Foresight Industries, Inc.

Construction Robotics, LLC

Robert F Deike

A torsion or hairpin spring external attachment for power hammers has eye ends respectively bottomed on the power hammer casing and on the tool driven by the hammer for maintaining the tool against the work and supporting a load on the power hammer while reclaiming an optimum spacing of the hammer relative to its anvil after each hammer blow to increase the efficiency of the power hammer. The attachment spring is easily applied and removed and can be supplied in a wide range of stiffness to accommodate different work conditions with the stiffness of the spring increasing with the hardness or impact resistance of the work. Downcrowding loads on the power hammer can be increased while maintaining the optimum spacing of the hammer and anvil to increase the work output of the power hammer. The spring attachment permits rotation of the power driven tool.

Driver tool

A portable light weight robot arm assembly similating shoulder, elbow, and wrist movements of a human arm, plus extensions of the upper arm and forearm, accurately positions and holds a power tool for performing driving, drilling, chipping, lifting and the like operations at a work-site. The assembly is self contained having a base easily and quickly mounted on a conventional truck or on the ground at the work-site, a carriage shiftable longitudinally and transversely on the base, an upright pedestal tiltable in all planes relative to the base, an extensible boom or upper arm rotatably and swingably mounted on the pedestal, and an extensible power tool suspension arm or forearm pivoted to the upper arm. Hydraulic jacks control the lowering, raising, and extension of the boom, the tilting of the pedestal, the positioning of the carriage, the extension and positioning of the forearm, and the position of the tool. An hydraulic motor controls the rotation of the pedestal and a hydraulic motor can also operate a winch on the boom. The jacks and motor are selectively activated from a portable station, such as a hand held switch unit, permitting freedom of movement of the operator to best observe the work. The upper arm is swung and tiltable about its shoulder on the pedestal and extended or retracted to position its outer end or elbow. The forearm is suspended on the elbow to position the tool, extended to load the tool, and the tool is held by the wrist end of the forearm in its desired position on the work.

Robot arm

A ground anchor for channel posts has an angle iron leg driven into the ground and an upright fin plate or strip secured to the upper end thereof to stabilize the leg against tilting. The channel post straddles the angle iron leg receiving the apex of the leg in the channel thereof and is deformed to spread its legs apart into tight gripping relation with the angle iron. The spreading apart of the legs may be effected by drawbolts which fixedly connect the channel post with the angle iron leg or by a tool applied to the post adjacent the leg permitting the post to enter a socket on the leg formed by the fin plate or strip whereupon releasing of the tool permits the spread apart post legs to spring back toward their free state position thereby bottoming the base of the post in the socket. The spread apart legs of the post tightly grip the angle iron leg. The post may be removed from the angle by releasing the drawbolts or by again applying a spreading tool to free the post from the socket.

Post anchor

A ground anchor provides a mounting base for a sign post accommodating rotational, tilting, and height adjustments of the post and providing for release of the post at ground level in the event of impact by a vehicle so that no upstanding obstacle capable of causing injury will remain after impact. An angle iron leg with upstanding fins or spade members at the leading and trailing ends thereof is driven or otherwise buried into the ground. A tubular member seated in the channel of the angle iron is bolted to the legs or sides of the angle iron at a selected level to present a top edge or rim supporting an anchor plate with a central raised fragmental spherical dome. The anchor plate is fixedly secured to the tube by bolts threaded into upstanding lugs secured to the tube. The post has a fixed base plate on the bottom thereof resting on the spherical projection and shear bolts extending through slots in the anchor plate and holes in the peripheral marginal portion of the base plate clamp the base plate on the spherical projection of the anchor plate. These bolts can be adjusted to tilt the post relative to the anchor and the bolts can slide in the slots to accommodate rotational indexing of the post. Ground anchored cables are tensioned to the tubular member to further fix the leg in the ground.

Post mounting anchor base

A plate-like ground or earth anchor has a scoop-like channel formed in the leading end thereof, and an open topped socket formed in the trailing end thereof, laterally extending wings along the length thereof, and a raised cable anchor ridge directing dirt from the channel so that a cable or rod secured therein will be free to swing when it is tensioned to pull the plate from an upright driving position to a transverse horizontal locking position. The leading ends of the wings are beveled toward the channel to cooperate therewith for forming a chisel-like leading edge on the plate. The open top of the socket is inclined to provide an apex beyond the wings and a cutting edge merging into the rear ends of the wings which are also beveled to provide cutting edges. The plate is driven upright into the ground by an impact rod loosely fitted in the socket and as it cuts into the ground, it leaves a channel or groove for a cable or tension rod.

Ground anchor with scoop channel discharging to groove forming ridge

A ground anchor for channel posts has an angle iron leg driven into the ground with a creased upright fin shroud strip or strap embracing the apex or corner of the angle iron at the trailing end of the leg and secured to the ends of the sides of the angle iron providing a V-shaped socket or barrel. The channel post straddles the angle iron with its side legs bottomed on the sides of the angle iron and a compression member bottomed on the strip forces the channel post against the angle iron to spread the legs of the post into tight gripping relation with the angle iron locking the post in the socket. The socket is open-ended and the post can slide over the angle iron leg to any desired depth so that a sign mounted on top of the post can be positioned at a selected height above the ground. The angle iron is driven into the ground to a depth sufficient to bury the shroud strip so that the post is the only portion of the assembly projecting above the ground. The spreading of the legs of the post places them under tension so that when the post is struck by a vehicle it will only bend at the impact zone, but will shear at the tensioned zone so that no metal will project above ground.

A fencing system designed particularly for snow and sand fencing is disclosed. The fencing system consists of a framing structure for supporting a fence face between spaced upright members. The fence face is constructed of a strong flexible mesh such as a mesh formed of re-bar defining rectangular openings in horizontal and vertical rows. Plastic material slats are attached to the mesh extending longitudinally of the mesh from upright to upright, the slats lying parallel horizontal rows spaced from one another by a height approximately equal to the width of the slat. In this manner, approximately 50% of the fence face is open. The bottom of the fence face terminates above the ground by approximately 12' to 16' and the fence face is angled to the base surface approximately 15.degree..

Fencing system

A ground anchor for posts has a leg driven in the ground with a fluke or fin member secured to the upper end thereof and cooperating therewith to form a post receiving socket or barrel. A wedge driven in the socket clamps the post to the leg. The leg is preferably an angle iron with diverging side walls and the fin member is preferably a sheet metal strip folded midway of its length providing legs diverging from the fold or crease embracing and welded to the divergent ends of the leg side walls and then bent outwardly to radiate from the leg providing three fins or flukes in equally spaced circumferential relation and a V-wing between the crease cooperating with the legs to form the socket or barrel chamber. The post is bottomed on the leg and the wedge is bottomed in the crease of the V-wing and has diverging legs providing a recess receiving and forcing the post into the converging side walls of the leg to wedge lock the post to the leg. The wedge has a spring portion loaded by the crease and the metal strip is inclined relative to the leg so that the crease receiving this spring portion will taper from top to bottom providing a cam lock on the wedge intermediate the top and bottom ends of the strip. The wedge has holes receiving a pry tool bottomed on top of the strip to unlock the wedge and permit removal of the post.

Post support socket

An energy absorbing support for mailboxes and the like devices mounted alongside roadways where they are exposed to impact by vehicles has a post of generally reverse 'C' shape with a depending upright leg secured in the socket of an anchor driven in the ground, an upwardly inclined generally horizontal lateral leg portion, an outwardly sloping generally vertical leg portion extending from the outer end of the lateral portion, and a reverse horizontal top leg portion overlying the lateral leg portion and having mountings thereon carrying mailboxes and the like. The depending leg portion is vertically adjustable in the socket of the ground anchor so that the upper end of the lateral leg portion and the lower end of the sloping vertical leg portion will be at a height above ground level within the range of the height of an automobile front bumper to receive initial impact of a vehicle crashing into the support. The socket anchor mounts the support parallel with the roadway and projecting towards oncoming traffic in the adjacent road lane so that any initial impact from a vehicle will bend and rotate the upright leg causing the support to tilt under the vehicle and prevent any portion thereof or any mailboxes carried thereby from crashing into the occupied area of the vehicle. The support can be extended by a complementary identically 'C' shaped post secured to the depending upright leg and the free end of the top horizontal leg of the main post presenting a closed loop configuration lying in a flat plane. Mailboxes of the like are attached to the horizontal top legs of both posts. The posts can be composed of metal tubing with the upright leg portion having a weakened fracture zone just above the ground anchor. Mounting brackets carried by the horizontal leg of the post attach mailboxes and the like thereto and shear type attachments can be used to allow the boxes to leave the post upon severe impact.

Mail box support

A driver tool of the power hammer type is equipped with a compression spring acting on the anvil of the tool and loaded by the weight of the tool and by downcrowding to store energy from the load and from attempted rebound of the anvil which is released to the anvil in a driving direction adding to the driving force of the hammer. The spring has a stiffness and a length effective to maintain a free stroke length for the hammer before impacting the anvil when the tool is loaded or downcrowded sufficiently to maintain the anvil thrusting against the workpiece and to develop and build up vibrations from the hammer blows. The hammer blows are divided into impulses by the vibrations allowing the workpiece to recover from blows of magnitudes beyond the elastic limit of the workpiece material which would otherwise damage the workpiece. The preferred spring is a cylindrical spaced coil helical spring having its bottom coil engaging the anvil in good vibration transferring relation and a top end coil bottomed on the end wall of a slip housing surrounding the spring and anvil. The housing is bottomed on the bottom end face of the tool body. A nonmetallic slip washer is preferably interposed between the housing and the bottom end of the tool body to dampen transfer of vibrations into the tool body and to accommodate rotation of the anvil which is desirable when rock drill and the like breaker tools are mounted on the anvil.

A self-contained, portable, extensible boom assembly for detachable mounting on a vehicle such as on the open top box body of a truck has power driven boom actuating mechanism and downcrowding storage mechanism activated by said power driven mechanism for maintaining a downcrowding load on a driver tool suspended from the boom together with mechanism for controlling the extension of the boom to maintain a straight line alignment of the tool as it advances under the downcrowding load. The portable with mechanism for controlling the extension of the boom to maintain a straight line alignment of the tool as it advances under the downcrowding load. The portable self-contained assembly can carry its own power source such as a battery or can be driven through a power take-off from the engine of the truck on which it is mounted. The assembly is unitary, relatively light in weight, easily transported, and is easily mounted on and removed from a truck vehicle without altering the construction of the vehicle.

Downcrowding boom assembly

An improved portable hydraulically powered driving machine, for driving posts, ground anchors, concrete breakers, core drills, and the like work pieces into the ground, pavements or wall structure, has a tower in the form of a stanchion carried by an extensible pedestal mounted boom rig on a mobile base such as a conventional truck and in its working position is adapted to rest on the ground, pavement or wall structure at a controlled attitude relative thereto to guide a hydraulically powered hammer and hold an anvil against the work piece and, in its transporting position is adapted to be secured horizontally at a low level in a truck-mounted frame. The stanchion down-crowds the hammer guide to load a compression spring which maintains the anvil continuously against the work piece even after the impact force of the hammer blow is expended and the work piece advances a considerable distance. The hammer is also spring-loaded, a hydraulic jack lifts the hammer and stretches the spring and the stroke of the hammer together with the rapidity of the hammer blows is controlled by a rotating dump valve for the jack. The speed of rotation of the dump valve is controlled by the machine operator with faster speeds decreasing the stroke of the hammer and increasing the number of blows delivered per minute. Hydraulic controls are provided to accurately place the stanchion at the work site and to control the angle and direction in which the hammer blows are to be delivered. Air is introduced into the fluid return line from the dump valve for cushioning fluid flow.

Post driving machine

Cables are anchored in the ground by attaching one end of the cable to an intermediate portion of an elongated tubular member having a leading driving end with an internal abutment and a trailing end with an out turned lip on the side of the tubular member opposite the side on which the cable is attached. A driving tool inserted into the member drives into the earth in an upright position to a desired depth. The driving tool is removed from the member, the cable is tensioned to rotate the member in the earth about the lip into a position transversely of its driving position thereby forming a nonretractable anchor or support for the cable. Concrete slurry can fill the hole in the earth formed by driving the anchor into the ground with the cable surrounded by the slurry. A plug pressed into the hole compresses the slurry causing it to flow into crevices and pores in the earth surrounding the hole. The concrete may then be poured into the hold above the plug while the cable is held under tension and, after the concrete sets, a tensioned cable reinforced column of concrete cooperates with the anchor to provide a firmly secured cable. An entrance hole of larger diameter than the hole formed by driving the anchor into the earth but only extending to a depth less than the depth to which the anchor is driven can be swaged into the earth and will thus be surrounded by compacted earth. This entrance hole can be lined with a tube to keep the hole in an open condition during the driving of the anchor, the liner can then be withdrawn and the entrance hole filled with concrete which is pressed by a plug forming a concrete column interlocked with the earth and embedding the anchor and cable.

Method of anchoring

A portable hydraulic actuated machine for driving posts, ground anchors, concrete breakers, core drills and the like work pieces into the ground, pavements, or wall structures, maintains a continuing thrust on the work piece amplified by sequential hammer blows of controlled magnitude to advance the work piece at a rapid rate without damage to the impact receiving end of the work piece. The machine includes an automotive vehicle which is easily transported to the work site and which carries a turntable supporting an upstanding tower on which rides a carriage slidably mounting a spring loaded heavy hammer, a work piece engaging spring loaded anvil struck by the hammer and hydraulical hammer lifting mechanism. The tower is easily raised and lowered, adjusted toward and away from the vehicle and tiltable laterally to present the hammer and anvil to the work piece at the exact desired location in the plane of the work piece. The carriage is downwardly loaded to compress the anvil spring for exerting a continuing thrust on the work piece.

An elongated tubular ground anchor having a leading driving end with an internal impact receiving abutment and a tapered out-turned trailing end has an external cable swingably secured thereto about midway between said ends but rearwardly of the center of mass of the anchor, is guided and driven lengthwise into the ground to a desired depth by a ram entering the trailing end and impacting the abutment with the cable extending above ground from the hole in the ground formed by the anchor and driving ram. The cable is pulled or tensioned causing the trailing end of the anchor to plow into the ground forming a fulcrum to rotate or tilt the anchor from its upright driving position to an inclined position transversely of the hole and with the leading end remaining lower than the trailing end. The driving ram may be hollow and a concrete slurry pumped through the ram as it is retracted from the anchor and hole to fill the hole with the cable surrounded by the slurry. A plug may then be pressed into the hole to compress the concrete slurry causing it to flow into crevices and pores of the ground surrounding the hole and concrete may then be poured into the hole above the plug while the cable is held under tension. After the concrete sets, a tensioned cable reinforced column of concrete fills the hole and cooperates with the anchor to provide a firmly secured ground anchored cable. The cable anchor may be further strengthened by swaging an entrance hole of larger diameter than the hole formed by driving the anchor in the ground but only extending to a depth substantially less than the depth to which the anchor is driven. This large diameter entrance hole is thereby surrounded by compacted earth due to the swaging operation and may be lined with a tube to keep the hole in an open condition during the driving of the anchor. The liner is withdrawn and the entrance hole is also filled with concrete which is pressed by the plug thus forming a concrete column interlocked with the ground and embedding the anchor and cable.

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Cheyenne, WY, United States of America

Robert F Deike