Resilient Brackets for Concrete Form Boards
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing concrete form systems face difficulties in vertical adjustment of concrete form boards without removing nails, and the reuse and cost-effectiveness of stakes are limited due to nail hole clogging and stake material limitations.
Innovation Solution
A concrete form system utilizing C-shaped brackets that secure concrete form boards to stakes without nails, allowing for vertical adjustment and featuring interlocking end brackets for angle formation and flexible sections for curved edges, using resilient materials for secure holding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If nails are used to secure stakes to concrete form boards, then the stakes are firmly attached to the boards, but vertical adjustment of the boards becomes difficult without removing the nails
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket is divided into separate components: a C-shaped main body that wraps around the form board and a stake receiving portion that engages with the stake. This segmentation allows the bracket to maintain firm attachment while enabling vertical adjustment by releasing and repositioning the stake portion.
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket incorporates resilient or flexible materials that allow dynamic adjustment. The resilient nature of the bracket enables it to flex during installation and adjustment, then maintain a secure, firm attachment once positioned, resolving the contradiction between firm attachment and adjustability.
2Reliability
If metal stakes with nail holes are reused multiple times, then cost is reduced, but the holes become filled with hardened concrete making subsequent use difficult or impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the fastening function from the stake itself by introducing separate brackets that wrap around the form board and engage with the stake. This removes the need for nail holes in the stake, allowing stakes to be reused without concrete filling the holes, thus maintaining both reusability and functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The bracket acts as an intermediary component between the stake and the form board. Instead of directly fastening the stake to the board through nail holes, the bracket mediates this connection, allowing the stake to remain intact and reusable while still achieving secure attachment.
3Quantity of substance
If wood stakes are used to reduce cost, then material cost decreases, but the stakes have a limited number of times they can have nails driven into them before they split
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the fastening system into separate brackets and stakes, the invention eliminates the need to drive nails into the wooden stake repeatedly. The bracket provides the fastening function, allowing the wooden stake to be reused multiple times without splitting, thus maintaining both low cost and high durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the fastening function from the stake material itself and places it in the separate bracket component. This allows inexpensive wooden stakes to be reused many times without the limitation of nail hole accumulation, resolving the contradiction between material cost and stake durability.
4Stability of the object's composition
If concrete form boards are securely attached to stakes, then form stability is improved, but vertical adjustment requires removing and reattaching the entire stake
Solution Approach 1:
The bracket is segmented into a form board engagement portion and a stake engagement portion. This allows the bracket to remain attached to the form board while the stake portion can be independently released and repositioned, enabling vertical adjustment without removing the entire stake and reducing adjustment time while maintaining form stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient bracket allows dynamic adjustment by flexing during the adjustment process. The form board remains securely held by the bracket while the stake engagement portion can be released and repositioned vertically, then re-engaged to maintain stability, thus reducing adjustment time without compromising form stability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables easy vertical adjustment of concrete form boards, enhances reusability, and reduces costs by eliminating the need for nails and minimizing stake damage, while allowing for varied angles and curved formations.
Implementation Method 1
The resilient nature of the brackets allows the concrete form board to be biased against the stake so as to securely hold the concrete form board in place relative to the stake.
Data Source
AI summary
A concrete form system includes a plurality of concrete form board brackets. The plurality of brackets includes brackets for securing the concrete form board to a conventional type metal or wood concrete form stake without the need for nails. The plurality of brackets also includes concrete form board end brackets for securing the ends of adjacent concrete form boards together that allows for a range of angles to be formed between two adjacent concrete form boards from zero degrees to more than 180 degrees. The present invention also includes flexible sections of concrete forms configured to be coupled to the brackets that allow for forming curved concrete edges.