Apertured wall element

Abstract

A stay in place concrete formwork wall element comprises a major surface defining a portion of a face of the concrete wall, said surface having a plurality of uniformly sized and spaced apertures substantially throughout the surface allows concrete to seep partially through the apertures thereby providing an irregular trowelable surface facilitating the application of stucco or other wall coverings.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to formwork for pouring concrete structures. In particular, this invention relates to such formwork which is designed to stay in place after the concrete has set.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] It is known to provide PVC formwork for forming concrete walls that stays in place after the concrete has set to thereby form sheathing for the resulting concrete wall. However, by its natures PVC does not provide a very good surface for the application of paint or stucco. Typically in order to be able to apply stucco to such PVC sheathing, it is necessary to first apply a base coat having some adhesive properties, applying a mesh to the material and subsequently applying the stucco.

[0003] It is an object of this invention to provide stay in place formwork which nonetheless provide a surface suitable for the application of stucco.

[0004] It is a further object of this invention to provide stay in place formwork adapted to optionally provide an external layer of concrete overlaying the formwork.

[0005] These and other objects of the invention will be better appreciated by reference to the following disclosure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0006] The invention comprises stay in place formwork wall elements which are provided with a plurality of small holes to enable the concrete poured into the formwork to seep through the holes and to thereby provide a thin layer or beads of concrete on the side of the formwork forming a face of a wall.

[0007] Preferably, the holes are approximately one-eighth inch in diameter and are spaced about one sixteenth of an inch from adjacent holes.

[0008] Other aspects of the invention will be appreciated by reference to the detailed description of the preferred embodiment and to the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] The preferred embodiment of the invention will be appreciated by reference to the following description and to the drawings thereof in which:

[0010] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of stay in place formwork according to the prior art;

[0011] FIG. 2 is a front view of a formwork element according to the invention;

[0012] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a formwork element according to the invention;

[0013] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a formwork assembly according to the invention wherein concrete has been poured into the formwork and has seeped through the holes in the element; and

[0014] FIG. 5 is a side elevation of a wall element according to the invention showing beads of concrete having seeped through the apertures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0015] Referring to FIG. 1, one embodiment of PVC stay in place formwork according to the prior art includes wall elements 10 and connecting members 12. Each of the wall elements 10 defines part of the stay in place sheathing for each of two faces or sides 14, 16 of the resulting concrete wall. The connecting members 12 act to maintain facing wall elements 10 in spaced relationship. Adjacent wall elements 10 are interconnected, for example by means of engaging means 11 on the connecting members 12.

[0016] The wall elements 10 illustrated in the prior art formwork of FIG. 1 include a flat portion 13 extending between engaging means 11, the falt portion 13 defining a flat face for the resulting formwork (which also defines a face of the concrete wall). Other designs of wall elements include non-flat surfaces such as concave or corrugated surfaces. The present invention may be applied equally to such elements, and indeed to any formwork element having a surface that contributes to defining a face of the resulting wall.

[0017] FIG. 2 illustrates a plurality of apertures or holes 18 provided in the surface of a wall element 20 in accordance with the invention. The apertures are uniformly sized and spaced, the dimensions being between one thirty-second and one quarter of an inch in diameter and being spaced from one another between one thirty-second and three sixteenths of an inch. The preferred diameter of each aperture is approximately one eight of an inch and the preferred spacing is approximately one sixteenth of an inch.

[0018] The apertures 18 are provided substantially throughout the surface. FIG. 2 illustrates interruptions 21, 23 in the uniform spacing of the apertures due to the presence of structures 25 (shown in FIG. 3). Nonetheless, it will be appreciated that the apertures are still provided substantially throughout the major surface of the element that contributes to defining a face of the wall.

[0019] The apertures are illustrated as being round, but they may in fact be of arbitrary shapes provided there is substantially uniform spacing between the apertures to allow uniform flow of concrete through the apertures.

[0020] In an assembly using the wall elements of the invention, a plurality of apertured wall elements would be provided in interconnected relationship so as to define a face of the overall formwork wall, which of course also defines a face of the concrete wall. Similar apertured wall elements may be used on the opposite face of the formwork wall depending on the desire to achieve the objects of the invention for that face.

[0021] When concrete is poured into the formwork, the apertures allow a small portion of the concrete to seep through the apertures and to form either a thin layer of concrete overlaying the wall element or a plurality of beads of concrete.

[0022] FIG. 4 illustrates a portion of such an assembly wherein one face 32 of the wall is formed using apertured wall elements 28 according to the invention while the opposing face 34 of the wall is formed using unapertured wall elements 26 according to the prior art. The overall formwork also includes prior art connecting members 22 and 24. It will be appreciated that the formwork segment illustrated in FIG. 4 is repeated with interconnected segments to form an overall wall of formwork. In FIG. 4, concrete 27 has been poured into the formwork. The concrete seeps through the holes 18 to form heads 30 of concrete that protrude slightly to the outside surface of the wall element 28.

[0023] In the case where the concrete seeps through the apertures to a sufficient extent to form a substantially uniform layer of concrete covering the face of the formwork, it may be desirable to trowel the layer of concrete to produce a more irregular surface for the application of stucco, paint or other covering. In cases where the seepage of the concrete through the apertures causes a plurality of beads of concrete, the resulting surface may already be sufficiently irregular for the application of stucco or other covering.

[0024] It will be appreciated that the invention provides a simple and effective solution to the problem of providing stucco, paint or other coverings over stay in place formwork.

[0025] It will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described in some detail, variations and modifications thereto may be practised without departing from the scope and principles of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. [cancelled] A stay-in-place formwork element for use in formwork for pouring a concrete wall, said element having a surface defining a part of one face of said wall, said surface having a plurality of uniformly sized and spaced apertures substantially throughout said surface.

2. [cancelled] An element as in claim 1 wherein said element is made of polyvinyl chloride.

3. [cancelled] An element as in claim 1 or 2 wherein said apertures are between one thirty-second and one quarter of an inch in diameter and are spaced from one another between one thirty-second and three sixteenths of an inch.

4. [cancelled] An element as in claim 3 wherein said apertures are one eight of an inch in diameter and are spaced one sixteenth of an inch from one another.

5. [cancelled] A stay in place formwork assembly for pouring a concrete wall, said assembly comprising a plurality of interconnected wall elements and a plurality of connecting members maintaining opposing faces of said formwork in spaced relationship, each of said wall elements comprising at least one surface defining a part of a face of the wall and having a plurality of uniformly sized and spaced apertures substantially throughout said surface.

6. [cancelled] An assembly as in claim 5 wherein said wall elements are made of polyvinyl chloride.

7. [cancelled] An element as in claim 5 or 6 wherein said apertures are between one thirty-second and on quarter of an inch in diameter and are spaced from one another between one thirty-second and three sixteenths of an inch.

8. [cancelled] A stay in place formwork and concrete wall assembly comprising a plurality of interconnected wall elements, each of said wall elements comprising at least one surface defining a part of a face of the wall, a plurality of connecting members maintaining opposing faces of said formwork in spaced relationship, a plurality of apertures substantially throughout said surfaces of said wall elements, concrete poured within said formwork, said concrete extending through said apertures to form a thin layer of concrete on the outside of said wall element.

9. [cancelled] A stay in place formwork and concrete wall assembly comprising a plurality of interconnected wall elements, each of said wall elements comprising at least one surface defining a part of a face of the wall, a plurality of connecting members maintaining opposing faces of said formwork in spaced relationship, a plurality of apertures substantially throughout said surfaces of said wall elements, concrete poured within said formwork, said concrete extending through said apertures to form a plurality of beads of concrete on the outside of said wall element.

10. [cancelled] An assembly as in claim 8 or 9 wherein said apertures are approximately one eighth inch in diameter and are spaced from adjacent apertures by approximately one sixteenth of an inch.

11. [cancelled] A method of applying stucco to a concrete wall comprising the steps of: erecting stay in place formwork comprising wall elements having a plurality of apertures substantially throughout a major surface of said wall elements; pouring concrete into said formwork; trowelling a layer of concrete that seeps through said apertures to produce an irregular surface; and, applying stucco to said trowelled layer of concrete.

12. A stay-in-place formwork element for use in formwork for pouring a concrete wall, said element having: a surface defining a part of one face of said wall; and, said surface having a plurality of apertures substantially therethrough, such that when concrete is poured into the formwork, the concrete seeps through the apertures to form a plurality of heads or a thin layer of concrete on the outside of said formwork element.