Damping assembly for a construction

Abstract

A damping assembly includes a supporting base, a stainless steel layer having an arcuate slippery top face mating to the arcuate top face of the supporting base, a Teflon® layer movably seated on top of the arcuate slippery top face of the stainless steel layer, a supporting stainless steel layer placed on top of the Teflon® layer to force the Teflon® layer, a rubber pad provided on top of the supporting stainless steel layer providing necessary resilience, a confinement to confine the rubber pad when experiencing a load on the rubber pad and a top supporting plate for firm attachment to a bottom face of a main construction such that movement of the Teflon® layer offsets a shaking force and the rubber pad provides balance to the top supporting plate and absorbs vertical vibration force to protect the main construction from damage of an earthquake.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the damping assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the damping assembly of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross sectional view showing the relationship among elements of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view showing the Teflon® layer is securely received inside the supporting stainless steel layer;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view showing a different dimension of the Teflon® layer and how the supporting stainless steel layer is connected to the Teflon® layer;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a first conventional damping assembly with the top disk in dashed lines;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of a second conventional damping assembly; and

FIG. 8 is a schematically cross sectional view of a third conventional damping assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, it is noted that the damping assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention includes a supporting base (10), a stainless steel layer (20), a supporting Teflon® layer (30), a supporting stainless steel layer (40), a rubber pad (50), a confinement (60) and a top supporting plate (70).

The supporting base (10) is securely and firmly attached to a foundation of a construction or a top face of a construction element. The supporting base (10) has an arcuate top face (11) with the stainless steel layer (20) seated thereon. The top face of the stainless steel layer (20) is processed to become slippery such that the stainless steel layer (20) has a slippery top face (21). Because the stainless steel layer (20) is seated on top of the arcuate top face (11) of the supporting base (10) and is so thin that the slippery top face (21) is also configured as an arcuate slippery top face (21).

The Teflon® layer (30) is provided on the arcuate slippery top face (21) of the stainless steel layer (20) to provide a low coefficient medium. The supporting stainless steel layer (40) is provided on top of the Teflon® layer (30) and has a convex bottom face (41) corresponding to the arcuate slippery top face (21) such that after the supporting stainless steel layer (40) is placed on top of the Teflon® layer (30), the supporting stainless steel layer (40) forces the Teflon® layer (30) to deform to perfectly engage with the arcuate slippery top face (21) of the stainless steel layer (20).

The rubber pad (50) is placed on top of the supporting stainless steel layer (40) to provide resilience when a great load is applied thereon. The confinement (60) has a substantially circular configuration and defines a concavity in a bottom face of the confinement (60) to receive therein the rubber pad (50). The top supporting plate (70) is provided on top of the confinement (60).

From the above description, it is noted that there is no provision of particular fastening element to combine any two adjacent components of the present invention. However, any know method in the field would be easily adopted to accomplish the combination of two adjacent components.

With reference to FIG. 3 and still using FIG. 2 for reference, after the combination of the components of the present invention, it is to be noted that the stainless steel layer (20) is on top of the supporting base (10). The Teflon® layer (30) is movably mounted on top of the stainless steel layer (20). The supporting stainless steel layer (40) is on top of the Teflon® layer (30). The rubber pad (50) and the confinement (60) are sequentially placed on top of the supporting stainless steel layer (40). Lastly, the top supporting plate (70) is on top of the confinement (60).

From the depiction of FIG. 4, it is noted that the supporting stainless steel layer (40) has a recessed area with a peripheral edge of the recessed area formed into a wedge so that the Teflon® layer (30) is able to be securely received inside the recessed area of the supporting stainless steel layer (40).

FIG. 5 shows that the Teflon® layer (30) has a dimension larger that of the Teflon® layer (30) shown in FIG. 4. But still the function of the Teflon® layer (30) is the same.

After the assembly of the present invention, it is noted that when there is an earthquake and a bottom face of a main construction is firmly attached to a top face of the top supporting plate (70), vibration or shaking caused by the earthquake will move the main construction, which leads to the result that the main construction as well as the top supporting plate (70), the confinement (60), the rubber pad (50), the supporting stainless steel (40) and the Teflon® layer (30) is moved relative to the arcuate slippery top face (21) of the stainless steel layer (20).

Due to the arcuate configuration of the arcuate slippery top face (21) of the stainless steel layer (20) and the arcuate top face (11) of the supporting base (10), the main construction will eventually return to its original position where the main construction is initially designed to be located.

The rubber pad (50) provides necessary resilience when there is a large load or an uneven force acted upon the top supporting plate (70) so as to maintain the top supporting plate (70) balance. Also, when the foundation of the main construction is tilted or the construction element which is attached to the bottom of the supporting base (10) is tilted, the rubber pad (50) is able to maintain the balance of the top supporting plate (70), which protects the main construction from damage of the earthquake.

In addition to the advantages of the present invention, the damping assembly of the present invention is provided with a dustproof plate (71) which is provided to close a gap between the top supporting plate (70) and the supporting base (10) so as to prevent dust or any kind of pollutant from entering the damping assembly of the present invention.

From the above description, it is appreciated that the damping assembly of the present invention has the following advantages:

Large Load Bearing Capability

The damping assembly of the present invention has large load bearing capability and the overall structure experiences no deformation due to the provision of the confinement (60) which is preferably made of metal.

Dustproof

Because of the dustproof plate (70), the internal structure is free from influence of pollutants.

Good Damping Effect

Because of the arcuate slippery top face (21) of the stainless steel layer (20) and the Teflon® layer (30) movably mounted on top of the arcuate slippery top face (21), the vibration and/or shaking force to the main construction on top of the Teflon® layer (30) is easily damped away. That is, when the shock wave of the earthquake is a vertical type vibration (up and down pattern), the rubber pad (50) absorbs the vibration and no harm will do to the main construction. When the shock waver of the earthquake is a radial type vibration (right to left shaking), movement of the Teflon® layer (30) on top of the arcuate slippery top face (21) of the stainless steel layer (20) offsets the shaking force and the main construction is preserved from destruction.

Low cost for few elements employed and great balance.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

Claims

1. A damping assembly consisting essentially of: a supporting base having an arcuate top face;a stainless steel layer placed on top of the supporting base and having an arcuate slippery top face mating to the arcuate top face of the supporting base;a Teflon® layer movably seated on top of the arcuate slippery top face of the stainless steel layer;a supporting stainless steel layer placed on top of the Teflon® layer to force the Teflon® layer to complete engage with the arcuate slippery top face of the stainless steel layer;a rubber pad provided on top of the supporting stainless steel layer providing necessary resilience;a confinement mounted on top of the rubber pad to enclose the rubber pad so as to confine the rubber pad when experiencing a load on the rubber pad; anda top supporting plate placed on top of the confinement for firm attachment to a bottom face of a main construction such that movement of the Teflon® layer offsets a shaking force and the resilience of the rubber pad provides balance to the top supporting plate and absorbs vertical vibration force to protect the main construction from damage of an earthquake.

2. The damping assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the supporting stainless steel layer has a convex bottom face corresponding to the arcuate slippery top face of the stainless steel layer so that the Teflon® layer is forced to completely engage with the arcuate slippery top face of the stainless steel layer.

3. The damping assembly as claimed in claim 1 further having a dustproof plate enclosing a gap between the top supporting plate and the supporting base to prevent pollutants from entering the damping assembly.

4. The damping assembly as claimed in claim 2 further having a dustproof plate enclosing a gap between the top supporting plate and the supporting base to prevent pollutants from entering the damping assembly.