GB2163804A

GB2163804A - A building construction

Info

Publication number: GB2163804A
Application number: GB08521330A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert George Sealey
Original assignee: SEALEY BUILDING SYST Pty Ltd
Current assignee: SEALEY BUILDING SYST Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1984-08-31
Filing date: 1985-08-27
Publication date: 1986-03-05
Also published as: GB2163804B; GB2192413B; GB2192413A; GB8715830D0; GB8521330D0

Abstract

The present invention relates to a building construction which in preferred embodiments of the invention includes a structural twin shell construction of cementitious material with an intermediate insulating layer. One of the layers is formed with integral cementitious material reinforced ribs. The building construction may be manufactured by forming a skeleton templet, placing backing means in spaces of the templet and then spraying the cementitious material onto the templet and backing means to form the ribbed layer and subsequently forming the other layer. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A building construction The present invention relates to a building and a method of constructing buildings.

The present invention can be applied to any structural element of a building. It is particularly intended for wall construction but may also be applied to other structural elements such as roofs or floors.

The building construction of the present invention is simple and can be erected with little use of skilled labour.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of manufacturing a building construction which comprises establishing a non-structural skeleton templet of elongated performed longitudinal and lateral members, positioning backing means in a space or spaces defined by the templet to form a coatable assembly which has a depth which is small compared to its longitudinal and lateral dimensions and is arranged to receive a coating of cementitious material, the coatable assembly containing recesses extending both longitudinally and laterally, each recess corresponding with and extending lengthwise of a templet member, having an open end facing outwardly of the coatable assembly and a depth extending in the same direction as the depth of the coatable assembly, locating longitudinally extending reinforcing means in each recess, applying a layer of cementitious material to the backing means in association with mesh or fibre reinforcement means to cover at least a part of one side of the backing means and to fill recesses of the templet to form a reinforced structural cementitious building element having a layer of cementitious material and integral reinforced cementitious material ribs projecting from the layer and corresponding with the recesses of the templet.

In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a building construction having a depth which is small compared to its longitudinal and lateral dimensions comprising a structural building element of twin, outer layer construction having a first layer and a second layer disposed in face to face relation to one another, wherein the first and second layers are formed of cementitious material, the first layer incorporates integral longitudinally and laterally extending ribs projecting outwardly from the general plane of the layer on an internal face thereof, each rib contains longitudinally extending reinforcing means, and the second layer has an internal profile which complements the profile of the internal face of the first layer and any intermediate layer.

The present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic plan view of a building construction in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is an upper perspective view of a nonstructural skeleton templet used to form the building construction of Figure 1 except for the lowermost corner which is omitted; Figure 3 is a vertical section along the line a-a of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a horizontal section along the line b-b of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a horizontal section along the line c-c of Figure 2 showing detail of a corner construction of the templet;; Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing a partially completed building construction produced by coating one side of the templet of Figure 2 and then removing the templet and associated backing means; Figure 7 is a vertical section along the line a-a of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a horizontal section along the line b-b of Figure 6; Figure 9 is a horizontal section along the line c-c of Figure 6 showing the detail of a corner construction.

Figure 10 is a viewsimilarto Figure 6 showing a completed building structure produced by coating the ribbed sides of the structural elements of the assembly shown in Figure 6 together with associated backing means; Figure 11 is a vertical section along the line a-a of Figure 10; Figure 12 is a horizontal section along the line b-b of Figure 10; Figure 13 is a horizontal section along the line c-c of Figure 10 showing the detail of a corner construction; Figure 14 is a perspective view to an enlarged scale of a portion of the templet of Figure 2; Figure 15 is a perspective view to an enlarged scale of a portion of the partially completed building construction of Figure 6; and Figure 16 is a perspective, exploded view to an enlarged scale of a portion of the completed building construction of Figure 10.

In Figure 1 of the drawings, there is shown a schematic plan of a building construction 10 in accordance with the present invention comprising a plurality of integral, interconnected vertical structural wall elements 12. The wall elements 12 may be external and internal walls as shown in Figure 1. Further, the wall elements 12 are provided with door openings 14 and window openings 16. In orderto construct the building construction of Figure 1, a suitable footing 18 is first provided as shown in Figure 2. The footing 18 may be formed of concrete or any other suitable material which is capable of supporting the weight of the building construction 10. The footing 18 has mounted on it a templet of vertical and horizontal performed members of suitable section joined by any suitable means such as pop rivets. The preformed members are typically formed of metal.

In particular, it has been found that cold rolled or pressed metal sections have satisfactory strength to weight ratio, are moderatly priced and are readily available. However, other forming techniques can be employed as can other materials.

The vertical members are typically in the form of spaced, elongated vertical galvanised steel members 20 formed with steps 22 and outwardly extending flanges 24 as can best be seen in Figures 4 and 14. This profile is commonly known as top-hat section. The lower end of each templet section has an elongated L-shaped member 25 extending lengthwise to the templet section.

The vertical members 20 have their lower ends resting on horizontal bases 26 of the L-shaped members 25 as can be seen in Figure 3. The Lshaped members 25 have upright portions 27 which are connected to the rear of the flanges 24.

Further, as can best be seen in Figure 14, each base 26 has a plurality of spaced, upstanding lugs 28. The lugs 28 contain apertures which are arranged to have a reinforcing rod 30 passed therethrough. As can be ssen in Figure 3, the apertures in the lugs 28 have lateral entrances for receiving the rod 30. The L-shaped members 25 are also associated with +shaped members 32 comprising a horizontal base 34 arranged to rest on the footing 18, an intermediate upright portion 36 and a forwardly projecting horizontal plate means 38. The templet of Figure 2 has a reshaped member 32 extending lengthwise of each templet section with horizontal plates 38 located between each pair of vertical members 20. Thus, the forwardly projecting portions 38 are inserted between adjacent vertical members 20 and the horizontal base 34 rests on the footing 18.

The templetfurther comprises upper horizontal members 40 which comprise a rear vertical wall 42, an upper horizontal wall 44, a lower horizontal step 46 and a vertical flange 48 depending from the step 46. As can best be seen in Figure 3, the upper horizontal members 40 are connected to the rear of the flanges 24 of the vertical members 20 by means of the flanges 48. Further, the horizontal wall 44 projects forwardly a distance sufficient to overlie the plates 38. The wall 44, the wall 42 and the step 46 define a horizontally extending recess 47. The recess defined by the upper horizontal member 40 contains a longitudinally extending horizontal reinforcing rod 49a. As can be seen in Figure 2, the templet assembly preferably comprises diagonal bracing rods on the side which is not to be coated initially so as to give the templet assembly more rigidity.As can best be seen in Figure 14, a backing means in the form of panels 49 are located between vertical members 20. The panels 49 abut the steps 22. Further, the panels 49 rest on the plates 38 and their upper ends are at the same height as the step 46. Thus, the backing panels 49 fill the spaces between the members 20,26 and 40.

The panels 49 and the vertical members 20 define vertical recesses 51. Each recess 51 contains a pretensioned reinforcing rod 52, which as shown in Figure 3, may be anchored at its upper end at the wall 44. At their lower ends the rods 52 may be anchored in the apertures of the lugs 28 as can be seen in Figures 3 and 14. The assembly shown in Figure 2 when the backing panels 48 are in place as described above form a coatable assembly which has a depth which is small compared to its horizontal and vertical dimensions. The upper and lower horizontal members together with the backing panels 49 define open ended, interconnected horizontal recesses 53 which extend horizontally.

The recess 51 and 53 are interconnected. The open ended recesses 51 and 53 face outwardly of the general plane of the coatable assembly and have a depth extending in the same direction as the depth of the coatable assembly. The backing panels 49 are preferably thermally and/or acoustically insulative such as a foamed panel formed of polystyrene or polyurethane. It has been found that in particular, polystyrene has a relatively low weight to volume ratio, low water permeability and high thermal and acoustical insulating properties. As such polystyrene is the preferred material for the backing means. As can be seen in Figure 5, corner assemblies may be formed by a vertical right angled member 56 located internally of the junctions between the horizontal reinforcing rods 49a and 30 serving to interconnect backing panels 49 in adjacent walls.The rods 49a and 30 may be tensioned sufficiently to make them taut and as such may be interconnected by a ring assembly as shown in Figure 5 as per normal fixing practice in the art.

The rods 49a and 30 need not be tensioned at all and could be in the form of bars. The rod 49a is typically supported by being tied to the vertical rods 52.

A layer of a suitable thickness of concrete or similar cementitious masonry material may be applied to the side of the coatable assembly corresponding with the right hand side of the assembly shown in Figure 3. For external walls this is usually the external face of the coatable assembly although this is not essential. The layer of cementitious material has associated with it reinforcement which may be in the form of reinforcing fibres in the cementitious material at the time it is applied and/or mesh reinforcement attached to the backing means by any suitable means prior to application of the cementitious material. The reinforcing fibres may be formed of metal, plastics material or glass while the mesh reinforcement may be formed of plastics material.

The coating of the faces of the templet assembly containing the recesses 51 and 53 results in the filling of the recesses. The outer surface of the applied layer may be levelled by passing a screed across the surface and float finishing as is known in the art. The filling of the recesses means that a formed layer 57 of cementitious material has integrally formed structural ribs 58 which project outwardly from the layer as can be seen in Figures 6 to 9 and 5. For clarity, the backing panels 49 have been omitted in Figures 6 to 9. As shown in Figures 6 to 9, the coating of the recessed faces of the coatable assembly can result in the formation, in situ of a stable, self supporting building construction comprising a number of integral, interconnecting, divergent walls which have structural strength because of the interconnected horizontal and vertical integral, reinforced ribs 58.

Once the cementitious material has cured the walls have structural strength and are self supporting. At this point the reshaped members 32 are usually removed together with the members 20 and 40.

Further, as can be best seen in Figure 6, the building construction of the present invention can be readily arranged to provide door and window openings.

The technique of the present invention may be applied to other elements of a building such as roof or floor elements. Thus, the vertical and horizontal recesses in the templet are, in general, lateral and longitudinal recesses.

In some circumstances, the foam interlayer can be dispensed with and replaced by any suitable backing material. One side only of the backing means may have a layer of cementitious material applied to it. Further, the skeleton templet could be removed partially or entirely when the applied cementitious layer has cured sufficiently to acquire sufficient strength to support itself.

In the embodiment illustrated the L-shaped member 25 is retained to provide a mounting for the reinforcing rod 30. However, the templet members can be arranged so that they can be removed entirely if desired. Also, the backing layer can be removed if desired.

In the case where the templet and backing layer are removed a ribbed structure such as that shown in Figures 6 and 15, may be obtained formed of structural walls interconnected together and containing reinforced cementitious material with additional reinforcement in the ribs. Such a structure as shown in Figures 6 and 15, could have internal cladding material applied to the ribs 58 to form a cavity wall.

However, a further layer 57 of cementitious material can be applied to the ribbed side of the coatable assembly, with orwithoutthe backing means and/or templet present, and the outer surface of the further layer finished off to form a twin layer building construction which may have the backing means as an intermediate layer, and which incorporates integral vertical and horizontal ribs.

An arrangement such as this is shown in Figures lOto 13 and, in exploded form, in Figure 16. The further layer 57 has an internal face with a shape complementary to that of the first layer 57 and any intermediate layer.

The further cementitious layer would usually have associated with it mesh or fibre reinforcement but in most applications of the present invention this layer would be reinforced as well as the first layer.

It is envisaged that the skeleton templet could be manufactured in a factory to obtain the benefits of mass production techniques and the completed skeletons could be transported to a construction site for erection. Alternatively, the skeleton templet could be made on site.

The cementitious material may be applied by any suitable means including manual, mechanical or pneumatic means. The application is preferably by spraying by pneumatic means because this has the advantage of providing an end product with high compressive strength, high flexural strength, high impact resistance, high strength to slenderness ratio and high speed of application.

Further, the cured material can have high water and sound imperviousness and achievement of early high strength. The applied mixture can have a low water to cement ratio and good bonding characteristics. The spraying technique can be used with a templet which is less strong than that required for in situ poured concrete.

The pneumatic spraying equipment should be capable of delivering a continuous stream of uniformly mixed material to a discharge nozzle at a suitable velocity.

The pneumatic spraying equipment also comprises an air compressor of sufficient capacity to supply clean dry air to maintain constant velocity at the discharge nozzle to ensure firm placement and compaction of material.

Modifications and variations such as would be apparent to a skilled addressee are deemed within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a building construction characterised in that it comprises establishing a non-structural skeleton templet of elongated preformed longitudinal and lateral members, positioning backing means in a space or spaced defined by the templet to form acoatable assembly which has a depth which is small compared to its longitudinal and lateral dimensions and is arranged to receive a coating of cementitious material, the coatable assembly containing recesses extending both longitudinally and laterally, each recess corresponding with and extending lengthwise of a templet member, having an open end facing outwardly of the coatable assembly and a depth extending in the same direction as the depth of the coatable assembly, locating longitudinally extending reinforcing means in each recess, applying a layer of cementitious material to the backing means in association with mesh or fibre reinforcement means to cover at least a part of one side of the backing means and to fill recesses of the templet to form a reinforced structural cementitious building element having a layer of cementitious material and integral reinforced cementitious material ribs projecting from the layer and corresponding with the recesses of the templet.

2. A method according to Claim 1, characterised in that at least some of the reinforcing means located in and extending longitudinally of the recesses are in the form of tensioned reinforcing rods.

3. A method according to Claim 2, characterised in that the tensioned reinforcing rods are pretensioned reinforcing rods.

4. A method according to any one of the preceding Claims, characterised in that the reinforcement means associated with the layer of cementitious material is in the form of reinforcing fibres contained in the cementitious material.

5. A method according to any one of Claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the reinforcement means associated with the layer of cementitious material is in the form of mesh reinforcement attached to the backing means.

6. A method according to any one of the preceding Claims, characterised in that a layer of cementitious material is selectively applied to one side of the coatable assembly so as to cover the backing means and fill recesses in the templet to form a cementitious structural member having a layer with structural integral ribs projecting outwardly from the general plane of the layer.

7. A method according to Claim 6, characterised in that the templet and backing are subsequently removed to form a ribbed building element.

8. A method according to Claim 6, characterised in that the templet is at least partially removed and a further optionally reinforced layer of cementitious material is applied over the other side of the coatable assembly to form a twin layer building panel with the backing means sandwiched between layers of cementitious material.

9. A method according to Claim 6, characterised in that a further optionally reinforced layer of cementitious material is applied over the coatable assembly simultaneously with or subsequently to the first mentioned layer so as to completely encase the templet and backing means.

10. A building construction having a depth which is small compared to its longitudinal and lateral dimensions characterised in that it comprises a structural building element of twin, outer layer construction having a first layer and a second layer disposed in face to face relation to one another, wherein the first and second layers are formed of cementitious material, the first layer incorporates integral longitudinally and laterally extending ribs projecting outwardly from the general plane of the layer on an internal face thereof, each rib contains longitudinally extending reinforcing means, and the second layer has an internal profile which complements the profile of the internal face of the first layer and any intermediate layer.

11. A building structure according to Claim 10, characterised in that it includes an intermediate thermally and acoustically insulating layer.

12. A building structure according to Claim 11, characterised in that the intermediate layer is formed of a foamed plastics material.

13. A building structure according to Claim 12, characterised in that the intermediate layer is formed of polystyrene.

14. A building structure according to any one of Claims 10 to 13, characterised in that at least some ofthe longitudinally extending reinforcing means is in the form of tensioned rods.

15. A building structure according to Claim 14, characterised in that the tensioned rods are pretensioned rods.

16. A building structure according to any one of Claims 10 to 15, characterised in that at least the first cementitious layer contains mesh or fibre reinforcement.

17. A method of manufacturing a building construction substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

18. A building structure substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.