Concrete Anchor Head Layout Around Reinforcement Without Drilling
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for attaching functional elements to structural facilities like ceilings made of casting compounds, such as concrete, are time-consuming and cumbersome, requiring material-removing processes like drilling and complex arrangement of anchor units on formwork during concrete production.
Innovation Solution
An anchor unit with an anchor head and inelastic, flexibly bendable anchoring elements that can be fixed in a non-detachable, form-fitting manner within the structural element, allowing for placement at any point without interfering with reinforcements and providing enhanced load-bearing capabilities, even when the casting compound hardens.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If anchor units are arranged on formwork during concrete production and fixed to reinforcing elements, then the anchoring is permanently secured in the structural element, but the installation process becomes time-consuming and cumbersome
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor units are pre-assembled with anchoring elements attached to the anchor heads before concrete pouring. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for complex on-site assembly and fixation to formwork, significantly reducing installation time while maintaining reliable permanent fixation in the hardened concrete structure
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the anchor units from the formwork system and allows them to be independently positioned in the concrete structure. The anchoring elements are designed to embed directly into the concrete without requiring attachment to formwork or reinforcing elements, simplifying the installation process while ensuring reliable fixation
2Ease of operation
If recesses are created in the ceiling structure by drilling, then functional elements can be fixed in the ceiling, but the structural element must be modified by a material-removing process
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of removing material to create recesses for functional elements, the invention inverts the approach by embedding anchor units with receptacles into the concrete structure during pouring. The receptacles protrude from the hardened surface, providing ready-made attachment points for functional elements without requiring subsequent drilling or material removal
Solution Approach 2:
The anchor units with their receptacles are pre-positioned in the concrete structure before the concrete hardens. This preliminary placement eliminates the need for later drilling operations, as the receptacles are already in position to receive and secure functional elements
3Reliability
If the anchor head is positioned close to the reinforcing element, then the anchor unit can be securely fixed in the structural element, but the anchor head may collide with the reinforcement element during placement
Solution Approach 1:
The invention positions the anchor head in the third dimension (vertically) between the concrete surface and the reinforcing element, rather than attempting to position it horizontally adjacent to the reinforcement. This vertical positioning allows the anchor head to be securely embedded in the concrete while avoiding collision with the reinforcement during placement
Solution Approach 2:
The anchor units are pre-assembled with the anchoring elements attached to the anchor heads. This preliminary assembly ensures that during concrete pouring and placement, the entire anchor unit moves as a single unit, preventing the anchor head from colliding with reinforcing elements while maintaining secure fixation in the hardened structure
4Strength
If rigid anchoring elements are used to support the anchor head in a load-bearing manner, then the load-bearing capacity is increased, but the anchoring elements cannot be bent to navigate around reinforcement
Solution Approach 1:
The anchoring elements are designed with dynamic properties - they are flexible and can be bent during installation to navigate around reinforcing elements. Once the concrete hardens, the anchoring elements maintain their position and provide load-bearing support, combining installation flexibility with operational strength
Solution Approach 2:
The anchoring elements exhibit parameter changes in their mechanical properties - they are flexible during the concrete pouring and hardening process to allow positioning around reinforcement, and become rigid once embedded in the hardened concrete to provide load-bearing capacity
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The invention relates to an anchor unit (8) which can be permanently fixed or secured in a structural element (4) of a building structure (2), such as a ceiling, in whole or at least partially, in a structural element (4) of the building structure (2) made of a casting compound, such as concrete, by means of a form-fit and/or force-fit connection, comprising at least one anchor head (10) which includes at least one externally accessible receptacle (12) into which a fixing means can be inserted and fixed therein, and at least one rod- or wire-shaped anchoring element (14) which is fixed to the anchor head (10) and which is inelastic along its longitudinal direction and flexibly bendable transversely to its longitudinal direction, wherein the anchor head (10) is arranged in the permanently arranged state between a free surface (18) of the structural element (4) and at least one reinforcement means (6) arranged in the structural element (4) and the receptacle (12) is freely accessible from the outside.