Patent Publication Number: US-6910672-B2

Title: Corner assembly

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/354,671, filed Feb. 5, 2002. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention generally relates to construction forms for pouring concrete and, more particularly, to wall forms having corners. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Form assemblies for pouring concrete walls, and brick seats are well known. Typically, a form assembly includes a pair of forms spaced apart and linked by form ties. Liquid concrete is poured between the forms and allowed to cure or harden, thereby forming a concrete wall. The thickness of the concrete walls can be adjusted by the selection and utilization of form ties of appropriate length. Typical forms are constructed of plywood, steel or aluminum and are stripped from the concrete wall after the concrete has cured. 
   Typically, prefabricated form components are used in the construction of a form assembly. Generally, it is understood by those skilled in the art that the size of the form component used to construct form assemblies vary depending on the application for which the form assembly will be used. 
   In conventional concrete wall construction, the form assembly is assembled at a job site. These form assemblies are often custom-built from wooden studs sheathed with plywood for one-time use. Advantageously, on larger construction sites, reusable mobile form assemblies are used, typically ganged together and shifted as the height and length of the concrete wall is increased. 
   When the structure wall is irregular to present an inside corner, the form assembly to define that inside corner is often complex but more importantly, it is frequently difficult to remove the construction form from the inside corner. In other words, after the structure wall is self supporting where the construction form can be removed, the corner assembly of the form frequently has an interference fit, thereby making it difficult to remove the construction form from the structure wall. In particular, the forces created at an inside corner of a form, such as when pouring a concrete wall having a pier or a column, may be significant, thereby causing the removal of the corner assembly from the structure to be time consuming and labor intensive. In addition, constructing a structure having an inside corner generally requires several components configured together in order to achieve the desired configuration of the structure. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION AND ADVANTAGES 
   The subject invention provides a corner assembly for a construction form. The assembly includes an outer wall and an inner wall spaced from the outer wall. An intermediate wall extends between the outer wall and the inner wall and defines an inside corner at the juncture thereof with the intermediate wall. The intermediate wall also defines an outside corner at the juncture thereof with the inner wall. Portions of the intermediate wall and the inner wall define a corner assembly separable from the outer and inner walls to allow the outer and inner walls to be removed from a female corner in a formed construction wall formed therein without removing the corner assembly from the acute female corner of the construction wall. 
   The corner assembly of the present invention enables a construction form to remain intact and be easily removed from a structure formed therein having the female corner, thereby substantially reducing labor, time and materials required to erect, remove, and re-erect the construction form. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     Other advantages of the present invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is an exploded perspective view of a construction form utilizing the corner assembly of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the construction form assembly of  FIG. 1  with cement being poured thereto; 
       FIG. 3  is a top view of the construction form of  FIG. 1  thereunto showing two corner assemblies of the subject invention facing in opposite directions; 
       FIG. 4  is a fragmenting top view of construction form similar to  FIG. 1  but showing two facing corner assemblies of the subject invention; and 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the construction form of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, a construction form is generally shown at  10  and includes the corner assembly of the subject invention, generally indicated at  12 . 
   The construction form  10  includes an outer wall  14  and an inner wall  16  that is parallel to and spaced apart from the outer wall  14 . An intermediate wall  18  extends between the outer wall  14  and the inner wall  16  to define an inside corner  20  at the juncture of the intermediate wall  18  and the outer wall  14 . The intermediate wall  18  may extend perpendicularly from the outer wall  14  or any other suitable angle. The intermediate wall  18  also defines an outside corner  22  at the juncture of the intermediate wall  18  and the inner wall  16 . The intermediate wall  18  extends from the inside corner  20  at the outer wall  14  to the outside corner  22  at the inner wall  16 . The outer wall  14  may be integrally formed with the inner wall  16  or the outer and inner walls  14 ,  16  may be built separately and mounted together. 
   Portions of the intermediate wall  18  and the inner wall  16  define the corner assembly  12  which is separable from the outer and inner walls  14 ,  16  along a diagonal interface  24 . Also that portion of the inner wall  16  defining the corner assembly  12  is equal in length to the entire length of the intermediate wall  18 ; however, it is to be understood that the length of the portion of the inner wall  16  defining the corner assembly  12  may be equal to, longer or shorter than that portion of the intermediate wall  18  defining the corner assembly  12 . The corner assembly  12  is independent from and separates from the inner and outer walls  16 ,  14  along the diagonal interface  24  extending between the intermediate wall  18  at the inside corner  20  and the inner wall  16 . In other words, the diagonal interface  24  is disposed at a forty-five degree angle and consumes all of the intermediate wall  18 , as shown, but may be at different angles to vary the length of the relative portions of the intermediate  18  and inner walls  16  which define each corner assembly  12 . Although the corner assembly  12  includes the entire intermediate wall  18  from the inside corner  20  at the outer wall  14  to the outside corner  22  at the inner wall  16 , it will be appreciated that only a portion of the intermediate wall  18  need be included in the corner assembly  12 , i.e., the diagonal interface  24  would be spaced from the inside corner  20 . The corner assembly  12 , may be integrally formed with either one of the inner or outer walls  16 ,  14  or both. Moreover, the corner assembly  12  may be removably mounted to either one of the inner and outer walls  16 ,  14  or both. 
   The assembly  10  includes a lost motion device comprising a plurality of fasteners  30  interconnecting each corner assembly  12  and the outer wall  14 . The fasteners  30  may include a plurality of threaded bolts, screws, and nuts or the like. Each fastener  30  is disposed through the rear of the outer wall  14  so as to be accessible therefrom. The fastener  30  extends through the interface  24  and into the associated corner assembly  12 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , concrete is poured into the construction form  10  to form a concrete wall  28  having an acute female corner  26 , as formed and defined by the corner assembly  12 . Each fastener  30  interconnects a corner assembly  12  and the outer wall  14  such that the corner assembly  12  may be removed from being wedged into the acute female corner  26  of the concrete wall  28  after the outer wall  14  is disconnected via the fasteners  30  from the corner assembly  12 . As will be appreciated, the lost motion device  30  may be a slideable member or any other suitable type of quick disconnect (not shown) interconnecting the walls  14 ,  16  and each corner assembly  12 . 
   During the fabrication of the construction form  10 , the fasteners  30  are tightened to hold each corner assembly  12  and the inner and outer walls  16 ,  14  together. Once the concrete wall  28  is set, the fasteners  30  are loosened to allow the corner assemblies  12  to remain wedged in the acute corner  26  of the concrete wall  28  thereby permitting the outer and inner walls  14 ,  16  to be pulled away. Once the outer  14  and inner  16  walls are free and spaced from the concrete wall  28 , the corner assembly  12  is free to move in any direction within the acute angle of the acute corner  26  in the concrete wall  28 . 
   In the arrangement of  FIGS. 1-3 , the corner assemblies  12  are disposed at opposite ends of the inner wall  16 , i.e., the corner assemblies  12  face away from one another. In the arrangement of  FIG. 4 , a pair of corner assemblies  12  are spaced from one another and are mirror images of one another. In yet another arrangement as shown in  FIG. 5 , corner assemblies  12  are disposed on the construction form  10  with a complimentary corner component  34  so as to define a recess in the concrete wall. The corner assemblies  12  of  FIG. 5  may be placed on the custom corner components  34  and are connected thereto with the lost motion fastener  30 . 
   The outer  14  and inner  16  walls are structurally part of a form wall, generally indicated at  38 , comprising horizontally extending backing boards or plywood sheets  40  and vertically extending stringers  42 . Horizontal planks or channels  45  extend between the boards  40  and the outer  14  and inner  16  walls. In the arrangement of  FIGS. 1-3 , two such form walls  38  are parallel and spaced from one another to define a space for receiving concrete and forming the concrete wall  28 . The ends of the form walls  38  are interconnected by end walls  44 . The arrangement of  FIGS. 4 and 5  differ by utilizing only one form wall  38  with the corner assemblies  12  attached thereto and a plain back wall  46 . The corner assembly  12 , the outer and inner walls  14 ,  16  and the intermediate wall  18  and/or the entire form wall  38  may comprise wood, steel, plastic or any other suitable material. A tie  48  is disposed between the spaced form walls  38  to hold the construction form  10  together. The back wall  46  is spaced from the outer  14  and inner  16  walls to define a forming cavity therebetween. However, as shown in  FIGS. 1-3 , instead of a plain back wall  46  two form walls  38  may be spaced apart to define cavities by the outer  14  and inner  16  walls facing one another. In either case, ties  48  having first and second ends are disposed between one of the inner  16  and outer  14  walls and the back wall  46  or like form wall  38  to retain the spaced walls. A tie  48  is disposed between the spaced form walls  38  to hold the construction form  10  together. 
   Once the construction form  10  is fabricated, the concrete or other structural material is disposed in the cavity against the inside of the walls  14 ,  16 ,  18  to form a structure wall  28 . The structural material may be liquid concrete, bricks or any other suitable material. As the structural material is introduced into the construction form  10  and cures to form the structure wall  28 , a wedging force is exerted on the corner assemblies  12  which inhibits removal of the corner assemblies  12 . Accordingly, the fasteners  30  are loosened which allows the outer  14  and inner  16  walls to be moved a slack distance from each corner assembly  12  leaving the corner assembly  12  wedged into the acute angle  26  of the formed concrete wall  28 . With the inner  14  and outer  16  walls spaced from the corner assembly  12 , the corner assembly  12  may be moved in any direction radially within the acute angle of the acute corner  26  for easy removal. 
   The invention has been described in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology that has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than limitation. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described within the scope of the amended claims.