A post sleeve provides a substantially permanent base for supporting a post for a fence or sign, and from which one post can be removed and replaced with another post. The sleeve includes a concrete body that is poured on site, using a sleeve core prepositioned in the post hole, and around which wet concrete is poured. After the concrete is cured, the core is removed, leaving a post sleeve cavity configured to receive a post. The core can be rigid, or can include a flexible shell and stiffener. A preformed post sleeve top can be attached to the sleeve core and positioned therewith in the post hole, to become a permanent part of the post sleeve, once the concrete cures. A drain is attached to the core, and remains in the sleeve when the core is removed, and can be a percolation chamber, or passage extending below the sleeve.

A method of forming a post sleeve within a post hole in the ground to include a post receiving cavity to insertably receive and support a post is provided. The method includes positioning a post sleeve core within the post hole with the aid of an elongate installation member and depositing uncured material into the post hole to at least partially surround the post sleeve core while the post sleeve core is attached to the elongate installation member. The method further includes allowing the uncured material to harden around the post sleeve core to form at least a portion of the post-receiving cavity of the post sleeve and removing the post sleeve core from the hardened material to expose the post receiving cavity to receive and support the post. Other related methods of forming post sleeves are also provided.

An uplift-resisting assembly, connected to a top of a tubular member of a height adjustable structural column, acts to transfer load, particularly uplift loads imposed on the structure to which the column supports, therethrough and into the tubular member. The housing of the assembly is connected to the tubular member, which is connected to a base such as a footing. A threaded rod extends through the housing and into the tubular member. A top plate, connectable to a structure above is attached to the top of the threaded rod. An adjustment nut, threaded onto the threaded rod for adjusting the height of the column is sandwiched between the top of the housing and the top of the tubular member. The adjustment nut bears on the tubular member in compression and bears on the top of the housing during uplift, the uplift being transferred via the housing into the tubular member.

A bridging device in center girder construction for a building joint between two building components having at least two edge girders and at least one center girder arranged between the edge girders and on at least one cross member bridging the building joint that each have a cross member bearing for bearing the cross member on the respective building components at their lateral ends. The object of the present invention is to provide a novel bridging device that is formed in particular space-saving. The initially described bridging device has a cross member having at least two cross member segments arranged along a longitudinal axis of the cross member and arranged displaceable relative to each other toward the longitudinal axis, so the length of the cross member is variable.

A deployable boom structure is provided that, in one embodiment, includes one or more perforated tapes, a drive mechanism with a sprocket mechanism for engaging each of the perforated tapes to transition the tapes between an undeployed state and a deployed state, and three battens that each extend between the tapes. At least one of the battens is a sliding batten, i.e., a batten that engages each of the tapes but through which each of the tapes can slide. Lanyards and detents cooperate to fix the location of a sliding batten relative to the tapes after a predetermined length of each of the tapes has slid through the batten. In a particular embodiment, the deployable boom structure is coupled with a solar blanket that can be Z-folded.

A support apparatus 100 is disclosed herein. In a described embodiment, the support apparatus 100 comprises a connector plate 202 having a connector primary plate 204 for mounting to a support structure 104, and opposing side leg portions 210,212 integrally formed with the connector primary plate 204 and projecting from the connector primary plate 204. Each of the opposing side leg portions 210,212 includes engaging members 222 for attaching the side leg portions 210,212 to respective side walls of an elongate support member 300. A load bearing connector is also disclosed, among other components.

A deformable device has an extended state, a flattened state, and a rolled state if a beam, where a stiffness and strength of the deformable beam or hinge in the extended state is greater than a different stiffness and strength of the deformable beam or hinge in the flattened state. An end face cross section includes a main C curved member which defines an about circular shape of an arc ranging between about a quarter arc and a substantially full circle. A periodic C curved member defines at least two about C shaped curves. The periodic C curved member has a first periodic C curved member end mechanically coupled to the first main C curved member end, and a second periodic C curved member end mechanically coupled to the second main C curved member end. A deformable device with a V shaped member is also described.

The invention provides an extendible member (10) which is configurable between a coiled form (11) and an extended form (12). The extendible member (10) comprises: a primary member (14) comprising a sheet of material resiliently biased in a slit tube form, wherein the slit tube can be opened out at the slit to assume an open form in which it has a flattened cross section; at least one resilient secondary member (15) having first and second connections to the primary member (14) at respective different circumferential positions on the primary member (14), wherein in the extended form, the primary member (14) is in its slit tube form and the resiliency of the secondary member (15) causes at least part of the secondary member (15) to displace towards the slit in the primary member (14) to provide torsional and axial stiffness to the primary member (14), and wherein in the coiled form (11), the primary member (14) is in its open form and the secondary member (15) conforms to the flattened cross section of the primary member (149) so that primary and secondary member can be co-coiled. Corresponding methods are also provided.

A seismic axial dampener device is constructed of a multitude of composite or metallic conical compression discs and an exo-structure capable of dampening both tension and compression cycles of a building structure due to a seismic, explosion, or wind event. The dampener reacts and dampens the loading in both tension and compression along the axis of the cross brace in linear-elastic bending, creating internal hoop stress, and not through shear of the dampener device.

A seismic axial dampener device is constructed of a multitude of composite or metallic conical compression discs and an exo-structure capable of dampening both tension and compression cycles of a building structure due to a seismic, explosion, or wind event. The dampener reacts and dampens the loading in both tension and compression along the axis of the cross brace in linear-elastic bending, creating internal hoop stress, and not through shear of the dampener device.