Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Specified terranean relationship – Means to control heat transfer; e.g. – insulation or...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-10
2003-05-27
Chan, Korie (Department: 3632)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Specified terranean relationship
Means to control heat transfer; e.g., insulation or...
C052S295000, C052S745050
Reexamination Certificate
active
06568136
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for building a floor that is designed to make a direct use of the heat stored in the earth and the like, and the construction of the floor that will be built by using such method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, the earth is kept at a constant temperature in relation to the air in the atmosphere surrounding it. That is, the temperature will remain almost unchanged despite the change in the surrounding air temperature that occurs from season to season. Thus, the earth temperature is relatively warm in winter, and is relatively cool in summer. In order to take advantage of the fact that the earth temperature will change little throughout the year, that is, from season to season, a system that is called a passive solar system is proposed, and is currently available in different types. This system is actually installed in structures such as houses. Typically, the passive solar system is designed to control the temperature of the air in the space within the house by allowing the air to circulate after it touches the earth. The system is based on the concept of exchanging heat. The air may become warmer or cooler by exchanging its heat with the heat stored in the earth (herein after referred to as the stored heat), and may then be circulated through the interior of the house. As such, the system has a problem in its thermal efficiency.
As an alternative to the passive solar system, another system is proposed which is designed to make a direct use of the stored heat and convey the stored heat to the flooring directly without the medium of the air. To convey the stored heat to the flooring directly, it is necessary to provide a thermal connection between the earth and flooring. Particularly in post-type flooring, where intermediate free space is provided between the earth and flooring to allow air to circulate, this thermal connection will become useless. In order to address this problem, another technique has been proposed. In this technique, a gravel bed is provided on the earth under the floor, and concrete is placed on the gravel bed on which the underfloor concrete layer is formed. Then, the flooring finish boards or slabs are directly applied upon the upper surface of the underfloor concrete layer. This technique is known as the “gravel bed air-conditioning system”, which was proposed by the Japanese architect, Kanao Sakamoto (page 24, the Nihon Keizai Shinbun issued on Jan. 30, 1980 and page 15, the Mainichi Shinbun issued on Feb. 22, 1980).
Typically, in conventional structures such as houses, the floor is built by placing a groundsill, or simply sill, on its corresponding continuous footing, also referred to as wall footing or column footing, which is usually made of reinforced concrete. Generally, the groundsill is provided for supporting the columns or posts that are mounted upright thereon, and each groundsill is provided on the location of each corresponding one of the compartments or rooms to delimit the adjacent compartments or rooms from each other. Generally, a continuous footing includes an outer circumferential continuous footing that surrounds the outside of the structure, and an inner continuous footing that is installed inside the outer circumferential continuous footing. The outer and inner continuous footings, each of which corresponds to each groundsill, are provided separately.
In the conventional technique described above, errors may be introduced when the flooring finish boards or slabs are directly applied upon the upper surface of the underfloor concrete layer. Thus, the errors that are allowed for when the flooring finish boards or slabs are applied on the upper surface of the underfloor concrete layer must be kept as minimal as possible. When an ordinary plaster trowel, long bar or plate is used to flatten the upper surface of the underfloor concrete layer, it may cause errors that are on the order of 1 to 10 mm. In order to finish the underfloor concrete layer so that it can have horizontal surface uniformity over a wide area, complicated steps are involved, which may have an unfavorable effect on the working efficiency. This is the case particularly in recent years when specialized or experienced engineers have not been available. Alternatively, mortar may be applied upon the upper surface of the underfloor concrete layer after the concrete becomes hardened, and the thickness of the applied mortar coating may then be adjusted to provide the horizontal surface uniformity. When this operation takes place, it may introduce further errors that must be corrected. Thus, this must be carried out with extreme care.
The earth may be warmed when its surrounding ground level or surface is warmed by being exposed to sunlight and the like, which may also make the earth under the floor warm. In addition, the underfloor concrete layer may also be warmed by the thermal energy that is produced within the house. The heat stored in the earth, coupled with the heat stored in the underfloor concrete layer, may also warm the gravel bed under the underfloor concrete layer. The inventor of the current application conducted experiments, and observed that the stored heat in the gravel bed would be the result of the combined action of “the thin air layer that is present among the adjacent gravel stones”, “the gravel stones themselves” and “the underfloor concrete layer”, rather than the heat stored in the gravel stones themselves. It was also observed that the gravel layer within the closed space includes a lower layer located nearer to the ground level where the gravel stones still contain a slight amount of water, and in upper layer located farther from the ground level where the gravel stones are in a dry or non-water condition.
In the conventional technique, each continuous footing, which is usually constructed from reinforced concrete, is built for each corresponding groundsill that is being built thereon. Thus, each concrete form or mold must be built for each corresponding continuous footing so that each of the concrete forms can conform to each corresponding one of the continuous footings. The building and subsequent removing of the concrete forms, as well as the arranging of the reinforcing bars, must be carried out for each continuous footing. Those steps must be performed for each individual continuous footing being built, and therefore would require laborious and time-consuming operations. Particularly, when a structure being built, such as a house, has a number of small rooms inside that are delimited by walls from each other, each groundsill must be provided for each room, and each continuous footing must be provided for each corresponding groundsill.
The inventor of the current application has a prior Japanese patent application, which was laid opened to the public inspection under unexamined patent publication No. H10 (1998)—273948A and now patented under No. 3051850. The invention disclosed in this Japanese patent is designed to make effective use of the stored heat in the earth.
The inventor of the present application proposes to provides a further improvement over the prior invention that is disclosed in the above Japanese patent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A first object of the present invention is to simplify the process of building the continuous footing, thereby improving the work efficiency. This object may be achieved by providing a continuous footing on a location that corresponds to the location of an outer circumferential groundsill being built that surrounds the outer circumference of a structure such as a house, and providing an inside groundsill integrally constructed with an underfloor concrete layer by burying the inside groundsill within the underfloor concrete layer. A part of the underfloor concrete layer at which the inside groundsill is buried has a projection extending downwardly from the underfloor concrete layer at a location that corresponds to a location of the inside groundsill being built. The inside groundsill is thereby built i
Chan Korie
Yashima Inc.
LandOfFree
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