TITLE

IMPROVED PROTECTIVE REBAR COVER

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[001] This application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 61/929,453, filed 20 January 2014.

FIELD

[002] This invention relates to an improved protective rebar cover adapted to cover the end of a protruding piece of rebar for protecting workers from being injured by the rebar, and more particularly to an improved protective rebar cover which is more effectively retained on the end of the rebar and more effectively retained in a perpendicular orientation relative to the end of the rebar so as to more effectively protect workers from impalement-type injuries encountered upon falling upon the rebar.

BACKGROUND

[003] Steel reinforcing bars ("rebar") are commonly used to reinforce concrete used in building structures. Oftentimes a reinforced concrete wall, or other reinforced concrete structure, that is in the process of being built, will have one or more rebar ends protruding out of the structure, or alternatively out of the space between forms where the concrete structure is to be poured. These protruding rebar ends present a hazard to persons and workers in the vicinity, whether the persons are working nearby or above, or otherwise passing by the exposed rebar ends. As a result of falling onto the exposed rebar ends, or otherwise running into them, many workers and persons have been injured, impaled, and sometimes even killed.

[004] Various types of caps and related anti-impalement systems have been devised in the past to prevent these mostly impalement-type injuries. Among these, impalement prevention systems comprising at least one cylindrical plastic collar connected at an upper end of the collar with a plastic cap, often together with a steel or cement cup-like, or bowl-shaped, insert retained between the upper end of the cylindrical collar and the cap, have been devised to prevent these injuries as shown and described in US Patent No. 6,085,478 to Workman and US Patent No. 5,729,941 to Kassardjian et al. Many of these devices have employed vertically-oriented inner fins to attempt to hold the cap in a proper orientation on the rebar. One problem that these types of prior impalement prevention systems would have suffered is the cap would have become loose on the end of the rebar, would be wobbly on the rebar, or would have been knocked completely off at times, or the cap would have become jostled out of a proper perpendicularly-seated position relative to the end of the rebar at times. Thus, when a person would have fallen on the rebar, the cap would have either been missing altogether, or the rebar would have punctured through the side of the cap at the location of the plastic collar, thus still allowing serious impalement injury to a person falling upon the rebar. Another problem with this type of protective rebar cover is that the fins would not prevent the cap from coming off easily, and even if the cap was removed from the end of a piece of rebar, the vertically-oriented inner fins would remain deformed such that the cap was not easily or safely re -usable, since the vertically-oriented inner fins would remain deformed after the cap had been pulled off the rebar. There was no way with such vertically-oriented fins to push the fins back to their original position, albeit a not very effective position in terms of holding the rebar securely.

[005] Various structures have been employed in the collar and in the cap of prior implement prevention systems to attempt to prevent these prior-art anti-impalement caps from being knocked off, misaligned or to prevent passage of the rebar through the side of the cap, each such structure having varying degrees of success in attempting to solve the aforementioned problems. For example, the previously mentioned vertically-oriented fins have been devised in prior caps, these fins being usually offset from a center diameter line bisecting a circle defined by the collar, with the fins being employed within the collar to center the cap on the rebar as shown in FIG. 16 of US Patent No.

6,085,478 to Workman for Impalement Prevention Safety System. These vertical-fin caps would have suffered from the shortcoming that the cap would have been easily removed from the rebar end since the vertical fins would not grip the rebar very well. Further, these vertical-fin prior-art caps would not have been completely effective in retaining the cap centered and properly aligned on the end of the rebar, since the rebar would have overcome the vertical fins within the collar at times upon improper installation or upon having been bumped by a worker or a machine. Also, as mentioned, these fins were not re-deformed back to their original position upon removal of the cap from rebar.

[006] Responsive to limitations of the aforementioned caps, there have been developed other means for attempting to retain the cap perpendicularly on the end of the rebar. One such means has involved the inclusion of a specially-designed cup-like, or bowl-shaped, anti-penetration member within the cap. One of these prior systems found in FIGS. 18, 19, 25 and 27 of US Patent No.

6,085,478 to Workman for Impalement Prevention Safety System also implemented a row of slightly upwardly-angled fins around the inner periphery of the collar to better grip certain steel ribs commonly found on rebar to prevent easy removal of the cap from the rebar. This configuration would have served to hold the cap only slightly better on the end of the rebar, since the slightly upwardly-angled oriented fins would have tended to grip only a small part of the steel protruding ribs circling the rebar in "candy-cane", "chevron" or "barber pole" spiraling fashion as is shown with the rib pattern on the rebar of FIG. 1. A more pernicious problem is that this configuration nevertheless would have easily suffered from misalignment of the cap on the end of the rebar upon being bumped by a person or equipment, since only a single course, or row, of fins had been used to engage the rebar. In other words, there haven't been multiple courses, or rows, of fins in the prior art to engage successively spiraling and longitudinally spaced ribs on the rebar and help ensure proper alignment of the cap during installation. Nevertheless, assuming a rebar had been sufficiently protruded into the cap of the Impalement Prevention Safety System of the Workman patent so as to be engaged in its cup-like, engagement surface having a transverse wall, that system may be seen as one method of striving to prevent the type of misalignment of the cap on rebar that is of concern to the industry. However, in the case where the rebar would be too large to fit within the cup -like anti-penetration member within the cap, a single row of such upwardly- oriented fins would be insufficient to hold the cap in a proper orientation on the larger piece of rebar. In other words, the aforementioned type of cap would not be as able to be used on different sizes of rebar, especially where the rebar was to large to fit within the cup-like anti-penetration member.

[007] Recent changes to regulations regarding safety to workers, namely CAL OSHA safety regulations, require that such anti-impalement caps must be at least 4 X 4 inches wide, and they must successfully withstand without failure, that is without penetration of the rebar through the cap, a drop of a bag of sand that is 250 pounds from at least 10 feet above the capped rebar.

SUMMARY

[008] In accordance with an aspect of the invention, there is provided an improved protective rebar cover comprising an inner concentric cylindrical collar, an outer concentric cylindrical collar, a slightly concaved, slightly dome-shaped, steel disc anti-impalement member, and a cap member that is at least four inches by four inches (4" X 4") wide in each direction of the diameter or centerline of an upper square, or other suitably shaped upper, surface of the cap. The inner cylindrical collar, the outer concentric cylindrical collar and the cap member are preferably injection molded using polypropylene plastic as a single unit with an underside of the cap member interconnected with the upper preferably circular cross-section periphery of the inner concentric cylindrical collar and the upper preferably circular cross-section periphery of the outer concentric cylindrical collar. Thus, each of the concentric collars are capped by the cap and open at an end of each cylindrical collar furthest from the cap. In the case of the end of the inner-concentric cylindrical collar furthest from the cap, the collar is open to receive an end of a piece of rebar. It will be appreciated that different diameters of inner cylindrical collars may be employed to accommodate different cross sectional diameters of rebar. Also, preferably, there are injection molded as part of the above-described structure, a plurality of vertically-extending, radially-oriented (as viewed in a bottom plan view) fins interconnecting an underside of the cap member with the outer concentric cylindrical collar and the inner concentric cylindrical collar. Preferably, the foregoing cap member and collar members are injection molded in a unitary fashion around the dome-shaped steel anti-impalement member. In accordance with this aspect of the invention, within the inner concentric cylindrical collar, there are provided a sufficient plurality of rows of horizontally-disposed fins adapted for receiving and holding in peripheral engagement an end of a protruding rebar ensuring a perpendicular orientation between the rebar, the cap, and thus the dome-shaped steel anti-impalement member. The rows of fins in one embodiment of the invention are aligned as one looks into the collar. [009] The improved protective rebar cover of this aspect of the invention is preferably comprised of an octagonal-shaped cap so that workers may recognize it as a quality cap being at least 4 X 4 inches large to meet the OSHA drop standards, has an inner concentric cylindrical plastic collar member integrally molded to the bottom of the plastic cap and which is adapted to fit on the end of a piece of rebar and that is supported with external vertically-oriented ribs, or fins, interconnecting the collar and the cap, as well as a second outer concentric cylindrical collar member also integrally molded to the bottom of the cap. Thus, each of the concentric collars are capped by the cap and open at an end of each cylindrical collar furthest from the cap. In the case of the end of the inner- concentric cylindrical collar furthest from the cap, the collar is open to receive an end of a piece of rebar. It will be appreciated that different diameters of inner cylindrical collars may be employed to accommodate different cross sectional diameters of rebar. There is a slightly concaved, slightly dome- shaped, steel, disc, or puncture resisting member, retained in the cap and at an upper end of the collar members between the collar members and the cap. Holding of the improved protective rebar cover of one embodiment of the invention in place on the end of a piece of rebar is aided with a plurality of multi-level (longitudinally within the collar), horizontal and internal fins extending inwardly from an inner surface of the first, inner, collar to a central location within the collar where the fins are designed to grip the circular ridges typically found along the length of a piece of rebar.

[010] The protective rebar cover of this aspect of the invention addresses the problem with some prior art devices that they may be relatively easily jarred loose, removed or bumped out of perpendicular alignment between the cap and the rebar such that a fall on the previously capped rebar may still have resulted in an impalement through the side of the cap. This is accomplished by the multiple levels of horizontal fins provided on the inner periphery of the inner cylindrical collar to grip and center position the rebar at multiple locations along the end of the rebar and in a way that engages the commonly existing ridges or ribs protruding from the outer periphery of the end of most rebar.

[011] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the fins, or radially extending fins, are not only located at multiple horizontal plane levels, as in one embodiment of the invention, within the inner cylindrical collar corresponding to multiple horizontal plane levels along the longitudinal axis of the end of the protruding rebar, but in the alternative embodiment of the invention each level of fins is also offset radially so as to originate at various locations around the inner periphery of the inner cylindrical collar so that the cap is easily installed centrally and perpendicularly over the end of the exposed rebar. This feature is provided so that the cap also readily maintains a proper orientation relative to the end of the rebar so that the likelihood of impalement through the side of the cap is addressed. Further in accordance with this aspect of the invention, the fins are spaced so as to be spiraled corresponding to the often spiraling pattern of rebar held within the sleeve and collar in that each successively lower course of fins is offset from the next previously highest course of fins in a spiral "stair-case" -type manner. [012] This aspect of the invention addresses problems of prior caps to stay on the end of the rebar and to remain properly oriented on the end of the rebar. Thus, this aspect of the invention helps to ensure a greater degree of gripping of the protective rebar cover on the end of the rebar and further helps to ensure maintenance of the cap in proper perpendicular orientation to the end of the rebar.

[013] In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, the fins closest to the open end of the inner concentric collar are sized lengthwise to be shorter than the deeper fins so as to more easily allow passage of a certain diametrically-sized piece of rebar than the fins closest to the cap. This aspect of the invention serves multiple purposes, one, to make installation of the cap easier and more secure by ensuring that the rebar somewhat more easily passes to be gripped by successively deeper courses of fins, and another to aid in properly oriented placement of the cap onto the rebar ensuring centering and alignment as the cap passes onto the rebar engaging each successively deeper course of fins. This aspect of the invention also provides designs which may serve to guide the rebar into the proper impact location on the impalement resistive dome-shaped piece of steel retained between the cap and at least the inner collar. Installation of the cap onto rebar deforms the fins in such a way that the fins bend up and catch on the ribs or deformations in the rebar, with such installation preventing the cap from being too-easily removed without re-deforming the fins back near their original position. In other words, the fins angle upward and hold the rebar inside the cap so that the fins tend to keep the cap on the rebar unless enough cap removal force is applied when removal of the cap may be desired. Still further, this aspect of the invention comprising a plurality of rows of fins, one row closer to the opening of the inner-concentric collar, and at least one other row deeper and closer to the cap and anti-penetration disc, enables use and some re -use, of the cap on subsequently different sizes of rebar, within a manufacturer-specified range. The present invention enables such reuse of the cap on rebar because, unlike previous caps, installation of the cap not only deforms the horizontally-oriented fins to an installed position, but removal of the cap from the rebar re-deforms the fins back closer to a pre-installation position.

[014] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is provided an inner sleeve of plastic material having an outer cylindrical surface for engaging with an inner cylindrical surface of the inner concentric cylindrical member and a plurality, preferably 12 in the case of 12 inner horizontal fins 34, of inner flat surface segments oriented in quasi-dodecahedron fashion (that is each inner segment has a flat surface corresponding to 1/12 ^th of the inner periphery of the sleeve) such that if there are three levels of inner fins, each successively deeper pattern of fins begins on a flat surface segment that is 1/12* further around, clockwise or counterclockwise as the case may be, the inner periphery of the sleeve. It will be appreciated that, alternatively, the concentric cylindrical collar 12 may be injection molded to include such inner flat-surface segments, similarly to the way a closed- end "box wrench" has flat surfaces around the inner periphery of the driver portion of the wrench. It will be appreciated that such a sleeve may facilitate the ease of manufacture of the invention. It will be further appreciated, however, that the number of segments employed will depend mathematically on the product of the number of levels of fins and the number of fins employed on each level of fins 34. Thus if there are four levels of fins and four fins on each level the inner surface of the inner concentric cylinder would need to be divided into 16 segments, and so on.

[015] Thus, in accordance with this other aspect of the invention, there is provided a protective cover of previous aspects of the invention, wherein however, the invention further comprises an inner sleeve (instead of injection molding of the inner horizontal fins) having an outer cylindrical surface for engaging an inner cylindrical surface of said inner concentric cylindrical member, said inner sleeve having on its inside surface vertically segmented flat surfaces from which said radially-oriented horizontal fins extend, each said radially-oriented horizontal fin extending from a different flat surface, and wherein the number of flat inner surfaces of said sleeve corresponds mathematically to the product of the number of levels of fins and the number of fins employed in each level of fins of said protective rebar cover. This aspect of the invention may facilitate manufacturing of the invention having differing numbers of levels of inner horizontal fins and different numbers of fins on each level.

[016] In accordance with another embodiment of the invention in accordance with each of the foregoing aspects of the invention, there is provided a protective rebar cap having just a single cylindrical member, not concentric cylindrical members. The single cylindrical member embodiment of the invention is simpler to design an injection mold for for manufacture. In this embodiment of the invention, a larger thickness cylindrical member is preferably integrally formed at an upper end to the underside of the cap, and like the first embodiment of the invention described above, has a plurality of vertically-oriented fins coming down from the underside of the cap to meet with the cylindrical member. As with other embodiments of the invention, the internal horizontal fin structure of the collar, or cylindrical member, may be uniformly oriented at varying-depth levels within the cylinder, or radially-oriented as progressively deeper levels of fins are encountered by rebar as it is pushed into the cylindrical member or collar. As with other embodiments of the invention, with this alternative embodiment of the invention, preferably the horizontal internal fins become shorter the deeper they are located within the cylindrical member.

[017] In addition to the above-described benefits of the present invention, the foregoing aspects of the present invention also allows for the protective rebar cover of the present invention to meet current regulatory CAL OSHA drop-test standards for protection of workers. As such, the present invention also addresses concerns in the industry regarding striving to prevent impalement injuries associated with exposed rebar or improperly covered rebar. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the cap and collar of the invention may be made of any suitably hard plastic material, while the anti-penetration disc member may be made of steel, or other suitably hard substance able to withstand the CAL OSHA drop test. Still further, the present invention provides protective rebar cover that is reusable at least beyond an initial installation and is more capable of remaining centered, properly positioned, and engaged on the rebar, both upon initial installation and subsequent reasonable re -use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[018] FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of an improved protective rebar cover properly oriented and installed on a piece of exposed rebar and ready to withstand a drop of 250 pounds from a height of 10 feet in accordance with an aspect of the invention;

[019] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the outside of a protective rebar cover in accordance with an aspect of the invention;

[020] FIG. 3 is a cross-section (cut at 3— 3 of FIG. 2) side view of the protective rebar cover of FIG. 2;

[021] FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the protective rebar cover of FIG. 2;

[022] FIG. 5 is a cross-section side view of an alternate embodiment of a protective rebar cover in accordance with the invention and cut on a vertically-oriented plane through the center of the protective rebar cover similarly to 3— 3 of FIG. 2;

[023] FIG. 6 is a cross-section (cut at 3— 3 of FIG. 2) side view of protective rebar cover of FIG. 2, but showing another alternate embodiment inner fin portion of a protective rebar cover in accordance with the invention. DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[024] Referring to Figures 1 - 4, there is provided a protective rebar cover 10 comprising an inner concentric cylindrical collar 12, an outer concentric cylindrical collar 14, a slightly concave, slightly dome-shaped, steel disc or impalement resisting member 16, and a cap member 18 that is at least four inches by four inches (4" X 4") wide in each direction of the circular diameter or centerline of an upper square, or other suitably shaped upper, surface of the cap. Preferably, the cap member 18 is octagonal shaped as shown and therefore greater than four inches across any segment line passing through a center point 11 of the cap.

[025] The inner cylindrical collar 12, the outer concentric cylindrical collar 14 and the cap member 18 are preferably injection molded using polypropylene plastic as a single unit with an underside of the cap member interconnected with an upper, preferably circular cross-section, periphery 20 of the inner concentric cylindrical collar 12 and the upper, preferably circular cross- section, periphery 22 of the outer concentric cylindrical collar 14. Thus, each of the concentric collars 12, 14 are capped by the cap 18 and open at each end 24, 26, respectively, of each the inner cylindrical collar 12 and the outer cylindrical collar 14, furthest from the cap. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that adjacent and around the ends of disc 16, there is a larger amount of material, such as polypropylene plastic area 7, to make more rigid the cap and disc member to better resist penetration by rebar through the cap. [026] In the case of the end 24 of the inner-concentric cylindrical collar 12 furthest from the cap 18, the collar is open at 28 to receive an end of a piece of rebar 30 protruding, for example, from cement 13. It will be appreciated that different diameters of inner cylindrical collars 12 may be employed to accommodate different cross section diameters of rebar 30. Also, preferably, there are injection molded as part of the above-described structure, a plurality of vertically-extending, radially- oriented (as viewed in a bottom plan view) fins 32 interconnecting an underside of the cap member 18 with the outer concentric cylindrical collar 14 and the inner concentric cylindrical collar 12. The outer concentric cylindrical collar 14, together with the inner concentric cylindrical collar 12, helps to prevent protrusion of the rebar 30 through the side of the protective rebar cover 10.

[027] Preferably, the foregoing cap member 18 and collar members 12, 14 are injection molded in a unitary fashion around the steel impalement resisting member 16. In accordance with this aspect of the invention, within the inner concentric cylindrical collar 12 of the improved protective rebar cover 10, there are provided a plurality of rows of horizontally-disposed fins 34a, 34b, 34c adapted for receiving and holding in peripheral engagement an end of protruding rebar 30 ensuring a perpendicular orientation between the rebar 30, the cap 18, and thus the steel disc impalement resisting member 16.

[028] The protective rebar cover 10 is preferably comprised of an octagonal-shaped cap 18 so that workers may recognize it as a quality cap being at least 4 X 4 inches large to meet the OSHA drop standards and is easy to grip to install, remove and adjust, as for example by spinning to in-effect screw the cap onto the end of a piece of rebar 30. The protective rear cover 10 further comprises an inner concentric cylindrical plastic collar member 12 integrally molded to the bottom of the plastic cap 18 and which is adapted with an open end 24 furthest from the cap 18 to fit on the end of a piece of rebar 30 and that is supported with external vertically-oriented ribs, or fins 32, interconnecting the inner concentric collar 12 and the cap 18, as well as a second outer concentric cylindrical collar member 14 also integrally molded to the bottom of the cap 18. Thus, each of the concentric collars 12, 14 are capped by the cap and open at the end 24, 26, respectively, furthest from the cap 18, of each cylindrical collar, inner collar 12 and outer collar 14. In the case of the end 24 of the inner- concentric cylindrical collar 12 furthest from the cap 18, the collar 12 is open at 28 to receive an end of a piece of rebar 30. It will be appreciated that different diameters of inner cylindrical collars 12 may be employed to accommodate different cross sectional diameters of rebar 30. The previously- described puncture resisting disc 16 is preferably retained in the cap 18 between at least the upper end 20 of the inner collar member 12 and the cap 18.

[029] Holding of the protective rebar cover 10 of the invention in place on the end of a piece of rebar 30 is aided with a plurality of multi-level, longitudinally spaced courses of horizontal, internal fins 34a, 34b, 34c extending radially inwardly longitudinally along the rebar with the fins 34a being closest to the opening 24 of collar 12, the fins 34b being positioned midway in the collar 12 and the fins 34c being closed to the impalement resisting disc 16. The fins 34a, 34b, 34c extend from an inner surface of the of the inner cylindrical collar 12 part way to a central axis 40 within the collar where the inward-most tips of the fins 34 grip the semi-circular ridges 42 found spiraling

longitudinally along the length of the end of the rebar 30. It will be further appreciated that, as shown in FIG. 4, the outermost fins 34a closest to the end 24 of the inner cylindrical member 12 have no crosshatching, the mid-level or course of fins 34b have square crosshatching, and the lowermost course of fins 34c have diagonal-line crosshatching.

[030] Referring to Figure 5, there is provided an alternative embodiment protective rebar cover 10' comprising a cylindrical collar member 12', a slightly concave, slightly dome-shaped, steel disc or impalement resisting member 16, and a cap member 18 that is at least four inches by four inches (4" X 4") wide in each direction of the circular diameter or centerline of an upper square, or other suitably shaped upper, surface of the cap. Preferably, the cap member 18 is octagonal shaped as shown and therefore greater than four inches across any segment line passing through a center point 11 of the cap.

[031 ] Referring to Figure 6, there is provided another alternative embodiment protective rebar cover 10" comprising an inner concentric cylindrical collar 12, an outer concentric cylindrical collar 14, a slightly concave, slightly dome-shaped, steel disc or impalement resisting member 16, and a cap member 18 that is at least four inches by four inches (4" X 4") wide in each direction of the circular diameter or centerline of an upper square, or other suitably shaped upper, surface of the cap.

Preferably, the cap member 18 is octagonal shaped as with previous embodiments and therefore greater than four inches across any segment line passing through a center point 11 of the cap.

[032] The protective rebar cover 10, 10', 10" of the embodiments of this aspect of the invention addresses the problem with prior art devices that they would have been relatively easily jarred loose, removed or bumped out of perpendicular alignment between the cap and the rebar such that a fall on the previously capped rebar may still have resulted in an impalement through the side of the cap. This aid to alignment is accomplished by the multiple levels of horizontal fins 34a, 34b, 34c (and counterpart fins of other embodiments) provided on the inner periphery of the inner cylindrical collar 12 to grip and center position the rebar 30 along a longitudinal axis of the protective rebar cover 10 at multiple locations along the end of the rebar 30 and in a way that engages the commonly existing ridges or ribs 42 protruding from the side of an end of the rebar.

[033] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, in one embodiment of the invention, the extending fins 34a, 34b, 34c are not only located at multiple horizontal plane levels within the inner cylindrical collar 12, as shown in FIG. 6 wherein the counterpart fins 34a", 34b", 34c", correspond to multiple horizontal plane levels along the longitudinal axis of the end of the protruding rebar 30 and are not radially offset with each successively deeper course of fins, but in one embodiment of the invention (as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5), each level of fins are also offset radially so as to originate in a radial pattern at various locations around the inner periphery of the inner cylindrical collar 12, as can be best seen in FIG. 4, so that the cap 18 is easily installed centrally and perpendicularly over the end of the exposed rebar 30, and so that the cap also readily maintains a proper orientation relative to the end of the rebar so that the possibility of impalement through the side of the cap 10 is reduced. Further in accordance with this aspect of the invention, the fins 34a, 34b, 34c of one embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 are spaced so as to be spiraled corresponding to the often spiraling pattern of the ribs 42 on the rebar 30 held within the sleeve and collar in that each successively lower course of fins is offset from the next previously highest course of fins in a spiral "stair-step"-type manner.

[034] In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, the fins 34a (and fins 34a', 3a") closest to the open end 24 of the inner concentric collar 12 are sized longer so as to allow passage and retaining of a manufacturer-specified range of diametrically-sized pieces of rebar 30 (e.g. from size 3 to 7, or from size 3 to 8) whereas the fins 34c closest to the cap are sized shorter but still so as to allow and securely retain the different sizes of rebar closer in to the anti-penetration member. The mid-level fins 34b are preferably the same size as the fins 34a, though the claims appended hereto are intended to cover a plurality of multiple-depth fins, as would be the case for example where fins 34a are the shortest fins, 34b are mid-length fins and fins 34c are the longest fins. This aspect of the invention serves at least two or more purposes, first to make installation of the cap easier and more secure by ensuring that the rebar somewhat more easily passes to be gripped by successively deeper courses of fins, and second to aid in properly oriented placement of the cap onto the rebar ensuring centering and alignment as the cap passes onto the rebar engaging each successively deeper course of fins. Also, this orientation ensures that if too large of a protective rebar cover 10 were to be placed by an uninformed worker on too small of a piece of rebar 30, the rebar 30 would still be gripped and retained by the protective rebar cover 10, 10' or 10". Finally, this aspect of the invention may serve to assist in guiding the rebar 30 into the proper seat location relative to the impalement resistive steel disc retained between the cap 18 and at least the collar 12.

[035] In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there may be alternatively provided an inner sleeve 100 of plastic material having an outer cylindrical surface 102 for engaging with an inner cylindrical surface 104 of the inner concentric cylindrical member 12 and a plurality (preferably 12 in the case of three levels of fins 34 with four such fins on each level) of inner flat surface segments 106 oriented in quasi-dodecahedron fashion (that is each inner segment has a flat surface corresponding to 1/12 ^th of the inner periphery of the sleeve) such that if there are three levels of inner fins 34, each successively deeper pattern of fins begins on a flat segment surface that is 1/12* further around, clockwise or counterclockwise as the case may be, radially around the inner periphery of the sleeve 100 so that the rebar 30 may be held within the sleeve and collar with each successively lower course of fins being offset from the next previously highest course of fins in a spiral "stair-step" -type manner.

[036] It will be appreciated that, alternatively, the concentric cylindrical collar 12 may be alternatively injection molded to include such inner flat surface segments 106, similarly to the way a closed-end "box wrench" has flat surfaces around the inner periphery of the driver portion of the wrench (e.g., as shown in the alternative embodiment of FIG. 5). It will, however, be appreciated that such a sleeve 100 may facilitate the ease of manufacture of the invention. It will be further appreciated that the number of segments employed will depend mathematically on the product of the number of levels of fins 34 and the number of fins employed in each level. Thus if there are four levels of fins and four fins on each level the inner surface of the inner concentric cylinder would need to be divided into 16 segments, and so on.

[037] The alternative embodiment protective rebar cover 10' of FIG. 5 is like protective rebar cover 10 of FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 in all respects except that it is shown to have a single thicker- walled cylindrical collar member 12' to compensate for the lack of an outer concentric cylindrical collar 14 in this embodiment. Also, as shown in FIG. 5, the protective rebar cover 10' comprises a plurality of horizontal fins 34a', 34b', 34c', which unlike cover 10 comprising an inner insert member 100, extend integrally from the wall of the cylindrical collar member 12. It will be appreciated however, that a similar insert member 100 could be used with either embodiment 10, or 10', of the invention without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention as claimed. In all embodiments of the invention disclosed herein the horizontal fins may depend integrally from the inner wall of the inner concentric collar, or cylindrical member, or from a sleeve member insert without departing from the true scope and sprit of the invention as claimed.

[038] The alternative embodiment protective rebar cover 10" of FIG. 6 is like protective rebar cover 10 of FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 in all respects except that it comprises a plurality of horizontal fins 34" which are not radially-oriented the deeper the rebar pushes into the inner concentric cylindrical member , or collar, but rather are uniformly positioned around the circumference of the rebar and with sufficient numbers of fins per/inch circumference around the rebar, and originating from the inner walls of the inner cylindrical member, so as to hold the cover 10" in proper orientation on the end of the rebar 30 as with other embodiments of the invention. As with other embodiments of the invention, the fins 34 may extend integrally from the wall of the cylindrical collar member 12" (as is also true for embodiments 10 and 10'). Also, however, as shown in FIG. 6, and as with other embodiments of the invention, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a similar insert member 100" could be used with embodiment 10" (as is also true with embodiments 10 and 10'), of the invention without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention as claimed. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 6, the horizontal fins 34a", 34b", 34c" (as is also true with embodiments 10 and 10') may depend integrally from the inner concentric collar 12', without departing from the true scope and sprit of the invention as claimed.

[039] In addition to the above-described benefits of the present invention, the foregoing aspects of the present invention will allow the protective rebar cover 10, 10', 10" of the present invention to meet current regulatory drop-test standards for protection of workers. As such, the present invention also addresses concerns in the industry regarding striving to prevent impalement injuries associated with exposed rebar or improperly covered rebar.

[040] While preferred embodiments of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. For example, it will be appreciated that one of ordinary skill in the art may use other cap and cylinder combinations with the multi-level, layered, offset centering system of the present invention, without departing from the true spirit of the invention as claimed. Also, it will be appreciated that parts of each embodiment shown and described herein may be implemented with parts of another embodiment in accordance with ordinary skill in the art without departing from the true scope and spirit of the invention. The appended claims are therefore intended to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.