Patent ID: 7241079

Claim:
A pier to be driven into soil from a soil surface to support a structure to be mounted thereon, said pier including: an auger member including a shaft that is rotated in a first direction to drive said auger member into said soil; a soil compaction member to compact soil around said shaft, said compaction member including a sleeve surrounding said shaft and movable relative thereto longitudinally of said shaft, and a transverse part extending laterally from and attached to said sleeve to engage said soil surrounding said shaft, said sleeve being operatively associated with said shaft, whereby rotation of said compaction member causes rotation of said shaft for said drive of said auger member; and a drive assembly to move said compaction member relative to said shaft, said drive assembly including a threaded rod threadably associated with said shaft and operatively associated with said compaction member whereby, upon rotation of said rod relative to said shaft, said compaction member is caused to move longitudinally relative to said shaft to compact said soil surrounding said shaft.