Not applicable.
This section introduces information from the art that may be related to or provide context for some aspects of the technique described herein and/or claimed below. This information is background facilitating a better understanding of that which is disclosed herein. The presentation of this information is therefore a discussion of “related” art. That such art is related in no way implies that it is also “prior” art. The related art may or may not be prior art. The discussion is to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
One common construction feature is a ground improvement called a “pier”, or a “construction pier”. A pier is typically a structure that is driven into the ground using a percussive or vibratory hammer. One particular kind of pier is what is known as a “rammed aggregate pier”. Instead of driving a pier structure into the ground, a pier structure is created in a bore by pouring in some aggregate, tamping it down, and repeating the process until the structure reaches the ground surface.
There are several approaches including both tools and techniques for the construction of piers. Many or all of these approaches may be competent for their intended purposes. The art, however, is always receptive to improvements or alternative means, methods and configurations. Therefore, the art will well receive the approach described herein.
In a first aspect, a pier tool comprises a tubular body and a tamping head. The tubular body has an uphole end and a downhole end and defines a flow path therethrough. The tamping head is disposed within the flow path of the tubular body and defines a tamping surface on a downhole side thereof and an off-center aperture therethrough.
In a second aspect, a pier tool mandrel for use in forming a rammed aggregate pier comprises at least a pair of pipe pieces, a pier tool disposed between the pair of pipe pieces, and a driving shoe disposed on the downhole end of the most downhole pipe piece. The pier tool further comprises a tubular body and a tamping head. The tubular body has an uphole and a downhole end and defines a flow path therethrough. The tamping head is disposed within the flow path of the tubular body and defines a tamping surface on a downhole side thereof and an off-center aperture therethrough.
In a third aspect, a method for forming a pier, comprises: assembling a pier tool mandrel, forming a bore in the earth; depositing aggregate into the bore through the pier tool mandrel; ramming the aggregate, the driving force of the ramming being delivered by the pier tool; lifting the pier tool mandrel a predetermined distance; and repeating depositing, ramming, and lifting until the surface is reached. The pier tool mandrel comprises at least a pair of pipe pieces, a pier tool disposed between the pair of pipe pieces, and a driving shoe disposed on the downhole end of the most downhole pipe piece. The pier tool further comprises a tubular body and a tamping head. The tubular body has an uphole and a downhole end and defines a flow path therethrough. The tamping head is disposed within the flow path of the tubular body and defines a tamping surface on a downhole side thereof and an off-center aperture therethrough.
The above presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an exhaustive overview of the invention. It is not intended to identify key or critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is discussed later.
The invention may be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, the drawings illustrate specific embodiments herein described in detail by way of example. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the interest of clarity, not all features of an actual implementation are described in this specification. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual embodiment, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort, even if complex and time-consuming, would be a routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.
Turning now to the drawings,
More particularly, the uphole surface 160 is designed with an increasing radius of 95% of the outside diameter (10.25″) at the top of the tool to 148.84% of the outside diameter of the tool (16″) radius at the bottom of the uphole surface 160 to funnel rock, aggregate, and other similar materials used in the art into the flow path 125. The flow path 125 can vary in diameter from more than 50% of the pier tool 100 outer diameter to a maximum of 70.7% and achieve a tamping head of 100% of the external diameter of the pier tool when the pier tool assembly (shown in
Referring to
The pier tool 100 will typically, though by no means exclusively, be employed in pairs, such as is shown in
In the embodiment of
However, alternative embodiments may deploy the pier tools 100, 100′ differently. For example, consider the embodiment 300′ in
Returning to
The vertical displacement of the pier tools 100, 100′ in
Some embodiments may extrapolate from the principles illustrated in
The pier tool 100, whether as a pier tool assembly 300, 300′, 400 or singly, may be assembled into a pier tool mandrel like the pier tool mandrel 500 in
Referring now to
The method begins, in this particular embodiment, with the assembly of the pier tool mandrel 500. As described above, each pier tool 100, 100′ includes threads 130 at each end 115, 120 thereof. The pipe section 410 includes mating threads (not shown) by which the pipe section 410 is threadably engaged with the pier tools 100, 100′. The pier tool mandrel 500 may be assembled onsite or at some remote facility and shipped to the site. Additional pipe sections 410 may be employed should it be so desired.
In some embodiments, such as the one illustrated, the bore 600 is formed by driving the pier tool mandrel 500 into the earth 610 to a predetermined depth to form the bore 600. The pier tool mandrel 500 is driven using a hammer 620 of some sort as is known in the art for this purpose. The hammer 620 may be a percussive or a vibratory hammer, for example. This is convenient in that, the pier tool mandrel 500 is then properly positioned in the bore for the next steps. In alternative embodiments, the bore 600 may be formed using other techniques, such as by being augured. Any suitable technique known to the art may be used.
Once the bore 600 is formed, the method continues by depositing aggregate 630 into the bore 600 through the pier tool mandrel 500. The aggregate 630 is deposited to fill the pier tool mandrel 500, as may be inferred by the partially section portion 635 of the pier tool mandrel 500. The pipe sections 410 are tubular, and thus permit the aggregate 630 to flow freely therethrough. Upon encountering the pier tools 100, 100′, the aggregate 630 passes through the apertures 175, shown in
The aggregate 630 is deposited until it reaches a predetermined depth within the bore 600. The aggregate 630 may be, for example, crushed concrete, crushed stone, cement treated aggregate, or some combination of these. Any suitable aggregate known to the art for constructing piers may be used. The predetermined depth of the aggregate 630 introduced may ordinarily be as deep as 45′ (13.7 m) and as low as 6″ (15 cm), but is generally about 12′ (3.7 m) to 20′ (6.1 m) in the illustrated embodiment. The predetermined diameter of the aggregate 630 introduced may ordinarily be as high as 36″ (0.9 m) and as small as 18″ (46 cm).
The aggregate 630 is then rammed, the force being generated by the hammer 620 and delivered by the pier tools, 100, 100′. More particularly, the force is transmitted through the pipe sections 410 and delivered via the tamping surface 150 of each tamping head 110. The shape and curvature of the tamping surface 150 enables the tamping surface 150 to deliver a proportionally larger force that can be found in conventional practice. Note that, in the illustrated embodiment, this force is doubled by the use of two pier tools 100, 100′. Still further, this force is increased by the radial offset between the two pier tools 100, 100′ as force is delivered by the tamping head 110 of the pier tool 100 over that portion of the aggregate column omitted by the tamping head 110 of the pier tool 100′ because of the presence of the aperture 175.
The number of times the aggregate 630 is rammed will depend upon a number of factors that will become apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure. Exemplary factors include, for example, the degree of compaction desired to meet the structural requirements as well as the amount of force that can be delivered by the hammer 620 on each stroke. The number of times the aggregate 630 is rammed will therefore be implementation specific. In the illustrated embodiment, the aggregate 630 will be compacted by 6″ (15 cm), from 18″ (45 cm) to 12″ (30 cm). This ramming of the aggregate 630 creates what is known in the art as a “lift” 640. Two previous lifts 640 are shown in
Once the aggregate 630 has been compacted as desired, the hammer 620 is lifted so that additional aggregate 630 can be deposited on top the previous lift 640 as shown in
The pier tool assembly 400 yields a 100% surface area to tamp the aggregate—which may be rock, crushed concrete, or similar material used in constructing piers. This is because of the 180° radial offset between the pier tool 100 and the pier tool 100′. No currently used tool known to the art allows for fill of the aggregate through the inner tool mandrel and while still providing 100% solid metal surface area for down force when tamping the aggregate. This increase in surface area should increase the bearing load of the piers up to the limits of what the surrounding in situ soils will allow.
In the description above, the bore 600 is described as having a diameter, which is a function of a circular cross-section for the bore 600. The bore 600 of the illustrated embodiment indeed has a circular cross-section. This is a function of the bore 600 being constructed using the driving shoe 510 and its geometry. However, such a circular cross-section is not required for the practice of the invention. Should other techniques be used for constructing the bore 600, other geometries may be employed for the cross-section the bore 600.
Those in the art having the benefit of this disclosure will appreciate still further alternative embodiments. For example, as shown in
The terms “downhole” and “uphole” as used herein are used relative to the orientation of the pier tool and the pier tool mandrel in their intended and accustomed usage. It is well known in the art that the term “uphole” means the direction toward the surface through the path defined by the bore. Similarly, “downhole” means the direction toward the bottom of the bore through the path defined by the bore. Accordingly, “uphole” denotes those portions of the pier tool and the pier tool mandrel that, when in use, are proximal to the surface. Conversely, “downhole” denotes those portions of the pier tool and pier tool mandrel that, when in use, are proximal to the bottom of the bore.
This concludes the detailed description. The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. Furthermore, no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown, other than as described in the claims below. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the protection sought herein is as set forth in the claims below.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application having Ser. No. 62/538,047 which was filed Jul. 28, 2017. The aforementioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into the present application to the extent consistent with the present application.
Number | Date | Country |
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2311083 | Sep 1997 | GB |
2372517 | Aug 2002 | GB |
WO-2018011435 | Jan 2018 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20190032296 A1 | Jan 2019 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62538047 | Jul 2017 | US |