A. B. Chance Company

Edward Dziedzic

Robert M Hoyt

William M Rinehart

David P Eppinger

Gary R Dickerson

Henry N Mastalski

James P Lucas

An improved tower foundation is provided which is inexpensive to manufacture and when installed, serves to securely support a leg of power transmission towers and the like. The tower foundation hereof includes a screw-type earth anchor member having a tubular cavity at the uppermost end thereof. An elongated tower leg connector member is positioned and secured in the cavity of the installed anchor by an initially flowable, solidified material (preferably a sand/epoxy resin mixture). The tower leg connector member advantageously comprises a lowermost, tubular first portion and an uppermost, L-shaped in cross-section second, apertured connection portion, with the first and second portions having approximately coincidental centroidal axes. Preferably, the tower leg connector member is positioned in the cavity prior to setting of the solidifiable material, and can be adjusted as necessary for proper alignment and securement thereof to the tower leg, thereby compensating for slight anchor member installation error.

Method of providing support for an elongated tower leg

Tower-foundation anchor interconnection

An improved modular screw anchor is provided which is adaptable for use with many sizes of elongated anchor rods, is inexpensive to manufacture, can be installed in a wide variety of soil conditions including rocky soils, and permits use of a number of wrench tubes having different internal dimensions. The anchor preferably includes two main components, namely an elongated anchor rod having an obliquely oriented, beveled earth-penetrating lead at one end, and a polygonal in cross-section drive boss separated from the lead by an enlarged, annular flange, and, secondly, an anchor member having a bore-defining hub, an outwardly extending, helical blade circumferentially secured to the hub, and an apertured plate affixed across the bore of the hub. The anchor rod and anchor member are interfitted for installation by inserting the rod through the apertured plate of the hub until the drive boss extends through the aperture and the flange abuts the apertured plate. A polygonal in cross-section tubular anchor wrench is then telescoped over the rod and inserted into the hub bore; the wrench tube is complementally configured for establishing a driving engagement between the outer faces of the wrench and the hub, and between the inner faces of the wrench and the drive boss. Axial rotation of the wrench thus effects rotation of the anchor for installation. The engagement of the flange to the apertured plate is particularly advantageous because this arrangement allows the lead, flange, and drive boss to be dimensioned for use with a smaller diameter rod.

Internally driven earth anchor having small diameter anchor rod

A deadending device for guy cables and the like is provided which gives enhanced holding power (typically above the rated strength of the cable) while being relatively inexpensive to produce and easy to field install. The device includes a frustoconical, cable-receiving wedge block, preformed gripping wires for application to the cable and about the block, and a socket for receiving the block and surrounding wire portions. The gripping wires are permanently preformed during manufacturing using a novel method to present, adjacent one end thereof, an arcuate section configured to generally define a portion of an imaginary frustoconical surface complemental with the wedge block periphery. In this manner the wires substantially self-align in an even pattern about the block, and the need for wire-holding flanges or the like on the block or socket is completely eliminated. Preferably, an initially helical, multiple-strand wire subset is bent at two selected locations adjacent one end of the wire to form the arcuate, block-conforming section; this simple operation not only gives the proper wire configuration, but also orients the wires so that, upon application, portions thereof are slightly spaced from the block in such manner that the wires resiliently engage and hold the block in place to facilitate final assembly with the socket.

Helical wire-conical wedge gripping device having conically formed rod

A high strength, modular screw anchor is disclosed which exhibits enhanced failure resistance notwithstanding use of essentially the same amount of material as conventional anchors, and which can be installed using existing installation equipment. The preferred screw anchors of the invention include an elongated rod having one or more separate, specialized anchor members supported thereon, and an improved, obliquely oriented, beveled earth-penetrating lead to facilitate installation, particularly in rocky soils. The anchor member includes a tubular, central, rod-receiving hub presenting a polygonal in cross-section bore therethrough, and an outwardly extending helical blade affixed to and coaxial with the hub. In installation procedures the anchor rod is passed through the hub bore and the anchor member is operably coupled to the rod (as by resting it atop an outwardly extending shoulder provided on the rod); the tubular shank of a standard anchor wrench is next telescoped over the anchor rod and inserted into the hub bore such that a driving connection is established between the rod, shank and anchor member. Axial rotation of the wrench thus effects corresponding rotation of the screw anchor for installation purposes. The earth-penetrating lead of the screw anchor may be formed integrally with the major portion of the rod, or threaded thereon; in the latter case the overall length of the rod can be adjusted as desired. The modular nature of the screw anchors hereof permits stocking of only a relatively few standard components which can be used as needed in the field to achieve a desired anchor configuration.

Modular screw anchor having lead point non-integral with helix plate

An easily installable, high load capacity deadending apparatus for securing the end of lines such as guy cables and the like to anchoring structure is provided which includes a tapered wedge block in conjunction with a helically preformed line tie adapted to grip the line and preferably extend around and engage the remote end of the wedge block for securing the latter against substantial axial movement; a socket casting having a complementally tapered bore is applied over the wedge block and line tie thereround to complete the apparatus and permit connection thereof to an earth anchor or like device so that the socket and block are biased together in mutual gripping interengagement. In practice, as the line experiences increasing tension loads, the wedge block and socket are pulled into tight interengagement which in turn causes a tighter grip of the line and increases the overall holding power of the deadending apparatus. This operation has been found to unexpectedly enhance the holding power of the present deadending apparatus as compared with conventional units. In alternative forms the wedge block is provided with a continuous, peripheral line-receiving groove or a central bore defined by opposed block sections for receiving and holding a line adjacent the end thereof.

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Centralia, MO, United States of America

Edward Dziedzic