Abstract:
An insert is provided for an ICF which increases the insulation provided by the ICF. This adapts the ICF for use in buildings subject to harsher environments. The insert may have a protuberanced face which abuts an inner face of one of the ICF panels. The protuberances may be configured so that water penetrating the wall of ICFs is channeled down and out of the wall.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    This invention relates to an insert for an insulated concrete form (ICF) and to an ICF with an insert. 
         [0002]    ICFs are used in the construction of buildings. An ICF typically has a pair of opposed expanded foam panels joined by ties, where each tie terminates at either end in a head embedded in one of the panels. The top and bottom walls of the opposed panels of an ICF may have features that allow the ICF to be interlocked with ICFs above and below it. In use, ICFs are stacked to form walls. Concrete may then be poured into the cavity between the opposed panels of the stacked ICFs. An exterior finish may be applied directly to the outer face of the wall and drywall, or another wall finishing material, may be joined to the inner face of the wall. In this regard, the embedded heads of the ties of the ICFs may be configured so that they give a purchase to fasteners used to join the wall finishing material to the ICFs. 
         [0003]    It may be apparent that ICFs save considerable labour in constructing a building as compared with a more traditional approach of setting up a wall form, pouring concrete into the form, removing the form, constructing a frame for the resulting concrete wall, adding insulation and affixing wall finishings to the frame. 
         [0004]    Despite these advantages, because ICFs are mass produced, they may not be suited to all climates. Further, with ICFs, it may be costly to provide for drainage. In this regard, when applying a stucco finish on a wall formed of ICFs, it is known to first adhere a layer of rectangular foam blocks to the exterior of the ICF wall which blocks have grooves or channels along their back face to provide drainage. The stucco is applied to the front face of these blocks. This approach is time consuming and adds significantly to the cost of the construction project. Therefore, there is a need for improvements. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    An insert is provided for an ICF which increases the insulation provided by the ICF. This adapts the ICF for use in buildings subject to harsher environments. The insert may have a face with low relief protuberances and this face may abut an inner face of one of the ICF panels. The protuberances may be configured to assist in channeling water penetrating the wall of ICFs down and out of the wall. 
         [0006]    According to an embodiment, there is provided an insert for an insulated concrete form, comprising an expanded foam panel having a plurality of parallel slots extending from a bottom wall of said panel toward a top wall of said panel, each slot extending to a front face of said panel and to a back face of said panel, each slot extending a majority of a distance between said bottom wall and said top wall of said panel, said slots spaced and sized to receive ties between opposed panels of an insulated concrete form such that said panel may be inserted between said opposed panels. 
         [0007]    In another aspect, there is provided an insulated concrete form comprising an expanded foam first panel; an expanded foam second panel opposite said first panel; a plurality of ties extending between said first panel and said second panel, each tie having a first head embedded in said first panel and a second head embedded in said second panel; an expanded foam insert panel having a plurality of parallel slots extending from a bottom wall of said insert panel toward a top wall of said insert panel, each slot extending to a front face of said insert panel and to a back face of said insert panel, each slot extending a majority of a distance between said bottom wall and said top wall of said insert panel, said insert panel inserted between said first panel and said second panel with each slot of said insert panel receiving one of said ties and a front face of said insert panel lying adjacent an inside face of said first panel. 
         [0008]    Other features and advantages will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with the drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    In the drawings which illustrate example embodiments, 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  is a partially cut away perspective view of a known ICF, 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of an example insert for an ICF, such as the ICF of  FIG. 1 , 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a front view of the insert of  FIG. 2 , 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a rear perspective view of the insert of  FIG. 2 , 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a partially cut away rear perspective view of the insert of  FIG. 2  installed in the ICF of  FIG. 1 , 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a partially cut away front perspective view of  FIG. 5 , 
           [0016]      FIGS. 7A and 7B  are each a schematic view of a portion of a wall of ICFs constructed using the inserts of  FIG. 2 , 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is a front perspective view of another example insert for an ICF, 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is a rear perspective view of the insert of  FIG. 9 , 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  is a front view of the insert of  FIG. 8 , 
           [0020]      FIG. 11  is a front perspective view of another example an insert for an ICF, 
           [0021]      FIG. 12  is a rear perspective view of the insert of  FIG. 11 , and 
           [0022]      FIG. 13  is a front view of the insert of  FIG. 11 . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
       [0023]    Turning to  FIG. 1 , an ICF  50  has a first expanded foam panel  52  and a second expanded foam panel  54  joined in spaced relation by ties  56 . Panel  52  has an inside wall  57 . Each tie  56  has a central web portion  58  and terminates at either end in a head  60 . The head  60  at one end of each tie is embedded in the first panel  52  and the head  60  at the opposite end of each tie is embedded in the second panel  54 . A plurality of buttons  62  project above the top wall  61  of the panels  52 ,  54 . Buttons  62  can interlock with recesses (not shown) of a like ICF stacked on ICF  50 . 
         [0024]    Turning to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , an insert panel  100  that may be used with ICF  50  is fabricated of expanded foam and has a plurality of parallel slots  110  extending from a bottom wall  112  of the panel toward a top wall  114  of the panel. Each slot extends completely through the panel: from the front face  116  of the panel to the back face  118  of the panel. Each slot has a lengthwise extent, L, which extends the majority of the distance, D, between the bottom and top walls of the panel. 
         [0025]    The top wall  114  of the panel has a chamfered edge  115  at the front face  116  of the panel. 
         [0026]    The front face  116  of the panel has a series of low relief protuberances  120  that extend from the bottom wall  112  to the top wall  114  of the insert panel  100 . Each slot  110  extends along one protuberance  120  partially bisecting the protuberance. Each protuberance is shaped as an upper substantially circular portion  122  extending from top wall  114  and a lower substantially circular portion  124  extending from bottom wall  112 , joined by a narrow neck  126 . In view of the shape of the protuberances, it will be apparent that each protuberance, proximate top wall  114 , is radiused. 
         [0027]    The length and width of the insert panel  100  is chosen to match the length and width of the panels of the ICF with which the insert is designed to be used. The width of the slots  110  is chosen so that the slots will fit over the webs of the ties of the ICF with which the insert is designed to be used. The insert panel  100  may have a thickness at the protuberances of about 2″ (about 5 cm), with the protuberances  120  standing proud of the balance of the front face  116  of the insert panel by about 0.4″ (about 1 cm), although other dimensions may be chosen as required. 
         [0028]    With reference to  FIG. 4 , the back face  118  of insert  100  is free of protuberances and, indeed, apart from slots  110 , is featureless. 
         [0029]    In use, referencing  FIGS. 5 and 6 , insert  100  is inserted between the panels  52 ,  54  of the ICF  50  against the inside face  57  ( FIG. 1 ) of panel  52  of the ICF so that the slots  110  of the insert receive the webs  58  of the ties  56  of the ICF. The insert is pushed down until its top wall  112  aligns with the top wall  61  of panel  62 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . In this regard, the length of the slots  110  of the insert  100  is chosen so as to allow the insert to be pushed down to this extent. 
         [0030]    Because of the protuberances  120  on the front face  116  of the insert, with the insert against the inside face  57  of panel  52 , the non-protuberanced portions of the front face  116  of the insert stand off from the inside face  57  of the ICF panel  52 . 
         [0031]    ICFs  50  with inserts  100  may be used in constructing a building in substantially the same manner as with known ICFs. However, the ICFs with inserts should be oriented so that panel  52  of each ICF, against which the insert  100  lies, is the outside panel of the ICF. With this orientation, as will be explained, the ICFs with inserts can reduce the prospect of water damage. 
         [0032]    ICFs  50  with insert panels  100  may be stacked to form a wall  130 .  FIG. 7A  illustrates an example wall  130  with a window frame  132  and insert panels  100   a,    100   b,  and  100   c.  Even once wall  130  is finished, this frame provides a point of ingress for water from the outside. However, should water penetrate below the window frame  132  past the outer panel of the ICF containing insert  100   a,  as illustrated by water path W, this water will be channeled downwardly in the spaces formed between the protuberances  120  of the insert  100   a  of the ICF to the insert  100   b  of the ICF directly below, and so on, to the bottom of the wall where a gap may be provided to allow the water to leave the wall. In this regard, the chamfered edge  115  of the top wall of each insert panel  100  assists in ensuring water does not become trapped in the joints between panels. To further assist in this regard, optionally, the bottom wall of each insert panel may also have a chamfered edge (not shown). 
         [0033]    There may be situations where the protuberances of one course of the wall are not aligned with the protuberances of the next course of the wall. However, because the protuberances, proximate the top wall of each insert, are radiused, even with mis-aligned protuberances, the inserts will channel water to the bottom of the wall. This is illustrated in  FIG. 7B  where water from window frame  132 ′ of wall  130 ′ is, channeled along path W′ down insert  100   d  and insert  100   e,  despite the mis-alignment of the protuberances between these two inserts. 
         [0034]    By channeling water out of the ICF, the inserts reduce the prospect of water being retained within the wall and possibly damaging the wall through repeated freezing and melting cycles. 
         [0035]      FIGS. 8 to 10  illustrate a second embodiment for the inserts. Turning to  FIGS. 8 to 10 , like insert  100  of  FIGS. 2 to 4 , insert  200  has a plurality of parallel slots  210  extending from a bottom wall  212  of the panel toward a top wall  214  of the panel. However, the protuberances  220  on the front face  216  of insert  200  have a different shape: they are long narrow rectangles extending from the bottom wall  212  to the top wall  214  of the insert panel  200 . As with insert panel  100 , each slot  110  extends along one protuberance  220  partially bisecting the protuberance. The back face  218  of insert  200  is indistinguishable from the back face of insert  100 . 
         [0036]    Insert  200  functions in the same manner as insert  100 . Thus, a wall of ICFs with inserts  200  will channel water that penetrates the ICFs down and out of the wall. Because the protuberances  220  are narrow, if there is misalignment of the protuberances between courses of the wall, it is unlikely the misalignments will result in any water being retained in the wall at the top of the protuberances. 
         [0037]      FIGS. 11 to 13  illustrate a third embodiment for the inserts. Turning to  FIGS. 11 to 13 , like insert  200  of  FIGS. 8 to 10 , insert  300  has a plurality of parallel slots  310  extending from a bottom wall  312  of the panel toward a top wall  314  of the panel and a plurality of protuberances  320  which are rectangular in shape and extend from the bottom wall  312  to the top wall  314  of the insert panel  300 . Also as with insert panel  200 , with insert panel  300 , each slot  310  extends along one protuberance  320  partially bisecting the protuberance. The back face  318  of insert  300  is indistinguishable from the back face of insert  200 . However, the protuberances  320  of inserts  300  are wider than those of inserts  200 . Nevertheless, insert  300  functions in substantially the same manner as insert  200 . 
         [0038]    Because the back faces of the inserts lack protuberances, concrete poured into a wall formed of the ICFs with inserts will tightly pack against the back faces of the inserts with less risk of lacunae formation. 
         [0039]    In each of the example inserts, the slots are located within the protuberances, where the panel is thickest. This results in a stronger panel than one where the slots are spaced from the protuberances. Further, by locating the slots within the protuberances, water is not channeled into the slots where there may be a risk some water could be trapped by the ties. Nevertheless, inserts where the slots are partially within the protuberances, or spaced from the protuberances, may still assist in reducing the prospect of water damage. 
         [0040]    The inserts, in addition to channeling water out of the wall, increase the insulation provided by the wall (i.e., they increase the R-value of the wall). Notably, even if the front face of the inserts lacked protuberances, the inserts would provide a manner of increasing the insulation provided by the wall. Thus, in some embodiments, inserts could be provided with front faces that lack protuberances and are therefore the same as the back face of inserts  100 ,  200 , and  300 . 
         [0041]    The dimensions of the inserts can be adjusted to adapt the inserts for use with different ICFs. 
         [0042]    Although three different shaped protuberances have been described, it will be apparent that insert panels may be provided with other protuberance shapes, sizes, and patterns and still assist in channeling water out from ICFs provided with such insert panels. 
         [0043]    The described insert panels can be formed by blow molding foam beads into an appropriately shaped mold with steam to fuse the beads. Alternatively, the inserts may be formed by wire cutting rectangular foam blocks. 
         [0044]    Other features and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art and, therefore, the invention is defined in the claims.