Anchor bolt placement protection assembly and method for aligning structural elements in a form when pouring concrete

Abstract

An anchor bolt placement and protection assembly for positioning or setting a threaded anchor bolt in a concrete stem foundation or concrete slab in relation to spaced form boards for controlling the depth of the anchor bolt in the concrete and the protected length of the anchor bolt projecting above the concrete foundation or slab. The assembly includes a base plate carrying a fixed, elongated tubular member having a lumen with an inner diameter dimensioned to receive the selected anchor bolt. The tubular member is sized to abut a detached tubular having an inside diameter that is substantially equal to the fixed tubular member's inside diameter. The assembly also includes a fastener with an anchor bolt thread engaging lumen with an inside diameter that is substantially equal to said fixed tubular member's inside diameter.

Description

[0001] This application is a continuation in part of and claims priority to the filing date of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 335,656 entitled “Anchor Bolt Placement and Protection Device”, filed Dec. 31, 2002. The entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to concrete foundations and the foundation forms made of boards into which concrete is poured and more particularly relates to mud sill anchor bolts and structural hardware bolts imbedded in the concrete. The present invention also relates to an anchor bolt placement and protection device adapted to be detachably mounted to the threaded end of an anchor bolt to shield the threads and vertical shaft exposed after pouring, protecting the threads and shaft from being coated with concrete during the pour. This invention also relates to properly positioning the anchor bolt in relation to the form boards between wh...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an anchor bolt protection and support assembly that cooperates with the threaded end of the anchor bolt to properly position the anchor bolt and protect the anchor bolt during the pour. Proper position provides a precise spacing in relation to the inner surface of a form board and also provides an appropriate depth for the length of the bolt and the thickness of the mud sill so that the mud sill (when placed over the anchor bolt) is properly oriented. It is another object of the present invention to protect the anchor bolt threads and the anchor bolt shaft from contamination by concrete during the pour, thereby avoiding an accumulation of cement material at the intersection of the anchor bolt where it projects above the surface of the pour concrete foundation.

[0011] In accordance with the present invention, a protective placement device detachably envelopes and engages the exposed threaded end of the anchor bolt and includes at least one lateral projecting flange to index and accurately space the anchor bolt from a selected (e.g., inside) surface of the form board, so that all the anchor bolts are uniformly spaced from a reference form board surface. Proper spacing of the anchor bolts facilitates boring of the mud sill so that the holes in the mud sill are appropriately spaced to match the spacing between the anchor bolts and any structural hardware bolts.

Problems solved by technology

While it is expected that the bottom spacer bars will be of appropriate length to retain the bottom edges of the form boards at the appropriate spacing in the trench bottom where they can be held in place by the pressure of the dirt filled into the trench against the outside surfaces of the form, it has been discovered that the wooden cleats nailed across the top edges of the form board provided unsatisfactory results.

Often, the top edges of the form boards spread apart as the form is filled with concrete, and the spacing of the form boards is ruined.

This is caused by improper nailing of the top cleat.

This procedure is expensive in terms of materials and time since it often takes the workman a significant amount of time to achieve proper spacing at the top edges of the form boards.

Another disadvantage of this method of spacing and retaining the upper edges of the form boards is that frequently workmen are paid for the number of linear feed of forms they erect.

Workmen paid in this manner are motivated to work quickly rather than carefully and so contribute to the improper spacing of the top edges of the form boards or improper nailing of the cleats.

Another disadvantage is that during the concrete pour, as the form is filled, the cleats are an obstruction to the agitation of the concrete.

Placement of these anchor bolts is critical but the position of the anchor bolt is often misjudged, thus increasing the difficulty of boring holes in the mud sill to receive the anchor bolts.

In addition to misplacement or irregular spacing between successive anchor bolts, another problem in the prior art system of setting anchor bolts is that the depth to which the anchor bolts are set is very often not uniform.

Sometimes the anchor bolts are set so deeply that the threaded end of the anchor bolt does not project through the thickness of the mud sill, thereby providing no way to fix the position of the mud sill.

Another problem is that the threaded end of the anchor bolt may project too far above the mud sill, requiring numerous washers to provide a surface properly engaging the threaded portion of the anchor bolts so that a nut may be threaded on to the anchor bolt to retain the mud sill, after it is placed over the anchor bolt.

Another problem is that during the pour, concrete may adhere to the anchor bolt and accumulate at the base of that portion of the anchor bolt shaft outer surface where the anchor bolt projects upwardly from the horizontal surface of the concrete.

Once the concrete is cured, it is very difficult to remove this now hardened unwanted cement material and if the mud sill is simply placed over an anchor bolt which includes that accumulated material, the mud sill will not make uniform contact with the surface of the foundation, thereby providing an uneven, non-level surface upon which carpenters must build the wall.

Very often this misaligned mud sill will cause misalignments in the wall and in the structures which rest on the wall, and such misalignments can even be seen where walls meet roof members, and so problems associated with unwanted material adhering to the upwardly projected portion of the anchor bolt shaft can propagate through and create significant defects in all of the structure that rests upon the mud sill.

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