Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – With lifting or handling means for primary component or... – Position adjusting means; e.g. – leveling
Reexamination Certificate
1999-04-15
2002-02-26
Stodola, Daniel P. (Department: 3634)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
With lifting or handling means for primary component or...
Position adjusting means; e.g., leveling
C052S127200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06349512
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to support posts for floor joists.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In a house with a basement, there are often support posts to carry the weight of the floor joists of the first floor. The floor joists are supported by steel I beams. The basement floor is generally either a poured concrete slab or a structural floor. The concrete floor settles as it is drying. The ground underneath also settles. Structural floors are often designed to have different head heights.
As a consequence of the uneven basement floor, the support posts connected to the I beams supporting the first floor are not all the same height. Additionally the support post heights also differ from job to job. The prior art post, shown in
FIG. 1
is a 3½ inch outside diameter steel post
101
. The bottom end
108
of the post
101
is welded to a base plate
110
. The base plate
110
has two steel straps
111
,
112
welded to the top surface
113
of the base plate on either side of the bottom end
108
. The base plate
110
is attached to the I beam
114
in the basement floor by bending the straps
111
,
112
over the top flange
115
of the I beam
114
.
It is important that the bottom end
101
of post
101
be cut square so that all of the load is evenly transferred to I beam
114
. This is normally assured by cutting the post in a shop, not on site.
The post
101
has a top end
102
, with a hole (not shown) centered in the top end
102
. A threaded nut
103
is set on the center of the top end
102
over the hole. A bolt
104
is threaded into nut
103
and fed through the hole. The weight of the floor and the bolt
104
extending through the hole hold the nut
103
in place.
The bolt
104
is attached to the bottom
105
of mounting plate
107
. The top side
106
of mounting plate
107
is attached to the floor joist with steel straps (not shown) identical to the base plate. The bolt
104
can be threaded into the nut to increase or decrease the overall height of the post. This prior art system allows for
3
inches of total adjustment in the height of the post.
The major disadvantage to the prior art system is that it only allows for 3 inches of adjustment in the height of the post. If more than that is needed, then longer or shorter posts must be obtained. This can result in significant inconvenience and delay, particularly on remote job sites. Generally a new post must be obtained, again often with significant delay. These delays can cost a contractor significant amounts of money as there are almost always penalties for not getting a job completed on schedule.
Another common problem is that the entire set of posts ordered for a given job are either too long or too short. This is due to communication problems. Either the wrong height of the basement gets conveyed in the first place, or a change is made once construction has started, and this does not get conveyed to the contractor in time. In the prior art system this could mean significant delay as a whole new set of posts would need to be ordered.
The present invention solves these problems by allowing for significantly more adjustability of the height of the posts. This is accomplished by using steel spacer rings slid into the base collar to adjust the height of the post.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The primary aspect of the present invention is to provide an easy method to allow the height of support posts to be adjusted.
A second aspect of the present invention is to allow faster installation of the support posts.
Other aspects of this invention will appear from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2504291 (1950-04-01), Alderfer
patent: 3027140 (1962-03-01), Holzbach
patent: 3222030 (1965-12-01), Thorpe
patent: 4546581 (1985-10-01), Gustafson
patent: 4570397 (1986-02-01), Creske
patent: 5727767 (1998-03-01), Jefrey
patent: 5826847 (1998-10-01), Warner et al.
patent: 7-154581 (1997-01-01), None
Berkey John William
Joern Kenneth G.
Martin Rick
Patent Law Offices of Rick Martin P.C.
Steel Floors, LLC
Stodola Daniel P.
Thompson Hugh B.
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