Snap nut concrete anchor assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11754108-B2
Application number	US-202117173321-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 11, 2021
Priority date	Mar 16, 2018
Publication date	Sep 12, 2023
Grant date	Sep 12, 2023

Abstract

The present disclosure describes an anchor device for receiving and securing a shaft thereto. The device includes an outer housing within which a jaw assembly is secured. The outer housing of the device may in turn be secured to or within a support structure such as a building component. Jaw components of the jaw assembly may be threaded. Furthermore, the jaw assembly has at least two configurations. In a first configuration, at least one jaw component is positioned away from a central shaft axis against the biasing force of a biasing member. A removable or reconfigurable holding member or stop member selectively secures the at least one jaw component in this position. A second configuration is the result of the holding member being reconfigured by the inserted shaft. The shaft triggers movement of the at least one jaw component toward the central shaft axis and into contact with the shaft.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A support member of an anchor assembly, the support member for receiving and securing a threaded shaft thereto, the anchor assembly further including a base member that is connectable with the support member, the support member comprising:
an outer housing, the outer housing being defined by a central longitudinal axis, the outer housing including an outer wall, the outer housing also including an insertion opening at a first end thereof for receiving the threaded shaft, the outer housing further including an assembly opening at a second end opposite the first end thereof, the outer wall defining an inner space, the outer housing further including a flange disposed at the second end extending radially outward from the outer wall, the flange being embedded in concrete to resist concrete pull out of the concrete by the support member,
a jaw assembly disposed in the inner space, the inner space further includes a tapered surface with a lessening inner surface diameter toward the insertion opening, the jaw assembly including at least two threaded jaws the threads of which selectively engage threads of the shaft, the jaw assembly further including a first bias member for biasing the at least two thread jaws toward the longitudinal axis,
a second biasing member for biasing the jaws longitudinally toward the tapered surface.

2. The support member of claim 1 , wherein the first bias member is a flexible ring.

3. The support member of claim 1 , wherein the second biasing member is a coil spring or leaf spring.

4. The support member of claim 1 , wherein the second biasing member is a coil spring or leaf spring that is compressible along the central longitudinal axis.

5. The support member of claim 1 , wherein the first biasing member surrounds the jaw assembly.

6. The support member of claim 1 , wherein the second biasing member is disposed in the inner space to bias downward against the jaw assembly.

7. The support member of claim 1 , wherein the outer housing further includes an upper portion and a lower portion, one of the upper and lower portions including a male thread and the other of the upper and lower portions including a female thread, the male and female threads connectable complementarily together to form the outer housing.

8. The support member of claim 7 , wherein the lower portion includes a tapered seat for engagement with a complementarily tapered seat of the jaw assembly.

9. A support member of an anchor assembly, the support member for receiving and securing a threaded shaft thereto, the anchor assembly further including a base member that is connectable with the support member, the support member comprising:
an outer housing, the outer housing being defined by a central longitudinal axis, the outer housing including an outer wall, the outer housing also including an insertion opening at a first end thereof for receiving the threaded shaft, the outer housing further including an assembly opening at a second end opposite the first end thereof, the outer wall defining an inner space, the outer housing further including a flange disposed at the second end extending radially outward from the outer wall, the flange being embedded in concrete to resist concrete pull out of the concrete by the support member,
a jaw assembly disposed in the inner space, the inner space further includes a tapered surface with a lessening inner surface diameter toward the insertion opening, the jaw assembly including at least two threaded jaws the threads of which selectively engage threads of the shaft, the jaw assembly further including a first bias member for biasing the at least two thread jaws toward the longitudinal axis,
a holding member for preventing the bias member from moving the at least two threaded jaws toward the longitudinal axis, wherein, in a first jaw assembly configuration, the holding member prevents the at least two threaded jaws from moving toward the central longitudinal axis,
a second biasing member disposed in the inner space to bias downward against the jaw assembly; and
wherein, in the first configuration the threaded shaft is inserted into the connector opening, to contact the holding member to release the at least two threaded jaws to move toward the central longitudinal axis and into biased contact with the threaded shaft to define a second jaw assembly configuration.

10. The support member of claim 9 , wherein an outer surface of the jaw assembly engages the tapered surface so that in the second configuration, loading the threaded shaft in the direction from the assembly opening to the connector opening urges the at least two threaded jaws toward the threaded shaft.

11. The support member of claim 9 , wherein the outer housing further includes a plug for lockable engagement with the assembly opening and for containing the jaw assembly and the holding member in the inner space.

12. The support member of claim 11 , wherein, in use, the threaded shaft is insertable into the connector opening and engageable with the holding member to move the holding member toward the plug and relative to the at least two threaded jaws, the plug or the outer housing capable of stopping axial movement by the at least one threaded jaw in a shaft insertion direction to release the hold of the holding member and trigger the second configuration.

13. The anchor assembly of claim 9 , wherein the support member includes a rotation stop and wherein the alignment member engages the rotation stop to prevent the jaws from rotating relative to the support member.

14. The anchor assembly of claim 13 , wherein the rotation stop is a slot and the alignment member is a pin and the pin is received in the slot.

Assignees

• Black & Decker Inc

Inventors

• Wiley Jessica
• Wang Yanchao
• Chamberlain Matthew
• Dunning Jack
• Horky John

Classifications

• F16B37/0857 Primary

  with the threaded portions of the nut engaging the thread of the bolt by the action of one or more springs or resilient retaining members (F16B37/0821 and F16B37/0835 take precedence) · CPC title

• F16B13/124 Primary

  fastened by inserting a threaded element, e.g. screw or bolt (F16B13/122, F16B13/128 take precedence) · CPC title