Patent Publication Number: US-6705804-B2

Title: Anchor

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to an anchor that is secured in a bore with mortar and includes an anchor member located in the bore, a load application member, and at least one mixing member for mixing components of the mortar. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     An anchor of the type discussed above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,645. According to this patent, a two-component mortar is mixed upon rotation of the anchor which can be set in motion manually or with mechanized means. For mixing, the anchor has a mixing element arranged in the rear and central region. The mixing element is secured to the anchor and is set in rotation together with the anchor. When the anchor is to be set, a cartridge with a two-component mortar is placed in bore, with the anchor being subsequently driven into the bore. A bore-facing end of the anchor, upon contacting the cartridge, destroys it, and the mortar components flow out of the cartridge. Upon subsequent driving of the anchor in, the components migrate along the anchor stem in a direction toward the bore opening and are mixed with the mixing element that rotates together with the anchor. 
     A drawback of the known anchor consists in that for mixing the mortar components, the anchor itself should be rotated which can be very time-consuming. Therefore, the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,645 is not applicable when an anchor is being anchored in a bore by an impact, which is the case with most of modern systems. 
     Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an anchor of the types described above which would not require rotation of the anchor for mixing the mortar components. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This and other object of the present invention which will become apparent hereinafter, are achieved by providing in an anchor of the type described above, drive means arranged on the anchor member for setting in motion the at least one mixing element, and trigger means for actuating the drive means which automatically set in motion the mixing element upon actuation of the trigger means. 
     The advantage of the present invention consists in that it eliminates a need in use of an additional tool such as, e.g., as a drilling tool which, e.g., is coupled to the load application member for setting in motion the mixing element for mixing the mortar components. This elimination of the need for additional tools results in significant saving of time. 
     Thus, a user can place a foil or cartridge, which contains at least two mortar component in a bore. An anchor, e.g., an anchor rod, together with a mixing element is then pushed into the bore, e.g., by being impacted with a hammer until it reaches the bore bottom. In the process of being pushed into the bore, the anchor destroys the foil or cartridge, with the mortar components filling the bore. The trigger, e.g., a locking pin, safety ring, and the like can then be withdrawn, which automatically leads to rotation of the mixing element which mixes the components of the mortar. 
     Advantageously, the drive means includes an accumulator of motion energy which is used for driving the mixing element or which supplies the drive with motion energy. The accumulator can be “loaded” with energy during the manufacturing of the anchor by using the trigger means that simultaneously serves as safety means, preventing premature release of the motion energy. 
     Advantageously, the energy accumulator is formed as a force accumulator in form of a spring which is preloaded already when the anchor is formed. The spring is secured at one of its end to the anchor member and at another of its ends is operatively connected with the mixing element. The attachment to the mixing element can be effected by using, e.g., an intermediate component. This provides for a simple realization of an automotive drive. The spring can be formed as, e.g., a helical spring or a spiral spring. 
     Advantageously, the anchor member is surrounded by a sleeve in which or on which mixing element/s is/are provided. This insures a uniform action of the mixing elements on the components of the mortar. 
     Advantageously, at the setting direction end of the anchor member, there is provided means that substantially prevents rotation of the anchor member in the bore. 
     The mixing elements can be formed, e.g., as ribs, bosses, knobs, vanes provided on the outer surface of the sleeve. The mixing elements can also be formed as openings in the wall of the sleeve. The openings can have an arbitrary shape. 
    
    
     The novel features of the present invention, which are considered as characteristic for the invention, are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however both as to its construction and its mode of operation, together with additional advantages and objects thereof, will be best understood from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, when read with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The drawings show: 
     FIG. 1. a perspective view of a first embodiment of an anchor according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2. a side view of the anchor shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3. a longitudinal cross-sectional view along line III—III in FIG. 2; 
     FIG. 4. a perspective view of a second embodiment of an anchor according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 5. a longitudinal cross-sectional view along line V—V in FIG. 4; and 
     FIG. 6. a cross-sectional view along line VI—VI in FIG.  5 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     An anchor  10 , a first embodiment of which is shown in FIGS. 1-3, includes an anchor member  12  formed integrally with a load application member  12 . With a predetermined use of the anchor  10 , when it is anchored in a bore (not shown), the anchor member  12  is completely located in the bore, with the load application member  11  projecting out of the bore so that a structural component can be mounted thereon or attached thereto. The anchor  10  is secured in the bore with a two-or multicomponent mortar that fills the bore. The mortar is placed in the bore, e.g., in a manner described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,645. 
     At the end of the anchor member  12  facing in a setting direction of the anchor  10 , there is provided fixing means  17  with circumferentially arranged retaining means  18 , e.g., in a form of a circumferential toothing. The fixing means  17  serves for fixing the end region of the anchor  10  in the bore. 
     The fixing means  18  can likewise be formed integrally with the anchor member  12 . 
     A mixing sleeve  15  is circumferentially arranged around the anchor member  12 . Circular openings  13 , which are formed in the wall  16  of the mixing sleeve  15 , form mixing elements. Between the anchor member  12  and the mixing sleeve  15 , there is provided drive means  20  that rotates the mixing sleeve  15  relative to the anchor member  12  upon actuation of trigger means  21 . 
     The drive means  20  contains, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, two helical springs  23  supported on the circumferential surface of the anchor member  12  and having their ends  24  secured to the anchor member  12 . At their opposite ends  25 , the springs  23  are fixedly secured to the mixing sleeve  15 . Both helical springs  23  are prestreesed, with the trigger means  21  which prevents the springs  23  from becoming unstressed. 
     When the trigger means  21 , which is formed as a locking pin, is manually withdrawn, by being pulled by its eyelet  22 , from the bore in the anchor member  12  and both sides of the mixing sleeve  15 , the springs  23  become unstressed, and the mixing sleeve  15 , together with the mixing elements  13 , begins to rotate about the anchor member  12 . When the anchor  10  is being set into a bore, together with reaction components of a mortar mass, the automatic rotation of the mixing sleeve  15  relative to the anchor member  12  provides for mixing of the reaction components of the mortar. 
     A second embodiment of the anchor  10 , which is shown in FIGS. 4-6, differs from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3 by the following features. 
     The mixing elements  13 ′, which are provided on the surface of the mixing sleeve  15 , are formed as ribs inclined to a vertical. Instead of helical springs, the drive means  20 ′ is formed of two spiral spring  23 ′ arranged on two sections of the anchor member  12  having a reduced diameter. The ends  24 ′ of the spiral springs  23 ′ are fixedly secured to the anchor member  12  in a manner shown in FIG.  6 . The opposite ends  25 ′ are secured to the mixing sleeve  15 . The drawings show the anchor  10  in its to-be-set condition, with prestressed spiral springs  23 ′. The securing the springs  23 ′ in their prestress condition and releasing them is effected, as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, with the locking pin  21 . 
     Though the present invention was shown and described with references to the preferred embodiments, such are merely illustrative of the present invention and are not to be construed as a limitation thereof and various modifications of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore not intended that the present invention be limited to the disclosed embodiments or details thereof, and the present invention includes all variations and/or alternative embodiments within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.