of stacked conventional scaffolding as shown in FIG. 2. As each section is placed above the previous installed section, it is attached to the ICF wall. Diagonal turnbuckles are used to align the formed wall. As shown in FIG. 3, this system does solve the height limitations of other systems, however it is a very slow and labor intensive system and method for tall wall construction.

Hence, the foregoing discussion shows that there is a need for a temporary bracing system capable of supporting and aligning ICF walls during construction, particularly in tall wall applications, that eliminates the need for scaffolding.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention solves the problems and avoids the disadvantages of the prior art by providing a system and method that eliminates the need for scaffolding and allows the use of man lifts, such as scissor lifts and boom lifts during construction. The system provides adequate structure to temporarily support and align the ICF form wall during construction. The use of man lifts greatly increases the speed of construction and provides a much safer working platform.

DETAILED DISCRIPTION

In the first aspect of the invention, as shown in FIG. 3 a bracing member 103 is disposed vertically and adjacent to the outside face of the first two rows of insulating panel forms 101 with at least one removable horizontal assembly 104 that passes thru the foam panel and will be imbedded in the poured concrete. Prior to placement of the poured concrete the vertical member 103 is temporarily attached to the bridging member end plates 104 of the insulated forms using screws. Typically the first two rows of ICF insulating panel forms are at ground level and therefore vertically plumbed using standard methods for concrete walls. A pourable concrete is then placed within and to the top of the first two rows of the insulating panel forms.

The next few rows of insulating panel forms are set in place above the lower rows. As shown in FIG. 4 a rigid vertical brace 107 is attached to the lower vertical member 103 at the location 106. The upper vertical member 108 is then attached to the rigid vertical brace 107 at location 109. The upper vertical member is then attached to the end plates at location 105 of the icf formed wall. An adjustable assembly 110 is then attached to both the upper vertical member 108 and the rigid vertical brace 107. The upper portion of the icf wall can now be properly aligned. As seen in FIG. 5 the process is repeated until the formed wall reaches the desired height.

Claims

1. A system for temporarily bracing an insulated wall form comprising: an insulated wall form having generally parallel spaced panels defining therebetween a cavity for receiving pourable building material, at least one of said panels being formed from foam insulating material having outside and inside faces; the first portion being a member disposed adjacent to the outside face of the lower section of insulating panel; a second portion comprising a vertical brace attached to the lower member; a third portion comprising of an upper member attached to the upper portion of the insulating panel; and a fourth portion consisting of an adjustable device connecting the upper member to the vertical brace, and wherein said adjustable device allows for alignment of wall comprised of insulated panels.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the first portion being comprised of a member secured to the outside face of the insulated panel and at least one horizontal extension that passes thru the insulated panel, with a portion extending beyond the inside face of insulated panel.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the horizontal extension is comprised of a portion that remains embedded within the insulated foam wall, and a portion that is removable from the outside of insulated panel.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the second portion being comprised of a brace extending vertically above the lower section of insulated wall and using at least one fastener is vertically attached and secured to the lower member that is secured to the outside face of the insulated wall.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the third portion being comprised of an upper member that is aligned and vertically attached to the upper section of the foam panel wall

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the fourth portion being comprised of a securing adjustment device, is placed so that it secures the upper member to the vertical brace allowing for adjustment of the upper member so that it is straight and plumb.