JP7762592B2 - Support pipe subsidence prevention device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a subsidence prevention device for support pipes, which are used as supports for agricultural equipment, etc., with their lower ends inserted into the ground and left standing upright.

Conventionally, the support pipes that support agricultural equipment such as vinyl greenhouses and artificial culture media stands for elevated cultivation are inserted at their lower ends into the ground to stand upright. However, on soft ground, the support pipes sink into the ground due to the load after the equipment is constructed, so a dish-shaped anti-subsidence device is fixed to the bottom.
A known example of a subsidence prevention fitting is disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1. This subsidence prevention fitting is made by pressing a metal plate, and has a disk-shaped body with a through-hole in the center, and a raised piece that stands upright around the periphery. A drill screw is screwed diagonally horizontally into this raised piece to secure it to the support pipe.

Kaga Iron Works Co., Ltd. website <http://kaga-tekkousho.co.jp/service.html>, product list, "Subsidence prevention fittings (base plates)", [online], searched on January 31, 2022, internet chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=http%3A%2F%2Fkaga-tekkousho.co.jp%2Fpdf20190523%2F22tinnkabousikanagu.pdf&clen=127969&chunk=true

The above-mentioned conventional anti-subsidence fittings are attached by penetrating the support pole before inserting it into the ground during installation of the equipment. Therefore, if the support pole subsides after installation and an anti-subsidence fitting is to be attached later to stop the subsidence, the support pole must be pulled out.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a subsidence prevention device that can be easily attached to a support pole after the installation of the equipment.

In the following description, reference will be made to the reference numerals in the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the subsidence prevention device 1 of the present invention comprises a disk-shaped ground plate portion 2 having a horizontal bottom surface 2a that abuts against the ground, a cylindrical support tube portion 3 that rises from the center of the ground plate portion 2 and through which a support pipe P is inserted, and a pair of ribs 4 that connect the support tube portion 3 to the ground plate portion 2 and are provided on radially opposing portions of the support tube portion 3, and is composed of a pair of identical, connectable and separable synthetic resin first and second components 11, 12. The first and second components 11, 12 have a shape obtained by dividing the ground plate portion 2, support tube portion 3, and rib 4 into two at the center of the thickness of the rib 4 along a plane perpendicular to the horizontal bottom surface 2a, and comprise a semidisc-shaped ground plate forming portion 21 having joining planes 21a, 31a, 41a that abut against each other when connected, a semicylindrical support tube forming portion 31, and a pair of rib forming portions 41. The joining surface 21a of the ground plate forming portion 21 in the first component 11 is provided with a fitting protrusion 21b and a snap-engagement claw 21c on one half surface, and with a fitting recess 21d and a snap-engagement recess 21e on the other half surface. The joining surface 41a of one rib forming portion 41 is provided with a fitting protrusion 41b, and the joining surface 41a of the other rib forming portion 41 is provided with a fitting recess 41c. The support cylinder forming portion 31 is provided with a screw insertion hole 31b perpendicular to the axis. The second component 12 has the same shape as the first component 11 and is configured to be connectable to the first component 11 by butting the respective joining surfaces 21a, 31a, 41a together, engaging the fitting protrusions 21b, 41b with the fitting recesses 21d, 41c, and snap-engaging the engagement claws 21c with the engagement recesses 21e. The support pipe P is held between the support tube forming portions 31 of the first and second constituent bodies 11 and 12 and is fixed to the support pipe P by a drill screw 6 which is screwed into the screw hole 31b.

According to the present invention, the support pipe P is held between the support tube forming portions 31 of the first and second components 11, 12 and fixed to the support pipe P with drill screws 6. This allows the support pipe P to be inserted into the ground and installed, and then easily attached to the support P afterwards. Because the first and second components 11, 12 have the same shape, maintenance is easy. Furthermore, the engagement between the mating protrusions 21b, 41b and the mating recesses 21d, 41c, and the snap engagement between the engaging claws 21c and the engaging recesses 21e ensure a strong connection, and they do not easily deform even when subjected to load.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a subsidence prevention device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the anti-subsidence device structure of FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a front view of the anti-subsidence device structure of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a side view of the anti-subsidence device structure of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the anti-subsidence device structure of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the anti-subsidence device structure of FIG. 1 .

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In FIG. 1, a subsidence prevention device 1 is attached to a support pipe P, the lower part of which is inserted into the ground.

The subsidence prevention device 1 comprises a disk-shaped ground plate 2 with a horizontal bottom surface 2a that contacts the ground, a cylindrical support tube 3 that rises from the center of the ground plate 2 and through which the support pipe P is inserted, and a pair of ribs 4 and multiple other ribs 5 provided on radially opposing portions of the support tube 3 that connect the support tube 3 and the ground plate 2. The subsidence prevention device 1 is fixed to the support pipe P at the support tube 3 with two drill screws 6.

The subsidence prevention device 1 consists of a pair of identical, connectable and separable first and second structural bodies 11, 12 made of synthetic resin.

The first and second components 11, 12 are formed by dividing the ground plate portion 2, support tube portion 3, and rib 4 into two halves along a plane perpendicular to the horizontal bottom surface 2a at the center of the rib's thickness.

As clearly shown in Figures 2 to 6, the first and second components 11, 12 each comprise a semi-disc-shaped ground plate forming portion 21 having joining planes 21a, 31a, 41a that butt together when joined, a semi-cylindrical support tube forming portion 31, a pair of rib forming portions 41, and two other ribs 5.

The joining surface 21a of the ground plate forming portion 21 of the first component 11 has a mating protrusion 21b and a snap engagement claw 21c on one half surface, and a mating recess 21d and a snap engagement recess 21e on the other half surface. The mating protrusion 21b and the mating recess 21d have an uneven shape that allows them to fit tightly together. The snap engagement claw 21c and the snap engagement recess 21e have a female-male shape that allows them to engage with each other. In addition, the ground plate forming portion 21 has an anchor pin insertion hole 21f formed perpendicular to the horizontal bottom surface 2a.

A mating protrusion 41b is provided on the joining plane 41a of one rib forming portion 41, and a mating recess 41c is provided on the joining plane 41a of the other rib forming portion 41. The mating protrusion 41b and the mating recess 41c have concave and convex shapes that allow them to fit tightly together.

The support tube forming portion 31 is provided with a screw insertion hole 31b perpendicular to the axis for inserting the drive screw 6.

The second component 12 has the same shape as the first component 11. The second component 12 is joined to the first component 11 by butting the respective joining planes 21a, 31a, and 41a together, engaging the mating protrusion 21b with the mating recess 21d, and snap-engaging the engagement claw 21c with the engagement recess 21e.

As shown in Figure 1, the subsidence prevention device 1 is fixed to the support pipe P, which is held between the support tube forming portions 31 of the first and second structural bodies 11 and 12, by a drill screw 6 that is screwed into the support pipe P through the threaded hole 31b.

When attaching the subsidence prevention device 1 to a support pipe P whose lower portion has already been inserted into the ground, the first and second components 11, 12 are butted together across an appropriate position on the support pipe P, and the fitting projections 21b, 21d, 41b, and 41c are interlocked, while the snap-engagement claws 21c and snap-engagement recesses 21e are engaged to form the subsidence prevention device 1. The subsidence prevention device 1 is then moved on the support pipe P to the desired fixed position, and the drill screw 6 is threaded into the support pipe P through the screw insertion hole 31b to secure it. By interlocking the fitting projections 21b, 21d, 41b, and 41c, the combined pair of components 11, 12 are firmly integrated without twisting or misalignment.

1 Subsidence prevention device 2 Ground plate portion 21 Ground plate forming portion 21a Joining plane 21b Fitting convex portion 21c Snap engagement claw 21d Fitting recess 21e Snap engagement recess 3 Support cylinder portion 31 Support cylinder forming portion 31a Joining plane 31b Screw insertion hole 4 Rib 41 Rib forming portion 41a Joining plane 41b Fitting convex portion 41c Fitting recess 5 Rib 6 Drill screw

Claims (2)

A subsidence prevention device attached to a support pipe whose lower part is inserted into the ground,
The support structure comprises a disk-shaped ground plate having a horizontal bottom surface that contacts the ground, a cylindrical support tube that rises from the center of the ground plate and through which the support pipe is inserted, and a pair of ribs that connect the support tube and the ground plate and are provided on radially opposing portions of the support tube, the support structure comprising a pair of identical, connectable and separable first and second components made of synthetic resin;
The first and second components each have a shape obtained by dividing the ground plate portion, the support cylinder portion, and the rib in two at the center of the thickness of the rib along a plane perpendicular to the horizontal bottom surface, and each component comprises a semi-disc-shaped ground plate forming portion having a joining plane that butts together when coupled, a semi-cylindrical support cylinder forming portion, and a pair of rib forming portions;
a mating projection and a snap-engagement claw are provided on one half of a joining surface of the ground plate forming portion of the first component, and a mating recess and a snap-engagement recess are provided on the other half of the joining surface of the ground plate forming portion; a mating projection is provided on a joining surface of one of the rib forming portions, and a mating recess is provided on a joining surface of the other rib forming portion; and a screw insertion hole is provided in the support cylinder forming portion in a direction perpendicular to the axis;
the second component has the same shape as the first component, and is configured to be connectable to the first component by butting the respective joining planes together, fitting the mating convex portion into the mating concave portion, and snap-engaging the engaging claw into the engaging concave portion,
A support pipe subsidence prevention device characterized in that it is fixed to the support pipe held between the support tube forming portions of the first and second components by a drill screw that is screwed into the support pipe through the threaded hole. The support pipe subsidence prevention device described in claim 1, characterized in that the ground plate forming portions of the first and second structures each have a pin insertion hole for inserting an anchor pin.