Anchor Bolt Sock

Abstract

Disclosed is a re-usable protective cover for an anchor bolt, that prevents wet concrete, dirt, and other debris from coming into contact with the threads of an anchor bolt during a concrete pour, and subsequently. The protective cover is made of a flexible material that fits over the exposed threaded end of an anchor bolt, like a sock fits over a foot, and is removable, and re-usable at any stage.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A. Field of the Invention

The subject invention relates to a cover to protect anchor bolts or similar devices from concrete contamination during a concrete pour.

In the construction industry to include commercial, industrial and residential concrete construction anchor bolts are used to tie down or connect structures, vessels, supports, equipment, etc. to a foundation. Anchor bolts are required by most building codes in order to lessen damage to a building during an earthquake or tornado.

Anchor bolt configuration can vary greatly. A typical anchor bolt will be ⅜″ to 1½″ in diameter and have a projection (amount of bolt protruding above the finished concrete surface) of 2″ to 7″.

A problem occurs during construction with regard to the anchor bolts. When fresh concrete is placed into forms containing anchor bolts, by the nature of the task, unprotected anchor bolt threads become contaminated by the very concrete that will eventually fill the form and become the foundation.

The concrete contamination must be thoroughly removed at the time of the pour to allow the anchor bolt templates to be removed. Residual concrete, cement or sand that is not removed from the threads in a timely manner will harden and become very difficult to remove and almost impossible to do so with out damaging the threads, nut or anchor bolt coating (galvanized) in the process.

The present invention relates to a cover for anchor bolts that protects the threads there fore from damage by or contamination of wet concrete during the concrete pour.

B. Description of Related Art

U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,929, Johnston, issued Mar. 13, 1990. This patent discloses a bolt and nut cover that fits over the bolt and nut, after the nut is screwed onto the bolt. It is disclosed that the cover prevents corrosion of the bolt. The cover is not used to protect the bolt during a concrete pour.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,818, Garwood, issued Jun. 12, 1990. This patent discloses a positioning system for accurately setting anchor bolts in concrete construction work. Part of the system is a plastic sleeve that is threaded over the threaded section of the anchor bolt. It is disclosed that the sleeve protects the exposed threaded end of the anchor bolt from dirt, cement and other debris. The sleeve can be removed after the concrete is set, thus allowing the anchor bolt to be put to immediate use, without any delays in cleaning. The sleeve disclosed in this patent is unlike the protective cover of the instant invention.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,916, Ramirez, issued Feb. 19, 2002. This patent discloses a plastic cap that fits over an exposed anchor bolt, protecting it from weather, and aiding placement of anchor bolts while wet concrete is settling.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The subject invention is a re-usable protective cover for an anchor bolt, that prevents wet concrete, dirt, and other debris from coming into contact with the threads of an anchor bolt during a concrete pour, and subsequently. The protective cover is made of a flexible material that fits over the exposed threaded end of an anchor bolt, like a sock fits over a foot, and is removable, and re-usable at any stage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of the protective cover of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an side view of the protective cover of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the protective cover of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is another front view of the protective cover of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a template view of the protective cover of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The anchor bolt protective cover or sock of this invention is best described in relation to the figures. As seen in FIGS. 4, and 1, the cover 10, in front view, has as trapezoidal shape. The cover has a bottom section 12 and a top section 14. The bottom section 12 is wider than the top section 14. The specific dimensions are not critical, but should be more or less proportionally the same. In a preferred embodiment, the bottom is 4¾ inches wide, and the top is 2⅜ inches wide. The cover 10 is preferably about 7 inches high. As best seen in FIG. 2, which is an edge or side view of the cover 10 of the invention, the cover 10 is in the form of an envelope, having a front panel 16 and a back panel 18, and is closed except at the bottom edge 20. As seen in FIG. 3 the bottom edge 20 is open for the purpose of receiving the threaded top of an anchor bolt, or the threaded top of an anchor bolt with a nut screwed on it.

FIG. 1 shows the front panel 16 of the cover 10 of the invention. Each panel (front 16 and back 18) has a grommet 22 positioned close to the bottom edge thereof. The purpose of the grommets 22 is so that the cover 10 can be toe nailed into a wooden anchor bolt positioning template, not shown, should that be used during a concrete pour.

If desired, the cover 10 of this invention can be made of a single piece, sewn together at the sides and at the top. A template 24 for the cover 10 formed of one piece is seen in FIG. 5. The cover 10 is made of a flexible, water washable material, preferably reinforced vinyl. The material is called a banner material, or rip stop banner material. The thickness can be variable, but should maintain a certain flexibility. In a preferred embodiment, the vinyl material is 11 mils thick.

As seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 a cord 26 consisting of one string preferably 16″ long is attached nearly centered on its overall length to the cover 10 at a point near the top thereof. The purpose of the cord 26 is to tighten around the covered anchor bolt and hold the subject invention in place during a concrete pour, if a metal template is used or the installer does not wish to toe nail the cover to a wooden template. The cord can be attached to the cover with a staple or other means.

The cord 26 can be made of any flexible material, i.e., nylon, rayon, cotton or the like. Preferably, it is made of ⅛ inch braided nylon, or more preferably # 18 braided nylon.

The protective cover 10 of the invention can be re-used over and over again. When the risk of anchor bolt thread contamination has passed during a pour, the cover 10 can be removed from the bolt, washed, and used again. On occasion, the nut that is normally placed on the threaded anchor bolt after the concrete is dried, is placed on the threaded anchor bolt prior to the pour. The protective cover 10 of the invention is large enough to allow it to cover the nut as well as the threaded portion of the anchor bolt.

The cover 10 of the invention can be used on any bolt pattern, any type of template material, any bolt finish, in any type of weather, and does not leave sticky residue on the bolt. It will not damage rubber gloves while plumbing a bolt, and it does not prevent normal anchor bolt handling while in place.

This tool saves labor while placing concrete. It is also very durable, easy to install, remove, clean, store and re-use over and over again.

The protective cover of this invention has many benefits. Because the bolt, or nut and bolt (above the template) are protected during the pour, the pour crew will not need to clean that portion of the bolt assembly. Bolt templates can be removed sooner because the nuts are not bound by cement or sand that migrates in to the thread where the bolt and nut connect. Unnecessary water introduced to the surface of the concrete is reduced by the lack of bolt cleaning needed to strip templates.

This product was designed to be installed and used above the concrete surface and does not need to be removed until the contractor is ready to strip the bolt template or to advance the cover to the next bolt on the same pour. Further, the tool remains pliable even in temperatures below freezing.

Although this invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments of the invention will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon the reference to the description of the invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover such modifications that fall within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A protective cover for foundation anchor bolts comprising a flexible enclosure having a generally trapezoidal shape, connecting front and back panels, and an open mouth at the bottom thereof, said cover being dimensioned to enable it to fit over and enclose the threaded portion of an anchor bolt exposed above a concrete surface in which the anchor bolt is situated.

2. The cover of claim 1 in which said front and back panels each have a grommet situated near the bottom thereof.

3. The cover of claim 2 wherein the center opening of said grommet is of a size sufficient to pass a construction nail there-through.

4. The cover of claim 1 which further comprises a rope attached near the top thereof.

5. The cover of claim 4 wherein said rope is made of nylon.

6. The cover of claim 1 where the fabric of the cover is made of reinforced vinyl.

7. The cover of claim 5 wherein the reinforced vinyl is 11 mil thick.