The present invention relates generally to a method for suspending a structure relative to another structure. The method may be used, for example, in the temporary erection of platforms below a bridge deck so that cleaning, painting, or other maintenance work may be performed thereon. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of suspension devices such as slings. For example, slings may be used for attaching such platforms or other scaffolding members to overhead structures such as bridge decks so that they are suspended at a desired height therefrom. The present invention is also applicable for the suspension of other things.
Applicant's company, Safespan Platform Systems, Inc., has for many years provided and erected temporary platforms or scaffolding below bridge decks, as exemplified in their U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,730,248; 5,921,346; 6,003,634; 6,135,240; 6,138,793; 6,227,331; 6,264,002; 6,302,237; 6,386,319; and 6,523,644, and published application 2011/0085854, all of which patents and published application are incorporated herein by reference.
Such a sling is illustrated at 32 in FIGS. 1, 2, and 30 of the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,644 (wherein it is called an auxiliary support cable), wherein the lower ends of slings are attached to a platform (which is also supported by underlying cables) and their upper ends are attached to bridge structure.
A sling in accordance with the prior art is illustrated at 10 in the drawings. A sling 10 is a length of cable 15 (or wire rope or other suitable flexible strand) having attachment means in the form of a loop or eye or eyelet 12 at each end wherein the cable is folded back over and attached to itself to form an eyelet or loop, and a protective thimble 17 suitably received within the eyelet. The sling 10 shown in
There are often instances requiring the adjustment of the lengths of the slings in-situ or in the field during the erection process, and length adjustable slings, wherein the eyelet at one end is formed in the field during the erection process, have been provided for this purpose. A length-adjustable sling in accordance with the prior art is illustrated generally at 20 in
The clamps 22 are typically applied in the field during the erection process, then the cable end, illustrated at 24, pulled through until the desired height or sling length is obtained, then the clamps tightened. While such adjustable slings 20 as in
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a suspension assembly wherein the length or height over which it is used can be easily adjusted.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a suspension assembly wherein the length or height over which it is used can be adjusted in a manner so as not to result in kinks in the cables so that the suspension assemblies/slings can be satisfactorily re-used.
In order to provide for easy adjustability of the length or height over which a suspension assembly is used and without kinking the cable thereby allowing re-use of the suspension assembly/sling, in accordance with the present invention, an adjustment assembly (or assemblies) is provided to which an eyelet of a sling is attachable at incremental positions, an end portion of the adjustment assembly being attachable to a structure.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment(s) thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein the same reference numerals denote the same or similar parts.
Referring to
Referring to
An eye hook 62, with a safety latch 63, has a portion 64 which is received between the plates 42 (the hook extending downwardly from the ends of the plates 42), the portion 64 having an aperture (not shown) in which the bolt shank 52 is received. A pair (or more) of spacers 66 are also received on the shank 52 on opposite sides of the hook portion 64 to allow for or fill in the desired spacing between the plates 42 to avoid play but allowing free movement of the hook 62.
Adjacent the position of the fastener 48, a pin 44 is provided to suitably connect the plates 42 in a manner to maintain alignment and a desired spacing between the plates 42 so that the hook 62 may be loosely received so that it may swivel about the bolt shank 52, which may have diameter of, for example, about ⅝ inch, with the bolt assembly being, for example, a grade 8 bolt assembly. It should be understood that the hook 62 can be otherwise suitably attached and the plate spacing otherwise suitably maintained, an alternative embodiment thereof being described hereinafter with respect to
In order to provide sling height (length) adjustability, in accordance with the present invention, spaced over the length (height) of each plate 42 are a plurality of spaced holes, illustrated at 70, the holes of one plate being in alignment with the holes respectively of the other plate. To connect the sling 10 to the adjustment device 40, the lower sling eyelet 12 is received between the plates 42, and the pin portion 74 of a scaffold pin 72 is received in a hole 70 in one plate 42, then within the sling eyelet 12, then in the respectively aligned hole 70 in the other plate 42. The number and spacing for the pairs of aligned holes is dependent on the particular application, i.e., the height over which the sling is to be adjusted and how precise of adjustment is required. For example, there may be 13 aligned pairs of holes 70, each having a diameter of, for example, about 11/16 inch and each pair of holes spaced, for example, about 1 inch (center-to-center) thereby allowing height adjustability in 1 inch increments over a height of about a foot, the sling height being determined by attaching the eyelet at a selected pair of aligned holes.
The scaffold pin 72, which may also be referred to as an adjustment retainer, also includes a locking part 75 which utilizes gravity for retaining the pin portion 74 in the holes 70 as follows. The locking part 75 includes a first portion 76 which extends normal to the pin portion 74 from an end thereof to extend lengthwise along one of the plates 42, a second portion 78 which extends normal to the first portion 76 from the end thereof to extend to an edge of the one plate, a third portion 80 which extends normal to the second portion from the end thereof to extend across both plates 42, and a fourth portion 82 which extends normal to the third portion 80 from the end thereof to extend along the other plate 42. The pin portion 74 is seen in
It is of course apparent that the adjustment device 40, while illustrated for adjustability in 1 inch increments over a height of about 1 foot, can be made for adjustability over a greater (or lesser) height and in different increments. In the field, slings 10 of different lengths may be provided for gross height adjustment to within, for example, a foot by attachment of the device 40 to a sling 10 of a desired height (one sling 10 being for example a foot longer than another, etc.), then the device 40 used for finer height adjustment to, for example, within an inch of the desired height.
For insertion of the scaffold pin 72 for connecting the adjustment device 40 to a sling eyelet as well as its removal for disconnecting the adjustment device 40, a separate come-a-long or other tension relieving device is suitably attached to relieve the tension after which the come-a-long can be released. The come-a-long may, for example, be attached at one end to the bolt 48 (which may desirably be made longer for this purpose) or otherwise to the device 40 and at the other end to the upper eyelet 12 or upper structure 16. The suspension device 30 may also have a built-in tension-relieving device.
Referring to
In the embodiment of
For example and not for the purposes of limitation (here and elsewhere in this specification where examples are used), for a 2-ton eye hook 62, the portion 64 may have a width of about ½ inch, and the distance, illustrated at 154, between the offset plates 142 may be slightly more than the portion 64 width, i.e., about ½ inch, to allow free movement of the eye hook 62 without play. However, such a spacing between the plate portions 146 may undesirably not allow the use of the adjustment device with cable sleeves 14 having a width more than about ½ inch. In order to allow use with larger diameter cable sleeves 14, the distance, illustrated at 156, between the plate portions 146 is, for example, about 1½ inch, thus allowing the flexibility of choosing eye hooks 12 with sizes (widths) up to about 1½ inch. The cable portion 15 of the sling 10 may have a diameter of, for example, ½ inch.
Referring to
The adjustable slings 20 illustrated in
It should be understood that, while the present invention has been described in detail herein, the invention can be embodied otherwise without departing from the principles thereof. For example, it is envisioned that the adjustment device 40 could comprise only one member and it is also envisioned that the adjustment device 40 could comprise only one plate or elongate member with spaced hubs (instead of the holes) for receiving an eyelet and with a retainer for retaining the eyelet on a hub. Such other embodiments are meant to come within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
This is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/463,595, filed May 3, 2012 (having an issue date of Oct. 10, 2017, as U.S. Pat. No. 9,784,001), which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Priority of U.S. provisional application 61/481,838, filed May 3, 2011, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, is hereby claimed.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61481838 | May 2011 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 13463595 | May 2012 | US |
Child | 15727709 | US |