Wall Forming Bracket

Abstract

A wall-forming bracket or clamp, also known as a waler bracket, for concrete wall forms of the type using plywood wall-forming sheets, tie rods with headed ends projecting through holes in the sheets, vertical lumber studs overlying the sheets and horizontal lumber walers overlying the studs. The bracket is a one-piece rigid metal member having a flat base on which the waler rests, an upturned outer end flange for overlying the outer edge of the waler, an upturned inclined leg on the opposite end of the base having a keyhole slotted downturned end flange for receiving the headed end of a tie rod and overlying the outer surface of the plywood sheet, and an outturned foot on the bottom of the downturned flange adapted to be struck by a hammer to remove the bracket from the wall form after use. The slotted downturned flange presents a large surface area to the plywood sheet which will not dimple the plywood under a heavy load and the face of the downturned flange receiving the head of the tie rod is inclined to cam the bracket against the plywood sheet causing it to project straight outwardly therefrom. The top and bottom ends of the downturned flange are rounded and any bending deformation of the bracket is in a direction that will not permit these rounded ends to damage the plywood.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the art of concrete wall form constructions and more specifically to clamps or brackets coacting with plywood sheets and supports therefor to produce strong rigid and accurate concrete receiving forms. The clamps or brackets of this invention are easily installed, used and removed without damaging the plywood sheets so that they may be repeatedly used.

PRIOR ART

Plywood wall forms have heretofore been assembled with waler brackets of generally U-shaped configuration as for example in the Allen U.S. Pat. No. 3,236,486 dated Feb. 22, 1966. While such brackets are highly successful, they tend to hang in a tilted position during installation and when overloaded tend to bend in a direction which could dimple the plywood so that when they are knocked out of assembled position after use, gouging and scarfing of the plywood could occur damaging its surface. Since the plywood sheets are intended for repeated use, gouging or scarfing of an outer surface of a plywood sheet in one installation precludes the use of this surface as the concrete receiving face in the succeeding installations. Preservation of the outer surface of the plywood wall form sheet is therefore desirable to prolong use of the sheet and avoidance of the tilting of the bracket during assembly is desirable to facilitate installation of the waler lumber.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention now provides a wall forming clamp or waler bracket which will not deface the surface of a wall form and will stand straight outwardly from the wall form to easily accept the walers during installation. The brackets of this invention are shaped so that bending movements that might occur during periods of overload will not permit the bracket to dig into the wall form.

A feature of the invention is the provision of an enlarged surface area opposing the plywood wall forming sheet to distribute any load between the sheet and bracket over a wide area and to provide the top and bottom ends of this surface with rounded corners which can not dig into the plywood.

Another feature of the invention is to provide a waler bracket which has an upstanding flange at the outer end to overlie the waler and a downwardly depending flange at the inner end aligned with the upstanding flange to overlie the plywood wall forming sheet.

Another feature of the invention is the provision of an inclined leg on a waler bracket which will slidably guide the waler to its use position.

An object of the invention is to provide a concrete wall forming clamp or waler bracket which will not damage the wall form even when overloaded.

A further object of the invention is to provide a waler bracket which will stand straight outwardly from the wall form when hung on a tie rod during installation of the wall form in assembly.

A further object of the invention is to provide a waler bracket having a flat bottom, an upstanding flange at the outer end for overlying a waler, an inclined leg extending upwardly from the bottom to a level above the outer end flange and a depending flange extending downwardly from the upper end of the inclined leg and terminating in a reverse horizontal foot underlying the inclined leg.

Another object of the invention is to provide a waler bracket with an enlarged downwardly depending flange presenting a large surface to a wall form sheet and having a keyhole tie rod receiving slot with a cam edge engaging the head of the tie rod to draw the bracket tightly against the wall form causing it to stand straight outwardly therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a waler bracket free from sharp edges adjacent the wall confronting end thereof.

Other and further objects of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in this art from the following detailed description of the annexed sheets of drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating one preferred form of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view illustrating the preferred form of waler brackets of this invention installed in a wall forming assembly composed of plywood wall forming sheets, tie rods having headed ends projecting through the sheets, vertical studs overlying the sheets and horizontal walers overlying the studs;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the preferred form of waler bracket of this invention mounted on the headed end of a tie rod extending through a hole in the plywood wall form to illustrate the manner in which the bracket stands straight outwardly from the wall form during installation;

FIG. 4 is a view of the portion of the assembly of FIG. 2 on an enlarged scale and illustrating the manner in which the bracket cants away from the wall form during overload without gouging into the wall form;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but illustrating the manner in which a prior art wall bracket rests in tilted relation to the wall form during installation;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4 but illustrating the bending of the prior art bracket of FIG. 5 during overload showing the manner in which it gouges into the wall form.

DESCRIPTOIN OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In FIG. 1 the reference numeral 10 designates generally the preferred form of waler bracket of this invention. The bracket 10 is composed of rigid heavy gauge strip steel forged and hardened to the illustrated shape. The bracket has a horizontal bottom wall 11 with an upturned vertical flange 12 at its outer end, an upwardly inclined leg 13 at its inner end, a downturned vertical flange 14 depending from the upper end of the leg 13 and a horizontal foot 15 on the bottom end of the flange 14 underlying the leg 13 at a level below the bottom 11. The leg 13 is inclined at an angle of about 45.degree. with a 30.degree. to 60.degree. inclination being useful so that a substantial portion of the flange 14 will be aligned with the flange 12 preferably rising to a top level above the top of the flange 12.

The bottom 11 and leg 13 are embossed with parallel ribs 16 to reinforce and rigidify these portions of the bracket. The embossments extend from the bottom of the flange 12 to the top of the leg 13.

The top of the flange 12 is inclined outwardly to provide a lip 17.

The top of the leg 13 merges into the top of the flange 14 and the bottom of the flange 14 merges into the foot 15 through large radius bends 18 and 19 respectively which provide smooth rocking surfaces.

The central portion of the downturned flange 14 has a generally rectangular embossment 20 increasing in depth toward the top of the flange. A keyhole slot 21 is formed through the longitudinal central portion of this embossment 20 having a large circular hole portion 22 at the bottom end of the embossment where it is flush with the front face of the flage 14 and a narrow vertical slot 23 extending from the top of this hole 22 substantially to the top of the embossment 20.

The foot 15 is horizontal and parallels the bottom 11. It may be of any desired length to provide a striking area for a hammer to remove the bracket from a wall installation as will be more hereinafter fully described. As shown, the end 24 of the foot terminates about midway of the length of the leg 13 although the length of the foot may vary as desired.

As shown in FIG. 2, the brackets 10 of this invention are used to assemble and lock together the components of a plywood wall form 25 composed of spaced plywood sheets 26 with holes 27 therethrough receiving the headed ends of metal ties or tie rods 28. These tie rods 28 have abutments 29 spaced inwardly from the ends thereof against which washers 30 are seated to engage the inner faces of the plywood sheets 26 around the holes 27. The ties project through these holes 27 and through the keyhole slots 21 of the brackets 10 to terminate in enlarged heads 31 which can pass through the circular openings 22 of the keyhole slots but which can not pass through the narrow slot portions 23 thereof so that the head will overlie the embossed portions 20 of the brackets.

Vertical two by four lumber studs 32 overlie the outer faces of the plywood sheets 26 at spaced intervals to reinforce the sheets. Horizontal two by four lumber walers 33 overlie the studs 32 at intervals to hold the studs against the plywood sheets. The entire assembly is held together by wedging the walers 33 into the outer ends of the brackets 10, the walers resting on the horizontal bottoms 11 of the brackets and embraced by the upstanding flanges 12 as shown to be held against the outer edges of the studs 32. Concrete C is poured between the sheets 26 to form a wall.

As better shown in FIG. 3, the bracket 10 is assembled on the end of the tie 28 which projects through the hole 27 beyond the plywood sheet 26 by merely inserting the head 31 of the tie through the large circular bottom end 22 of the keyhole slot allowing the bracket to drop downwardly to move the tie to the top end of the narrow slot portion 23 of the keyhole slot whereupon the head 31 will ride along the inclined face of the flange 14 provided by the embossment 20. This will draw the flange 14 against the plywood sheet 26 moving the sheet against the washer 30 and holding the bracket 10 straight outwardly from the sheet.

While the camming action of the head 31 on the flange 14 is illustrated as being effected by an embossed portion 20 on the flange, it should be understood that a cam surface can be formed on the flange around the keyhole slot in any other desired manner as by thickening the flange thereby eliminating a gap 34 between the outer base of the plywood sheet 26 and the face of the flange 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, concrete 2 is poured between the plywood sheets 26 to form the wall. This concrete exerts an outward force on the plywood sheets 26 and as illustrated in FIG. 4 this force may move the plywood 26 slightly outward and away from the washer 30 placing stress on the bracket 10. Of course, the studs 32 and walers 33 hold the wall form 26 close to its original installed position but in the event of overstressing any bending movements of the bracket 10 are in such directions that the bracket can not bite into the plywood 26. For example, if the waler 33 is forced outwardly by the stud 32 because of the outward movement of the wall 26 the flange 12 of the bracket 10 would, of course, be stressed outwardly and overstressing might possibly deflect the bracket in a downward and outward direction. Such a bending movement could only result in a pulling away of the top portion of the flange 14 from the wall 26 as by a canting action shown in FIG. 4. A rocking of the flange 14 on the plywood 26 could only occur at the rounded corner 19. However, since this rounded corner merges into a very large face of the flange 14 confronting the plywood 26 and since the corner is smooth and has a large radius it will not dig into the plywood. Even if this rocking of the bracket opens up a gap 35 between the top of the flange 14 and the plywood wall form, no damage of the outer face of the wall form can occur because the remaining surface area of the flange engaging the wall form 26 will be sufficiently large to distribute the load over a wide area and minimize any depression of the wall surface.

When the concrete C has set to form the wall, the brackets 10 of this invention are easily removed by striking the foot 15 with an upward blow from a hammer or the like tool thereby lifting the brackets and allowing the head 31 to be loosened from the cam surface provided by the embossment 20. This raising of the bracket will not scarf the plywood 26 even though the bracket has been overstressed as shown in FIG. 4 because the upper rounded corner 18 of the bracket can not dig into the plywood and the stressing of the assembly has been in the direction to move this corner away from the plywood. Further, the rounded bottom corner 19 will smoothly ride on the face of the wall 26 without digging into the wall.

To emphasize the advantages of the brackets of this invention from the prior art is exemplified by the aforesaid Allen U.S. No. 3,236,486. FIG. 5 shows the manner in which the prior art bracket tilts downwardly from the wall form and FIG. 6 illustrates the manner in which the prior art bracket could dimple and gouge into the outer surface of the wall form when overloaded. Thus as shown in FIG. 5, the prior art U-shaped bracket 40 with its flat bottom wall 41 and upturned end flanges 42 and 43 hangs on the end of the tie rod 28 which projects through the hole 27 beyond the wall form 26 but the head 31 of the tie rod seats only in the keyhole slot 44 in the flange 43 without being cammed against the outer face of the wall form 26. The weight of the bracket 40 will thereupon cause it to rest against the outer face of the wall form 26 at the corner 45 between the flange 43 and the bottom 41. An inclined position of the bracket 40 therefore results and this interferes with easy installation of the walers since when they are forced downwardly into the bracket during the assembly they will further rock the bracket 40 causing the corner 46 to dig into the wall form 26. The brackets of the present invention avoid the looseness between the wall form and the bracket such as is needed in mounting the prior art brackets 40 on the tie rods.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the prior art bracket 40 is overstressed by the load of the concrete C against the wall form 26 moving the wall form outwardly, the bracket will tend to bend tilting the end flanges 42 and 43 outwardly and of course arching the bottom of 41 of the bracket. This will press the upper edge 46 of the flange 42 into the plywood 26 forming a dimple 47 in the plywood. Then after the concrete C is set and the wall form is to be removed, the bracket 40 can only be removed by striking it with an upward blow causing the edge 46 to dig further into the wall form 26 and scarfing the outer surface of the wall form rendering it unfit for use as a concrete receiving face.

From the above descriptions it should be understood that the clamps or brackets of this invention provide important improvements on the hereto-fore known waler brackets.

Claims

I claim:

1. A waler bracket for concrete wall forms of the type using plywood sheets for wall forming panels, tie rods with headed ends projecting through holes in the sheets having abutments engaging the inner faces of the sheets, vertical studs overlying the sheets and horizontal walers overlying the studs which comprises a one-piece rigid flat strip metal bracket having a horizontal base, an upturned flange on one end of the base for overlying a waler, an upwardly inclined leg on the other end of the base, a downturned flange depending from the top of said inclined leg for overlying the outer surface of a plywood sheet, said upturned leg extending to a level so that the downturned flange has a substantial portion thereof aligned with said upturned flange, an outturned foot on the bottom of said downturned flange underlying said inclined leg, a keyhole slot in said downturned flange for receiving the headed end of a tie rod and having the narrow end terminating in said substantial portion at a level to place the axis of the tie rod at the approximate mid portion of said upturned flange, and a cam surface on said downturned flange surrounding said keyhole slot receiving the head of the tie rod thereagainst for drawing the downturned flange against the plywood sheet to hold the bracket straight outwardly from the sheet.

2. The waler bracket of claim 1 wherein the inclined leg and the top end of the downturned flange and the outturned foot and the bottom end of the downturned flange are connected by smooth rounded portions of large radii.

3. The waler bracket of claim 1 wherein the inclined leg has an angle between 30.degree. to 60.degree. relative to the horizontal base.

4. A waler bracket for concrete wall forms of the type using plywood sheets for wall forming panels, tie rods with headed ends projecting through holes in the sheets having abutments engaging the inner faces of the sheets, vertical studs overlying the sheets and horizontal walers overlying the studs which comprises a one-piece rigid flat strip metal bracket having a horizontal base, an upturned flange on one end of the base for overlying a waler, an upwardly inclined leg on the other end of the base, a downturned flange depending from the top of said inclined leg for overlying the outer surface of a plywood sheet, said upturned leg extending to a level so that the downturned flange has a substantial portion thereof aligned with said upturned flange, an outturned foot on the bottom of said downturned flange underlying said inclined leg, and a vertical keyhole slot in said downturned flange for receiving the headed end of a tie rod and having the top of the narrow end terminating in said substantial portion at a level to place the axis of the tie rod at the approximate mid portion of said upturned flange.

5. The waler bracket of claim 4 wherein said outturned foot underlies the inclined leg at a level below the horizontal base.

6. The waler bracket of claim 4 wherein the downturned flange presents a large surface area for overlying a plywood sheet to distribute the loads therebetween over a large area.

7. The waler bracket of claim 4 wherein the face of the downturned flange receiving the head of the tie rod is inclined outwardly from the large to the small end of the keyhole slot to draw the flange against the plywood sheet and hold the bracket straight outwardly from the sheet.