A locking mechanism (10) for a hinge (4) is disclosed. A latch member (11) engages with a lip (12). A positive drive means (20, 23, 24, 41) enables the latch member to be driven into and out of engagement with the lip. The driven engagement when the hinge is used in relation to columns (1, 101) prevents small movements at the hinge being magnified into large movements at the end of the column members. The driven dis-engagement enables the hinge to be opened notwithstanding mechanical loads, corrosion, insect nests and similar obstacles. The drive means preferably takes two forms, namely threaded fasteners (20, 23, 24) and a spring loaded rotatable actuator (41) with ramped surfaces (48, 49) which male with ramped surfaces (61, 62) on the latch member (11).

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 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.

This inventions is a prefabricated roof plate element (6) comprising load carrying girders including longitudinal upper and lower steel frame parts placed at opposed sides of the roof plate element. The girders are corrugated at opposing upper and lower sides in the longitudinal direction at which vertical side walls of the steel frame parts are interconnected connection plates which are part of the load carrying girders. The lower steel frame parts (4) preferably are interconnected by an integral steel panel part (8) forming the bottom of the roof plate element and a ceiling of a building. The prefabricated roof plate element has uniform roof plate elements (20, 54) which are interconnected side by side, to form a wider prefabricated roof plate element. Cavities thereof are filled with insulation material and afterwards provided with a common top plate construction (70, 72) and a common roof foil covering (74).

A novel system and related methods for sequentially deploying, in automated or semi-automated fashion, a strip of a plurality of truss bays with integral solar panels from a moving carrier onto a surface being traversed, resulting in a long, contiguous truss structure laid upon on the surface. The solar panels are angled at a predetermined orientation for solar operation at the deployment location. The carrier is easily and quickly reloaded with another set of truss bays for repeated deployment of a series of strips of solar truss structures in a solar array. The solar array thus is constructed in substantially less time and with substantially less labor that conventional support racking in the filed using prior art piece-wise assembly operations.

A variable height telescoping tower includes a base section and a second lower most section nested within the base section and extendable from within the base section. The second lower most section includes a plurality of vertically spaced lock apertures disposed thereon. A lock member is attached to the base section, and includes an engaging portion movable between a disengaged position at which the engaging portion rests outside of the lock apertures and an engaged position at which the engaging portion is engaged within one of the lock apertures of the second lower most section.

A metal splice plate for joining the ends of suspended ceiling main tees of different heights and load carrying capacity, the plate having a bottom edge lying along a straight line and having a tall section adjacent one end and a short section adjacent an end opposite said one end, a formation at each of said ends providing indicia for locating the formation on the respective section on an end of a main tee of a corresponding height longitudinally at a desired position relative to and spaced from a cross runner slot on the main tee of corresponding height.

The present invention relates to a structural element known in the technical field as tensairity, which introduces as distinctive elements with respect to the known art: (i) ropes in the shape-memory alloy (SMA) with superelastic (SE) and shape memory (ME) behaviour; (ii) mechanical tensioners for the adjustment of the initial tension in the ropes; (iii) optionally a control apparatus (processor) is connected to electric circuits that induce flow of intensity variable current through the SMA wire ropes; (iv) optionally devices for real-time monitoring of the temperature and the level of tension in the SMA ropes; (v) optionally devices for real-time monitoring of the tensairity oscillations; (vi) optionally new structural geometries capable of sustaining static actions and multidirectional dynamics.

A rotary joint includes a socket rod having a socket rod flange with a basically spheroid con-cave bearing surface at a first end, a housing nut encircling the socket rod and having a threaded wrenching head, a ball rod having a basically spheroid convex bearing surface and threaded side walls around the convex bearing surface, and a joint actuator configured to actuate relative movement of the socket rod flange and the ball rod. A diameter of the threaded side walls of the ball rod corresponds to a diameter of the threaded wrenching head of the housing nut.

A method of producing floor panels is disclosed. The method includes the steps of separating a sheet formed surface material into surface strips and gluing said surface strips to a core with a space between the surface strips. A method of producing floor panels, wherein the method includes the steps of: separating a sheet formed surface layer material into surface strips; and gluing the surface strips to a sheet of core material to be cut into a plurality of floor panels, and providing a space between the surface strips, and cutting the sheet of core material, at the space, into at least two individual floor panels, forming a mechanical locking system in the sheet of core material at the space.