Abstract:
A connector comprising a container-like fastener holder ( 4 ) of finite depth with a front ( 6 ) and a rear plate and side walls ( 8 ) wherein the rear wall and substantially the whole depth of the holder can be cast into a concrete structure to form a space within the concrete structure, fastening means ( 12 ) which can assume a range of positions within the holder ( 4 ) and a move able connection part ( 16 ) or device which can be fastened to the front plate ( 6 ) by the fastening means ( 12 ).

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCED TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a U.S. National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/GB2009/002766 filed on Nov. 27, 2009 which claims the benefit and priority to GB Patent Application No. 0821814.1 filed on Nov. 28, 2008. The full disclosure of GB Patent Application No. 0821814.1 and PCT/GB2009/002766 are hereby incorporated herein by referenced in their entireties. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The present invention relates to a connector for joining building elements. 
     In the building construction industry it is often necessary to fix a beam or other horizontal element to a wall or other vertical element or vice versa. Concrete walls or columns are well known for their strength and ease of construction. However once the concrete is hardened it becomes difficult to resiliently fix beams or other load bearing items to the wall. 
     The construction of a building is a precise art and a beam or horizontal element must be fixed to a wall or vertical element in the correct position. Similarly, it is often desirable to fix a vertical member to a horizontal floor or ceiling. 
     A known construction method comprises drilling holes into a hardened concrete structure and fixing bolts into the hole. The hole locations often clash with steel reinforcements and problems often arise on site which cause additional costs and delays in construction. 
     A further known construction technique for securing a horizontal beam to a vertical concrete wall involves casting bolts into the wall during construction so that the beam can be fastened to the bolts and thereby secured to the wall. 
     Unfortunately it is difficult to cast bolts into a vertical or horizontal member in the correct position in order to secure the horizontal or vertical member in the desired position. 
     SUMMARY 
     Accordingly, the present invention relates to a connector comprising a container-like fastener holder of finite depth with a front and a rear plate and side walls wherein the rear wall and substantially the whole depth of the holder can be cast into a concrete structure to form a space within the concrete structure, fastening means which can assume a range of positions within the holder and a moveable connection part or device which can be fastened to the front plate by the fastening means. 
     The front plate of the connector may comprise at least one slot able to receive the fastening means, the fastening means being able to fasten within a range of positions defined by the slot. 
     This provides the advantage that the slot allows a degree of freedom in the positioning of the connection part or device, enabling a beam or member to be fixed in the correct position in relation to the concrete structure. 
     The fastening means may comprise a frontwardly protruding bolt which is moveable within the slot whose cap is captured within the connector. 
     The fastening means may comprise a nut which is moveable within a guide arranged within the connector so that the nut can move along the slot. In certain embodiments, the nut is square, rectangular or elongate or has a square, rectangular or elongate washer welded thereto. 
     The front plate may comprise a pair of perpendicular intersecting slots allowing fastening means to move in two dimensions. 
     The front plate may comprise two or more pairs of slots arranged substantially horizontally or vertically with respect to each other. 
     The front plate may comprise four pairs of slots. 
     The four pairs of slots may be arranged substantially linearly or displaced vertically with respect to each other. 
     The front plate may comprise more than four pairs of slots. 
     The multiple pairs of slots allow for a strong fastening as the required force to maintain the fastening can be distributed across the fastenings. 
     The front plate may be formed with a toothed outside surface for improved connection between horizontal and vertical members. 
     The connector may be fixed to the beam or load bearing member. 
     A connector may be fixed to the beam or load bearing member and a second connector may be cast into the concrete structure to enable a wider range of positions. 
     The fastening means may form a friction lock between the connection part or device and the front plate. 
     The fastening means may comprise one or more high strength friction grip bolts. 
     The fastening means may alternatively comprise at least one tension control bolt, e.g. a stud having an additional outer nut thereon with a part which breaks when the nut reaches a pre-determined tension. This prevents the nut from being over-tightened or under-tightened. 
     Corresponding faces of the fastening means and front plate may be formed with interlocking teeth in order to form a stronger fastening. 
     The front plate of the connector may be equipped with at least one rearwardly protruding attachment means which can be cast into the concrete structure. 
     The rear plate of the connector may be equipped with at least one rearwardly protruding attachment means which can be cast into the concrete structure. 
     The attachment means may be anchor studs or reinforcing bars or reinforcing bolts. 
     The rearwardly protruding anchor studs, reinforcing bars or reinforcement bolts improve the strength of the fastening between the connector and the concrete structure. 
     In an alternative configuration, the rearwardly protruding attachment means can be attached to a further plate which in turn may comprise at least one protruding attachment means which can be cast into the concrete structure. 
     This configuration enables the connector to be attached to a plate which has already been cast into the concrete. This would be of particular advantage where a connection is required between a concrete structure which forms part of an outside wall and a horizontal member such as part of a balcony. 
     Any remaining space which surrounds the rearwardly protruding attachment means can be filled with heat insulating material. 
     The presence of a heat insulating material between the connector and the further plate prevents cold bridging between external building elements and internal building elements. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Examples of connectors in accordance with the present invention will now be described herein below with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  shows an exploded perspective view of one embodiment of a connector according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of a container rotated 90° about a vertical axis from the orientation of the containers shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 2  shows a perspective view of the connector of  FIG. 1  with fastening means attached; 
         FIG. 3  shows an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a connector according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  shows a perspective view of the connector of  FIG. 3  with fastening means attached; 
         FIG. 5  shows an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a connector according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 6  shows a perspective view of the connector of  FIG. 5  with fastening means attached; 
         FIG. 7  shows an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a connector according to the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  shows an exploded perspective view of a further embodiment of a connector according to the present invention; and 
         FIG. 9  shows a perspective view of the connector of  FIG. 8  with fastening means attached. 
         FIG. 10  shows a side view of a connector similar to that shown in  FIG. 1  attached to a further configuration of plates. 
         FIG. 11  is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of a front plate having a toothed outside surface. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     In the following descriptions, similar parts receive the same element numbers. 
       FIGS. 1 ,  1 A and  2  show a connector  2  comprising four containers  4  with a shared front plate  6  and each with a rear plate  5  ( FIG. 1A ) and side walls  8 . The front plate  6  comprises four slots  10  (three shown) able to receive bolts  12 , the bolts  12  being moveable within the slots  10 . Nuts  14  are moveable within the containers  4  and can be engaged with the bolts  12  to form a strong fastening between the connector  2  and a connection part or device  16 . Please note that it is possible for the connection part or device  16  to be formed on the building element to be connected. The front plate  6  is equipped with rearwardly protruding anchor studs  18  which can be inserted into a concrete structure (not shown). 
     The connector is cast into the concrete structure in an appropriate position to receive the intended building element. The connection part or device is then manoeuvred into position. The fastening means are moveable with respect to the connector in an x and y dimension within the range allowed by the slots in the front plate and the slots in the connection part or device. Once the connection part or device is in the desired position relative to the connector, the nuts are tightened to ensure a secure fastening. 
     The following embodiments are affixed in a similar manner. 
       FIGS. 3 and 4  show a connector  2  comprising two containers  4  with a shared front plate  6  and each with a rear plate (not shown) and side walls  8 . The front plate  6  comprises two slots  10  able to receive bolts  12 , the bolts  12  being moveable within the slots  10 . Nuts  14  are moveable within the containers  4  and can be engaged with the bolts  12  to form a strong fastening between the connector  2  and an connection part or device  16 . The front plate  6  is equipped with rearwardly protruding anchor studs  18  which can be cast into the concrete structure (not shown). 
       FIGS. 5 and 6  show a connector  2  comprising four containers  4  (three shown) with a shared front plate  6  and each with a rear plate (not shown) and side walls  8 . The front plate  6  comprises four slots  10  (three shown) able to receive bolts  12 , the bolts  12  being moveable within the slots  10 . Nuts  14  are moveable within the containers  4  and can be engaged with the bolts  12  to form a strong fastening between the connector  2  and an connection part or device  16 . The front plate  6  is equipped with rearwardly protruding anchor studs  18  which can be inserted into the concrete structure (not shown). The connection part or device  16  can be fabricated integrally with a beam portion  20 . 
       FIG. 7  shows a connector  2  comprising four containers  4  (three shown) with a shared front plate  6  and each with a rear plate (not shown) and side walls  8 . The front plate  6  comprises four slots  10  able to receive bolts  12 , the bolts  12  being moveable within the slots  10 . Nuts  14  are moveable within the containers  4  and can be engaged with the bolts  12  to form a strong fastening between the connector  2  and an connection part or device  16 . The front plate  6  is equipped with rearwardly protruding anchor studs  18  which can be inserted into the concrete structure (not shown). The connection part or device  16  comprises slots  22  which allow adjustment of the position of the connection part or device  16 . The connection part or device  16  can be fabricated integrally with a beam portion  20 . 
       FIGS. 8 and 9  show a connector  2  comprising four containers  4  with a shared front plate  6  and each with a rear plate (not shown) and side walls  8 . The front plate  6  comprises four slots  10  able to receive bolts  12 , the bolts  12  being moveable within the slots  10 . Nuts  14  are moveable within the containers  4  and can be engaged with the bolts  12  to form a strong fastening between the connector  2  and an attachable steel block  24 . The front plate  6  is equipped with rearwardly protruding anchor studs  18  which can be cast into the concrete structure (not shown). The attachable steel block  24  comprises slots  22  which allow adjustment of the position of the attachable steel block  24 . 
       FIG. 10  shows a connector similar to that shown in  FIG. 1  with rearwardly protruding anchor rods  18  connecting through a cavity  42  to a second plate  44  which is in turn connected to a further plate  30  by bolts  43 . Between plates  44  and  30  an insulating layer  41  may be provided, or the plates may be simply clamped together. The further plate  30  has a rearwardly protruding anchor stud  34  and a high tension rod  36  both of which are fastened into a concrete structure  38 . A diagonal brace  40  is arranged so that one end is attached to the front plate  6  and the other end is attached to the second plate  44 . The cavity  42  formed between the front plate  6  and the second plate  44  is filled with rigid polystyrene insulation. 
       FIG. 11  shows an alternate front plate  6 A which has a toothed or knurled portion  46  on its outside surface for improved connection between it and associated connection parts.