The field of the present invention is hardware for supporting utility conduit and pipe in a structure.
A wide variety of hardware has been employed for the support and retention of utility pipe and conduit in building applications. Examples of such hardware are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,010,697; 7,523,895; 7,140,579; 4,019,705, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. In commercial structures, it is typical for utility conduits and pipes to be located in the plenum above the ceiling on each floor. Such conduits and pipes are hung and stabilized from an upper deck at the top of the plenum. Decks are often constructed of a corrugated metal plate with lightweight or normal weight concrete poured on top of the plate. Alternatively, removable forms with ridges and flutes may replace such corrugated metal plates. The flutes in the resulting deck under-surface reduce the amount and weight of concrete needed to generate the deck. Such decks with ridges and flutes are illustrated in
Mounting brackets to support utility hangers and sway braces, collectively referred to herein as utilities supports, can be problematic with such fluted surfaces. An anchor for a bracket may be placed within a flute if the thickness of the concrete above the corrugated steel is sufficiently thick. In the flute, access may be difficult and the concrete thickness may not be known. Alternatively, anchors for a bracket may be placed on a ridge between flutes. There are appropriate limitations as to maximum offsets from the centerline of such a ridge for attaching utilities supports. One-eighth inch has been recommended. Care must be taken in any such mountings.
The present invention is directed to a bracket for utilities supports suspended below a fluted deck under-surface. The bracket includes a bracket plate having a length which is greater than the known pitch of the fluted deck. Attachment holes for attaching the plate to the underside of the deck are spaced apart by the known pitch of the fluted deck such that the attachment holes can be centered on adjacent ridges of the corrugation. A mount is provided for utilities attachment. One or more flute keys are located on the plate and extends perpendicular to the bracket plate. The sides of each flute key are sized to fit closely within the deck flute to place the attachment holes within tolerance on the associated ridges. Using such a key within a flute on the underside of a deck aligns the attachment holes centrally on adjacent ridges of the deck.
The cross-sectional contours of the deck flutes and ridges are frequently trapezoidal. In a further aspect of the present invention, the sides of such flute keys may be tapered away from the plate toward one another about a symmetrical centerline with the symmetrical centerline equally spaced from the attachment holes on the underside of a deck. With this geometry, each flute key is again positioned within a flute thereby aligning the attachment holes centrally on adjacent ridges of the deck. In structures, the large scale can make anomalies within tolerance significant on small components such as brackets. With a tapered flute key in slight incidental interference with the nominal tapered flute angle or width, the bracket plate can be drawn snug against the ridges of the deck by anchors to create a tight fit between the flute key and the flute structure. The flute key including tapered sides fitting closely within the flute of a deck resists lateral forces from a utilities support, such as induced by an earthquake. The flute key, rather than more vulnerable anchors, thus can bear such loads against the sides of the flute channel.
It is intended that the one or more flute keys be integrally formed or structurally rigid with the bracket plate. A rigid flute key provides added structure to the plate between the attachment holes, rigidifying the position of the mount. Further, the top of the flute key need not rise fully to reach the full depth of the flute. By having the flute key fit closely within the width of the known flute contour but not extend fully into the flute, the distal end of the flute key cannot interfere with the flute key engaging the sidewalls of the flute.
In another aspect of the present invention, a mounting bar may additionally be included with the plate which extends from the plate away from the overlying deck. The mounting bar may therefore have horizontal holes to receive fasteners retaining depending hangers and the like. Additional mounting holes may be provided as they need not be limited by the width of the associated flute. The orientation of the vertical mount at the bracket plate results in any fastener operating in tension. With horizontal holes in a depending mount, fasteners will operate in sheer to support depending hardware.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved bracket for use with corrugated decking. Other and further objects and advantages will appear hereinafter.
Turning in detail to the Figures, a first embodiment of the bracket is illustrated in
The decks 16 to which the bracket plate 10 is contemplated to be attached are created by pouring concrete over a corrugated metal plate 18 or over removable forms to construct a fluted concrete layer 20. The corrugated metal plates 18 typically come in standard sizes with known uniform corrugations. Even with nonstandard removable forms which may be used in a large structure, a large quantity of brackets would likely be required and could be fabricated for the nonstandard but known pitches and flute contours on the under-side surfaces of the formed decks. As such, the pitch of the corrugations is known; and appropriate brackets can be selected or fabricated. The attachment holes 12 are spaced apart by that known pitch associated with the deck 16 defined by the corrugations or forms.
As can be seen in
A flute key 28 is on the bracket plate 10. This flute key 28 may be integrally formed with the plate 10 or otherwise associated therewith such as through welding. The flute key 28 is conveniently located along the edge of the bracket plate 10 and may extend perpendicular thereto. The flute key 28 includes two sides 30, 32 which are tapered away from the plate 10 toward one another. The sides 30, 32 are spaced apart by less than the known pitch and angled such that they fit closely in the width contour within the known flute 26 when the bracket is positioned against the underside of the deck 16. The flute key 28 is shorter than the full depth of the known flute 26 to insure that the distal end of the flute key 28 does not interfere with the positioning of the bracket.
It is preferred that the sides 30, 32 of the flute key 28 fit snuggly within the width contour of the flute 26 when the plate 10 is drawn tight against the metal plate 18 or concrete so that the sides 30, 32 can sustain lateral forces imposed on the bracket by hardware hung therefrom. The flute key 28 may be thought of as having a symmetrical centerline extending vertically in the plane of the key 28 with the sides tapering symmetrically. Further, the flute key 28 is arranged such that the symmetrical centerline is equally spaced from the attachment holes 12. The flute key 28 then positions the bracket plate 10 so that the attachment holes 12 are properly positioned and centered on the ridges 24 for attachment by anchors 22. The presence of the flute key 28 as attached to the bracket plate 10 further strengthens the bracket plate 10 against bending under load between the anchors 22.
A second embodiment of the bracket is illustrated in
A further embodiment is illustrated in
Thus, an improved bracket for utilities hangers depending from fluted decks is disclosed. While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art that many more modifications are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The invention, therefore is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2161782 | Flower | Jun 1939 | A |
4019705 | Habuda, Sr. et al. | Apr 1977 | A |
4197687 | Benoit | Apr 1980 | A |
4335557 | Morton | Jun 1982 | A |
4894967 | Morton | Jan 1990 | A |
6058668 | Herren | May 2000 | A |
7140579 | Kirschner | Nov 2006 | B2 |
7523895 | Kirschner | Apr 2009 | B1 |
7871045 | Moore | Jan 2011 | B2 |
8074412 | Gogan | Dec 2011 | B1 |
9010697 | Kirschner | Apr 2015 | B1 |
20070283643 | Surowiecki | Dec 2007 | A1 |
20110185656 | Klein | Aug 2011 | A1 |