Abstract Casting a unitized bottle-shaped module having no seams or unsecured junctures is provided by forming a shell-shaped casting void between a conventional, external shell mold and a similarly shaped flexible baglike inner form carried on an elongate support member. A plurality of trammeling tie wires of discrete lengths joins the bag and the support member to limit the degree and manner of extension of the flexible bag as fluids fill its interior. The bag, performed according to the inner dimensions of a bottle-shaped module, provides an inner surface for mold and is equal-distantly spaced from the inside of the outer form. As a casting material, e.g., concrete in poured into the casting void, water and/or pressurized air is passed to the bag''s interior to provide a sufficiently strong retaining wall capable of counteracting the lateral force produced by the casting material before it hardens. After the concrete hardens, removal of the fluid from the interior of the bag allows its collapse, and the support member, tie wires, and bag are withdrawn from the cast module. Thusly, a unitized cast flotation module is provided having no seams, lines of joinder, or similar areas structurally weaker than the remainder of the casting.
An apparatus for constructing a unitized elongate concrete casting having an upper opening comprising: means defining a removable external shell configured to define the external dimensions of a bottle-shaped cavity communicating with said upper opening; means for providing an opposing surface being equal-distantly spaced from the inner wall of said external shell including; a rigid elongate support member extending through said upper opening and coaxially disposed in said bottle-shaped cavity, a flexible collapsible envelope configured to provide said opposing surface and have the dimensions to define the internal dimensions of said bottle-shaped cavity when flooded with a fluid, and a plurality of sets of tie wires joining said flexible envelope to said support member ensuring the equal-distant spacing and internal dimensions of said bottle-shaped cavity, said sets being connected along said support member to orient the individual wires in a perpendicularly supporting attitude with respect to said envelope; and means for fluidly flooding and evacuating said flexible envelope, upon flooding, forming a bottle-shaped cavity mold between the flexible envelope and said external shell for receiving poured concrete, upon the hardening thereof, permitting the evacuation of said flexible envelope to permit its collapse and the withdrawal of the providing means through said upper opening and the removal of said shell from said unitized elongate concrete casting.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
215 words
An apparatus for constructing a unitized elongate concrete casting having an upper opening comprising: means defining a removable external shell configured to define the external dimensions of a bottle-shaped cavity communicating with said upper opening; means for providing an opposing surface being equal-distantly spaced from the inner wall of said external shell including; a rigid elongate support member extending through said upper opening and coaxially disposed in said bottle-shaped cavity, a flexible collapsible envelope configured to provide said opposing surface and have the dimensions to define the internal dimensions of said bottle-shaped cavity when flooded with a fluid, and a plurality of sets of tie wires joining said flexible envelope to said support member ensuring the equal-distant spacing and internal dimensions of said bottle-shaped cavity, said sets being connected along said support member to orient the individual wires in a perpendicularly supporting attitude with respect to said envelope; and means for fluidly flooding and evacuating said flexible envelope, upon flooding, forming a bottle-shaped cavity mold between the flexible envelope and said external shell for receiving poured concrete, upon the hardening thereof, permitting the evacuation of said flexible envelope to permit its collapse and the withdrawal of the providing means through said upper opening and the removal of said shell from said unitized elongate concrete casting.