Patent Application
20240068250
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The disclosure relates to adjustable braces and more particularly pertains to a new adjustable brace for aligning a structural member.
The prior art relates to adjustable braces which use turnbuckles to align structural members during assembly of a structure. Several devices in the prior art utilize turnbuckles or similarly threaded rods to adjust the angle of a structural member. The most pertinent device in the prior art is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,853,163. This patent discloses a rod threaded in opposite directions on opposite ends so that rotating the rod a first direction separates a pair of brackets and rotating the rod a second direction brings the brackets closer together. The brackets include holes for fastening to a stationary surface using screws or nails and other holes for securing the brackets to the ground via stakes. Finally, the '163 patent also discloses means for attaching the brackets to differently sized beams for use in in a variety of circumstances including the alignment of differently sized structural members.
Crucially, however, the '163 patent does not disclose a turnbuckle-style mechanism which is pivotably coupled to the brackets on either end of the turnbuckle. Pivoting connections provide advantages in the use of turnbuckle-style mechanisms for alignment of structural members, including the capacity for fine adjustment of the placement of the device during use and the ability for elements of the device to shift relative to the structural member. If the device cannot shift relative to the structural member during alignment, the device can produce unwanted stresses on the structural member which cause deflections in the structural member and can lead to inaccurate alignments.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a turnbuckle coupling a base anchor to a beam attachment member. The turnbuckle is pivotably coupled to each of the base anchor and the beam attachment member. The beam attachment member is configured for attaching to a beam and aligning a structural member by engaging a top end of the structural member with the beam and rotating a body of the turnbuckle to translate the beam toward or away from the base anchor.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A turnbuckle 32 has an anchor end fitting 34, a beam end fitting 36, and a body 38. Each of the anchor end fitting 34 and the beam end fitting 36 has a clevis portion 40 and a threaded rod portion 42, wherein the threaded rod portions 42 of each of the anchor end fitting 34 and the beam end fitting 36 is threaded in opposite directions to each other. The body 38 is operationally coupled to each of the threaded rod portion 42 of the anchor end fitting 34 and the threaded rod portion 42 of the beam end fitting 36 such that the beam end fitting 36 translates away from the anchor end fitting 34 when the body 38 rotates a first direction and the beam end fitting 36 translates toward the anchor end fitting 34 when the body 38 rotates a second direction opposite from the first direction. The clevis portion 40 of the anchor end fitting 34 is pivotably coupled to the base anchor 12 proximate one of the ends 14 of the base anchor 12. The base anchor 12 extends away from the top surface 18 of the base, and the beam end fitting 36 is pivotable toward and away from the base anchor 12.
A beam attachment member 44 is pivotably coupled to the clevis portion 40 of the beam 64 end fitting 36 of the turnbuckle 32. The beam attachment member 44 has a distal end 46 relative to the turnbuckle 32 which is pivotable toward and away from the turnbuckle 32. The beam attachment member 44 has a first portion 48 and a second portion 50. The first portion 48 has a pair of ends 52 and has a pair of lateral sides 54 extending between the pair of ends 52 of the first portion 48. The first portion 48 has a first surface 56 and a second surface 58, each of which extends between the pair of ends 52 of the first portion 48 and between the pair of lateral sides 54 of the first portion 48. The beam 64 end fitting 36 of the turnbuckle 32 is coupled to the first surface 56 of the first portion 48 proximate one of the pair of ends 52 of the first portion 48. The second portion 50 is coupled to one of the pair of lateral sides 54 of the first portion 48 and extends perpendicularly from the first surface 56 of the first portion 48. The second portion 50 has a first surface 60 abutting the first surface 56 of the first portion 48 and a second surface 62 opposite the first surface.
The beam attachment member 44 is configured for coupling to a beam 64 such that the beam 64 abuts the first surface 56 of the first portion 48 and the first surface 60 of the second portion 50. The beam attachment member 44 is configured for aligning a structural member 66 by coupling to the beam 64 while the beam 64 engages a top end 68 of the structural member 66 and rotating the body 38 of the turnbuckle 32, thereby moving the top end 68 of the structural member 66. A plurality of beam fasteners 70 is insertable through the beam attachment member 44 and is configured for coupling the beam attachment member 44 to the beam 64 by inserting through each of the beam fastener 70 member and the beam 64. The plurality of beam fasteners 70 includes a pair of portions, each of which is insertable through an associated one of each of the first portion 48 of the beam attachment member 44 and the second portion 50 of the beam attachment member 44.
In use, the base anchor 12 is coupled to the stationary member 28 via the plurality of anchor fasteners or coupled to the ground surface via the stake. The beam attachment member 44 is coupled to the beam 64 via the plurality of beam fasteners 70 and aligned to engage with the top end 68 of the structural member 66. The turnbuckle 32 is then rotated to translate the beam 64 end fitting 36 away from or toward the anchor end fitting 34, thereby moving the top end 68 of the structural member 66 and aligning the structural member 66 as desired. For large structural member 66s which experience warping along the extent of the top end 68, multiples of the device 10 can be used simultaneously to align the whole of the structural member 66.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
