The embodiments herein relate generally to a new surface raised above an existing surface.
Prior to embodiments of the disclosed invention, stage floors were challenging to assemble, align and adjust because of a mistaken theory of nodal assembly that plagues the prior art. Nodal assembly is the theory that a stage floor consists of stringers arranged in rows, columns and, in some cases, diagonals that intersect at nodes where either all the stringers terminate or all the stringers in a single direction terminate. The prior art includes: U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,582 issued to Vugrek; U.S. Pat. No. 8,162,569 issued to Kennedy; U.S. Pat. No. 6,336,296 issued to Ishibashi; U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,923 issued to Irish; European Patent Application 0529073 filed by Haka; U.S. Patent Application Publication 2010/0089229 filed by Ackerman; U.S. Pat. No. 4,085,557 filed by Tharp; U.S. Pat. No. 7,546,715 issued to Roen; U.S. Pat. No. 6,106,186 issued to Jines; U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,670 issued to Naka; U.S. Pat. No. 3,318,057 issued to Norsworthy; U.S. Pat. No. 8,156,696 issued to Hubbard; U.S. Pat. No. 8,181,399 issued to Knight; U.S. Pat. No. 8,387,317 issued to Kugler; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,879 issued to Barr.
Elevated building surfaces such as elevated floors, decks, terraces and walkways are desirable in many environments. Prior art decks, such as Irish, essentially rely on having elongated members terminate at each node. This construction leads to a substantial time sink in assembly, and a low strength to weight ratio. The present invention solves this problem.
Vugrek, Norsworthy an Ishibashi teach a series of pedestals that can be interconnected by a series of stringers. Haka adds the support members but has them terminate at each node, much like Irish. Tharp likewise adds a top plate to assist in uniform floor height but does not have a theory as how this could help loading. Naka, Jines and Kugler add an elaborate keying system to that but each member continues to terminate at each node. Knight proffers to add stability by wrapping the stringers partially around the pedestals. Barr proffers to add stability by adding an expansion joint at each pedestal. In each of these, the pedestals are arranged in rows with each stringer transiting from one pedestal to another but no stringer connects three pedestals, indeed three adjacent pedestals are not shown at all.
Both Ackerman and Kennedy teach a bulkhead for a safe room that utilizes a series of nodes that are bolted to a number of elongated members as a cross bar that runs indefinitely along a wall. If such a construction would be applied to a floor there would be no modular theory of assembly resulting in a substantial time to assemble, further, there would be substantial deflection in the deck when compared to embodiments of the present invention.
Roen tries to combine the teaching of the continuous rails in Ackerman and Kennedy with the floor teaching of Vugrek, Norsworthy an Ishibashi, and concludes that the best way to do this does so by having a plurality of parallel members resting on top of a plurality of perpendicular members. While this enables a key system as in Naka, Jines and Kugler for sliding floor panels, those panels are still only supported by the keys in the upper member and would deflect under moderate loading.
Hubbard teaches a floor system that involves a series of continuous parallel members that cross many nodes separated by a series of perpendicular members that terminate at each node. Rather than utilizing an anchor for structural support, Hubbard teaches a central hub that is connected to a pneumatic shock absorber and then a series of struts and pads are adjacent to pedestals. It is specious as to whether this works and Hubbard offers no testing results. More likely, the arrangement of the perpendicular members renders the device likely to fail at those nodes away from the pedestals.
A stage floor assembly can be easily assembled, aligned and adjusted even on an uneven surface. The stage floor assembly includes a plurality of pedestals with each pedestal further comprising a pedestal base attached to a plurality of rods. There is a plurality of stringers placed upon some of the plurality of rods such that two stringers terminate at each pedestal and one stringer crosses two rods on each pedestal forming a gird network which self-aligns even on the uneven surface. A plurality of deck plates is attached to the plurality of stringers creating a surface to absorb and distribute loads across pedestals preventing an unacceptable deflection across the stage floor assembly.
In some embodiments, the plurality of rods further comprises a plurality of threaded rods and a first plurality of unthreaded rods. The plurality of threaded rods can be mechanically coupled to a pedestal cover with threaded fasteners in order to keep the stage floor assembly at a consistent height. An angular support is mechanically coupled to a first unthreaded rod on a first pedestal and second unthreaded rod on a second pedestal in order to align the first pedestal to the second pedestal as well as to disperse loading from the first pedestal and the second pedestal. The angular support further defines a diagonal between the opposite corners of the basic floor subassembly square. This diagonal being fixed to the pedestals at the opposite corners rigidly constrains the subassembly ensuring the support grid subassembly remains square.
In some embodiments, the plurality of stringers are connected to the threaded rods. The pedestal cover is further mechanically coupled to a second plurality of unthreaded rods in order to match the first plurality of unthreaded rods to better secure the angular support. The stage floor assembly distributes loads from the pedestals to the plurality of stringers and the angular support to resist damage during exposure to loading from an explosive blast.
During exposure to explosive blast, the floor grid, with decking and pedestal cover plates installed, will react as a continuous membrane and will flex without separating into discrete components that could become missile hazards. This membrane action is enabled by the interconnected nature of the floor support grid where a continuous stringer crosses each pedestal and two similar stringers terminate at the same pedestal. This construction results in a support grid that is at once directly interconnected with a continuous stringer into each adjacent subassembly square. This construction will resist damage during exposure to explosive blast in a manner superior to previous floor designs consisting of discrete square floor subassemblies connected to each other by clips, threaded fasteners, or cam lock systems.
A method of assembling a stage floor allows a user to assemble, align and adjust the stage floor. The method comprises the following steps, not necessarily in order: First a user places a first pedestal, a second pedestal, a third pedestal, and a fourth pedestal on ground in a location where a stage floor is desired. Next the user, connects the first pedestal and the fourth pedestal with a first stringer such that the first stringer passes through the fourth pedestal and terminates at the first pedestal. Then the user connects the first pedestal and the second pedestal with a second stringer such that the second stringer passes through the first pedestal and terminates at the second pedestal. After this the user connects the second pedestal and the third pedestal with a third stringer such that the third stringer passes through the second pedestal and terminates at the third pedestal. Next the user connects the third pedestal and the fourth pedestal with a fourth stringer such that the fourth stringer passes through the third pedestal and terminates at the fourth pedestal. After this a user can attach a deck plate to the first pedestal, the second pedestal, the third pedestal and the fourth pedestal.
In some embodiments, the user can attach an angular support to the first pedestal and the third pedestal. Depending on the height of the surface a user can adjust the pedestal height to ensure the deck plate is level.
The detailed description of some embodiments of the invention is made below with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein like numerals represent corresponding parts of the figures.
By way of example, and referring to
Pedestal 10 further comprises pedestal base 12 mechanically coupled to threaded nut 16. Threaded nut 16 is machined to be coupled to threaded rod 14. Thus a user can affix pedestal base 12 to threaded rod 14 by rotating threaded nut 16 around threaded rod 14.
Pedestal base 12 is further mechanically coupled to first threaded pedestal rod 18A, second threaded pedestal rod 18B, third threaded pedestal rod 18C and fourth threaded pedestal rod 18D. Threaded pedestal rods 18 can be used to align stringers 30 as shown in
Pedestal base 12 is further mechanically coupled to first unthreaded pedestal rod 20A, second unthreaded pedestal rod 20B, third unthreaded pedestal rod 20C and fourth unthreaded pedestal rod 20D. Unthreaded pedestal rods 20 can be used to accommodate angular supports 40 as shown in
In some embodiments, pedestal base 12 is perforated with a pedestal base hole which can be an unthreaded hole which can be immediately adjacent to threaded nut 16. The unthreaded hole can be immediately adjacent to threaded rod 14. pedestal base 12 can be mechanically coupled to threaded pedestal rods 18 and unthreaded pedestal rods 20 by either machining pedestal base 12 as a single unit or by combining multiple units connected together, for example, by welding. Threaded pedestal rods 18 are bored with a threaded cavity that can accommodate threaded fasteners 64.
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Pedestal cover 60 is perforated with first fastener hole 62A, second fastener hole 62B, third fastener hole 62C, and fourth fastener hole 62D. The fastener holes 62 are sufficiently large to accommodate a threaded fastener 64.
A user can mechanically couple pedestal cover 10 to threaded rods 18 in the following manner, a user can insert first threaded fastener 64A through first fastener hole 62A and into first threaded rod 18A. Similarly, a user can insert second threaded fastener 64A through second fastener hole 62A and into second threaded rod 18A. Likewise, a user can insert third threaded fastener 64A through third fastener hole 62A and into third threaded rod 18A. Finally, a user can insert fourth threaded fastener 64A through fourth fastener hole 62A and into fourth threaded rod 18A.
In one distinct advantage over the prior art the user can remove cover cap 70 covering central cover hole 66 giving the user access rotation nut 22. When the user turns rotation nut 22 and pedestal plate 12 is held in place then pedestal plate 12 will not rotate, but pedestal foot 24 will rotate and will move proximate or distant pedestal plate 12 depending on the direction turned. This enables a user to perform pedestal height adjustments from a completed stage floor assembly and to ensure that a plurality of pedestals are at a consistent height.
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In
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Each pedestal 10 has two stringers 30 that terminate at the pedestal 10 and one stringer 30 which passing through two threaded rods 18 separated by a diagonal distance. This geometry has many advantages over the prior art, and particularly Irish and its progeny. Embodiments of the present invention can be used as a blast floor by selecting materials particularly resistant to shattering such as metal. The present construction allows for even point loading to be dispersed across multiple pedestals 10. In addition to strength it also promotes the stage floor acting as a continuous membrane in flexion instead of simply connected discrete squares as in Irish. This greatly improves blast response to irregular loading found in blasting. For example, the floor in Roen, may lift and deflect under severe blast loading, but embodiments of the present invention will resist the floor coming apart, and thus causing potentially lethal missile hazards. The floor grid also works to prevent “noticeable deflection” which the present application defines as a deflection of more than one inch per 100 feet.
In
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First deck plate 50A is perforated with first deck plate hole 52A which permits first unthreaded cover rod 68A to travel through first deck plate 50A into angular support 40 in place. Likewise, second deck plate 50B is perforated with second deck plate hole 52B which permits second unthreaded cover rod 68B to travel through second deck plate 50B. Additionally, third deck plate 50C is perforated with third deck plate hole 52C which permits third unthreaded cover rod 68C to travel through third deck plate 50C. Fourth deck plate 50D is perforated with fourth deck plate hole 52D which permits third unthreaded cover rod 68D to travel through fourth deck plate 50D.
Persons of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate that numerous design configurations may be possible to enjoy the functional benefits of the inventive systems. Thus, given the wide variety of configurations and arrangements of embodiments of the present invention the scope of the invention is reflected by the breadth of the claims below rather than narrowed by the embodiments described above.
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