GB2335671A

GB2335671A - Ground anchor system for a memorial assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2335671A
Application number: GB9825701A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Robert Nicholas Parry
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-11-25
Filing date: 1998-11-25
Publication date: 1999-09-29
Anticipated expiration: 2018-11-25
Also published as: GB2335671B; GB9825701D0

Abstract

A lawn memorial comprises a plate (1) supported on a base (2) mounted on a cement foundation (3) which extends below ground level. The memorial comprises an anchor which includes a threaded stainless steel rod (5) which extends through bores in the base and foundation into the ground. A complimentary internally screwthreaded member (9) is screwed onto the rod and supports the rod at the desired position in the ground. The upper end of the rod extends through the base and may extend up into the plate.

Description

2335671 AN ASSEMBLY The present invention relates to an assembly

comprising members of stone, such as granite.

The members may be the parts of a lawn memorial. Conventional memorials comprise a base which lies in a horizontal plane and a plate disposed at right angles to and fixed to the base. Both the base and the plate are usually made of granite.

A lawn memorial of this type is described in the applicants U.K. Patent No. 2,271,158. In some cemeteries such lawn memorials must now be provided with a ground anchor. The requirements are that the ground anchor should provide the standard memorial with sufficient stability to resist a horizontal force at the top of the plate of 1 00kg. For a force above that, the anchor may fail but if it does so it should require the continuous application of a disturbing force so that the memorial fails in a manner and at a speed which will not cause injury. An anchor for this purpose is already known but this anchor is complicated and difficult to assemble. It is an object of the invention to overcome or at least mitigate these disadvantages.

According to the present invention, there is provided an assembly for mounting on a foundation in the ground comprising a first stone part, a second stone part mounted on and connected to the first stone part and an 1 i 15 anchor for resisting disturbance of the assembly, the anchor comprising a member which in operation extends at one end through an aperture in the foundation for insertion in the ground and at the other end through the second stone part.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of anchoring a stone assembly comprising first and second stone parts connected together to the ground including the steps of forming a foundation on the ground, introducing a member into the ground through an aperture in the foundation supporting the stone assembly above the member so that a bore in the assembly is aligned with the member, then either raising the member and/or lowering the assembly over the member to enable the assembly to be fixed to the foundation.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assembly for mounting on a foundation in the ground comprising a first stone part, a second stone part mounted on and connected to the first stone part and an anchor for resisting disturbance of the assembly, the anchor comprising a member which in operation extends at one end into a tube adapted for insertion in the ground and at the other end through the first stone part and into the second stone part.

According to a still further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of anchoring a stone assembly comprising first and second stone parts connected together to the ground including the steps of forming a foundation on the ground, introducing a tube into the ground through the foundation introducing a member into the tube, supporting the stone assembly above the tube so that a bore in the assembly is aligned with the tube, raising the member into the bore and lowering the assembly over the member to enable the assembly to be fixed to the foundation.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the member comprises a threaded rod which may be solid or hollow. The threads may extend over the whole length or a part only of the length of the rod. A complementary internally screwthreaded member is screwed onto the rod to enable the rod to be suspended in the foundation or in the tube. The complementary member may be screwed up to a stop point provided on the threaded rod or at a convenient point or at the end of the screwthread, when partially threaded. The rod extends into a bore in the second stone part. The rod is centrally located laterally in the second stone part. The rod and complementary member may be made of stainless steel or any other suitable material.

In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, one embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:- Figure 1 is a front elevational view in partial section of a lawn 1 memorial, Figure 2 is a side elevational view to an enlarged scale of part of the memorial along the line A-A of figure 1, Figure 3 is a front elevational view in partial section of a modified lawn memorial, Figure 4 is a side elevational view to an enlarged scale of part of the memorial along the line A-A of figure 3, and Figure 5 is a perspective view of a memorial of the type shown in preceding figures.

Referring to the drawings, the lawn memorial comprises a plate 1 supported on a base 2 mounted on a cement foundation 3 which extends below ground level 4. The plate 1 may be fixed to the base 2 by means of a nut and bolt fixing of the sort described in the aforesaid U.K. Patent No. 2,271,158. For simplicity these fixings have not been shown. Alternatively, the plate 1 and base 2 may be bonded to one another by an appropriate adhesive. The base 2 is cemented to the cement foundation 3 in the normal way. The foundation 3 has a surface area which is greater in extent than the surface area of the base 2 cemented to it.

The memorial comprises an anchor which includes a threaded stainless steel rod 5. The rod 5 may be made of any other suitable material and the threads 6 may extend over the whole length or a part only of the 1 length of the rod 5. The base 2 and the foundation 3 are formed with through bores 7 and 8. These bores 7 and 8 are coaxially aligned with each other. The relative dimensions of the rod 5 and bores 7 and 8 are also such as to allow a certain amount of play between rod and bore. This facilitates assembly of the memorial. A hollow stainless steel tube or thread rod extends through the bore 7 in the foundation 3 and into the ground beneath the foundation. A stainless steel washer 9 having an internal thread complementary to the external thread on the rod 5 is screwed onto the rod 5 from the top of the rod to a desired point and is disposed between the. foundation 3 and the base 2 thus suspending the rod 5 in the aligned bores 7 and 8. This may be at the end of the threaded portion in the case of a partially threaded rod or at a chosen position on the wholly threaded rod.

The dimensions of the memorial may be varied as desired but, referring to figure 3 some possible standard examples in inches are given in the following tables:- Height (H). Width (W) Depth (D) PLATE 1 Small 27 21 3 Medium 30 24 4 Large 36 24 4 BASE Small 3 Medium 4 24 12 12 Large 4 30 12 The rod 5 may have a diameter of 24mm, the bores 7 and 8 a diameter of 28mm, the foundation a thickness of 2" or W and the cement joint between the base 2 and foundation 3 a thickness of 5mm. The rod 5 may extend about 60Omm into the ground from ground level.

In assembling and installing the above described memorial, the foundation 3 is fixed as normal and provided with a bore 7 through which the rod 5 is inserted. The washer 9 is screwed onto the threaded rod 5 the desired point along the rod 5 leaving the desired amount protruding above the foundation 3. The memorial comprising the plate 1 and base 2 is placed over the foundation, approximately centrally thereof, and resting upright on 4" high skids giving enough space to allow the hands underneath. The bore 8 in the base 2 is aligned over the threaded rod 5. The rod 5 may be raised up into the aligned bore 8 and the washer 9 screwed up or down to hold the rod at the desired height. A layer of cement is applied to the foundation and the skids are then removed lowering the memorial onto the cement layer to fix the memorial into position.

This above described arrangement provides a reliable ground anchor, without the use of glue or resin which may be readily assembled with the is other parts of the memorial and which may be relied upon should the memorial become insecure. In such circumstances, if the plate 1 is pushed the internal surface of the bore 8 abuts the rod 5. Further movement of the plate 1 is resisted by the rod 5 which abuts the internal surface of the bore 7 in the foundation. If the force on the plate 1 is increased still further so that the plate 1 begins to fall this fall will be controlled because of the resistance to the rod 5 being pulled through the ground.

In the modification shown in Figures 3 and 4 a hollow stainless steel tube 10 extends through the bore 7 in the foundation 3 and into the ground beneath the foundation. The outer diameter of this tube 10 is substantially equal to the diameter of bore 7 and the rod 5 extends with play into this tube.

The plate 1 is formed with a blind bore 12 into which the threaded rod 5 extends. The relative diameters of the bore 12 and the rod 5 are such as to allow a certain amount of play of the rod 5 in the bore 12.

In other respects this modified embodiment is the same as the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2. Corresponding parts in the two embodiments bear the same reference numerals.

It will be appreciated that the above embodiments have been described by way of example only and that many variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention. An additional member 1 -8may be attached to rod 5 to increase its effective length and give extra stability, for example, where the ground is loose, perhaps where it has been disturbed.

An additional blind bore may be formed centrally in the bottom of plate 1 coaxially aligned with bores 7 and 8 to allow further penetration of rod 5 into the memorial should memorial base dimensions limit effectiveness of anchor.

Under certain circumstances it may also be advantageous to weaken the rod at a point adjacent the washer 9 to ensure that the rod bends and remains within the assembly during rotation thereof under the action of the disturbing force. Such a line of weakness is referenced W in figure 2. To enable the rod to bend under a disturbing force material for the rod of appropriate ductility is chosen.

1

Claims

-9CLAIMS

1 An assembly for mounting on a foundation in the ground comprising a first stone part, a second stone part mounted on and connected to the first stone part and an anchor for resisting disturbance of the assembly, the anchor comprising a member which in operation extends at one end through an aperture in the foundation for insertion in the ground and at the other end through the second stone part.

2. An assembly for mounting on a foundation in the ground comprising a first stone part, a second stone part mounted on and connected to the first stone part and an anchor for resisting disturbance of the assembly, the anchor comprising a member which in operation extends at one end into a tube adapted for insertion in the ground and at the other end through the first stone part and into the second stone part.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the member comprises a threaded rod.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 3, in which the threaded rod is solid or hollow.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 3 or 4, in which the threads extend over the whole or part only of the length of the rod.

6. An assembly as claimed in claim 3, 4 or 5, in which a complementary internally screwthreaded member is screwed onto the rod to enable the rod -10to be suspended in the foundation or tube.

7. An assembly as claimed in claim 6, in which a stop point is provided on the threaded rod up to which the internally screwthreaded member may be screwed.

8. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 3 to 7, in which the rod extends into a bore in the second stone part.

9. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 3 to 8, in which the rod is centrally laterally located in the second stone part.

10. An assembly as claimed in any of claims 3 to 9, in which the rod and complementary member are made of stainless steel.

11 A method of anchoring a stone assembly comprising first and second stone parts connected together to the ground including the steps of forming a foundation on the ground, introducing a member into the ground through an aperture in the foundation supporting the stone assembly above the member so that a bore in the assembly is aligned with the member, then either raising the member andlor lowering the assembly over the member to enable the assembly to be fixed to the foundation.

12. A method of anchoring a stone assembly comprising first and second stone parts connected together to the ground including the steps of forming a foundation on the ground, introducing a tube into the ground through the foundation introducing a member into the tube, supporting the stone -11assembly above the tube so that a bore in the assembly is aligned with the tube, raising the member into the bore and lowering the assembly over the member to enable the assembly to be fixed to the foundation.

13. An assembly substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 5 or to Figures 3, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.

14. A method substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1, 2 and 5 or to Figures 3, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.