Back to results
US 5,682,712 AGranted
Steel-rubber seismic isolation bearing
AssigneeMM Systems of Arizona
InventorZoltan A. Kemeny
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A seismic isolation bearing for bridges, buildings and machines with steel reinforced rubber body and external or internal tapered steel pin uniform yielders. The pins are fixed to load plates and intersect in mid plate or in the bearing body. External pins may be threaded ended to be used with nuts and other hardware as temporary press for assembly. Also as temporary ties for handling before installation or as anchorbolts. Vertical bearing stiffness is greatly controlled by the size of a central hole, passing vertically through the bearing.
Claims29
An isolation bearing assembly comprising:
- an upper load plate having a first downwardly facing surface;
- an oppositely disposed lower load plate having a second upwardly facing surface;
- a reinforced rubber bearing body extending between and contacting said first and second surfaces;
- a mid plate disposed approximately midway between and substantially parallel to said first and second surfaces and having a distal portion which extends radially beyond said body, said distal portion including at least one hole defined therein;
- at least one yield pin extending substantially orthogonally from said first surface through said at least one hole, and having a distal end terminating between said at least one hole and said second surface, wherein said at least one yield pin is tapered from said first surface to said distal end;
- wherein, in response to an externally applied lateral force, said rubber bearing body is configured to resiliently deflect such that said yield pin is engaged by said distal portion of said mid plate to thereby plastically deform said pin.
3 more elements
An isolation bearing assembly, comprising:
- an upper load plate having a first downwardly facing surface;
- an oppositely disposed lower load plate having a second upwardly facing surface;
- a reinforced rubber bearing body extending between and contacting said first and second surfaces, said rubber bearing body including at least one cavity;
- at least one reinforcing plate embedded within said rubber bearing body and substantially parallel to said first and second surfaces including at least one hole, substantially aligned with said at least one cavity;
- and,
- at least one yield pin extending substantially orthogonally from said first surface or said second surface through at least a portion of a respective cylindrical cavity, and having a distal end terminating between said first surface and said second surface, and wherein said at least one yield pin is tapered from said first surface to said distal end;
- wherein, in response to an externally applied lateral force, said rubber bearing body is configured to resiliently deflect such that said yield pin is engaged by said reinforcing plate thereby plastically deforming said pin.
4 more elements
An isolation bearing assembly comprising:
- an upper load plate;
- a lower load plate;
- a reinforced rubber bearing body contacting said upper and lower load plates;
- a mid plate disposed within said rubber bearing body having a distal portion extending beyond said rubber bearing body, wherein the distal portion includes at least one first hole;
- and,
- a means for imparting a restoring force to said rubber bearing body when an externally applied force lateral to said assembly exceeds a predetermined value wherein said means for imparting a restoring force includes at least one tapered yield pin connected to said upper or lower load plate and extending substantially orthogonally through a respective first hole, wherein the pin is tapered such that it does not contact said distal portion of said mid plate when the externally applied lateral force is less than said predetermined value.
3 more elements
An isolation bearing assembly comprising:
- an upper load plate;
- a lower load plate;
- a reinforced rubber bearing body contacting said upper and lower load plates, wherein the rubber body includes at least one cavity;
- at least one reinforcing plate embedded within the rubber bearing body including at least one hole substantially aligned with the respective cavity;
- and,
- a means for imparting a restoring force to said rubber bearing body when an externally applied force lateral to said assembly exceeds a predetermined value, wherein said means for imparting a restoring force includes at least one tapered yield pin connected to said upper or lower load plate and extending substantially orthogonally through a respective cavity and hole, wherein the pin is tapered such that it does not contact said respective reinforcing plate when the externally applied lateral force is less than said predetermined value.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.