US3075358A - Cap for concrete pilings - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 29, 1963 A. E. BECKER ETAL 3,075,358

CAP FOR CONCRETE PILINGs Filed July 31, 1959 .iai Patented dan. 29, i953 3,075,358 CAP FR CNCRETE PHMNGS August E. Becker, Belleville, and Sam Willeford, (laklawn, lll., assignors to Sterling Steel @tasting Co., Monsanto, ill., a corporation o Illinois Filed lluly 31, 1959, Ser. No. 839,805 2 Claims. (Ci. 61--539 This invention relates to a cap for concrete pilings and in particular it is concerned with a cap having a special bead, or what may be termed a lug configuration, whereby the cap may be screwed into tight frictional engagement with the helical convolutions of the conc-rete piling tubing.

Concrete piling has been much used in the construction industry. ln use, the concrete piling to which this invention refers is in the form of sheet metal tubing having helical convolutions thereon, said tubing being conventionally known as helcor tubing. This tubing is provided with a cap at the end which is generally ilanged over and welded as in the form of a sleeve at the end of the tubing and then filled with concrete. The caps .in the past have been diilicult to attach to the ends of the tubing and in such operations there has been an extensive amount of time and labor involved in such attachments. in some cases the cap would Work loose and the operation was ruined.

By means of the instant invention there has been provided a cap for such tubing which will be herein after called helical tubing. This cap has a special bead construction arranged on an internal rim of a hat base and which is designed to mate with the helical grooves on the tubing. The beads are of a particular construction such that in the operation of securing the cap to the tubing the trailing edge of the bead is designed to closely mate with the groove, while the leading edge falls gently away from a mating relationship. By means of this construction manufacturing tolerances can be compensated for and, due to the deformable construction of the steel tubing, the cap can be forced into mating relationship with the tubing so that the tubing forms around the bead and the grooves in the tubing mate with the beads on the cap.

As a further feature of this invention the beads are arranged on the cap on an internal rim, which provides support at the end of the tubing, and the entire cap can be driven into frictional engagement by means of striking notches provided in the periphery of the base of the cap against which a tool may be placed and struck forcefully to cause the proper threading into the tubing.V

It is accordingly a primary object of this invention to provide a cap for helical tubing having a bead construction which is designed to mate with the helical grooves on the tubing and to compensate for manufacturing tolerances.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cap for helical tubing in which the cap has beads provided on an internal wall of the cap, said beads being designed on one edge to mate with a portion of the grooves and on another side falling gently away from the mating relationship so that the cap may be forced into frictional engagement with the beads mating with the grooves and deforming the tubing for proper mating relationship.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a cap for helical tubing having a iiat base and a cylindrical rim with beads provided on a marginal portion of the base and the exterior of the rim whereby the cap may be forced into frictional relationship with the beads mating at the helical grooves on the tubing.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a cap for helical tubing in which the cap has a flat base Z and a cylindrical rim with beads provided on the marginal area of the base and the rim and with striking means on the periphery of the base whereby the cap may be pounded into frictional engagement with the tubing.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide a cap for helical tubing which can be simply cast into the 4desired conguration and which can be employed by relatively unskilled workmen with a minimum of time and labor involved in the connection to the tubing.

Further objects of this invention will appear in the detailed description which follows and will be further apparent to those skilled in the art.

For the purpose of illustration of this invention there is shown in the accompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof. It is to be understood that these illustrations are for the purpose of example only and that the invention is not limited thereto.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a bottom plan view of the cap of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view in elevation of the cap showing the bead configuration;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view in section taken on the line 3 3 of FIGURE l showing a cutout notch in the periphery of the base or" the cap used as a striking means;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged View in section taken on the line 4 4 or FIGURE l showing the bead construction and its attachment to the rim and the marginal area of the base;

FIGURE 5 is a view in elevation of the end or" a section of helical tubing with the cap attached to it and tacked in place by weldments; and

FlGURE 6 is an enlarged View in section taken on the line 6 6 of FGURE 5 showing the rriatinfy relationship of the beads on the cap with the helical convolutions of the tubing.

In the drawings the cap is generally indicated by the reference numeral lil and the helical tubing in which it is secured at the end is indicated by the numeral 1l. |lhe tubing, which is conventionally known as helcor tubing, has a plurality ot grooves in the form of helical convolutions indicated by the numeral 1.2, best shown in FIG- URES 5 and 6, which provides for rigidity and strength of the tubing in the pile driving operation so as to minimize collapse.

The cap, as best shown in FIGURES 1 4, is comprised of a dat base i3. A vertically upstanding rim M circles the base and is spaced from the periphery of the base to define a marginal area i6. Notches i7 are .provided in the periphery of the base and have a perpendicular side i8 to serve as a striking means when a tool is placed thereagainst and forcefully hit to cause the proper engagement with the tubing as will be hereinafter described.

The bead or lug construction is best shown in FIG- URES 1, 2 and 4. The beads are generally indicated by the reference numeral 20 and, as previously mentioned, are of a special construction so as to mate on one side with the grooves i2 in the tubing. The beads are bulbous in configuration and, as will be noted in FIGURE Z and also in FIGURE 6, have a leading edge 2i which is steeper than the trailing edge 22. As shown in FIGURE 6 the leading edge 21 falls gently away from the side of the helical groove l2 while the trailing edge 22 tends to mate with the other portion of the face of the groove 12. rThis relationship provides for optimum mating relation and compensates for manufacturing irnperiections whereby the cap may be readily fastened to the end of the tubing.

spaanse 3 Use The use of the cap in its attachment to the end of the -tubing is extremely simple. In this operation the cap is taken and applied to the end of the tubing in the relationship shown in FiGURE and moved in the direction of the arrow, i.e., in the direction of the helical convolution. This causes a preliminary threading of the beads into the helical convolutions. It will be readily appreciated that in dealing with metal constructions of this type in the field where the tubing is subject to rough wear some bending and malformation of the tubing is inevitable. The construction of the beads compensates for such occur- After the initial threading of the cap into engagement the cap is then forced into further engagement by taking a tool, such as a hammer, and striking it against the striking surface 1S in the notches 17. This forceful operation causes the leading edge 21 to bear against the inner surface of the helical grooves l2. The trailing surface 2.2 of the bead is in close alignment in mating relation with the corresponding face of the helical grooves and follows closely along. Repeated pounding, due to the somewhat deformable nature of the tubing, will tend to force the cap and the beads into full mating relationship with the helical grooves. The particular construction of the leading face of the bead 21 whereby it falls gently away from full mating relationship with the grooves f2 provides for the proper securement of the cap to the tubing. If the leading edge were in full mating relationship it can be appreciated that manufacturing tolerances would be dicult to maintain and would bar the proper attachment of the cap to the tubing where such imperfections existed as would be normally encountered and particularly in the iield where rough wear is the rule rather than the exception.

Once the cap has been fully forced into relationship the end of the tubing will bear against the margin 16 of the cap. Also, the rim 14 will tend to bear against the inner faces of the grooves, as best shown in FIGURE 6, and will provide support for the end of the cap against any tendency to collapse at this point. The cap, when attached as just described, will be in full frictional engagement and for many purposes can be considered to be locked in place. However, to insure vthe engagement of the cap of the tubing, weldments may be made as shown in FIGURES 5 and 6. These weldments, to give full sealing of the cap to prevent water leakage where such protection is desired, may be extended in the form of a continuous weldment completely around the periphery of the junction of the cap and the end of the tubing.

By virtue of the above described construction `of the cap, there has been provided a very simply constructed structure which can be attached to a helical tubing in a minimum of time and eort. The attachment of the cap to the tubing is very strong and through the provision of adaptability to meet manufacturing tolerances through the construction of the beads there has been provided a cap structure which can 4be usedundereld operations by relatively unskilled personnel.

Various changes and modications may be made witbin this invention as will be -readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are withinthe scope and teaching of this invention vas dencd by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A cap for tubing having helical convoluted grooves on the inner periphery of said tubing, said cap comprising a flat base, a vertical circularly shaped r-im attached to said base and defining a marginal border between the rim and the periphery of said base and a plurality of beads fastened to said rim and the margin of the base at the juncture of the rim and the margin of said base, said beads extending from the base vertically upon the exterior of the rim to substantiaily the top thereof and said beads having a bulbous configuration tapering from a largest dimension adjacent said base to a smallest dimension adjacent the upper edge of said rim and the leading surface of each bead having a relatively steeper slope than the trailing surface, whereby said cap may be screwed into tight frictional engagement with an end of the tubing with each bead mating with an individual groove on a trailing surface and falling gently away from mating relation with the groove on a leading surface.

2. A cap for semi-rigid metal tubing having helical convoluted grooves on the inner periphery of said tubing, said cap being of metal and comprised of a flat circular base, a vertical circularly shaped rirn attached concentrically to said base inwardly of the base periphery to `dene a marginal area, said rim being closely nestable within said tubing with the margin of the base extending over the end of the tubing, a plurality of beads provided on the exterior of the rim and the margin of the base at the juncture of the rim and the margin of the base, said beads having a bulbous configuration tapering from a largest dimension adjacent said base to a smallest dimension adjacent the upper edge of said rim and the leading surface of each bead having a relatively steeper slope than the trailing surface, adapted to mate with an individual groove on a trailing surface and fall gently away from mating relation with the groove on a leading surface and said base being provided with a striking means on the margin of the base comprising a notch on the periphery of said base whereby said cap may be screwed into tight frictional engagement with an end of the tubing by striking against said striking means.

whereby each bead is References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

Claims (1)

1. A CAP FOR TUBING HAVING HELICAL CONVOLUTED GROOVES ON THE INNER PERIPHERY OF SAID TUBING, SAID CAP COMPRISING A FLAT BASE, A VERTICAL CIRCULARLY SHAPED RIM ATTACHED TO SAID BASE AND DEFINING A MARGINAL BORDER BETWEEN THE RIM AND THE PERIPHERY OF SAID BASE AND A PLURALITY OF BEADS FASTENED TO SAID RIM AND THE MARGIN OF THE BASE AT THE JUNCTURE OF THE RIM AND THE MARGIN OF SAID BASE, SAID BEADS EXTENDING FROM THE BASE VERTICALLY UPON THE EXTERIOR OF THE RIM TO SUBSTANTIALLY THE TOP THEREOF AND SAID BEADS HAVING A BULBOUS CONFIGURATION TAPERING FROM A LARGEST DIMENSION ADJACENT SAID BASE TO A SMALLEST DIMENSION ADJACENT THE UPPER EDGE OF SAID RIM AND THE LEADING SURFACE OF EACH BEAD HAVING A RELATIVELY STEEPER SLOPE THAN THE TRAILING SURFACE, WHEREBY SAID CAP MAY BE SCREWED INTO TIGHT FRICTIONAL ENGAGEMENT WITH AN END OF THE TUBING WITH EACH BEAD MATING WITH AN INDIVIDUAL GROOVE ON A TRAILING SURFACE AND FALLING GENTLY AWAY FROM MATING RELATION WITH THE GROOVE ON A LEADING SURFACE.

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