Apparatus and system for securing a hollow pile in the ground

Abstract

There is provided an apparatus for securing a hollow pile in the ground. The pile has a wall with an inner surface. The apparatus includes a first actuator and a second actuator. Each of the actuators has a central chamber, a pair of spaced-apart peripheral chambers, a pair of pistons interposed between the central chamber and the peripheral chambers, respectively, and a pair of piston rods coupled to and extending outwards from respectively ones of the pistons. The piston rods of the first actuator are shaped to form protrusions in the pile when the first actuator is actuated to move its piston rods outwards. The apparatus includes a pair of support members operatively connected to the piston rods of the second actuator. The support members are shaped to abut and support the inner surface of the pile when the second actuator is actuated to move its piston rods outwards.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for securing a hollow pile in the ground, the pile having a wall with an inner surface, the apparatus comprising:
 a protrusion-forming member selectively extendable outwards towards the inner surface of the pile to create an outwardly-extending protrusion in the pile; and   a support member shaped to selectively move outwards to abut and support the inner surface of the wall of the pile.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the support member is shaped to selectively move outwards to abut and support the inner surface of the wall of the pile when the protrusion is being formed. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the support member is shaped to selectively move outwards to abut and support the inner surface of the wall of the pile prior to the protrusion being formed. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1  further including an actuator configured to selectively move the protrusion-forming member outwards to create the protrusion in the pile upon pressurized hydraulic fluid being applied to the actuator. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1  further including an actuator configured to selectively move the support member outwards to abut and support the inner surface of the wall of the pile when pressurized hydraulic fluid is applied to the actuator. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the support member extends about the inner surface of at least part of the pile. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 1  wherein the support member includes a brace that extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to outwards movement of the support member. 
     
     
         8 . An apparatus for securing a hollow pile in the ground, the pile having a wall with an inner surface, the apparatus comprising:
 a first actuator and a second actuator, each of said actuators having a central chamber, a pair of spaced-apart peripheral chambers, a pair of pistons interposed between the central chamber and the peripheral chambers, respectively, and a pair of piston rods coupled to and extending outwards from respectively ones of the pistons, the piston rods of the first actuator being shaped to form protrusions in the pile when said first actuator is actuated to move its piston rods outwards; and   a pair of support members operatively connected to the piston rods of the second actuator, the support members being shaped to abut and support the inner surface of the pile when said second actuator is actuated to move its piston rods outwards.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the central chambers of the actuators are hydraulically connected to each other and wherein the peripheral chambers of the actuators are hydraulically connected to each other. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the peripheral chambers of the first actuator are hydraulically connected to each other and wherein the peripheral chambers of the second actuator are hydraulically connected to each other. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the support members are arcuate-shaped. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the pistons are telescopic. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 8 , the pile having a longitudinal axis, wherein the actuators have longitudinal axes which substantially intersect with and extend perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the pile. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 8  wherein the actuators are coupled together via portions of the actuators adjacent to the central chambers of the actuators. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 8  further including a third actuator substantially similar to the second actuator, the first actuator stacking on top of the second actuator, the third actuator stacking on top of the first actuator, the first actuator having protrusion-forming members connected to respective ones of its piston rods, the protrusion-forming members being shaped to selectively extend between the support members of the first actuator and the third actuator. 
     
     
         16 . An apparatus for securing a hollow pile in the ground, the pile having a wall with an inner surface, the apparatus comprising:
 a first set of actuators having piston rods with ends shaped to form outwardly-extending protrusions in the pile when said first set of actuators is actuated to extend its piston rods outwards;   a second set of actuators coupled to and interposed between respective ones of the first set of actuators; and   a plurality of support members operatively connected to piston rods of the second set of actuators, the support members being shaped to abut and support the inner surface of the pile when said second set of actuators is actuated to move its piston rods outwards.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 16  wherein the piston rods of the first set of actuators have distal ends arranged in a spiral formation. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 16 , the pile having a longitudinal axis, and wherein the support members are spaced-apart from each relative to the longitudinal axis to enable at least one of the respective ones of the ends of the piston rods of the first set of actuators to selectively extend therebetween. 
     
     
         19 . A method of securing a hollow pile to the ground using the apparatus of  claim 1 , the pile having a bottom portion and a wall with an inner surface extending upwards from the bottom, the method comprising:
 driving the pile into the ground;   lowering the apparatus into a portion of the pile driven into the ground;   moving the support member outwards by supplying pressurized hydraulic fluid to the apparatus;   moving the protrusion-forming member outwards and against the wall of the pile by supplying pressurized hydraulic fluid to the apparatus and thereby forming an outwardly-extending protrusion in the pile;   incrementally raising the apparatus;   filling a bottom portion of the pile with a flowable filler material as the apparatus is raised; and   filling a top portion of the pile with concrete as the apparatus is further raised.   
     
     
         20 . The method as claimed in  claim 19  including, after the moving step:
 rotating the apparatus and then supplying hydraulic fluid to move the support member outwards and the protrusion-forming member outwards to form a further protrusion. 
 
     
     
         21 . The method as claimed in  claim 19  wherein the flowable filler material is one from the group consisting of sand, mud and control density fill.