Cable rock anchor

Claim 2

An anchor assembly adapted to anchor a cable disposed within a hole comprising, in combination, cable gripping means for gripping said cable while said cable and said anchor assembly are being advanced within said hole, and expandable hole gripping means in contact with said cable gripping means, said cable gripping means comprising a set of conical wedges having toothed faces in contact with said cable and smooth frustoconical outer faces engaging a cooperating smooth frustoconical face communicating with said hole gripping means, said expandable hole gripping means having outer hole-engaging toothed faces and smooth wedge shaped inner faces in contact with smooth wedge faces communicating with said cable gripping means to expand said hole-engaging toothed faces outwards in response to tension applied to said cable, whereby tension applied to said cable causes said cable gripping means to grip said cable ever more tightly and said hole gripping means to engage the face of said hole ever more tightly as said tension is increased.

Claim 3

An anchor assembly in accordance with claim 1 wherein said hole gripping means and said cable gripping means are connected by a hollow cylindrical body having wedge faces on the outer surface thereof to expand said hole gripping means and having an inner frustoconical face adapted to engage the outer frustoconical faces of said cable gripping means.

Claim 4

An anchor assembly in accordance with claim 2 wherein means are provided to initially engage the toothed faces of said cable gripping means against said cable.

Claim 5

A cable anchoring assembly adapted to anchor a cable in a solid body comprising: (a) a locking cylinder having a first central bore of a diameter sufficient to clear said cable and a threaded second central bore of larger diameter than said first bore, said first bore and said second bore connected by a conical surface and said cylinder having a wedge-shaped outer surface intersecting said first bore; (b) a plurality of segmented conical wedges having a truncated bearing face adjacent a gripping surface for gripping said cable and a smooth surface for slideably engaging said conical surface of said locking cylinder; (c) a wedge nut having a central passageway to clear said cable and an extended bearing surface having an outer diameter to clear and partially extend beyond said threaded second central bore without contacting said conical surface of said locking cylinder while bearing against said truncated bearing face of said wedges, said nut having a raised threaded region adjacent said extended bearing surface to threadably engage said threaded second central bore of said locking cylinder, and a wrenching surface adjacent said raised threaded region; and (d) an expandable gripping means having an outer gripping surface and a V-shaped slot to slideably engage said wedge-shaped outer surface of said locking cylinder.

Claim 6

A cable anchoring assembly adapted to anchor a cable in a solid body comprising: (a) a locking cylinder having a first central bore of a diameter sufficient to clear said cable and a threaded second central bore of larger diameter than said first bore, said first bore and said second bore connected by a conical surface and said cylinder having a wedge-shaped outer surface intersecting said first bore; (b) a plurality of segmented conical wedges having a truncated bearing face adjacent a gripping surface for gripping said cable and a smooth surface for slideably engaging said conical surface of said locking cylinder; (c) a wedge nut having a central passageway to clear said cable and an extended bearing surface having an outer diameter to clear and partially extend beyond said threaded second central bore without contacting said conical surface of said locking cylinder while bearing against said truncated bearing face of said wedges, said nut having a raised threaded region adjacent said extended bearing surface to threadably engage said threaded second central bore of said locking cylinder, and a wrenching surface adjacent said raised threaded region; and (d) an expandable gripping means having an outer gripping surface and a V-shaped slot to slideably engage said wedge-shaped outer surface of said locking cylinder.

Claim 7

A cable anchoring assembly as defined in claim 4 wherein, said conical surface of said locking cylinder forms an angle of from about 4° to about 16° with the axis of said locking cylinder.

Claim 8

A cable anchoring assembly as defined in claim 4 wherein, said smooth surface and the axis of said conical wedges form an angle of from about 6° to about 18°.

Claim 9

A cable anchoring assembly as defined in claim 6 wherein, said angle formed between said smooth surface and the axis of said conical wedged is at least 2° greater than the angle formed between said conical surface and the axis of said locking surface.