Joints and connections – Flexible member is joint component
Patent
1997-06-03
1999-05-18
Kim, Harry C.
Joints and connections
Flexible member is joint component
403 12, 5239603, 5239606, 5239607, 404 48, 404 67, F16B2/22
Patent
active
059044390
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a movement joint.
Structural movement between individual parts of a building can and often does occur particularly in large buildings. The integrity of the building is seldom threatened, provided that it is adequately designed. However unsightly cracking in floors and walls in particular can be avoided by providing a "field limitation joint" in the finish layer of these surfaces. Generally such a joint includes a flexible member which is able to expand and compress with movement of the substrate layer(s) beneath the finish layer. The joint may induce controlled cracking of the substrata along its length, whereby the finish layer does not crack but can move as a block with respect to one or more adjacent blocks separated by the joint or several joints.
Similarly larger joints are also incorporated into large scale structures. These joints continue through structural floors and slabs, walls, ceilings and roofs and effectively divide the structure Into a series of separate buildings which are joined together by "structural movement joints". These large joints not only flex and move in response to drying shrinkage of the structure but also accommodate movement arising from thermal changes, wind loading, structural settlement and imposed loading within the structure.
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved movement joint, which is pre-compressed.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a movement joint for installation between elements of a building, the joint being elongate and having a relatively flexible core member with relatively rigid side members to which the flexible member is bonded or otherwise affixed and which abut the building elements in use, the joint including means for restraining the flexible member to be under compression prior to installation between the building elements and for releasing the compression after installation.
Pre-compression of the joint allows for a greater degree of movement of the building elements on either side of the joint away from each other, before the core comes under tension and there is any tendency for the elements to separate from the joint.
Whilst it is envisaged that the restraining means may be an integral interconnection of the side members deformed to compress the flexible member, in one embodiment, the restraining means is in the form of U- or Y-section clips engaging by their limbs outside the side members. Generally the clips can be provided at substantial intervals along the length of the joint.
In another embodiment, alternative restraining means is provided in the form of at least one tape adhered to the side members. Preferably, the tape, is fibre reinforced tape. It can be perforated for tearing, preferably at edges of the side members, for release of the compression in the core member. Conveniently, the tape has a central, non-adhesive band for avoiding adhesion to the core member. One tape may be provided at a top of the joint (where the core is) and another tape is provided at the bottom of the joint. Particularly where the side members are integrally interconnected, a single tape only may be adequate to retain the compression of the core.
In the simplest form of the joint, the side members may be flat strips. In one preferred form, the side members are L-shaped, the upright limbs having the core between them and the other limbs extending away from each other and being adapted for fixture of the joint. This adaption may be merely adequate width for bonding of the joint to a substrate during installation, or may include additional features such as apertures for screw fixing. Screw fixing may be used for both field limitation joints and structural movement joints. Equally it is expected to be not normally necessary for either type of joint since the pre-compression in the joint allows appreciable separation of the building elements across the joint before it cones under tension.
In another form, the joint has a pointed cross-section, the side members converging towards ea
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