NZ787664A - A footing - Google Patents

Abstract

footing member 1 comprising one or more walls 7 and tubular pile-guides 9. Each respective tubular pile-guide of the tubular pile-guides comprises a respective channel section 9a having sides. The sides are energetically bonded to the one or more walls.

Description

A footing member 1 comprising one or more walls 7 and tubular pile-guides 9. Each respective tubular pile-guide of the tubular pile-guides comprises a respective l section 9a having sides. The sides are energetically bonded to the one or more walls.

NZ 787664 A FOOTING FIELD The invention relates to footings and to components therefor.

Australian design registration no. 347113 shows an existing footing plate. A representation from that registration is reproduced herein as Figure 1. The footing plate FP comprises a square plate body and a respective pile-guide PG at each corner of the plate body PB. To l the footing plate, a respective pile is driven through each of the pile-guides PG, e.g. driven with the aid of a jackhammer. The guides guide the piles to splay outwardly to engage the ground for transmitting load from overlying structure thereto.

The plate body PB comprises an array of four bolt-holes BH to which the overlying structure may be fastened. An existing approach entails passing bolts upwardly through the holes BH and engaging nuts with those bolts to clamp the plate body PB and define upwardly-projecting threaded studs. A mounting plate at the bottom of an overlying structure, such as the mounting plate at the bottom of a stirrup for a fence post, having a suitable array of bolt-holes, can then be lowered onto the ting studs and secured in place with r nuts.

This approach has its drawbacks. The underside of the plate PB can be difficult to access to tighten the nut and bolt assemblies.

The plate body has a downwardly-folded flange running along each of its edges for additional rigidity. This folding operation butes to the cost of the footing plate FP. Larger footing plates akin to the footing plate FP can be used to transmit larger loads to ground but can be heavy and therefore entail higher material costs and be more expensive, difficult and dangerous to handle.

P1787NZAU Figures 2 to 4 show other existing footings taken from the initial applicant’s own Australian patent application no. 2020203851. The A1 publication of that application is incorporated herein by reference. These figures show a footing F comprising a footing member FM and a top plate TP. The footing member comprises a central ring-like body parted off from steel hollow section. Three tubular uides are welded to the outside of the ring and three threaded studs ST are welded to the With the foregoing in mind, the present ion aims to provide improvements in and for footings or at least to provide an alternative for those ned with footings.

It is not admitted that any of the information in this patent specification is common general knowledge, or that the person skilled in the art could be reasonably expected to ascertain or understand it, regard it as relevant or combine it in any way before the priority date.

SUMMARY One aspect of the invention provides a footing member comprising one or more walls; and tubular pile-guides; wherein each respective tubular pile-guide of the tubular pile-guides comprises a respective channel section having sides; and the sides are energetically bonded to the one or more walls.

The footing member preferably comprises load points co-operable with nut and bolt systems for clamping down a top member; n the nut and bolt systems se lower hex portions; and P1787NZAU the load points are arranged to on the lower hex ns below the one or more walls.

Another aspect of the invention provides a footing member comprising one or more walls; tubular pile-guides; and load points co-operable with nut and bolt systems for clamping down a top member; wherein the nut and bolt systems comprise lower hex portions; and the load points are arranged to position the lower hex portions below the one or more walls.

Tubes may be energetically bonded to the one or more walls to define the load points.

Preferably the one or more walls define a closed shape in plan. Most preferably the footing member comprises a portion parted off from hollow section and defining the one or more walls.

Another aspect of the invention provides a g comprising a footing member and a top member.

Another aspect of the invention provides an installed footing comprising a footing member and a top member.

Another aspect of the invention provides a method of making a g member; the footing member comprising one or more walls; and r pile-guides; P1787NZAU the method comprising forming the tubular pile-guides by energetically bonding sides of channel sections to the one or more walls.

The method may comprise g planar material to form the channel sections.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a footing; Figure 2 is a perspective view of another footing; Figure 3 is a plan view of a footing member; Figure 4 is an elevation of the footing member of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a footing; Figure 6 is a bottom perspective view of a footing; and Figure 7 is a top view of the footing.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS The g 1 ses a footing member 3 and a top plate 5. The footing member comprises a body 7 and channel sections 9a that together define pile guides 9. The guides are arranged to guide piles to downwardly diverge.

In this example, the body 7 is a wall ement defining a closed shape in plan.

The body 7 is parted off from a length of hollow section whereby the wall arrangement is a vertical wall arrangement, although ed walls, e.g. inclined walls akin to walls of the footing plate FP, are possible. In this case, the closed shape is square arising from the body portion 7 being parted off from a length of square hollow section (SHS). Other shapes are possible. By way of example, the body 7 may se a single curved wall, e.g. as in the body portion BP.

P1787NZAU In this example, the channel section 9a is formed by cutting a strip of material from plate stock and then bending that planar material to shape. In this particular e, the channel section has a lly U-shaped profile although other shapes are possible, e.g. squarer profiles are possible. The two sides of the channel section are separately welded at te weld sites 9b, 9c to the wall of the body portion 7 whereby the channel 9a and a portion of the wall together define the tubular guide.

The channel section is shaped to only partly surround the pile but together with the wall portion forms a tube to fully surround the pile.

Forming the guides in this way has been found to reduce cost. The channel sections 9c are lower cost than a corresponding portion of parted-off tube stock that might be used to form the uide. Moreover, separating the weld sites 9b, 9c from each other has been found to lead to a stronger footing. Without wishing to be bound by any particular , this benefit is thought to arise firstly from the mechanical age achieved in separating the force-transmitting locations, and secondly spreading or reducing the impact of the ffected zone.

In this example, the planar blank from which the channel sections 9c are formed is bent about an axis transverse to a straight edge of the blank that becomes the top edge of the guide. This results in an about planar top of the guide for a neater finish and without wasted material projecting upwardly beyond the points of attachment to the body.

Any convenient form of welding may be used. , similar processes such as brazing and soldering are also possible. "Energetic bonding" and similar terminology are used herein to embrace ses such as welding, brazing and soldering.

Four tubes 7a are welded to the inside of the body 7, in this case at the mid-point of each side of the square profile. The tubes have tops and bottoms sitting in er with the tops and bottoms of the wall portion of the body 7. Energetically bonding the tubes to the walls provides for a simple, rigid means of connection. Each bolting system 11 comprises two hex portions, i.e. nut 11a and bolt-head 11b. The lower end of the tubes 7a define loading points against which the bolting systems 11 act to downwardly clamp the top plate 5. The lower ends of the tubes 7a are positioned to P1787NZAU position the bolt-heads 11b below the wall of the body portion 7 whereat the boltheads are accessible, e.g. with a spanner, for tightening.

There are other ways for g a suitable loading point lower down the body portion 7. By way of example, a tab ated by a bolt-hole might be welded in position.

Alternatively, a similar tab might be formed by deforming a tang projecting down from the bottom of the wall.

The invention is not limited to the examples explicitly contemplated herein. Rather, the invention is d by the claims. Many ions are possible. By way of example, the l section guides might be usefully employed without the low- mounted load points, e.g. in combination with threaded studs welded in place akin to the studs ST. Vice versa, the low-mounted load points and bolting systems may be usefully employed t the channel section guides, e.g. in combination with guides akin to the pile-guides PG.

As best shown in Figure 5 in this example of the footing, s separate the top plate from the body 7. In other examples, the plate might be clamped directly against the body. In yet other examples, the top plate might be welded to the body or otherwise directly connected, e.g. the walls might be formed by folding down flanges in a manner akin to the footing plate FP.

In this example, the body 7 and top plate 5 are formed of steel. Whilst metallic constructions are preferred, other materials are possible.

The term "comprises" and its grammatical variants has a meaning that is determined by the t in which it appears. Accordingly, the term should not be interpreted exhaustively unless the context dictates so.

Claims (10)

1. A footing member comprising one or more walls; and tubular pile-guides; 5 wherein each respective tubular pile-guide of the tubular pile-guides comprises a respective channel n having sides; and the sides are energetically bonded to the one or more walls.

2. The footing member of claim 1 comprising load points co-operable with nut and bolt systems for ng down a top member; 10 wherein the nut and bolt systems comprise lower hex portions; and the load points are arranged to position the lower hex ns below the one or more walls.

3. A footing member comprising one or more walls; 15 tubular pile-guides; and load points co-operable with nut and bolt systems for clamping down a top member; wherein the nut and bolt systems comprise lower hex portions; and the load points are arranged to position the lower hex portions below the one or more walls. 20

4. The footing member of claim 2 or 3 comprising tubes energetically bonded to the one or more walls to define the load points. P1787NZAU

5. The footing member of any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the one or more walls ng a closed shape in plan.

6. The footing member of any one of claims 1 to 5 sing a portion parted off from hollow section and defining the one or more walls. 5

7. A footing comprising the footing member of any one of claims 1 to 6 and a or the top member.

8. An installed footing comprising the footing member of any one of claims 1 to 6 and a or the top member.

9. A method of making a footing member; 10 the footing member comprising one or more walls; and tubular pile-guides; the method comprising forming the tubular pile-guides by energetically bonding sides of l sections to the one or more walls. 15

10. The method of claim 9 comprising bending planar material to form the channel sections. PB FP