AU2008100652A4 - Support for a cast-in component - Google Patents

Description

Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 INNOVATION PATENT SPECIFICATION

(ORIGINAL)

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor(s): ITW Construction Systems Australia Pty Ltd of Level 3, 74 Doncaster Road, Balwyn North, Victoria 3104, Australia Robert Urquhart Connell Address for Service: DAVIES COLLISON CAVE, Patent Attorneys, 1 Nicholson Street, Melbourne 3000, Victoria, Australia Innovation Patent specification for the invention entitled: "Support for a cast-in component" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: Q \OPER\RSHfJUNE 08 DEC 08\30589360 [NNOV 199DOC 17fl/08 P:OPER\RSfitw-wppon for .doc-17AM718 00 -1- SSUPPORT FOR A CAST-IN COMPONENT The present invention relates to a support or chair for a component to be cast into a t concrete component such as a concrete panel.

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Supports or chairs for supporting from a casting bed a component such as an internally 00 threaded ferrule or a lifting anchor to be incorporated into a concrete product, such as a panel, during casting thereof are well known. Conventionally such a support comprises an array of legs extending downwardly from support structure to which the component to be incorporated, the ferrule or lifting anchor for example, is engaged. The support is configured to set the upper end of the component at a prescribed distance from the casting bed to suit the thickness of the panel or other concrete product being cast. Typically, each leg has at its lower end a downwardly projecting foot portion in the form of a tab of substantially reduced cross-sectional size relative to that of the leg to provide a small contact area with the bed whereby there will only by a relatively small exposure of the end surface of the tab to the lower face of the concrete product when removed from the bed.

Conventionally, these downwardly projecting feet or tabs have been of a width which progressively narrows towards their lower end, and adjustment in the height at which the upper end of the ferrule or anchor is set above the bed to suit different thicknesses of panel being cast has been achieved by either completely removing the tabs whereby the lower ends of the main part of the legs rest on the bed or by cutting the tabs at a suitable position intermediate their upper and lower ends. In either case this will result in exposure of an increased surface area in the lower surface of the finished concrete product and this is significant if the tabs are completely removed. Moreover cutting of the tabs intermediate their ends does require the position of the cut to be measured by the operator which tends to be rather tedious and time consuming.

The present invention relates to a support or chair in which the projecting tab at the lower end of each leg is configured to be so that it is able to be cut at one or more predetermined positions without increasing to any substantial degree the surface area which will be P\OPER\RSl\,.-tppon for dM-17A71Mf) R 00 -2exposed to the lower face of the cast panel or other concrete product.

According to the present invention, there is provided a support for a component such as an internally threaded ferrule or lifting anchor to be cast into a concrete product such as a O 5 panel, the support comprising an array of legs, each leg having at its lower end a tab projecting downwardly to engage the surface of a casting bed, each tab having 00 intermediate its ends at least one downwardly-facing support surface which when the tab is cut in the zone of that surface forms a lower support surface for engagement with the casting bed whereby to reduce the height of the support by a predetermined extent.

In a preferred embodiment, each tab has at least two such downwardly facing support surfaces spaced vertically in the tab. Preferably each tab is of stepped configuration along a downwardly directed side of the tab to provide the or each of the downwardly directed surfaces.

Advantageously, the configuration of the or each support surface is such as to facilitate cutting of the tab in an upwardly inclined direction away from the support surface whereby the support area of the tab when so cut is that of the downwardly facing surface.

Preferably, this is achieved by means of an upwardly directed notch at the junction between an inner edge of the support surface and the tab to facilitate location of cutter jaws in an upwardly inclined orientation to provide the cut.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a support in accordance with the preferred embodiment; and Figure 2 is a view showing in detail the configuration of the tab at the lower end of each leg of the support.

The support or chair shown in the accompanying drawings comprises an array of legs 2 projecting downwardly from upper support structure 4 which in the embodiment shown is MPFRPE\tSH~ Wpon lfo-dow-I1?A)7/200 00 -3configured to support an internally threaded ferrule by engagement by the base of the ferrule, the ferrule being firmly anchored by the engagement of integral clips 6 with a reinforcing bar extending transversely through the base part of the ferrule. Alternative ,I embodiments may be configured to engage and retain an internally threaded ferrule in other ways or may be configured to engage and retain other types of cast-in components such as lifting anchors.

00 Each leg 2 carries at its lower end a downwardly projecting tab 8, the lower end of which is designed to rest on the casting bed. Although in common with the prior supports discussed previously, the tab 8 is of reducing width from its upper end to its lower end, however rather than being configured with two straight convergent edges, it will be seen that along one of its edges the tab 8 is of stepped configuration. This provides in the embodiment shown, a step 10 at each of two predetermined positions at which the tab can be cut so as to vary the height at which the upper end of the ferrule or other component can be set above the casting bed to suit different thicknesses of panel being cast. It is however to be understood that the number of steps can be greater than or less than the two actually shown. Each of the steps 10 provides a downwardly facing support surface 10a of a predetermined area which will engage the cast-in bed if the tab is cut at that location.

In order to ensure that only the predetermined area of the step engages the cast-in bed, the cut through the tab adjacent the inner edge of the step 10 needs to incline upwardly as shown diagrammatically by the broken lines 12. To facilitate this inclined cut which is made by a small hand tool such as wire cutters or the like, the inner edge of each of the steps is formed with an upwardly directed notch 14 in the manner shown to facilitate entry of the cutter jaws easily at the required angle to provide the inclined cut and thereby to ensure that the contact area at the end of the tab following the cut is that determined by the area of the downwardly facing surface of the step. It is not necessary for the lower surface areas of the steps to be the same as that of the lower end of the tab prior to cutting and, depending on the detailed design, the surface areas of the steps may be less than or greater than that of the lower end of the tab prior to cutting. However, the surface area of the steps will be such as to ensure that there will not be a significant exposure to the lower surface P:OPERRSIH\l-upponr for.. doc-17/07/2008 0 -4of the panel after casting and will be substantially less than that which would otherwise apply if a tab of more conventional configuration is cut horizontally to provide height adjustment.

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O 5 The embodiment has been described by way of example only and modifications are possible within the scope of the invention.

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Claims (4)

1. A support for a component such as an internally threaded ferrule or lifting anchor to be cast into a concrete product such as a panel, the support comprising an array of legs, each leg having at its lower end a tab projecting downwardly to engage the surface of a casting bed, each tab having intermediate its ends at least one downwardly-facing support 00 0surface which when the tab is cut in the zone of that surface forms a lower support surface ri for engagement with the casting bed whereby to reduce the height of the support by a predetermined extent.

2. A support according to claim 1, wherein the tab has at least two such downwardly facing support surfaces spaced vertically in the tab.

3. A support according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the tab is of stepped configuration along a downwardly directed side of the tab to provide the or each of the downwardly directed surfaces.

4. A support according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the configuration of the or each support surface is such as to facilitate cutting of the tab in an upwardly inclined direction away from the support surface whereby the support area of the tab when so cut is that of the downwardly facing surface. A support according to claim 4 having an upwardly directed notch at the junction between an inner edge of the support surface and a main body of the tab to facilitate location of cutter jaws in an upwardly inclined orientation to provide the cut.