System for Tracking and Identifying Cast-In Place Anchors

Abstract

An anchor system is disclosed for anchoring objects to a concrete structure after concrete setting. The assembly includes an anchor body, an anchor housing and at least two elongate, tubular nose-pieces. The at least two elongate tubular nose-pieces have a visibly different colour pattern or have a visibly different structure from each other. The visible difference allowing a worker to easily and readily identify a particular subset of installed anchors.

Description

FIELD

This specification relates to a cast-in-place anchor assembly for connecting objects to a surface of (e.g., below) a metal deck after concrete pouring and concrete setting.

BACKGROUND

Cast-in-place anchors are used commonly in building construction and construction in general for providing an anchoring point on the surface of a concrete structure from which to connect a building element (e.g., piping, HVAC, lighting, railing, etc.). The WoodKnocker® and Bang-It®+ products are cast-in-place anchor assemblies available for purchase and aspects of the present invention are conceived to improve upon this product. In the recent past Applicant has filed patent applications with subject matter generally related to the present application. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/794,332, filed Feb. 19, 2020, and entitled Cast-In Place Anchor With Multiple-Use Jaws and Removeable Nose-Piece the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/002,099, filed Jun. 7, 2018, and entitled Cast-In Place Anchor Assembly covers a cast-in place anchor the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In addition, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/923,052, filed on Mar. 16, 2018, and entitled Snap Nut Concrete Anchor Assembly also covers a cast-in-place-anchor the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Furthermore, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/948,131, filed on Apr. 9, 2018, and entitled Snap Nut Concrete Anchor Assembly also covers a cast-in-place-anchor the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

There are at least two conventional types of cast-in-place anchors. A first type secures a cast-in-place anchor in position adjacent to a wooden concrete forming boundary and a second type secures a cast-in-place anchor in position adjacent to metal decking. After concrete pouring and setting each type of cast-in-place anchor provides an anchoring point to which an object (e.g., a threaded rod) can be anchored. Both types of anchor include a jaw assembly arranged in an anchor housing. Load applied to the threaded rod is transferred to the threaded jaws of the jaw assembly which in turn transfer load to the anchor housing. The anchor housing includes a flange which is ultimately embedded in the cured concrete and which transfers load from the anchor housing to the cured concrete.

The complete set of cast-in-place anchors installed in a building typically include anchors to be used for securing elements of independent systems (e.g., electrical, plumbing, HVAC, etc). Furthermore, since by nature, the cast in place anchors are buried in the concrete, after casting it is not always readily apparent that which anchors should be associated with which independent system. It would be beneficial to develop an anchor system in which after casting in concrete, a contractor (e.g., the plumbing contractor) could easily and readily (e.g., visibly) identify the subset of anchors intended to support the plumbing equipment in the building and distinguish such anchors from other anchors (e.g., electrical anchors) in the building.

In conventional cast-in-place anchors for providing an anchoring point adjacent to metal decking, a nose-piece of the anchor is inserted through an opening in the metal decking. For example, when the metal decking is a support in a multi-story building for a new floor slab, after setting, the nose-piece extends below the decking. That means access can be gained to the nose-piece from the floor below and the nosepiece is visible from the floor below. From the floor below, an anchor member (e.g., a threaded rod) may be inserted through the nose-piece and further into the anchor housing to the jaw assembly.

Furthermore, nose-pieces may help identify and locate set anchors after structural surfaces have been treated with protections or enhancements (e.g., on the bottom of the metal decking). For example, in certain construction configurations, fire foam is sprayed on a surface to prevent overheating of the structure in the event of a fire event. That fire protection spray foam may cover/conceal a visual indicator that is based on the anchor itself. For example, anchors intended to be identified by observing the color of the anchor may be concealed after foam spraying. Therefore, a nose-piece that extends from a structure surface far enough to extend past the foam could be beneficial. Furthermore, certain surfaces such as floor surfaces formed from metal decking may include peaks and troughs (e.g., see FIG. 4A & FIG. 4B). Such surfaces include troughs so that foam sprayed on the surface accumulates thicker than normal in the area of the troughs completely concealing any anchor visual identifiers that do not extend far enough out of the trough away from the structure's surface. Nose pieces also avoid surface coatings such as fire protection foams being sprayed into the anchor threaded jaw assembly far enough to fowl the assembly.

The jaw assembly engages the anchor member to secure the anchor member to the anchor and to the slab. It would be beneficial to have stackable, removeable nose-pieces distinguishable by indicia, colour, structure so that a particular contractor can easily identify the subset of anchors associated with an independent building subsystem (e.g., HVAC).

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a cast-in-place anchor assembly for anchoring objects to a concrete structure after concrete setting. The anchor assembly includes an anchor housing. The anchor housing includes an opening therein along a longitudinal axis thereof for receiving an elongate load bearing member or anchor member. The anchor housing also includes a jaw assembly for lockingly engaging and axially securing or restricting the anchor member relative to the anchor housing. Furthermore, the assembly includes an anchor body. The anchor assembly also includes at least two nose-pieces each having a noticeably different visual appearance. The nose-piece may be made of plastic (e.g., flexible plastic) and include multiple stacked sections connected together (e.g., snapped, flex-snapped, threaded, friction fit, bayonetted, etc.) and may include an anchor connector for connecting to a nose connector of the anchor housing or to another stacked nose-piece section.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will now be described by way of non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A is a side view of a metal decking anchor assembly of the present invention anchor system;

FIG. 1B is cross-sectional side view of the metal decking anchor assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2A is a side view of a metal decking anchor of the metal decking assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional side view of a metal decking anchor of the metal decking assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of a metal decking anchor assembly of the anchoring assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4A is a side view of the metal decking anchor assembly of FIG. 1 installed between two peaks of a metal decking sheet;

FIG. 4B is cross-sectional side view of the metal decking anchor assembly of FIG. 1 installed between two peaks of a metal decking sheet.

FIG. 5A is a side view of the metal decking anchor assembly of FIG. 1 installed in a trough of a metal decking sheet;

FIG. 5B is cross-sectional side view of the metal decking anchor assembly of FIG. 1 installed in a trough of a metal decking sheet.

FIG. 6A shows a prior art nose-piece. is cross-sectional side view of the metal decking anchor assembly of FIG. 1 installed in a trough of a metal decking sheet.

FIG. 6B shows a prior art nose-piece connected to a lower end of a prior art anchor body.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1A and 1B show a cast-in-place metal deck anchor assembly 10 for suspending objects from a slab (e.g., below) the metal deck after concrete is poured onto the metal deck. Metal decking anchor assembly 10 includes an anchor housing 100, a metal anchor body 200, and a nose-piece 300. Anchor housing 100 includes a inner opening for receiving an outer shaft surface of anchor body 200. Fasteners 120 pass through holes 122 in a base portion of anchor housing 100. Holes 122 may also include a built up portion 125 for strengthening the hole and have a shaped head 121 for driving the fastener (e.g., self-tapping metal fastener).

As shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B, anchor body 200 has a head portion 210 and a shank portion 220 and may be made of metal or other suitable material. A lower central portion 130 of anchor housing 100 includes a nose connector 135. Nose connector 135 may include a locking structure 1135 comprised of projections and/or recesses 140. Anchor assembly 10 also has a central longitudinal passage 50 which extends along a central axis A-A. Shank portion 220 may house a threaded jaw assembly 240 (see FIG. 2B). Shank portion 220 may also include a locking portion 210 for engaging a corresponding locking portion 110 of anchor housing 100 to lock anchor body 200 to anchor housing 100. Jaw assembly 240 may comprise a fixed threaded bore or may include a threaded bore formed from biased internally threaded split nuts.

Nose connector 135 is shown in FIG. 1B and FIG. 2B as being formed in anchor housing 100. However, a nose connector may also be formed in an end of anchor body shaft 220 as shown in FIG. 3C of Applicant's U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/794,322 where nose 180 is connected to a lower end of anchor body 120 which passes through anchor housing 160 exposing connector 182.

Nose-piece 300 of metal decking assembly 10 may be elongate and may include a central passage along axis A-A. An upper or first end 330 of nose-piece 300 includes an anchor connector 335 for connecting nose-piece 300 with anchor housing 100. Specifically, anchor connector 335 engages nose connector 135 to secure anchor housing 100 to nose-piece 300. Anchor connector 335 and nose-connector 135 may include projections and/or (e.g., opposing) recesses that support a bayonet connection therebetween. Such a bayonet connection allows anchor housing 100 to be fit axially together with nose-piece 300 and then rotated into a position such that the two pieces are relatively locked together. Removal of the nose-piece from the anchor housing may include a reverse process of rotating nose-piece 300 relative to anchor housing 100 and then axially separating the pieces. As an alternative to a bayonet connection, nose connector 135 and anchor connector 335 may be connectable with a simple threaded or friction connection. The friction connection may rely on complementary tapered surface that securely engage each other via relative axial and/or torsional forces applied to anchor housing 100 and nose-piece 300.

Nose piece 300 may be comprised of multiple stackable nose portions 320, 340. Each stackable section may have an anchor connector 335 at one end, that is connectable to a nose connector 135. On the other end of each stackable nose portion may be a nose connector 135 of similar dimension and structure to the nose connector 135 of the anchor housing. Therefore, any stackable nose portion 320, 240 may be connected either to the nose connector 135 of anchor housing 100 or to the anchor connector structure 335 at the end of a stackable nose portion 320, 340.

The anchor assembly may include at least two elongate tubular nose-pieces 320, 340 that have a visibly different colour pattern 305, 307 or have a visibly different structure from each other (e.g., a star shaped opening vs. a square opening). The visible structural difference could be visible indicia or could be structural such as holes or openings (e.g., a circular or star shaped hole), depressions, projections, etc. After pouring anchor housing 100 may not be readily visible. Therefore, visible distinctions on nose-pieces 300 would help an installer identify a particular anchor, set of anchors, or subset of anchors. That way, when construction plans (including BIM plans) are drawn, a designer may designate or identify certain anchors to be installed with nose-pieces 320, 340 with certain visibly identifiable colours of structures. The installer knows that all anchors or a subset of anchors appearing on a particular sheet of the plans (e.g., electrical sheet) should have similarly identifying nose-pieces. Therefore, anchors intended to support a particular building system (e.g., plumbing) may be easily identified after pouring.

Claims

1. A cast-in-place anchor system including an anchor assembly for anchoring objects to a concrete structure after concrete is poured and set against a form, the objects secured to an elongated load bearing member which elongate load bearing member is restrained relative to the concrete structure via the cast-in-place anchor system, the cast-in-place anchor system comprising: an anchor assembly including an anchor body and an anchor housing,at least two elongate, tubular nose-pieces alternately and selectively connectable to the anchor assembly,the anchor body including an opening therein extending along a central longitudinal axis thereof for receiving the elongate load bearing member, the opening including a threaded jaw assembly for lockingly engaging and axially securing the elongate load bearing member relative to the anchor body,the anchor housing for fastening to the form before concrete pouring, the anchor housing axially receiving the anchor body and supporting and positioning the anchor body relative to the form before concrete pouring so that a load bearing portion of the anchor body is encapsulated by concrete after concrete pouring,wherein the at least two elongate tubular nose-pieces have a visibly different color pattern or have a visibly different structure from each other.

2. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 1, wherein the anchor assembly further includes a nose-piece connector for connecting one of the at least two elongate, tubular nose-pieces to the anchor assembly.

3. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 2, wherein the at least two elongate tubular nose-pieces are a first elongate, tubular nose-piece having a first end and a second end, the first end including an anchor connector for connecting to the nose-piece connector and a second elongate, tubular nose-piece having a first end and a second end, the first end including an anchor connector for connecting to the nose-piece connector.

4. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 3, wherein the second end of each of the at least two elongate, tubular nose-pieces include a nose-piece connector for connection to the anchor connector at the first end of another elongate tubular nose-piece.

5. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 4, wherein multiple, elongate tubular nose-pieces are stackably connected to each other.

6. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 5, wherein multiple, elongate tubular nose-pieces are stackably connected to each other and then to the anchor housing.

7. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 5, wherein multiple, elongate tubular nose-pieces are stackably connected to each other and then to the anchor body.

8. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 3, wherein the anchor connector and the nose-piece connector engage with each other as a bayonet connection.

9. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 3, wherein the anchor connector and the nose-piece connector engage with each other as a threaded connection or rotational connection.

10. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 3, wherein the anchor connector and the nose-piece connector engage with each other as a tapered friction connection.

11. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 1, wherein the at least two elongate, tubular nose-pieces are connectable to the nose-piece connector which includes nose projections and/or recesses and the anchor connector includes anchor projections and/or recesses and wherein the anchor projections and/or recesses and nose projections and/or recesses engage each other to connect the nose-piece to the anchor body or anchor housing and the nose-piece is selectively removeable from the anchor body or anchor housing.

12. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 1, wherein the at least two elongate, tubular nose-pieces have similar connectors of the same dimension, but noticeably different colourful or structural visual appearances.

13. A method of identifying a cast-in-place anchor assembly that is set in concrete, the anchor assembly for anchoring objects to a concrete structure after concrete is poured and set against a form, the objects secured to an elongated load bearing member which elongate load bearing member is restrained relative to the concrete structure via the cast-in-place anchor system, the cast-in-place anchor system comprising the steps of: providing an anchor assembly including an anchor body, an anchor housing and at least two elongate, tubular nose-pieces,the anchor body including an opening therein extending along a central longitudinal axis thereof for receiving the elongate load bearing member, the opening including a threaded jaw assembly for lockingly engaging and axially securing the elongate load bearing member relative to the anchor body,the anchor housing for fastening to the form before concrete pouring, the anchor housing axially receiving the anchor body and supporting and positioning the anchor body relative to the form before concrete pouring so that a load bearing portion of the anchor body is encapsulated by concrete after concrete pouring,wherein the at least two elongate, tubular nose-pieces have a visibly different colour pattern or have a visibly different structure from each other,use one of the at least two elongate, tubular nose-pieces by connecting it to the anchor body or to the anchor housing,associating the one used elongate, tubular nose-piece with a particular subset of installed fasteners.

14. A method of identifying a cast-in-place anchor assembly that is set in concrete comprising the steps of: providing the system of claim 1,providing a set of drawing sheets for a building construction plan,identifying a set of anchors on a drawing sheet of the building construction plans related to a particular building system,choosing a nose-piece of a first particular colour or structure and installing nose-pieces of that colour or structure on the set of identified anchors.

15. The method of claim 14, further including the step of connecting an additional nose-piece to the nose-piece of a first particular colour or structure.

16. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 1, wherein the at least two elongate tubular nose-pieces each include a hollow through passage.

17. The cast-in-place anchor system of claim 16, wherein when at least one of the at least two elongate tubular nose-pieces are connected to the anchor assembly, the hollow through passage is co-axial with anchor body opening.