Method and apparatus for using foam panels as forms for making concrete walls

This is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/774,707, filed Jul. 9, 2007 to a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USING FOAM PANELS AS FORMS FOR MAKING CONCRETE WALLS, from which priority is hereby claimed and which earlier patent application is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

The present invention relates generally to connectors for concrete wall forming systems of a type using foam panels; and more particularly to a special connector utilized to secure adjacent panel sections together.

While wall forming systems have been in use for many years, the last two decades has seen considerable development in this industry in the use of expanded polystyrene panels as forms for poured concrete walls. After the concrete has hardened, the panels may be left in place on the walls to serve as permanent insulation, or they may be stripped off to reveal the exposed concrete.

Upon introduction of this new wall forming system, it was found that it was unnecessary to use small “building blocks” to create the form panels to build a form system for receiving poured concrete. Rather, larger and larger panels are now being utilized to create the concrete forms. Developments in this field include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,765,109 and 4,916,879 to Boeshart show how to make right angle corners and “T” intersections, which patents are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

Adjacent sections of foam panels have pre-formed mating tongue and groove connections that hold them together on the main portions of the foam panel sections. But sometimes these tongue and groove portions need to be trimmed off to make a foam panel form that is shorter than the length of a standard foam panel length. When this occurs it is necessary to find another way to hold adjacent foam panels together during the time that the concrete is being poured and cured. Solving this problem in the industry has been difficult and labor intensive, with many proposed solutions being not sufficiently reliable. Accordingly, there remains a need for solving this difficult problem.

The present invention relates to a foam panel concrete form using connectors which extend on each side of a joint in the foam panel concrete form and into complementary shaped openings in ties which hold two adjacent panels in a spaced and parallel relationship. The connector can slide into the openings in adjacent ties with little resistance in a first rotary position of the connector. When the connector is rotated to a second rotational position within the openings, the connector is positioned in the openings to help hold adjacent ties and the adjacent foam panels in a fixed relationship with respect to each other during a time when concrete is poured between the foam panels.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention providing a concrete form constructed of foam panels;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a connector made in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2a is a cross sectional view taken along line 2a-2a of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2b is a cross sectional view taken along line 2b-2b of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the connector shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the connector of FIGS. 2 and 3 in readiness to extend into an opening in a tie;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the connector of FIGS. 2 and 3 located in an opening in a tie;

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