Connector for steel reinforcement

Abstract

A connector for steel reinforcement having a head for locating over and relative to reinforcement projecting from a wall of a building, the head having a receiving channel which gives the head a hooked shaped appearance, the channel may be hooked over reinforcement projecting from a concrete wall.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Priority is claimed from Australian Provisional Patent Application No. PS0048 filed Jan. 21, 2002 and PCT Application No. PCT/AU03/00052 filed Jan. 20, 2003.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a connector for steel reinforcement

The invention will be described by way of example with reference to the construction of concrete floors or ceilings in multi-level concrete buildings. It should be appreciated that this is by way of example only and that the connector of the invention may also be used for other purposes.

BACKGROUND ART

In the construction of concrete multi-level buildings, the walls are first cast. Formwork is employed and steel reinforcement is positioned within the formwork and at the locations along the height of a wall where a floor or ceiling is to be constructed channels known by the trade name “REBOX” are positioned and imbedded in the resultant concrete wall. Each REBOX consists of a channel which may be sealed at both ends and has a cap which seals the REBOX against the formwork. In this way concrete is prohibited from entering the REBOX when the wall is formed.

Each REBOX has a plurality of lengths of steel reinforcement which project into the space where the wall is to be formed and is tied or anchored to the wall reinforcement. The lengths of reinforcement also project into the interior of the REBOX and are aligned within and extend along the channel formed by the REBOX

After a wall has been cast and formwork is removed from the wall, floors/ceilings then need to be cast. Formwork is positioned adjacent the cavities formed by the channel shaped REBOXES and a workman must then manually deform the lengths of steel reinforcement within the REBOXES from their locations within the cavities or channels so that they project outwardly therefrom and may be tied or anchored to steel reinforcement of the floor/ceiling prior to the pouring of the slab which will form the floor/ceiling.

The deforming of the reinforcement is tedious and difficult since the work must be carried out quickly and the location of the reinforcement closely adjacent the formwork of the floor/ceiling does not allow for easy access to the reinforcement. The bending of the reinforcement in this way results in metal fatigue which may compromise the strength of the resultant building.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a connector for steel reinforcement which at least minimises the disadvantages referred to above.

According to one aspect the invention provides a connector for steel reinforcement, the connector having a body for securely receiving an end of a length of steel reinforcement and a head for locating over and relative to reinforcement projecting from a wall of a building.

The head portion is preferably configured as a hook which may locate over reinforcement located within a REBOX. Preferably, a retainer is carried by the hook which assists in retaining the hook on the reinforcement within the REBOX.

The body may include a cavity for receiving an end of a length of reinforcement. Preferably the body is formed from a plurality of parts which may be secured to or held relative to one another and which collectively form the cavity mentioned above.

Reinforcement often has ribs or formations on its outer surface and it is preferred that the interior face of the cavity provided by the body have complementary formations for receiving the formations on the length of reinforcement.

This assists in attaching the length of reinforcement relative to the body.

Preferably the body is formed from two parts or halves which may be secured to one another to capture an end of the reinforcement between them.

Preferably an inner end of the cavity is enlarged relative to the remainder of the cavity in the body. This ensures that the cavity may readily be able to receive an end of a length of reinforcement even if the free end of the length is deformed. Deformation often occurs when a desired length of reinforcement is cut from a longer length of such material.

Where the body is formed of two parts they may be held to each other by one or more connecting members. The connecting member may be a collar. The connecting members may consist of studs projecting from one of the parts of the body and the other part of the body may have corresponding apertures for receiving the studs. Free ends of the studs may be deformed to lock the body parts to one another and may function like rivets. If desired that body part with the apertures may be provided with recesses for receiving the deformed ends of the studs.

Alternatively, the studs may be relatively short and serve to locate one part relative to the other part and a retainer such as a collar may hold the parts relative to each other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

A particular preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a connector according to the embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of the connector of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the connector of FIGS. 1 and 2 shown in situ coupled to wall reinforcement;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a connector according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is an assembled perspective view of the connector of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the connection of FIGS. 4 and 5 shown in situ coupled to wall reinforcement;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a connector according to another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the connector of FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a connector 10 according to an embodiment of the invention. The connector 10 has a body 12, 13 with a head.

The body is formed from parts 13 and 12 which together provide a cavity 14 for receiving an end of a length of steel reinforcement

The head 11 has a receiving channel 18 which gives the head a hook shaped appearance and the channel may be hooked over reinforcement projecting from a concrete wall.

Part 12 of the body has connecting members 16 extending from it. Part 13 of the body has apertures 17 for receiving members 16 and the members 16 may be deformed such that the parts 12 and 13 may be secured to one another. The inner surface of the cavity may have complementary formations to formations the end of the length of reinforcement such that once the end is received within the cavity and the parts 12 and 13 are secured to one another, the end cannot be withdrawn from the cavity. An inner end of the cavity may be of an enlarged size.

FIG. 2 of the drawings shows the connector 10 in its assembled state prior to deformation of the members 16.

FIG. 3 shows the connector 10 located within a channel shaped REBOX 22. The REBOX has side flanges 23, 24 and is recessed into a wall 25. Reinforcement 21 projects into the recess formed by the REBOX 22 and projects rearwardly into the wall 25 where it is tied or connected to reinforcement in the wall 25 prior to the casting of the wall. The reinforcement 21 is received within the channel 18.

The connector 10 has a length of reinforcement 20 captured by parts 12, 13 of the body once the parts are secured to each other when the members 16 are deformed. The formations and the reinforcement 20 have not been illustrated.

The reinforcement 20 may be tied or connected to reinforcement which will form part of a floor or ceiling and the floor/ceiling extends into the recess provided by the REBOX 22. In this way a floor/ceiling may be produced without the need for first bending reinforcement out from the REBOX as was the case previously.

The connector 40 of FIG. 4 has a body 41 made of two parts 42 and 43. Part 42 has locating holes 44 and part 43 has projecting pins (not visible) receivable by the holes 44 to allow the parts to be located relative to one another. The parts 42, 43, when the connector is assembled form a cavity 45 for receiving an end of a length of reinforcement. The inner surface of the cavity 45 may be configured to match or mate with the outer profile of the reinforcement End 46 of the cavity is enlarged to accommodate any deformity on the end of the reinforcement

The body 41 has a head 50 provided with a channel 51.

A collar 52 with a tapered bore 53 therethrough is adapted to extend over the parts 42, 43 to hold them together.

FIG. 5 shows the connector in its assembled condition.

FIGS. 6 shows a concrete wall 60 into which has been embedded a REBOX having a connecting wall 61 and opposed side flanges 62, 63. Reinforcement 64 projects into the space within the REBOX and extends into the wall 60. Those parts of the reinforcement that extend into the wall are tied or connected to reinforcement in the wall prior to pouring the concrete for the wall.

It is preferable that the receiving channel 18 (51 or 73) in the head be configured so that one of its inner faces is curved to match the curvature of an inner edge of the reinforcement 64. In addition the head extends completely across the opening or eye defined by the reinforcement 64.

In FIG. 7 the connector 70 has a body 71 and a head 72. The head 72 has a receiving channel 73 which gives the head a hook shaped appearance. A cavity 74 extends into the body 71 and is adapted to receive an end of a length of steel reinforcement.

As shown in FIG. 8, the wall of the cavity is provided with a screw threaded formation. An end of the length of steel reinforcement may be formed with a corresponding thread formation and screwed into the cavity for engagement with the connector.

Connector 40 securely receives and retains a length of reinforcement 65 and the channel 51 receives reinforcement 64. Reinforcement 65 may be tied or otherwise connected to reinforcement of a floor or ceiling and the connector with the reinforcement 65 are embedded into the floor/ceiling when the concrete for the floor/ceiling is poured and has set In this way the floor/ceiling is securely attached to the wall without having to bend reinforcement as was the case in the prior art.

Claims

1. A connector for steel reinforcement, the connector having a body for securely receiving an end of a length of steel reinforcement and a head for locating over and relative to reinforcement projecting from a wall of a building

2. The connector of claim 1 wherein the head is configured as a hook which locates over the reinforcement projecting from the wall.

3. The connector of claim 1 or 2 wherein the body has a cavity for Receiving the end of the length of the reinforcement.

4. The connector of claim 3 wherein the cavity is provided with a threaded portion adapted for threaded engagement with the end of a length of reinforcement.

5. The connector of claim 3 wherein the body is formed of a plurality of parts securable to each other to collectively form the cavity.

6. The connector of claim 3 wherein an interior face of the cavity has formations for receiving formations on the length of reinforcement.

7. The connector of claim 5 wherein the body is formed of two parts securable to one another to capture the end of the reinforcement between them.

8. The connector of claim 3 wherein an inner end of the cavity is enlarged relative to the remainder of the cavity.

9. The connector of claim 7 wherein the parts are held together by one or more connecting members.

10. The connector of claim 9 wherein the connecting member is a collar adapted to extend over the parts of the body to thereby secure the parts to one another.

11. The connector of claim 10 wherein the collar has a tapered bore.

12. The connector of claim 9 wherein the connecting members are studs projecting from one of the parts and the other of the parts has apertures for receiving the studs and the studs may be deformed to lock the parts to one another.

13. The connector of claim 6 wherein the interior of the cavity is provided with a screw threaded portion for receiving the length of reinforcement in screw threaded engagement.