The invention relates to a device for anchoring a post according to the preamble to Claim 1. The device com¬ prises a mounting which has at least two interconnectable anchoring elements, a first anchoring element being essentially non-rotatably disposed in the mounting for engagement with a second anchoring element which is fixed in, preferably embedded in, the body against which the foot of the mounting is to be anchored. The first anchoring element is, in at least one direction, axially freely moveable in the socket of the mounting, has a predetermined freedom of movement radially and rests against a plate forming the bottom in the foot of the mounting. In the bottom plate, there is an opening through which a threaded shank of the first anchoring element extends with a predetermined plate, to permit oblique shank orientation, unlimited thereby, until the first anchoring element abuts against at least one adjacent portion of the mounting, when the central line of the second anchoring element in the body forms an angle which is greater or less than 90° with a surface against which the mounting is to be mounted.

Known mountings for anchoring tubular posts have a number of disadvantages. One such known mounting is a so-called bolt foot, which is often used for mounting posts for the rails in a guard rail system. The bolt foot consists of a socket, the cross-section of which is adapted to the end of the posts, as a rule rectangular or square, said socket being welded at one end to the convex centre portion of a circular dished bearing plate. In the other end of the socket, the end of the post can be fixed by snap means. A threaded shank is securely fixed in the centre of the bearing plate, on its concave side, and extends in the opposite direction and coaxially to the

socket. On the convex side of the bearing plate, around its periphery, an abutment is arranged to facilitate tightening of the bolt foot against the surface and to facilitate detachment of the same from the surface. The bolt foot is mounted by being rotated, so that the threaded shank is scwrewed into a premounted expansion shell or in an embedded sleeve. The bolt foot can also be used in prefabricated floor structure where embedding a plastic sleeve is not possible. By virtue of the fact that the bearing plate is dished, a very secure anchoring against the subsurface is obtained by hard tightening of the bolt foot, e.g. by hitting the abutment surface with a hammer. The dish shape of the bearing plate provides a tensioning against the subsurface when mounted. This tension is, firstly, advantageous as regards strength and, secondly, results in a well-anchored guard rail. One variant of the bolt foot is intended for mounting on steel surfaces, where the mounting is anchored by screwing the threaded shank into a welded-on knot.

The bolt foot provides secure anchoring of guard rails, for example, as long as the mounting surface is horizont¬ al and the embedded sleeve or the premounted expander shell is mounted so that its central axis is perpend- icular to the surface. If, however, the bolt foot is to be mounted on an inclined surface or if said central axis, due to careless casting or mounting, deviates from the perpendicular, there will be difficulties. On one hand, when mounting on, for example, an inclined surface, it is desirable that the mounting be adjustable so that a post can be mounted at at least certain selected angles to the surface. The strength and the secure anchoring will be jeopardized if the threaded shank of the bolt foot cannot be screwed into the sleeve in question while retaining the correct angle to the anchoring surface. If the bearing plate is not pressed with its angular surface surrounding the concave side parallel to the anchoring

surface, the bearing plate will only be partially pressed into contact with the surface. No real pretensioning will be provided in this case, since this tension is only achieved when essentially the entire angular surface is pressed hard against the subsurface.

If the top side of a floor structure or the like is not accessible for mounting the guard rail system, it may be possible to mount the anchoring device on the vertical edge surface or the underside of the floor structure, provided that the mounting is sufficiently adjustable. This will make it possible to mount a guard rail post with variable orientation near the edge of the structure.

The purpose of the present invention is therefore to remove the above described problems so that a flexible anchoring of the guard rail system is possible which is adaptable to local conditions without any need to compromise the security of the system.

This purpose is achieved by a device for anchoring a tubular post which has the characterizing features recited in Claim 1. Advantageous further developments and preferred embodiments are disclosed in the subclaims. Preferred embodiments will be described in the following as examples only, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings.

Fig. 1 shows a sketch in longitudinal section of a first embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal view of the post-mounting in

Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 corresponds to Fig. 1 with obliquely oriented anchoring elements. Fig. 4 shows an enlarged section of an additional embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 shows a cross-section of the socket.

Fig. 6 shows the lock plate in plan view. Fig. 7 shows a portion of an anchoring element. Fig. 8 shows the components of Figs. 5-7 in engagement with each other. Fig. 9 shows schematically a further development of the invention in side view.

Fig. 10 shows the further development according to Fig. 9 as seen from the right.

The anchoring device comprises a post-mounting 3 which can be pressed by means of first and second anchoring elements 22, 26 against a mounting surface 2 on a body 1, which is preferably a cast or prefabricated concrete floor structure or a steel beam.

According to a first embodiment, the mounting 3 consists of a foot 4, comprising a circular, dished bearing plate 6. The bearing plate has, as is best revealed in Figs. 1- 3, the form of an upside-down saucer with radial rein- forcing ridges 8, which are evenly spaced over the convex upper surface of the bearing plate (Fig. 2).

In the circle segments between the reinforcing ridges 8, the bearing plate has symmetrically arranged fastening holes. Two diametrically placed keyhole-shaped holes 10 are arranged in the bearing plate as well as two oval fastening holes 12. The outer edge of the saucer forms an angular edge surface 14 which, when pressed against the surface 2, forms an acute angle with the supporting surface. To the convex central portion of the bearing plate 6, one end of a socket 16 is securely fixed, preferably welded. The socket 16, which preferably has a rectangular or square cross-section, is oriented so that its corners are disposed on the same radii as the rein- forcing ridges 8. The socket 16 has fixation holes 17 running transversely for fixing a post 5 or, alternative¬ ly, means coupling the post 5 to the socket 16. The

central portion of the bearing plate, which is surrounded by the end edges of the socket end, forms a bottom plate 18 in the bottom of the socket. The bottom plate has an opening 20 through which a first anchoring element 22 extends. The anchoring element is suitably a bolt with a threaded end 23 and a bolt head 24.

According to this first embodiment, the shape of the bolt head 24 is adapted to the cross-section of the socket so that the first anchoring element 22 is freely axially moveable in the socket 16, from an anchored position where the bolt head 24 presses against the bottom plate 18, to variable positions of the bolt head 24 inside the socket 16, up to removal of the first anchoring element 22 from the mounting 3 through the open end of the socket 16. The opening 20 in the bottom plate 18 is preferably circular with a diameter Dl, which is approximately twice the diameter D2 of the threaded end 23. The outer diameter D4 of the bolt head 24, which is adapted to the inner cross-section D3 of the socket 16, assumes values which are 5-10%, preferably 7% less than the value of D3, with the following condition applying (D3-D4) < (D1-D2). By making the mounting so that the values of Dl, D2, D3, and D4 lie within these limits, a certain play D1-D2 will be achieved which is sufficient to provide free oblique orientation of the bolt 23 without the bolt shank ever coming into contact with the edge of the opening 20. The maximum angle α, which the bolt can assume, is determined instead by the play D3-D4. This play is also dependent on the interior width of the socket 16 or, in a preferred embodiment, the interior width of the lock plate 27. This interior width must not exceed the maximum dimension G of the bolt head, in order to prevent any slippage between the components.

One variant of the first anchoring element 22 will be described later and comprises a nut 25 which can be

threaded onto, for example, a double-threaded stud bolt (see Fig. 4) .

The second anchoring element 26 is suitably an expander shell premounted in the body 1 or an embedded sleeve, into which the threaded bolt 23 can be screwed. According to Fig. 1, the second anchoring element 26 is arranged in the body 1 so that the central line of the anchoring element forms an angle α = 90° with the surface 2 of the body 1. The bolt head 24 of the first anchoring element 22 can be placed forced against the bottom plate 18 so that the bolt shaft 23 is concentric with the central line through the second anchoring element 26. As the mounting 3 is rotated about the common central line, the anchoring element 22 is also rotated due to the engage¬ ment between the bolt head 24 and the interior of the socket 16, and the bolt 23, 24 can be screwed into the anchoring element 26 in a conventional manner as soon as the threaded portion of the bolt is in engagement with the corresponding female part of the anchoring element 26. The mounting 3 can thereby be anchored in a con¬ ventional manner with the desired tension against the surface 2.

In practice, however, the second anchoring element 26 is very seldom disposed so that its central line forms a right angle with the surface 2. Usually, the central line forms an angle with the surface 2 which is less than or, as in Fig. 4, greater than 90°. In order to achieve secure anchoring of the mounting 3 in this case as well, the bolt 23, 24 must be screwed tight into the female portion of the second anchoring element at the same time as the bearing plate 6 is brought to bear with essential¬ ly its entire angular edge surface 14 against the surface 2 of the body 1 with enough force so that the plate is tensioned. This is achieved by virtue of the fact that the anchoring element 22 can be oriented obliquely in the

socket 16, so that its central line coincides with the central line of the second anchoring element 26 forming an angle α with the surface 2 of the body 1. The oblique orientation of the anchoring element 22 is limited by the opening 20 in the bottom plate 18 and the radial play between the lateral edges of the bolt head 24 and the inside of the socket 16, said radial play decreasing with increasing obliqueness of the anchoring element 22 and completely disappears at a predetermined angular orientation of the anchoring element 22. With the above specified ratios regarding the diameters D1-D4, this will occur when α is less than or equal to 75° or greater than or equal to 105°. When the lateral sides of the bolt head 24 abut against the opposite lateral walls of the socket 16, there is still a certain amount of radial play between the bolt shank 23 and the edge of the opening 20. The thickness of the bolt head of course also affects the change in radial play upon tipping the anchoring element 22. When using standard commercially available bolts, this effect is, however, negligible for the functioning of this embodiment. With the described anchoring device, a tubular post 5 can be anchored, satisfying requirements as to strength and secure anchoring, with the usual off- plum deviations of the second anchoring element 26.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the first anchoring element 22 is made as a stud bolt 23 with a nut 25. The bolt has suitably a threaded each end in the conventional manner and can be mounted in the nut at any time.

A chamber formed at the bottom of the socket, the bottom all of which is the bottom plate 18, which has a central circular opening 20. The roof of this chamber is formed by a lock plate 27, which has two downwardly bent edges 28, which, together with the side walls of the socket, also act as lateral walls in the chamber formed. The lock

plate also has a central circular opening 30, the dia¬ meter D5 of which is greater than or equal to the dia¬ meter Dl of the opening 20 in the bottom plate, and is clamped into the socket 16 at the bottom plate 18 by means of at least two pinch beads 32. Each bead extends essentially along one of two opposite side walls of the socket 16. The beads are formed by suitable pressing of the wall, preferably the side walls adjacent to the folded-down edges 28 of the plate 27. A nut 25 is placed in the chamber thus formed, said nut thus being enclosed in the chamber and held by the lock plate 27 in the socket 16. The nut 24 is placed loosely in the socket and its movement is only limited by the surrounding walls. The shape of the nut is adapted to the shape of the lock plate 27 and the folded-down edges 28, and to the position of the lock plate relative to the bottom plate 18, so that the nut from a base position in contact with the bottom place 18 is axially freely moveable to any position between the bottom plate and the plate 27. Radially, the movement of the nut is limited by the folded-down lateral edges 28 and the lateral walls of the socket 16. The edges 28 serve as locking means for the nut 25 and only permit a limited rotation of the nut in the horizontal plane about the central axis, namely until the edges of the nut abut the edges 28. When the socket 16 is rotated about the central axis, thus the bolt head 24 of the anchoring element 22 or the nut 25 is also rotated due to the fact that the edges 28 are caused to abut against the corresponding edges of the anchoring element. This situation results in an axial play y and a radial play x which permits the central axis of the anchoring element 22, regardless of whether the element is a bolt 23, 24 or a stud bolt 23 and nut 25, to be tipped laterally. The size of the tipping movement is determined by the values of x and y, which, based on the trial results, preferably assume the following values as examples: x = 3.5 mm for a bolt head or a nut with width

across flat D = 23 mm; y = 5.5 mm with the same width across flat and an angle α = 102°. With these values, an angle α is achieved which is greater than or equal to 75" and less than or equal to 105°. This range for the angle α is in most cases sufficiently broad to assure secure anchoring of the mounting 3, even if the second anchoring element is carelessly mounted or embedded.

As can be seen in Figs. 5-8, the following relations apply for the socket 16, the lock plate 27 and the bolt head/nut 24, 25: A > C B > D E > F G/E > 1

D/A > 1

A further development of the post mounting 3 is disclosed in Figs. 9 and 10.

The mounting 3 has a setting arm 34 coupled the socket 16 and consisting of a yoke 35 and an additional socket 36 fixed to the body of the yoke. The yoke 35 has two parallel legs 37 and the socket 36 has a fastening hole 38 for fixing a tubular post. The legs 37 straddle the socket 16 so that a pivot pin 41 goes through the suspension holes 40 in the socket and even extends through the two legs. Each leg has lock holes 42 evenly distributed along an arc about the pivot pin. A locking means 43 of conventional type can be inserted through the lock hole into the socket 16 and through any one of the lock holes 42 in the legs of the yoke. Thus, the setting arm 34 can be set so that a post fixed in the socket 36 can assume a selected direction within an interval between parallel to the socket 16 and perpendicular thereto.

With this anchoring device, a post can be anchored securely on flat, inclined or vertical surfaces still keeping the post vertically align. Secure assembly can be carried out without time-consuming and work-consuming care in aligning pre-mounted expander shells or embedded sleeves. The anchoring device can even be mounted on the bottom side of a floor structure, for example, with the foot 4 being mounted upside-down at the edge. For this purpose, the setting arm 34 is turned over and the pivot pin 41 is mounted through the lock hole 42. The locking means 43 is then mounted instead through the suspension hole 40. A tubular post can thus be securely fixed in the socket 36 and can be directed in the same manner as when the mounting 3 is assembled rightside up.

Finally, it is pointed out that the present invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described above; rather, the invention encompasses all those embodiments and equivalent solutions which fall within the scope of the following patent claims.

10b

Reference terms