GB2537607A

GB2537607A - Building anchor member and building anchor assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2537607A
Application number: GB1506521.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Thomas Griff
Original assignee: Gbt Design Services Ltd
Current assignee: GBT DESIGN SERVICES LTD
Priority date: 2015-04-17
Filing date: 2015-04-17
Publication date: 2016-10-26
Anticipated expiration: 2035-04-17
Also published as: GB2537607B; GB201506521D0

Abstract

A building anchor member 10 comprises a body 11, e.g. elongate and hollow with open ends; an apertured head 17 rigidly coupled to the body 11; an externally threaded rod 18 for passing into the body via the head; wherein one end of the rod 18 extends out of the head 17 and the other end sits in the body 11 for coupling with a further anchor member 10. A head upper region may be flush with a body upper region and an external shape of the head may conform with an internal shape of the body. The anchor 10 may comprise a planar foot 13 with a port 14 for accessing the body interior and apertures 15 for securing the foot. The anchor 10 may comprise a strut and header (30 and 40, Fig. 6) forming part of a C-shaped frame. Also claimed is a connector 21 with first and second threaded portions 22,23. One of the portions may pass within the body.

Description

Building Anchor Member and Building Anchor Assembly The present invention relates to a building anchor member and a building anchor assembly.

Modular and portable building units require lifting and siting at a desired location.

Once sited, the unit is then typically anchored or otherwise secured in place. This can involve securing the unit to a foundation or to further units, for example. A problem with modular units however, is that when such units are placed on top of each other to form a multi-storey building for example, the floor and ceiling joists of adjoining storeys must be secured together. Previously, this has required exposing regions of the adjoining joists by removing portions of the floor of the storey above and/or portions of the ceiling of the storey below, so that fasteners can be positions along the length of the adjoining joists to secure them together. However, the floor and ceiling of the neighbouring storeys must then be repaired which is a time-consuming task.

It is also known to provide modular units comprising a floor and ceiling, but with only three side walls. These open sided units are used to create a single larger unit by positioning two such units adjacent each other with the open side of each unit facing each other. The floor and ceiling joists which span across the open side of these units are subject to deflection during transportation and as such it is necessary to provide bracing members to prevent any bowing of the joists.

We have now devised a building anchor member and assembly which addresses the above mentioned problems.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a building anchor member for anchoring a building, the member comprising: a body; a head rigidly coupled to the body at an upper region thereof, the head comprising an aperture disposed therein;; a rod comprising an external thread which is arranged to pass within the body via the head, the rod being arranged in use, to extend between an upper and lower region of the body for coupling with a further anchor member, wherein in use, an upper region of the rod is disposed above the head and a lower region of the rod is disposed within the body.

The building anchor member may form an integral member of a frame of the building, or may otherwise be rigidly coupled to the building frame, and the exposed upper region of the rod enables the anchor member and thus the building to be readily secured to other anchor members and thus further buildings, such as to create a multi-storey building. Moreover, the building anchor member and in particular, the exposed upper region of the rod, provides for a suitable coupling for a fastener, for use with a lifting apparatus, so that the building can be easily lifted and sited at the desired location.

In an embodiment, the body comprises an elongate, hollow body which is open at each longitudinal end thereof.

In an embodiment, the head is rigidly coupled within the body at the upper region thereof, so that an upper region of the head is flush with an upper region of the body. The head preferably comprises an external shape which substantially conforms with an internal shape of the body at the upper region thereof.

In an embodiment, the member further comprises a foot, which is rigidly coupled to a lower region of the body and which is arranged to engage with an underside of the building.

The foot comprises a port disposed therein which is coincident with a longitudinal axis of the body, such that an interior of the body can be accessed via the port disposed in the foot.

The foot is preferably substantially planar and comprises a plurality of apertures through which fasteners can pass to enable the foot to be secured to an underside, such as a sole plate, of the building. In an embodiment, the foot and body are orientated substantially transverse to each other. In an embodiment, the anchor member further comprises a strut and a header member, the foot, strut and header member collectively providing an anchor frame having a substantially C-shaped profile.

In an embodiment, an upper region of the threaded rod is arranged to extend above the head and a lower region of the threaded rod is arranged to remain within the body.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a building anchor assembly for anchoring a building to other buildings, the assembly comprising a building anchor member according to the first aspect and a connector comprising first and second internally threaded portions, at least one of the first and second portions being arranged to couple with the rod of the member.

Preferably, the first and second internally threaded portions extend along a longitudinal axis of the connector.

The connector is preferably sized so that at least one of the first and second portions of the connector can pass within the body.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a building comprising at least one building anchor assembly of the first aspect.

Whilst the invention has been described above, it extends to any inventive combination of features set out above or in the following description. Although illustrative embodiments of the invention are described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to these precise embodiments.

Furthermore, it is contemplated that a particular feature described either individually or as part of an embodiment can be combined with other individually described features, or parts of other embodiments, even if the other features and embodiments make no mention of the particular feature. Thus, the invention extends to such specific combinations not already described.

The invention may be performed in various ways, and, by way of example only, embodiments thereof will now be described, reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a building anchor member according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a longitudinal, sectional. exploded view along the anchor member illustrated in figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the building anchor member from the underside of the building; Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view along a building anchor assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention; and, Figure 5a is a perspective view of a building according to an embodiment of the present invention comprising a building anchor assembly according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5b is a perspective view of a building according to an embodiment of the present invention comprising a building anchor assembly according to a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 is a perspective view of a building anchor member according to a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7a is a perspective view of the floor and ceiling joists of a multi-storey building; and, Figure 7b is a side view of the ceiling joist of the ground story unit and the floor joist of the first storey unit of the building illustrated in figure 7a, with the building anchor members of the second embodiment positioned therein.

Referring to figures 1 to 3 of the drawings, there is illustrated a building anchor member 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention for anchoring a building 100 to other buildings, for example. The member may comprise an integral part of a frame (not shown) of the building 100 or alternatively, the member 10 may be separate to the building frame and rigidly coupled thereto.

The member 10 comprises an elongate hollow body 11, which is open at each longitudinal end thereof, and which in the illustrated embodiment comprises a substantially square cross-sectional profile. However, the skilled person will recognise that other cross-sectional shapes may be employed. The hollow form of the body 11 defines a linear passage 12 therein which extends along a longitudinal axis of the member 10.

In use, the body 11 is orientated such that the longitudinal axis thereof extends substantially vertically and the body 11 is coupled at the lower end thereof to a foot 13 or plate. The foot 13 is substantially planar and comprises a port 14 formed therein which is aligned with the passage 12 in the body 11, such that the passage 12 can be accessed via the port 14 in the foot 13. The body 11 extends from an upper side of the foot 13 substantially transverse to a plane of the foot 13, and in a first embodiment, the upper side of the foot 13 is arranged to engage with an underside of a building 100 or sole plate 101 thereof, for example, as illustrated in figure 3 of the drawings. The foot 13 further comprises a plurality of apertures 15 for enabling fasteners 16, such as screws and nails to pass therethrough from the underside thereof, to secure the foot 13 to the sole plate 101.

The member 10 further comprises a head 17 disposed at an upper region of the body 11 which extends within the body such that an upper region of the head 17 extends substantially flush with an upper region of the body 11. The head 17 is rigidly coupled to the body 11 or may be formed integrally therewith and comprises an aperture (not shown) having an internal thread which is centred upon the longitudinal axis of the body 11. The member 10 further comprises a rod 18 having an external thread 18a, which is arranged to pass into and out of the body 11 via the aperture within the head 17, and which comprises a length which is substantially the same as the length of the body 11.

Referring to figure 4 of the drawings, there is illustrated a building anchor assembly 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention, for anchoring a building 100 to further anchor members 10 of further buildings 100, for example. The assembly comprises the building anchor member 10 described above, and so like features have been reference with the same reference numerals, and a connector 21 which comprises a first and second internally threaded portion 22, 23 which are centred upon a longitudinal axis of the connector 21. In an embodiment, both the first and second portions 22, 23 are suitably sized to receive the threaded rod 18, however, in an alternative embodiment, the first and second portions 22, 23 may comprise different internal diameters, such that only one of the first or second portions 22, 23 may couple with the rod 18.

Referring to figure 5 of the drawings, there is illustrated a building 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, which comprises building anchor members described above 10. The building anchor members 10 may be integrally formed with a frame (not shown) of the building 100 or otherwise rigidly secured to the building frame, such that the foot 13 extends at the underside of the building 100. The anchor members 10 are located along the sides of the building 100 at positions which correspond with the location of dedicated anchoring points 102 associated with a foundation platform (not shown) or with a ground floor building unit 110 (as illustrated in figure 5a), or with the location of anchor members 10 of a further building unit 120 (as illustrated in figure 5b), for example.

The dedicated anchor points 102 of known ground floor building units 110 and foundation platforms (not shown) typically comprise externally threaded rods 103 which project upwardly from an upper surface of the building unit 102 or foundation platform (not shown). In accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in figure 5a, in order to secure a building unit 120 comprising the anchor members to a ground floor building unit 110 (or a foundation platform, for example) comprising dedicated anchor points 102, a connector 21 of the building anchor assembly 20 is first screwed upon each of the dedicated anchor points 102 of the ground floor unit 110, using the first portion 22, and the first storey building unit 120 is then lowered upon the ground floor unit 110, so that the second portion 23 of the connectors 21 extend through a port 14 and within a body 11 of a corresponding anchor member 10. A separate threaded rod 18 is then passed into the body 11 of each anchor member 10, via the head 17, until a distal end of each of the threaded rods 18 becomes coupled within the second portion 23 of the corresponding connector 21. Once coupled, then owing to the length of the threaded rods 18, the proximal ends thereof are arranged to extend above the head 17 of the respective member 10. The threaded rods 18 thus effectively tie the first storey building unit 120 with the ground floor building unit 110.

In this embodiment, it is to be appreciated that the threaded rods 18 forming the dedicated anchor points 102 may comprise a different external diameter to the threaded rods 18 associated with the anchor members 10, in which case the first and second connector portions 22, 23 may comprise different internal diameters to accommodate both the threaded rods 103 of the dedicated anchor points 102 and the threaded rods 18 of the anchor members 10 In accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention, in the event that a second storey building unit 130 is to be coupled upon the first storey building unit 120, as illustrated in figure 5b, then further connectors 21 which may be different to those associated with the first embodiment, are screwed upon the exposed proximal end of the threaded rods 18 of the anchor members 10 of the first storey building unit 120. The second storey building unit 130 is then lowered upon the first storey building unit 120 so that the connectors 21 extend within the ports 14 of the anchor members 10 of the second storey units 130. Threaded rods 18 are then passed into the body 11 of each of the anchor members 10 of the second storey units 130 until the distal ends of the threaded rods 18 couple with the connectors 21. It will be appreciated that this process may be repeated until the desired number of storeys has been erected. Moreover, owing to the same threaded rods 18 used with the anchor members 10, then the first and second portions 22, 23 of the connectors 21 used to couple the first storey building unit 120 with the second storey building unit 130 will comprise the same internal diameters.

Once the desired number of storeys have been constructed and secured in place, the resulting arrangement can be locked by coupling a fastener 24, such as a locking nut associated with the building anchor assembly 20, over the exposed proximal end of each of the threaded rods 18 of the uppermost building unit, and rotated until the nuts abuts the head 18 of the respective anchor member 10. However, in a further embodiment, it is envisaged that a further fastener 25, such as a fastener comprising an eyelet or hook, may also, or alternatively be suitably coupled over the exposed proximal ends of the threaded rods 18, so that a lifting apparatus (not shown), such as a crane may couple with the building and lift the building 100 for siting accordingly.

In a second embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in figure 6 of the drawings, the building anchor member 10 further comprises strut 30 and a header member 40 which together with the foot 13, define an anchor frame. The strut 30 and header member 40 may comprise a planar sections formed of metal, for example. The strut 30 is coupled at a proximal end thereof to a rear edge of the foot 13, and extends upwardly from the foot 13 substantially parallel to the body 11 at a rear thereof. A distal edge of the strut 30, namely an upper edge thereof in use, is coupled to the header member 40. The header member 40 extends forwardly of the strut 30 substantially parallel to the foot 13 over the upper region of the body 11. The header member 40 comprises a port 41 disposed therein which is aligned with the upper region of the body 11, so that the interior of the body 11 can be accessed via the port 41 within the header member 40. The header member 40, strut 30 and foot 13 thus cooperatively form a C-shaped frame which extends around the body 11.

The building anchor member 10 of the second embodiment is arranged to extend within ceiling and floor joists of modular buildings, as illustrated in figure 7 of the drawings, to help support the joists and also facilitate a coupling of the joists when forming multi-storey units, for example. Referring to figure 7 of the drawings there is illustrated a floor and ceiling joist 50, 60 for supporting the floor 70 and ceiling 80 of a first and ground storey respectively, of a building (not shown). The joists 50, 60 comprise a substantially C-shaped profile and the building anchor members 10 of the second embodiment are positioned within the joists 50, 60 at separated positions therealong. The joists 50, 60 comprise apertures (not shown) disposed in upper and lower regions thereof, which are arranged to align with the ports 41 14 disposed within the header member 40 and foot 13 of a respective anchor member 10. Once the anchor members 10 have been suitably located within the joists 50, 60, they may be secured in place using fasteners (not shown) which pass through the apertures 15 in the foot of each member 10, or welded to the joists 50, 60, for example.

In use, to secure the ground and first storey units (not shown) together, a threaded bar (not shown) is screwed into the head 17 of each building anchor 10 positioned in the ceiling joists 60 of the ground storey unit (not shown). The threaded bar (not shown) comprises a larger external diameter than the threaded rod 18. A connector 21 is then screwed upon each threaded bar (not shown) using the appropriate connector portion 22, 23, such that the connectors 21 extend upwardly from the upper region of the ceiling joists 60. The first storey unit (not shown) is then positioned upon the ground storey unit (not shown), so that the connectors 21 extend through the apertures (not shown) disposed at the underside of the floor joists 50 of the first storey unit (not shown), through the port 14 disposed in the foot 13 of a respective building anchor member 10 into the respective body 11. A threaded rod 18 is then passed through each aperture (not shown) disposed at the upper region of the floor joists 50, and into a respective body 11 via the port 41 in the header member 40 and aperture within the head 17 of the respective building anchor member 10.

The threaded rods 18 can pass freely through the heads 17, owing to the reduced diameter compared with the threaded bars (not shown) and are arranged to couple with the other of the connector portions 22, 23 of a respective connector 21 disposed within the body 11. Finally, a locking nut 90 may then be secured upon the exposed upper region of each threaded rod 18 to lock the threaded rods 18 in place and thus securely couple the floor and ceiling joists 50, 60 together. In this respect, only a small opening 71 is required within the floor 70 of the first storey unit (not shown) so that the threaded rod 18 can pass therethrough and so that the locking nut 90 can be coupled onto the exposed end of the rod 18 to couple the joists 50, 60 together. The small opening 71 can thus be readily covered with appropriate flooring, such as carpet (not shown) without requiring any initial floor repair.

The building anchor frame 13, 30, 40 of each member 10 further increases the structural integrity of the respective joists 50, 60 and thus strengthens the joists 50, 60 to minimise any untoward deflection or bowing during transportation, for example.

From the foregoing therefore, it is evident that the building anchor member and assembly of the present invention provide for a simple yet effective means for anchoring building units together.

Claims

Claims 1. A building anchor member for anchoring a building, the member comprising: a body; a head rigidly coupled to the body at an upper region thereof, the head comprising an aperture disposed therein; a rod comprising an external thread which is arranged to pass within the body via the head, the rod being arranged in use, to extend between an upper and lower region of the body for coupling with a further anchor member, wherein in use, an upper region of the rod is disposed above the head and a lower region of the rod is disposed within the body.
2. A building anchor member according to claim 1, wherein the body comprises an elongate, hollow body which is open at each longitudinal end thereof.
3. A building anchor member according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the head is rigidly coupled within the body at the upper region thereof.
4. A building anchor member according to any preceding claim, wherein an upper region of the head is arranged to extend flush with an upper region of the body.
5. A building anchor member according to any preceding claim, wherein the head comprises an external shape which substantially conforms with an internal shape of the body at the upper region thereof.
6. A building anchor member according to any preceding claim, further comprising a foot,.
7. A building anchor member according to claim 6, wherein the foot comprises a port disposed therein which is coincident with a longitudinal axis of the body, such that an interior of the body can be accessed via the port disposed in the foot.
8. A building anchor member according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the foot is substantially planar and comprises a plurality of apertures through which fasteners can pass to enable the foot to be secured to an underside of the building.
9. A building anchor member according to any claims 6 to 8, wherein the foot and body are orientated substantially transverse to each other.
10. A building anchor member according to any of claims 6 to 9, further comprising a strut and a header member, the foot, strut and header member collectively providing an anchor frame.
11. A building anchor assembly for anchoring a building to other buildings, the assembly comprising a building anchor member according to any preceding claim and a connector comprising first and second internally threaded portions, at least one of the first and second portions being arranged to couple with the threaded rod of the member.
12. A building anchor assembly according to claim 11, wherein the first and second internally threaded portions extend along a longitudinal axis of the connector.
13. A building anchor assembly according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the connector is sized so that at least one of the first and second connector portions can pass within the body.
14. A building comprising at least one building anchor member according to any of claims 1 to 10.
15. A building anchor member substantially as herein described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.
16. A building anchor assembly substantially as herein described and with reference to the accompanying drawings.
17. A building substantially as herein described and with reference to the accompanying drawings