AU719750B2

AU719750B2 - Flooring system with adjustable stump fittings

Info

Publication number: AU719750B2
Application number: AU70420/96A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Hayden Miles Dagg
Original assignee: Tubemakers of Australia Ltd
Current assignee: Infrabuild Trading Pty Ltd
Priority date: 1995-10-27
Filing date: 1996-10-25
Publication date: 2000-05-18
Anticipated expiration: 2016-10-25
Also published as: AU7042096A

Description

t -1- P/O0/0 11 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: Flooring System with Adjustable Stump Fittings r The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: GH REF: P23251Y/JDF:RS -2 FLOORING SYSTEM WITH ADJUSTABLE STUMP FITTINGS The present invention relates to a flooring system with adjustable stump or pier fittings for erecting building structures such as domestic houses.

In the construction of single or multi-storey housing buildings, it is common practice in Australia and New Zealand to provide, between the ground surface on which a building is erected and the flooring of the building, a crawl space which in turn provides adequate ventilation below the floor area (and thus avoids rotting of the flooring) and insulation from the ground. The foundations of such buildings regularly incorporate brick work stumps or piers, or suitably treated wooden posts or steel beams which then provide support for the bearer and joist beams (arranged in known grid-like arrangements and onto which the floor boards or plates are secured to provide the flooring of the building).

The height of individual foundation stumps or piers often vary considerably, depending on the terrain topography on which the building is to be erected, and is chosen such that the bearer/joist flooring grid extends in a substantially horizontal plane or, in case of terraced flooring arrangements, in respective horizontal planes.

It also has been common practice to provide underpinning or/and additional packing between the upper, load bearing surface on the foundation stumps and the bearer beams of the flooring to compensate for any change in terrain topography after the building has been 30 erected. These changes may occur as a result of strata movement and be very small and may take place over a :number of years, with the result that such packing/underpinning need only be performed once or twice over the life of a building. Thus, the costs associated with under pinning or packing may be amortised. In other instances, however, the interaction of specific soil/strata make-up and extreme variations in climatic conditions loamy soils subjected to heavy rain S:23251Y/419 3 after long dry periods), soil erosion and shifts in strata layers can lead to the foundation stumps of a building erected over such soil types to sag or shift, in a nonuniform manner. Consequently, underpinning or packing operations will be required frequently in order to avoid localised failures in the supported flooring which adversely affect the integrity of the building structure and may lead to cracks in supporting walls and roof ceilings of the building, and the flooring of the building itself.

The present invention seeks to ameliorate, if not completely overcome, the problems associated with such conventional flooring systems.

The present invention provides an adjustable height pier for use in erecting flooring foundations for a building that is supported by a plurality of such piers a predetermined distance above the ground, the pier comprising a pillar-like base member adapted to be placed on or in the ground over which the building is to be 20 erected, a support member adapted for supporting a load ,bearing element of a flooring structure of the building, and adjusting means engaged with the base and support S"members and adapted to vary the relative spatial position of the support member with respect to the base member and 25 to fix the spatial relationship between the base and support members, the base member comprising a hollow post, the support member comprising a rod having one end configured to support the load bearing element of the flooring structure and an other threaded end 30 telescopically inserted within the upper end of the hollow post, and the adjusting means comprising a cap engageable with the upper end of the hollow post and a nut threadably engaged with the rod and arranged to bear against the cap, the axis of the nut and the rod being substantially aligned with the axis of the post and the nut including a hollow shaft portion which is adapted to pass rotatably through an opening in the cap, and wherein retention means 3A are provided on the shaft portion which coact with the cap to inhibit axial movement of both the nut and the rod relative to the cap whilst allowing rotation of the nut relative to the cap, whereby in use the cap may be engaged with the upper end of the post and the nut engaged with the threaded end of the rod to provide a pier adjustable in height by rotating the nut relative to the cap and the rod causing the threaded portion of the rod to move axially through the nut.

The support members may be adapted to be firmly attached or fixed to bearers (or joists) of the flooring framework to allow the adjustable height piers to bear upward directed loads to which the flooring framework may be subjected in cyclones, strong winds, ground upheaval etc).

In another aspect, the invention provides a flooring assembly for a building incorporating a plurality of the adjustable height piers of the invention.

*In a further aspect the invention provides adjusting 20 means of an adjustable height building pier for use in o erecting flooring foundations for a building that is supported by a plurality of such piers a predetermined S"distance above the ground, said adjusting means comprising a cap being adapted to engage an upper end of a hollow post, and a nut being adapted to threadably engage a rod and bear against the cap member, the rod being adapted to support a load bearing element of a flooring structure of the building and the post being adapted to be placed on or the ground, the axis of the nut and the rod being 30 substantially aligned with the axis of the post and the nut including a hollow shaft portion which is adapted to pass rotatably through an opening in the cap, and wherein retention means are provided on the shaft portion which coact with the cap to inhibit axial movement of both the nut and the rod relative to the cap whilst allowing rotation of the nut relative to the cap, whereby in use 4 the cap may be engaged with the upper end of the post and the nut engaged with the threaded end of the rod to provide a pier adjustable in height by rotating the nut relative to the cap and the rod causing the threaded portion of the rod to move axially through the nut.

With the above described flooring system and adjustable height pier it is possible to individually adjust the height of the support members in relation to the respective base members, thus allowing for adjusted levelling-off of the entire flooring structure or part thereof. It is also envisaged that the adjusting means co-acting with the base and support members allow for limited positional adjustment within the plane in which the support member carries the load bearing element of the flooring structure. Accordingly, vertical and horizontal adjustment of individual support members with respect to their respective base members is possible to compensate for any localised shifting within the ground over which the building has been erected. These arrangements also 20 enable positional adjustment during erection of the building.

The flooring structure may comprise bearers and joists which may advantageously be steel beams of hollow rectangular cross-section, wherein discrete lengths of 25 beams provide simple span bearers and joists, which are 00.0 connectable using inside or outside joiners and braces to provide for continuous span bearer or joists.

Advantageously, the adjustable height piers are ****adapted, when placed, with the bearer-joist grid work 30 mounted thereonto, to carry compressive loads (i.e.

vertical loads due to the weight of structures erected over the flooring) as well as tensile loads tending to lift the bearer-joist grid framework from the support members to which they are securely attached reaction loads in response to high winds loads exerted on the building structure as a whole).

The retention means may be provided in form of a separate retention ring circlip) received in an external annular groove of the shaft portion, the nut head and retention ring co-operating with the surface areas surrounding the opening in the cap plate (or interposed washers) to maintain the joiner nut coupled to the cap plate. Alternatively, the terminal end of the shaft portion of the joiner nut may be swaged to provide a flange-like lower end of the joiner nut which prevents removal thereof once inserted through the cap plate opening of the base member. The joiner nut may be provided with a flange-like head section, either integrally formed therewith or by welding a washer to the lower terminal end of the head from which the shaft portion extends.

Notwithstanding any other forms that may fall within its scope, the invention will be more fully appreciated from the ensuing description of preferred embodiments of a 20 flooring system and an adjustable height pier which are gee C C 6 given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a flooring system in accordance with the present invention, Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of a pier in accordance with the present invention showing a pier brick tie for securing a brick wall to the stump fitting, Fig. 3 shows a front elevation of the pier illustrated in Figs 1 and 2, Fig. 4 shows a side elevation, partly sectioned, of the pier of Fig. 3, Fig. 5a and 5b show a top plan and side elevation, respectively, of a cap member as used in the pier of Figs 3 and 4, and Fig. 6 shows a side elevation, partly sectioned, of the adjusting joiner nut illustrated in Figs 3 and 4.

Referring first to Fig. 1, there is illustrated a so-called sub-floor assembly or flooring system 1 used in the erection of buildings such as single or double storey 20 houses. The flooring system comprises a plurality of bearer and joist steel beams 2 and 3 of hollow rectangular cross-section arranged in a known e• conventional bearer-joist grid configuration, and a plurality of piers or stump fittings 5 arranged with predetermined distance from one another to support the load bearing bearer-joist framework at discrete locations S"such that it is held substantially in a horizontal plane and with distance over the ground over which the building is to be erected. The basic considerations as to spacing of joists and bearers, the cross-sectional dimensions and wall thicknesses and other structural aspects can be established from the art and will not be referred to in detail.

The bearers and joists 2 and 3 are bolted to one another at the respective grid intersections using, for example, L-shaped brackets 6 or joist hangers and bolts or screws 6a, commonly used in steel constructions to form a substantially rigid load bearing grid framework.

S:23251Y/419 7 As can be seen from Fig. 1, the terminal ends of the bearers and joists may be provided with suitably shaped end caps 8. While it is preferable to use single length beams, longer bearers and joists can comprise one or more discrete beam sections lengthwise abutingly joined by means of suitably shaped internal joining pieces or external braces bolted to the adjoining section ends as can be gleaned at 9. It is also understood, that the bearer-joist load bearing framework may incorporate an angled and/or stepped joist and bearer arrangement and need not consist of orthogonally disposed beams.

A building super-structure comprising vertical pillars or bearers, internal walls, lintels, roofing pillars and roofing structures, floor boards and plates and the like can be erected/connected to the load bearing bearer-joist structure and thus, the weight load of the super-structure and environmental loads to which the super-structure is subjected, i.e. wind loads, have to be directed through the joists and bearers securely into the stump fittings 5 and from there into the ground. As can oe be seen for example in Fig. 2, building structures which are not erected directly over the bearer-joist flooring, such as is the case in brick-veneer constructions, can be eS* .9 accommodated where an outside brick facade is erected directly on the ground 12. Such building structures are preferably fixed or braced either to other super- S"structures members, the bearer-joist framework or the pier fittings. In the latter case, a pier-brick tie 7 consisting of a galvanised metal sheet or stainless steel 30 U-shaped brace with corrugated coupling straps can be used. The coupling straps are embedded in the brickwork of the facade and the tie brace is appropriately fastened to the pier or stump fitting 5. Further, as can be seen in Fig. i, it is desirable to use suitably shaped crossbraces 6 fastened to adjacently positioned stump fittings to provide further stability and structural rigidity of the assembled flooring system 1.

S:23251Y/419 -8- Figs 3 and 4 show in more detail an adjustable height pier or stump fitting 5 in a preferred embodiment in accordance with the invention.

The pier 5 comprises a base member 51 having a rectangular base plate 52 to which are welded, (as indicated by reference numeral 67 in a central zone thereof), two L-shaped angles 53. The legs of the angles extend perpendicularly to the base plate 52 and are disposed in a rectangular arrangement to one another. A hollow rectangular steel post 55 is inserted over the L-shaped angles 53 to sit with its lower terminal peripheral edge on the base plate 52, the post 55 being securely fixed to each leg of the angles 53 by means of screws, rivets or bolts 66. As can be best seen in Figs 1 and 3, the base plate has two holes 54 arranged on opposite sides of the post 55 and which serve to receive non-illustrated bolts or pins by means of which the base member 51 is securely placed on the ground. As is evident, the ground on which the base member 51 is to be nn S20 placed has to be prepared such that the longitudinal axis .6cc of the post 55 is plumb when the base member 51 is securely placed.

The base member 51 further includes cap 56 closing the upper open terminal end of the post 55. As can be S 25 best seen in Figs 5a and 5b, the cap 56 consists of a square cap plate 57 having a central circular opening 59 o S"therethrough and two L-shaped angles 58 welded thereonto.

The L-shaped angles 58 are arranged with respect to one another and fastened to the cap plate 57 in a manner similar to that described with reference to the base plate and angles 52, 53. As is the case with the base plate angles 53, the L-shaped angles 58 of the cap 56 are spaced and arranged with respect to one another such that they contact with their outer-peripheral surfaces the inside surface of the post 55 once received therein. The upper-terminal peripheral edge of the post 55 abuts against the bottom surface of the cap plate 57 which provides an abutment flange. The cap 56 is, here again, S:23251Y/419 9 fastened to the post 55 using suitable screws or bolts 66 on each of the faces of the post The pier fitting 5 further comprises a support member 62 which includes a U-shaped bracket 64, the cross-section of which is dimensioned and adapted to accommodate, preferably with a snug fit, the crosssection of the bearers 2 of the bearer-joist flooring grid as can be seen in Figs 1 and 4. Alternatively an Lshaped bracket (not shown) could be used.

The bracket 64 of the support member 62 of each pier fitting 5 is fixed, in the assembled state of the flooring system, to the respective bearer 2 it supports such as to not only allow for downward vertical loads to be passed into the base member 51 via the support member 62 but also react to upwardly directed vertical loads to which the bearer 2 may be subjected. One or more bolts or screws 66, depending on load requirements, are used on each of the oppositely arranged legs of the o U-shaped bracket 64 to fixedly position and fasten the 20 bearer 2 in a load bearing manner within the bracket 64.

The support member 62 further includes an externally threaded round rod 63 which is welded with its upperterminal end onto the lower surface of the web extending between the facing legs of the bracket 64. The threaded 25 rod 63 extends substantially perpendicularly to the web S• and is received in a joiner nut 60 mounted on the cap 56 of the base member 51 as described below.

The joiner nut 60 is fastened onto the base member 51 such that it can rotate but is otherwise fixed against movement in a vertical direction or radially with respect to the axis of rotation of the nut. The joiner nut has a hollow shaft portion 60b extending from the head portion 60a. Shaft 60b has an outer diameter that permits insertion thereof with clearance fit through the hole 59 of the cap plate 57. A washer 61a is arranged between the nut head 60a and the upper surface of the cap plate 57. The lower terminal end 60c of the shaft S:23251Y/419 10 portion 60b is, once received in the hole 59 and after placing a further washer 61b thereonto, plastically deformed swaged) to permanently inhibit removal of the joiner nut 60 from the base member 51 but to maintain rotational freedom of movement thereof. As can be easily appreciated, (but not separately illustrated), it is also possible to provide a removable retention means, for example a locking ring received within an annular groove on the outside circumferential surface of the shaft portion 60b and which locking ring is located such as to lie against the lower washer 61b. The joiner nut 60 may be provided with a flange-like base section instead of or additional to the upper washer 61a or have the washer 61a welded thereto.

The mechanism provided by the joiner nut 60 and the threaded rod 63 allows for positional height adjustment of the supporting member 62 with respect to the base member 51 when the joiner nut 60 is rotated. The thread ratio of the nut and threaded rod as well as the specific threadshape is chosen as appropriate in the field of building construction; a threadshape is preferred which obviates the need for separate means to inhibit selfrotation of the joiner- nut under loads applied in a direction co-axial to the axis of rotation of the nut.

Otherwise, conventional fixture means such as splines or lock nuts can be provided to prevent rotation of the joiner nut once proper height adjustment of the support member has been performed.

is a particular advantage of the construction described that the adjusting means for the adjustable height pier can be preassembled in a factory or other off-site situation. The cap plate 57 may be fabricated with the downwardly extending flanges 58 and the joiner nut 60 assembled with its attendant washers and swaged in place as previously described. If desired the adjusting means can also be assembled with the support means in the form of threaded rod 63 and the attendant U-shaped S:23251Y/419 11 support bracket 64 and the base portion 52 for the post may also be provided.

In this manner a "kit set" of parts may be taken to the building site for assembly of the adjustable height pier. Once the site is laid out, the posts 55 may be cut to a suitable length from rectangular hollow section steel (which is an easy on-site operation) before being assembled with the caps and bases. Because of the design of the caps and bases the connection to the posts using fastening screws or rivets 66 is once again a simple onsite operation.

In this manner an adjustable height pier can be simply and effectively provided in which the critical components can be assembled off-site in a factory-type situation without requiring a large inventory of different height posts or piers to be kept and provided.

It will also be appreciated that it is possible, in a more elaborate construction which has not been illustrated, to provide for limited positional adjustment of the support member 62 with respect to the base member 51 in a plane perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the joiner nut 60. This can be effected by rotatably mounting the joiner nut 60 on a support plate as has been described above; however, the support plate will then be mounted on to a carriage-like assembly which is mounted on the open upper end of the post 55 and which carriage- S" like assembly is adapted to allow limited movement along two orthogonal axes perpendicular to said axis of rotation of the nut.

30 Suitable materials to manufacture the posts 55 of the pier fittings 5 include a steel section of rectangular cross-section marketed under the tradename DuraGal by Tubemakers of Australia; the L-shaped angles 53 and 58, rectangular base plate 52, square cap plate 57 and the U-shape bracket 64 can be manufactured from conventional building steel materials and properly treated against corrosion.

S:23251Y/419 12 While the invention has been described above with reference to a specific embodiment thereof, no limitation to the specific embodiment is intended.

S

S:23251Y/419

Claims

1. An adjustable height pier for use in erecting flooring foundations for a building that is supported by a plurality of such piers a predetermined distance above the ground, the pier comprising a pillar-like base member adapted to be placed on or in the ground over which the building is to be erected, a support member adapted for supporting a load bearing element of a flooring structure of the building, and adjusting means engaged with the base and support members and adapted to vary the relative spatial position of the support member with respect to the base member and to fix the spatial relationship between the base and support members, the base member comprising a hollow post, the support member comprising a rod having one end configured to support the load bearing element of the flooring structure and an other threaded end o telescopically inserted within the upper end of the hollow "post, and the adjusting means comprising a cap engageable 20 with the upper end of the hollow post and a nut threadably engaged with the rod and arranged to bear against the cap, the axis of the nut and the rod being substantially aligned with the axis of the post and the nut including a hollow shaft portion which is adapted to pass rotatably through an opening in the cap, and wherein retention means are provided on the shaft portion which coact with the cap to inhibit axial movement of both the nut and the rod relative to the cap whilst allowing rotation of the nut relative to the cap, whereby in use the cap may be engaged 30 with the upper end of the post and the nut engaged with the threaded end of the rod to provide a pier adjustable in height by rotating the nut relative to the cap and the rod causing the threaded portion of the rod to move axially through the nut.

2. An adjustable height pier as claimed in claim 1, Twherein the retention means comprises an outwardly swaged distal end of the shaft portion. 14

3. An adjustable height pier as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the cap is engaged with the upper end of the hollow post in a manner adapted to resist both compressive and tensile loads in the pier.

4. An adjustable height pier as claimed in claim 3, wherein the cap is provided with downwardly extending flanges forming a neat fit within the upper end of the posts and wherein fasteners such as screws or rivets are secured through a wall of the post and into the downwardly extending flanges of the cap.

An adjustable height pier as claimed in claim 4, wherein the cap is formed from a substantially rectangular portion of steel plate, the same size as or slightly larger than the external dimensions of the post, and the flanges are formed by welding the ends of short lengths of angle section steel to the underside of the plate.

6. Adjusting means of an adjustable height building pier for use in erecting flooring foundations for a building S"that is supported by a plurality of such piers a predetermined distance above the ground, said adjusting 25 means comprising a cap being adapted to engage an upper end of a hollow post, and a nut being adapted to threadably engage a rod and bear against the cap member, the rod being adapted to support a load bearing element of flooring structure of the building and the post being 30 adapted to be placed on or in the ground, the axis of the nut and the rod being substantially aligned with the axis of the post and the nut including a hollow shaft portion which is adapted to pass rotatably through an opening in the cap, and wherein retention means are provided on the shaft portion which coact with the cap to inhibit axial movement of both the nut and the rod relative to the cap whilst allowing rotation of the nut relative to the cap, whereby in use the cap may be engaged with the upper end 15 of the post and the nut engaged with the threaded end of the rod to provide a pier adjustable in height by rotating the nut relative to the cap and the rod causing the threaded portion of the rod to move axially through the nut.

7. Adjusting means of an adjustable height building pier as claimed in claim 6 wherein the cap is provided with downwardly extending flanges adapted to form a neat fit within an upper end of the hollow post and adapted to be fastened to the hollow post by fasteners such as screws or rivets secured through a wall of the post and into the downwardly extending flanges of the cap.

8. A flooring assembly for a building, incorporating a plurality of adjustable height piers as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 0

9. A flooring assembly for a building substantially as 20 described herein with reference to the accompanying 0000 o0o0 drawings. An adjustable height pier substantially as described Sherein with reference to the accompanying drawings. S025 r 211. Adjusting means of an adjustable height building pier substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 14 t h day of March 2000 TUBEMAKERS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED By Its Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK