Adjustable embossment connector for a composite expansion joint assembly

A composite expansion joint assembly of alternating elastic sealing elements and rigid structural members mounted on transversely extending support bars by mounting means restricting vertical and horizontal translational displacement of the structural members. The mounting means comprises two embossments disposed between a structural member and support bar with a pinned connection extending between the embossments so as to allow relative rotational movement between the structural member and support bar. Each support bar has mounted thereon only one structural member with each structural member being supported at each of its ends.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to expansion joints and, more particularly to 
composite expansion joints of the type employed in bridge deck 
constructions for accommodating large movements between adjacent deck 
sections. Composite expansion joints are conventionally used in those 
constructions, such as bridge structures and the like, wherein the 
relative movement between adjacent deck sections in response to 
temperature changes is too great to be accommodated by a single seal unit. 
These known composite expansion joints often consist of a series of 
laterally spaced elastic seals separated by rigid structural members or 
plates and extend lengthwise of the expansion groove between adjacent 
bridge deck sections. The rigid structural members or plates are in turn 
mounted above and on support bars which extend transversely of the 
expansion groove. 
It is known to connect the structural members to support bars in view of 
the necessity to maintain intimate contact therebetween in view of impact 
and wheel loads imparted by vehicles passing thereover. When a vehicle 
traverses over such an expansion joint, the component members thereof are 
subjected to flexural bending. The rebounding movement due to this bending 
movement causes the component parts of the espansion joint to impact 
against one another thereby emitting noises and undergoing considerable 
"pounding" which deteriorates the joint over a period of time. 
Presently, there are two methods by which structural members and support 
bars are kept in close contact. The first method generally includes the 
welding of the two components (support bar and structural member) together 
and providing clustered groups of support bars of multiple units 
corresponding to the number of structural members so that each structural 
member is welded to a separate support bar in each cluster and spans those 
support bars to which it is not welded. Such a structure is provided by 
designing the support bars to be welded to a structural member at a point 
one or more inches above the surface of adjacent support bars. 
The second method of maintaining surface contact between structural members 
and support bars is by the use of an uplift restraint assembly which 
permits a structural member to slide along a support bar while being held 
in intimate contact therewith so that multiple structural members may be 
mounted on one support bar. 
Although the above prior art structures have been satisfactory in 
operation, they have not included the flexibility of operation as afforded 
by the present invention. In designing an expansion joint device, it is 
desirable to provide for as free a movement of the parts therein as the 
design will permit and still operate satisfactorily. However, due to such 
environmental conditions as the sun rising in the east and setting in the 
west a bridge in many cases receives some sunlight on one side prior to 
receiving sunlight on the other side. This in turn causes expansion of the 
bridge to take place on the relatively warmer side at a greater rate than 
on the relatively cooler side. The resulting differential expansion 
accordingly causes one side of the expansion joint would be wider at one 
end (one side of the bridge) than at the other end of the joint (the other 
side of the bridge). A similar type of movement of the structural members 
could also take place when for example a braking vehicle passes over an 
extreme end portion thereof tending to skew the orientation of the 
structural member with respect to its normmal longitudinal disposition 
within the expansion groove. With a welded configuration it can be seen 
that stresses would be introduced at each of the support bar connections 
because of the skew movement of the structural members. Similar types of 
stresses would also be developed where the structural members are 
slideably mounted on the support bars by means of uplift restraints. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide a new and 
improved mounting means for connecting structural members to underlying 
support bars in a composite expansion joint assembly. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide the aforesaid 
mounting means whereby at least a limited amount of relative rotation is 
allowed between the structural members and support bars on which they are 
mounted so as to eliminate stress build-up during skewing movement of the 
structural members within the expansion groove. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide the aforesaid 
mounting means which allows adjustment in direction of either a support 
bar or structural member without creating stress in the connection joint 
therebetween. 
Still another object of the present invention is to provide the aforesaid 
mounting means which facilitates the fabrication of a skewed joint. 
In summary, the present invention provides a mounting means operable to 
connect a structural member longitudinally extending within an expansion 
groove of a bridge deck assembly to an underlying support bar, the latter 
extending generally transversely with respect to the expansion groove. The 
mounting means includes a pair of embossments which are joined together by 
a pinned connection so that the embossments may rotate relative to one 
another but are restrained against separation in a direction parallel in 
the longitudinal axis of the pinned connection and are further restrained 
against relative translational movement in a plane perpendicular to 
longitudinal axis of the pinned connection. However, the pinned connection 
between the embossments allows at least a limited amount of relative 
rotational movement therebetween. At the point of installation, one 
embossment is rigidly affixed to the underside of a structural member 
while the other embossment is rigidly affixed to the upper surface of a 
support bar. The pinned embossments thereby provide a permanent connection 
between the structural member and support bar while allowing adjustment in 
direction of either the support bar or structural member without creating 
stresses at the point of connection therebetween. The support bar is 
connected to only one structural member so that the conbined structural 
member/support bar sub-assembly may freely move in a transverse direction 
within the expansion groove with respect to the other structural 
member/support bar sub-assemblies.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the illustrative embodiments depicted in the drawings, there 
is shown in FIG. 1 a composite expansion joint assembly, generally 
designated 20, constructed in accordance with this invention and shown 
installed in an expansion groove of substantial width between adjacent 
bridge deck slabs or sections 22 and 24 formed of reinforced concrete or 
any other suitable material, which can extend downwardly to the bottom of 
joint assembly 10, or therebelow, as dictated by the specific 
construction. Bridge deck section 22 and 24 are provided with edge 
channels or members 26 and 28 permanently anchored in a conventional 
manner to the respective deck sections and which have opposed vertical 
faces 30 and 32 defining the lateral sides of the expansion groove in 
which expansion joint assembly 20 is installed. Joint assembly 20 extends 
across the width of the groove between faces 30 and 32 for the full length 
of the groove transversely to the length of sections 22 and 24. 
The lower flanges of edge members 26 and 28 are rigidly secured to the deck 
sections, and the upper surfaces thereof have mounted thereon a pair of 
bearing bars or blocks 34. The bearing bars 34 slideably support a support 
bar 36, which extends transversely across the expansion groove and through 
specially configurated openings 38 provided in the lower portions of the 
edge members 26 and 28. As viewed in FIG. 3, the bearing bars 34 extend 
transversely of the support bars 36 and are provided with slightly 
arcuately shaped upper bearing surfaces 34a. Bearing bars 34 are secured 
in a suitable manner to the lower portions of the edge members as shown. 
A plurality of support bars 36 (FIGS. 3 and 4) are provided and extend 
transversely across the expansion groove in a laterally spaced apart 
relation lengthwise of the groove. Support bars 36 support the anticipated 
loading on the expansion joint and are of a size and spacing dictated by 
the particular application as will be more fully discussed hereinbelow. 
Each support bar 36 may comprise for example a generally flat-sided solid 
body which could be provided with a bottom layer of stainless steel to 
facilitate sliding on bearing bars 34. Such a layer of stainless steel 
would offer resistence against corrosion to prolong the useful life of the 
support bar. The support bars are moveable relative to bearing bars 34 
during expansion and contraction of the joint upon respective contraction 
and expansion of bridge deck sections 22 and 24. A pair of projection or 
stud-like elements 40 and 42 project downwardly from the bottom surface of 
the support bar adjacent the opposite ends thereof and are engagable with 
the adjacent side portion of the bearing bars for limiting movement of the 
support bar in either of its axial directions. 
A pair of seal-locking channel members 44 extend lengthwise of the 
expansion groove and have upper flanges 46 and lower flanges 48. The outer 
face of channel members 44 are secured to vertical faces 30 and 32 of edge 
members 26 and 28 respectively, as by means of welding for example. 
A plurality of resiliently yieldable sealing elements 60 are disposed 
between seal-locking channel members 44 with the outermost sealing 
elements 60 received and positioned between flanges 46 and 48 of channel 
members 44 as shown in FIG. 2. A plurality of I-beam members 62 also are 
positioned within the space defined by locking channels 44, there being an 
I-beam 62 interposed between each pair of adjacent seal elements 60. While 
four such sealing elements 60 are shown in the illustrative embodiment 
depicted in FIG. 2, it should be understood that more ot less than four 
sealing elements 60 can be utilized in the expansion joint of this 
invention, depending on the width of the expansion groove. 
Sealing elements 60 comprise tubular members of elastomeric material each 
having an internal supporting truss structure which can take various 
configurations, and are secured to channel members 44 and the opposite 
sides of I-beam members 62 by a suitable adhesive, all in a manner well 
known in the art. Each I-beam member 62 is provided with a vertical web 64 
and upper and lower flanges 66 and 68 extending laterally outwardly from 
opposite sides of web 64. These flanges 66 and 68 receive and position the 
intermediate sealing elements 60 in place. 
I-beam members 62 are supported on certain respective support bars 36. As 
shown in FIG. 2, each I-beam or structural member 62 is supported above 
the support bars by a pair of pinned embossments 70 and 72, 70a and 72a, 
and 70b and 72b. It is to be understood that each support bar 36 is 
connected to only one structural member by means of the embossment 
connection means and accordingly, each structural member is connected to 
and supported by a support bar 36 at a different point along the 
longitudinal length of the several structural members. In this regard, a 
comparison of FIGS. 2 and 3 is believed to illustrate the staggered nature 
of the connection of the structural members to the support bars. Each of 
the embossments is rigidly affixed to either a structural member or 
support bar against which is abuts as the case may be. As will be more 
fully discussed in considering and describing the operation of the present 
invention, each pair of embossments may undergo relative rotation with 
respect to one another whereby each structural member 62 may undergo 
corresponding relative rotation with respect to the support bar 36 to 
which it is attached. Accordingly, each structural member and attached 
support bar may freely move transversely within the expansion groove 
independently of the other support bars and structural members-however, 
each structural member and connected support bar may not vertically 
separate from one another or undergo relative translational displacemeent 
in a horizontal plane as will also be more fully discussed hereinbelow. 
The present invention is specifically directed to the provision of a 
pinned connection between a structural member and an underlying support 
bar to which it is attached thereby providing the above relative 
rotational type of connection and the associated translational restraint. 
In this regard, various mounting means including the above embossment 
pairs, which are pinned together, are provided. 
In considering the various embossment embodiments with corresponding 
connections in FIGS. 5 through 11, each embossment pair will be referred 
to as 70 and 72. It is to be understood, however, with respect to FIGS. 2 
and 3, that the embossments 70a and 72a, and 70b and 72b shown therein 
would be identical, the suffix letters "a" and "b" used in FIGS. 2 and 3 
only indicating the relative positions of the mounting means in an entire 
joint structure. 
FIG. 5 illustrates a pair of embossments joined together by a pin-type 
element 74 which has each of its ends turned over in a rivet-like manner 
so as to affirmatively join the embossments one to the other. The ends of 
pin 74 are received in corresponding cavities 76 and 78 in the 
embossments, such cavities necessarily communicating with one another by 
aligned bores in the embossments. As further shown, a resilient shim 80 is 
provided at the interface of the embossments so as to absorb any looseness 
in the connection between a structural member and a support bar. Shim 80 
could be formed out of urethane material for example. The embodiment shown 
in FIG. 6 includes an upper embossment 72 having a cavity 78 in which the 
head of a bolt means 82 is received. The lower embossment 70 has a bore 
axially aligned with the corresponding bore in embossment 72, both such 
bores being adapted to receive the threaded portion of bolt 82. 
Necessarily, the upper surface of the bolt head may include an appropriate 
female socket so that it may be engaged to firmly retain one embossment to 
the other. 
FIG. 7 illustrates an embossment arrangement quite similar to FIG. 6 
wherein a bolt means 84 is provided through aligned bores in embossments 
70 and 72 therein. The head 84a of the bolt is received in cavity 76 in 
the embossment 70. Necessarily, bolt 84 may be engaged with nut 84b so as 
to firmly retain the embossments together. 
FIG. 8 through 10 illustrate a pair of embossmments maintained together by 
a stud-type element 86 which extends downwardly from embossment 72 to be 
received in a keyed slot 88 in embossment 70. Stud 86 includes laterally 
extending lugs 86a which are adapted to be received through slot 88 in 
embossment 70 as viewed in FIG. 8. After such reception of the lugs 86a 
through slot 88, whereby embossment 72 abuts against the upper surface of 
embossment 70, the embossments may be rotated 90.degree. with respect to 
one another so that the locking lugs 86a assume the disposition shown in 
FIG. 8 so that the embossments may not vertically displace with respect to 
one another but may undergo relative rotation. 
Another manner of connecting a pair of stacked embossments 70 and 72 one to 
the other is shown in FIG. 11. In this embodiment, embossment 72 includes 
a downwardly extending threaded stud memmber 90 integrally formed 
therewith and which is received in an appropriately adapted bore in 
embossment 70 whereby the embossment may not vertically displace with 
respect to one another but may undergo at least limited rotational 
movement with respect to one another. 
The present invention operates in the following manner when employing any 
of the mounting means illustrated in FIGS. 5 through 11 or equivalents 
thereof. The embossment pairs enable the structural members 62 to be 
rigidly connected to the support bars 36 in a fixed configuration with 
respect to vertical separation and relative translational movement in a 
horizontal plane as viewed for example in FIG. 2. However, all of the 
embossment constructions allow at least some relative rotational movement 
between the respectively connected structural members and support bars 
which in effect affords a permanent connection while allowing adjustment 
and orientation of either the support bar or structural member without 
creating stresses, as encountered for example in totally welded joint 
constructions and in uplift restraint types of connections. The stacked 
embossments which have pinned connections also facilitate the fabrication 
of a skewed joint, or any joint for that matter, because it enables 
additional adjustment for alignment after the embossments are welded to 
their respectively associated components. In this regard, it is 
anticipated that the assembled embossment pairs will enable accurate 
mounting of the various final assembled component memmbers without 
templates, fixtures, rigid tolerances or alignment measurements and that 
such installation may therefore be more efficiently provided due to the 
flexibility provided by the present invention. 
From the foregoing, it is apparent that the objects of the present 
invention have been fully accomplished. As a result of this invention, an 
improved mounting means is provided for supporting a structural member on 
an underlying support bar in a manner to resist vertical separation and 
relative translational displacement while being able to undergo at least 
limited rotational movement in a horizontal plane. 
Having thus described and illustrated various embodiments of my invention, 
it will be understood that such description and illustration is by way of 
example only and that such modifications and changes as may suggest 
themselves to those skilled in the art are intended to fall within the 
scope of the present invention as limited only by the appended claims.