Hydraulic and earth engineering – Earth treatment or control – Rock or earth bolt or anchor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-15
2001-07-10
Pezzuto, Robert E. (Department: 3673)
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Earth treatment or control
Rock or earth bolt or anchor
C405S259100, C405S303000, C053S143000, C053S149000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06257802
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed toward an arrangement for packaging rock stabilizers and more particularly, toward a method for arranging the rock stabilizers so that they can be easily and conveniently carried.
Ground support, especially in the mining industry, is an important safety factor that must be taken into consideration during any type of excavating activity. An effective anchoring system that is currently being used and commonly referred to as rock stabilizers includes a tube and a bearing plate, as seen, for example, in FIG.
1
. The tube is typically made from resilient steel and has a slit along its length so that the tube will be compressible for insertion into a pre-drilled bore in a mine roof or wall as will be discussed below. One end of the tube is tapered and the other end has a ring flange. The tubes may vary in length. The bearing plate has a flat base from which a central domed section arises. The center of the domed section has an aperture therethrough.
In order to install the system, the bearing plate is placed against a surface to be supported, such as a wall or roof of a mine, with the domed section facing away from the surface. The tapered end of the tube is then driven through the aperture and as the tube slides into place, the slot narrows. The tube exerts radial pressure against the surface over its full contact length and provides plate load support. The result is a tight grip which actually grows stronger with time and ground movement. Similar systems are described in greater detail in the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,768 to Buchhorn et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,178 to Kates et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,808 to Arya, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,719 to Scott.
While the above-described system is well known and used and provides an effective anchoring system, the same can be cumbersome to transport. That is, carrying the tubes and plates from one location to another location as they are needed can become time-consuming and burdensome. Currently, the tubes are packaged or otherwise bound together. Likewise, the plates are bound together by a wire or the like where the wire is drawn through the central apertures of the plates and secured. This packaging system, however, can be time-consuming because the tubes and the plates are packaged separately. Furthermore, as a result of the size of the tubes, it becomes difficult to transport a great number of tubes and plates at one time. This awkwardness makes it necessary for a person to make frequent trips from the actual work site to where the supply of tubes and plates are kept. This creates extra work and effort for the worker which wastes time and energy. Therefore, there is a need for an efficient packaging system which saves the worker's time and energy when installing the anchoring system at a work site.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is designed to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. It is an object of this invention to provide an arrangement for packaging rock stabilizers which makes them easy to transport.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a packaging system which conserves the energy and time of a person installing the rock stabilizers.
In accordance with the illustrative embodiments demonstrating features and advantages of the present invention, there is provided in a first embodiment, a package of rock stabilizer sets and a method for arranging the sets where six sets are provided and each set includes an elongated tube and a bearing plate. Each tube has a tapered end, an end with a flange, and a slit running the length of the tube. Each bearing plate has a flat base and a central domed section having a central aperture therethrough. The tubes of four of the sets are arranged in a first or bottom layer so that the flanged and tapered ends of the tubes are aligned alternatively and the slits face downwardly. For example, the flanged end of a first tube is placed next to the tapered end of a second tube and a flanged end of a third tube is placed next to the tapered end of the second tube. Next, the plates of three of the sets are placed along the length of the four tubes so that the domed sections face upwardly, thereby forming a second layer. A third layer is formed by placing the three remaining plates on top of the first three plates, respectively, so that the domed sections of the second layer nest within the respective domed sections of the third layer. Then, the remaining two tubes are placed on the flat base of each of the plates of the third layer so that the domed sections are exposed and the flanged end of one tube is aligned with the tapered end of the other tube, thereby forming a fourth or top layer. The sets may then be bound with a strap or the like. In this manner, the sets are easily carried and placed where needed.
In a second embodiment, the tubes may be longer than the tubes of the first embodiment so that all six of the plates are placed along the length of the bottom layer of tubes, thereby forming one layer of plates as opposed to two layers as in the first embodiment.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3283893 (1966-11-01), Durocher et al.
patent: 4265571 (1981-05-01), Scott
patent: 4313695 (1982-02-01), McCartney
patent: 4382719 (1983-05-01), Scott
patent: 4445808 (1984-05-01), Arya
patent: 4652178 (1987-03-01), Kates et al.
patent: 4984689 (1991-01-01), Emalfarb et al.
patent: 5192146 (1993-03-01), Landsberg
patent: 5214902 (1993-06-01), Jones
patent: 5295768 (1994-03-01), Buchhorn et al.
Simmons-Rand, The Split Set System Brochure, 1990.
Hartmann Gary S.
International Rollforms Incorporated
Lehrer Norman E.
Pezzuto Robert E.
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