Anchor for foamed concrete

Abstract: An anchor (1) for foamed concrete which can connect a perforated block to a taller foamed concrete block (2) at their butt portions. The anchor (4) includes an anchor body (8) formed of two metal plates (6) having at tips thereof tapered portions and superposed one on the other so that the tapered portions face each other. The metal plates (6) have rear ends thereof fixed to each other, and a bendable member (9) having its front end fixed to the anchor body (8) near its rear end. To couple a perforated brick to a taller foamed concrete block (2), the bendable member (9) is bent, the anchor body (8) is driven into the foamed concrete block (2), and the bendable member (9) is pivoted back to the horizontal position to bury it in mortar applied to the top of the brick.

Description: This invention relates to an anchor for fixedly connecting a perforated brick to a foamed concrete block to build a house wall. There is known a house wall structure comprising an outer wall member and an inner wall member which are constructed by stacking foamed concrete blocks and perforated bricks, respectively. The outer wall of foamed concrete blocks and the inner wall of perforated bricks have to be fixed together at their butt portions. Conventional perforated bricks are sintered blocks about 25 cm high, 30 cm across and 60 cm long, with numerous holes formed extending from top to bottom. Foamed concrete blocks are of about the same size as perforated bricks. Thus, the top surface of each of stacked perforate bricks is at the same level as the top surface of each of stacked foamed concrete blocks. In order to couple the outer wall of foamed concrete blocks to the inner wall of perforated bricks, flat connecting plates are placed across the flush top surfaces of the perforated bricks and foamed concrete blocks so as to be buried in mortar applied between the vertically adjacent bricks and blocks. When the mortar hardens, the respective brick and block are fixed together at their butt portions. Although a perforated brick is of the same size as a foamed concrete block, the former is far heavier than the latter. Thus, there are many bricklayers who complain of backaches. To solve this problem, perforated bricks having a reduced weight by reducing their height from 25 cm to 20 cm are now widely used. When such new type lightweight bricks are stacked, their top surfaces cannot be flush with top surfaces of stacked foamed concrete blocks, so that they cannot be coupled together with conventional connecting plates. A known anchor for use with foamed concrete (WO-A-80/02185) comprises an anchor body formed of a pair of metal plates having tapered portions at tips of one end thereof and superposed one of the other so that the tapered portions face each other, said metal plates being fixed together at the other end thereof to provide a driving portion. Such an anchor can be driven into foamed concrete where the two metal plates are spread apart when the anchor is driven into foamed concrete, such securely holding the anchor. One embodiment is either determined to be an anchor which protrudes from the wall with holes and to which wires or other elements can be fixed (Figs. 4 and 5) or fixes an element in similar way as an ordinary nail (Figs. 7 - 9). This can not be used for the initially mentioned purposes. Another previously known anchor (US-A-2262130) comprises a nail which can be driven into a wooden wall. A flexible element can be bent and fixed between two layers of bricks with mortar. This element cannot be used to drive the nail into foamed concrete because the nail easily would become loose. An object of this invention is to provide an anchor for foamed concrete which can strongly and reliably connect a perforated block to a longer foamed concrete block at their butt portions. According to the invention, there is provided an anchor for use with foamed concrete comprising an anchor body formed of a pair of metal plates having tapered portions at tips at one end thereof and superposed one on the other so that said tapered portions face each other, said metal plates being fixed together at the other end thereof to provide a driving portion, characterized by an elongated metal sheet having one end thereof fixed to said other end of said anchor body with one side surface of said metal sheet superposed on and welded to an exposed side surface of one of said two metal plates, so that said metal sheet and said anchor body form a straight assembly, said metal sheet being made of a bendable material and formed with a plurality of holes. According to the invention, there is also provided an anchor for use with foamed concrete comprising an anchor body formed of a pair of metal plates having tapered portions at tips at one end thereof and superposed one on the other so that said tapered portions face each other, said metal plates being fixed together, characterized in that said anchor body is formed of a short metal plate and a front portion of a long metal plate superposed on said short metal plate having the other or rear end thereof fixed to said long metal plate to provide a driving portion, and a bendable portion formed of a rear portion of said long metal plate protruding rearwardly from the rear end of said short metal plate. As mentioned above, the two anchors of the state of the art cannot solve the object to strongly and reliably connect a foamed concrete block with perforated blocks. The inventive anchor body and the metal strip are coupled together by welding their side surfaces together in a face-to-face manner. The anchor thus extends substantially in a straight line before use. A plurality of such straight flat anchored can be stacked neatly one on another without taking up so much space, so that they are easy to store, transport and handle. When used, the metal sheet is bent. After the anchor body is driven into the foamed concrete, the metal strip is straightened. By the provision of holes in the metal, mortar enter the holes and hardens thus strongly binding the anchor. The metal plates of the anchor body may be fixedly connected together by spot welding. The bendable member, too, may be fixed to the anchor body by spot welding. The anchor body is driven into a foamed concrete block with the bendable portion bent by about 90° so that the driving portion protrudes rearwardly and by striking the rear end of the driving portion with a hammer. As the anchor body is driven into the concrete block, its metal plates will spread in the concrete, increasing the resistance to pulling force of the anchor body. Other features and objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1A is a plan view of an anchor; Fig. 1B is a side view thereof; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing how the anchor is driven into a foamed concrete block; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the foamed concrete block, the anchor completely driven into the concrete block, and a perforated brick; Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view of Fig. 3; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a bendable member as placed on the perforated brick; Fig. 6A is a plan view of another example of the anchor; and Fig. 6B is a side view thereof. An embodiment of this invention is described with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figs. 3 - 5, a perforated brick 1 and a foamed concrete block are coupled together by an anchor according to this invention. The perforated brick 1, about 20 cm high, 30 cm across and 60 cm long, is formed by sintering clay with numerous holes 3 formed extending from top to bottom. The foamed concrete block 2 is about 25 cm high, 30 cm across and 60 cm long. Referring to Figs. 1A, 1B, the anchor 4 includes an anchor body 8 comprising two metal strips 6 having at their tips tapered portions 5 facing each other and at rear ends driving portions 7 which are spot-welded or otherwise fixed together. A strip-shaped, metallic bendable member 9 is fixed to the rear end of the anchor body 8 so as to extend rearwardly from the body 8. The bendable member 9 is a metal strip having its front end superposed on and spot-welded to one of the metal strips 6 of the anchor body 8. Its portion protruding rearwardly from the rear end of the body 8 is shorter than the lateral dimension of the perforated brick 1. The bendable member 9 has cutouts 10 along both side edges at predetermined intervals, and is also formed with punched holes 11 at predetermined intervals along its longitudinal centerline. The cutouts 10 and the holes 11 serve to increase the bond strength between the bendable member 9 and mortar applied to the perforated brick 1. The cutouts 10 also make it easy to bend the bendable member 9. In order that the bendable member 9 can be bent at a right angle near the rear end of the anchor body 8, the frontmost pair of cutouts 10 are provided at the portion of the bendable member 9 superposed on the rear edge of the anchor body 8. In the illustrated example, the metal strips 6 of the anchor body 8 are slightly bent at portions near their rear ends so that their tips are pressed against each other. A marking 12 is provided on the anchor body 8 near its rear end to allow visual checking on how deep the anchor body 8 is driven into the foamed concrete block 2. As shown in Figs. 6A and 6B, an anchor of an alternate embodiment may include an anchor body comprising a long and a short metal strip having their tapered portions at the tips facing each other. The short metal strip has its rear end or driving portion spot-welded to the longer metal strip. The portion of the longer strip protruding from the rear end of the short strip is used as a bendable member in which are formed cutouts and holes similar to those shown in the figures. Now description is made on how to use the anchor according to this invention. In order to fix a foamed concrete block 2 to a perforated brick 1 at their butt portions during the step of constructing an inner wall and an outer wall by stacking the perforated bricks 1 and the foamed concrete blocks 2, respectively, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the bendable member 9 is bent at a right angle with respect to the anchor body 8 at its front portion superposed on the anchor body 8 so that the rear end or driving portion 7 of the anchor body 8 protrudes downwardly of the bendable member 9. In this state, with the anchor 4 placed on the perforated brick 1, the driving portion 7 of the anchor body 8 is struck with a hammer to drive the anchor body 8 into the foamed concrete block 2. While the anchor body 8 is being driven into the foamed concrete block 2, the metal strips 6 are moved away from each other guided by the tapered ends 5, as shown by solid lines in Fig. 4. Thus, when the anchor body 8 is driven in to the point where there is the marking 12, the resistance to pulling force increases to a sufficient level due to the spreading of the metal strips. As shown by solid lines in Fig. 4, when the anchor body 8 has been fully driven into the foamed concrete block 2, the vertically bent portion of the bendable member 9 is pivoted back to the horizontal position as shown by chain line in Fig. 4. In this state, mortar is applied to the top of the perforated brick 1, and another perforated brick 1 is placed thereon to bury the bendable member 9 in the mortar. When the mortar sets, the bendable member 9 is fixed to the perforated brick 1. The foamed concrete block 2 is thus fixed to the perforated brick 1 by the anchor 4. Every time a perforated brick 1 is stacked, the block 1 is coupled to a corresponding concrete block by an anchor of the invention. Thus, even though the perforated brick 1 and the foamed concrete block 2 are of different heights, they can be connected together by driving the anchor body 8 into the foamed concrete block 2 and embedding the bendable member 9 in mortar applied to the top of the perforated brick 1. As described above, according to the present invention, as the anchor body is driven into a foamed concrete block, its metal strips separate from each other. Thus, once completely driven in, the anchor strongly resists pulling forces.

Claims: An anchor (4) for use with foamed concrete comprising an anchor body (8) formed of a pair of metal plates (6) having tapered portions (5) at tips at one end thereof and superposed one on the other so that said tapered portions (5) face each other, said metal plates (6) being fixed together at the other end thereof to provide a driving portion (7), characterized by an elongated metal sheet (9) having one end thereof fixed to said other end of said anchor body (8) with one side surface of said metal sheet (9) superposed on and welded to an exposed side surface of one of said two metal plates (6), so that said metal sheet (9) and said anchor body (8) form a straight assembly, said metal sheet (9) being made of a bendable material and formed with a plurality of holes (11). An anchor (4) for use with foamed concrete comprising an anchor body (8) formed of a pair of metal plates (6) having tapered portions (5) at tips at one end thereof and superposed one on the other so that said tapered portions (5) face each other, said metal plates (6) being fixed together, characterized in that said anchor body (8) is formed of a short metal plate (6) and a front portion of a long metal plate (6) superposed on said short metal plate (6) said short metal plate having the other or rear end thereof fixed to said long metal plate (6) to provide a driving portion (7), and a bendable portion formed of a rear portion of said long metal plate (6) protruding rearwardly from the rear end of said short metal plate (6). An anchor as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said driving portion (7) of said anchor body (8) is adapted to protrude rearwardly from said bendable member (9) or portion when said bendable member (9) or portion is bent at an angle of about 90°. An anchor as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that said bendable member (9) or portion (6) is formed with a plurality of holes. An anchor as claimed in any of claims 1 - 4, characterized in that said bendable member (9) or portion is formed with a plurality of cutouts (10).

Inventors: WAKAI TAKAO, WAKAI, TAKAO, Wakai, Takao, c/o Wakai &amp; Co., Ltd.
Applicants: WAKAI SANGYO KK, WAKAI & CO., LTD.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: E04B1
IPC codes: F16B15, E04B1