US3183581A

US3183581A - Leveling device

Info

Publication number: US3183581A
Application number: US246574A
Authority: US
Inventors: Glenn F Lister
Original assignee: LISTER CONCRETE PRODUCTS AND ORNAMENTAL IRON
Current assignee: LISTER CONCRETE PRODUCTS AND ORNAMENTAL IRON
Priority date: 1962-12-21
Filing date: 1962-12-21
Publication date: 1965-05-18
Anticipated expiration: 1982-05-18

Description

y 1965 e. F. LISTER 3,183,581

LEVELING DEVICE Filed Dec. 21, 1962 BPW A Arrow/v5 /5 United States Patent 3,183,581 LEVELING DEVICE Glenn F. Lister, Waterloo, Iowa, assiguor to Lister Concrete Products and Ornamental Iron, Waterloo, Iowa,

a corporation of Iowa Filed Dec. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 246,574 2 Claims. (Cl. 29--200) The present invention relates to an apparatus for holding and leveling a structural beam, during installation of the beam, and more particularly to a jack device for raising and leveling wrought iron columns during installation.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved leveling and jack apparatus adapted to raise and accurately level a structural beam relative to a support member.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of positioning and leveling a structural beam between spaced support members.

A further object of the invention is to provide a selfcontained and portable leveling and jack apparatus which is adjustable to accommodate different sized structural beams.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a versatile leveling and jack apparatus which is simple and rugged in construction, economical to manufacture, and easy and reliable in operation.

The exact nature of the invention as well as other objects and advantages thereof will be readily apparent from the consideration of the following specification relating to the annexed drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the leveling and jack apparatus in assembled relationship with a vertically extended wrought iron column;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the leveling and jack apparatus of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing the wedge shoring device associated with the bottom of the iron column.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a structural beam in the form of a wrought iron column having a pair of parallel side rails 11 and 12 interconnected with ornamental members 13. The beam 10 extends in -a vertical direction between

spaced support members

14 and 16, such as a porch ceiling member and a concrete slab, respectively. The upper end of the structural beam 10 is positioned on the support member 14 by a pair of cup-shaped cap members 17 which enclose the top ends of the slide rails 11 and 1:2 in a well known manner. The beam 10 is secured in its vertical position by shoring units 18 positioned under the lower ends of the side rails 11 and 12. Cap members 19 are slidably positioned on the lower ends of the side rails 11 and 12 and are adapted to be moved in a downward direction to cover the shoring units 18. As shown in FIGURE 1, the cap members 19 are in a raised position.

In order to position the shoring units 18 under the lower ends of the side rails 11 and 12 and to plumb and level the beam 10 the leveling and jack apparatus 21 of this invention is releasably secured to the side rails 11 and 12. As shown in FIGURE 2, the apparatus 21 comprises a frame means 22 having a pair of substantially longitudinally extending

members

23 and 24 interconnected at their midsections with a transverse extending member 26 and at their ends with transverse extending

members

27 and 28. Opposite ends of the

transverse members

27 and 28 project laterall beyond the

longitudinal members

23 and 24 and provide the frame with a width which is greater than the transverse space be tween the side rails 11 and 12 of the structural beam 10. Each end of the transversely extending

members

27 and 28 is provided with a short and laterally projected arm or tab 29. Each tab 29 forms with its respective transverse member a right angular alignment surface 31 for positioning the apparatus 21 in alignment longitudinally of the beam 10. A bubble gauge or level 25 is secured to the top surface of the transverse member 26 to indicate the level and plumb position of the apparatus 21.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 3 the leveling and jack apparatus 21 is fastened to the side rails 11 and 12 of the beam by four clamp means 32 slidably mounted on the end sections of the

transverse members

27 and 28.

As shown in FIGURE 4, each clamp means 32 is of a type commonly referred to as a G-clamp and includes a C-shaped body 33 which terminates at one end in a flat round head 34 and at the other end in a leg 36. A screw 37 is threadably supported b the leg 36 in axial alignment with the head 34. The end of the screw 37 which projects toward the head 34 is provided with an enlarged swivel head 38. A handle 39 extends through a transverse bore at the outer end of the screw 38 to provide for the manual rotation of the screw 37 whereby the head 38 can be moved toward and away from the head 34.

In order to accommodate structural beams of different widths each clamp means 32 is guidably mounted on the

transverse members

27 and 28 for movement longitudinally thereof. Each clamp means 32 is held and guided on the

members

27 and 28 by a guide track 40 which includes a pair of angle irons 41 and 42 (FIG. 4) which are welded to opposite sides of the

frame members

27 and 28. The

angle irons

41 and 42 form a longitudinally extended undercut recess 43 and a longitudinal guide slot 44. The head 38 on the screw 37 is formed with a reduced portion 46 which is receivable in the slot 44 and an enlarged head 47, which is confined in the recess 43.

As shown in FIGURE 2 the lateral tabs 29 are secured to the outer ends of the

angle irons

41 and 42 and close the end of the recess 43 thus preventting the removal of the clamp means 32 from the frame 22.

In order to raise the frame 22 above the support surface 16 the apparatus 21 is provided with a fluid jack 48 secured to the mid-section of the frame 22. The jack 48 extends in a parallel relation with the

longitudinal members

23 and 24 and is secured to the

transverse members

27 and 28 by means of a U-shaped clamp 49 and a yoke member 51, respectively. The fluid jack 48 includes a cylindrical body 52 which extends longitudinally of the frame 22. The U-shaped clamp 49 is welded at its base section to the transverse member 27 and extends around the cylindrical body 52 and is clamped thereto by an associated bolt 53. The yoke member 51 extends around the cylindrical body 52 and is welded to the mid-section of the transverse member 28. A piston rod or working member 54 is extendible out of the lower end of the cylindrical body 52 and is pivotally connected by means of a ball and socket connection to a flat base Plate 56. The jack 48 has a cylindrical operator member 57 telescopically positioned over the upper end of the body 52. The operator member 57 is rotated to control a valve (not shown) positioned within the body 52 to permit the piston rod 54 to move into and out of the cylindrical body 52.

As shown in FIGURE 1 by the broken line position of the member 57 the reciprocal movement of the operator member 57 pumps fluid within the body 52 to extend the piston rod 54 from the body thereby raising the frame 22. Rotating the operator member 57 to a fluid release J) position permits the return flow of fluid and retraction of piston rod 54 to the frame 22.

In use, the leveling and jack apparatus 21 is initially placed on the lower end of the structuralbeam 10. As shown in FIGURE 3, the side rail 11 is placed against the right angular alignment surface 31 to position the frame 22 longitudinally of the beam 16. The head 34 of each clamp means 32 engage the side rails 11 and 12, and the screw 37 is turned down to hold the frame 22 on the side rails 11 and 12. The upper end of the side rails 11 and 12 are positioned in the cap membersifi secured to the support member 14. Beam 1% being slightly shorter than the transverse distance between the

support members

14 and 16 is vertically positioned between these members. The piston rod 54 of the jack 48 is initially extended by reciprocally pumping the operator member 57 a few strokes to hold the side rails 11 and 12 in engagement with the cap members 17 and permit movement of the base plate 56 over the support member 16 for eveling the beam lit. The bubble-type'level 25 is used to indicate the level and plumb positions of thebeam lil. When the beam is in a level and plumb position the piston rod 54 of the jack 43 is further extended by reciprocally pumping the operator member 57. The frame 22 and the structural beam are moved vertically upwardly thereby increasing the space between the bottom end of the side rails 11 and 12 and the surface of the support member 16 until a desired spacing between the support members l4 and 16 is obtained.

As shown in FIGURE 5, a pair of shoring members 18 are inserted under each side rail. The shoring members 18 comprise a pair of self-locking wedge-

shaped shims

58 and 59. The wedge-shaped shims have mating selflocking teeth 61 which permit t e shims to be adjusted relative to each other to vary the vertical height of the shoring unit 18. The

shims

58 and 59 are formed from metal,- preferably aluminum. After the

shims

58 and 59 have been placed under the side rails 11 and 12 and adjusted to take up the space between the end of the side rail and the surface of the support member 16 the cap member 19 which is telescopically positioned on the side rails 11 and 12 is placed over the shoring members 18 to protect them and provide an attractive appearance.

The leveling and jack apparatus 21 is released by angularly rotating the operator member 57 of the jack 48 thereby allowing the piston rod 54 to be retracted into the cylindricalbody 57.. With the release and removal of the clamp means 32 from engagement with the side rails 11 and 12 the apparatus 21 is ready to be used to level and position another structural support beam between spaced members.

While there have been shown, described and pointed;

applied to the preferred embodiment, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions, changes in form, and details of the apparatus illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is intended to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for positioning a structural beam between spaced members comprising: 7

(a) frame means having longitudinal spaced projections for aligning said frame means in a longitudinal eX- tended position on said beam,

(b) gauge means secured to said frame means for indicating a level and plumb position thereof,

(0) clamp means mounted on said frame means and operable to secure the frame means to the beam in said longitudinal aligned position,

(at) guide means forming a part of said frame means for mounting said clamp means for movement transversely of said frame means, and

(a) jack means secured to and positioned longitudinally of said frame means with one end adapted to engage one of said spaced members, said jack means being operable to move the frame means and beam against the other of said spaced members.

2. An apparatus for positioning a structural beam between spaced inembers comprising:

(a) frame means, v

(b) coacting portions on said frame means and beam for aligning said frame means longitudinally of said beam,

(c) gauge means secured to said frame means for indicating the level and plumb position thereof,

((1) clamp means mounted on said frame means and operable to secure the frame means to the beam in said longitudinal. aligned position, and

(e) jack means secured to and positioned longitudinally.

of said frame means with one end adapted to engage one of said spaced members, said jack means being operable to move the frame means and beam against the other of said spaced members. 7

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,272,349 2/42 Noser 29-200 2,331,285 10/43 Allen et al. 89-37 2,863,531 12/58 Campbell 29429 2,882,100 4/59 Bank 182--l29 3,018,842 1/62 Abrell 2920O WHITMORE A. WILTZ, Primary Examiner.

THOMAS EAGER, Examiner.

Claims

1. AN APPARATUS FOR POSITIONING A STRUCTURAL BEAM BETWEEN SPACED MEMBERS COMPRISING: (A) FRAME MEANS HAVING LONGITUDINAL SPACED PROJECTIONS FOR ALIGNING SAID FRAME MEANS IN A LONGITUDINAL EXTENDED POSITION ON SAID BEAM, (B) GAUGE MEANS SECURED TO SAID FRAME MEANS FOR INDICATING A LEVEL AND PLUMB POSITION THEREOF, (C) CLAMP MEANS MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME MEANS AND OPERABLE TO SECURE THE FRAME MEANS TO THE BEAM IN SAID LONGITUDINAL ALIGNED POSITION, (D) GUIDE MEANS FORMING A PART OF SAID FRAME MEANS FOR MOUNTING SAID CLAMP MEANS FOR MOVEMENT TRANSVERSELY OF SAID FRAME MEANS, AND (E) JACK MEANS SECURED TO AND POSITIONED LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID FRAME MEANS WITH ONE END ADAPTED TO ENGAGE ONE OF SAID SPACED MEMBERS, SAID JACK MEANS BEING OPERABLE TO MOVE THE FRAME MEANS AND BEAM AGAINST THE OTHER OF SAID SPACED MEMBERS.