Method for producing and device for laying a reinforcement and supporting means therefor

Abstract

 Method for producing a reinforcement for a surface (1). A reinforcement is produced at the site (2) of said surface (1) by laying at least two groups (13,18) of parallel, intersecting reinforcement bars. The reinforcement bars of a group (13) are produced starting from a mobile device (4) by unwinding a piece of wire from a wire store (5), straightening said piece of wire, paying out said piece of wire over the surface (1) in question, and severing it. The invention also relates to a device for achieving this, and to supporting means for bearing reinforcement wires.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method according to the introductory part of Claim 1.

[0002] Such a method is known from British Patent Specification 1,373,538. In order to limit transport costs and operations connected with the handling of reinforcement mats as much as possible, it is proposed in that patent specification that guide rails should be provided on both sides along the surface to be reinforced. Trolleys provided with devices for paying out reinforcement wires from them run along said guide rails. These reinforcement wires are present in storage devices in the trolleys and are already cut to the correct length. Although a considerable saving in transport costs is achieved with such a device, the disadvantage of it is that it must be known precisely in advance how long the reinforcement wires have to be. The length of the reinforcement wires will vary for each project, which means that special reinforcement wires have to be supplied for each individual project. Since the distance between two reinforcement wires will not always be absolutely constant, problems arise in connection with the quantity of reinforcement wires which must be present. Since it is not permissible that at the end of a series of reinforcement wires no wires are laid, in practice a surplus of reinforcement wires will always be used. This involves a certain amount of waste.

[0003] The object of the invention is to eliminate these problems connected with stock control, supply and number of reinforcement wires, while at the same time eliminating problems in connection with the critical length of the reinforcement wires.

[0004] This object is achieved by the characterising measures of Claim 1.

[0005] The invention is based on the idea of producing the reinforcement mats on site for slightly greater surfaces. Reinforcement wire can be fed in cheaply, for example on rolls, and one direction of the surface can then be provided with pieces of parallel reinforcement wire. The next step is to lay reinforcement wires in a direction at an angle to the first reinforcement wires. This angle will generally be 90°. Through laying these reinforcement wires over one another, it is possible to provide a continuous mat in a particularly efficient manner, with losses being avoided. The mechanisation described means that lifting of the mats and unnecessary transportation thereof are completely superfluous, so that the disadvantages described above in connection with the state of the art are completely eliminated.

[0006] It is pointed out that a device for manufacturing reinforcement mats in a factory is known from German Patent Specification 2,123,501. A number of parallel longitudinal wires are first provided from a supply. Starting from said supply, a wire end is gripped and placed by means of a change-over system in a corresponding guide tube. When, through pressing, the piece of wire is in the whole guide tube, it is cut off with a cutting device. The next thread is then pressed into a guide tube. Surrounding the wires by a guide means that it is not possible to use such a device for laying a reinforcement on site. Nor is the device according to the German patent intended for that purpose.

[0007] According to an advantageous embodiment, the first and the second reinforcement wires are provided touching each other.

[0008] In order to be able to lay reinforcement wires faster, various reinforcement wires are preferably removed from a supply, and conveyed and severed simultaneously.

[0009] In order to simplify the conveyance, according to an advantageous embodiment, supplies are provided at opposite sides of the surface for simultaneously laying adjoining reinforcement wires. In this way, one or more reinforcement wires are fed in simultaneously, for example alternately, from the opposite sides.

[0010] According to another advantageous embodiment, supporting means for the reinforcement wires are provided on the surface before said reinforcement wires are laid. For, the reinforcement must be at a certain height from the bottom of the surface.

[0011] According to a further advantageous embodiment, the reinforcement wires are provided so that they cross each other essentially at right angles, and the supporting means are provided at an angle of essentially 45° relative to each of the reinforcement wires. In this way the supporting means do not impede the laying of the reinforcement wires.

[0012] The invention also relates to a supply device for reinforcement wire, comprising storage means for reinforcement wire, straightening means, pay-out means, conveying means for reinforcement wire and means for severing reinforcement wire. In the embodiment described above, in which supply devices are present at the opposite sides of a surface, the conveying means preferably comprise a circulating belt or cable connected to both conveyor devices, and provided at regular intervals with at least two fastening devices for reinforcement wires. This provides for a particularly simple conveyance of the reinforcement wires. The straightening means are preferably in the form of straightening mechanisms rotating about the wire.

[0013] The invention also relates to supporting means for bearing reinforcement wires, comprising a base part resting on the ground and a bearing part for reinforcement wires some distance away. According to a preferred embodiment, the bearing part of the reinforcement wires is bounded here by at least one centring part.

[0014] Such supporting means can be made from a shaped part bent out of a piece of wire, which shaped part comprises the base part, the centring part and the intermediate connecting parts. A further wire part, which forms the bearing part, can be fixed to the shaped part.

[0015] In order to meet the requirements of insulation towards the floor, the base part is preferably provided here with an insulating material. The supporting means are preferably provided in such a way that a further supporting part is present for bearing further reinforcement. This further reinforcement can comprise top reinforcement.

[0016] The invention will be explained in greater detail below with reference to an example of an embodiment shown in the drawing. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows the method according to the invention carried out with the device according to the invention when laying reinforcement wires in one direction;

Fig. 2 shows the method according to the invention in a later stage;

Fig. 3 shows a detail in longitudinal section of part 7 from Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 shows a first embodiment of the supporting means; and

Fig. 5 shows a second embodiment of the supporting means.

[0017] In Fig. 1 the surface to be provided with reinforcement wires is indicated in its entirety by 1 and comprises long sides 2 and short sides 3. Supply devices 4 for wire are provided opposite each other at the long sides 2. They comprise, schematically shown, one or more rolls 5 of reinforcement wire driven by a motor 6, guide means 7, cutting means 8, and a conveying device 9. Conveying device 9 comprises a belt 11 running around pulleys 10 and provided with fixing means 12 for schematically shown reinforcement wires 13. Supply devices 4 are each controlled by a guide rail 14, which is provided with spacer lobes 15. Traction rolls 40 are present to move the wires coming off the rolls 5 through the straightening means 7. Fig. 3 shows a detail of the straightening means 7 in longitudinal section. The inlet is indicated by 41 and the outlet by 42. These straightening means comprise a drum 44 fixed rotatably by means of bearings 43 on the supply device 4. On drum 44 there are hydraulic pressure devices 45 which at the end are provided with an inset part of extremely hard material such as hard metal 46. In the most outward moved position parts 46 are situated past axis 47, so that the wire 13 moving through them is deformed. Near the outlet 42 drum 44 is provided with a drive pulley 48 for connection to a motor, which is not shown.

[0018] The device described above works as follows. Before a start is made on laying the reinforcement wires, supporting means 16 are first fitted, only parts of which are shown schematically, and which are described in greater detail with reference to Figures 4 and 5. Both devices 4 are fitted on the left side in Fig. 1, the top device 4 being moved to the right over a distance corresponding to at least the width of the surface taken up by the wires coming from the bottom supply device 4 in the drawing. The wires 13 are then unreeled by means of the motor 6 from reels 5, and guided through traction rolls 40, straightening means 7 and cutting means 8, and fixed to fixing means 12. This fixing can be carried out by any means known in the state of the art, for example by means of wedging. Belt 11 is then set in rotation in such a way that the wires coming from the top supply device move downwards and the wires coming from the bottom supply device move upwards simultaneously (in the drawing, of course; in practice, the surface is essentially horizontal). The wires are laid in such a way that they fall in the bearing parts 17 of the supporting means. When the reinforcement wires 13 reach the opposite surface they are cut off by means of cutting means 8. Supply devices 4 then move, guided by the rail 14, to the right over a distance which is determined by lobe 15. A large area of reinforcement wires can be laid extremely quickly in this way.

[0019] On completion of the crosswise laying of reinforcement wires, this operation is repeated as shown schematically in Fig. 2 for laying of the longitudinal reinforcement wires 18. These reinforcement wires 18 are also laid in bearing part 17 of the same supporting means 17. Since the supporting means 16 extend at an angle of 45° relative to both reinforcement wires, a very close-knit structure is provided, so that it is not necessary to carry out welding or other fixing operations. After placing of the reinforcement wires in the lengthwise direction, material such as concrete can be poured. Working in this way means that no overlaps of reinforcement mat occur, as in the state of the art, and one large reinforcement mat with considerable cohesion is produced. The operations requiring force are all mechanised, and the supply of reinforcement wire is achieved with rolls on site, so the time required for transporting material is considerably reduced.

[0020] Fig. 4 illustrates an example of the supporting means described above. These means comprise a bearing part 17, and it is shown schematically how two reinforcement wires 13 and 18 are laid on such a bearing part. The supporting means 16 also have centring parts 20, by means of which the reinforcement wires 13 and 18 are pushed into the correct position. The supporting means 16 rest on a base part 21 which can be provided with, for example, a plastic coating in order to meet the requirements of avoiding bimetallic corrosion. It can be seen that the supporting means are made up of two parts: a part curved in a complex way, forming the base parts, the centring parts and the connecting parts lying between them, and a through wire 17 connected thereto and forming the bearing parts. These parts are fixed to each other, for example by welding.

[0021] Fig. 5 shows a further embodiment of the supporting means, which is indicated in its entirety by 23. Unlike the supporting means discussed with reference to Fig. 4, a nesting place 24 is provided here to bear a further top reinforcement.

[0022] Although the invention described above with reference to a preferred embodiment is currently preferred, it must be understood that numerous modifications can be made to it without going beyond the scope of the present application.

Claims

1. Method for producing a reinforcement for a surface, comprising producing a reinforcement at the site of the surface by laying at least two groups of parallel, intersecting reinforcement bars, in which the laying of at least one group is achieved by paying out reinforcement bars with a mobile device, characterised in that the reinforcement bars are provided by in succession unwinding a piece of wire from a wire store, guiding said piece of wire, paying out said piece of wire over the surface to be provided with reinforcement by the mobile device, severing the piece of wire from the supply during the laying of the bar thus produced in the desired position, and moving the device.

2. Method according to Claim 1, in which the piece of wire is paid out by pulling on it.

3. Method according to Claim 1 or 2, in which the first and second group of reinforcement wires are laid touching each other.

4. Method according to any of the preceding claims, in which various reinforcement wires are removed simultaneously from a supply.

5. Method according to any of the preceding claims, in which supplies are provided at two opposite sides of the surface, for simultaneously laying adjoining reinforcement wire(s).

6. Method according to any of the preceding claims, in which reinforcement wires crossing each other essentially at right angles are laid, and in which before the laying of said reinforcement wires supporting centring means are provided for the purpose on the surface at an angle of essentially 45° relative to each of the reinforcement wires.

7. Supply device for reinforcement wire, comprising storage means for reinforcement wire, straightening means, pay-out means, conveying means, and severing means for reinforcement wire.

8. Supply device for reinforcement wire according to Claim 7, in which a supply device is always provided on opposite sides of a surface, and in which the conveying devices comprise a circulating belt or cable connected to both supply devices, which belt or cable is provided at regular intervals with at least two fixing means for reinforcement wires.

9. Supply device for a reinforcement wire according to Claim 7 or 8, in which the straightening means comprise straightening elements rotating about the wire.

10. Supporting means for bearing reinforcement wires, comprising a base part resting on the bottom, and a bearing part at a distance from it for reinforcement cables.

11. Supporting means according to Claim 10, in which the bearing part for the reinforcement cables is bounded by at least one centring part.

12. Supporting means according to Claim 10 or 11, comprising a shaped part bent out of a piece of wire, which bounds the base part, the centring part and the connecting parts lying between them, and a shaped part fixed thereto forming the bearing part.

13. Supporting means according to any of Claims 10 - 12, in which the base part is provided with an insulating material.

14. Supporting means according to any of Claims 10 - 13, in which a further supporting part is present for bearing a further reinforcement.

Drawing