There are some odd usages of language in the art of concrete and creating holes or apertures in a section of concrete. This process is sometimes referred to as drilling, but more likely to be referred to as “coring”, where a cylindrical drill bit is spun into a concrete surface, and the core or the center of the concrete is eventually displaced and knocked out. The resulting hole or aperture can be quite useful.
This “coring” process is typically achieved by drilling use a “core bit”, which is hollow and not shaped like a conventional drill bit. The core bit, or cylindrical bit, does not create a “hole” it instead creates a cylindrical cut into the concrete. This cylindrical cut has a “core” or center that is then knocked out or chiseled out in some way. The result is a carefully-sized hole in the concrete having a desired diameter and depth.
An additional semantic problem is that the word “core” can be either a noun or verb. The same problem exists with the word “coring”. Further, there exists an element known as a “quick-connect”. Within this disclosure, the expression “quick-connect” should also be read to include “quick-disconnect”.
This disclosure will try to address language-usage using the simplest mechanisms possible, and try to avoid ambiguity.
In working with concrete-based structures, it is sometimes necessary to carve out cylindrical holes (cores) from a section of concrete or other material. This comprises drilling a circular outline through the entire concrete, and then later poking out or breaking out the cylindrical core. In working with concrete structures, a conventional coring process goes straight up and down, but one has to mount the device doing the coring process. This means mounting the machine to the floor that is being “cored”, including putting anchor bolts down and bolting it down to the floor. Alternately, if doing horizontal-coring into a wall that's straight up and down vertical, one must do the anchoring with horizontal anchor bolts.
There exist conventional devices coring that bore underground into dirt and softer compositions like that, but not into concrete. Also, these conventional devices may not produce an accurate core or hole. Also, the cylindrical bit can get overheated, so that a water-supply can be necessary, and this is not always available.
Further, conventional coring systems require anchoring to the ground in order for the coring device to work properly and not drift off in its own way. Conventional coring systems (core drills) may also require taking the shaft and bit away from the mast, flipping the whole thing over, and feeding it back down at the mast.
Consequently, an improved mechanism for achieving a coring process through construction surfaces is desired.
The speed selector 128 controls the speed of rotation of the drillshaft 120 and cylindrical bit 124. The drillshaft 120 and hydraulic motor 112 are reversible, and have a transmission and strain detection modules, including wireless connection Bluetooth for notifying users of various events e.g. getting stuck, overheating, or resolving other problems that require manual intervention.
The plurality of quick-connect ports 1481-n are located at strategic points within the system 100. The quick-connect ports 1481-n can be employed if advantageous to use hydraulic power, air, or water from an external source outside the system 100. This way, the system 100 can provide self-air and self-water, where suitable. Within this disclosure, the expression “quick-connect” should also be read to include “quick-disconnect”.
Specifically, the water tank 152 can optionally have the water pump 144 built into it, thus comprising a self-contained water supply. The water tank 152 can also be either permanently affixed to a frame of the system 100, or be removable. For convenience, various drawings show the water pump 144 external to a chassis 160 for the water tank 152, but optimally the water pump 144 would be concealed and protected within the chassis 160. However, in a streamlined version of the system 100, an external water supply can also be accommodated as will be shown in more detail herein. Thus, depending on usage and distance requirements, the water tank 152 might be optional. The optional battery pack 144 allows the water pump to work by itself without requiring power from the skid-steer 604.
Another embodiment exists with a smaller chassis without the water tank 152, or existing chassis with water tank 152 removable. Regarding the water tank 152, the chassis 160 could be built from plastic or could be built from stainless steel, for durability. The water tank 152 can come out (removable) and it can be replaced if broken.
The water pump 144 is shown visible in
The rotating brace 156 is an important feature, and enables a huge number of multi-directional drilling (coring) options.
The degree-rotator 304 and locking hinge 164 can comprise various mechanisms of latching, gearing mechanisms, gear drives and hydraulic gear drives. It is possible to make tolerance as tight as needed, using e.g. a gear drive. One can make the tolerances lesser by implementing a hydraulic gear or a crank gear or other resource. A receptacle 168 exists to help the mast 132 stay in place during transport. The degree-rotator 304 and locking hinge 164 sit inside the protective receptable 168 and help the mast 132 lock into a selected position.
The degree-rotator 304 allows the operator to rotate the mast 132 up to 180 degrees around the axis 854 (see
In the concrete coring industry, the ability to pivot at e.g. 22, 45, or 90 degrees is, by itself, an advantage. However, the degree-rotator 304 permits even finer granularity of adjustments. Although the drawings herein do not show every position, that should not be considered limiting.
The system 100 further comprises an electric power-cell that reduces need for hydraulic power from skid-steer 604.
The degree-rotator 304 is one of numerous items that distinguishes the system 100. The degree-rotator 304 provides an ability to lay down the mast 132 to a horizontal position and rotate the head 180 degrees. Even if any conventional version (e.g.
Regarding the relationship between the skid-steer 604 and the system 100, the attachment plate 608 is standard for almost all usages of the system 100. As suggested within
The system 100 shown in
Most concrete coring is done on concrete that is 4″ to 12″ deep. To accommodate this, the cylindrical bit 124 can be 14″ in length and cuts a bore (core) up to 13″ before bottoming out. The cylindrical holes in concrete that are created by the system 100 might be filled with e.g. fence-posts, round studs or framing for a building-structure, pipe, PVC, plumbing, drains, or electrical wiring (using e.g. conduit or panduit). In a preferred embodiment, the usage will be for electrical or plumbing that requires a hole through a concrete slab. However, other usages exist, such that the embodiment herein should not be considered limiting.
Coring on an angle is used when access to an opposite side of a concrete slab may not be available. Further, conventional coring mechanisms (e.g.
Another example usage might be where the concrete is directly above a worker, such as in concrete parking garages. These are typically built with no access holes for plumbing or electrical, and have very low clearance heights. To address this, the system 100 has substantial overhead ability which gives a contractor a huge advantage for finding access to core a hole without having to drill and mount anything to the overhead surface. Further, having a coring (cylinder) removed typically does not weaken a concrete structure. Round holes are extremely strong and when done correctly, can actually strengthen the surface being cored.
In an embodiment, the cylindrical bit 124 is diamond impregnated on its teeth 125 at the bottom of the cylindrical bit 124. These teeth 125 make the cylindrical bit 124 capable of drilling through just about anything, including concrete and also through any rebar used in forming the concrete structure.
The system 100 can be loaded into the bed of a truck. Contractors can rotate the cylindrical bit 124 up off the ground, and then move it into the bed of the truck. Or they can hook the cylindrical bit 124 around at some other convenient angle, and set it back down in the bed of the truck.
As stated, a conventional coring mechanism is shown in
If a contractor wants to drill horizontally, that's where conventional coring devices just can't go, not without complex mounting. Instead, it is necessary to bolt it up to the wall and pull horizontal and then cover the unsightly holes drilled after completion. Perhaps two hours labor is consumed. The embodiments herein completely eliminate that two hours.
An embodiment adds Bluetooth and mobile app to the hydraulic motor 112, to the water tank 152 and potentially other elements, to provide e.g. heat detection and/or other mechanical failure detection. This arrangement can prevent problems and breakaways, but notifying a user the motor 112 or other part of the system 100 is overheating or straining.
Also a lower-level version of the mobile app exists for users doing simpler tasks that do not want or do not need complex notification-GUIs. Thus the mobile app is configurable, not merely a “one GUI fits all” type of user-interface. The system 100 should be simple to use, where many tasks do not require high expertise. The GUI for that version might be a more simplified and limited scope GUI. However, other more advanced usages may have a completely different set of GUI menus.
It is possible to connect a Bluetooth setup\sensor to the system 100 for detecting passage of fluids using e.g. a Bernoulli sensor, whether hydraulic fluid or water fluid.
An embodiment exists in which an owner can be always notified of exact location of a system 100. If somebody steals it or removes it, such an event is recoverable. Anytime the system 100 is moving, its GPS can be active and notifying an on-site or remote user of the position of the system 100, using the mobile app.
More and more construction managers are offsite; thus they are unsure if their employees are screwing off or not, and may need some kind of productivity measurement. One question might be whether the system 100 actively touching concrete in some way, preferably the cylindrical bit 124. Such an embodiment could be used to determine that employees are not cheating. Using the mobile app within the system 100, construction site managers may sit in the office and track all the equipment out there in the site, even with supervisor not present and they can assess what the workers are doing even from hundreds of miles away.
The mobile app can display whether the hydraulic motor 112 is going forward or reverse by a Bluetooth arrangement attached thereto, which is polled by the mobile app. The mobile app can notify someone of problems e.g. “yes, it's going forward” or “yes, it's going in reverse”, or other activity. The boss at the office knows they're operating. Report it all to a GUI on the mobile app.
As shown in
Another enhancement is a mounted guidance laser. Such a laser emerges from the system 100, and helps guide a user to exactly where to locate the cylindrical bit 124. The laser also provides a plumb-bob service, showing relationship to earth parallel with the surface of the earth, or perpendicular. This feature can insure the core-task achieves true verticality, true horizontality, or provide authentication in case on uneven ground or angled surfaces, etc.
In some cases, a user might ignore the fact that a coring might not be a hundred percent horizontal. If a user is pulling the system 100 up to a target, let's say they marked the spot on the wall with a pencil. Using the laser, one can drive the system 100 where that mark is located. That user can get closer to the target being cored, not going back and forth, not struggling and shifting the entire heavy machine around. The siting/locating can maybe work using sight-lines e.g. ordinary eyesight. But such eyeball-siting could take longer, or it could be slightly off.
Another feature is shown in
A user can bolt down the system 100 to be assured of anchoring to a specific horizontal level. That is, be assured it's level enough to do a hole concrete. When users set down the system 100 on the three pads 504, the system 100 becomes ready to start coring.
Moving on to building parking garages, when they pour the concrete for those garages, they might not create access holes for electrical ports. However, later these might be considered valuable. So let's say they need a hundred holes cored out. A conventional system (
Using mounting brackets on the body of the system 100, it is possible to locate poles 808 to hold the system 100 and prevent shifting around and moving.
The above discussed stabilizer bars 812 are shown in a vertical context. However, it is possible to use stabilizer bars 812 in horizontal context also. As shown in
As shown in
As stated,
A standard cylindrical bit 124 is 13 inches long. As such, one can only drill in 13 inches and then be bottomed out. Now let's say a 24 inch section of concrete is needed to be cored out. If so, drill it out, but that centerpiece the “core” (noun) is still in there. If so, using the wedge 404 (
Another convenient feature of the system 100 is shown in
Let's assume that a residential basement needs a wood burning heater which means an exit port must be cored from existing concrete. A skid-steer 604 can't fit in a basement space. Plus, the exit hole make a mess everywhere. Further, this task will need water to manage the nasty dust created by indoor-usage of the system 100 and especially the cylindrical bit 124. The
Setting aside basements, now consider a narrow hallway. This is why its convenient to rotate the drillshaft 120. Now consider going into a school hallway; one can't turn it around 90 degrees in a school hallway. Instead, pivot at the rotating brace 156 and then extend the hydraulic hoses 104/108.
Typically, the system 100 will be heavy and difficult to move by hand, hence the skid-steer 604. However, including cranks with wheels would be helpful, where users could crank up and wheel the system 100 around. Assume there was a job in a residential house. Could go inside, push the system 100 through the door, get it in the house and set it up and be ready to do coring inside. No contractor can get a skid-steer inside a house. Instead, leave the skid-steer 604 outside, and use extension-hydraulic hoses 104/108 and pass them from outside to inside as shown in
It is also possible to roll in the system 100 e.g. on a dolly and set it down on the pads 504 and bring up a couple extension hoses sitting outside like in
It is important to note that at first, it may seem like the physical force-vectors on the mast 132 and drill-shaft 120 would be enormous. But they are not. The actual drilling, the force is provided by the hydraulic motor 112 and the cylindrical bit 124 such that the mechanical forces on the system 100 are minimal. This is something many even knowledgeable concrete workers are not aware of. The embodiments herein overcome this fallacy by properly managing weight, by being adaptable, being customizable, and by utilizing modernized construction components to that did not previously exist even 10 years ago.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. It is not intended that the invention be limited by the specific examples provided within the specification. While the invention has been described with reference to the aforementioned specification, the descriptions and illustrations of the embodiments herein are not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Numerous variations, changes, and substitutions will now occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Furthermore, it shall be understood that all aspects of the invention are not limited to the specific depictions, configurations, or relative proportions set forth herein which depend upon a variety of conditions and variables. It should be understood that various alternatives to the embodiments of the invention described herein may be employed in practicing the invention. It is therefore contemplated that the invention shall also cover any such alternatives, modifications, variations, or equivalents. It is intended that the following claims define the scope of the invention and that methods and structures within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby.
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4099579 | Stormon | Jul 1978 | A |
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10279508 | Thornton | May 2019 | B1 |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20240247546 A1 | Jul 2024 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63440702 | Jan 2023 | US |