The present invention is intended to disclose a novel facade scaffold which has appreciable characteristics of novelty and inventiveness.
Currently, there are various known systems for the construction of facade scaffolds, which systems are based on lateral frames that incorporate vertical members, flooring platforms or planks, diagonal bracing bars, and handrail poles. Scaffold frames of various geometrical constructions are known, the main ones being the following:
These constructions are particularly susceptible to damage in transportation, require considerable storage space, and are quite difficult to fit together, owing to the need for the operator simultaneously to insert the two ends of the vertical members of each element in the corresponding housings of the already erected elements.
The scaffold of the present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, achieving quicker and safer erection than that which is currently known, with regard both to the elements making up the assemblies perpendicular to the facade and to the erection of the rails of the various modules from the corresponding lower module. Similarly, the space required for the storage and transportation of the parts of the scaffold is considerably reduced and a rigidity equivalent to that of a single-piece frame is maintained by reducing to the minimum the number of couplings with clearance between structural elements. At the same time, improved endurance in transportation is achieved by preventing damage between the parts which make up the scaffold.
Basically, the scaffold of the present invention is characterized in that it comprises a repetitive, modular unit with two pieces, an L-shaped piece with unequal arms and another piece which is constituted by a simple straight pole, making up a very rigid frame once the modular pieces have been assembled; the above-mentioned pieces can be connected before or after their installation in the scaffold and are combined with a quick-coupling device without clearance for connecting the straight piece to the horizontal arm of the other piece so that, during the erection of the assembly perpendicular to the facade of the building, the successive incorporation of the various elements will produce a very rigid structure. Another characteristic of the scaffold of the present invention is that the handrail poles can be installed and dismantled very easily from the immediately lower level of the scaffold. For this purpose, the ends of the said poles have holes of a special shape. These holes fit the cross-section of a coupler fixed to the vertical members of the scaffold frames. The handrail pole can be fitted rapidly and with a single movement at any angle, by virtue of an automatically-activated, retractable retaining clamping piece, and can be removed by operating the said clamping piece manually or by pivoting the bars to an angle at which the clamping piece coincides with slots of the end hole of the pole. This removal by pivoting is what enables the handrails to be disassembled from the immediately lower level.
The scaffold of the present invention provides, in two-piece frames with a quick coupling system, by means of rigid couplings, a split frame which, once assembled, is structurally equivalent to one-piece frames, and in which:
The quick coupling system without clearance for coupling the horizontal element of the L-shaped piece with the vertical element affords many advantages:
With regard to the safety rails which are provided in the present invention, it is pointed out that:
For a better understanding, some drawings of a preferred embodiment of the present invention are appended by way of non-limiting example.
As can be seen from the drawings, the scaffold of the present invention is constructed on the basis of a right-angled or L-shaped element 1, the component arms of which are indicated 2 and 3, and a straight pole 4, which are coupled with one another by means of a special quick coupling without play, making up a modular element; the repetition of this modular element, together with optional additional poles, not shown, will permit the construction of an assembly perpendicular to the facade in a demountable facade scaffold.
The element 1, as well as the pole 4, will be provided with a variable number of couplers with clamping pieces such as those indicated 5 and 6 for the element 1 and 7 and 8 for the pole 4. Moreover, the arm 3 of the L-shaped element 1 that is perpendicular to the arm 2 will have, at its end, a portion 9 of a quick coupling without play according to the present invention, whereas the pole 4 will have the other portion 10 of the said coupling, the construction of which can be seen in greater detail in
The couplings with retaining clamping pieces, which are indicated schematically 5, 6, 7 and 8 in
To facilitate disassembly of the elements making up the safety rail of an upper level from a lower level, the present invention provides for the arrangement shown in
To disassemble a rail element, it is possible to proceed manually from the same platform by pushing the manual clamping pieces of both ends in manually in order to be able to separate the rail element, for example, for partial disassembly, if an opening is to be obtained at the front in order to introduce or remove elements through an opening, etc.
As shown in
The piece 101 has a housing 105 for receiving the end 106 of a crosspiece 104, as can be seen in
The piece 101 has, at the bottom, a curved edge 115 for receiving the internal edge of the swinging piece 103 in a wedging action which is shown in
The piece 103 adopts a generally V-shaped, U-shaped or similar structure, swinging on the end of the crosspiece 104 and having, at the bottom, a coupling edge or region 116 with a groove 112 which coincides with the arcuate edge 115 of the piece 101, performing the fastening by wedging.
As will be appreciated in
By virtue of the arrangement of elements shown, it will be understood that the assembly of a crosspiece 104 with a vertical element 102 is very simple since it suffices to cause the end 106 of the crosspiece to fit over the receiving piece 101 in order for location to be brought about immediately by the indentations 109 and 110 and by the recess 118, after which the swinging piece 103, which may have an eccentric mass 119 for promoting its pivoting, can simply be struck as indicated by the arrow 120 in
Although the receiving piece 101 has been shown fixed firmly to the vertical element 102, for example, by welding, it will be understood that the said firm fixing could also be performed by means of transverse pins mounted so as to extend through the flanges of the piece 101 and the vertical element, or by any other device which achieves the function indicated. Similarly, the vertical coupling piece 103, the structure of which is described above as V-shaped, could have another structure, for example a U-shaped structure, etc. or may even purely be a swinging arm, that is, adopting an approximately L-shaped structure, or the like.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
200202762 | Dec 2002 | ES | national |
This application is a continuation of International Patent Application Serial No. PCT/ES2003/000613, filed Dec. 1, 2003, which claims priority of Spanish Application No. 200202762, filed Dec. 2, 2002, both of which are incorporated by reference herein. PCT/ES2003/000613 published in Spanish on Jun. 17, 2004 as WO 2004/051030 A1.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20050205357 A1 | Sep 2005 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/ES03/00613 | Dec 2003 | US |
Child | 11143171 | US |