Patent ID: 7954291

Claim:
A composite article of manufacture for constructing floors comprising: an expanded plastic body having at least two parallel channels open on an upper face and extending for the whole length of the article, adapted to receive a pourable concrete mix; a metal reinforcement fabric in each of said channels, comprising at least two reinforcement bars connected by at least an order of cross bar spacers at intervals along the length of the article, at least part of said cross bar spacers, extending beyond the lower reinforcement bar of the metal fabric for constituting a plurality of spaced spikes of length sufficient to pass through the expanded plastic bottom of the channel for sustaining in a stable position said metal reinforcement fabric and emerge from the underside surface of the expanded plastic body; one or more stiffening sheet metal shrouds with either one or at least two rows of aligned holes at said intervals, for engaging with and connecting to the ends of said spikes by fastening caps that close the respective hole.