Swaged pier system and method of installing same

Abstract

A pier system (10) for at least partially supporting a-building broadly comprises a plurality of swaged pier segments (12) having a length, wherein each swaged pier segment (12) is operable to be connected to another of the swaged pier segments (12); a hinged lifting platform (14) operable to be secured to an uppermost one of the swaged pier segments (12′); at least one intermediate swaged pier segment (16) having a length, said length of the intermediate swaged pier segment (16) being different than the length of the swaged pier segment (12), said intermediate swaged pier segment (16) operable to be connected to the uppermost swaged pier segment (12′); and an encasement (22) for at least partial receipt of the at least one intermediate swaged pier segment (16).

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This non-provisional patent application claims priority benefit, with regard to all common subject matter, of the following earlier-filed U.S. provisional patent applications: U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 945,522, filed Jun. 21, 2007, and entitled “Swaged Pier Segment”; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 013,116, filed Dec. 12, 2007, and entitled “Swaged Pier Segment for a Pier System”; and U.S. Provisional Application No. 61 / 027,685, filed Feb. 11, 2008, and entitled “Helical Swaged Segment.” The identified earlier-filed provisional applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety into the present application.BACKGROUND[0002]1. Field[0003]The present invention relates to systems for lifting and supporting a building that has moved due to soil movement, erosion, earth compaction, or other geological movement. More particularly, the invention relates to a pier system comprising individual, stackable pier segments that can be placed...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012]By constructing a pier system of embodiments of the present invention, numerous advantages are realized. For example, the load of a building is held on only one vertical axis, as opposed to multiple vertical axes in the prior art. Additionally, any vertical or lateral movement of the building does not result in shearing or lateral movement of the individual components of the pier system with respect to each other. Further, because the individual pier segments present a body and swaged segment that is entirely made of steel, the concrete held within the swaged pier segment is reinforced, and the pier segments, when stacked, result in steel on top of steel, which provides an improved resistance to shearing from lateral and compressive forces. An even further advantage of the present invention is that the individual pier segments may be more easily and inexpensively manufactured, due to use of a single piece of steel for the segment. Moreover, lateral movement is limited because each segment does not include telescoping parts. Further, the swaged configuration of the pier segment allows for securement of the lifting platform to the segment.

[0013]These and other important aspects of the present invention are described more fully in the detailed description below.

Problems solved by technology

Often, movement is due to incorrectly preparing the earth beneath a building foundation before laying the foundation.

This movement consequently results in movement of the building.

Even a small amount of movement of the building, such as 1-2 inches, can cause multiple foundation and structural problems, such as water seeping into the building.

Many systems have been developed to address building movement; however, each of these systems presents different, but significant, problems.

There are several problems with the segmented pile disclosed in the '547 patent application.

First, because the compressive load of the building is borne on the concrete-to-concrete plugs, any lateral force on the segmented pile that occurs from heaving or other movement of the building will shear the concrete.

This is not preferable, however, due to ground heaving and movement.

This would then result in a greater compressive force on the right cap block than the other blocks, which would then result in lateral forces on the remaining blocks due to the resulting misalignment and inequality of the compressive forces on all the cap blocks.

Moreover, lateral movement is limited because each segment does not include telescoping parts.

Images