The present invention relates generally to structural bearing assemblies and to methods to make same. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges. In another embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges that are more easily replaced when necessary.
As is known to those in the industry, a bridge bearing is a component of a bridge which typically provides a resting surface between a suitable bridge substructure and a bridge's superstructure. The purpose of a bearing is to allow controlled movement of one or more aspects of a structure thereby reducing the stresses involved. Movement types can be, for example, thermal expansion or contraction, rotational or movement from other sources such as seismic activity. There are several different types of bridge bearings which are used depending on a number of different factors including the bridge span. Given the importance thereof, bridge bearings must not only be inspected but must also be periodically replaced, as needed and/or required, in order to maintain the structural integrity of a bridge. Replacement and/or repair is necessitated by the fact that the numerous bridge bearings present in most, in not all, bridges have a lifespan that is typically much shorter than other major and minor bridge components.
Adding replaceability to structural bearing assemblies typically involves bolted connections, anchor rods with coupler nuts and extra plates that significantly increase cost. Therefore, it would be advantageous to eliminate additional plates and other costly details and still accommodate ease of installation and replacement with minimal jacking of the superstructure.
The present invention relates generally to structural bearing assemblies and to methods to make same. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges. In another embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges that are more easily replaced when necessary.
In one embodiment, the present invention comprises a bridge bearing assembly comprising: an upper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of a concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder, wherein the concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder is supporting a bridge's superstructure structure; a lower keeper plate designed to be securely connected to the upper side of a bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure; a bearing designed to be contained in place by at least one keeper plate(s) with the bearing having no mechanical bond to the upper plate; and at least one bearing positioned between the underside of the upper plate and the upper side of the lower plate, the bearing being formed from a material designed to handle movements and/or absorb vibrations, wherein the bridge bearing assembly is at least secured to the upper side of the bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure; and at least two anchoring rods designed to secure the lower plate to the upper side of the bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure.
In another embodiment, the present invention comprises a bridge bearing assembly comprising: an upper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of a concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder, wherein the concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder is supporting a bridge's superstructure structure; a lower keeper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of the upper plate; a bearing designed to be contained in place by at least one keeper plate(s) with the bearing having no mechanical bond to the upper plate; and at least two anchoring rods designed to secure the bridge bearing assembly to an upper side of a bridge's substructure or other anchoring structure for fixed or guided bearings.
In still another embodiment, the present invention comprises a bridge bearing assembly comprising: an upper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of a concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder, wherein the concrete girder, support beam and/or steel girder is supporting a bridge's superstructure structure; a lower keeper plate designed to be securely connected to the underside of the upper plate; and a bearing designed to be contained in place by at least one keeper plate(s) with the bearing having no mechanical bond to the upper plate.
Operation of the present teachings may be better understood by reference to the detailed description taken in connection with the following illustrations. These appended drawings form part of this specification, and written information in the drawings should be treated as part of this disclosure. In the drawings:
Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present teachings, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and functional changes may be made without departing from the respective scope of the present teachings. As such, the following description is presented by way of illustration only and should not limit in any way the various alternatives and modifications that may be made to the illustrated embodiments and still be within the spirit and scope of the present teachings.
As used herein, the words “example” and “exemplary” mean an instance, or illustration. The words “example” or “exemplary” do not indicate a key or preferred aspect or embodiment. The word “or” is intended to be inclusive rather an exclusive, unless context suggests otherwise. As an example, the phrase “A employs B or C,” includes any inclusive permutation (e.g., A employs B; A employs C; or A employs both B and C). As another matter, the articles “a” and “an” are generally intended to mean “one or more” unless context suggest otherwise.
Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural and functional changes may be made without departing from the respective scope of the invention. Moreover, features of the various embodiments may be combined or altered without departing from the scope of the invention. As such, the following description is presented by way of illustration only and should not limit in any way the various alternatives and modifications that may be made to the illustrated embodiments and still be within the spirit and scope of the invention.
The present invention relates generally to structural bearing assemblies and to methods to make same. In one embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges. In another embodiment, the present invention relates to structural bearing assemblies designed for bridges that are more easily replaced when necessary.
Initially, there are three major types of bridge bearings: (1) elastomeric bearings; (2) High Load Multi-Rotational (HLMR) bearings; and (3) steel bearings. These bearing categories are sufficient to cover the vast majority of structures in the national bridge inventory. Special bridges may require different bearings. As such, the above list is not meant to be exhaustive as additional types of bearings such as seismic isolation bearings exist. Additional information regarding various bridge bearings can be found in AASHTO/NSBA Steel Bridge Collaboration G 9.1—2004, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
As can be seen in the various embodiments illustrated in the Figures, there are a wide range of various bridge bearing embodiments that exist. It should be noted that the present invention is not solely limited to just the bridge bearing embodiments disclosed in the attached Figures, but rather can be broadly applied to a wide range of bridge bearing embodiments.
Adding replaceability to structural bearing assemblies typically involves bolted connections, anchor rods with coupler nuts and extra plates that significantly increase the costs associated therewith. There are other methods such as four sided recesses, and more. Given that most bridges can have a large number of bearings, any technique that can reduce complexity and/or cost is invaluable. Thus, it is therefore advantageous to eliminate additional plates and other costly details and still accommodate ease of installation and replacement with minimal jacking of the superstructure.
In one embodiment, the key features of the present invention and the one or more methods associated therewith, include: (i) threaded or pressed fit pintles that provide horizontal fixity in all directions or in one single direction, or even only two directions, through use of holes or slots in the upper or lower plate assemblies; (ii) a plurality of recesses formed in upper and/or lower plates—for example, one such non-limiting example is three or four-sided recesses (depth can vary) in one or more of the upper and/or lower plates of a bearing assembly with accompanying bolted keeper plates that lock the bearing component in place without rigidly bonding it to the plates; and (iii) bearings that can accommodate slopes through beveling an upper plate, beveling bearing material, or through optional beveled recess, depending on a customer's preference.
In light of the above, the present invention permits bearing plates that are designed for easy placement and replacement of bearing components located therebetween. In one embodiment of the present invention, the design can utilize pintles threaded or press fit into the upper or lower plates that extend into holes or slots in the adjacent plate to provide fixity against any horizontal movements (holes), or fixity in one direction and permits movement in the other (slots). In such an instance, the top and/or bottom plates may or may not have recesses that contain the bearing (bearing can be laminated elastomeric bearings, fabric bearings, steel or bronze bearings, urethane bearings, or any other material that can be designed to handle compression and accommodate rotation and/or movement). Thus, in one embodiment, the recess(s) contain the bearing in the plates without the need for bolting, bonding, or other means of mechanically fastening the bearing to the upper/sole plate or lower/masonry plate, where the recess can be two, three or four sided, depending on what is necessary for replacement based on any suitable jacking limitations. In the instance of two or three sided recesses with one or two open sides, necessary to slide the bearing out, a permanent keeper plate(s) is bolted into the open end of the recess to contain the bearing. Replacement of such a bearing is competently handled by removing the keeper plate(s) and jacking the structure a minimum amount to release compression on the bearing assembly to where the bearing can be removed and replaced. The keeper plate(s) are then re-attached to the upper and/or lower plates to complete replacement.
In light of the above, reference to the following Figures detail one such embodiment of the present invention. As shown in
In one embodiment, upper/sole plate 102, lower/masonry plate 104, anchor rods 108, studs 112 (or their equivalents) and shear pins 114 can all independently be formed from any suitable metal or metal alloy (e.g., steel, stainless steel, etc.) utilizing a corrosion-resistant metal or corrosion-resistant coating.
Turning to
Additionally, as illustrated in
Via the combination of upper/sole plate 202 (or upper/sole plate 222 depending on the style of bearing in use), keeper/lower plate 206, bearing 208, anchor rods 212 and shear blocks 214 (if required, depending on the style of bearing in use), a concrete beam 204 (or support beam and/or steel girder) can be mounted to any desired substructure or other anchoring structure 210 in a manner to permit a specified/desired amount of movement between bearing points of the structure 210. Turning to
In one embodiment, upper/sole plate 202 or 222, keeper/lower plate 206, anchor rods 212, shear blocks 214 (if required) and studs 216 can all independently be formed from any suitable metal or metal alloy (e.g., steel, stainless steel, etc.) utilizing a corrosion-resistant metal or corrosion-resistant coating.
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing detailed description, it is to be understood that the present invention is not to be limited to just the embodiments disclosed, but that the invention described herein is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the scope of the claims hereafter. The claims as follows are intended to include all modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the claims or the equivalent thereof.
This patent application is a non-provisional of and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/804,484 filed Feb. 12, 2019 and titled “Structural Bearing Configuration and Method of Making Same.” The complete text of this application is hereby incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein in its entirety.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/US2020/017821 | 2/12/2020 | WO | 00 |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
62804484 | Feb 2019 | US |