US20040113039A1

US20040113039A1 - Wall/ ground anchor

Info

Publication number: US20040113039A1
Application number: US10/318,726
Authority: US
Inventors: Thomas Becker
Original assignee: ABUS August Bremicker Soehne KG
Current assignee: ABUS August Bremicker Soehne KG
Priority date: 2002-12-13
Filing date: 2002-12-13
Publication date: 2004-06-17

Abstract

The invention relates to a wall/ground anchor for the securing of movable articles, in particular of bicycles, to the ground or to a wall, comprising an anchor plate attachable to the ground or to the wall and at which two shackles are provided, and a securing hoop (30) having two free ends which are each upwardly curved toward one another through an associated shackle such that the securing hoop is pivotally supported at the shackles.

Description

The invention relates to a wall/ground anchor for the securing of movable articles, in particular of bicycles, to the ground or to a wall.

Such anchors should form a point of attachment for a lock, in particular for a hoop lock, chain lock or steel cable lock, at a location at which there is otherwise no opportunity to reliably protect an article from theft. The anchors are designed for a permanent attaching to the ground or to the wall and have, for example, an eyelet or a hoop through which the chain or the wire cable of the lock can be led to secure the article in question.

It is the object of the invention to further develop such a wall/ground anchor such that it is easier to handle, has a high stability and can be manufactured simply and at a favorable price from a technical production aspect.

This object is satisfied by a wall/ ground anchor in accordance with claim 1 and in particular in that this includes an anchor plate, which can be attached to the ground or to the wall, having two shackles and one securing hoop with two free ends which are each bent toward one another through an associated shackle such that the securing hoop is pivotally supported at the shackles.

A compact design of the wall/ground anchor, but one which is nevertheless comfortable to handle, is made available by the design of the securing hoop in accordance with the invention, with at the same time a high stability being ensured with respect to the application of force to the anchor. Since the two free ends are bent toward one another, a large opening of the securing hoop results in relation to the total size of the anchor, whereby lock hoops, chains or steel cables can comfortably be led through the securing hoop and a large cross-section of the hoop, of the chain or of the steel cable can be selected. A particularly high stability of the anchor results by using two shackles spaced apart from one another.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, the clear opening of the securing hoop is larger than the spacing of the shackles from one another. Anchors are known from the prior art in which the clear opening of the eyelets used there is smaller than the spacing of the clips receiving them. The opening of the eyelets is thereby much smaller than the total outer dimensions of the anchor. With the anchor of the present invention, the clear opening of the securing hoop corresponds approximately to the outer dimensions of the wall/ground anchor.

In a further preferred embodiment of the wall/ ground anchor in accordance with the invention, the free ends of the securing hoop are substantially bent in a U shape. The free ends of the securing hoop engage around the shackles around approximately three quarters of the periphery of the shackles in this manner, whereby the securing hoop is supported particularly reliably in the shackles.

It is, however, also possible that the free ends of the securing hoop are substantially L shaped and/or that the free ends are connected to one another, for example welded to one another, between the two shackles.

Alternatively to this, the free ends of the securing hoop can also be bent beyond the said U shape into a C shape or an O shape in the manner of an eyelet such that the shackles are substantially engaged around circumferentially by the respective hoop end. It is in particular possible for the hoop ends shaped in the manner of an eyelet to be welded together such that the respectively formed eyelet has a closed circumference.

It is of advantage for the free ends of the securing hoop to lie in a common plane as is the case with a further embodiment of the wall/ ground anchor in accordance with the invention. Under this condition, the securing hoop has a minimal construction height and is suitable for a pivotable linking.

In an advantageous aspect of the anchor in accordance with the invention, the shackles and the securing hoop are made of the same material with the same cross-section. This provides some technical production benefits. On the one hand, the same starting material can be used for the shackles and the securing hoop; on the other hand, they can be processed using the same tools. They can moreover have the same finish, treatment, appearance quality or refinement, with them being able to be treated together in the same plant.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the securing hoop is made from a single part. This is of advantage in production with respect to designs made in multiple parts, since the work procedures required to connect a plurality of components are omitted.

The securing hoop in accordance with the invention substantially has a U shape in one embodiment. The U shape is easy to produce, on the one hand, and gives high stability, on the other hand, since no corners are present at which a notch effect can occur. In a further embodiment of the invention, the shackles are welded to the anchor plate. The welding of the shackles to the anchor plate can be automated and provides high resistance to breaking open.

In a further development of the present invention, the shackles are arranged in a U shape and/or parallel to one another. The U shape provides high strength due to the lack of sharp corners which would represent weak points due to the notch effect. The parallel arrangement of the shackles allows a pivotal movement of the securing hoop toward the anchor plane in a position of rest or away from the anchor plate in a position of use.

In another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the anchor plate is covered by a cover cap. The securing hoop is securely received by the cover cap in the position of rest such that it is not accidentally set up, for instance when a vehicle moves over an anchor secured to the ground. The cover cap is preferably screwed down with nuts which are pressed into the anchor plate or welded to it and are thereby attached to the anchor plate in a particularly simple manner from a technical production aspect. The nuts secured to the anchor plate can thus not be lost when the anchor is installed at a wall or on the ground.

The outline of the cover cap corresponds in this embodiment to the contour of the downwardly pivoted securing hoop. Thanks to the compact construction shape of the anchor, the cover cap does not have to be very much larger than the outline of the downwardly pivoted securing hoop.

It is of advantage for the cover cap to have a grip recess for the grasping of the downwardly pivoted securing hoop. The securing hoop can then be flipped upward from the position of rest into the position of use without problem, for example also when wearing gloves.

In a further embodiment of the anchor in accordance with the invention, the anchor plate has a plurality of countersunk bores to which the anchor plate can be attached to the ground or to the wall using countersunk head screws. The anchor plate can be screwed to a wall or to the ground using the countersunk bores with or without the aid of dowels. Spigots can also be accepted through the countersunk bore which can in turn be set in concrete.

It is particularly advantageous for the anchor plate to be provided with hexagon socket screws for the attachment to the ground or to the wall, with metal balls being provided to be hammered into the hexagon socket in order to secure the hexagon socket screws against unauthorized unscrewing. The hammering in of balls into the hexagon socket of the attaching screws represents a simple but effective means for this.

The invention will be described in the following by way of example with reference to the drawings, in which are shown: [0020]
FIG. 1 a perspective view of a wall/ground anchor in accordance with the invention in a position of use; [0021]
FIG. 2 a perspective view of the wall/ground anchor of FIG. 1 in a position of rest; and [0022]
FIG. 3 a perspective exploded view of the wall/ground anchor of FIG. 1.[0023]
The wall/ground anchor shown includes a [0024] securing hoop 30 having two free ends 32, 34 around each of which a shackle 22 or 24 respectively engages which are in turn attached to an anchor plate 20 (see FIG. 3). The arrangement of anchor plate 20, shackles 22, 24 and securing hoop 30 is covered by a cover cap 40. FIG. 1 shows the securing hoop 30 in an upwardly pivoted position of use in which it allows the attaching of a chain, of a steel cable or the like. FIG. 2 shows the anchor with the securing hoop 30 pivoted downwardly. In this position of rest, the securing hoop 30 comes to rest inside a cut-out 44 of the cover cap 30. It can be recognized in FIG. 2 how the securing hoop 20 can be grasped in the region of a grip recess 42 for the purpose of being pivoted upwardly again. The individual components of the wall/ground anchor will be explained in detail with reference to the exploded view of FIG. 3.
The [0025] anchor plate 20 is made of steel (hardened or unhardened) and has a substantially rectangular layout. The two shackles 22, 24 are secured to it parallel to one another via a weld joint. The anchor plate 20 furthermore includes four countersunk bores 26 which serve for the acceptance of countersunk head screws 52 with a hexagon socket. Two nuts 50 are furthermore pressed into the anchor plate 20, of which only one can be seen in this view and via which the cover plate 40 can be screwed to the anchor plate 20 by means of screws 46.
A respective [0026] free end 32, 34 of the securing hoop 30 is led through each shackle 22, 24. These free ends 32, 34 are curved inwardly and upwardly in a plane such that they each have a U shape. A pivotal support of the securing hoop 30 in the shackles 22, 24 is established in this manner.
The [0027] securing hoop 30 and the shackles 22, 24 are made of rounds of steel (hardened or unhardened) having the same cross-sectional diameter. The securing hoop 30, the shackles 22, 24 and the anchor plate 20 are provided with corrosion protection, they are for example yellow zinc coated and sealed.
The clear opening A of the securing [0028] hoop 30 is larger than the spacing B of the shackles 22, 24 from one another. The dimension A plus twice the diameter of the securing hoop 30 corresponds approximately to the extent of the anchor plate 20.
The arrangement of the [0029] anchor plate 20 and the shackles 22, 24 is covered by the cover cap 40 which is screwed with the press-in nuts 50 in the anchor plate 20 with the help of the screws 42 through two bores provided in the cover cap 40. The contour of the cover cap 40 substantially follows the contour of the securing hoop 30 in the folded-up state, with the dimensions of the cover cap being larger than its outer dimensions approximately by once or twice the material thickness of the securing hoop 30. The height of the cover cap 40 corresponds approximately to double the diameter of the securing hoop 30. The U shaped cut-out 44 for the receiving of the securing hoop 30 and further cut-outs for the receiving of the shackles 22, 24 and a recess on the front face for the grip recess 42 are provided in the cover cap 40. The cover cap 40 has a plurality of stiffening braces (not shown in the Figures) at its lower side. The cover cap 40 in this embodiment is made of plastic, with it generally also being able to be a sheet metal shaped part or a metal die cast part.
The installation of the wall/ground anchor takes place for example such that first four dowel bores are set in the wall or in the ground at the planned attachment location of the anchor at the spacing of the countersunk bores [0030] 26 of the anchor plate. Four dowels 54 are inserted into the set bores and the anchor plate 20 is screwed to the dowels 54 by means of four countersunk head screws 52. Subsequently, four metal balls 56 are hammered into the hexagon socket of the countersunk head screws 52 such that the screws 52 can no longer be loosened. The securing hoop 30 is folded into the position of use and the cover cap 40 is pushed beyond the securing hoop 30 until is lower rim contacts the base. The cover cap 40 is then screwed to the anchor plate with the aid of the screws 46.
Finally, the screws [0031] 45 are covered with screw caps 48.

Reference Numeral List

[0032] 20 anchor plate
[0033] 22 shackle
[0034] 24 shackle
[0035] 26 countersunk bore
[0036] 30 securing hoop
[0037] 32 free end of the securing hoop
[0038] 34 free end of the securing hoop
[0039] 40 cover cap
[0040] 42 grip recess
[0041] 44 cut-out
[0042] 46 screw
[0043] 48 screw cap
[0044] 50 press-in nut
[0045] 52 hexagon socket screw
[0046] 54 dowel
[0047] 56 metal ball
A clear opening of the securing hoops [0048]
B spacing of the shackles [0049]

Claims

1. A wall/ ground anchor for the securing of movable articles, in particular of bicycles, to the ground or to a wall, comprising

an anchor plate (20) attachable to the ground or to the wall and at which two shackles (22, 24) are provided; and

a securing hoop (30) having two free ends (32, 34) which are each upwardly curved toward one another through an associated shackle (22, 24) such that the securing hoop (30) is pivotally supported at the shackles (22, 24).

2. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the clear opening (A) of the securing hoop (30) is larger than the spacing (B) of the shackles (22, 24) from one another.

3. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the free ends (32, 34) of the securing hoop (30) are substantially curved in a U shape, an L shape or in an eyelet-like manner.

4. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the free ends (32, 34) of the securing hoop (30) lie in a common plane.

5. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the shackles (22, 24) and the securing hoop (30) are made from the same material with the same cross-section.

6. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the shackles (22, 24) and the securing hoop (30) have the same finish, treatment, appearance, quality or refinement.

7. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the securing hoop (30) is made from a single part.

8. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the securing hoop (30) substantially has a U shape.

9. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the shackles (22, 24) are welded to the anchor plate (20).

10. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the shackles (22, 24) are arranged in U shape and/or parallel to one another.

11. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the anchor plate (20) is covered by a cover cap which is screwed to nuts (50) pressed into the anchor plate (20).

12. An anchor in accordance with claim 11, characterized in that the outline of the cover cap (40) corresponds to the contour of the downwardly pivoted securing hoop (30).

13. An anchor in accordance with claim 11, characterized in that the cover cap (40) has a grip recess (42) for the grasping of the downwardly pivoted securing hoop (30).

14. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the anchor plate (20) has a plurality of countersunk bores (26) at which the anchor plate (20) is attachable to the ground or to the wall using countersunk head screws (52).

15. An anchor in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the anchor plate (20) is provided with hexagon socket screws (52) for the attachment to the ground or to the wall, with metal balls (52) being provided for hammering into the hexagon socket to secure the hexagon socket screws (52) against unauthorized unscrewing.