Patent Abstract:
A method, process and machine to anchor objects to a surface using an encapsulated compound such as adhesive, expanding glue, hardening agent or other reactive and/or bonding substance intended for single use in a single anchor installation.

Full Description:
[0001]    A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
       CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0002]    This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Prov. Pat. Appl. No. 62/350,786 for Adhesive Anchor filed on Jun. 16, 2016 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0003]    Not Applicable 
       THE NAMES OF PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
       [0004]    Not Applicable 
       INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC 
       [0005]    Not Applicable 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
       [0006]    The invention relates to an improved adhesive anchor and method of making and process of using the same. 
       Description of the Related Art 
       [0007]    There exists in the art many forms of anchors for affixing various items to walls and other surfaces. The form of recommended anchor often varies depending on the composition of the surface be it drywall, wood, plaster, concrete, concrete block, brick, stone or other material. There are wedge anchors, sleeve anchors, drop-in anchors, lag screw shields, expansion anchors, machine screen anchors, toggle wing anchors, toggle bolt anchors, hammer drive anchors, and other classifications of anchors. Some anchors are conical. Other anchors are winged and/or ribbed. Anchors come in many shapes and sizes. 
         [0008]    Anchors often enhance the durability and strength at which other fasteners, such as bolts, screws and nails adhere to a wall or other surface. Some anchors also enable nails, screws and bolts to be removed and reused while retaining grip in the underlying surface in which the fasteners are attached. 
         [0009]    In heavy duty industrial applications an adhesive such as epoxy mortar may be used in concrete, masonry and rebar connections. After drilling a hole for an anchor this industrial adhesive is injected into hole before the anchor is placed. This requires proper measuring of the adhesive and the use of additional tools to inject adhesive into the anchor hole. It increases the time to install and complexity of installing the anchor and bolt and does not achieve desirable results when attaching to a surface of limited depth like drywall, concrete board, wooden board, metal sheet, acrylic or cinderblock. 
         [0010]    Long desired is a simpler and lower cost method of increasing the stability of an anchor, particularly in dry wall applications where the anchor is intended for permanent or long term use. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    The invention provides a machine, method and process that solves these problems by delivering a premeasured amount of adhesive in a capsuled or chambered form that does not require measurement of the adhesive by the end user at site of installation. The use of the adhesive within the anchor enables the anchor and fastener both to be mechanically and chemically bonded to the surface. It creates an improved seal at the point of fastening and enables the use of an expanding adhesive to increase the bond on the backside of the surface where the anchor extends beyond the surface, such as into a hollow chamber like the reverse side of a drywall or concrete block. 
         [0012]    Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in example adhesive anchor the invention is not limited to the details shown because various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing from the invention and the equivalents of the claims. However, the construction and method of operation of the invention together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    Features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description with reference to the drawings, in which: 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  depicts an exploded view of the instant invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  depicts the instant invention of  FIG. 1  installed in a surface. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3  depicts an exploded view of a prior art sleeve anchor. 
           [0017]      FIG. 4  depicts the prior art sleeve anchor of  FIG. 3  installed in a surface. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5  depicts a close up of capsule of the instant invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 6  depicts an exploded view of the capsule of the instant invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 7  depicts an the adhesive contained in the capsule of the instant invention. 
           [0021]      FIG. 8  depicts a cut away of a bi-partitioned capsule of the instant invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 9  depicts a sleeve anchor embodiment of the instant invention. 
           [0023]      FIG. 10  depicts a sleeve anchor embodiment of the instant invention where the capsule is integrated into a chamber of the sleeve anchor. 
           [0024]      FIG. 11  depicts a sleeve anchor embodiment of the instant invention where the sleeve anchor is enclosed in an outer seal. 
           [0025]      FIG. 12  depicts an improvement to the capsule of the instant invention. 
           [0026]      FIG. 13  depicts a cross section of an improvement to the capsule of the instant invention. 
           [0027]      FIG. 14  depicts an exploded view of the instant invention using the improved capsule. 
           [0028]      FIG. 15  show the improved capsule inserted into an anchor. 
           [0029]      FIG. 16  depicts a cross section of an anchor containing an improved capsule. 
           [0030]      FIG. 17  depicts a pipet to be used to create an improved capsule. 
           [0031]      FIG. 18  depicts a cutaway of pipet used to create an improved capsule. 
           [0032]      FIG. 19  depicts the cut portion of a tubing such as the pipet in  FIG. 18  used to create an improved capsule. 
           [0033]      FIG. 20  depicts an end cap on the cut portion of a tubing used to create an improved capsule. 
           [0034]      FIG. 21  depicts the filing of the tube portion with an adhesive and/or expanding compound. 
           [0035]      FIG. 22  depicts a fully sealed tube portion that embodies improvements to the capsule of the instant invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0036]    Referring to the drawings,  FIG. 1 . depicts an exploded view of one embodiment of the instant invention.  FIG. 1  comprises a screw  100 , capsule  400 , sleeve anchor  300  the chamber of the sleeve anchor  700  and a gap  800  separating the prongs of the sleeve anchor. Screw  100  may be replaced with a bolt, nail or other fastener used with an anchor for attaching, connecting and/or hanging another object to or from a surface. The fastener  100  is inserted into the receiving end of the sleeve anchor  300 . Although the figure depicts a sleeve anchor, other anchors may be used, including but not limited to, for example: wedge; drop-in; lag screw; expansion; machine screen; toggle wing; toggle bolt; hammer drive; and, other anchors and their equivalents. 
         [0037]      FIG. 2 . depicts the sleeve anchor  300  installed in a surface  200  where the capsule  400  of  FIG. 1  has been pierced, crushed and/or destroyed to release and/or activate adhesive  500  in the wall and between the prongs  300 A  300 B of sleeve anchor  300 . The prongs  300 A  300 B have expanded upon compression by screw  100  on the back (non-receiving) side of the surface  200 . Capsule  400  enables a premeasured amount of adhesive  500  sufficient and appropriate for reducing and/or preventing movement of the screw  100  in the anchor  300  and/or the anchor in the surface  200 . The adhesive  500  may be any type of adhesive suitable for achieving the objects of the invention. However, it is preferred to use an expanding adhesive that increases in volume once the capsule has been crushed, pierced or destroyed as depicted in  FIG. 2 . This creates an additional bond on the back (non-receiving) side of the surface. In some applications it is also desirable to have the adhesive bond the fastener and or anchor on the front (receiving) side of the surface. 
         [0038]    The adhesive  500  may be enclosed in a single capsule as depicted, but other containers such as gel caps, sealants, may be used singularly, in multitude, or with other devices to enable a multipart adhesive solution and/or epoxy to mix. Also, the anchor may contain and/or directly integrate one or more crushable or piercable containers within chamber  700 . 
         [0039]    The inventors have found that polyeurothane adhesives, including those containing diphenylmethane diisocyanate, isomers and homologues are particularly well suited as adhesive  500  for drywall applications. However, any adhesive or expanding and solidifying product may be used as the adhesive  500 . The inventors have found that when commercially available diphenylmethane diisocyanate, isomers and homologues are used, medical gelatin capsules in sizes 00-4 (0.981, 0.68, 0.5, 0.37, 0.3. and 0.21 ml size) are sufficient for use as the capsule  400  in most common applications such as for affixing towel bars and wall shelves. 
         [0040]    The recommended size of the capsule  400  varies depending on the application, size of anchor, and adhesive used. Other containers are suitable for substitution as the capsule  400  while still falling within the scope of the invention. The composition of the capsule  400  or other container will vary depending on the adhesive and intended application. For best results, the adhesive used will vary depending on the intended application. Factors effecting selection of adhesive include surface material, temperature, moisture, cure time, bond strength and desired amount of expansion. 
         [0041]      FIGS. 3 and 4  depict a prior art screw  100 , and anchor  300  installed in a surface  200 . 
         [0042]      FIG. 5  shows a close up of the capsule  400  of  FIG. 1 . In  FIG. 6  the capsule  400  is exploded showing its inner chamber.  FIG. 7  shows an example of an adhesive contained inside the capsule  400  of  FIGS. 1 and 5 .  FIG. 8  shows a cut away of a capsule  400  that is partitioned into two chambers. One chamber contains adhesive component  500 A and in the other chamber contains component  500 B. Although  FIG. 8  depicts a bi-chambered capsule, there may be any amount of chambers depending on the size of the capsule to enable the mixing and/or use of multipart solutions at the time and site of installation. Any size of capsule or chamber may be used provided it fits within the anchor or the hole drilled for the anchor. Although the drawings show the capsule inserted into the anchor, in applications where the anchor does not pierce the backside of the surface, the capsule can be placed into a drilled hole before inserting the anchor. In such cases, the capsule may be crushed/pierced and adhesive thereby activated by insertion and/or expansion of the anchor. 
         [0043]      FIG. 9  shows a cutaway example of sleeve anchor  300  with chamber  700  and prong gap  800 . The chamber  700  of sleeve anchor  300  may accommodate capsule  400 .  FIG. 10  shows an alternative embodiment of the instant invention where the chamber  700  replaces capsule  400  and contains adhesive  500  in an integrated sealed chamber.  FIG. 11  shows yet another embodiment of the invention where the entire sleeve anchor is sealed with an outer layer  600 . 
         [0044]      FIG. 12  shows an improved capsule  900  that substitutes for capsule  400 . The improved capsule if formed to snuggly fit the interior of the anchor  300 . The ends  1000  and  1100  of the improved capsule may be formed from an adhesive or fast drying substance. It is preferred that the ends  1000  and  1000  are of similar composition to the encapsulated compound  500  after it has hardened as depicted in  FIG. 2 . This improves the effect and integration of the capsule into the product depicted in  FIG. 2 . It is also desirable to use a similar integrating material to form the capsule  900 . The improved capsule of  FIG. 12  may also be formed as part or directly integrated within an anchor. The ends  1000  and  1100  of the capsule may bulge, be rounded, flat or of other forms. 
         [0045]      FIG. 13  shows a cutaway of the improved capsule  900  that substitutes for capsule  400  and contains an adhesive, expanding or hardening substance  500 . In many applications the substance  500  generally expands, adheres and/or hardens upon contact with air, but some applications may require a substance that expands or hardens when exposed to water or other chemicals. The appropriate chemical mixture should be used for the specific application. 
         [0046]      FIG. 14  shows an exploded view of the improved capsule  900  conforming with the interior of an anchor  300 . The shape and form of capsule  900  may vary. By conforming with the specific anchor it enables more substance  500  to be used and for more efficient packaging and distribution to the market. It also enables more uniform distribution of the substance  500  when the screw  100  is pierces/shreds the capsule  900 . 
         [0047]      FIG. 15  shows an improved capsule  900  inserted and conforming with the interior of an anchor  300 . The improved capsule  900  may actually be formed as the anchor  300  and then sealed with end  1100 . This maximizes the amount of substance  500  that is used with the anchor, but does not enable the capsule or adhesive to be separated or substituted from the anchor, which is desirable in some applications. For example, overtime compounds  500  used in the capsules may harden or degrade whereas the anchor  300  may be more durable. Separating the capsule from the anchor enables different applications and also enables multiple capsules to be used with one anchor. For instance capsule  900  may be segmented into two or more parts each containing separate compound components to have an effect similar to the capsule in  FIG. 8 . and adhesive components  500 A and  500 B. Expanding, hardening and temperature changing compounds may be substituted for the adhesives  500 ,  500 A,  500 B, etc. depending on the application and desired result. The compound  500  used may have many components that alter the reaction or application once the screw  100  pierces, crushes, shreds or interacts with the capsule  400 ,  900 , etc. 
         [0048]      FIG. 16  shows a cut away of the improved capsule as it is used within an anchor  300 . 
         [0049]      FIGS. 17 through 22  illustrate how a common pipet may be used to create an improved capsule by cutting the end piece to form the capsule body  900 . First, as shown in  FIG. 18  the pipet or tubing  1200  is cut to form capsule body  900 . Then, as shown  FIG. 20 , capsule body  900  is sealed at one end  1000 . Then, as further shown in  FIG. 21  a substance  500  is added to the capsule  900  before it is sealed in  FIG. 22  with at the other end  1100 . In another method of manufacture, a long tubing is used. In one form of this alternative method the tubing is preformed to repeat the anchor conforming shape (e.g.  900 ) so that it may later be cut or burned/melted between the anchor conforming shapes/segments. The long tubing is completely filled with substance  500  before it is cut, melted or burned in to substantially uniform segments. The segments of the long tubing are then sealed either through the cutting, melting or burning or alternatively through exposure to a chemical, light or liquid that seals the ends to create capsules like those in  900  or another shape that is insert able into an anchor. 
         [0050]    Thus, it is seen that the objects of the present invention are efficiently obtained, although modifications and changes to the invention should be readily apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art, which modifications are intended to be within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. It also is understood that the foregoing description is illustrative of the present invention and should not be considered as limiting. Therefore, other embodiments of the present invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5