A foundation system for supporting a structure may include a main post, a racking post, and a barb assembly. The main post may include an upper section and a lower section below the upper section. The racking post may be telescopically connected to the upper section of the main post. The barb assembly may be connected to the lower section of the main post. The barb assembly may be configured to move from an unexpanded state to an expanded state, thereby forming a wedge shape at a lower section of the main post.

Various implementations include a ground anchoring apparatus including a longitudinal body, first and second retaining members, and a set of expanding linkage assemblies. The first retaining member is rigidly coupled to the longitudinal body. The second retaining member is movably coupled to the longitudinal body. Each expanding linkage assembly includes first and second linkage members. The first linkage member has first and second portions, and the second linkage member has third and fourth portions. The first portion is rotatably coupled to the first retaining member. The fourth portion is rotatably coupled to the second retaining member. The third portion is rotatably coupled to the second portion. The set of expanding linkage assemblies is movable between a collapsed and expanded configuration. The second retaining member is closer to the first retaining member and the third portion is further from the central axis in the expanded configuration than in the collapsed configuration.

The invention relates to a construction method, in which an excavation pit is produced in the ground and in the excavation pit foundation elements are produced at predetermined working points with at least one working apparatus. According to the invention provision is made in that in a computer unit the dimensions of the excavation pit, the working points and the dimensions of the at least one working apparatus are entered and in that in the computer unit a required workspace for the at least one working apparatus and an open space in the excavation pit are determined automatically.

The invention relates to a construction method, in which an excavation pit is produced in the ground and in the excavation pit foundation elements are produced at predetermined working points with at least one working apparatus. According to the invention provision is made in that in a computer unit the dimensions of the excavation pit, the working points and the dimensions of the at least one working apparatus are entered and in that in the computer unit a required workspace for the at least one working apparatus and an open space in the excavation pit are determined automatically.

A support pole system for supporting articles above the ground or earth includes a support pole formed from at least two elongated pole sections that are movably coupled together so that the pole sections can be moved relative to one another between collapsed and extended positions to shorten and lengthen the support pole. An article head piece is coupled to an upper end of the support pole for attaching articles to the support pole. A base assembly couples to the lower end of the support pole and has a stake configured for insertion into the ground or earth for supporting the support pole in an upright position. The stake has projecting members that engage the ground or earth when the stake is inserted therein to prevent rotation of the stake about the longitudinal axis of the stake. A cross member is positioned at an upper end of the stake to form a footrest to facilitate insertion of the stake into the ground or earth.

An anchor head mounted to or incorporated into the shaft of conventional tie down stakes and earth anchors. The anchor head eliminates the need to manually drive the earth anchor into the ground and allows the anchor to be placed and removed using conventional powered drill/drivers and hex sockets or wrenches. The anchor head has a hexagonal top section and a hexagonal bottom sectional separated by an integral, central annular shoulder. The top and bottom sections are each configured to have six equilateral side walls and dimensioned to receive two different sizes of wrench or hex socket. The bottom section of the anchor head has a threaded axial bore for receiving the threaded end of the anchor shaft. The bottom section also has a lateral “swage” bore through which a punch is inserted to swage or deform the threads of the shaft to permanently secure the anchor head to the shaft.

A universal adapter for enabling truss foundations to support conventional single-axis trackers. In some cases, the adapter has a main body with an upper portion that presents a standard I-beam interface with pre-drilled holes to interface to a specific single-axis tracker. A pair of connecting portions point down and away from the main body and enable upper leg sections to connect the adapter to a pair of driven screw anchors located below it. The connecting portions may orient the truss so that the rotational axis of the single-axis tracker is aligned with the work point of the truss foundation made from the adapter, upper legs, and driven screw anchors. This will enable to the truss to interface with many different trackers much like conventional plumb-driven H-pile foundations.

A footing plate (10) including a planar web (12) through or from which a plurality of tubes (14) pass, the tubes (14) being adjacent to the edges of the planar web (12) and being disposed at angles to the planar web (12), none of the angles being 90°, the tubes (14) being sized to permit the passage therethrough of pins (18) for fixing into underlying ground, the upper face of the planar web (12) optionally being provided with a plurality of holes to accept bolts for retaining means to receiving a post, pole or upright structural beam, the planar web (12) also being provided with a downwardly extending flange (16) from at least one of the edges of the planar web (12).

A footing plate (10) including a planar web (12) through or from which a plurality of tubes (14) pass, the tubes (14) being adjacent to the edges of the planar web (12) and being disposed at angles to the planar web (12), none of the angles being 90°, the tubes (14) being sized to permit the passage therethrough of pins (18) for fixing into underlying ground, the upper face of the planar web (12) optionally being provided with a plurality of holes to accept bolts for retaining means to receiving a post, pole or upright structural beam, the planar web (12) also being provided with a downwardly extending flange (16) from at least one of the edges of the planar web (12).

A winch anchoring assembly includes rack has an anchor portion and an attachment portion. The attachment portion has a first engagement that is attachable to a winch line of a vehicle. A plurality of spikes is coupled to and extends downwardly from a respective one of the anchor portion and the attachment portion of the rack. Each of the spikes is oriented to angle forwardly toward the first engagement on the attachment portion. In this way the spikes sink into the ground when the winch line pulls on the first engagement thereby facilitating the rack to resist being pulled out of the ground when the winch line is pulling the vehicle. A second engagement is coupled to the anchor portion of the rack and an anchoring line can attached to the second engagement thereby inhibiting movement of the rack when the which line pulls on the rack.