Abstract:
Disclosed is a re-usable protective cover for an anchor bolt, that prevents wet concrete, dirt, and other debris from coming into contact with the threads of an anchor bolt during a concrete pour, and subsequently. The protective cover is made of a flexible material that fits over the exposed threaded end of an anchor bolt, like a sock fits over a foot, and is removable, and re-usable at any stage.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    A. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The subject invention relates to a cover to protect anchor bolts or similar devices from concrete contamination during a concrete pour. 
         [0003]    In the construction industry to include commercial, industrial and residential concrete construction anchor bolts are used to tie down or connect structures, vessels, supports, equipment, etc. to a foundation. Anchor bolts are required by most building codes in order to lessen damage to a building during an earthquake or tornado. 
         [0004]    Anchor bolt configuration can vary greatly. A typical anchor bolt will be ⅜″ to 1½″ in diameter and have a projection (amount of bolt protruding above the finished concrete surface) of 2″ to 7″. 
         [0005]    A problem occurs during construction with regard to the anchor bolts. When fresh concrete is placed into forms containing anchor bolts, by the nature of the task, unprotected anchor bolt threads become contaminated by the very concrete that will eventually fill the form and become the foundation. 
         [0006]    The concrete contamination must be thoroughly removed at the time of the pour to allow the anchor bolt templates to be removed. Residual concrete, cement or sand that is not removed from the threads in a timely manner will harden and become very difficult to remove and almost impossible to do so with out damaging the threads, nut or anchor bolt coating (galvanized) in the process. 
         [0007]    The present invention relates to a cover for anchor bolts that protects the threads there fore from damage by or contamination of wet concrete during the concrete pour. 
         [0008]    B. Description of Related Art 
         [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,929, Johnston, issued Mar. 13, 1990. This patent discloses a bolt and nut cover that fits over the bolt and nut, after the nut is screwed onto the bolt. It is disclosed that the cover prevents corrosion of the bolt. The cover is not used to protect the bolt during a concrete pour. 
         [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,818, Garwood, issued Jun. 12, 1990. This patent discloses a positioning system for accurately setting anchor bolts in concrete construction work. Part of the system is a plastic sleeve that is threaded over the threaded section of the anchor bolt. It is disclosed that the sleeve protects the exposed threaded end of the anchor bolt from dirt, cement and other debris. The sleeve can be removed after the concrete is set, thus allowing the anchor bolt to be put to immediate use, without any delays in cleaning. The sleeve disclosed in this patent is unlike the protective cover of the instant invention. 
         [0011]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,916, Ramirez, issued Feb. 19, 2002. This patent discloses a plastic cap that fits over an exposed anchor bolt, protecting it from weather, and aiding placement of anchor bolts while wet concrete is settling. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    The subject invention is a re-usable protective cover for an anchor bolt, that prevents wet concrete, dirt, and other debris from coming into contact with the threads of an anchor bolt during a concrete pour, and subsequently. The protective cover is made of a flexible material that fits over the exposed threaded end of an anchor bolt, like a sock fits over a foot, and is removable, and re-usable at any stage. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a front view of the protective cover of the invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 2  is an side view of the protective cover of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 3  is a bottom view of the protective cover of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 4  is another front view of the protective cover of the invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 5  is a template view of the protective cover of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    The anchor bolt protective cover or sock of this invention is best described in relation to the figures. As seen in  FIGS. 4 , and  1 , the cover  10 , in front view, has as trapezoidal shape. The cover has a bottom section  12  and a top section  14 . The bottom section  12  is wider than the top section  14 . The specific dimensions are not critical, but should be more or less proportionally the same. In a preferred embodiment, the bottom is 4¾ inches wide, and the top is 2⅜ inches wide. The cover  10  is preferably about 7 inches high. As best seen in  FIG. 2 , which is an edge or side view of the cover  10  of the invention, the cover  10  is in the form of an envelope, having a front panel  16  and a back panel  18 , and is closed except at the bottom edge  20 . As seen in  FIG. 3  the bottom edge  20  is open for the purpose of receiving the threaded top of an anchor bolt, or the threaded top of an anchor bolt with a nut screwed on it. 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  shows the front panel  16  of the cover  10  of the invention. Each panel (front  16  and back  18 ) has a grommet  22  positioned close to the bottom edge thereof. The purpose of the grommets  22  is so that the cover  10  can be toe nailed into a wooden anchor bolt positioning template, not shown, should that be used during a concrete pour. 
         [0020]    If desired, the cover  10  of this invention can be made of a single piece, sewn together at the sides and at the top. A template  24  for the cover  10  formed of one piece is seen in  FIG. 5 . The cover  10  is made of a flexible, water washable material, preferably reinforced vinyl. The material is called a banner material, or rip stop banner material. The thickness can be variable, but should maintain a certain flexibility. In a preferred embodiment, the vinyl material is 11 mils thick. 
         [0021]    As seen in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3  a cord  26  consisting of one string preferably 16″ long is attached nearly centered on its overall length to the cover  10  at a point near the top thereof. The purpose of the cord  26  is to tighten around the covered anchor bolt and hold the subject invention in place during a concrete pour, if a metal template is used or the installer does not wish to toe nail the cover to a wooden template. The cord can be attached to the cover with a staple or other means. 
         [0022]    The cord  26  can be made of any flexible material, i.e., nylon, rayon, cotton or the like. Preferably, it is made of ⅛ inch braided nylon, or more preferably #  18  braided nylon. 
         [0023]    The protective cover  10  of the invention can be re-used over and over again. When the risk of anchor bolt thread contamination has passed during a pour, the cover  10  can be removed from the bolt, washed, and used again. On occasion, the nut that is normally placed on the threaded anchor bolt after the concrete is dried, is placed on the threaded anchor bolt prior to the pour. The protective cover  10  of the invention is large enough to allow it to cover the nut as well as the threaded portion of the anchor bolt. 
         [0024]    The cover  10  of the invention can be used on any bolt pattern, any type of template material, any bolt finish, in any type of weather, and does not leave sticky residue on the bolt. It will not damage rubber gloves while plumbing a bolt, and it does not prevent normal anchor bolt handling while in place. 
         [0025]    This tool saves labor while placing concrete. It is also very durable, easy to install, remove, clean, store and re-use over and over again. 
         [0026]    The protective cover of this invention has many benefits. Because the bolt, or nut and bolt (above the template) are protected during the pour, the pour crew will not need to clean that portion of the bolt assembly. Bolt templates can be removed sooner because the nuts are not bound by cement or sand that migrates in to the thread where the bolt and nut connect. Unnecessary water introduced to the surface of the concrete is reduced by the lack of bolt cleaning needed to strip templates. 
         [0027]    This product was designed to be installed and used above the concrete surface and does not need to be removed until the contractor is ready to strip the bolt template or to advance the cover to the next bolt on the same pour. Further, the tool remains pliable even in temperatures below freezing. 
         [0028]    Although this invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments of the invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon the reference to the description of the invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover such modifications that fall within the scope of the invention.