(19)
(11)EP 3 763 896 A1

(12)EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION

(43)Date of publication:
13.01.2021 Bulletin 2021/02

(21)Application number: 20181624.6

(22)Date of filing:  23.06.2020
(51)International Patent Classification (IPC): 
E04G 21/12(2006.01)
D07B 1/18(2006.01)
(84)Designated Contracting States:
AL AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HR HU IE IS IT LI LT LU LV MC MK MT NL NO PL PT RO RS SE SI SK SM TR
Designated Extension States:
BA ME
Designated Validation States:
KH MA MD TN

(30)Priority: 08.07.2019 FI 20195620

(71)Applicant: R-Group Baltic OÜ
11415 Tallinn (EE)

(72)Inventor:
  • Repo, Antti
    75306 Harjumaa (EE)

(74)Representative: Kolster Oy Ab 
Salmisaarenaukio 1 P.O. Box 204
00181 Helsinki
00181 Helsinki (FI)

  


(54)WIRE LOOP BOX


(57) The invention relates to a wire loop box used in after-cast seams between wall elements, which includes a housing (2) and a wire rope (1) with a loop passing through and fastened to the housing by perforated holes in the housing (2) so that the wire rope (1) forms a grip loop (3) with protruding ends (4) fastened to each other with a sleeve (5). In order to have the grip loop (3) stay in straightened position without assistance, the wire rope (1) comprises a plurality of strands (9) of filaments (10) in threaded formation and at least one rod (8) with a larger cross-section than the cross-section of a single filament (10) is threaded around the wire rope (1) along the periphery of the wire rope (1).




Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION



[0001] The present invention relates to a wire loop box used in after-cast seams between concrete wall elements and between other reinforced concrete elements, which includes a housing to be mounted on the seam and a wire loop to be attached to the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION



[0002] One of the disadvantages associated with the above arrangement is that during transportation and mounting the wire loop should stay inside the box but when mounted the wire loop should protrude from the box into a straightened position so that a vertical rebar can be installed through the loops.

[0003] Various wire loop boxes are known from the prior art. One solution is to guide the rebar through the slack loops manually but it's time-consuming and requires additional work. An advanced solution is to add a separate spring attached to the wire to obtain an elastic feature for the wire. However, this solution requires extra material and manufacturing steps.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION



[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a wire loop box to overcome the above disadvantages. The objects of the invention are achieved by a wire loop box according to independent claim 1. The preferred embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims.

[0005] When the wire loop box is provided with at least one rod having a larger cross-section than a single filament, the wire loop becomes easier to handle as the wire loop can remain in a desired position during use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS



[0006] In the following the invention will be described in greater detail by means of examples with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 illustrates a wire loop box;

Figure 2 illustrates a wire loop box with a fastener;

Figure 3 illustrates a first embodiment of a wire rope for the wire loop box of Fig. 1;

Figure 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a wire rope for the wire loop box of Fig. 1;


DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION



[0007] Figures 1 and 2 illustrates a wire loop box comprising a housing 2 manufactured from sheet steel or another applicable material, and a wire rope 1 manufactured from a steel, for instance from high strength steel. The wire rope 1 is arranged to pass through and fasten to the housing 2 by perforated holes in the housing 2. The housing 2 can be manufactured by mechanical cutting and bending and comprises a longitudinal wall 6 and at least two side walls 7. The housing 2 must not be a tight housing 2 but instead it may include openings in various locations.

[0008] The wire rope 1 is passed through the perforated holes on the housing 2 in such a manner that the wire rope 1 forms a grip loop 3 on one side of the housing 2 and with protruding ends 4 fastened to each other with a sleeve 5 on other side of the housing 2. The perforated holes can situate in different places in the different housings 2. The sleeve 5 can be any kind of a metal crimp sleeve such as a hexagonal compression sleeve, for instance, with high tensile strength for holding the protruding ends 4 together in use.

[0009] As illustrated in Fig. 2, the grip loop 3 can be placed inside the housing 2 by bending the grip loop 3 with a fastener 11 such as a tape or a band, for instance. Bending the grip loop 3 inside also requires less space which is helpful during transportation from a manufacturer or a storage.

[0010] The wire rope 1 can be coated for protection or to add better mechanical properties. Such a coating can be metallic such as zinc, or non-metallic such as PVC (polyvinyl chloride), for instance. The coating can also be applied to at least one of the rod 8, the strand 9 and the filaments 10 such that at least part of the wire rope 1 is enclosed in the coating.

[0011] Figure 3 illustrates a first embodiment of a wire rope 1 for the wire loop box of Fig. 1. The wire rope 1 comprises a plurality of strands 9 in a first threaded formation and each strand 9 comprises a plurality of filaments 10 in a second threaded formation. At least one of the strands 9 is replaced with a rod 8 which is threaded in the first formation around the wire rope 1 along the periphery of the wire rope 1. The rod 8 has a larger cross-section than the cross-section of a single filament 10. In this context, the term cross-section refers to a cross-sectional area of the filament 10 and the rod 8. The filaments 10 can be made of metal but other material with high tensile strength can also be used. In some embodiments, the diameter of the rod 8 is substantially same or larger than the overall diameter of the single strand 9.

[0012] The rod 8 can be manufactured from a different material with different yield strength than the steel used in filaments 10. Such material can be for instance carbon structural steel, such as Q195, for instance, or polymer. Alternatively, the rod 8 can be manufactured from the same material as the filaments 10.

[0013] With the new rope arrangement and by selection of suitable material for the rod 8, the grip loop 3 can be elastically deformed in a bent formation within the housing 2 while the fastener 11 is attached to the housing 2. Due to the elasticity, the rod 8 is arranged to straighten the bent grip loop 3 out (as illustrated in Fig. 1) from the housing 2 into a straightened position without additional assistance when the fastener 11 is removed and the wire loop box is mounted on the seam of the concrete wall element.

[0014] An alternative is to have the rod 8 of the grip loop 3 plastically deformed in the bent formation within the housing 2. In this alternative, the fastener 11 is not necessarily required. The rod 8 is arranged to straighten the bent grip loop 3 when manually assisted so that it stays in straightened position without additional assistance when the wire loop box is mounted on the seam of the concrete wall element.

[0015] Once the grip loop 3 stays in the straightened position without any assistance, passing the rebar through the loops for securing the concrete elements to one another is fast and effortless.

[0016] The scope of this invention is not restricted to the number of rods 8, strands 9 or filaments 10. The size of the wire loop box and the type of the wire rope 1 is selected in accordance with the seam width used. The required concrete strength and the spacing between the wire loop boxes are determined based on the shear force given in the structural designs.

[0017] Figure 4 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of a wire rope 1 for the wire loop box of Fig. 1. In this embodiment, the wire rope 1 comprises of six strands 9 and one rod 8. Each strand 9 comprises of seven filaments 10.

[0018] In praxis, the wire rope can be dimensioned for having a filament 10 of diameter 0.38 mm, a rod 8 of diameter 2.0 mm and a wire rope 1 of diameter 6 mm, or alternatively 0.51 mm, 2.6 mm and 8 mm, respectively, or further alternatively 0.58 mm, 3.0 mm and 9 mm, respectively. The diameter of the rod 8 is at least three times bigger than the diameter of the filament 10.

[0019] In the described arrangement, there is no need for additional step for making sure the grip loop 3 is in straightened position while the rebar passes through, or additional parts to assist the rope 1 to keep the grip loop 3 in this position when the wire loop box is mounted on the seam of the concrete wall element.

[0020] With this arrangement where the rod 8 is threaded with the strands 9 to form the rope 1 and the rod 8 having larger cross-section than one single filament 10 of the strand 9, additional material cost and time can be saved. The obtained tensile strength is approximately 10 % higher than a rope of same diameter without the rod 8. Higher tensile strength means more durability. On the other perspective, thickness of the wire rope 1 can be smaller in order to preserve the required tensile strength which means less material and thus even lower material cost.

[0021] In some embodiments, the wire rope 1 comprises of uneven number of rods 8 and even number of strands 9, for example one rod 8 and six strands 9, so that the wire rope 1 has an overall circle perimeter and each rod 8 contacts two strands 9 on the periphery of the wire rope 1. In another embodiments, the wire rope 1 comprises of even number of rods 8 and uneven number of strands 9, for example two rods 8 and 17 strands 9, so that the wire rope 1 has an overall circle perimeter and each rod 8 contacts two strands 9 on the periphery of the wire rope 1. As mentioned above, the scope of the invention is not restricted to the numbers of strands 9, filaments 10 or rods 8. Another embodiment but not illustrated can have for example 35 filaments 10 in one strand 9 or 19 filaments in another strand 9. Another embodiment but not illustrated can have for example 33 strands 9 and 2 rods 8.

[0022] It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as the technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. The invention and its embodiments are not limited to the examples described above but may vary within the scope of the claims.


Claims

1. A wire loop box, comprising
a housing (2),
a wire rope (1) with a loop passing through and fastened to the housing by perforated holes in the housing (2) so that the wire rope (1) forms a grip loop (3) with protruding ends (4) fastened to each other with a sleeve (5),
characterized in that
the wire rope (1) comprises a plurality of strands (9) of filaments (10) in threaded formation and at least one rod (8) with a larger cross-section than the cross-section of a single filament (10) is threaded around the wire rope (1) along the periphery of the wire rope (1).
 
2. A wire loop box according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing (2) comprises a removable fastener (11) maintaining the grip loop (3) elastically deformed in a bent formation within the housing (2) while the fastener (11) is attached to the housing (2), and the rod (8) straightens the bent grip loop (3) out from the housing (2) when the fastener (11) is removed.
 
3. A wire loop box according to claim 1, characterized in that the grip loop (3) is maintained plastically deformed in a bent formation within the housing (2) and the rod straightens the bent grip loop (3) out from the housing (2) when manually assisted.
 
4. A wire loop box according to one of claims 1-3, characterized in that the diameter of the rod (8) is substantially same or larger than the diameter of the single strand (9) of the wire rope (1).
 
5. A wire loop box according to one of claims 1-4, characterized in that the rod (8) is made of a different material than the filaments (10) of the strand (9).
 
6. A wire loop box according to one of claims 1-5, characterized in that a ratio between a diameter of the rod (8) to a diameter of the filament (10) is at least 3.
 
7. A wire loop box according to one of claims 1-6, characterized in that the ratio between the diameter of the rod (8) to the diameter of the filament (10) is at least 5.
 
8. A wire loop box according to one of claims 1-7, characterized in that the housing (2) comprises a longitudinal wall (6) and at least two side walls (7).
 
9. A wire loop box according to one of claims 1-8, characterized in that the fastening sleeve (5) of the straight parts (4) is a hexagonal wire compression sleeve.
 
10. A wire loop box according to one of claims 1-9, characterized in that at least one of the rod (8), the strand (9) and the filaments (10) is enclosed in a coating.
 
11. A wire loop box according to one of claims 1-10, characterized in that the wire rope (1) is enclosed in a coating.
 




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