Adjustable apparatus for forming voids in concrete

• US 5,156,755 A
• Filed: 03/11/1991
• Issued: 10/20/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ronald L. Cass
• Original Assignee: Ronald L. Cass
• Inventors: Cass, Ronald L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Woo, Jay H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MATNEY JR, WILLIAM
• Application Number:
  US07/666,917
• Time in Patent Office: 589 Days
• Field of Search: 249/39, 249/43, 249/63, 249/64, 249/66.1, 249/152, 249/157, 249/177, 249/178, 249/182, 249/184
• US Class Current: 249/177
• CPC Class Codes: E04G 15/063 Re-usable forms

Abstract

An apparatus for forming voids in concrete including baseplates secured to a wood supporting deck or form for a concrete floor by a plurality of short wood screws. An adjustable sleeve assembly is attached to each baseplate and is adjustable to a height generally equal to the thickness of the floor with the upper end of the sleeve being accessible and observable when concrete is poured. After the baseplates have been secured in place, various subsequent work procedures may be carried out without the workers encountering obstructions that would exist if upwardly projecting cavity forming members where attached to the wood deck and the sleeve assemblies are mounted prior to pouring the concrete. After the concrete has been poured and set, the sleeve assemblies and the baseplates are removed by unscrewing the sleeve assemblies, removing an upper sleeve and pulling a lower sleeve and baseplate up from the wood deck.

Claims

1. An apparatus for forming a void through hardenable material in contact with a wood form member, said apparatus comprising a baseplate, fastener screws mounting the baseplate on the form member, a pair of telescopic sleeves with a lower sleeve being mounted on the baseplate and an upper sleeve mounted in telescopic relation to the lower sleeve, means interconnecting the sleeves to enable vertical adjustment of the overall height of the sleeves to position an upper end of the upper sleeve substantially flush with an upper surface of the hardenable material, said means enabling vertical height adjustment of the telescopic sleeves including means to move the upper sleeve upwardly in relation to the lower sleeve after the hardenable material has hardened thereby extracting the upper sleeve from the hardened material and enabling the lower sleeve and baseplate to be pulled upwardly out of the void formed in the hardenable material by pulling the fastener screws out of the wood form member, said upper sleeve and lower sleeve being generally cylindrical in configuration with the upper sleeve telescoping over the lower sleeve, said means mounting the lower sleeve on the baseplate including a threaded connection between the baseplate and the lower sleeve, said means interconnecting the upper and lower sleeves including a tubular internally threaded member rigidly mounted on the lower sleeve and a threaded rod threadedly engaged in the tubular member, the threaded rod including a collar adjustably mounted thereon for engagement with the upper sleeve to move the upper sleeve upwardly in relation to the lower sleeve in one direction of rotation of the threaded rod.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein an upper sleeve includes a passageway receiving the upper end of the threaded rod, a closure cap for the passageway forming a closure for the upper end thereof to protect the threaded rod from contact with poured concrete.

3. An apparatus for forming a passageway through a concrete body when a form is used to retain and shape at least one surface of the concrete body as it is poured and while setting, said apparatus comprising a plate adapted to be mounted on the form, a tubular sleeve assembly adapted to extend from the form to an exposed surface of the concrete body, means operable from the end of the sleeve assembly remote from the form to releasably secure the sleeve assembly to said plate with the end of the sleeve assembly adjacent the plate completely enclosing the periphery of the plate and adapted to engage the form to prevent concrete from entering the sleeve assembly and preventing concrete from contacting the plate, said sleeve assembly including inner and outer tubular, rigid sleeves having adjacent ends in close fitting telescopic relation to enable variation in length of the sleeve assembly said inner sleeve engaging the plate, means for releasably securing the plate to the form, and means operable from the end of the sleeve assembly remote from the plate to telescopically adjust said sleeves to vary the length of the sleeve assembly to correspond with the dimensions of the concrete body to position the end of the sleeve assembly remote from the form generally flush with the exposed surface of the concrete body, said means to telescopically adjust the sleeves including means within the sleeve assembly mechanically interconnecting said sleeves to force the outer sleeve away from said plate and inner sleeve to increase the length of the sleeve assembly after the concrete body has set to release the sleeve assembly from the concrete body.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein each of said sleeves has an end wall remote from each other, the end wall on the inner sleeve including a recess receiving said plate, said means securing the sleeve assembly to the plate including screw threaded connecting means on said plate and end wall of the inner sleeve to enable attachment of the sleeve assembly to the plate after the plate has been attached to the form and work procedures have been completed in an area which receives poured concrete without hindrance that would have been caused by sleeve assemblies attached to the form when the plates were attached thereto.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 4 wherein said means to telescopically adjust the sleeves includes a longitudinally extending threaded means on the inner sleeve and longitudinally extending screw threaded means on the outer sleeve, said longitudinally extending screw threaded means on the inner and outer sleeves being in screw threaded engagement, said screw threaded means on the outer sleeve extending through the end wall on the outer sleeve and provided with means on an outer end for engagement by a tool to rotate the screw threaded means on the outer sleeve in relation to the outer sleeve, said screw threaded means on the inner sleeve being fixed with relation to the inner sleeve, means on the screw threaded means on the outer sleeve engaging the end wall on the outer sleeve whereby rotation of the screw threaded means on the outer sleeve will move the sleeves telescopically to adjust the length of the sleeve assembly.

6. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein said end wall on the outer sleeve includes a recess in an outer surface receiving the means for engagement by a tool on the screw threaded means extending through the end wall on the outer sleeve, and a removable cap mounted on the screw threaded means extending through the end wall forming a closure for the recess and concealing the means on the outer end of the screw threaded means for engagement by a tool thereby preventing concrete from coming into contact with the screw threaded means extending through the end wall on the outer sleeve.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 wherein said longitudinally extending threaded means on the inner sleeve includes a tubular internally threaded member rigidly mounted on the end wall of the inner sleeve and projecting through the inner wall on the inner sleeve and including a screw threaded terminal end, said plate including a screw threaded aperture receiving the screw threaded terminal end on the tubular internally threaded member to form said screw threaded connecting means on said plate and end wall of the inner sleeve to enable attachment of the sleeve assembly to the plate.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said screw threaded means on the outer sleeve includes a threaded rod threadedly engaged in the tubular internally threaded member, said means on the screw threaded means on the outer sleeve engaging the end wall on the outer sleeve including a collar threadedly adjustably mounted on said threaded rod and engaging an under surface of said end wall on the outer sleeve to force the outer sleeve away from said plate and inner sleeve when the threaded rod is rotated in one direction thereby forcing the outer sleeve away from the inner sleeve and plate.