Hydraulic and earth engineering – Foundation – Columnar structure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-17
2003-05-13
Lee, Jong-Suk (James) (Department: 3673)
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Foundation
Columnar structure
C405S211000, C405S211100, C405S216000, C052S170000, C052S749100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06561736
ABSTRACT:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not Applicable.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT.
Not applicable.
MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not applicable.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a coupler for connecting two structural beams or piles. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a friction coupler for structural beams of the like and can be used to repair and rebuild structural beams having one or more damaged sections.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 C.F.R. 1.97 and 1.98
Coupling two structural members together is often desirable. In some situations it is difficult or undesirable to weld or bolt the two members together. In other situations, there may be a damaged section in a single beam or member that must be repaired or replaced in order to reestablish the structural integrity and strength of the member. Since replacement of damaged piles is very expensive and since much of a damaged underwater pile typically remains sound (typically the length under the splash zone), many efforts to permit repair of piles have been made. Some of these have lead to issued patents.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,333,429, issued to Dougherty, on Aug. 1, 1967, discloses an “H-beam Piling” comprising fastening sections of H-beams together with a welded butt joint. A butt weld does not provide the strength necessary in many applications and naturally assumes that the two end to be joined are sound. This is obviously not the case when a pile has been damaged. If a replacement section is used, it could not be properly loaded prior to the butt welding of Dougherty.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,068, issued to De Rosa on Mar. 13, 1973, discloses a “Method and Apparatus for Splicing Replacement Pile Section to a Pile Stub” in which a bore is formed in the stub pile below the mud line and a vertically oriented drift pin is inserted into the bore. A concentric groove is cut into the pile stub and a matching bore and groove are cut into the end of the replacement pile section. A circular cross section sleeve is inserted into the groove in the stub pile and the replacement pile is placed on top of the stub pile. Suitable glue, such as epoxy is applied. Connector plates F are arranged to overlap the joint between the replacement pile section and the pile stub and are nailed into place with many nails (FIGS. 4, 61). A protective felt is wrapped around the joint and a rubber boot is placed over it. This system cannot work with steel H-piles and is only useful below the mud line since it has little shear strength and lateral support comes from the surrounding mud.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,795, issued to Maurer on Jun. 24, 1975, discloses a “Kit of Components and a Method of Protecting Steel Piling from Corrosion” comprising a tough flexible plastic jacket that is snugly gathered and cinched about an H-beam type piling to prevent corrosion. Maurer '795 does not and cannot be used to repair a damaged H-pile.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,422, issued to Fredrickson et al. on Jan. 27, 1976, discloses a “Pile Splicing Apparatus and Method” comprising building a reinforcing structure of reinforcing bar, concrete mesh reenforcement bar stock or the like, placing a concrete form bag about the reenforcement bar area, and filling the bag with concrete. If the splice is located below the mud line, the mud is excavated to a depth to allow the concrete to set up on bedrock or the like. This patent is enclosed for general reference. Fredrickson et al. '422 requires a lot of space between adjacent piles to accommodate its bulky concrete form bag and requires excessive labor in that it is basically an underwater concrete form, complete with an extensive reenforcement bar network.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,571, issued to Lees on Sep. 9, 1986, discloses a “Foundation system and Pile Coupling for Use Therein” comprising a circular cross section collar that is placed over the end of one pile section. The other pile section is inserted into the collar. Spring loaded pins in the collar are then inserted into horizontal holes that were pre-drilled in the ends of the two pile sections (see FIGS. 2-4.). Lees '571 assumes two sound butt ends of two pile sections that are to be joined together. This collar system will not work when the sections are damaged. Lees does not provide substantial shear strength and does not work with the irregularly shaped piles, such as H-piles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,469, issued to Richey on Aug. 16, 1994, discloses a “Method of Repairing Poles” comprising removing the lowered damaged portion of a utility pole and replacing that section with a steel pole or stanchion. The top of the stanchion has a platform that the upper or remaining end of the utility pole rests on. A sleeve or split socket 52 is on the top of the stanchion. The socket is closed by adding any missing sections of the socket, which is then bolted together, surrounding a portion of the existing pile. The space between the socket and the pole is filled with urethane foam. The socket or sleeve includes roughly circular cross section sections, each having an outwardly extending flange, which each flange having a number of spaced apertures along its length. Flanges and bolt holes from adjoining flanges are bolted together (See, FIGS. 6, 7, and 8). This method cannot be used underwater without substantial modification and does not provide substantial shear strength. Further, it is designed for use with wooden poles and is not suitable for steel poles or H-piles. Moreover, the many steps required to utilize Richey '469 would make it uneconomical in underwater use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,354, issued to Koch on Nov. 12, 1996, discloses a “Timber Pile Repair System” comprising a two piece jacket, with each section having a semi-circular cross section, and a radially extending flange on each end, with apertures through the flanges. The flanges from two sections are aligned when the two sections are placed about a circular cross section pile and then are bolted together (See FIGS., 1-4). Any voids from deteriorated pile sections can be filled with epoxy. Koch '345 cannot be used with H-piles. Further, the use of epoxy resins to file the voids in deteriorated pile sections is very expensive and labor intensive.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,800, issued to Doleshal on Sep. 29, 1998, discloses a “Process for Replacing and Loading a Damaged Section of a Pile.” Doleshal '800 shows a two-piece circular cross section coupler for wooden piles, with a flange at each end of the coupler sections, which are bolted together along the flanges. The coupler also includes spikes that are driven into the circular pile (FIGS.
15
A and
15
B). The patent also discloses a H-pile coupler comprising flat steel plates bolted to the flat sides of the H-pile. A replacement H-pile section is fastened to the flat steel plate reinforcement members. Doleshal '800 can only be used in connection with an elaborate truss system used to support hydraulic rams that hold a two sections of H-pile apart and subject it to design loads while an entire replacement section of H-pile is inserted between the two pile ends. It is often desirable to repair a pile without the necessary expense used in this method and in a fashion that requires less working space.
In marine applications, pile is submerged underwater and the water typically damages the relatively small upper portion of the pile that is located in the splash zone, which usually extends from the highest level reached by the water's waves to a level about six to ten meters below the normal surface level of the water due to the action of the waves, entrained abrasives, marine animals, and the high levels of dissolved oxygen at these levels. Thus, normally only a relatively short portion of a pile is subjected to excessive deterioration. Replacing the entire pile is considerably more work and expensive than repairing the damaged section.
Each of these above methods is specially designed for a special circumstance and ea
Iles Kenneth W.
Lee Jong-Suk (James)
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