Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Conduit – trim – or shield member at corner
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-22
2001-12-04
Friedman, Carl D. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Conduit, trim, or shield member at corner
C052S745210, C052S742140, C052S294000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06324799
ABSTRACT:
This application is the national phase under 35 U.S.C. §371 of PCT International Application No. PCT/AU98/00789 which has an International filing date of Sep. 22, 1998, which designated the United States of America.
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method relating to building construction, in particular it relates to apparatus for use in construction of the base portion of a wall in certain applications and a method for construction of such a wall. It will be convenient to describe the invention with particular reference to construction of a bund wall formed during concrete fabrication procedures, although it will be appreciated that the invention may have wider application.
In the construction of certain buildings having special requirements for hygiene, in particular in the construction of hospitals or buildings where food preparation, treatment, storage and handling is carried out, health and building regulations dictate that at the junction of walls and floors of particular rooms the vertical wall and horizontal floor at their junction meet as a curve rather than an intersection of two planes. These regulations require that a radiused coving must be provided at such junctions. The purpose of such coving is for hygiene purposes. It has been recognised that cleaning of a radiused wall and floor junction is far more efficient at preventing build-up of spilled food or other waste which may find its way onto the walls or floor and thus eliminates bacterial contamination which may otherwise present a hazard to, for example, food being manufactured or processed otherwise to the sterility of the room. If the walls and floor meet at a non-radiused right-angle, cleaning is significantly harder because of the reduced access to the junction, particularly when cleaning involves mopping or scrubbing of the walls and floor and this lack of access can lead to a build up of food wastes which may then harbour bacteria which can then penetrate the wall and floor junction. In food processing plants, cold stores, abattoirs or even hospitals if bacterial contamination does so penetrate into the wall cavity, it is very difficult for sterilisation to take place, and in many cases, the premises must be partially demolished to remove that contaminated part of the building.
Conventional methods of constructing the necessary coving generally involve first laying a concrete floor slab, then, once that has adequately cured, placing form work to form a bund wall. A bund wall is a footing or short embankment wall onto which a main structural wall is built. Once the bund wall has been poured and cured, a suitable coving is then shaped at the floor/wall junction by either trowelling cement into the right angle junction and/or applying a prefabricated coving to the floor/wall junction or by laying up an epoxy or similar coving once the wall/floor junction has been formed.
Such known methods of forming a coving either in situ or applying a preformed coving suffer from a number of disadvantages. First, each of the known methods require a number of process steps and in a number of methods, subsequent steps cannot be undertaken until a previous step has fully been completed. For example with most known methods the concrete bund wall must have fully cured before either a cement coving is formed or an epoxy layer is formed against the bund wall. Furthermore, the quality and uniformity of the coving formed in situ often depends upon the skill of an operator in performing the necessary work. Covings often need to perform under extreme conditions. For example, covings are often required in cold stores operating at temperatures of −20° C. or lower, or they may be subjected to high temperatures, for example in abattoirs where hot water at 70° C. or greater is used to clean down floors and walls. Covings are often subjected to physical stress, for example, if forklift trucks or pallet trolleys or other movable objects collide into them.
Accordingly, there is a need for a coving and a method of installing such a coving which can be installed relatively easily and inexpensively and with a high degree of uniformity, can withstand extreme working conditions, can form a suitable barrier against bacteria or contamination and complies with relevant health and construction standards. It is an object of the present invention to provide a coving and a method of construction which satisfies one or more of the above needs.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a preformed coving for casting into a bond wall, said coving including a base portion positionable on or in close proximity to a floor and having a concave curved front face and a substantially vertically planer dependant flange adapted for location in a recess in said floor; a wall portion having a front face; and attachment means remote from said front faces adapted to receive a fixing device for securing said cooing to said floor. Preferably the concave curved front face is a concave radiussed front face.- -
The coving may be of any suitable dimensions and may be of any suitable length. It will be appreciated that because the coving is for use along the junction of a wall and a floor it will preferably be elongate and of any suitable or convenient length. Preferably the coving will be of substantially constant cross-section. The base portion will generally be adapted to be positioned on or about a floor onto which the bund wall is to be constructed.
The base portion includes a substantially vertically planar dependent flange. The dependent flange preferably extends along the entire length of the coving and is adapted to be inserted in to a recess in the floor in relation to which the coving is to be utilized. The dependent flange may be positioned on the base portion anywhere proximate to where the base portion comes close to contacting or contacts the portion of the floor in relation to which the coving is to be utilized, preferably the dependent flange depends from a front edge of the base portion which is furthest away from the wall portion. Preferably this is the part of the base portion which comes closest to contacting the floor when the coving is in use.
The base portion has a concave curved front face which is preferably radiussed. The radiused front face preferably has a radius of between 20 mm and 60 mm although it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other radiuses or degrees of curvature will be acceptable to provide a suitable coving which may comply with relevant health and building standards. The concave front face presents a surface which, when the coving is cast in situ in a bund wall, presents an outward face available for cleaning in compliance with such standards. The base portion may also include a rear face which is not exposed when the coving is positioned in situ. The base portion may also include a foot on a portion of the rear face. Preferably the foot is configured such that it provides a sealing surface tangential to said radiused front face and which extends towards the plane of the wall portion. In a preferred embodiment, the planes of the wall portion and the sealing surface intersect at an angle of greater than 90° C. so that when the wall portion is perpendicular to the floor on which the bund wall is to be formed the sealing surface is angled slightly relative to the floor and inclined away from where the base portion comes closest to the floor.
Preferably the foot is solid in the region between the sealing surface and the radiused front face ie. so no air spaces exist in that region. The foot may further or alternatively include a rear face extending between the sealing surface and the base portion and having a re-entrant lip and lip such that said rear face facilitates avoidance of air spaces at the rear of the coving when concrete or some similar filling material is poured behind the coving.
The coving further includes a wall portion having a front face. Preferably the front face of the wall portion is continuous with the curved front face of the base portion, t
Birch & Stewart Kolasch & Birch, LLP
Friedman Carl D.
Porterie, Jr. L. B.
Surecove PTY LTD
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