Patent Grant
10024051
The present invention relates to an embedded concrete anchor and strap system for use with a concrete structure.
Embedded concrete anchors and straps are used as anchor points for moving, placing, mounting, as well as attachment points for various post installation assemblies.
As concrete is being poured, various reinforcement means, i.e. rebar, mesh, fibers, etc., can typically be used to strengthen the concrete structure. Concrete anchors can be embedded into the concrete which, after curing of the concrete, can allow for attachment of various assemblies into the anchors so as to facilitate the desired function. For example, threaded nuts or hooks can be embedded into the concrete and upon curing and setting of the concrete can then become immobile and allow for interfacing with the anchor, such as threading a corresponding threaded rod into the embedded nut, or attaching a strap or hoist onto the hook. In addition, the concrete anchor system can include a strap which can interface with the anchor and can be used to attach to the concrete structure and maintain the position of the concrete slab position within the concrete structure after placement. In some embodiments, the straps can be disconnected from final exposed surface so as to leave a relatively smooth or clean final surface. In other embodiments, the straps can remain connected to the final system for the purpose of a permanent connection between a particular concrete slab and an adjacent structural system. Additionally, presently available adjustable placement anchors have historically provided lower strength because they rely on the strength of the insert itself rather than on the structural integrity of the concrete slab along with any reinforcement structures. In this manner, the capacity of the anchor will increase as the insert becomes longer and thus is embedded deeper into the concrete from the top surface.
Contemplated herein is an adjustable location concrete anchor or strap system with increased strength having wide versatility regarding the types of straps or attachments which are usable therewith. The adjustable concrete anchor system includes an extended body embeddable within a concrete slab, the extended body having a slot portion having a predetermined depth and one or more flange portions extending radially outwardly from the slot portion; a sliding insert having a connection portion extending along the depth of the slot portion, the sliding insert also having one or more flange portions corresponding in shape to the one or more flange portions of the of the extended body; and one or more end caps configured to seal opposing ends of the extended body.
In some embodiments, the adjustable concrete anchor system can have a sliding insert having a connection portion and a flange portion which are formed unitarily. Or alternatively, the connection portion and the flange portion of the sliding insert can be formed separately and connected prior to insertion, such as being threaded or bonded together prior to insertion into the extended body. In such a case the flange portion can be provided with a male threaded portion corresponding to a lower female threaded portion of the connection portion.
In yet additional embodiments the adjustable concrete anchor system can include a plurality of grooves or notches on a contact surface of the sliding insert, and a corresponding set of grooves or notches on an opposing surface of the flange portions of the extended body.
It will be appreciated that the sliding insert can include various anchoring means, however, in the embodiments shown herein the sliding insert includes female threads disposed about an interior portion or inner surface of the connection portion for receiving a male threaded screw, bolt, stud, strap, etc.
In some additional embodiments one or more reinforcement attachment means can be provided on an exterior surface of the extended body between the one or more flange portions and the slot portion, or the one or more reinforcement attachment means can be provided on an exterior surface of the end caps, or the one or more reinforcement means can be provided on opposing edges of one or more end cap. In this way, the reinforcement attachment means can be configured to interface with internal support or reinforcement structures embedded within the concrete, the most readily understood example of such being rebar.
In each of these embodiments the extended body can be injection molded, extruded, or machined in any suitable manner so as to provide the extended body in extended lengths such that the extended body can then subsequently be cut to a desired size depending on the allowance of the support structures or the particular dimensions of a given concrete slab.
In order to prevent contamination of the internal channel with concrete during pouring a slot cap can be provided about a top edge of the extended body, wherein the end caps and slot cap hermetically seal an interior cavity of the extended body during and after a concrete curing process.
In some embodiments, in order to aid in the proper placement of the extended body within a given concrete slab spacers can be provided wherein at least one end cap can be provided with one or more spacing footers provided about a bottom edge so as to maintain proper positioning of the extended body within the concrete during curing, which also serves the dual purpose of allowing proper spacing for uncured concrete to flow underneath the extended body during the pouring process.
In alternative embodiments, the appropriate spacing and placement within a curing slab can be achieved by spacing or aligning from a top surface instead of spacing from the bottom surface of a given mold. In order to aid in this proper spacing, the end caps can further also include an extended flange portion extending perpendicularly from an end face about a top edge with an attachment aperture provided therein to screw into or hang from an upper edge of a given concrete mold.
While the extended body can be formed of metallic substances, formed of varying overmolded materials, or formed of differing materials for different portions, it will also be appreciated that the extended body can be formed of a material having a hardness being lower than that of the sliding insert such that under load the extended body will deform and spread the point load at least partially along the channel, as well as aid in the reliability of placement of the particular anchor. As such, the extended body can be formed of a plastic or polymer material and the sliding insert can be formed of a metallic material such as steel. In one particular embodiment, a metal or steel insert on the upper portion of the flange 130 can be over molded with plastic to allow a slight deformation when a load is placed on flange 230 of the insert, so as to prevent cracking in the concrete, while also aids in transferring a portion of the load from flange 230 along a greater portion of the flange 130 and into the concrete slab about which the system is embedded.
Also contemplated herein is a method of providing a concrete anchor system within a concrete slab, the method including the steps of: providing a mold form; providing an adjustable anchor system as described herein: affixing the extended body or at least one end cap to an internal support structure; adding uncured concrete into the mold form around the extended body; allowing the concrete to cure; and removing the slot cap after curing is complete.
In some embodiments of the method can also include additional optional steps such as: providing a plurality of spacing footers about a bottom edge of each end cap; and
positioning the spacing footers such that the extended body is spaced away from a bottom surface of the mold form thus allowing for the uncured concrete being added to the mold form to flow beneath the extended body. Alternatively, as discussed briefly above, the positioning can be achieved by hanging the extended body by means of flanges provided about the end caps rather than spacing the extended body from the bottom of the concrete mold.
These aspects of the invention are not meant to be exclusive and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art when read in conjunction with the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. Further, it will be appreciated that any of the various features, structures, steps, or other aspects discussed herein are for purposes of illustration only, any of which can be applied in any combination with any such features as discussed in alternative embodiments, as appropriate.
The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of particular embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention, wherein:
It will be appreciated by those having skill in the area of concrete construction, namely the use of concrete slabs, the placement thereof, and the provision of features on the surfaces thereof, that the strength and reliability of anchors provided thereon is important, particularly with respect to integrity of the concrete slabs and the strength of the anchors as they relate to structural reliability.
Failing of anchors during placement, or after placement during the use of accessories attached to such anchors can often result in the need to replace an entire concrete slab. Additionally, the failure of a particular anchor or the concrete immediately surrounding such an anchor can also result in the destruction or failure of entire structures which depend thereon or it can also compromise the concrete slab itself and the larger structure of which it forms part.
The present invention, as shown in
The concrete anchor system 10 can include various components which act together to provide an adjustable anchoring point. These components include various embodiments of an extended body 100A-B, which can be provided in an elongated form which provides a hollow interior or an internal cavity which forms an elongated slot 110. The internal cavity can have various internal contours or features in varying shapes, however, for purposes of illustration, and as shown herein, this internal cavity can have a T-shaped cross section with opposing flanges 130.
A sliding insert 200 can then be provided within the internal cavity which can serve as an attachment point via a connecting portion 210. It will be appreciated that in the embodiments shown the connecting portion is provided as a female threaded tube wherein the top of the connecting portion 210 is flush with the top of the elongated slot. By providing the sliding insert 200 with a threaded connecting portion 210 which is flush with the top of the elongated slot it allows for greater versatility with the different types of connectors and straps which can be used with concrete anchor system 10. This being because the connectors will not have to extend substantially into a deeper section of the elongated slot. However, it will be appreciated that other connection interfaces having internal features as will be ascertainable by those skilled in the art are also contemplated and will be adaptable for use using in the system discussed herein.
The sliding insert 200 can have corresponding flange portions 230 which extend into the flange portions 130 of the extended body 100. In this manner, the sliding insert 200 can have a degree of freedom so as to slide along the length of the elongated slot within the extended body 100.
It will then be appreciated that the flange portions 130 and 230 respectively can be utilized to interact, or interferingly engage, with internal support structure, i.e. rebar 40, as shown in the various embodiments. By engaging with the internal support structure 40 the breakout resistance of the anchor system 10 can be greatly increased. In yet additional embodiments, and as shown in various figures herein, either the extended body 100 or the end caps 400 can be provided with reinforcement engagement means in the form of various clip or engagement features 150, 450, or 454 as illustrated. By providing these engagement features the anchor system 10 can be reliably positioned within the concrete slab and with respect to the reinforcement means during pouring and curing of a new concrete slab.
It will be appreciated that the extended body 100 can be formed of an extruded, injection molded, or cast material in varying lengths, and in this manner can be able to be cut at will to a desired length so as to achieve a desired slot length for any given desired application or so as to fit within or engage with a particular reinforcement means. In some embodiments, the extended body is formed of a metallic substance, however in varying embodiments the extended body can be formed of various plastics or polymers so as to increase the ease of fabrication as well as provide varying deformation properties as well as obtain desired coefficients of friction between the sliding insert 200 and the extended body after being placed within the concrete slab during pouring and after the curing process. The extended body can also have multiple sliding inserts in varying quantities and frequency placed therein. For example, a six-foot length can be formed and have six movable sliding inserts 200 placed at various positions along the six-foot length.
In some embodiments, and as illustrated in various figures, a reinforcement attachment means 150, can be provided along the length of the extended body 100A between the flange portions 130 and the slot or main body walls 112. The reinforcement attachment means 150 are shown herein as one or more semi-circular clips configured to attach to a steel reinforcement bar, i.e. rebar. As such, the clips can have varying elastic properties and diameters so as to allow for attachment to varying sized reinforcement structures such as larger or smaller diameter rebar. Alternatively, the clips 150 can be provided with breaks along their respective lengths so as to allow connection to wire mesh structures and their respective intersections as well as to ensure that air pockets do not form in the concrete along the length of the extended body. Additionally, in order to increase placement reliability and tensile strength, a strengthening rib 116 can be provided on the exterior surface of the main body walls 112.
It will be appreciated that the sliding insert 200 can be corresponding in shape to the interior cavity 110, however, sized slightly smaller than the interior surface of the interior cavity 110 so as to allow for free motion of the sliding insert 200 along the slot. This sizing should take into account the expansion and retraction of the concrete into which it is embedded during the curing process. It will be appreciated that while a small degree of clearance is tolerable that it should not be so great so as to allow the sliding insert 200 to rotate within the lower channel, i.e. the flange portions of the elongated slot. By making the tolerances tighter, the rotational load capacity of each sliding insert 200 can be increased dramatically.
Once the concrete is cured the sliding insert 200 can have an attachment, not shown, threaded into the attachment portion 210 and loaded accordingly. Once a load is applied to the attachment portion 210 the load is transferred to the flange portions 230 and into the corresponding flange portions 130 of the extended body 100.
As shown in
In some instances, an anchor system 100 will have a desired placement near an edge of a concrete slab 20, which will then be lacking preexisting reinforcement structures. In such instances a secondary reinforcement member 40 can be provided which interfaces with the attachment means 150 of the extended body 100 and can provide additional edge support to the extended body 100 about a concrete edge. The secondary retention members 40 can be placed within the curing concrete at edge portions which would typically be weaker, wherein the secondary retention member 40 can substantially encompass the entire length of the extended body 100 and then tie in with existing support structure further toward the center of the concrete slab and thus act as a reinforcement means so as to prevent breaking the anchor out of the edge portion of the concrete.
As discussed above, the extended body 100 can be formed of various materials including plastics, polymers, and metals. In some embodiments, it has been recognized that certain deformable plastics increase the ease at which the extended body can be formed during the extrusion process. One advantage from using a deformable material is that when the sliding insert is presented with a load, the flange portions 130 can deform slightly and thus better disperse the load over the local flange area so as to account for any incontinuities between the respective sliding insert flange and the edge of the concrete between which the portion of the extended body and the flange is pinched. However, more rigid materials allow the load to be transferred along the length of the extended body 100 over a slightly larger overall surface area thus reducing the point load at a specific point, wherein it is readily understood that concrete does not sustain point loads well. It will thus be appreciated that by varying the elastic properties of the material forming the extended body 100 that a desired balance between ease of manufacture, incontinuities, and load dispersion will be beneficial.
Additionally, the attachment means 150 can be further utilized to further transfer a load on the sliding insert 200, through the intervening concrete, or through the extended body 200, and into the internal reinforcement structure 30, i.e. the rebar or wire mesh.
For purposes of initial embedding the extended body 100 can be provided with end and top caps, 310 and 300 respectively, which cover the exposed ends as well as the exposed top slot as the extended body is placed into the wet concrete.
The top and end caps can have one or more locking protrusions which extend into and interface with corresponding locking features provided on the interior surface of the internal cavity of the extended body. Such an interface can include locking features as shown in
In this manner, concrete can be prevented from flowing into, and thus fouling the internal cavity and prevent the sliding insert 200 from moving along the length of the elongated slot after curing is complete. For purposes of providing an adequate seal, the sliding insert will be provided either flush with the top of the elongated slot or slightly recessed therein such that the top cap 300 can seal along the top edge of the elongated slot. After curing, the top cap 300 can be removed and the sliding insert can then freely slide along the length of the elongate slot for proper positioning and attachment of any desired accessories or features, such as straps for moving, or final attachment to existing structures, etc.
Other advantages of having a substantially sealed internal cavity 110, and thus eliminate any moisture therein, is that it allows for greater versatility of the various types of materials which can be used for the sliding insert 200. Namely, because there is no moisture penetration, high strength carbon steel can be used which would have had rust problems in a direct contact embedded anchoring system. It will be appreciated that stainless steel or any other material may also be used; however greater versatility is thus provided in the current system. In addition, plastic often affords better corrosion resistance than metal inserts, thus this factor can also be taken into account for design concerns.
Additionally, by allowing for a deeper embedding, the tensile strength of each anchor can be increased substantially, depending on the thickness of the concrete into which it is embedded. This system, by allowing for deeper embedding also allows for use of larger diameter anchors as the extended body is able to be coupled to the embedded reinforcing structures. These larger diameter anchors then can further sustain higher shear loads as well prior to either shearing off the sliding insert 200, which is reinforced in shear by the surrounding concrete, or by requiring shearing through a larger attachment affixed thereto.
In some additional embodiments, and as shown in
Further illustrated in
Alternatively,
Alternatively,
Additionally, because each sliding insert 200 has a female threaded attachment portion wherein any number of sliding inserts can be chosen with any number of thread lengths it allows for threads to be provided which are flush with the top edge of the slot of the particularly selected extended body 100. As such the anchor system 10 is adaptable for use with a wide variety of exiting attachment accessories and systems. By providing the threads right at the concrete surface, the threads engage immediately and are not embedded too far to reach by many existing attachment mechanisms. It will be readily appreciated that a larger number of engaged threads in a threaded system, the stronger the connection will be. This orientation allows for a maximum amount of engaged threads. Additionally, when the sliding insert 200 is flush with the top surface and extends deep into the concrete, side shear capacity is increased as the entire side of the insert 200 can thus bear onto the side of the concrete uniformly over the entire depth which in turn reduces stresses in the concrete.
It will be appreciated that the increased depth allows for a longer threaded portion of the connection interface of the sliding insert. As such, the longer threaded portion allows for the use of any one of the Unified Thread Standards including but not limited to UNC, UNF, UNEF threads, metric threads, coil threads, or any number of threads having different pitches and spacing coarseness or fineness, wherein the depth allows for threads of any number of different parameters.
The depth of the extended body also allows an increased shear force as some of the shear force is transferred into the concrete surrounding the sides of the extended body (see
As illustrated in
Also, illustrated in
Also illustrated in the various views of the various views of the end caps is a plurality of spacing footers 414 which can be provided on a bottom edge of the various end caps. the spacing footers can be provided at a pre-determined length so as to ensure that uncured concrete can easily flow beneath the extended body during the pouring steps. It has been appreciated that it may be advantageous to provide the spacing footers with a perforated connection portion 415 which allows them to be easily broken or snapped off in situations where the spacing footers are not needed. The spacing footers 414 allow for the anchor system to be properly spaced within the concrete slab by either standing the anchor system a pre-determined distance from the bottom of the mold, as shown in
It is further appreciated that certain advantages are realized through using a malleable material to form the extended bodies 100. This being because as the sliding insert 200 is attached to and placed under load, the transfer of force between the flange 230 and the concrete can cause a compression and slight disbursement of the point load between the flange and the concrete, thus reducing the chances of cracking.
Also contemplated herein is a method of providing a concrete anchor system within a concrete slab, the method including the steps of: providing a mold form; providing an extended body embeddable within a concrete slab, the extended body having a slot portion having a predetermined depth and one or more flange portions extending outwardly from the slot portion; providing a sliding insert having a connection portion extending along the depth of the slot portion, the sliding insert also having one or more flange portions corresponding in shape to the one or more flange portions of the of the extended body; providing one or more end caps configured to seal opposing ends of the extended body; providing a slot cap along the length of the extended body to seal the slot portion; affixing the extended body or at least one end cap to an internal support structure; adding uncured concrete into the mold form around the extended body; allowing the concrete to cure; and removing the slot cap after curing is complete.
The method can also include optional steps such as: providing a plurality of spacing footers about a bottom edge of each end cap; and positioning the spacing footers such that the extended body is spaced away from a bottom surface of the mold form thus allowing for the uncured concrete being added to the mold form to flow beneath the extended body.
It will be appreciated that the extended body can be formed unitarily with the end caps and the top caps. In some such methods, the end caps and top caps can have a common unitary edge which is folded over to seal during the concrete pouring and curing. Further, in some embodiments the end caps can be fully sealed or unitary about common edges with the extended body wherein the sliding insert can be inserted through the top surface with the flange portions extending along the length of the slot, and then twisted so as to engage the respective flange portions into the bottom flange portion of the extended body wherein the top cap can then be sealed over the insert during the concrete pouring and curing process.
While the principles of the invention have been described herein, it is to be understood by those skilled in the art that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation as to the scope of the invention. Other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the present invention in addition to the exemplary embodiments shown and described herein. Modifications and substitutions by one of ordinary skill in the art are considered to be within the scope of the present invention. Additionally, any features, structures, components, method steps which are discussed in reference to any one of the aforementioned embodiments are readily adaptable for use into and with any features of the other alternative embodiments discussed therein, with the understanding that one of ordinary skill in the art will be capable of assessing the ability of the various embodiments disclosed and be capable of making such adaptations.
This application claims the benefit of each of the following applications: U.S. patent application No. 62/248,261 which was filed on Oct. 29, 2015 and is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
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