Tank and elastic profile for such a tank

Abstract

 The present invention relates to a tank comprising a plurality of prefabricated concrete elements (2) positioned side-by-side forming an essentially cylindrical tank (1) having a plurality of vertical joints (5) in the form of toggle articulations between the aforementioned plurality of prefabricated concrete elements (2). The tank (1) further comprises an elongated elastic profile (7) positioned in at least one of the aforementioned plurality of vertical joints in the form of toggle articulations, whereby a cross section of the aforementioned elastic profile (7) comprises a central part and two outer parts (9), the aforementioned central part (8) being homogeneous and the aforementioned two outer parts (9) being inhomogeneous.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a tank comprising a plurality of prefabricated concrete elements and an elastic profile for such a tank.

Background

[0002] There exist today two possible ways of manufacturing concrete tanks. One way is to position prefabricated concrete elements with angled lateral profiles for the assembly of a predetermined number of concrete elements. Another way is to position prefabricated concrete elements with lateral profiles provided with toggle articulations for an almost arbitrary number of concrete elements for the assembly of tanks of different sizes with different circumferences. A considerable advantage of lateral profiles provided with toggle articulations on the concrete elements is that this offers significantly greater possibilities for producing concrete elements for stock, since a specific size of concrete elements can be used to manufacture tanks of a large number of sizes with different circumferences.

[0003] One problem associated with concrete elements provided with toggle articulations is that, when they are positioned next to one another in a tank, they are exposed to the risk of not sealing tightly, in particular if the tank is intended to hold some form of liquid.

Brief summary of the invention

[0004] One object of the present invention is to propose a liquid-tight tank.

[0005] A further object of the present invention is to propose an elastic profile for a liquid-tight tank.

[0006] These objects, among others, are achieved with a tank and an elastic profile according to the accompanying Patent Claims.

[0007] By utilizing an elastic profile according to the present invention positioned in a vertical joint in a tank, a sealing function of the tank is obtained and, at the same time, a load-transmission function between concrete elements installed side-by-side is obtained with the installation of a single elastic unit. The sealing function is achieved by outer parts of vertical joints in the form of a toggle articulation being sealed by inhomogeneous outer parts of the elastic profile, which inhomogeneous outer parts are positioned with the help of, among other things, a homogeneous central part of the elastic profile. The load-transmission function is achieved by the positioning of the homogeneous elastic central part of the elastic profile between two concrete elements, which, among other things, minimizes tendencies to cracking in the adjacent concrete elements.

[0008] The utilization of an elastic profile in a tank according to the present invention means that a vertical joint can work in a linear elastic manner in the whole of the pretension force register that is used for tanks of different sizes. This means that calculation analyses for a tank can be performed with currently available software.

[0009] Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will be appreciated from the following description.

Brief description of the drawings

[0010] The present invention will be exemplified by the detailed description of a preferred embodiment given below and by the accompanying Figures, which are provided for illustrative purposes only and are thus not restrictive for the present invention, in which:

Fig. 1 depicts schematically a plan view of a tank having a plurality of prefabricated concrete elements;

Fig. 2 depicts a side view of an elongated elastic profile according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 3 depicts a cross section taken along the line III-III in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4a depicts schematically a cross section of a vertical joint in the form of a toggle articulation provided with an elongated elastic profile according to the present invention, before assembly, and

Fig. 4b depicts schematically a cross section of a vertical joint in the form of a toggle articulation provided with an elongated elastic profile according to the present invention, after assembly.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

[0011] Specific details, such as special techniques and applications, are provided in the following description for explanatory rather than restrictive purposes, in order to achieve a basic understanding of the present invention. It is obvious to a person skilled in the art in this field, however, that the present invention can be executed in other embodiments which differ from these specific details. A detailed description of familiar methods and arrangements is omitted in other examples, in order not to obfuscate the description of the present invention with unnecessary details.

[0012] One preferred embodiment of the present invention is now described with reference to Figs. 1-4.

[0013] A tank 1 for the storage of liquid, for example, comprises a plurality of prefabricated concrete elements 2 positioned side-by-side above, for example, a concrete slab. The concrete elements 2 are essentially linear blocks with toggle articulations for interacting with adjacent concrete elements 2, that is to say each concrete element 2 has a female part on one side and a male part on the opposite side. Present between each concrete element 2 are vertical joints 5, in which female parts in a concrete element interact with male parts in adjacent concrete elements. An elongated elastic profile 7 is positioned in at least one of the tank's vertical joints 5. An elongated plastic profile 7 is preferably positioned in each vertical joint 5 in the tank 1.

[0014] The elongated elastic profile 7 has a cross section with a homogeneous central part 8 and two inhomogeneous outer parts 9. The expression homogeneous part is used here to denote a uniform, unvarying part, and the expression inhomogeneous part is used here to denote a part that is not homogeneous. In conjunction with assembly of the tank, the elongated elastic profile 7 is placed in a female part on a concrete element 2. Alternatively, it is possible to cast an elongated elastic profile into the female part of the concrete elements already at the point of manufacturing the prefabricated concrete elements. The elongated elastic profile 7 is preferably made of rubber.

[0015] The homogeneous central part 8 is positioned centrally in the toggle articulation and thus transmits a load between two adjacent concrete elements in the tank 1, thereby avoiding tendencies to cracking in the concrete elements.

[0016] The inhomogeneous outer parts 9 are automatically positioned further out in the toggle articulation and thereby seal the vertical joint 5 so that the tank 1 is able to hold a liquid, for example, without leaking. The inhomogeneous outer parts 9 are executed preferably by forming a plurality of projections 10 from a core part of the respective outer part 9. The outer parts 9 will be compressed when two prefabricated concrete elements 2 are assembled adjacent to one another, and the width of the outer parts 9 thus preferably diminishes in a direction outwards from the homogeneous part 8, in order to reduce the total size of the space occupied by the respective outer part 9. The fact that the width of the elongated elastic profile 7 diminishes in an outward direction in the outer parts 9 enables the projections 10 to increase in size as the distance from the homogenous part 8 increases.

[0017] The elongated elastic profile 7 preferably comprises holes 11 in the homogeneous central part 8 for the purpose of accommodating coring tubes 12 projecting from the prefabricated concrete elements; see Fig. 4. Coring tubes 12 are cast horizontally into the concrete elements and are so arranged as to receive pretensioning cables. The ability of the elongated profile 7 to be placed in the female part of a toggle articulation, suspended on the coring tubes 12, means that the elongated profile 7 is held in position during assembly of two prefabricated concrete elements side-by-side, so that the inhomogeneous outer parts 9 are positioned correctly in the outer parts of the vertical joint 5 and that the homogeneous central part 8 is positioned correctly at the centre of the toggle articulation.

[0018] The outer parts 9 are with advantage softer than the homogeneous part 8, that is to say the elongated elastic profile 7 is manufactured with lower elasticity in the homogenous part 8 compared with the two outer parts 9. The fact that the outer parts 9 possess relatively high elasticity enables them to be compressed easily and to seal a vertical joint effectively. The fact that the homogeneous part 8 possesses relatively low elasticity allows it to transfer load effectively between two adjacent, prefabricated concrete elements 2.

[0019] In prefabricated concrete elements with articulated female parts having a radius of 61 mm and with articulated male parts having a radius of 60 mm, it is appropriate to have a 70 mm-long and 6 mm-wide central part 8 and 25 mm-long outer parts 9.

[0020] It is obvious that the present invention can be varied in a plurality of ways. Such variations must not be regarded as a deviation from the scope of the present invention. All such variations that would be obvious to a person skilled in the art in this field are considered to be included within the scope of the accompanying Claims.

Claims

1. A tank comprising a plurality of prefabricated concrete elements (2) positioned side-by-side forming an essentially cylindrical tank (1) having a plurality of vertical joints (5) in the form of toggle articulations between the aforementioned plurality of prefabricated concrete elements (2), characterized in that an elongated elastic profile (7) is positioned in at least one of the vertical joints, whereby a cross section of the aforementioned elastic profile comprises a central part (8) and two outer parts (9), the aforementioned central part (8) being homogeneous and the aforementioned two outer parts (9) being inhomogeneous.

2. Tank according to Claim 1, wherein the aforementioned two outer parts (9) taper outwards and comprise a plurality of projections (10).

3. Tank according to Claims 1 or 2, wherein the aforementioned two outer parts (9) are softer than the aforementioned central part (8).

4. Tank according to one of Claims 1-3, wherein the aforementioned elastic profile (7) is made of rubber.

5. Tank according to one of Claims 1-4, wherein the aforementioned, prefabricated concrete element (2) comprises horizontally cast-in coring tubes (12), which project into the aforementioned plurality of vertical joints (5-6) in the form of toggle articulations, and the aforementioned elongated elastic profile (7) comprises transcurrent holes (11) adapted to match the aforementioned coring tubes (12).

6. Elastic profile for positioning between prefabricated concrete elements (2) in a tank (1), characterized in that the aforementioned elastic profile (7) is elongated with a cross section comprising a central part (8) and two outer parts (9), the aforementioned central part (8) being homogeneous and the aforementioned two outer parts (9) being inhomogeneous.

Drawing