US3779500A

US3779500A - Form support bracket

Info

Publication number: US3779500A
Application number: US00152808A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Cox
Original assignee: JIM COX CO
Current assignee: JIM COX CO
Priority date: 1971-06-14
Filing date: 1971-06-14
Publication date: 1973-12-18
Anticipated expiration: 1990-12-18

Abstract

A support bracket for applying and maintaining a force and simultaneously permitting lateral movement of a movable object supported by the bracket. The bracket includes a supporting and securing means for maintaining the bracket stationary and a power transmitting bolt having Acme threads. At the working end of the bolt is positioned a roller means fitting into a suitable socket in the bolt. At the opposite end of the bolt a square shank is provided to permit the bolt to be advanced or retracted into position to apply and maintain the force. A retaining means and lubrication for the ball is provided.

Description

United States Patent [191 Cox 1 I James R. Cox, Largo, Fla.

[52] US. Cl. 248/288, 249/219 R [51] Int. Cl..... A471 5/10, A47h 33/00, E04g 17/16 [58] Field of Search 248/288, 221, 235, 248/243; 254/98, 100; 249/219, 192

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,504,879 4/l970 Strickland 249/219 R X 2,733,330 1/l956 Blewett 254/100 X 2,201,680 5/1940 Haynes 287/87 X 855,255 5/1907 Loeschner 254/100 X 2,490,046 12/1949 Genier et a1. 254/100 Dec. 18, 1973 Latzen 287/87 Huggins 248/221 X [57] ABSTRACT A support bracket for applying and maintaining a force and simultaneously permitting lateral movement of a movable object supported by the bracket. The bracket includes a supporting and securing means for maintaining the bracket stationary and a power transmitting bolt having Acme threads. At the working end of the bolt is positioned a roller means fitting into a suitable socket in the bolt. At the opposite end of the bolt a square shank is provided to permit the bolt to be advanced or retracted into position to apply and maintain the force. A retaining means and lubrication for the ball is provided.

12 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PMENTEBUEC 1 1; mm 3,779,500

szazzr 1c? 2 ilg-s INVENTOR JAMES E. Cox

I 6 T E QsmA i'M s ATTORNEYS PATENTEDOEC 1 a 1915 3,779,500

INVENTOR JAMES R.C'o$

C ATTORNEYQ FORM SUPPORT BRACKET BACKGROUND OF THE lNYENTION In the construction industry, for instance, there has been a need for means of supporting; the structural forms for pouring concrete slabs. Inthe past, vertical columns either of concrete orsteel have been .used to support the forms which would holdxthe concrete while curing to form the slabs that produce the. floors; and ceilings ofvarious structures. These forms. mustbe positioned accurately along the height of the stationary columns to maintain a proper level. Accurate measurements for building such forms are necessary under any circumstances, but, after such measurements have been. taken and the slab form constructed, it is often found that adjustments inthe height of the concrete form are required necessitating partial rebuilding or other adjustments to the height of the slab form.

One attempt to-solve this problem was a screw bolt adjustable in height and. secured to the side of a vertical column. The. screw bolt had a flat head. andwas adjusted vertically against the beam beneath the form to position the slab form properly. Relative movement between the slab form beam and the flat supporting screw head wasexceedingly difficult due tothe-high: friction between: the screw head andithe beam. Slight changes in lateral position of the beam were generally-not feasible or if attempted when the screw was in contact with. the beam supporting the slab form, the screw would be deformed in the direction. of the force applied to the beam. in one particularprior-art approach a ball bearing was provided. separately from. andbelowthe screw. This necessitated a complete lowering of the screw and the beam supporting the slab form, inorder for the beam to contact the ball bearing and permit the slab form to be moved laterally any significant distance. This is an undesirable feature since it necessitates a complete lowering of each screw it theinitial positioning of the be am is not correct when adjustedby the bolt to the height desired. Also when the concrete has cured and the form is to bev lowered and. removed,each screw must be droppedbelow the top oi the ball bearing with a consequent loss. in time and effort.

Numerous other approaches-- have been used by'the art insan effort tosupportslab forms, however, eachof these approaches lack one or more of the essential or desirable features for holding and maintaining a force applied to the beam while-simultaneously being able to move thebeam laterally of the support to adjust it to its proper position.

OBJECTS or THE INVENTION It is. an object. of the present. invention therefore to provide a support bracket which will maintain and apply a force to a movable object such as a slab form beam-and permit lateral adjustments in direction of the object the provision of a bracket to be mounted stationary and which can be advanced by power transmitting 1 bolt to apply a force against a movable object and simultaneously while the force is being applied to the movable object, it is possible to laterally. adjust the position of the object by means of a ball bearing positioned at the top working end of the bolt forming a part of the bracket.

This invention also includes as an object the provision of a ball bearing positioned within a socket located at the working end of the bolt having Acme external screw threads and which can be adjusted while being held securely within a stationary bracket.

\ It is also an object of the present invention to provide a ball bearing or other roller means at the working end of an Acme bolt secured to a stationary bracket which is substantially maintenance free and simple to operate.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a stationary bracket which may be utilized to position heavy. machinery or the like along a substantially horizontal direction. 5

These and other objects of the present invention may be apparent from a perusal of the following specification claims and accompanying drawing.

in the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view partly in section of a slab form supported on a beam that is held in proper vertical position between stationary columns by means of the support bracket of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view partly in section of an enlarged portion. of the concrete column slab form and the beam all supported by the novel support bracket of the present invention.

FIG. 3. is a perspective view partly broken away of the support bracket of the present invention being mounted stationary on to the verticalside of the concrete column and illustrating the ball bearing at the working end of the bolt.

FIG. 4' is a cross-sectional view partly broken away taken along lines 4-4 of FlG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged" and exploded perspective view of the fragment of the bolt with the socket arrangement andone embodiment of a pin for retaining the ball within the socket.

FIG. 6. is an enlarged. exploded perspective view of fragment of the ball bearing positioned within the socket formed at the end of the screw bolt, the ball bearing being retained by means of an O-ring constituting another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a verticalcross-sectional view of the embodiment of FIG. 6 illustrating the position of the O- ring retaining the ball bearing within socket.

FIG. 8 is an alternate embodiment of the use of the present invention illustrating the support bracket as being used to position a'movable member such as a machinery base or column in a substantially horizontal directi'on.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT As is best shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 atypical slab form F containing the conventional mortar M is supported by beams Bbetween conventional columns C which may be either concrete or steel or other support capacolumn C. The support bracket is composed primarily of a base 12 to which is secured as by welding a transverse plate 14 forming an L-shape with the basel2. Reenforcing angle plates 16 may be .provided to strengthen the support bracket and to distribute to the transverse plate 14 the forces acting upon the base 12. Securing means 18 may be in the form of studs or stud bolts as best shown in FIG. 4 and are received through suitable openings 20 in the transverse plate 14 to pass into the column C for supporting the bracket in a stationary position on the column.

It is best shown in FIG. 4 the base 12 is provided with a hole 22 to receive bolt 24. Surrounding the hole 22 are internal screw threads 26 which may be formed within nut 28 welded or otherwise secured to the base 12. The internal screw threads 26 may also be provided within the hole 22. The nut 28 may be positioned above or below the base 12 but preferably is as shown in FIG. 4, as an enlargement in base 12.

The bolt 24 is received in the hole 22 and being provided with external screw threads 30 which are complementary to the internal screw threads 26 may be advanced or retracted by rotation of the bolt 24. The bolt is conveniently provided with a square end shank 32 permitting easy rotation of the bolt 24.

It is preferable that the screw threads as shown are of the power transmission screw thread type. Generally, an Acme thread meets this requirement and can include the general purpose thread, the 29 stub thread, the 60 stub thread or the modified square thread as well as a square thread. For convenience, the threads will be referred to as Acme threads. Other types of screw threads such as the Unified or the American Screw thread are found to be considerably less desirable than the Acme threads for effectively transmitting the high forces required.

At the working end 34 of the bolt 24 there is provided a socket 36 for receiving a roller 38 which may be in the form of a ball bearing as shown. The socket 36 may contain suitable lubricant which may permanently lubricate the ball bearing 38. Suitable lubricants are well known and may, for instance, include the silicone type lubricants or other equivalent highly anti,- friction agents. The ball bearing 38 may be retained within the socket 36 by the means shown in FIGS. 5-7.

In FIG. 5, the ball bearing is held in place by a soft metal retainer pin 42 which passes through a suitable opening 44 in the side wall of the socket 36. As shown in FIG. 4 the position of the retaining pin 42 is above the center line of the ball 38 in order to retain the ball within the socket as the retaining pin extends beyond the inner edge of the socket 36 and over the surface of the ball 38.

The internal surface of the socket 36 may beprovided with annular groove 46 into which is positioned an O-ring 48. As shown in FIG. 7 this embodiment retains the ball in position and as the ball rotates it is lubricated by the resevoir of lubricant 40 in the bottom of the socket. Since the weights that are contemplated to be held by the support bracket are quite high, the bolt should be of the type of high compressive strength such as molybdenum steel or the equivalent and the ball bearings of conventional load bearing quality. The

retainer pin 42 may then be of a softer metal and has been found to be satisfactory when formed of bronze.

In use, the support bracket of the present invention may be secured by bolts 18 on to the column C. The slab form F accompanying beam B supported by external means (not'shown) may be moved laterally into general position in direction of either of the arrows shown in FIG. 1 to rest upon the ball bearing. The external supporting means may then be removed and each of the bolts 24 may be advanced by means of the square shank 32 to raise or hold the beam, and therefore the slab form F, in the desired position. There may be any number of these supportbrackets supporting the slab form F and each of these bolts must be advanced to properly position the slab form. At any position when the brackets have exerted the full support for the slab form, the slab form F may be moved laterally on the roller to obtain the most accurate final position.

After the concrete M has been laid in the form and cured, the slab form may be lowered by retracting each of the supporting bolts and the external supporting means for the slab form may slide the slab form out for reuse by means of the beam sliding and rolling over the ball bearings 38. The support brackets may then be removed from column C by lowering the nut on studs 18 and also reused.

In FIG. 8, there is shown an alternative embodiment-the use of support brackets for positioning a heavy object H which may be a movable column or leg of machinery or the like and to be positioned upon a platform P. Each of the support brackets are mounted in a similar fashion by bolts 18 and the bolts 24 are advanced or retracted as required to obtain the exact position of the object H on the platform P.

It can be seen from the foregoing that the objects of the present invention have been achieved in that the support bracket with the ball bearing at the working end 'of the screwbolt may apply and maintain force while simultaneously permitting sliding or lateral movement of the object relative to the axis of the bolt containing the ball bearings.

I claim:

1. A support bracket for supporting a movable concrete form comprising: a base, mounting means connected to said base for the stationary mounting of said bracket, a bolt hole in said base, internal screw thread means positioned around said hole, a screw bolt received within said hold and having complementary external screw thread means for movement through said hole, means for rotating said bolt positioned on said bolt, a ball socket formed in the working end of said bolt, a ball bearing positioned for rotation within said socket, whereby said bolt is adapted to be advanced to apply and maintain a force 'through said ball bearing against said form and simultaneously be capable of permitting relative movement of said form to said bracket substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis of said bolt.

2. The support bracket of claim 1 wherein said screw thread means are Acme threads.

3. The support" bracket of claim 1 including said internal screw thread means being in an enlargement in said base and surrounding said hole.

4. The support bracket of claim 1 including said mountin'grneans being a transverse plate integral with said basefsecuring means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support.

5. The support bracket of claim 1 including the shank of said bolt at the end opposite the working end, being provided with said means for rotating said bolt.

6. The support bracket of claim 1 including said ball socket containing a lubricant.

7. The support bracket of claim 1 including an O-ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing within said socket.

8. The support bracket of claim 1 including a pin positioned into said socket through a wall of said socket for retaining said ball bearing in said socket.

9. The support bracket of claim 1 including said screw thread means being Acme threads and said mounting means being a transverse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support.

10. The support bracket of claim 1 including said screw thread means having Acme threads, said mounting means being a transverse plate'integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said'bracket to a stationary support and an O-ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing within said socket.

11. The support bracket of claim 1 including said screw thread means being Acme threads, said internal screw thread'means including an enlargement in said base and surrounding said hole, said mounting means being a transverse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support, and an O-ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing within said socket.

12. The support bracket of claim 1 including a support bracket comprising: a base, mounting means connected to said base for the stationary mounting of said bracket, a bolt hole in said base, said screw thread means beingAcme threads, said internal screw thread means being a nut secured to said base and surrounding said hole, said mounting means being a transverse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support, and the shank of said bolt at the end opposite the working end, being provided with said means for rotating said bolt, said ball socket containing a lubricant, and an O- ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball hearing within said socket.

Claims

1. A support bracket for supporting a movable concrete form comprising: a base, mounting means connected to said base for the stationary mounting of said bracket, a bolt hole in said base, internal screw thread means positioned around said hole, a screw bolt received within said hold and having complementary external screw thread means for movement through said hole, means for rotating said bolt positioned on said bolt, a ball socket formed in the working end of said bolt, a ball bearing positioned for rotation within said socket, whereby said bolt is adapted to be advanced to apply and maintain a force through said ball bearing against said form and simultaneously be capable of permitting relative movement of said form to said bracket substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis of said bolt.

3. The support bracket of claim 1 including said internal screw thread means being in an enlargement in said base and surrounding said hole.

4. The support bracket of claim 1 including said mounting means being a transverse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support.

10. The support bracket of claim 1 including said screw thread means having Acme threads, said mounting means being a transverse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support and an O-ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing within said socket.

11. The support bracket of claim 1 including said screw thread means being Acme threads, said internal screw thread means including an enlargement in said base and surrounding said hole, said mounting means being a transVerse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support, and an O-ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing within said socket.

12. The support bracket of claim 1 including a support bracket comprising: a base, mounting means connected to said base for the stationary mounting of said bracket, a bolt hole in said base, said screw thread means being Acme threads, said internal screw thread means being a nut secured to said base and surrounding said hole, said mounting means being a transverse plate integral with said base, securing means within said plate for mounting said bracket to a stationary support, and the shank of said bolt at the end opposite the working end, being provided with said means for rotating said bolt, said ball socket containing a lubricant, and an O-ring positioned adjacent the mouth of said socket to retain said ball bearing within said socket.