U.S. patent application number 10/611606 was filed with the patent office on 2005-01-06 for form support for supporting a disposable mold form.
Invention is credited to Musser, Darell Wayne.
Application Number | 20050001139 10/611606 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 33552384 |
Filed Date | 2005-01-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050001139 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Musser, Darell Wayne |
January 6, 2005 |
Form support for supporting a disposable mold form
Abstract
A form support for supporting a disposable mold form. The
disposable mold form is adapted to be mounted on a bond beam for
forming a cement coping. The form support includes a tie wire and
an elongate tube. The tie wire has a head, an elongate midsection,
and an end portion. The elongate midsection and the end portion are
separated by a weakened portion. The tie wire is adapted to be
positioned through the disposable form mold such that the head
abuts the disposable mold form, the elongate midsection extends
through the disposable mold form, and the end portion extends over
the bond beam. The elongate tube is shaped to fit around the tie
wire such that the elongate tube extends from the head to the
vicinity of the weakened portion.
Inventors: |
Musser, Darell Wayne;
(Arlington, TX) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LAW OFFICES OF ERIC KARICH
2807 ST. MARK DR.
MANSFIELD
TX
76063
US
|
Family ID: |
33552384 |
Appl. No.: |
10/611606 |
Filed: |
July 1, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
249/23 ;
249/28 |
Current CPC
Class: |
E04G 11/365
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
249/023 ;
249/028 |
International
Class: |
E04G 013/04 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A form support for supporting a disposable mold form mounted on
a bond beam for forming a cement coping, the form support
comprising: a tie wire having a head, an elongate midsection, and
an end portion, the elongate midsection and the end portion being
separated by a weakened portion, the tie wire being adapted to be
positioned through the disposable form mold such that the head
abuts the disposable mold form, the elongate midsection extends
through and at least partially out of the disposable mold form, and
the end portion extends over the bond beam; and an elongate tube
shaped to fit around the tie wire such that the elongate tube
extends from the head to the vicinity of the weakened portion.
2. The form support of claim 1 further comprising a means for
anchoring the end portion of the tie wire.
3. The form support of claim 2 wherein the means for anchoring is a
nail.
4. The form support of claim 1 wherein the weakened portion is
formed by a cut through at least a portion of the tie wire.
5. The form support of claim 1 wherein the elongate tube is made of
plastic.
6. A mold form system adapted to be mounted on a bond beam for
forming a cement coping, the mold form system comprising: a
disposable mold form adapted to be mounted on the bond beam; a tie
wire having a head, an elongate midsection, and an end portion, the
elongate midsection and the end portion being separated by a
weakened portion, the tie wire being adapted to be positioned
through the disposable form mold such that the head abuts the
disposable mold form, the elongate midsection extends through and
at least partially out of the disposable mold form, and the end
portion extends over the bond beam; an elongate tube shaped to fit
around the tie wire such that the elongate tube extends from the
head to the vicinity of the weakened portion; and a means for
anchoring the end portion of the tie wire.
7. The mold form system of claim 6 further comprising a means for
anchoring the end portion of the tie wire.
8. The mold form system of claim 7 wherein the means for anchoring
is a nail.
9. The mold form system of claim 6 wherein the weakened portion is
formed by a cut through at least a portion of the tie wire.
10. The mold form system of claim 6 wherein the elongate tube is
made of plastic.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates generally to the construction of
swimming pools and the like and, more particularly, to a form
support for supporting a disposable mold form for molding a
concrete coping along the upper edge of a swimming pool.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] In constructing a concrete swimming pool, the commonly
followed practice is to first build the upwardly extending concrete
side walls and bottom wall therefor usually as an integer and by a
technique known as the gunite process. After the concrete side
walls have at least partially cured, a water impervious layer, such
as tile 20, is installed over the concrete.
[0005] Once the tile 20 has been installed, concrete coping is
formed on the upper portion of the concrete sidewall, known as the
bond beam. The currently preferred method of forming the concrete
coping involves the use of a disposable mold form is bonded to the
tile 20 for forming the. This process is described in detail in
Stegmeier, U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,422, which is hereby incorporated by
reference in full.
[0006] To support the disposable mold form, it is common to include
a tie wire that fits through the disposable mold form and is
attached to an anchor, such as a nail driven into the concrete side
wall. The tie wire typically includes a weakened portion such as a
notch that enables the tie wire to be broken and removed from the
coping once the coping has at least partially cured.
[0007] The problem with this approach is that the tie wire is
sometimes not removed until the coping has entirely cured, at which
point the coping often tends to bind to the tie wire and thereby
prevent it from being removed from the coping. If a portion of the
tie wire remains near the surface of the coping, the remnant will
corrode and expand, which in turn spalls the surface of the
coping.
[0008] This problem has been addressed in the past with only
partial success. Deason, U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,877, for example,
teaches a device that is adapted to overcome this problem. The
Deason device includes a continuous strip of semirigid material and
an elongate support member for maintaining the strip of material in
position against the upper portion of the pool wall. The continuous
strip of semirigid material includes a facing surface which is
positioned below the horizontal pool edge against the upper portion
of the pool wall; a front form surface extending upwardly from the
facing surface to form a contoured surface for temporarily
supporting concrete poured above the horizontal edge onto the bond
surface of the pool, the concrete forming a pool deck and coping
thereof contiguous to the pool wall when set; and, a back wall
surface generally opposed to the front form surface and facing the
central area of the pool. The elongate support member passes
through the continuous strip of semirigid material and is secured
to the bond surface of the pool to maintain the continuous strip in
position against the pool wall.
[0009] While the Deason device is functional, it is expensive,
requiring two molded plastic parts. It is critical that this type
of product be both simple to use and also inexpensive to
manufacture.
[0010] The prior art teaches a tie wire form support. However, the
prior art does not teach a tie wire that is surrounded by an
elongate tube that prevents the cement coping from binding to the
tie wire. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides
further related advantages as described in the following
summary.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0011] The present invention teaches certain benefits in
construction and use which give rise to the objectives described
below.
[0012] The present invention provides a form support for supporting
a disposable mold form mounted on a bond beam for forming a cement
coping. The form support includes a tie wire and an elongate tube.
The tie wire has a head, an elongate midsection, and an end
portion. The elongate midsection and the end portion are separated
by a weakened portion. The tie wire is adapted to be positioned
through the disposable form mold such that the head abuts the
disposable mold form, the elongate midsection extends through the
disposable mold form, and the end portion extends over the bond
beam. The elongate tube is shaped to fit around the tie wire such
that the elongate tube extends from the head to the vicinity of the
weakened portion.
[0013] A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a
form support having advantages not taught by the prior art.
[0014] Another objective is to provide a form support that includes
a tie wire that is adapted to support the disposable mold form so
that the weight of the concrete coping, once it has been poured,
does not push the disposable mold form out of shape, causing the
concrete coping formed to be misshapen.
[0015] A further objective is to provide an elongate tube that
prevents the hardening concrete coping from adhering to the
elongate midsection of the tie wire.
[0016] Other features and advantages of the present invention will
become apparent from the following more detailed description, taken
in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by
way of example, the principles of the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
[0017] The accompanying drawings illustrate the present invention.
In such drawings:
[0018] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a disposable mold
form adapted to be mounted on a bond beam of a swimming pool, and a
form support used to support the disposable mold form, the form
support including a tie wire and an elongate tube;
[0019] FIG. 2 is a side elevational sectional view thereof once the
tie wire has been operably positioned through the elongate tube and
the disposable mold form, and anchored to a nail;
[0020] FIG. 3 is a side elevational sectional view of the
disposable mold form and the form support once a cement coping has
been poured; and
[0021] FIG. 4 is a side elevational sectional view illustrating how
the tie wire is broken and removed, with the aid of the elongate
tube, from the at least partially cured cement coping.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0022] The above-described drawing figures illustrate the
invention, a form support 10 for supporting a disposable mold form
22 mounted on a bond beam 14 for forming a cement coping 26 during
the construction of a swimming pool. The form support 10 includes a
tie wire 30 and an elongate tube 40, which are described in greater
detail below
[0023] FIG. 1 illustrates how the disposable mold form 22 is
mounted on the bond beam 14, which is formed by the upwardly
extending side walls of the swimming pool. The bond beam 14, and
the entirety of the upwardly extending side walls, may be formed in
any conventional manner, and ordinarily are fabricated of concrete
and integral with a bottom wall (not shown). The generally vertical
or upwardly extending walls are enlarged somewhat at their upper
ends to form the bond beam 14 which is rather standard practice.
The bond beam 14 has an upper edge 16 and an inner face 18 or
surface. The inner face 18 has a water-impervious finish 20 secured
thereto. The water-impervious finish 20 may be ceramic tile
attached to the inner face 18 in any usual manner as, for example,
by means of adhesive or concrete bed mud, or it may be formed with
another coating known in the art. As stated hereinbefore, as
respects these features and characteristics of the pool, they may
be completely conventional and per se form no part of the present
invention.
[0024] The disposable mold form 22 is secured to the bond beam 14
adjacent the upper edge 16, along with a plurality of other mold
forms (not shown). The disposable mold form 22 is preferably
integral from end to end thereof, is elongated longitudinally,
lightweight and may be formed of a material having myriad
interstitial spaces therein as, for example, one of the synthetic
plastics such as the plastic material sold under the trademark
Styrofoam.RTM.. The disposable mold form 22 has a surface portion
24 configurated in the finished shape to be imposed thereby upon
the cement coping 26 molded thereagainst, as shown in FIGS. 3 and
4. The configurated surface portion 24 may have a reversely
oriented, somewhat C-shaped disposition in cross section so that
the coping 26 has slightly rounded top and bottom edges; however,
those skilled in the art may devise various shapes, contours, and
textures so that the coping 26 formed will be aesthetically
pleasing.
[0025] The disposable mold form 22 further has an attachment
portion 28, which faces in the same direction as that of the
configurated surface portion 24, and is adapted to be attached to
the tile 20 with a tape strip 29. The tape strip 29 may be a
double-sided pressure-sensitive tape adhesively secured along its
other side to the finish of the bond beam 14. The tape strip 29 may
be substantially non-stretchable and, for example, might be a
fiberglass tape or an adhesive transfer tape. The disposable mold
form 22 may be fabricated in the configuration shown in any
suitable manner as, for example, by being machined from elongated
bar stock or, depending upon the particular material employed,
might be extruded, foamed-in-place or otherwise molded.
[0026] In use of the disposable mold form 22 and in providing the
concrete coping 26 along the upper edge 16 of a swimming pool, the
inner face 18 of the of the bond beam 14 is first equipped with the
tile 20, as shown in FIG. 1. The disposable mold form 22 is
provided with a tape strip 29 along the attachment portion 28, and
such strip may be attached at any time (such as during production
of the disposable mold form 22, or later, at the construction site)
by pressing one of the pressure-sensitive adhesive surfaces of the
strip against the appropriate surface of the attachment portion 28.
The tape strip 29 could be secured to the section during
manufacture, especially where adhesive transfer tapes are employed
or where the opposite face of the tape strip 29 has the adhesive
thereon protected by a removable cover or coating of some type.
[0027] The disposable mold form 22 has the opposite
pressure-sensitive adhesive face of the tape strip 29 pressed
against the tile 20 with the configurated surface portion 24 of the
section projecting above the upper edge 16 of the pool wall. As
many of the disposable mold forms 22 are used as is necessary to
provide a continuous form about the side walls of the pool, and the
sections are abutted along their adjacent edges.
[0028] As shown in FIG. 1, the tie wire 30 has a head 32, an
elongate midsection 34, and an end portion 36. The head 32 has a
greater width or cross section than the remainder of the tie wire
30, and functions to supportingly abut the disposable mold form 22.
The head 32 may be formed from a bent portion of the tie wire 30
itself, as shown, or it may be provided by another component that
is attached to the tie wire 30.
[0029] FIG. 2 illustrates how the disposable mold form 22 is
pierced with the tie wire 30, which is anchored for supporting the
disposable mold form 22. The tie wire 30 is adapted to support the
disposable mold form 22 so that the weight of the concrete coping
26, once it has been poured, does not push the disposable mold form
22 inwardly towards the center of the swimming pool, causing the
concrete coping 26 formed to be misshapen.
[0030] The elongate midsection 34 and the end portion 36 are
preferably formed by a metal wire, although other suitable
materials and elongate shapes may be used, and such alternatives
should be considered within the scope of the term "tie wire." The
elongate midsection 34 and the end portion 36 are separated by a
weakened portion 38, formed by a cutting, notching, perforating, or
otherwise weakening of the tie wire 30 at the appropriate location.
The tie wire 30 is adapted to be positioned through the disposable
form mold, as described above, such that the head 32 abuts the
disposable mold form 22, the elongate midsection 34 extends through
and at least partially out of the disposable mold form 22, and the
end portion 36 extends over the bond beam 14.
[0031] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the form support 10 further
includes an elongate tube 40 shaped to fit around the tie wire 30
such that the elongate tube 40 extends from the head 32 to the
vicinity of the weakened portion 38. The elongate tube 40 is
preferably made of plastic such as polyethylene or polypropylene,
although it could be made of any material that resists binding with
concrete once it has cured.
[0032] Finally, the form support 10 includes a means for anchoring
42 the end portion 36 of the tie wire 30. In one embodiment, the
means for anchoring 42 is a nail 42. The nail 42 is driven into the
bond beam 14 and the end portion 36 is wrapped around the nail 42
or otherwise fastened to it. In alternative embodiments, the means
for anchoring 42 may be any suitable anchor, including screws,
stakes, weights, or any other anchoring, fastening, or bonding
mechanisms known in the art.
[0033] As shown in FIG. 3, when all of the disposable mold forms 22
are in place, a moldable mass of amorphous concrete is then spread
against the configurated surface portion 24 of each section, as
shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, so that such configurated sections impose
the desired finished shape upon the coping 26. When the concrete
mass defining the coping 26 has cured, at least to the point that
it is self-sustaining, the disposable mold form 22 is ready to be
stripped from its adhesive attachment to the bond beam 14.
[0034] As shown in FIG. 4, the form support 10 must first be
removed to enable the stripping of the disposable mold form 22. The
head 32 of the tie wire 30 is grasped and twisted within the
elongate tube 40, thereby breaking the weakened portion 38. The
elongate tube 40 keeps the elongate midsection 34 of the tie wire
30 from contacting and bonding with the concrete coping 26. Once
broken, the head 32 and the elongate midsection 34 of the tie wire
30, and the elongate tube 40, may be removed from the concrete
coping 26 and the disposable mold form 22, leaving the disposable
mold form 22 free to be stripped from the bond beam 14 and
discarded.
[0035] While in the foregoing specification an embodiment of the
invention has been set forth in considerable detail for purposes of
making a complete disclosure thereof, it will be apparent to those
skilled in the art that numerous changes may be made in such
details without departing from the spirit and principles of the
invention.
* * * * *