Support Ring for Lifting Anchor

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/571,109 entitled “CAST-IN-PLACE CONFINING RING FOR LIFTING ANCHOR STRENGTHENING” and filed on Mar. 28, 2024 for Marc Maguire, which is incorporated herein by reference.

This invention relates to supports for lifting apparatuses and more particularly relates to support rings for lifting anchors.

Lifting anchors can provide attachment points to lift and move elements within which the lifting anchor is at least partially embedded. For example, concrete lifting anchors can be at least partially embedded within concrete and used to safely lift and move precast concrete elements.

An apparatus for strengthening a lifting anchor includes a ring configured to be disposed within concrete around a concrete anchor. The ring includes an inner wall facing the concrete anchor, an outer wall opposite to the inner wall, a lower lip protruding from the outer wall, and an upper lip protruding from the inner wall.

A system for strengthening a lifting anchor a concrete anchor configured to be positioned within concrete and a ring configured to be disposed within the concrete around the concrete anchor. The ring includes an inner wall facing the concrete anchor, an outer wall opposite to the inner wall, a lower lip protruding from the outer wall, and an upper lip protruding from the inner wall.

A system for strengthening a lifting anchor includes a concrete anchor configured to be positioned within concrete. The concrete anchor includes a base and a stem extending away from the base toward a top of the concrete. The stem includes a top configured to be attached to a lifting apparatus. The system includes a ring configured to be disposed within the concrete around the concrete anchor such that the concrete anchor is substantially centered with respect to the ring. The ring includes an inner wall facing the concrete anchor, an outer wall opposite to the inner wall, lower lip protruding from the outer wall and positioned at a bottom of the ring, and an upper lip protruding from the inner wall and positioned at a top of the ring. The ring has a diameter, in a virtual plane substantially perpendicular to a length of the concrete anchor, of not less than a maximum width of the concrete anchor in the virtual plane and not greater than six times an effective height of the anchor. The ring is oriented with the upper lip towards the top of the concrete and the lower lip away from the top of the concrete.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment, but mean “one or more but not all embodiments” unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “including,” “comprising,” “having,” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to” unless expressly specified otherwise. An enumerated listing of items does not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive and/or mutually inclusive, unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “a,” “an,” and “the” also refer to “one or more” unless expressly specified otherwise.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of programming, software modules, user selections, network transactions, database queries, database structures, hardware modules, hardware circuits, hardware chips, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize that the embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments.

These features and advantages of the embodiments will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of embodiments as set forth hereinafter. As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method, and/or apparatus.

The description of elements in each figure may refer to elements of proceeding figures. Like numbers refer to like elements in all figures, including alternate embodiments of like elements.

As used herein, a list with a conjunction of “and/or” includes any single item in the list or a combination of items in the list. For example, a list of A, B and/or C includes only A, only B, only C, a combination of A and B, a combination of B and C, a combination of A and C or a combination of A, B and C. As used herein, a list using the terminology “one or more of” includes any single item in the list or a combination of items in the list. For example, one or more of A, B and C includes only A, only B, only C, a combination of A and B, a combination of B and C, a combination of A and C or a combination of A, B and C. As used herein, a list using the terminology “one of” includes one and only one of any single item in the list. For example, “one of A, B and C” includes only A, only B or only C and excludes combinations of A, B and C. As used herein, “a member selected from the group consisting of A, B, and C,” includes one and only one of A, B, or C, and excludes combinations of A, B, and C. As used herein, “a member selected from the group consisting of A, B, and C and combinations thereof” includes only A, only B, only C, a combination of A and B, a combination of B and C, a combination of A and C or a combination of A, B and C.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include a system for strengthening a lifting anchor. The system includes a concrete anchor configured to be positioned within concrete and a ring configured to be disposed within the concrete around the concrete anchor. The ring includes an inner wall facing the concrete anchor and an outer wall opposite to the inner wall. The ring includes a lower lip protruding from the outer wall and an upper lip protruding from the inner wall.

In some embodiments, the ring has a diameter, in a virtual plane substantially perpendicular to a length of the concrete anchor, of not less than a maximum width of the concrete anchor in the virtual plane and not greater than six times an effective height of the concrete anchor. In some embodiments, the diameter is not greater than four times the effective height of the concrete anchor.

In some embodiments, the concrete anchor includes a base and a stem extending away from the base toward a top of the concrete. The ring is oriented with the upper lip towards the top of the concrete and the lower lip away from the top of the concrete. A top of the stem is configured to be attached to a lifting apparatus.

In some embodiments, the ring is configured to be disposed around the concrete anchor such that the concrete anchor is substantially centered with respect to the ring.

In some embodiments, the ring is cylindrical and oriented with a length of the cylinder positioned substantially parallel to a length of the concrete anchor. In some embodiments, the ring includes at least one of: a hollow, open cylinder; a hollow, open rectangular prism; a hollow, open triangular prism; an open prismoid; an open, oblong prism; and an open, oval prism. In some embodiments, a length of the ring is substantially equal to a length of the concrete anchor.

In some embodiments, the ring is configured to be disposed around the concrete anchor to maintain an inner volume of the concrete between the inner wall and the concrete anchor.

In some embodiments, the inner wall and the outer wall have a length substantially parallel to a length of the concrete anchor. In some embodiments, a length of the lower lip, in a direction substantially perpendicular to the wall length, is not greater than one fourth of the wall length and/or a length of the upper lip, in the direction substantially perpendicular to the wall length, is not greater than one fourth of the wall length.

In some embodiments, the system includes a recess plug removably attached to the concrete anchor and configured to create a recess around a top of the concrete anchor when the recess plug is removed to facilitate connection to the top of the concrete anchor.

In some embodiments, the system includes an interlocking member connecting the concrete anchor to the ring. The interlocking member is configured to maintain a position of the concrete anchor with respect to the ring while the concrete is poured around the concrete anchor and the ring.

In some embodiments, the concrete anchor includes a base and a stem extending from the base. The base includes a lip extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the stem.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include an apparatus for strengthening a lifting anchor. The apparatus includes a ring configured to be disposed within concrete around a concrete anchor. The ring includes an inner wall facing the concrete anchor, an outer wall opposite to the inner wall, a lower lip protruding from the outer wall, and an upper lip protruding from the inner wall.

In some embodiments, the ring has a diameter, in a virtual plane substantially perpendicular to a length of the concrete anchor, of not less than a maximum width of the concrete anchor in the virtual plane and not greater than six times an effective height of the anchor. In some embodiments, the diameter is not greater than four times the effective height of the concrete anchor. In some embodiments, the ring is configured to be disposed around the concrete anchor such that the concrete anchor is substantially centered with respect to the ring.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include a system. The system includes a concrete anchor configured to be positioned within concrete. The concrete anchor includes a base and a stem extending away from the base toward a top of the concrete. The stem includes a top configured to be attached to a lifting apparatus. The system includes a ring configured to be disposed within the concrete around the concrete anchor such that the concrete anchor is substantially centered with respect to the ring. The ring includes an inner wall facing the concrete anchor, an outer wall opposite to the inner wall, a lower lip protruding from the outer wall and positioned at a bottom of the ring, and an upper lip protruding from the inner wall and positioned at a top of the ring. The ring has a diameter, in a virtual plane substantially perpendicular to a length of the concrete anchor, of not less than a maximum width of the concrete anchor in the virtual plane and not greater than six times an effective height of the anchor. The ring is oriented with the upper lip towards the top of the concrete and the lower lip away from the top of the concrete.

is a cross-sectional view illustrating one embodiment of a prior art concrete lifting system. The systemincludes a concrete lifting anchorat least partially embedded within concrete. The concrete lifting anchorincludes a baseand a stemextending away from the base. The stemterminates at the baseat an endof the stem. A distance between the endof the stemand a topof the concretewhen the concrete lifting anchoris positioned within the concreteis referred to herein as the effective height (“h”) of the concrete lifting anchor.

The concrete lifting anchoris positioned within the concreteand used to lift the concrete. The concrete lifting anchoris at least partially embedded within concrete. The concrete lifting anchorcan be subject to failure via concrete breakout or anchor rupture. For example, the force exerted on the anchormay cause a break in the concretethat extends in a substantial conical manner from the endof the stemto the topof the concrete, separating a portionof the concreteto create a “cone of failure.”

The force applied to the concrete from the lip around the basecan be described where he radius r of the separated coneis proportional to the effective height h. In some embodiments, a typical force on the concrete is the radius r that is approximately 1.5 times the effective height h. The concrete lifting anchorcan be embedded deeper within the concreteto increase capacity, help to prevent a concrete failure or anchor rupture failure, and/or widen the cone area. However, increasing the area of the concrete lifting anchoror increasing the effective height h of the concrete lifting anchorcan be complicated and/or ineffective, particularly if the concreteis part of a lighter, thinner concrete element, such as a thin wall, slab, or concrete sandwich wall panel (“SWP”).

Embodiments of the present disclosure include apparatuses and systems for further supporting a concrete lifting anchor by confining a particular portion of the concrete in which it is embedded. Embodiments of the present disclosure help to protect the area of concrete immediately within the original cone of failure and transfer the load back down in a direction opposite to the lifting direction, creating a new and much larger failure cone, as illustrated in, which is stronger than a single concrete anchor. Embodiments of the present disclosure can help to support lifting without changing the way normal concrete panels are fabricated.

Although terms such as “concrete lifting system” and “concrete lifting anchor” are used herein, those of skill in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present can be applied to other thin member anchoring problems and can have even broader applications in concrete lifting anchor design.

is a cross-sectional view illustrating one embodiment of a reinforced lifting system. The systemincludes an anchorconfigured to be positioned within concreteand a ringconfigured to be disposed within the concretearound the anchor. In some embodiments, the ringincludes an inner wallfacing the anchorand an outer wallopposite to the inner wall. In some embodiments, the ringincludes a lower lipprotruding from the outer walland an upper lipprotruding from the inner wall.

As shown in, supporting the anchorwith the ringcan help to widen the potential breakout areaof the concrete. In some embodiments, the re-distribution of force causes the breakout areato extend from the lower lipof the ringtowards the topof the concreteinstead of from the baseof the anchortowards the topof the concrete.

In some embodiments, the ringis disposed around the anchorto maintain an inner volumeof concretebetween the inner walland the anchor. In some embodiments, the ringand the anchorare configured to be received by a mold. When concrete is poured into the mold, a portionof the concreteis poured between the inner walland the anchor. In some embodiments, the ringand the anchorare configured to be positioned within concreteafter the concreteis poured but before it has hardened or set.

In some examples, the ringis substantially cylindrical. However, embodiments of the present disclosure are not so limited. As shown in, embodiments of the present disclosure also include rectangular and/or oval-shaped ringsand. In some embodiments, the ringincludes at least one of: a hollow, open cylinder; a hollow, open rectangular prims; a hollow, open triangular prism; an open prismoid; an open, oblong prism; an open, oval prism, and the like. In some embodiments, the ringis shaped to correspond with a shape of the concrete anchorconcrete anchor.

In some embodiments, the ringis oriented with a length Lof the ringextending substantially parallel to a length Lof the anchor. As used herein, “substantially parallel” includes extending in a direction angled up todegrees with respect to the length Lof the anchor.

In some embodiments, the length Lof the ringis substantially equal to the length Lof the anchor. As used herein, “substantially equal to” includes a ring length Lthat is not less than 90 percent and not greater than 110 percent of the anchorlength L. In some embodiments, the inner walland/or the outer wallalso extends substantially parallel to the length Lof the anchor. In some embodiments, the inner walland/or the outer wallhave a length substantially equal to the length Lof the ringand/or to the length Lof the anchor. In some embodiments, the length Lof the ring is not less than 50 percent and not greater than 150 percent of the anchorlength L. In embodiments, the length Lof the ring is not less than 50 percent and not greater than 90 percent of the anchorlength L.

In some embodiments, the concrete lifting anchorincludes a cast-in-place anchor, a precast anchor, a post installed anchor, a stud, a headed stud, a dog bone anchor, a coil rod insert, a plate type anchor, a lifting pin, a wire loop anchor, a threaded insert, a ferrule loop anchor, a shear lug anchor, a weld plate anchor, a reinforcing bar anchor, a deformed bar anchor, a foundation bolt anchor, a T-head anchor, a lifting socket, a recess former anchor, a magnetic anchor, a rubber anchor, a void former anchor, a concrete screw anchor, a drop-in anchor, a helical anchor, or the like, or any combination thereof.

As shown in, in some examples, the concrete anchorincludes a baseand a stemextending away from the basetowards the topof the concrete. In some embodiments, the topof the concreteis a top surface of the concrete. In some embodiments, the stemextends beyond the topof the concretesuch that a topof the stemprotrudes from the concrete. In some embodiments, a topof the stemis substantially flush with the topof the concrete.

In some embodiments, a length Lof the lower lipand/or upper lip, in a direction substantially perpendicular to the length Lof the ringand/or a length of the outer walland/or inner wall, is not greater than one fourth of the length Lof the ring, outer wall, and/or inner wall. In some embodiments, the length Lof the lower lipand/or upper lipis less than one inch or less than one quarter of an inch. In some embodiments, the ringis made of a metallic material, such as steel.

is a top plan view further illustrating the lifting systemofin a virtual plane ‘A’ substantially perpendicular to a length of the concrete anchor(i.e., length Lshown in). As shown in, in some examples, the ringhas a diameter w/, in the virtual plane ‘A’, of not less than a maximum width wof the concrete anchor. Although the term “diameter” is used herein with reset to the ring, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to ringsof cylindrical shapes. As used herein, the term “diameter” refers to the maximum width wof the ringin the virtual plane ‘A.’ In some embodiments, the diameter wof the ringis not greater than six times an effective height h of the concrete anchor. In some embodiments, the diameter wis not greater than four times the effective height h. In some examples, the diameter wis not greater than three times the effective height h.

In some embodiments, the ringis configured to be disposed around the anchorsuch that the anchoris substantially centered with respect to the ring. As used herein, the term “substantially centered” indicates that the anchoris a distance away from a center point of the ring, in the virtual plane ‘A’, that is not greater thanpercent of the ring′s diameter w.

is another cross-sectional view further illustrating the lifting systemof. In some embodiments, the ringis oriented with the upper liptowards the topof the concreteand the lower lipaway from the topof the concrete. In some embodiments, the upper lipis closer to the topof the concretethan the lower lipis to the topof the concrete. In some embodiments, the upper lipextends towards the concrete anchor, while the lower lipextends away from the concrete anchor.

demonstrates forces applied by an upward forceon the concrete anchor. The basethen applies a force on the concrete similar to the coneof. The upper lipof the ringresists the force on the concrete so that the force is then transferred to the ring. The bottom lipof the ringthen applies a force outside of the ringto create the expanded cone depicted in.

is a cross-sectional view illustrating one embodiment of a lifting systemhaving a recess plug. The lifting systemis an embodiment of the systemof. In some embodiments, the lifting systemincludes an anchorand ring, which are analogous to the anchorand ringof the system. The anchorand ringare embedded in concreteto confine a volumeof concrete between the ringand the anchor. In some embodiments, the ringincludes an upper lip, a lower lip, an inner wall, and an outer wall.

In some embodiments, the systemincludes a recess plug. In some embodiments, the recess plugis configured to be removably attached to the anchor. In one or more embodiments, the recess plugis configured to be removably attached to a stemof the anchor. In some embodiments, the recess plugis configured to be removably attached to a top of the stemof the anchor. In some embodiments, the recess plugis configured to fit around the stem. In some embodiments, the recess plugis configured to fit around the stemand to create a void in the concrete to allow access to the top of the stemfor lifting the concrete. In some embodiments, the recess plugis removed after the concrete is set to provide access to the stem. In other embodiments, the recess plugis configured to remain in place exposing the top of the stem.

In some embodiments, the systemincludes an interlocking memberconnecting the anchorto the ring. In some embodiments, the interlocking memberis configured to maintain a position of the anchorwith respect to the ringwhile the concreteis poured around the anchorand the ring. In some embodiments, the interlocking memberis configured to fit around the anchorand contact the inner wallof the ring. In some embodiments, the interlocking memberis removable from the anchorafter the concreteis poured. In some embodiments, the interlocking memberis configured to be positioned within a recess of the concreteand/or proximate to the topof the anchorto help facilitate removal.

As shown in, in some embodiments, the anchorincludes a baseand a stemextending from the base. In some embodiments, the baseincludes a lipextending in a direction dsubstantially perpendicular to a direction dof the stem.

is a cross-sectional view further illustrating the lifting systemof, with a lifting apparatusconnected to the anchor. In some embodiments, the recess plugis configured to be removed from the stemof the anchorto leave a recessin the concretearound the stem, providing access to the topof the stem.

In some embodiments, a topof the stemis configured to be attached to the lifting apparatus. The lifting apparatusincludes any apparatusconfigured to move the concreteby applying a force to the concrete anchor. In some embodiments, the lifting apparatusincludes a lifting clutch, a crane, a hoist, a lifting beam, a lifting machine and/or a forklift.

includes cross-sectional views of various embodiments of a lifting anchor. The lifting anchoris an embodiment of the lifting anchorand/or. As shown in, in some embodiments, the anchorincludes a recess plug. In one or more embodiments, to help enable attachment to a lifting apparatus, the anchorincludes one or more of a button headin, where a corresponding anchor may attach to the button head.includes a cylindrical attachment aperturewhere a pin may be inserted through the cylindrical attachment apertureand the pin may be connected to a cable or other lifting device.includes a threaded portionwhere a threaded coupler may be attached for lifting.includes a rectangular aperturewhich may be used with a rectangular bar inserted through the rectangular aperturefor lifting. The lifting anchormay include any top suitable for connection and lifting.