Man holes, utility holes, maintenance holes, access chambers and the like are often used to provide access to certain areas, including wells, sewers and the like. In well or access hole drilling, safety dictates that it is important to affix a removable cover to a newly drilled hole to prevent accidental exposure, while still allowing intentional access, to the well. In general, removable covers include manhole fixtures comprising a manhole cover received in a manhole cover frame wherein the surface of the cover is substantially flush with the surface of the substrate in which the manhole fixture is installed. Installing the manhole fixture in a position substantially flush with the substrate serves to provide a safer environment for traversing areas where holes are drilled.
To facilitate a safe environment around drilled holes, such as wells, removable manhole fixtures are frequently cast in concrete footings so as to provide ample support for the manhole cover frame and removable cover. The drawbacks to this prior art technique lies in the fact that contact with the manhole fixture must be avoided for a lengthy period of time in order for proper setting of the manhole fixture in the substrate to occur.
With manhole covers installed in areas of high traffic, such as, parking lots, such installations can lead to increased financial burden. For the business wherein the manhole fixture is being installed, costs can come by way of decreased business traffic as well as potential insurance claims for injuries sustained from premature contact with the manhole cover. For the installer, increased personnel costs come as a result of physically monitoring the manhole fixture as the adhesive or bonding agent sets in an effort to avoid improper contact or injury.
An alternative method of installing manhole fixtures including using bits having diameters greater than the well hole to create enlarged holes with diameters larger than the diameter of the manhole fixture thereby allowing for the manhole fixture to be placed into and cemented in place using an adhesive or other means such as masonry mortar. Depending on the adhesive used to set the manhole fixture, setting time can vary between hours and days. Additional drawbacks to this prior art procedure include properly centering the bit for countersink hole placement as well as the potential introduction of excess amounts of drilled material into the previously drilled hole. When holes are drilled for wells, the introduction of drilled material into the well can alter the pH of the well contents.
The invention described herein resolves this issue by creating a countersink hole in a size and shape substantially similar to the manhole fixture wherein the manhole fixture can readily be set into the countersink hole and the manhole cover used immediately thereafter. The immediate use of the manhole cover frees up a significant amount of time generally associated with waiting for the proper setting of the manhole fixture in its respective footing. An additional benefit comes by way of reducing the overall amount of masonry dust introduced into the well and possibly changing the pH of the well or the makeup of the contents therein.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds