ANCHOR CHANNEL AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING AN ANCHOR CHANNEL

Abstract

For stable anchoring of an anchor channel in concrete, an anchor, the anchor shank of which has a larger diameter than an anchor hole of a C-profile channel of the anchor channel, is inserted through the anchor hole from the inside, so that the anchor shank widens the anchor hole and holds the C-profile channel clamped on the anchor shank. An anchor head configured as a countersink head bears internally against a protrusion of the C-profile channel, and on the outer side of the C-profile channel knurling holds the anchor in addition to the clamped fit.

Description

The invention relates to an anchor channel having the features of the preamble of claim 1 and to a method for producing an anchor channel having the features of the preamble of claim 5.

Anchor channels are typically arranged sunk flush in a floor or a wall made of concrete and serve for attaching articles, for example façade elements, with the aid of, for example, hammerhead screws. “Sunk flush” means that the anchor channel is embedded in the concrete and one side of the anchor channel is flush with a surface, for example of the concrete. During the production of the floor or the like, the anchor channels are embedded in the concrete on three sides. The anchor channels typically have a C-profile channel, that is to say a square tube profile or a rectangular tube profile with a continuous longitudinal slot in a transverse centre of a side which is also referred to herein as the “upper side”. In a transverse centre of an opposite side, which is also referred to as the “underside” herein, the C-profile channels typically have round and/or elongate holes as anchor holes. Anchor channels are typically made or extruded from sheet steel or generally sheet metal, but materials other than metal are also possible. The upper side of the C-profile channel need not be located at the top nor does its underside need to be located at the bottom, but rather the upper side is the side having the continuous longitudinal slot and the underside is the opposite side.

German utility model DE 88 15 267 U1 discloses an anchor channel having a C-profile channel and an anchor which has been inserted from the inside through an anchor hole in an underside of the C-profile channel so that an anchor shank of the anchor projects outwards on the underside of the C-profile channel. The anchor shank has a thread at one end and a frustoconical countersink head as anchor head at another end. The C-profile channel has a hollow-frustoconical protrusion projecting outwards from the underside and surrounding the anchor hole, inside which protrusion the anchor head lies on the inner side of the C-profile channel. Adjoining the anchor head, the anchor shank has a circumferential groove in which a circumferential ridge in the anchor hole of the C-profile channel engages, so that the anchor is held in the anchor hole of the C-profile channel. An anchor foot in the form of an apertured disc is screwed onto the thread at the end of the anchor shank remote from the C-profile channel, which foot gives the anchor purchase in the concrete. By means of the anchor or preferably a plurality of anchors distributed over a length of the C-profile channel, the C-profile channel can be anchored in, for example, concrete.

The problem of the invention is to propose an anchor channel and a method for producing an anchor channel of the kind described at the beginning having modified attachment of an anchor.

That problem is solved according to the invention by the features of claims 1 and 5. The anchor channel according to the invention has a C-profile channel having an anchor hole in a side of the C-profile channel referred to herein as the underside and an anchor which has been inserted through the anchor hole from the inside. The anchor hole is preferably located in a transverse centre of the underside of the C-profile channel. The anchor has an anchor head and an anchor shank. “Inserted from the inside” means that the anchor head is located in the C-profile channel, that is to say located on an inner side of the underside of the C-profile channel, and the anchor shank projects outwards from the underside of the C-profile channel through the anchor hole. In particular, the anchor head bears against the inner side of the underside of the C-profile channel. The underside of the anchor channel can have an outwardly projecting protrusion matched to a shape of the anchor head, against or inside the inner side of which protrusion the anchor head bears or lies. The anchor shank, together with the C-profile channel, is intended to be embedded in concrete or the like in order to achieve a good hold of the C-profile channel or the anchor channel in the concrete. For that purpose, an anchor foot adjoins the anchor shank at the end opposite the anchor head. By virtue of the anchor foot, the anchor is wider in cross-section at that end.

According to the invention, the anchor shank has knurling spaced apart from the anchor head, the spacing between the knurling and the anchor head especially corresponding to a wall thickness of the underside of the C-profile channel at a hole rim of the anchor hole. A cross-section of the anchor shank is the same on both sides of the knurling and is especially circular and the hole rim of the anchor hole engages between the anchor head and the knurling, so that the anchor is held by the knurling against movement of the anchor out of the anchor hole through the inner side of the C-profile channel, a limited holding force which holds the anchor against falling out of the C-profile channel and while it is being embedded in the concrete being sufficient. The invention does not exclude the anchor from being pulled out or pushed out of the anchor hole by a force greater than the holding force.

An advantage of the invention is the simple attachment of the anchor to the C-profile channel with a holding force sufficient for the concreting. To prevent removal of the C-profile channel from the anchor, the anchor head holds the C-profile channel in its inner side. By means of the anchor or preferably a series of anchors arranged over a length of the C-profile channel it is possible to achieve a good hold of the C-profile channel, or the anchor channel as a whole, in concrete or the like. The knurling is very easy to produce and is accordingly a simple way of securing the anchor against movement towards the inner side of the C-profile channel.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the hole rim of the anchor hole of the C-profile channel is seated clamped between the anchor head and the knurling. In particular, the anchor hole has a cross-section which effects the clamping on the anchor shank between the anchor head and the knurling at two oppositely located circumferential locations or at more than two circumferential locations distributed uniformly or non-uniformly around the circumference or continuously around the entire circumference. As a result, independently of being held interlockingly by the knurling, the anchor shank of the anchor is additionally held in the anchor hole of the C-profile channel by frictional engagement.

An embodiment of the invention provides a countersink head as anchor head, that is to say an anchor head having a frustoconical underside, and a protrusion that projects outwards from the C-profile channel and surrounds the anchor hole. The underside of the anchor head faces towards the anchor shank. The protrusion of the C-profile channel is preferably hollow-frustoconical to match the underside of the anchor head, and the anchor head bears against the protrusion or lies inside the protrusion on the inner side of the anchor channel.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the C-profile channel has a slot, especially a continuous longitudinal slot, preferably in a transverse centre of a side opposite the underside having the anchor hole, which side is referred to herein as the upper side. Through the slot, for example a hammerhead screw, which is not part of the invention, for attachment an article to the anchor channel can be introduced into the C-profile channel thereof. The anchor head of the anchor of the anchor channel according to the invention is narrower and longer than the slot of the C-profile channel is wide, so that the anchor, including the anchor head, can be introduced through the slot into the C-profile channel and the anchor shank can be inserted through the anchor hole in the underside of the C-profile channel.

For the production of an anchor channel especially of the kind described above, which has a C-profile channel having an anchor hole and an anchor having an anchor head and an anchor shank, according to the invention the anchor or rather the anchor shank is inserted through the anchor hole from the inside, so that the anchor shank emerges from the C-profile channel through the anchor hole and projects outwards from the C-profile channel from the underside thereof. The anchor head is located in the C-profile channel; preferably it bears against an inner side of the underside of the C-profile channel. The anchor head in the C-profile channel prevents the anchor from being withdrawable outwards out of the C-profile channel or, conversely, the C-profile channel from being removable from the anchor over the anchor head.

Before the anchor shank is inserted through the anchor hole, the diameter of the anchor hole is smaller than a maximum diameter of the anchor shank and during insertion of the anchor shank is at least temporarily widened by the anchor shank. In the case of non-circular cross-sections, the “diameter” is to be understood as being the diameter of an inscribed circle in the case of the anchor hole and of a circumscribed circle in the case of the anchor shank. The diameter can be constant over the length of the anchor shank. If the anchor shank has, in the region of the anchor hole, a larger diameter than the original diameter of the anchor hole, this especially results in a clamped fit between the hole rim of the anchor hole in the C-profile channel and the anchor shank of the anchor. The hole rim of the anchor hole can be in continuous clamping contact with the inserted anchor shank without interruption in the circumferential direction, or it bears clampingly against the anchor shank at two oppositely located circumferential locations or at more than two circumferential locations distributed uniformly or non-uniformly around the circumference. If the anchor shank has, in the region of the anchor hole, a smaller diameter than the anchor hole, a fit having a greater or lesser degree of play is obtained. The location having the maximum diameter of the anchor shank nevertheless ensures that the anchor shank is held by interlocking engagement.

An embodiment of the invention provides that the anchor has a counter-bearing that protrudes beyond a circumference of the anchor shank, which counter-bearing overlaps the hole rim of the anchor hole on an outer side of the C-profile channel and thereby enables the anchor or the anchor shank to be held by interlocking engagement in the anchor hole of the C-profile channel so as to prevent movement of the anchor out through the inner side of the C-profile channel, that is to say anchor head first. In particular, the counter-bearing forms the maximum diameter of the anchor shank.

In particular, the knurling described hereinabove, which is arranged on the anchor shank spaced apart from the anchor head, forms the counter-bearing. Alternatives to the knurling are one or more lugs or beads projecting outwards from the anchor shank. Circumferential counter-bearings are also possible. This list serves to provide an overview of possible ways of implementing the counter-bearing but the invention is not limited to the examples given. The hole rim of the anchor hole of the C-profile channel engages between the anchor head and the knurling or the counter-bearing.

Preferably, prior to the insertion of the anchor hole the diameter of the anchor hole is smaller than the diameter of the anchor shank between the anchor head and the counter-bearing. As a result, the anchor can be held both clamped by the hole rim and interlockingly by the counter-bearing. Spaced apart from the anchor head, i.e. on a side of the counter-bearing or knurling remote from the anchor head, the anchor shank can have a smaller diameter

As explained above, in configurations of the anchor channel according to the invention the C-profile channel has on its underside an outwardly projecting protrusion that surrounds the anchor hole, against or inside the inner side of which protrusion the anchor head bears or lies. The protrusion can have been or can be formed or generally produced prior to the insertion of the anchor shank, for example by plastic deformation of the underside of the C-profile channel in a region surrounding the anchor hole. An embodiment of the method according to the invention provides that the protrusion is formed by the anchor head of the anchor. For that purpose, at the end of the insertion of the anchor shank, the anchor head, or rather its underside, is pressed from the inside against the inner side of the underside of the C-profile channel, so that the region of the underside of the C-profile channel that surrounds the anchor hole is shaped to form the protrusion projecting outwards on the underside of the C-profile channel. The deformation of the region of the underside of the C-profile channel that surrounds the anchor hole by means of the anchor head can be plastic and/or resilient. The anchor head forms as it were a depression on the inner side of the underside of the C-profile channel, against or inside which depression the anchor head or its underside preferably exactly fits.

The features and combinations of features, configurations and embodiments of the invention mentioned above in the description, as well as the features and combinations of features mentioned below in the description of the Figures and/or shown in a Figure, can be employed not only in the particular combination defined or shown in each case, but also in basically any other combinations or on their own. Configurations of the invention that do not have all features of a dependent claim are possible. It is also possible for individual features of a claim to be replaced by other disclosed features or combinations of features. Configurations of the invention are possible that do not have all features of the exemplary embodiment(s) but have in principle any part of the characterised features of an exemplary embodiment, optionally in combination with one, some or all features of one or more further exemplary embodiments.

The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to an exemplary embodiment shown in the drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a cross-section through an anchor channel according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of an anchor head of an anchor of the anchor channel from FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-section through a C-profile channel of the anchor channel from FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 shows punching an anchor hole in an underside of the C-profile channel from FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows forming a protrusion that surrounds the anchor hole on the underside of the C-profile channel from FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 shows a longitudinal section through the anchor channel from FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows an anchor foot of the anchor of the anchor channel from FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 shows an alternative anchor foot of the anchor of the anchor channel from FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 shows a cross-section through a second embodiment of an anchor channel according to the invention.

The anchor channel 1 according to the invention shown in FIG. 1 has a C-profile channel 2 and an anchor 3. The C-profile channel 2 is, for example, extruded or formed from sheet metal. It has a square or rectangular cross-section and a continuous longitudinal slot 4 in a transverse centre of a side of the C-profile channel 2 referred to herein as the upper side 5 and a series of circular anchor holes 6, spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the C-profile channel 2, in a transverse centre of a side of the C-profile channel 2 located opposite the upper side 5 having the longitudinal slot 4 and referred to herein as the underside 7.

The anchor 3 has an anchor shank 8, which is cylindrical in the exemplary embodiment, having an anchor head 9 at one end. In end view (FIG. 2), the anchor head 9 has an elongate shape with two mutually parallel longitudinal sides 10 and arcuately curved transverse sides 11. The anchor head 9 is longer and narrower than the longitudinal slot 4 in the upper side 5 of the C-profile channel 2 is wide, so that the anchor head 9 when aligned in the longitudinal direction of the C-profile channel 2 can be introduced into the C-profile channel 2 through the longitudinal slot 4. An underside 12 of the anchor head 9 facing towards the anchor shank 8 is frustoconical in the exemplary embodiment, for which reason the anchor head 9 can also be thought of as a countersink head.

Spaced apart from the anchor head 9 by a distance corresponding to a thickness of the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 at a hole rim of the anchor hole 6, the anchor 3 has knurling 13 on its anchor shank 8, which knurling can generally also be thought of as a counter-bearing 14 protruding on a circumference of the anchor shank 9. The knurling 13 can be parallel knurling, left-hand or right-hand knurling, cross-knurling and basically as desired. A counter-bearing 14 other than knurling that protrudes on the circumference of the anchor shank 9 is also possible (not shown). The knurling 13 is the location of the maximum diameter of the anchor shank 9. Since the cross-section in this region is not circular, the “diameter” here means the diameter of a circle circumscribing the knurling 13. That diameter is larger than the diameter of the remainder of the anchor shank 8.

The anchor 3 has been or is inserted through the anchor hole 6 in the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 from the inside, so that the anchor shank 8 projects outwards from the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 having the anchor hole 6 and the anchor head 9 is located in the C-profile channel 2. Preferably the anchor head 9 bears internally against the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2. “From the inside” means that the anchor 3 is passed, anchor shank 8 first, through the longitudinal slot 4 in the upper side 5 of the C-profile channel 2 and through the anchor hole 6 in the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 until the anchor head 9 is located in the C-profile channel 2 and, as described, preferably bears internally against the underside 7 thereof and the anchor shank 8 projects outwards from the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2.

Prior to the insertion of the anchor shank 8, a diameter of the anchor hole 6 is smaller than a diameter of the anchor shank 8 between the anchor head 9 and the knurling 13, the anchor shank 8 in the exemplary embodiment having the same diameter on both sides of the knurling 13. During insertion, the anchor shank 8 widens the anchor hole 6, the hole rim of the anchor hole 6 slightly narrowing again resiliently once the knurling 13 has passed, so that the hole rim of the anchor hole 6 of the C-profile channel 2 has a clamped fit on the anchor shank 8. In addition, the anchor head 9 holds the anchor shank 8 in an axial direction thereof and the knurling 13 forming the counter-bearing 14 holds the anchor shank 8 in an opposite axial direction in the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 by interlocking engagement. The hole rim of the anchor hole 6 of the C-profile channel 2 engages between the anchor head 9 and the knurling 13 of the anchor 3.

As FIG. 3 shows, the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 of the anchor channel 1 according to the invention is originally, that is to say prior to the insertion of the anchor shank 8, flat. The anchor hole(s) 6 are, for example, drilled or, as shown in FIG. 4, punched with a punch 15 which can be, for example, cylindrical or, in the exemplary embodiment, conical. Prior to the insertion of the anchor shank 8, the anchor hole 6 has approximately 0.7 times the diameter of the anchor shank 8 outside the knurling 13.

At a larger-diameter end, the punch 15 has a frustoconical annular shoulder as deforming shoulder 16 which is pushed through the longitudinal slot 4 of the C-profile channel 2 against the inner side of the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2, so that an outwardly projecting, hollow-frustoconical protrusion 17 that surrounds the anchor hole 6 is formed on the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 (FIG. 5). For punching the anchor hole 6 and forming the protrusion 17, the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 is supported on a die 18 having a hole 19 for passage of the punch 15 and a frustoconical depression 20 for the protrusion 17 of the C-profile channel 2. Although forming the protrusion 17 widens the anchor hole 6, the anchor hole 6 is originally sufficiently narrow that, even after the protrusion 17 has been formed, its diameter is still smaller than the diameter of the anchor shank 8 outside the knurling 13, so that the anchor shank 8 widens the anchor hole 6 during insertion and holds the C-profile channel 2 clamped on the anchor shank 8.

As described hereinabove, the anchor shank 8 of the anchor 3 is passed through the anchor hole 6 of the C-profile channel 2 of the anchor channel 1 according to the invention from the inside, so that the anchor shank 8 projects outwards from the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 and on the inner side of the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 the frustoconical underside 12 of the anchor head 9 bears against or lies inside the protrusion 17 that surrounds the anchor hole 6, as shown in cross-section in FIG. 1 and in longitudinal section in FIG. 6.

After the insertion of the anchor shank 8 through the anchor hole 6 of the C-profile channel 2, an anchor foot 21, 22 is provided on an end of the anchor shank 8 remote from the anchor head 9 and the C-profile channel 2. The anchor head 9 can be formed integrally with the anchor shank 8, for example by upsetting of the anchor shank 8, or can be welded or screwed to the anchor shank 8. FIG. 7 shows a frustoconical anchor foot 21 formed on the anchor shank 8 by upsetting, and FIG. 8 shows a nut as anchor foot 22 which has been or is screwed onto a thread 23 of the anchor shank 8. The anchor foot 21, 22 can have a different shape from that shown and described and/or can be provided on the anchor shank 8 in a different way from that described. The cross-section of the anchor 3 is made wider by the anchor foot 21, 22 so that the anchor is able to find good purchase in the concrete.

In the case of the anchor channel 1 according to the invention shown in cross-section in FIG. 9, the protrusion 17 is not formed prior to the insertion of the anchor shank 8 but is formed by the underside 12 of the anchor head 9 at the end of the insertion of the anchor shank 8. The anchor hole 6 is made in the flat underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 with a diameter of approximately 0.7 times the diameter of the anchor shank 8 outside the knurling 13 which, during insertion, widens the anchor hole 6 so that the C-profile channel 2 is seated clamped on the anchor shank 8. In FIG. 9, as in FIG. 1, the hole rim of the anchor hole 6 also engages between the knurling 13 forming the counter-bearing 14 and the anchor head 9, is held clamped on the anchor shank 8 and is additionally held by the anchor head 9 and the knurling 13 by interlocking engagement. At the end of the insertion of the anchor shank 8 through the anchor hole 6 of the C-profile channel 2, the anchor head 9 is pulled and/or pressed by its underside 12 against the inner side of the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2 and in so doing forms the outwardly projecting protrusion 17 on the underside 7 of the C-profile channel 2.

For insertion through the anchor hole 6, the anchor shank 8 of the exemplary embodiment from FIG. 9 is frustoconical at its end remote from the anchor head 9, whereas the anchor shank 8 in FIG. 1 has a chamfer at the end remote from the anchor head 9 and the C-profile channel 2, on which end the anchor foot 21, 22 is then provided.

It is intended that the anchor channel 1 be concreted into, for example, a concrete ceiling (not shown) so that the upper side 5 of the C-profile channel 2 having the longitudinal slot 4 is flush with a surface of the concrete. The anchor(s) 3 arranged along the C-profile channel 2 at intervals in the longitudinal direction are likewise concreted into the ceiling and, by means of their anchor feet 21, 22, hold the C-profile channel 2, or the anchor channel 1 as a whole, in the base. Using, for example, hammerhead screws, articles, such as, for example, a façade substructure, can be attached to the anchor channel 1 and accordingly to the concrete ceiling (not shown). For that purpose, hammerheads of the hammerhead screws (not shown) are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the C-profile channel 2, introduced through the longitudinal slot 4 in the upper side 5 of the C-profile channel 2 and, by rotation through 90° or possibly even less, brought into engagement behind the upper side 5 of the C-profile channel laterally of the longitudinal slot 4.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

Anchor Channel and Method for Producing an Anchor Channel

1 anchor channel

2 C-profile channel

3 anchor

4 longitudinal slot

5 upper side

6 anchor hole

7 underside of the C-profile channel 2

8 anchor shank

9 anchor head

10 longitudinal side

11 transverse side

12 underside of the anchor head 9

13 knurling

14 counter-bearing

15 punch

16 deforming shoulder

17 protrusion

18 die

19 hole

20 depression

21 upset anchor foot

22 nut of the anchor foot

23 thread

Claims

1. An anchor channel having a C-profile channel, which has an anchor hole, and having an anchor, which has an anchor head and an anchor shank and which has been inserted through the anchor hole from the inside, so that the anchor head is located in the C-profile channel and the anchor shank projects outwards from the C-profile channel, wherein the anchor shank has knurling spaced apart from the anchor head; a cross-section of the anchor shank is the same on both sides of the knurling; and a hole rim of the anchor hole engages between the anchor head and the knurling.

2. The anchor channel according to claim 1, wherein the hole rim of the anchor hole is seated clamped on the anchor shank between the anchor head and the knurling.

3. The anchor channel according to claim 1, wherein the anchor has a countersink head as anchor head; the C-profile channel has an outwardly projecting protrusion that surrounds the anchor hole; and on an inner side of the C-profile channel the anchor head lies inside the outwardly projecting protrusion of the C-profile channel that surrounds the anchor hole.

4. The anchor channel according to claim 1, wherein the C-profile channel has a slot in an upper side located opposite the anchor hole; and the anchor head is narrower and longer than the slot is wide.

5. A method for producing an anchor channel having a C-profile channel, which has an anchor hole, and having an anchor, which has an anchor head and an anchor shank and which is inserted through the anchor hole from the inside, so that the anchor head is located in the C-profile channel and the anchor shank projects outwards from the C-profile channel (2), wherein during insertion of the anchor shank the anchor hole is widened by means of the anchor shank.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the anchor has on the anchor shank, spaced apart from the anchor head, a counter-bearing that protrudes beyond a circumference of the anchor shank, which counter-bearing overlaps a hole rim of the anchor hole on an outer side of the C-profile channel.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the counter-bearing is in the form of knurling; and the hole rim of the anchor hole engages between the anchor head and the knurling.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein prior to the insertion of the anchor shank the diameter of the anchor hole is smaller than the diameter of the anchor shank between the anchor head and the counter-bearing, so that the inserted anchor shank widens the anchor hole and is held clamped in the anchor hole.

9. The method according to claim 5, wherein the anchor hole is circular and the anchor shank has a circular cross-section; and prior to the insertion of the anchor shank through the anchor hole the anchor hole has a smaller diameter than the anchor shank.

10. The method for producing an anchor channel according to claim 5, wherein the C-profile channel has an outwardly projecting protrusion that surrounds the anchor hole, which protrusion is produced prior to the insertion of the anchor shank through the anchor hole, and the anchor shank is then inserted through the anchor hole of the C-profile channel from the inside.

11. The method for producing an anchor channel according to claim 5, wherein the anchor shank is inserted through the anchor hole of the C-profile channel from the inside, so that the anchor head is located in the C-profile channel; and, at the end of the insertion of the anchor shank through the anchor hole in the C-profile channel, an underside of the anchor head is pressed against the C-profile channel from the inside with sufficient force that the underside of the anchor head forms an outwardly projecting protrusion of the C-profile channel that surrounds the anchor hole.