STRUCTURAL SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR ROCKWORK WITH MECHANICAL FASTENING OF ADJACENT CHIP ASSEMBLIES

Number: 20230175261
Published: 2023-06-08
Filed: 2021-12-02
Assignee: Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Inventors: Hormay; Zsolt et al.
CPC: E04C5/163; E04C5/16; E04C5/167; E04C5/168; E04C5/18; E04G21/122
Verdict: Low Hardware
Source: Google Patents · FreePatentsOnline

The keeper's note

Themed rockwork structural-support hardware for park set-building.

Abstract

Rebar-based support assemblies that can be fabricated without the need for on-site welding. The assemblies include a number of differing sized and shaped crimps used in place of welds to provide rebar assembly-to-rebar assembly connections. Each crimp mechanically couples two or three pieces of rebar together, such as a border bar of one rebar assembly to a border bar of an adjacent rebar assembly. Each crimp includes a body with two or more arcuate recessed surfaces each for receiving a piece of rebar. In a first configuration of the crimp, a pair of spaced-apart arms (or extending members) extend from the body and define an opening through which the rebar is passed and set into the recessed surfaces. A deformation force is applied upon the two arms to deform the body into a second configuration with the arms in abutting contact or nearly so at an outer tip or end.

Background

BACKGROUND 1. Field of the Description

The present description relates, in general, to fabrication of physical structures formed with underlying or integral structural support systems or networks of rebar over which foam, concrete, plaster, shotcrete, or other material may be applied or installed. These architectural or physical structures may include outdoor and indoor scenery structures (or “rockwork”) that may be used in rides and attractions for use in amusement parks and theme parks or that may be used at malls, city parks, and other settings. More particularly, the present description relates to a structural support system or network for such physical structures that is designed to replace welded joints with mechanical fastening to join adjacent chip assemblies (i.e., sections or mesh panels formed of bent and joined lengths or pieces of rebar (or pieces of rods or bars typically formed of a metal such as a steel)). 2. Relevant Background

Rebar (or reinforcing bar), which is typically formed of steel, is used widely as a tension device in architectural or physical structures to reinforce the main structural material such as to provide reinforced masonry, concrete, and other material structures. The rebar is used to strengthen the material in which it is embedded then this material is under tension. For example, concrete and many other structural materials are strong under compression but relatively weak under tension, and the rebar significantly increases

Claims

1. A support system for use in fabricating a physical structure, comprising: a plurality of rebar assemblies, wherein each of the rebar assemblies comprises a first set of pieces of rebar extending about an exterior border and a second set of pieces of rebar arranged in a crisscross pattern to infill a space within the exterior border; and a plurality of two-bar crimps interconnecting adjacent pairs of the plurality of the rebar assemblies, wherein each of the two-bar crimps receives a piece of rebar from the first set of pieces of rebar from each of the adjacent pairs and retains the two received pieces of rebar in abutting contact. || 11. A method of fabricating a support structure for use in a physical structure, comprising: positioning a first rebar panel in a first predefined position of the support structure; positioning a second rebar panel in a second predefined position of the support structure, wherein each of the first and second rebar panels comprises a first set of pieces of rebar extending about an exterior border and a second set of pieces of rebar arranged in a crisscross pattern to infill a space within the exterior border and wherein a pair of the first set of pieces of the rebar from the first and second rebar assemblies are adjacent and parallel; and physically coupling the pair of the first set of pieces of the rebar together by positioning a crimp over the pair of the first set of pieces of the rebar and applying a deforming force to the crimp to plastically deform the crimp from a first configuration to a second configuration. || 17. A crimp for mechanically joining rebar for use in a support system for a physical structure, comprising: a body with at least two recessed surfaces each configured for receiving a piece of rebar; and a pair of spaced apart arms encircling an interior space of the body including the at least two recessed surfaces, wherein the body is reconfigurable via plastic deformation under a deforming force from a first configuration, in which tips of the spaced apart arms define an opening to the interior space that is greater than an outer diameter of each of the pieces of rebar to provide access to the at least two recessed surfaces, to a second configuration, in which the opening is less than the outer diameter of each of the pieces of rebar.