AU2003200539B2

AU2003200539B2 - Protective cover for concrete reinforcing bar

Info

Publication number: AU2003200539B2
Application number: AU2003200539A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Mark Anthony Connolly; Paul Francis Connolly
Original assignee: Connolly Key Joint Pty Ltd
Current assignee: Connolly Key Joint Pty Ltd
Priority date: 2002-02-18
Filing date: 2003-02-17
Publication date: 2007-10-25
Anticipated expiration: 2023-02-17
Also published as: AU2003200539A1

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: "PROTECTIVE COVER FOR CONCRETE REINFORCING BAR" The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 2 THIS INVENTION relates to a protective cover for a concrete reinforcing bar.

The invention is particularly directed to safety caps or protective covers, used during building construction for placement over the projecting ends of steel reinforcing bars during the erection of steel reinforced concrete building structures. The term "protective cover" will be used hereafter to also include safety caps.

Typically, concrete structures incorporate steel reinforcing bars, oriented in both horizontal and vertical directions, which are placed in concrete forms prior to pouring the concrete. During construction, the steel reinforcing bars pose a safety hazard for the construction workers, as they are liable to stabbed or gouged by the exposed ends of the reinforcing bars. Even more dangerously, construction workers working at higher levels, eg., workers on scaffolding, may fall and be impaled on top of vertically rising reinforcing bars.

Occupational health and safety authorities have now specified that the exposed ends of the reinforcing bars must be provided with safety caps or protective covers to minimise the likelihood of injury or impalement.

Various types of protective covers have been proposed and are presently available in the market place. While these protective covers have resulted in reduced injury or impalement, they all have a major defect, particularly in protecting workers falling onto the protective covers.

0 The existing protective covers have no provision for reducing or S"softening" the force of impact between the workers' body or limbs with the protective caps, often resulting in broken bones and/or internal injuries.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a protective

O

Scover for concrete reinforcing bars which is designed to reduce the impact force(s) on a worker's body when coming into contact with the covers.

NIt is a preferred object of the present invention to provide such a protective cover which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and is easy to install.

It is a further preferred object of the present invention to provide a protective cover which may incorporate internal reinforcing to increase the strength of the cover.

Other preferred objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

In a broad aspect, the present invention resides in a protective cover for a concrete reinforcing bar, including: an elongated cylindrical collar for securing the protective cover to an exposed end of a concrete reinforcing bar; an integral cap which is arranged substantially perpendicularly to the elongated cylindrical collar; and at or adjacent an inner end of the cylindrical collar, compressible and/or deformable materials and/or formations are engageable with an exposed end of the reinforcing bar and are operable to be compressed and/or deformed when the cover is engaged by a worker's body so to at least partially absorb the impact force(s) of the worker's body on the protective cover, the compressible and/or deformable materials and/or formations may be formed integrally with the collar and cap and spaced from the open mouth of the collar adapted to receive the exposed end of the reinforcing bar; a reinforcing plate or member is provided in or on the cap to increase the mechanical strength of the cap; and a plurality of radially-extending external flanges or stiffening ribs interconnect the collar and the cap to provide reinforcement for the cap.

In one preferred embodiment, the deformable materials or formations incorporate a plurality of spaced disc-like members formed integrally with the collar or insert(s) and adapted to be progressively ruptured or deformed when an impact force is applied to the cap.

In a second preferred embodiment, the deformable materials and/or formations incorporate a plurality of compressible and/or deformable fingers or pins extending from the inner end of the cap and insert(s) lie substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the collar.

In a third preferred embodiment, the compressible material and/or formation includes block(s) or insert(s) of compressible material provided at the inner end of the collar or insert(s).

In a fourth preferred embodiment, the compressible material and formation is provided by a plurality of holes in, or extending through, a deformable plug or block formed integrally with the collar or insert(s) at the inner end of the collar or insert(s).

Preferably, the collar (or insert(s)) has a plurality of internal flexible or deformable fingers or flanges (which are preferably not radially directed) to releasably secure the exposed end of the reinforcing bar in the collar.

Preferably, the cap is circular or square in plan view, but may be of any other suitable shape, eg., hexagonal, octagonal or the like with no sharp corners or edges.

Preferably, the collar and the cap are moulded integrally of plastics material(s), which may incorporate reinforcing materials, including sheet steel tubes or plates, metal reinforcing fibres, plastics reinforcing fibres or the like.

To enable the invention to be fully understood, preferred embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional side view of a first embodiment of the protective cover taken on line 1-1 on FIG. 2; FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the protective cover of the first embodiment; FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional side view of a second embodiment of the protective cover; FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional side view of a third embodiment of the protective cover taken on line 4-4 on FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the third embodiment; FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional side view of the fourth embodiment of the protective cover; and FIG. 7 is an (exploded) perspective view showing a reinforcing plate within the cap.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the first embodiment of the protective cover 10 has a cylindrical collar 11 formed by a steel tube 12 with a plastic inner liner 13 and a plastic outer liner 14.

A plurality of radially-extending stiffening ribs or flanges interconnect the cylindrical collar 11 to the underside of a substantially circular cap 16 which is strengthened by a steel plate 17 secured by fixing lugs 18.

The plastic portions of the collar 11, stiffening ribs 15 and caps 16 are preferably integrally-moulded of a suitable plastics material, eg., polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, ABS and the plastics material may incorporate steel or plastics reinforcing fibres.

A deformable formation 20 is formed by a plurality of spaced, substantially circular, crumple layers 20a-20d formed integrally with the inner liner 13 of the collar 11 adjacent the inner end of the collar.

When the protective cover 10 is fitted to the exposed end of a steel reinforcing bar (not shown), and an impact force is applied to the cap 16, eg., in the direction of arrow S, the crumple layers 20b, 20c, 20d will be progressively ruptured (and deformed) by the end of the reinforcing bar as the cap 16 moves towards the end of the reinforcing bar. The energy required to rupture the crumple layers d and the movement of the cap 16 towards the end of the steel reinforcing bar, reduces the peak impact force applied to the worker's body by the cap 16 to reduce, or minimise, the likelihood of broken bones and/or internal injuries sustained by the worker falling on the protective cover Referring to FIG. 3, the protective cover 110 has the cylindrical collar 111, stiffening ribs 115 and cap 116 integrally moulded of plastics material, the cap 116 being provided with a reinforcing steel plate 117 as hereinbefore described.

The deformable formation 120 is provided by a plurality of spaced fingers or rods 120a-d extending from the inner end of the collar 11 and lying substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the collar.

When an impact force F is applied to the cap 116, the fingers or rods 120a-d will be compressed and/or deformed as the cap 116 moves towards the end of the reinforcing bar to minimise the peak impact force applied by the protective cap 110 to the worker's body.

Referring to the third embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 5, the 8 construction of the collar 211, strengthening ribs 215 and cap216d, the protective cover 210 is substantially identical to the construction of the protective cover 10 of the first embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. However, a block or plug of compressible materials 220 is provided at the inner end of the collar 211 to provide the means to at least partially absorb the impact force F and, thereby, reduce the peak force applied to the construction worker's body.

Referring to the fourth embodiment of FIG. 6, the protective cover 310 has a collar 311, stiffening ribs 315 and cap 316 integrally formed of suitable plastics material and the top surface 316a of the cap 316 may be curved convex/concave) as shown in dashed lines or planar as illustrated in solid lines.

The compressible/deformable formation 320 is formed by a plurality of holes 321 extending through, or terminating in, a block 322 formed integrally with, and interconnecting, the inner end 323 of the collar 311 to the cap 316. When the exposed end 331 of the steel reinforcing rod 330 engages the inner end 323 of the collar 311 and is urged towards the cap 316 by the impact force F, the compression/ deformation of the block 320 will operate to reduce the peak impact force applied to the worker's body.

Flexible internal flanges 324 in the collar 311 (which preferably extend non-radially from the inner wall 325 of the collar) assist in releasably securing the protective cover 310 to the end 331 of the steel reinforcing rod 330. The flanges 324 enable the protective cap 310 to be releasably secured to the steel reinforcing rods 330 having a range of external diameters D D 16-25mm).

As shown in FIG. 7, a steel plate 417 can be received within the cap 416 of the protective cover 410 (via slot 419) to increase the strength of the cap 41 6.

While the deformable/compressible formations have been described/illustrated as being provided integral with the collars 12, 112, 212, 312, they can be incorporated in inserts fitted into the collars of known protective covers to increase the effectiveness thereof.

It will be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that two or more alternative types of deformable/compressible formations may be incorporated in the collars/insert(s).

It will also be readily apparent to the skilled addressee that the arrangement and construction of the protective covers 10, 110, 210, 310, 410 of the present invention, by absorbing at least a portion of the impact force F on the protective covers by the worker's body, will reduce the peak impact force on the worker's body and thereby reduce, or at least minimise, the likelihood/extent of broken bones and/or internal injuries.

Various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described and illustrated without departing from the present invention.

Claims

1. A protective cover for a concrete reinforcing bar, including: an elongated cylindrical collar for securing the protective cover to an exposed end of a concrete reinforcing bar; an integral cap which is arranged substantially perpendicularly to the elongated cylindrical collar; and at or adjacent an inner end of the cylindrical collar, compressible and/or deformable materials and/or formations are engageable with an exposed end of the reinforcing bar and are operable to be compressed and/or deformed when the cover is engaged by a worker's body so to at least partially absorb the impact force(s) of the worker's body on the protective cover, wherein: the compressible and/or deformable materials and/or formations are formed integrally with the collar and cap and spaced from the open mouth of the collar adapted to receive the exposed end of the reinforcing bar; a reinforcing plate or member is provided in or on the cap to increase the mechanical strength of the cap; and a plurality of radially-extending flanges or stiffening ribs interconnect the collar and the cap to provide reinforcement for the cap.

2. A protective cover as claimed in Claim 1 wherein: the deformable materials or formations incorporate a plurality of spaced disc-like members formed integrally with the collar or insert(s) and are adapted to be progressively ruptured or deformed when an impact force is applied to the cap.

3. A protective cover as claimed in Claim 1 wherein: the deformable materials and/or formations incorporate a plurality of e( a compressible and/or deformable fingers or pins extending from the inner end of the cap or insert(s) and lie substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the collar.

4. A protective cover as claimed in Claim 1 wherein: the compressible material and/or formation includes block(s) or insert(s) of (Ni compressible material provided at the inner end of the collar or insert(s). A protective cover as claimed in Claim 1 wherein: the compressible material and formation is provided by a plurality of holes, in or extending through, a deformable plug or block formed integrally with the collar or insert(s) at the inner end of the collar or insert(s).

6. A protective cover as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to wherein: the collar has a plurality of internal flexible or deformable fingers or flanges, not radially directed, to releasably secure the exposed end of the reinforcing bar in the collar.

7. A protective cover as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein: the cap is circular or square, hexagonal, octagonal or the like in plan view with no sharp corners or edges.

8. A protective cover as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 7 wherein: the collar and the cap are moulded integrally of plastics material(s), which optionally incorporate reinforcing materials, including sheet steel tubes or plates, metal reinforcing fibres, plastics reinforcing fibres or the like. 12

9. A protective cover as claimed in Claim 1, having two or more of the compressible and/or deformable materials and/or formations as claimed in Claims 2 to 6. A protective cover for a concrete reinforcing bar, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2; or FIG. 3 or FIGS. 4 and 5; or FIG. 6; of the accompanying drawings.