Technical Field

I

The invention relates to a floor guide for use in connection with concreting of concrete floors on a base surface, said floor guide comprising a profile 5 member with a longitudinal, upper portion which is adapted to slidably support a concrete distribution device.

Background Art

It is known to concrete floors in concrete by dividing the concreting area into fields by means of floor guides. These guides serve to both support

10 the new layer of concrete along the sides during the filling of a field and to support so-called beam vibrators. The beam vibrators are pulled across the newly poured layer of concrete and subjects said layer to a vigorous vibra¬ tion which is to ensure a uniform quality of the concrete. Although the vibration and the distribution of the concrete into rather inaccessible cav-

15 ities around the floor guide are performed very carefully, cracks arise generally speaking always as a consequence of shrinkage in concrete floors. When the floor has been laid by means of floor guides cast in the concrete, cracks often arise along the floor guides.

In connection with floor guides in form of concrete beams, cracks arise 20 along the edges of said concrete beam already shortly after the concreting with the result that repair work is necessary, said repair work being diffi¬ cult, especially because the cracks are relatively narrow at first. Some¬ times, the cracks are subjected to a milling in order to make them larger.

{ Generally speaking, it is, however, difficult both during the first concreting 25 and during the repair to cause the concrete to fill out the area completely below and around the foot of the concrete beam. Accordingly, the cracks arising in connection with concrete floor guides have a tendency to

become particularly difficult to avoid because the floor guides have not been satisfactorily supported from the start.

Concrete floor guides are furthermore available, which at the top comprise a metal plate embedded therein and vertically arranged in the use position, said metal plate extending in the entire length of the guide. This metal plate has a tendency to work loose during the vibration work and thereby to damage the beam vibrator. In addition, the problem of a satisfying filling out of the area below the floor guide has not been solved. Plastic guides are furthermore available, but these guides do not usually possess the sufficient strength for the concreting in question, and the mounting of such plastic guides is relatively expensive too because they require a support along the entire bottom side prior to the pouring of the concrete. Moreover, the plastic guides are not provided with openings allowing an insertion of steel reinforcements transverse to the guides.

SE-B-468,097 discloses a floor guide in form of a profile member shaped from a bent plate. The plate is of a V-shaped cross section with the free ends of the V facing downwards, said downward free ends at the bottom comprising flanges projecting to their respective side. The legs are kept together by means of transverse, separate loops. At the top, this floor guide carries a plastic rail serving as contact surface for vibration machines and which can be removed later on, if desired. The resulting groove can be filled with a resilient joint filler so as to avoid formation of cracks. Open¬ ings are provided everywhere along the walls and flanges of this profile member so as to facilitate the passage of the concrete both to the bottom side of and the interior of said profile member. Despite the use of so-called poker vibrators it is still difficult to ensure a satisfying and uniform filling out of the areas around the walls of this profile member.

Brief Description of the Invention

The object of the invention is to provide a floor guide allowing an efficient and uniform distribution of the concrete in the area immediately abutting the floor guide, and which simultaneously is easy to transport and mount prior to the pouring of the concrete.

The floor guide according to the invention is characterised in that the profile member is a substantially thin-walled member forming a single surface-shaped partition for the concrete, and that the floor guide com¬ prises supporting means mounted at regular intervals for supporting the profile member in the partition-forming position.

This floor guide is easy to manufacture by way of rolling and bending of sheet material, and it does not take up much room during storage. In addition, it is relatively easy to mount on the base surface in question because nothing but supporting positions of concrete are to be arranged in the positions where the supporting means are to be placed. The surface- shaped partition allows an easy distribution of the concrete in the area around the floor guide because no cavities are left which are hard to reach for the effect of the vibrating machines or the vibrating equipment.

According to the invention the profile member may be a substantially plane member with an angularly bent upper flange which forms an upper portion for supporting a concrete distribution machine, and each supporting means may comprise a surface inclining in the mounted position for the support of the plane portion of the profile member on the side facing away from said flange as well as means retaining the profile member in an engaged position with the supporting means. In this manner a floor guide is obtained, which is particularly simple, and which allows an easy and reli¬ able retaining of the profile member in particular because the profile mem¬ ber is placed in an inclined position while supported by the supporting means.

Furthermore the upper flange of the profile member may according to the invention ben bent such that its free edge is shaped so as substantially to coincide with a plane perpendicular to the base surface. As a result it is possible to manufacture a floor guide of a relatively well balanced shape compared to a relatively small supporting means.

In addition, the longitudinal part for supporting a concrete distribution device may carry a removable plastic strip with the result that it is possible to provide a dilation joint by removing the plastic strip upon concreting and filling of the joint with a flexible joint filler.

Each supporting means may according to the invention be of a substan¬ tially triangular shape when seen in the direction along the associated profile member, and it may in the mounted stated comprise a projection extending substantially parallel to the base surface and below the lower edge of the profile member, said projection comprising a bend which abuts the opposite side of the profile member. The resulting supporting means is relatively easily mounted on the profile members.

Moreover, the profile member may according to the invention comprise a flange extending to the same side as the upper flange, whereby the floor guide is ensured a good concreting in the concrete. In addition according to the invention each supporting means may be of such an extent when seen in the longitudinal direction of the profile member that a single sup¬ porting means can be mounted on adjacent ends of two profile members which extend in continuation of one another, and thereby support said profile members in an upright position relative to one another and thus avoid the use of separate connecting means.

Finally according to the invention each supporting means may be shaped by bending of a band-shaped length of metal.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which

Fig. 1 is an end view of a floor guide mounted on a base surface and ready for concreting, and

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a floor guide according to the invention, where parts have been removed for the sake of clarity.

The floor guide shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a profile member de¬ signated the general reference numeral 1 and a plurality of supporting means arranged at suitably regular intervals and designated the general reference numeral 2. The profile member 1 is an elongated plate member shaped by way of bending with an upper flange 3 and a lower flange 4 extending to one side relative to a plane central part 5, the free longitudi¬ nal edges 6 and 7, respectively, of said flanges projecting away from one another.

As illustrated in Fig. 1 showing the mounted state of the profile member 1 , the upper flange 3 is bent such that the outer end follows a course extending in a substantially vertical plane perpendicular to a base surface 8 for the concreting to be performed. A plastic moulding 9 is mounted on the upper free edge 6 of the upper flange 3, said plastic moulding being removable, if desired, upon the concreting.

The lower flange 4 is bent at such an angle relative to the plane central part 5 that in the mounted state it extends substantially parallel to the base surface 8.

The profile member 1 is retained in the shown position by means of the

supporting means 2 shaped of bent lengths of metal strip. Each supporting means 2 is of a substantially triangular shape, where one side 10 of the triangle is adapted to abut the side opposite the flanges 3 and 4 of the plane central part of the profile member 1 . A second side 1 1 of the tri- angle is adapted to be placed substantially parallel to the base surface 8. This side 1 1 is shaped with an extension 12 adapted to extend below the lower flange 8 of the profile member, the outer end 1 3 of said side being bent backwards so as to abut the top side of the lower flange 4. The length of the extension 12 has been adapted such to the size of the lower flange 4 that the free edge 7 of the lower flange 4 tightly abuts the inner side of the bending area on said extension 1 2. The free end of the exten¬ sion 12 is shaped with a slightly backward bend at 14 which facilitates the securing of the supporting means 2 on the profile member 1 .

The profile member 1 and the supporting means 2 are made of a suitable metal material, such as ordinary steel, and the plastic moulding 9 is made of any suitable plastic material, such as polyethylene. The profile members 1 and the supporting means 2 are easily assembled in situ by said support¬ ing means 2 being pulled over the free edge 7 of the lower flange 4 and moved inwards so as to abut the plane central part 5. The supporting means are placed at regular intervals along the profile members 1 , and during the mounting and levelling they are placed on top of concrete sup¬ ports 1 5 provided on the base surface 8 in a conventionally known man¬ ner. The supporting means 2 with the inclined side 10 abutting the profile member 1 in an inclined position provide a reliable securing of the profile member 1 in such a manner that it can be used for supporting a vibration machine. As the profile member 1 forms only one partition face between the fields to be filled with concrete on both sides of the profile member, said concrete can in a relatively easy manner be uniformly distributed on both sides of said profile member. As the supporting means are of a rela- tively short extent in the longitudinal direction of the profile member it is furthermore ensured that concrete can be easily distributed in the area

defined by the sides of said supporting means. The supporting means 2 is, however, of such a length that it can also be used for forming the connec¬ tion between two adjacent ends of two profile members, cf. the dotted line in Fig. 2, whereby said profile members can be correctly adjusted relative to one another.

As also illustrated in Fig. 2, the profile members can be shaped with open¬ ings 16 and 17 for the insertion of transverse steel reinforcements.

The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodi¬ ment. Many modifications can be performed without thereby deviating from the scope of the invention which is based on a surface-forming pro¬ file member reliably supported by relatively short supporting means 2 which are arranged at regular intervals. Embossings may for instance be provided at regular intervals in the profile member in order to increase the strength thereof . Correspondingly, the openings 16 and 17 may be shaped with a collar projecting to one side and extending along the circumference of the openings 16 and 17.