CA1174023A - Removable floor slab - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A removable floor slab or panel is formed of a metal box the bottom of which has stamped prints and which is provided with a filling of a material which has been fed in a liquid state and allowed to subsequently harden, such as a "micro-concrete".
The slab may be used to make double or raised floors intended for administrative and commercial offices, rooms for computers and the like.

Description

1~7~23 FIELD OF THE INVENTION:

The present invention relates to removable floor slabs which generally are supported by means of jacks or pedestals in order to make double floors for administrative and commercial offices, for rooms intended for computers, and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:

In the present specification and claims and in the absence of further precision, the term "metal plate" whenever used should be understood to mean a sheet or plate of steel, sheet iron or the like.

There presently exist removable floor slabs made of:
a) wood or agglomerated wood (multilayered) with or without a metal plate cover.

Despite such cover, these slabs remain easily ignitable: their combustion develops high heating values while evolving poisonous smoke, and,moreover wooden slabs are very sensitive to moisture and aging.

b) steel-plates: these plates, even when covered with a carpet, have a very strong resonance and do not satisfy the acoustical requirements of some rooms;
and c) concrete (reinforced or not): their weight causes them to be very difficult to handle by reason of the dimensions intended for that kind of slabs (60 x 60 cm).

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~7~(~23 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention has for its purpose to permit the manufacture of floor slabs which do not have the above-depicted draw backs and possess all of the qualities needed regarding acoustics, handling, inflammability and even cost.

In order to achieve this purpose, a removable floor slab according to this invention is characterized in that it is formed of a metal box the bottom of which has stamped prints and which is provided with a filling of a material which has been fed in a liquid state and allowed to subsequently harden or set.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the invention, two embodi-ments thereof are described hereinafter by way of example referring to the accompanying drawings in which:

- Figure 1 is a perspective view of slab made according to the invention with some parts being cut out; and - Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of a modified embodiment thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The slab of panel shown in Figure 1 comprises a box formed of an upper flat plate 10 and a bottom stiffening plate 11 proYided with stamped prints or indentations 18.

Both plates are connected to one another by butt-welding at their periphery 12.

According to the invention, the hollow space formed bet-ween the two plates is filled with a material 13 which has been fed in a liquid state and has been allowed to set within the slab ~174~23 of steel plate, sheet iron plate or the like.

The filler material generally is fed by in~ection.

One thus may obtain a slab which may be considered as a new article, the qualities of which are based upon a compromise among all qualities required in practice and never present toget-her in already know slabs.

The filling for example may consist of a micro-concrete the composition of which is such that the slab has a sufficient mass or weight without it becoming too heavy for handling and such that it has an appropriate resonance.

In a purely exemplary way, experience has shown that the following composition provides satisfactory results:
- 100 1 of water - 0,5 to 2 1 of an emulsifying product based on casein and lime - 35 to 65 kg of quick-setting cement (P 500) - fine sand in amount as desired.

Depending on the dosage of the different ingredients, one may obtain a filling product having a density varying between 350 and 1800 kg/m3.

Another example of slab embodiment is shown in Figure 2.

The slab consists of a box formed of a stamped bottom plate 14 filled with a material 15, the surface of which is made smooth on a level with a fold or flang 16 at the upper edge of the side wall of the plate.

The assembly may be covered with a carpet 17.

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~7~323 According to this embodiment, without upper closure or cover plate, the mechanical properties of the filler material 15 obviously must be better than those previously in use.

According to this embodiment, a suitable filling may be of cement concrete reinforced with glass fibers known as "G R C"
(Glass Reinforced Concrete).

According to each of the embodiments:

Thanks to the favourable effect of the mixed steel-concrete combination one may contemplate, as regards strength, reducing the quality and/or thickness of steel, sheet iron or similar plates for use.

Particularly for the embodiment of Figure 1, the flat plate 10 presently used is of superior quality and the thickness of the plates is relatively great causing the cost price to be relatively high, which can be lowered by applying the invention.

The slabs made according to the present invention have the following advantageous properties simultaneously together:
- resistance to moisture - sound-proofing against impact noises - fire-proofing - no sensitiveness to aging - high thermal insulating value - smaller sag at the edges and at the central point of the slab under pin-point or distributed load - markedly improved resistance to punching of the upper face.

It should be understood that many modifications may be brought by one skilled in the art -to the above described device, the description of which has been effected by way of a non-limiting example without going out of the limits of the invention.

Claims (8)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A process for the production of a raised floor panel from a metal box comprising a bottom plate having stamped prints and an upper flat plate which method comprises injecting into the space defined by the upper plate and the bottom a concrete the composition of which comprises only water, cement, sand and an emulsifying agent.

2. A process according to Claim 1 consisting in re-inforcing the concrete by means of fibers.

3. A process according to Claim 2 characterized in that the reinforcement takes place by means of glass fibers.

4. A process for the production of a raised floor panel from a metal box comprising a bottom plate having stamped prints which method comprises filling the box with a concrete the composition of which comprises only water, cement, sand and an emulsifying agent and rendering smooth on a level corresponding to a flat fold of the metal plate and providing the upper face of the concrete after hardening with a carpet.

5. A removable floor panel, comprising a) a generally rectangular box member having side walls and a bottom wall defining a chamber, said box member being formed of a metal sheet, said bottom wall having a stamped indentation configuration; and b) concrete filler material initially deposited within said chamber by injection, said concrete filler material subsequently hardening to provide a generally planar support surface corresponding with the height of said side wall, said concrete filler material comprising cement, sand, water, and an emulsifying agent, whereby a combined metal and foam concrete panel is formed.

6. A floor panel as defined in Claim 5, wherein said box further includes a planar top wall formed of a metal sheet and connected with the upper edges of said side walls.

7. A floor panel as defined in Claim 5, wherein the upper edge of said box member side walls comprises a generally horizontal flange portion and further comprising a layer of carpet material connected with said flange portion, said concrete filler material supporting said carpet layer.

8. A floor panel as defined in Claim 7, wherein said concrete filler material further includes glass fibers.