Watertight seal connection for prefabricated building panel seams

Claim 1

A watertight seal connection for precast concrete structural panels comprising a pair of such panels disposed in aligned confronting relationship, said panels each having an exposed surface portion and an adjacent confronting surface portion provided with an elongated recess spaced from said exposed surface portion; one of said recesses including an elongated locking channel embedded therein having a trough facing the recess in the other confronting panel; a one-piece sealing strip supportably positioned between the channel and the recess of the other confronting panel along the length of the confronting surface portions thereof, said sealing strip including a central body portion traversing the trough, a flexible and deformable fluid barrier integral with the central body portion and comprising a hollow cylinder extending axially along the length of the strip and a ribbon-like spline extending from the central body portion toward and into the recess of the other confronting panel for deformably sealing the joint between the exposed surface portions of the panels as the panels are assembled in juxtaposed relationship and an anchoring member depending from the central body portion of the strip and extending into the trough, said anchoring member including locking ribs for lockable retention of the strip to the channel; a post-tensioning rod extending through the panels and securing them in overlying relationship; and dry-packed mortar disposed between the overlying panels; the sealing strip confinably restraining flow of the mortar toward the exposed surface portions of the panel.