Cast-in-Place Pipe Recess for Offset Compensation in Concrete
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The integration of pipes and attachments within concrete structures often results in positional offsets due to uncertainties in wall placement during floor slab construction, leading to aesthetically and functionally suboptimal installations.
Innovation Solution
An attachment piece is cast into the concrete with a recess that allows for a larger diameter than the pipe, enabling the pipe to be routed at an angle and compensating for offsets by using pipe bends, and the attachment piece is designed as a hollow body for easier removal and reduced waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the pipe is cast directly into the concrete without an attachment piece, then the structural integration is simple, but positional offsets cannot be compensated and aesthetic appeal deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment piece is pre-installed on the pipe before casting into the concrete, creating a prepared interface that allows for subsequent adjustments. This preliminary positioning enables offset compensation while maintaining structural integration, resolving the contradiction between manufacturing precision and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The attachment piece acts as an intermediary element between the pipe and the concrete structure. It provides a transition zone that accommodates positional offsets and enables aesthetic finishes, thereby improving manufacturing precision without significantly increasing overall device complexity.
2Ease of operation
If a solid attachment piece is used and removed after concreting, then the recess can be accessed, but fire hazards increase due to traditional removal methods
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment piece utilizes phase transition of dry ice (solid to gas) for removal. By introducing heat, the solid dry ice transforms into carbon dioxide gas, allowing complete removal without leaving residues and eliminating fire hazards associated with traditional mechanical removal methods. This resolves the contradiction between ease of operation and harmful factors.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces mechanical removal methods (which pose fire hazards) with thermal phase transition. The dry ice sublimation process provides a safe, residue-free removal mechanism that eliminates fire risks while maintaining ease of operation for accessing the recess.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the attachment piece diameter is only slightly larger than the pipe, then the structural integration is tight, but offset compensation capability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment piece extends beyond the pipe diameter in the radial dimension, creating a recess space that allows for angular and positional adjustments. This dimensional extension provides offset compensation capability while the longitudinal embedding in concrete maintains structural integration strength, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and strength.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
The setting piece (21) e.g. hollow body, is made by casting with initially flowable and solidifying material. The setting piece is set on an end of a conduit (3) to freely provide the solidified material on a side surface of a wall element (2) or a floor element (1) and limit an opening (22), where diameter of the opening is greater by 50 percent than external diameter of the conduit. The end of the conduit is spaced at distance to the side surface of the wall- or floor elements. An outer wall of the setting piece is provided with a portion of the opening with flowable material. Independent claims are also included for the following: (1) a wall- or floor element (2) a method for structurally integrating a conduit in a wall- or floor element.