A. B. Chance Company

Donald E Bobbitt

Robert M Hoyt

Albert B Atkinson

Stanley C Garton

Gary E Bartee

William A Klenk

J Paul Pilliard

A recoverable earth-retaining wall anchoring device and method is disclosed which allows the erection of a retaining wall in a quick, inexpensive manner and permits proof-load testing of the anchor during or immediately after installation, resulting in significant time and cost savings. The device includes a screw anchor having a central, elongated shaft with one or more outwardly extending helical blades affixed thereto, and an earth-penetrating lead point at one end. An adapter is attached to the anchor shaft and includes an opposed, threaded bore which receives an elongated threaded rod; a polygonal in cross-section engagement area is also provided between the opposed ends of the adapter. A wrench, having one or more releasably interconnected, tubular, polygonally-shaped shank sections is telescoped over the rod and operably and drivingly engages the adapter engagement area such that axial rotation of the wrench effects corresponding rotation of the anchor for installation and removal purposes. Multiple wrench shank sections are telescopically interfitted and releasably joined together by means of a spring biased locking dog inserted in aligned shank apertures. This dog is substantially flush mounted on the outer wrench section by means of an elongated, flat leaf spring which can be alternately positioned for maintaining the dog in a locking or a recessed position. The wrench may be easily removed from the soil because of the substantially flush configuration of the spring dog locking mechanism. The installation torque may be used to infer anchor load-bearing capacity and additionally, the device may be accurately proof-load tested and used immediately after installation, thereby eliminating costly construction delays. After the anchor is installed, the elongated rod is secured to the retaining wall thereby restraining the adjacent earth mass from lateral shifting.

Method and apparatus for anchoring retaining walls and the like, and

A connector assembly and method are disclosed for supporting each of the legs of a free standing tower or the like using a screw anchor driven into the ground at the base of a respective tower leg. In order to compensate for irregularities in alignment between the upper end of each screw anchor and a corresponding tower leg, the connector units are initially mounted on the screw anchors in a manner permitting individual axial, angular and longitudinal adjustment as may be necessary to bring each connector unit into proper alignment with a tower leg thereabove. The connector units while being held in such aligned disposition may be precisely affixed to a corresponding screw anchor and the proximal tower leg using the connector unit itself as a guide for such interconnection. Temporary adjustable support for the connector units takes the form of a unique removable holding fixture between a screw anchor and the connector unit thereon constructed and arranged to allow vernier adjustment of the connector unit in axial and angular directions relative to the screw anchor to assure that each connector unit may be brought into precise alignment with a tower leg before the connector unit is rigidly coupled to the screw anchor below and the tower leg above. Requisite lateral adjustment is provided in the form of a slidable connection between the connector unit and a base plate adapted to be joined to the tower leg supported thereby.

Adjustable connector for coupling tower leg to foundation support anchor

A lightweight, easily installable, anchored foundation for electrical equipment or the like is provided which includes a foam-filled, force-transmitting frusto-conical housing tensionably connected to a plurality of adjacent, buried earth anchors having remote load-bearing helices thereon in order to create a prestressed bulb of relatively compacted soil between the housing base and anchor helices which greatly enhances the holding power of the foundation under both tension and compression loads. In preferred forms the foundation exhibits approximately the same support strength as poured concrete, but can be more quickly installed and employed at remote locations or on loose soil which would normally preclude the use of concrete. In preferred forms, the housing is substantially buried and external foam fill is deposited about the base of the housing to absorb any transverse loads, and force-transmitting internal housing ribs are provided which serve to transmit tension forces from the earth anchors to the supported structure. An installation method is also disclosed which includes positioning the housing within an augered hole proximal to embedded earth anchors, attaching the latter to the housing in a manner to tensionably pull the housing base and anchor helices in opposition to each other for creation of a compacted soil bulb, foam filling the housing and the exterior volume adjacent the base thereof, and refilling the hole with earth to substantially bury the foundation.

Growing community of inventors

Centralia, MO, United States of America

Donald E Bobbitt