US3010258A - Reinforcement fabric for concrete structures - Google Patents

Description

E. c. HUNTER 3,010,258

REINFORCEMENT FABRIC FOR CONCRETE STRUCTURES Nov. 28, 1961 Original Filed March 15, 1952 f. 2. Y E

A w E X .W mHW Me a. 2 I W m m E a-q T7- United States Patent burgh Steel Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Original application Mar. 15, 1952, Ser. No. 276,751.

Di i ed and this application May 3, 1954, Ser. No. 427,213

4 Claims. (Cl. 50-388) Mv invention is a division of my application Serial No. 276,751, filed March 15, 1952, now abandoned, and relates to reinforcement fabric, and more particularly to that type, wherein reinforcement mesh wires or the like have a backing sheet assembled therewith in unitary relation. While the invention is hereinafter described as employed more particularly in the laying of concrete floors, the fabric structure can advantageously be used also as a plaster base for walls and ceilings, or for exterior stucco.

Reinforcement fabric of the character referred to commonlv comprises a reinforcement mesh of wires welded together in relatively crossed relation, together with a backing sheet therefor held in place by lacing wires disposed rearwardly of the backing sheet and connected through the backing sheet to the mesh by stitching elements in the form of bent wires or hooks. Usually, it is desirable that the fabric structure thus formed be shipped as rolls to the places of installation, where it will be unrolled crosswise of floor joists or studding.

The presence of the lacing wires and the stitching element, particularly where the heavier gauges of welded mesh wires are employed, as in the case of floor fabrics, presents difliculties in the way of rendering the assembled fabric elements more diflicult to coil in rolled form for shipment, and the stitching elements sometimes tear holes in the backing sheet when the fabric is coiled.

One object of mv invention is to provide a composite fabric structure of the character referred to. wherein the lacing wires are so formed and arranged that they will not ofier serious resistance to bending of the fabric when coiling it into rolled form.

' Another object of my invention is to provide a structure of this character, wherein the stitching elements are of sufficient stiffness or strength as not to become deformed or flattened during handling and coiling of the fabric but are. nevertheless, so mounted and arranged asvnot to interfere with the coiling'of the fabric nor will they punch holes through the backing sheet.

In attaining the first of the objects above named, I provideta) lacing wires that are made in sections which are connected in link-like form at various points throughout the length of the sheet, and as an alternative (1)) provide lacing wires which are bowed somewhat intermediate the points at which they have connection with the stitching elements, so as to provide the desired flexibility for bending them around a longer radius than the mesh wires,

when coiling the fabric.

As to the second object above named, this is attained by so mounting the stitching elements and the lacing wires that they can tilt somewhat from their perpendicular positions relative to the fabric, when coiling the fabric, and as an alternative, the stitching elements have pivotal connections with the lacing wires, each of which wires may be continuous throughout the length of the fabric structure.

As shown in the accompanying drawing,

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of fabric structure;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the lacing wire arrangement of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 shows a modification of of the structure of 2, and

FIG. 5 shows still another modification thereof.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 3, the fabric structure comprises the usual reinforcement members consisting of longitudinally-extending wires 8 and transversely-extend ing wires 9 welded together in crossed relation, and a backing sheet 10 that serves as a support or form for the concrete or plaster. V

The backing sheet 10 is held in place by lacing members in the form of short wires 11 that at one end are bent to form stitching elements 12 that are of yoke-like shape and have hooked engagement with the transverse wires 9. These stitching bends 12 hold the backing sheet in unitary relationwith the reinforcement mesh and permit the sheet to lie at such distance from the plane of the mesh as to effect imbedment of the mesh 89 at a desired depth. The backing sheet usually will be of a The lacing members 11, at their other ends, are bent in planes parallel to the plane of the backing sheet to form eyes 13 with which adjacent stitching elements 12 have hooked engagement. The lacing members thus are arranged in a plurality of rows or interconnected series, longitudinally of the fabric structure and each series forms an almost continuous line of support for the backing sheet. Reinforcing cords 14 are incorporated in the backing sheet 10 and extend crosswise of the lacing members 11 to assist in holding the paper against sagging excessively while the concrete or plaster is being applied and to resist tearing .of the paper while the concrete is in a wet condition.

The structure just described facilitates the coiling of a long strip of the fabric so that it can convenientlyfbe shipped in rolled form and easily handled and installed. In rolling a fabric structure of this character, it is advantageous to have the lacing wires in jointed sections as shown in the drawing, to facilitate a wrapping of the fabric to coil form, since it will not need tobow or bend on so large a radius as would a continuous wire. The back-turned ends of the stitching elements 12 terminate at the outer face of the sheet and serve to. limit flexing or pivotal movement of the lacing members in .one direction. This reduces sagging at the joints, that would otherwise occur between joists or sills, while permitting pivotal movement of the lacing members in the other direction, when rolling the fabric for shipment.

Also, the joints at 13 permit the hooks or stitching elements 12 to tilt sidewise while coiiing, thereby reducing danger of these elements punching through preceding turns of paper in the coil, which would be the case if the hooks were rigidly held against tilting movement relative to the backing sheet and the mesh 8-9. The eyes 13 are sufiicieut diameter to permit relative tilting of the lacing members 11 about their longitudinal axes and thereby permitting the said tilting or pivotal movements of the stitching elements.

In installing the reinforcement fabric on floor joists 15 for example, the fabric will be unrolled crosswise of the joists, and after cutting it to length, the mesh wires 8-9 will be held in spaced relation to the paper and concrete 16 will be applied.

Referring now to FIG. 4, I show a structure wherein each line of lacing is in the form of a continuous wire 18 instead of being divided into jointed lengths 11. In this instance, stitching elements 19 have hooked engagement with the transverse wires 9, but instead of being formed integrally with the lacing wires, have an end portion wrapped around the lacing wire 18 as shown at 20. This arrangement permits the pivotal or tilting movements of the stitching elements, as above referred to, when wrapping the fabric-in coiled form, or even when stacking sheets thereof, thereby avoiding puncturing or tearing of the backing paper by the bends oft-he stitching elements.

In order to facilitate coiling of the fabric structure of stead of longitudinally thereof, in which case the stitch wires would preferably be looped over the mesh wires 8 instead of the mesh wires 9.

In FIG. 5, I show a modification of the structure of FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein provision is made for preventing dislodgement of stitch hooks adjacent to a line at which the fabric is cut, as for example when a strip is cut from a roll to fit a particular location. If ajcut is made along the line a-a for example in FIG. 5, it is desirable that the hook or stitching wire be retained against accidental displacement, so that it will continue to support the backing sheet and the reinforcement mesh in assembled relation at that area. To this end, the lacing members 24 that correspond to the lacing members 11 have an additional bend 25 at one end thereof, to partially embrace the loop 26 of an adjacent lacing wire. The loops 26 correspond 'to the loops or eyes 13 of FIGS. 2 and 3. It will be seen that when a cut is made as at a-a, the bend 25 will prevent dislodgement of the hook 23.

By having the bent-back free ends of the lacing hooks 12 and 19 terminate at the outer face of the backing sheets instead of being punched through the sheets, the tilting of the lacing members when rolling or stacking the fabric in the form of sheets will be facilitated and there will be less rupturing of the backing sheets.

I claim as my invention:

1. Fabric structure that comprises reinforcement mesh, a'baeking sheet therefor, a plurality of parallel rows of lacing members disposed at the rear side of the sheet, each row comprising a series of wires in generally longitudinal alinement, one end of each wire being bentto form an eye and the other end bent laterally and extending loosely through the eye of an adjacent lacing member, the secondnamed bend having an extension of yoke-like form, with one yoke leg extending from the lacing member outwardly through the sheet and the mesh, and then bent 3. Fabric structure comprising a mesh for the reinforcement of cementitious material, a flexible backing sheet therefor, lacing members disposed rearwardly of the backing sheet and, extending in generally longitudinal alignment, each lacing member being of short length relative to the length of the fabric, and having a yoke-like bend formed thereon at one end, with one leg of the yoke extending outwardly through the backing sheet and the curved portion of the yoke-like bend being in looselyhooked engagement with the mesh and serving as a stitching element, the other leg of the bend being backwardly turned and terminating at the outer face of the backing sheet, the other end of each lacing member being loosely connected to the adjacent lacing member, the lacing members having limited relative pivotal movements at their points of connection, about axes parallel to their longitudinal axes, and also having pivotal movements about axes transverse thereto, but limited in one direction by the said back turned legs.

4. Fabric structure comprising a mesh of longitudinally-extending and transverse wires secured together in crossed relation, a flexible backing sheettherefor, lacing members disposed rearwardly of the backing sheet and extending'mainly parallel to the longitudinal wires, each lacing member being of. short length relative to the length of the longitudinal, wires, and having a yoke-like bend formed thereon at one end, with one leg of the yoke extending outwardly through the backing sheet' and the curved portion of the yoke-likebend being in looselyhooked engagement with one of the mesh wires and serving as a stitching element, the other leg of the bend being backwardly turned and terminating at the outer face of the backing sheet, the other end of each lacing member having loosely looped connection with said one leg of the adjacent lacing member, and each longitudinal series of lacing members having limited relative pivotal movements at their points of connection, about axes parallel to the longitudinal wires, and also having pivotal movements about axes transverse to said wires, but limited in one direction by said back-turned ends of their said yokelike bends, 4 a

backwardly into loosely-hooked engagement with the mesh and terminating adjacent to the outer face of the sheet, to thereby limit pivotal movements of the lacing members in one direction.

2. A structure as recited in claim 1, wherein the second-named bend includes an eye portion that is interlinked with the first-named eye of an adjacent lacing member. p

, References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 883,434 Waite Mar. 31, 1908 1,694,542 Hedden Dec. 11, 1 928 1,730,935 Hicks 0a. 8, 19-29 1,827,945 Land Oct. 20, 1 931 2,034,726 Menninger Mar. 24, 1936 2,164,464 McNabb July 4, 1939 2,661,515 Nelsson Dec. 8,1953

' FOREIGN PATENTS 229,504 Great Britain-n; Feb. 26, 1925

Images