Patent Document

CROSS REFERENCE PATENTS 
     This application is a non-provisional application claiming the benefits of provisional application No. 60/092,184 filed on Jul. 9, 1998. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to support posts for floor joists. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In a house with a basement, there are often support posts to carry the weight of the floor joists of the first floor. The floor joists are supported by steel I beams. The basement floor is generally either a poured concrete slab or a structural floor. The concrete floor settles as it is drying. The ground underneath also settles. Structural floors are often designed to have different head heights. 
     As a consequence of the uneven basement floor, the support posts connected to the I beams supporting the first floor are not all the same height. Additionally the support post heights also differ from job to job. The prior art post, shown in FIG. 1 is a 3½ inch outside diameter steel post  101 . The bottom end  108  of the post  101  is welded to a base plate  110 . The base plate  110  has two steel straps  111 ,  112  welded to the top surface  113  of the base plate on either side of the bottom end  108 . The base plate  110  is attached to the I beam  114  in the basement floor by bending the straps  111 ,  112  over the top flange  115  of the I beam  114 . 
     It is important that the bottom end  101  of post  101  be cut square so that all of the load is evenly transferred to I beam  114 . This is normally assured by cutting the post in a shop, not on site. 
     The post  101  has a top end  102 , with a hole (not shown) centered in the top end  102 . A threaded nut  103  is set on the center of the top end  102  over the hole. A bolt  104  is threaded into nut  103  and fed through the hole. The weight of the floor and the bolt  104  extending through the hole hold the nut  103  in place. 
     The bolt  104  is attached to the bottom  105  of mounting plate  107 . The top side  106  of mounting plate  107  is attached to the floor joist with steel straps (not shown) identical to the base plate. The bolt  104  can be threaded into the nut to increase or decrease the overall height of the post. This prior art system allows for  3  inches of total adjustment in the height of the post. 
     The major disadvantage to the prior art system is that it only allows for 3 inches of adjustment in the height of the post. If more than that is needed, then longer or shorter posts must be obtained. This can result in significant inconvenience and delay, particularly on remote job sites. Generally a new post must be obtained, again often with significant delay. These delays can cost a contractor significant amounts of money as there are almost always penalties for not getting a job completed on schedule. 
     Another common problem is that the entire set of posts ordered for a given job are either too long or too short. This is due to communication problems. Either the wrong height of the basement gets conveyed in the first place, or a change is made once construction has started, and this does not get conveyed to the contractor in time. In the prior art system this could mean significant delay as a whole new set of posts would need to be ordered. 
     The present invention solves these problems by allowing for significantly more adjustability of the height of the posts. This is accomplished by using steel spacer rings slid into the base collar to adjust the height of the post. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary aspect of the present invention is to provide an easy method to allow the height of support posts to be adjusted. 
     A second aspect of the present invention is to allow faster installation of the support posts. 
     Other aspects of this invention will appear from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 (prior art) is a side plan view of the prior art post. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is a side plan view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 4 is a side plan view of a support post having a high base collar. 
    
    
     Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the particular arrangement shown, since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring first to FIGS. 2 and 3, the support post  204  is preferably made from schedule  40  pipe with a 3½ inch outer diameter. The post can be 7 feet, 4 inches to 8 feet, 3 inches, depending on the height range desired. The top end  102  of the present invention is identical to the prior art. The top end  102  with the threaded bolt  104  allows for small, exact adjustments. In order to provide for larger adjustments, base collar  209  and spacer rings  202 ,  203  and  205  are provided. 
     The base collar  209  is a 4 inch outside diameter metal pipe with an inside diameter of 3½ inches and a preferred height of 14 inches. The base collar  209  is welded to a base plate  113 . The base plate  113  has two steel straps  111 ,  112  welded to the top surface  113  of the base plate on either side of the base collar  209 . The base plate  113  is attached to the I beam  114  in the basement floor by bending the straps  111 ,  112  over the top flange  115  of the I beam  114 . 
     The spacer rings have a length of D 1  or D 2 , as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The spacer rings  202 ,  203  have identical diameter to the support post  204 . In the preferred embodiment D 1  is 2 inches and D 2  is 3 inches. It can be seen that D 4  is 6 inches which is the insertion depth of the support post  204  into the base collar  209 . It is important that the bottom end  201  of post  204  and the spacer rings  202 ,  203  be cut square so that all of the load is evenly transferred to I beam  114  and no stress is put on the base collar  209  or on the spacer rings  202 ,  203 . This is normally assured by cutting the post  204  and the spacer rings  202 ,  203  in a shop, not on site. 
     The overall height of the support post  200  is adjusted by placing one or more spacer rings inside the base collar  209 . The bottom end  201  of the post  204  is then inserted into the base collar  209 . 
     It is required that the support post  204  has a minimum insertion D 4  into the base collar  209  of 6 inches to ensure proper stability. In order to ensure that the support post  204  has been inserted the required minimum, a line  205  could be marked on the support post 6 inches from the bottom edge  201 . This allows for easy visual inspection of the installed post by an inspector. The marking can be paint or similar material or it could be scored on the post. 
     The height of the base collar  209  is D 3 . In the preferred embodiment D 3  is 14 inches. This allows for a total adjustment range of 8 inches, plus the 3 inches from the prior art top adjustment. The spacer rings  202 ,  203  can be used alone or in combination to provide 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 inch adjustments within the base collar  209 . Adjustments of less than 3 inches are done using the threaded bolt  104 . This allows for a total amount of adjustment of 11 inches. 
     Referring next to FIG. 4 a support post  400  is preferably made of schedule  40  pipe with a 3½ inch outer diameter. The shaft  409  can be over 7 feet in height. The support post  400  comprises the shaft  409  inserted into the base collar  401  which has a base plate  408 . Spacers  402 , 403  and  406  are inserted into the base collar  401  to provide a desired height for the support post  400 . Nominal dimensions are D 40 =2′10″; D 41 =14″; D 42 =3″; D 44 =2″; D 45 =12″. D 45  is the minimal insertion length of the shaft  409  into the base collar  401 . 
     Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, numerous modifications and variations can be made and still the result will come within the scope of the invention. No limitation with respect to the specific embodiments disclosed herein is intended or should be inferred.

Technology Category: e