The present invention relates to a pile driving system for use in the construction equipment for driving piles into the ground. The invention particularly relates to a pile driving system comprising an easy assembly allowing different profiles to be driven into the ground and a mountable assembly design that is highly resistant the vertical vibrating forces.
It is a construction technology which has long been known and used in which cylindrical pipes having long or short diameters, a steel pile with a “Z”-shaped profile referred to as sheet pile or a pile having any other profile are driven into especially soil grounds or similar grounds. In order to drive the profiles with such shapes, the high-power equipment pushes the profile into the ground vertically (or with a definite angle) through vibration. In other words, driving process is performed by small (vibrating) sudden momentums. Huge forces which are applied with both a high impetus and a vibration allow the piles to be driven into the ground. The profile and strength of the pile to be driven, the magnitude of the force applied, and absolutely the amount of the vibration are also significant as well as the structure of the ground. When driving a pile, the construction equipment should tightly grip the pile and push the pile towards the ground by a strong force and vibration. This system is generally referred to as pile driving system.
The pile driving systems may be such that they are attached to the construction equipment and machinery which carry out this process only. What is important is the pushing and driving process of the pile into the ground with a strong force through vibration. To carry out this main process, the pile driving systems eventually provided significant developments. Some of these systems comprises hydraulic, some mechanic, and some comprises both hydraulic and mechanic systems.
There are many developments in the prior art concerning the pile driving system discussed in the invention. Some of these developments comprises the construction (arrangement structure) for clamping the profile and some of them comprises the constructions created for driving thereof. Considering clamping and then driving, but especially clamping arrangement of the pile, in general the pincers-like clamping arrangements or the clamping arrangements of mechanic or hydraulic forces between directly two arms has been found in the prior art. The clamping process is carried out by a hydraulic piston located at one side in most of the clamping arrangements functioning as the pincers with two arms arranged crosswise to each other.
In the prior art, a study on the pile driving arrangements is disclosed in the British Patent No. GB2358035. In said patent, there are two arms hinged at the middle portion, a hydraulic cylinder located between these two arms at the rear part, and the shoes comprising a pressure plate on the pressing portions at the ends of these two arms which is designed according to the profile of the pile to be driven. While these shoes may be used for adjusting or changing, in said patent, the pressure force (opening force) of the hydraulic piston created at the rear portion is transformed to the clamping force at the front portion. It is obvious that in order to allow this structure to resist to the created forces during the vibratory pressure, the pressure force (i.e. clamping force) should be high and resistant to the shear force of the connections therein.
In the prior art, another study on the pile driving arrangements is the U.S. Pat. No. 3,112,830. In said patent, two arms clamping the pile to be driven like an oval clamp and a hydraulic piston advancing these arms towards each other from the rear portion are seen.
Another patent which has been found in the prior art is the U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,375. Also in this patent, two arms are seen which are used for clamping (stabilizing) and driving the pile. While the main principle of these two arms is similar to the pincers as stated above, it is obvious that the hinged connection structure of the arms is highly different. The feature of the said design is that the arms are opened and closed by the hinge's movement being parallel to the axis between the arms and vertical to the opening direction of two arms. It is surprising that the shoe (machine component clamping the material to be driven) at the ends of these arms is a replaceable shoe.
Another patent which has been found in the prior art is the U.S. Pat. No. RE37661E. In said patent, an arrangement is disclosed being attached to a construction equipment and driving the profiles with sheet pile shapes by gripping. There are two arms or jaws clamping the profile to be driven in this arrangement. However, it is seen that one of these arms is movable and the other is stationary. The clamping is enabled by the pressure of the hydraulic cylinder such that the movable arm is hinged (located by a hinge) at the body of the arrangement in a place near middle portions.
In the prior art, an arrangement on the pile driving systems is disclosed in the European Patent No. EP2003252. In said patent, as is known from the prior art, there are two arm at least one of which is movable, a hydraulic piston creating the clamping force at the rear portion of these arms, and particularly the shoes at the end portion of the movable arm (or jaw) to clamp the object to be driven. It is claimed that it is possible to mount these shoes to the jaws by means of pins or screws and replace them, if desired. It is also claimed that it is possible to replace these shoes and to clamp and drive not only certain profiles but also different profiles such as circular and flat profiles. It is seen that the issue of replacing the shoes is mentioned in some patents as referred above, though it is not the main focus thereof. Moreover, it is obvious that the stationary holes and the fastening means (pins or screws) arranged in these stationary holes may facilitate the clamping during the replacement process. However, it is conceived that there will be a high shear force introduced into the fastening means (pins or screws) during the vibratory driving operation, thus there will be a need for too many holes and fastening means to provide resistance to these forces, which obstructs the possibility of easily assembling and disassembling, in addition to adding to the costs. The arrangement of the invention to be described below is known to be developed to overcome the problems of the prior art and especially of the design described in this patent.
Another patent of the prior art is an international patent no. WO2017018951 with priority in Turkey. In said patent, two arms arranged like pincers clamping the object to be driven, the hydraulic cylinder at the rear portion creating the clamping force towards the front portion, a toothed hinge structure formed near the middle portion of these arms, and the replaceable shoes formed at the end portions (jaws) of the arms are obviously seen.
In the prior art, it is obvious that there are other constructions or structures about the pile driving. Here, the documents on the state of the art being helpful for creating the invention. As an alternative to the prior art, an easily-replaceable and high strength clamping arrangement of the pile driving system will be described which constitutes the invention.
The object of the pile driving system of the invention is to obtain a movable jaw arrangement having shoes with an assembly construction which may easily be assembled and disassembled and comprising a connection surface resistant to high pressure forces.
In the pile driving system of the invention, the connection surfaces between the jaws and the shoes attached to the jaws are also resistance fields that are created against the driving force (said force is assumed to be a vertical force against the ground, but it is not necessarily a vertical force always). Thus, there is a need for too many holes or attachment elements for the assembly of the shoes onto the jaws. As remembered, in the prior art, there is a need for a force facing the vertical forces to attach the shoe mounted onto the jaws and in order to tightly hold the shoes together with the unit to be driven. There used to be a need for a plurality of attachment elements so as to face the shear force to come in order to face these forces and also to allow the shoe to remain rigid on the jaw, however, this case is eliminated by the system of the invention.
In the pile driving system of the invention, a pincers system is used which clamps the pile to be driven by approaching each other and releasing the pile by moving away from each other and which is movable by a hydraulic piston from the rear according to the prior art. A mounting area is formed on the jaws at the end portions of the movable arms and the shoes which are designed according to the profile of the pile to be driven are arranged there. In order to easily locate these shoes, the protrusions and housings are created. A vertical pin is used in order to attach the shoes onto the jaws rigidly. An ordinary worker may easily replace the jaws at the end of the pile driving system by means of such a design.
By the pile driving system of the invention, a system was obtained which comprises shoes according to the profile structure of the piles and may be easily assembled and disassembled on the jaws at the end of the movable arms. Thus, not only an abutment surface between the jaw and the shoe but also a connection surface providing an easy assembly is obtained. Therefore, there is no need for a plurality of resistant mounting elements any more against the vertical driving force (pressure force). An attachment is provided without these mounting elements. A vertically-arranged mounting pin is sufficient to allow the connection of the shoe to the jaw. Therefore, there is no need any more for the complex systems and high strength attachment elements to attach and detach the shoe mounted to the jaw as is the case with the prior art.
1—Body
2—Body connection arrangement
3—Push piston
4—Pile
5—Arm
6—Jaw
7—Shoe
8—Jaw recessed connection surface
9—Shoe recessed connection surface
10—Wedge stabilizing element
11—Securing wedge
F1—Pressure force
F2—Reaction force
F1′—Pressure force on the teeth
F2′—Reaction force on the teeth
F3—Combining force
The pile driving system of the invention is mainly designed to be attached to the construction equipment for the piles to be driven into the ground. However, it is possible to be manufactured so as to be attached to the machines manufactured for pile driving only or any construction equipment, if preferred. It is obvious that the general view, the connection way and the sizes of the system may vary. However, the system of rigidly holding the pile as stated below comprises a development basically carried out. Therefore, while the power creating system in said system is preferably hydraulic, it may also comprise mechanic or hybrid systems. On the other hand, the general connection way, the control way, the sizes and the appearance may vary.
As can be seen in
In the pile driving system of the invention, as it can be seen from the images given for illustrative purposes in
As it can be seen from the representative images in
The pile driving system of the invention comprises wedge stabilizing element (10) located on the shoe (7) allowing the jaw (6) including the jaw recessed connection surface (8) and the shoe (7) including the shoe recessed connection surface (9) to be rigidly connected to each other, at least one gap (6c) created on the jaw (6) into which said wedge stabilizing element (10) enters, and the securing wedge (11) providing the rigidity during the connection of said wedge stabilizing element (10). A structure is formed which comprises a wedge hole (6a) and a wedge bearing (6b) such that the securing wedge (11) is easily assembled to the jaw (6) and disassembled from the jaw (6) and bears it. The construction herein should be as follows: The connection between the shoe (7) and the jaw (6) should be as a connection of two recessed surfaces rather than a connection of two flat surfaces. The recessed surfaces will face the vertical forces. In other words, the sliding of the shoe (7) on the jaw (6) will be prevented considerably. This is because the machine component which was named as a kind of shoe, but functioning as a pressure plate used to be directly connected to the jaw via the attachment elements such as screw or pins in the prior art, which leads to huge burdens on the attachment elements. In the system of the invention, the jaw (6) and the shoe (7) connection surfaces carry the burden (the pressure force) as described below. The jaw recessed connection surface (8) on the jaw (6) and the shoe recessed connection surface (9) on the shoe (7) are the main components of the invention and they will be described below in detail. In order to tightly connect the shoe (7) to the jaw (6) and to connect the recessed surfaces to each other in an exact overlapping manner, at least one wedge stabilizing element (10) is located on the shoe, preferably in the middle portions (7). A hole (6c) is created on the jaw (6) into which the wedge stabilizing element (10) enters. There is at least one wedge stabilizing element (10) and it is preferably located at the middle portion of the shoe (7). However, the number thereof may be increased. There is preferably one hole (6c) and it is on the hole area into which the wedge stabilizing element (10) may enter. During the connection, the wedge stabilizing element (10) enters into the hole (6c). A wedge compression housing (10a) is formed on the wedge stabilizing element (10) in order to prevent the wedge stabilizing element (10) to be detached by itself. The securing wedge (11) is inserted thereto and the rigidity is enabled. The rigidity here means that they fully grasp each other, there is no vibration or gap, and however they may be easily disassembled and assembled back if desired. In order to easily handle the securing wedge (11) and to increase the rigidity, the wedge hole (6a) into which the securing wedge (11) enters in the jaw (6) and the wedge bearing (6b) on which the securing wedge (11) will be supported (or located) are formed.
In the pile driving system of the invention, the recessed connection surfaces on the shoe (7) and the jaw (6) are combined as stated above. During this combination, the rigidity is provided by the wedge stabilizing element (10) on the shoe (7) entering the gap (6c) and the securing wedge (11) being inserted into the wedge compression housing (10a). However, the opposite case may optionally occur. In other words, the wedge stabilizing element (10) is formed on the jaw (6) and the wedge bearing (6b) on the shoe, and by a similar arrangement, i.e. by the securing wedge (11), the compression is enabled. It is a significant functional novelty that the jaw recessed connection surface (8) located at the jaw (6) and the shoe recessed connection surface (9) located at the shoe (7) come together by an overlapping manner. It is a characteristic feature that such a rigid connection is provided and said rigid connection may easily attached and detached optionally. Thus, the rigidity may be provided for the shoe (7) and the jaw (6) through a sliding connection and a pin passing therebetween to prevent these slides to move back.
In
The pile driving system of the invention may be basically attached to the construction equipment and hydraulically controlled. However, it may also comprise mechanic or hybrid systems if desired. The main objective of these systems is that the jaws (6) move the arms (6) so as to be closer and move away from each other. The system in which the assembly and disassembly of the shoes on the jaws (6) are easy as stated above may be provided through the wedge or other systems such that it comprises the connection surfaces (8, 9). The system of the invention will be possibly applied on the independent pile driving machines or the construction equipment.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2019/04044 | Mar 2019 | TR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/TR2019/050218 | 4/4/2019 | WO | 00 |