Ideal Work patent.

Ideal Work construction joint: “The joint that slides”
IDEAL WORK has the solution for performing the perfect construction joint that has addressed all the previously mentioned construction joint issues. IDEAL JOINT SYSTEM® has been carefully designed and developed to offer engineers, specifiers and contactors the most innovative construction joint in the flooring industry today. 

The IDEAL JOINT SYSTEM® will distribute load transfer evenly allowing horizontal, and lateral movement between each independent section of the slab-on-grade.

How It Works.

IDEAL JOINT SYSTEM® makes something really complicated very easy. A fixed dowel bar system does not allow any bidirectional movement of adjacent slabs-on-grade (Figures 17a & 17b). The patented PVC connector plays several roles in the IDEAL JOINT SYSTEM®. First, the PVC screw connector is the assembly element for the two independent steel forms separating the actual slabs-on-grade. Secondly, it is a guide for the dowel bar to slide comfortably through the metal forms into the PVC oval shaped dowel sleeve protector. Once the concrete has hardened the hydration and early concrete stresses will snap the external connection frame of the PVC guide, leaving the joint free for movement (Figures 14a & 14b). Once the horizontal, vertical and lateral movement begins the internal connection framework of the PVC connector will collapse, allowing total independent movement (Figures 15a & 15b).

Why PVC?
To find a workable balance between structural requirements and simple installation, many concepts were considered.
It was necessary to make the installation simple and with as few stages on the job site as possible to reduce the risk of making forgetful mistakes (See the table listing other methods). Most other methods are hand crafted and simple steps, like making a construction joint, can be easily forgotten or ignored. 95% of the IDEAL JOINT SYSTEM® is pre-manufactured and ready for simple placement on the job site. The actual installation is the further 5%; placing the dowel bars and one simple PVC screw.

Correct placement of steel mesh or welded steel.
To solve the problem of the steel mesh being positioned incorrectly the IDEAL JOINT SYSTEM® has integrated fixed brackets for the steel mesh to be placed on (Figure 18). The integrated fixed brackets are exactly positioned one third from the top of the IDEAL JOINT SYSTEM® to ensure the steel mesh is correctly placed.

IDEAL JOINT SYSTEM® has a full technical specification written by engineer ROBERTO TROLI from ENC Lab (The Laboratory approved by the Ministry of Public Works and certified by the Ministry of the Universities and Research in Science and Technology)
and technical documentation written by RENZO AICARDI, former member of the Executive Board CON.PAV.I. (Italian Association of Industrial Floors) and now technical manager of ENCOPER (National Agency of Manufacturing Pavements and Coatings).

Application fields.
IDEAL JOINT SYSTEM® is specially designed to withstand continual use from heavy traffic such as forklift trucks with wheels that are highly destructive to incorrectly formed construction joints. Main fields of application:
- Distribution centers
- Shopping Centres
- Logistics
- Exhibition Halls
- Industrial floors
- Heavy Industries
- Airports
- Docks

Underfloor heating.
IDEAL JOINT SYSTEM® can also be used for floors that require radiant or under floor heating systems (Figure 19).

Exterior flooring.
External construction joints have different requirements to internal construction joints. Exposure to a wider range of temperatures and other weather related issues such as rain, snow and ice need to be considered when specifying construction joints. High temperatures cause slabs-on-grade to expand; if the construction joint has not been correctly designed to allow for this excessive movement then spalling and cracking may appear (Figures 20b & 20c).

IDEAL JOINT SYSTEM® offers the flooring engineer a simple solution to allow for excessive thermal heat expansion, simply by adding extra isolation foam between the two independent steel forms (4mm isolation foam to 12mm isolation foam) (Figure 20a). Another consideration for external use is the galvanised option on the steel forms for optimal protection against frost and winter slat erosion (Galvanized steel forms not dowel bars).