The present invention relates to an apparatus for the angular connection of formwork panels for concrete castings.

Such apparatus falls in the field of the use of systems for connection between two formwork panels that must form a certain angle between them, normally 90°, and in the field of the building of rising castings, typically with a closed inner perimeter. The connection can occur by assembling formwork panels and intermediate corner elements by means of devices adapted to adjust the movements of the elements, particularly of the panels, both during the preparation of the system for supporting the casting and during removal.

Connection systems are known which comprise a column-like angular element having two resting faces, each for an external lateral surface of a formwork panel, means for locking the panels to the column-like angular element and means for adjusting the mutual angular position of the two form work panels.

The adjustment means are constituted by a plurality of variable-angle pushing/traction devices, constituted for example by two arms, which are hinged at one of their ends and are coupled to respective formwork panels with the other end, and, coupled between them, an adjustable strut with two stems and a central sleeve within which the two stems are screwed with opposite threads, so that the rotation of the sleeve leads to a movement for both either toward the outside or toward the inside of said sleeve. Said adjustment means facilitate the removal of the structure with the movement of the panels. However, although efficient, their use is in any case tiring for the operators, since the handling of the various parts requires the application of great force to the pushing/traction devices.

The aim of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for the angular connection of formwork panels that is capable of improving the background art in one or more of the aspects mentioned above.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that facilitates the operations for adjusting the angular connection of two formwork panels, particularly for the removal of the structure.

A further object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks of the background art in a manner that is alternative to any existing solutions.

Not least object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that is highly reliable, relatively easy to provide and at competitive costs.

This aim and these and other objects which will become better apparent hereinafter are achieved by an apparatus for the angular connection of formwork panels for concrete castings, characterized in that it comprises:

- a column-like angular element with a column-like central portion which forms a corner compartment, and two lateral portions as an extension of two comer walls of said central portion, said corner walls defining the corner of said column-like angular element, said lateral portions being adapted to translate mutually away and closer,

- a bar installed in said comer compartment along the same direction of extension thereof and along which it is adapted to translate with respect to it,

- means for the translational movement of said bar,

- means for the connection of said lateral portions to said bar.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the description of a preferred but not exclusive embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus according to the invention in a first embodiment and in a first configuration;

Figure 2 is a view of the apparatus of Figure 1 in a second configuration; Figure 3 is a view of the movement means of the first embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the apparatus according to the invention, in the first embodiment and with formwork panels;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the apparatus according to the invention, again in the first embodiment and in the first configuration;

Figure 6 is a view of the apparatus as shown in Figure 5 and in a second configuration;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the apparatus according to the invention in a second embodiment and in a first configuration;

Figure 8 is a view of the apparatus as shown in Figure 7 and in a second configuration.

With reference to the figures, the apparatus according to the invention, generally designated by the reference numeral 10 in its first embodiment, comprises a column-like angular element 11 with a columnlike central portion 12 which forms a corner compartment 13, and two lateral portions 14 as an extension of two corner walls of the central portion 12, the corner walls defining the corner of the column-like angular element 11. Such corner is preferably a 90° one. The lateral portions 14 are adapted to translate mutually away and closer on an imaginary plane, between the lateral ends of the angular central portion 12. The two Figures 1 and 2 show the apparatus 10 in two different configurations of use: the first, initial one for performing the concrete casting, the second, final one for removal.

With respect to the installation position of the column-like angular element 11, i.e., vertical, the central portion 12 has, in an upper region, at its end, a triangular surface 15 between the two corner walls and on the side of which that lies on the plane between the ends of the comer walls the two lateral portions 14 are adapted to slide. The lateral portions 14 are each constituted by a profiled element 14a which is closed at the ends by plates with sides 14b for resting against said side of the triangular surface, as indicated in Figure 1 and in Figure 2.

The apparatus 10 also comprises a bar 16, preferably constituted by a tubular element with a square or rectangular cross-section, installed in the corner compartment 13 along the same direction of extension thereof and along which it is adapted to translate with respect to it.

The apparatus 10 comprises advantageously means 17 for the translational movement of the bar 16 and means 18 for the connection of the lateral portions 14 to the bar 16, which are adapted to convert the vertical translation of the bar 16 into a horizontal translation of the lateral portions 14.

In particular, the connection means 18 comprise at least one pair of arms 19 which are mutually hinged by virtue of a hinge element 20, preferably a bolt, which couples them to the bar 16 by passing through both of them in adapted holes. Each one of the two arms 19 is also coupled to a respective lateral portion 14.

The connection means 18 also comprise a bracket 21, for each arm 19, which is integral with a respective lateral portion 14 and to which the respective arm 19 of the pair of arms 19 is coupled.

Correspondingly to each bracket 21, the central portion 12 has a horizontal slot, not visible in the accompanying figures since it is hidden by the bracket 21, in which a pivot, coupled to the bracket 21, for example a bolt 21a as indicated, slides.

In this first embodiment, the means 17 for the movement of the bar 16 comprise a winch device 22, preferably of the manual type, connected to the bar 16.

The winch device 22 is shown in Figure 3. It comprises, in a per se known manner, a rack 23 to be rendered integral with the bar 16 and a crank 24 which, being connected to the rack 23, determines its translation.

The winch device 22 is connected to the bar 16 by means of a tubular element 25, referenced hereinafter as first tubular element 25, which is connected integrally with one of its ends to the rack 23 and in turn is to be rendered integral with the bar 16 at its other end.

The bar 16 protrudes from the upper triangular surface 15 with an end portion thereof which has a pair of holes.

In the lower part, with respect to the position of use shown in Figures 1 and 2 and with respect to the position in which it is shown in Figure 3, the winch device 22 has a second tubular element 26 with a square crosssection, inside which the rack 23 and the first tubular element 25 can slide. The second tubular element 26 has a slot-like opening 27 on one of its sides and the first element has a pair of holes 28 at the slot-like opening 27. The bar 16 and the first tubular element 25 are rendered integral by means of a pair of screws or pivots 29 which pass through both of them at their respective holes, as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The winch device 22 is connected to the central portion 12 by means of a bayonet coupling.

In particular, a base 30 with slots 31 is welded to the lower end of the second tubular element 26 and on the triangular surface 15 of the central portion 12 there are the heads of two screws 32. The bayonet coupling is provided with the heads 32 and the slots 31.

Figure 4 shows the apparatus 10 according to the invention with formwork panels 33 fixed to the lateral portions 14, according to an arrangement at 90° ready for the concrete casting.

The form work panels 33 can be fixed to the lateral portions preferably by means of clamps or by means of bolts.

Figures 5 and 6 show again the apparatus 10 with formwork panels 33, but in a plan view from above with respect to the installation position.

In this view, the movement of the panels 33 for removal with respect to the initial position for use, for casting, is shown clearly. In the initial position, the external walls of the panels are coplanar to the faces of the lateral portions and to the comer walls which define the comer of the column-like element 11. For removal, the panels 33 with the lateral portions 14 undergo a movement which is designated by X in Figure 6.

The second embodiment of the apparatus, designed generally by the reference numeral 110, is shown in Figure 7 and in Figure 8, respectively in the two respective configurations of use.

The second embodiment differs from the first one in the type of movement means, in this case designated by the reference numeral 117. For the other parts of the apparatus 110, therefore, reference is made to what has already been described and numbered for the first embodiment.

The means 117 for the movement of the bar 16 comprise a hydraulic cylinder 134 connected to the bar 16.

In particular, the hydraulic cylinder 134 is fixed at one of its ends to the bar 16 and at the other end to a first bracket 135 which is integral with the central portion 12. The connection to the bar 16 occurs by means of a second L-shaped bracket 136, fixed to the end of the cylinder and with bolts 137 to the bar 16.

The use of the apparatus according to the invention is as follows.

First, a lock between the two lateral portions 14 of the column-like angular element 11 and the two form work panels 33 is established, in a per se known manner, by applying clamps or by bolting.

The movement means can be fitted on-site or prior to the step of installation of the angular connection. The movement means 17 are fitted by coupling the first tubular element 25 to the end portion of the bar 16 which protrudes from the surface 15 and by rotating the winch device 22 in order to obtain the bayonet coupling between the base 30 and the central portion 11.

During removal, by turning the crank 24 of the winch device the translation of the rack 23 and therefore of the bar 16 in the corner compartment 13 is obtained.

In the case of movement means 117, they are activated by means of a pumping system to be connected, by means of suitable tubes, to the hydraulic cylinder 134. The activation of the cylinder 134, connected with the movable end to the bar 16 by means of the bracket 136, determines the translation of the bar 16.

In both cases, the translation of the bar 16 causes the rotation of the arms 19 which, coupled to the brackets 21, entrain in translation the two lateral portions 14, moving them closer, as can be seen by mutually comparing Figures 1 and 2, Figures 5 and 6 and Figures 7 and 8. The bolts 21a, by sliding in the horizontal slots on a part that is integral with the central portion 12, prevent the lateral portions 14 from translating in the direction of the bar 16.

In the use of the apparatus 10, the formwork panels 33 translate integrally with the lateral portions 14, with respect to the corresponding corner walls of the central portion 12, moving by a distance X substantially at right angles to the initial arrangement. With the movement, the panels 33 are moved away from the concrete walls, thus facilitating the disassembly of the form work system.

In practice it has been found that the invention achieves the intended aim and objects, providing an apparatus that renders the step of removing the angular connection structure easier and quicker.

The invention thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims; all the details may furthermore be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

In practice, the materials used, so long as they are compatible with the specific use, as well as the contingent shapes and dimensions, may be any according to the requirements and the state of the art.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. 102020000020917 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference. Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the interpretation of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.