US3633867A

US3633867A - She-bolt and torque wrench assembly

Info

Publication number: US3633867A
Application number: US848481A
Authority: US
Inventors: George J Eriksson
Original assignee: Superior Concrete Accessories Inc
Current assignee: Superior Concrete Accessories Inc
Priority date: 1969-08-08
Filing date: 1969-08-08
Publication date: 1972-01-11
Anticipated expiration: 1989-01-11
Also published as: CA918466A

Abstract

A cooperating she-bolt and torque wrench assembly wherein the she-bolt is provided inwards of its outer extremity with a flat web and the torque wrench is forked so that it may be caused to straddle the web. A crank arm on the torque wrench facilitates spinning of the wrench for the purpose of unthreading the shebolt from its associated tie rod when the latter is embedded in a mass of poured concrete.

Description

United States Patent Inventor George J. Eriksson Morton Grove, 111.

App]. No. 848,481

Filed Aug. 8, 1969 Patented Jan. 11, 1972 Assignee Superior Concrete Accessories, Inc.

Franklin Park, 111.

SHE-BOLT AND TORQUE WRENCH ASSEMBLY 1 Claim, 11 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 249/213, 25/131 T, 249/40, 249/42, 249/190 Int. Cl E04g 17/08 Field of Search... 25/131 T; 254/29, 67;81/1 19, 120, 121 B; 249/213,216, 217, 40, 42, 43, 46,190

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/1922 Mueller 111/121 1,831,153 11/1931 Williams 249/42 2,001,052 5/1935 Colt 249/217 2,106,712 2/1938 Bertrand 81/121 B 2,358,555 9/1944 Blanchard 81/121 B 2,503,364 4/1950 Viets 81/121 2,646,703 7/1953 Erbe 249/213 X 3,013,323 12/1961 Williams 25/131 T Primary ExaminerRobert D. Baldwin Assistant Examiner-Ben D. Tobor Attorney-Norman H. Gerlach ABSTRACT: A cooperating she-bolt and torque wrench assembly wherein the she-bolt is provided inwards of its outer extremity with a flat web and the torque wrench is forked so that it may be caused to straddle the web. A crank arm on the torque wrench facilitates spinning of the wrench for the purpose of unthreading the she-bolt from its associated tie rod when the latter is embedded in a mass of poured concrete.

PATENTEI] mu 1 1972 31633.86?

SHEET 1 BF 2 SHE-BOLT AND TORQUE WRENCH ASSEMBLY The present invention relates generally to concrete wall forms and has particular reference to a novel combination or assembly of a she-bolt and a torque wrench. by means of which the she-bolt may, by a spinning or turning operation, be unscrewed or unthreaded from its associated tie rod after the latter has become embedded in a mass of concrete after pouring of the latter in the space between the sides of a concrete wall form.

According to the present invention, the she-boltis of special construction, it being provided with a buttontype head at its outer end and such head being established by the provision of a pair of opposed relief areas a slight distance inwards from the outer extremity of the she-bolt. The relief areas serve a dual function. In the concrete wall form installation, they are adapted to receive therein a fork-type wedge which exerts a spreading action against the button-type head and the associated concrete wall from side, thus fastening the she-bolt to the form side as is customary in the art. According to the present invention, the relief areas also are designed for cooperation with a special torque wrench by means of which the she-bolt may be unthreaded from its associated concrete embedded tie rod after the concrete which is poured between the opposed, spaced-apart concrete wall form sides has become hardened and the wedge removed from its operative position in order to permit of dismantlement of the wall form. Toward this end, the aforementioned relief areas form a flat web which is capable of receiving in straddling relationship a conventional fork-type wedge in connection with use of the she-bolt and after use of the she-bolt is capable of receiving the forked end of the special torque wrench in such a manner as to establish a driving connection between the wrench and she-bolt to the end that when the wrench is rotated under the influence of an associated crank arm and about the longitudinal axis of the she-bolt the latter is unscrewed from the concrete embedded tie rod to which the she-bolt was originally attached. STill further, according to the present invention, the she-bolt and torque wrench are so designed for cooperation with each other that, after initial application of the wrench to the she-bolt for torque application and prior to the actual application of torque, the wrench and she-bolt become interlocked against accidental separation to the end that the operator may, if necessary or desired, release the torque wrench and the latter will not fall from its thus installed position on the she-bolt but will remain in a hung position, so to speak, to allow the operator to shift from one hand to the other for manipulative purposes, to change his position on a scaffold or ladder, or to momentarily leave the scene of application, for example. By the same token, the interlocking relationship which is established upon initial application of the torque wrench to the she-bolt also prevents inadvertent separation of the wrench from the she-bolt during high-speed spinning or turning of the wrench and she-bolt while unthreading of the she-bolt from the associated concrete embedded tie rod, all in a manner that will become clear when the nature of the invention is better understood.

The provision of a she-bolt and torque wrench combination or assembly such as has briefly been outlined above constitutes the principal object of the invention. Other objects and advantages not at this time enumerated will readily suggest themselves as the following description ensues.

The invention consists in the several novel features which are hereinafter described and are more particularly pointed out by the claims at the conclusion hereof.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings forming a part of this specification, one illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view taken transversely through one side of a concrete wall form in the vicinity of a tie rod and illustrating the manner of initial application of the torque wrench to the protruding end of a she-bolt which extends through said one side of the concrete wall form and has its inner end connected by a screw thread connection to the adjacent end of the concrete-embedded tie rod;

FIG. la is a fragmentary perspective view of the distal end region of the she-bolt which with the tongue wrench forms the combination or assembly constituting the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the torque wrench of the assembly showing the same operatively poised with respect to the adjacent protruding end of the associated concrete-embedded she-bolt preparatory to engaging the same for torque application and consequent unthreading of the she-bolt from its associated concrete-embedded tie rod;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the torque wrench interlocked with the she-bolt immediately prior to torque application;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 but, showing the she-bolt withdrawn from the concrete and the concrete-embedded tie rod, the. she-bolt remaining captured by the torque wrench;

FIG. Sis an enlarged front perspective view of the torque wrench;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken on the vertical plane 6-6 of FIG. 5 and in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the torque wrench;

FIG. 8 is an endv view of the torque wrench;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary side elevational view, partly in section, illustrating schematically the relative positions of the torque wrench and the she-bolt after initial application of the wrench to the she-bolt but before interlocking between the two takes place; and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary side elevational view similar to FIG. 9 but showing the torque wrench and the she-bolt in their interlocked relationship with the former loosely hung 38 on the latter.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and in particular to FIG. 1, a fragmentary portion of a concrete wall form in the vicinity of one end of a tie rod assembly is shown, the view being a transverse section through one side of the wall form. It will be understood, of course, that the other side of the form may be substantially identical to the illustrated wall form side and that each side embodies a series of upstanding plywood or other panels 10 which are maintained in their spaced-apart relationship by a series of tie rod assemblies, each of which includes a medial tie rod 12 and a pair of outer she-bolts 14, but one she-bolt being shown in FIG. 1. Except for a minor detail which will be described subsequently. the single tie rod assembly which is illustrated herein is conventional or standard, each she-bolt being in the form of an elongated steel member having a tapered rear section 16 and a cylindrical front section 17. The rear or inner end of the tapered section of the illustrated she-bolt 14 is provided with a screw-threaded socket 18 (See FIGS. 2, 3 and 4) for threaded reception of the adjacent threaded end 20 of the tie rod 12. The tie rod assembly spans the distance between the two sides of the concrete wall form, the tie rod 12 of the assembly assuming a medial position wholly contained within the wall form, while each she-bolt projects outwardly through a hole 22 in the associated plywood panel 10 so that the outer end of the cylindrical front section 17 is accessible outside the form. In order to secure the illustrated she-bolt 14 to the adjacent form side, it is customary to employ a horizontally disposed stud 24 which, if desired, may extend vertically instead of horizontally, the stud being provided with a bore 26 in alignment with the hole 22 in the panel 10, and the outer extremity of the cylindrical front section of the she-bolt l4 projecting outwardly beyond both the hole 22 and the bore 26. A fiat metal backing plate 28, which is secured by nails 30 to the outer face of the stud 4, also is formed with a hole 32 through which the outer end portion of the she-bolt projects.

With a conventional she-bolt, a wide variety of means are employed for anchoring the she-bolt to the stud 24 and its backing plate 28, but according to the present invention and in order to facilitate the application of torque to the she-bolt 14 for rotational purposes by means of a special torque wrench embodying the present invention and the nature of which will be made clear presently, the outer extremity of the cylindrical front section 17 of the she-bolt is formed with-a buttonlike head 34 (see FIG. 1a) which is spaced from the main body portion of the she-bolt by a flat-sided web 36, the latter being formed by two opposite cutout or relief areas. This web and its associated button head are adapted for cooperation with a suitable fork-type wedge (not shown) which straddies the flat web 36 and exerts a spreading influence against the head 34 and the backing plate 28 in a manner well known in the art. Exemplary of one form of wedge which may be used for this purpose is that which is shown and described in my copending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 823,308, filed on May 9, 1969 and entitled "WALER BRACKET FOR A CONCRETE WALL FORM.

The aforementioned flat web 36 and its adjacent or associated button head 34 are designed for cooperation with a special torque wrench which is designated in its entirety by the reference numeral 40 and is shown in detail in FIG. 2 of the drawings. It will be understood that after the concrete wall form has been erected and wet concrete poured between the two form sides and allowed to harden so as to produce the wall W of FIG. I, the tie rod 12 will remain completely embedded in the concrete wall while the she-bolts 14 at the opposite sides of the wall will project outwardly through the holes 22, the bores 26 and the holes 32 while the webs 36 and the button heads 34 will be exposed for cooperation with the wrench 40 by means of which the she-bolts may be unthreaded from the threaded ends of the concrete-embedded tie rod 12 and thus extracted from the hardened concrete wall to release the form sides for dismantling purposes. The concrete-embedded portions of the she-bolts 14, that is, the rear sections 16, being tapered or of conical configuration as shown in FIGS. 1,2,3 and 4, are capable of being rotated for removal of the shebolts from the embedded tie rod 12, while the tie rod 12 is provided with radial flanges 42 (see FIGS. 2,3 and 4) which prevent turning the tie rod in the concrete during unthreading of the she-bolts 14 therefrom. The flanges 42 also serve the purpose of limiting the threaded extent of the she-bolts onto the threaded ends of the tie rod.

Referring now specifically to FIG. 2, The torque wrench 40 is in the form of a solid cylindrical body 44 which is provided near the forward or distal end thereof with a transversely extending notch 46 (see also FIGS. and 11) having a flat bottom wall 48, a radial flat rear wall 50, and a radial flat front wall 52. The latter is divided by a second and longitudinally extending notch 54 (se FIG. 4) which intersects the notch 46. The longitudinal notch 54 establishes two opposed, spacedapart arcuate fork tines 56 which present opposed flat jaw faces 58 (see FIG. 2).

The front end face 60 of the cylindrical body 44 of the torque wrench 40 is provided with a cylindrical socket 62, the diameter of which is substantially equal to the diameter of the cylindrical section 17 of the she-bolt 14. The socket 62 intersects the longitudinal slot 54 as best seen in FIGS. 7 and 8.

The proximate end of the cylindrical body 44 is provided with a fixed manipulating handle 64 (see FIGS. 5 to 8, inclusive) in the form of an L-shaped member having a leg 66 which projects in diametric fashion through a transverse bore 67 in the body 44, and a laterally turned leg 68 which extends parallel to the axis of the body 44 and overhangs the rear end of the latter. The leg 68 constitutes a crank arm by means of which a rotating or spinning motion may be imparted to the torque wrench as a whole for she-bolt removal purposes in a manner that will be described in detail subsequently. Preferably, the leg 66 is welded to the body 44 as indicated at 70 (se FIG. 6) in order to maintain a fixed orientation of the crank arm 68 with respect to the body 44.

As is customary when dismantling a concrete wall form such as the form which is fragmentarily shown in FIG. 1, the shebolts 14 are removed from their partially embedded position in the wall W before the form sides are dismantled and stripped from the side surfaces of the concrete wall. According to the present invention, removal of any given she-bolt is accomplished by causing the torque wrench 40 to approach the protruding end region of the she-bolt I4 endwise as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and then, when the longitudinally extending notch 54 at the forward end of the wrench body 44 becomes transversely aligned with the web 56 of the she-bolt as shown in FIG. 2, the wrench is shifted laterally bodily as a whole as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 2 so that the web 56 enters the notch 54 and the opposed fork tines 56 straddle the web as shown in both FIGS. 2 and 9. At this time, the opposed flat sides of the notch 54 engage the opposite sides of the web 36 so that a driving connection is attained between the torque wrench as a whole and the she-bolt 14. However, before actual rotation of the torque wrench is commenced, the wrench is pushed forwardly a slight distance so that the portion of the cylindrical section 17 of the shebolt that is directly rearwards of the notch 46 enters the socket 62 in the front end face 60 of the wrench as shown in FIGS. 3 and 10. At this time, the inner end face of the button head 34 on the she-bolt 12 engages the flat bottom. wall 50 of the transversely extending notch 46. With this relative positioning of the torque wrench 40 and the she-bolt 12, the two parts are interlocked in such a manner that the operator may release the torque wrench and the latter will remain on the she-bolt in a hanging position as shown in FIG. 10 so that the operator may shift his grip from the body portion of the wrench to the crank arm 68 for she-bolt unthreading operations without having to use both hands.

Actual unthreading of the she-bolt 14 is accomplished by a spinning operation wherein the crank arm is revolved about the axis of the she-bolt with a cranking motion in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3. Due to the presence of the radial fins 42 on the tie rod 12, the latter is held against rotation or turning in the concrete of the wall W within which it is embedded. However, the she-bolt 14, having a smooth circular cross-sectional configuration all points along its longitudinal extent, is free to rotate in the hardened concrete under the influence of torque application by the torque wrench 40.

After the she-bolt 14 has been unthreaded from the tie rod 12, axial movement of the torque wrench 40 will initially withdraw the cylindrical section 17 from the socket 62 while the button head 34 will move into contact with the sidewall 52 of the transversely extending notch 46 as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 9 so that a pulling action is applied to the she-bolt by the torque wrench, thus withdrawing the former from the socket or void which is established in the concrete by such removal of the she-bolt. The torque wrench 40 may be utilized for the successive removal of the various she-bolts 14 which are associated with the concrete wall form and, thereafter, the form sides are freed for stripping from the side surfaces of the concrete wall.

It is obvious that the torque wrench may also be employed in a manner similar to that described above for initial threading of the she-bolts onto the ends of the tie rod 12, the wrenchspinning operation, of course, taking place in a clockwise direction.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of parts which are shown in the accompanying drawings or described in this specification as various changes in the details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a concrete wall form, in combination, a tie rod assernbly including a tie rod adapted for embedment in the concrete wall resulting from such form, and a she-bolt threadedly connected to the outer end of the tie rod and having a cylindrical portion adapted to project outwardly from one side of the wall and also adapted, upon rotation in one direction, to become unthreaded from the tie rod for extraction purposes, said projecting cylindrical portion being provided with a flat web adjacent its extreme outer end defining a terminal button head outwardly of web, and a torque wrench for rotating said she-bolt in said one direction, said torque wrench comprising an elongated cylindrical body portion having a crank arm adjacent to its proximate end, and having a transverse notch adjacent to its distal end and a longitudinal notch extending inwards from said distal end and intersecting said transverse notch, thus defining a pair of laterally extending fork tines adapted to straddle said web in driving relationship when the button head is disposed in said transverse notch and the she-bolt and body portion are in coaxial relationship, the distal end of said cylindrical body being formed with a cylindrical socket having a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the body portion of the she-bolt, thelongitudinal extent of said transverse notch being greater than that of the button head, and the depth of said socket being less than the width of the fork tines in a longitudinal direction, thus providing a bottom wall for the socket, said wrench being capable of limited axial shifting movement with respect to the she-bolt between an initial position wherein said fork tines straddle the web, the button head is in close proximity to the fork tines and the cylindrical body portion of the tie rod is disposed exteriorly of said socket, and a terminal position wherein the fork tines also straddle the web, the button head is remote from the fork tines, and the outer end of the cylindrical body portion of the tie rod is disposed within the socket.

Claims

1. In a concrete wall form, in combination, a tie rod assembly including a tie rod adapted for embedment in the concrete wall resulting from such form, and a she-bolt threadedly connected to the outer end of the tie rod and having a cylindrical portion adapted to project outwardly from one side of the wall and also adapted, upon rotation in one direction, to become unthreaded from the tie rod for extraction purposes, said projecting cylindrical portion being provided with a flat web adjacent its extreme outer end defining a terminal button head outwardly of web, and a torque wrench for rotating said she-bolt in said one direction, said torque wrench comprising an elongated cylindrical body portion having a crank arm adjacent to its proximate end, and having a transverse notch adjacent to its distal end and a longitudinal notch extending inwards from said distal end and intersecting said transverse notch, thus defining a pair of laterally extending fork tines adapted to straddle said web in driving relationship when the button head is disposed in said transverse notch and the she-bolt and body portion are in coaxial relationship, the distal end of said cylindrical body being formed with a cylindrical socket having a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the body portion of the she-bolt, the longitudinal extent of said transverse notch being greater than that of the button head, and the depth of said socket being less than the width of the fork tines in a longitudinal direction, thus providing a bottom wall for the socket, said wrench being capable of limited axial shifting movement with respect to the she-bolt between an initial position wherein said fork tines straddle the web, the button head is in close proximity to the fork tines and the cylindrical body portion of the tie rod is disposed exteriorly of said socket, and a terminal position wherein the fork tines also straddle the web, the button head is remote from the fork tines, and the outer end of the cylindrical body portion of the tie rod is disposed within the socket.