Vertical floor sleeve

Abstract

A vertical floor sleeve and related method for barrier mounting in a dock including a dock upper surface that terminates in a dock edge, the vertical floor sleeve comprising an upper edge forming an opening for alignment with the dock upper surface and a sleeve-orientation tab removably attached to the upper edge. The tab being arranged to facilitate installation of the sleeve in the proper orientation.

1 . A vertical floor sleeve for barrier mounting in a dock including a dock upper surface that terminates in a dock edge, the vertical floor sleeve comprising an upper edge forming an opening for alignment with the dock upper surface, and a sleeve-orientation tab removably attached to the upper edge, the tab being arranged to facilitate installation of the sleeve in the proper orientation. 
     
     
         2 . The vertical floor sleeve of  claim 1  wherein the tab is a vertical planar strip extending across the upper edge of the sleeve. 
     
     
         3 . The vertical floor sleeve of  claim 1  wherein each vertical floor sleeve includes at least one circular retaining-collar thereabout with at least one vertical opening therethrough to facilitate installation. 
     
     
         4 . The barrier of  claim 3  wherein there are at least two of the vertically-spaced circular retaining-collars. 
     
     
         5 . The barrier of  claim 4  wherein:
 each vertical floor sleeve has an upper edge; and 
 a sleeve-orientation tab is removably attached to the upper edge, the tab being oriented to facilitate installation of the sleeve in the proper orientation. 
 
     
     
         6 . The barrier of  claim 5  wherein the tab is a vertical planar strip extending across the upper edge of the sleeve. 
     
     
         7 . A method for installing a plurality of vertical floor sleeves for barrier mounting in a dock that includes a dock upper surface terminating in a dock edge, the barrier having sleeve-insertion members for removable insertion in the floor sleeves, the method for each floor sleeve comprising the steps of:
 providing a vertical floor sleeve including an upper edge forming an opening for alignment with the dock upper surface and a sleeve-orientation tab removably attached to the upper edge, the tab being arranged to facilitate installation of the sleeve in the proper orientation;   forming a hole in the dock, the hole being exposed at the dock upper surface and having a cross-section sufficient to receive the floor sleeve;   inserting the floor sleeve into the hole so that the upper edge is at the opening of the hole;   rotationally orienting the floor sleeve with respect to the dock edge using the sleeve-orientation tab so that the floor sleeve is properly oriented with respect to the dock edge for removably receiving the sleeve-insertion member of the barrier;   filling the hole with grout, concrete or asphalt around the floor sleeve; and   detaching the sleeve-orientation tab from the upper edge of the floor sleeve.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the forming step is drilling a cylindrical hole in the dock. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the tab is a vertical planar strip extending across the upper edge of the sleeve. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the tab is long enough to engage the dock upper surface beyond the hole, thereby to prevent the floor sleeve from being over inserted into the hole in the dock. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the removable attachment of the tab to the upper edge of the sleeve is a breakable tack weld. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7  wherein:
 each floor sleeve forms an opening which is elongate in cross-section and configured to receive the sleeve-insertion member which is a vertical plate; and 
 the rotationally orienting step orients the floor sleeve with the elongate opening substantially perpendicular to the dock edge. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7  wherein each vertical floor sleeve includes at least one retaining-collar thereabout to facilitate installation, the at least one retaining-collar resisting vertical movement of the floor sleeve including during curing of the grout, concrete or asphalt. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein there are at least two of the vertically-spaced retaining collars. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13  wherein each of the at least one retaining-collars has at least one vertical opening therethrough to allow flow of grout, concrete or asphalt therethrough during the filling step. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15  wherein:
 the hole formed in the dock is cylindrical; and 
 each of the at least one retaining-collars is circular to conform to the opening. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the filling step is after the rotationally orienting step.