All metal leave N place armor joint form with joint fill retention

Abstract

The objective of this invention is to provide ease of application for steel armored joints used in industrial concrete floor construction. It provides one step simple and precise installation. Provides a substrate for joint filler compression. Eliminates the need for wood forms and field welding that produces waste. Elevation adjustment and the ease thereof are achieved by vertical slots cut in the upright. The neoprene bolts are to be tightened when the steel is at the desired elevation. Two part armored joints separate as the concrete contracts during the curing process. Then the joint filler product is applied and retained in a permanent encased condition.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO ALL RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable.

NAMES OF PARTIES TO ADJOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISC APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

Due to the required labor and material required to form and place an armored joint with wooden forms in a concrete floor this invention eliminates these steps by providing a one step set and alignment of the armor joint. The form is left in place and requires no additional labor to remove conventional wooden forming materials.

The joint area is constantly exposed to fork lift traffic and continuous vibration of said traffic results in the joint filler compound being compromised and a settling effect takes place resulting with the joint fill dropping and leaving an exposed “gap” between the armor joints.

This invention provides a “slot” and “backstop” to capture the joint fill by filling the slot provided by the Leave N Place metal form work.

The result is less affect on the fork lift and driver and less maintenance on equipment.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION

This invention eliminates wooden forming labor and material that is required for the installation of conventional steel armor joints.

This invention is a one step, set in place and leave in place product. The armor joint is fully adjustable to compensate for undulations in the substrate or if used on an insulated freezer floor. The base and uprights provide a “seat” for the joint filler that will be applied after the floors have cured and contracts and the armor joint separates with the concrete as it moves horizontally, thus providing a permanent base for the joint filler, therefore reducing the need to reapply the joint filler. No part of the form system requires removal or altered after the adjustment.

The dowels are placed in the provided pre drilled holes in the uprights and are left in place during the concrete placement, there is no need to remove and reset the dowels for the adjoining slab placement as there is no need to remove any wooden form work.

The Leave N Place form provides the option of a continuous pour application, while finishing one slab the adjacent or adjoining slab can start placement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

Particular embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a side view of the steel armor joint piece 3 which is a fabricated component that includes ½″ headed studs piece 7, pre-drilled holes marked 12, rod couplings piece 9, and leveling bolts piece 10.

FIG. 2 shows an end view section of piece 3 FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 depicts a side view of the upright piece 2 which will be attached to piece 1 base metal as depicted in FIG. 5. There will be (2) two pieces 2 required for a complete assembly.

FIG. 4 shows a front view of piece 2. This view displays the slotted holes piece 13 that will be used to attach pieces 3. This view also shows the pre-drilled holes piece 14 to accommodate the dowels.

FIG. 5 shows the fully assembled components in a ready for use condition.

FIG. 6 depicts the Leave N Place form in the condition as it would be after the concrete has been placed and cured. This condition reflects the joint with the joint filler compound, piece 15, placed after the contraction of the concrete floor slab.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawing FIG. 5 this designates the metal base piece 1 to which will provide a support base for stabilization and to which the piece 2 as depicted in FIG. 3 shall be attached. This is accomplished by use of piece 8, a self tapping, self drilling screw, or rivet. Pieces 3 are then attached to piece 2 using neoprene bolts, nuts and washers, pieces 4, 5, 6, as depicted on FIG. 5, by inserting 4 thru the holes 12 in the pieces 7 and holes 13 in piece 2 as depicted FIG. 2 and FIG. 4. The neoprene bolts are designed to comprise during the concrete curing process and allow the armor joints to separate as the concrete floor cures. Pieces 5 and 6 are then used to secure pieces 7 to piece 2.

Pieces 3 is a fabricated assembly by attaching a stub, piece 7 at 30 degrees as depicted on FIG. 1. by welding. Piece 9 is a threaded coupling which is also attached by welding. Piece 10 is a threaded bolt which is threaded thru piece 8 and provides an adjustment mechanism for height adjustment of pieces 7. By turning piece 10 either in the up or down direction height adjustment is achieved to provide an even and level plane of top edges of piece 7.

The invention is assembled and set in place as one assembly. The adjustment of the height of the top plane of pieces 7 is achieved by setting these components to required elevation by way of a previously set benchmark elevation for the finished floor slab, then the adjustment bolts can be used to achieve the exact elevation required. When conditions required more than one section of form the forms are set and secured together by an overlapping condition at the end of each linear section and bolted together with neoprene bolts designed to compromise during contraction of the concrete. All elevations are checked and adjusted as required to provide a level and straight armor joint condition.

The form can either be secured by sand bag, staking or by a small portion of concrete once all alignments are achieved.

Claims

1-11. (canceled)

12. The All Metal Leave N Place Armor Joint Form with Joint Fill Retention is utilized in the placement of concrete slabs and is a one step, set in place and leave in place armored joint form. The form provides a seating system which thereby captures the joint fill material. The form consists of a sheet metal base with two independent upright pieces attached to the base sheet metal. The uprights and base are attached together to form an inverted “T” Shape. The T Shaped sheet metal is fabricated to house the steel armored joint components. The armor joint steel is attached to the sheet metal form by means of neoprene bolts. The neoprene bolts are designed to compromise during the curing phase of the placement of the concrete slab. The act of compromising of said neoprene bolts allows for the separation of the steel armor joints due to the shrinkage factor of concrete. Once separation of the armor joint occurs, then the joint fill medium can be applied to fill the void created by the separation of the armor joint steel. Furthermore, the form includes a vertical adjustability of the steel armor joint that is independent of the sheet metal base and upright. This provides compensation for elevation inconsistencies in the sub-grade and/or insulated floor materials.

13. The armored joint form according to claim 12, consist of a sheet metal base attached to two sheet metal upright components of which the steel armor joints are attached. The fabricated steel armor joints are fitted with headed studs, to provide for anchoring in the concrete slab. The armor joint components and sheet metal upright will separate during the concrete curing process and therefore expose the metal strip which is attached to one side of the bottom portion of the steel armor joint. This separation will provide the seat (metal strip) to capture and retain the joint fill medium.

14. According to claim 12, the armored joint steel is fitted with threaded nuts and threaded studs (jack bolts) which provides the mechanism enabling the vertical adjustability feature. The jack bolts also provide horizontal stability to the armor joint steel during the placement of the concrete slabs.