Apparatus for expandably engaging the walls of an earthen hole
OwnerSamuel J. Seroinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus is provided for expandably engaging the walls of an earthen hole in order to resist movement urged by an external force. After placement of the apparatus into an earthen hole at a location where some external force is to be restrained, the detonation of an explosive charge drives a piston out of an explosion chamber, and by a wedging action, forces an axially segmented cylinder outwardly against the surrounding earth. A substantially stable connecting foundation is thus created in order to resist either tensile or compressive forces.
Claims11
An apparatus for expandably engaging the walls of an earthen hole in order to resist movement urged by an external force, comprising:
- a. a head containing a chamber;
- b. an explosive charge insertable into the chamber of said head and engageable therein;
- c. means for detonating said explosive charge;
- d. a guide frame attached to said head;
- e. a piston slidably disposed within at least a part of the chamber of said head;
- f. a rod connected to said piston, a portion of said rod being tapered in shape the largest cross-sectional area of which is located nearest the part of said rod connected to said piston;
- g. means for connecting said piston to said rod;
- h. means for engaging said rod with the external force;
- i. a plurality of radially movable tapered segmental wedges slidably engageable with the tapered portion of said rod;
- j. a plurality of cylindrical segmental bearing plates spaced from the wedges and adapted to be moved from a first closed position in which they form a substantially cylindrical wall to a second radially extended position in which they are circumferentially spaced apart;
- and
- k. means for operably connecting each of said bearing plates to said segmental wedges, slidably through said guide frame, whereby when said charge is detonated the rod and piston act on the wedges to radially move the bearing plates to engage the earthen hole wall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.