Flush mount breakaway post coupler

• US 6,457,895 B1
• Filed: 07/05/2000
• Issued: 10/01/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mark T. Salman
• Original Assignee: Mark T. Salman
• Inventors: Salman, Mark T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Browne, Lynne H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Garcia, Ernesto
• Application Number:
  US09/610,325
• Time in Patent Office: 818 Days
• Field of Search: 52/98, 52/99, 521/693, 256/1, 256/13.1, 403/2, 403/373, 403/374--37, 403/370
• US Class Current: 403/2
• CPC Class Codes: E01F 9/635 by shearing or tearing, e.g. having weakened zones
• CPC Class Codes: E01F 9/681 the sign posts being fastened by removable means, e.g. screws or bolts
• CPC Class Codes: F16B 2200/63 Frangible connections
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 403/7064 by wedge or cam
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 403/7067 Threaded actuator

Abstract

The flush mount breakaway post coupler is a coupler for connecting a post to a ground anchor. The coupler has an upper section and a lower section. The upper section has a socket for receiving a post, a shear section, and an anchor attachment portion for attachment to the lower section. The shear section is hollow and cylindrical and has an groove defined about its exterior so that the wall of the shear section is thin, fracture of the coupler occurring around the annular groove. The lower section is an expansion anchor having a threaded bore for receiving a bolt, the lower section being placed in a tubular ground anchor, or a hole defined in the ground. The socket has a bottom wall, and a cylindrical bore extends through the shear section to a predetermined base in the anchor attachment portion. A bolt hole extends from the base of the bore through the anchor attachment section. A bolt connects the upper and lower sections so that the coupler is wedged into the tubular ground anchor as the bolt is tightened. The coupler is installed with the shear section coplanar with ground level. When the coupler fractures, the socket breaks off, leaving no portion of the coupler above ground, and the remaining annular edge of the shear section and the top surface of the bolt head level with the surface of the ground.

Claims

1. A flush mount breakaway post coupler for supporting a post, comprising:

a) an upper section having;

i) a socket having a bottom wall and at least one side wall, the socket being sized, dimensioned and configured for receiving a post;

ii) a shear section, the shear section being cylindrical and having an annular groove defined about its exterior surface; and

iii) an anchor attachment portion having a top wall and a bottom wall, the anchor attachment portion being dimensioned and configured for insertion into a ground anchor;

iv) the shear section having a cylindrical bore extending from the bottom wall of said socket to the top wall of the anchor attachment portion, the top wall of the anchor attachment portion defining a base of the cylindrical bore;

v) the anchor attachment portion having a bore defined therein extending from the base of said cylindrical bore to the bottom wall of the anchor attachment portion;

b) a lower section having a top wall and a bottom wall, the lower section having a bore defined therein extending from the top wall to the bottom wall; and

c) a bolt having a head and a threaded shaft, the bolt joining said lower section to said upper section, the bolt head being seated at the base of said cylindrical bore and having a top surface coplanar with said annular groove, the bolt being for raising said lower section in order to wedge said coupler in the ground anchor with said shear section when flushed with ground level, said shear section breaking at ground level when the post is struck with a force exceeding a predetermined level.

2. The flush mount breakaway post coupler according to claim 1, wherein said upper section and said lower section are made from ductile iron having a tensile strength of about sixty five thousand pounds per square inch, a yield strength of about forty-five thousand pounds per square inch, and a percent elongation of about twelve percent.

3. The flush mount breakaway post coupler according to claim 1, wherein said upper section and said lower section are made from aluminum 356-T6.

4. The flush mount breakaway post coupler according to claim 1, wherein:

a) the bottom wall of the anchor attachment portion of said upper section and the top wall of said lower section are sloped at supplementary angles so that said lower portion is slidable with respect to said upper section; and

b) the bore defined in said lower section is threaded, said the top wall of said lower section slidable up the bottom wall of the anchor attachment portion of said upper section in order to wedge said coupler in said ground anchor as said bolt is tightened in the bore defined in said lower section.

5. The flush mount breakaway post coupler according to claim 1, wherein:

a) the bottom wall of the anchor attachment portion of said upper section has a cavity defined therein, the cavity having a top wall and having a trapezoidal shape in cross section;

b) the anchor attachment portion has a plurality of slots defined therein extending from the bottom wall of the anchor attachment portion to the top wall of said cavity; and

c) said lower section is trapezoidal in cross section, shaped complementary to said cavity, and dimensioned slightly larger than said cavity so that said lower section expands the anchor attachment portion of said upper section in order to wedge the coupler in a ground anchor when said bolt is tightened.

6. The flush mount breakaway post coupler according to claim 1, wherein said coupler is adapted for mounting in a hole defined in a concrete surface with said shear section flush with the concrete surface.

7. The flush mount breakaway post coupler according to claim 1, wherein said coupler is adapted for mounting in a tube embedded in a concrete surface with said shear section flush with the concrete surface.

8. The flush mount breakaway post coupler according to claim 1, further comprising a tube adapted for being imbedded in a concrete surface, said upper section and said lower section being inserted into said tube, the upper and lower sections being wedged into said tube when said bolt is tightened with the shear section level with the concrete surface.

9. The flush mount breakaway post coupler according to claim 1, further comprising an installation seal, the installation seal being a flat annular disk elastically engaging the annular groove defined in said shear section in order to define a depth to which the coupler is insertable in a ground anchor so that the head of said bolt is coplanar with ground level when said shear section is broken.

10. The flush mount breakaway post coupler according to claim 9, wherein said installation seal is made from foam rubber.

11. The flush mount breakaway post coupler according to claim 9, wherein said installation seal is made from a material which seals moisture out of the ground anchor.

12. The flush mount breakaway post coupler according to claim 1, wherein the head of said bolt includes a circular flange having a diameter greater than the diameter of the bore defined through the anchor attachment portion of said upper section.