This application claims priority from Australian provisional patent application no. 2014904145 filed on 17 Oct. 2014, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to a trenching panel, a panel assembly, a trenching system and a method of trenching using a trenching system.
Trenches are required to be supported or shored whilst open to prevent the collapse of walls of the trench. This allows the safe installation of piping and cabling in the trench. To support the trench, trenching supports, also referred to as trench boxes, may be used. Such trenching supports include two wall support panels that are connected via a brace that spans between the two wall support panels.
In use, the assembled trenching support may be lowered into the trench with the two wall support panels being located adjacent the walls of the trench and the brace arranged to span the width of the trench. The two wall support panels may, for example, have a height of two and half metres and a length of about 1 metre. For long trenches multiples of the trenching supports may be used and placed alongside each other lengthwise along the trench.
A problem with these trenching supports relates to the weight of the trenching supports that are typically preassembled and it is often required to use a crane or lifting machine to lower the trenching supports into the trench. The use of a crane may be expensive, and crane access may in some situations be limited or not available.
Another problem with these trenching supports relates to the adaptability of the trenching supports to trenches of different shapes, lengths, heights, widths and installation situations.
The invention disclosed herein seeks to overcome one or more of the above identified problems or at least provide a useful alternative.
In accordance with a first main aspect there is provided, a panel for shoring a wall of a trench, the panel including an outer face arranged to face the wall, an opposing inner face, opposing sides, a top end and a bottom end, wherein the panel includes fixed couplings located at or adjacent to the inner face and toward the opposing sides, the fixed couplings being adapted to couple with a removable coupling which is inter-connectable in a first installed condition between a respective one of the fixed couplings of the panel and a respective one of the fixed couplings of an adjacent further panel.
In another aspect, the fixed couplings are arranged such that adjacent sides of the panel and an adjacent further panel substantially abut with one another in the first installed condition.
In yet another aspect, the fixed couplings are arranged such that in the first installed condition the removable coupling extends at least partially across inner faces of the panel and the adjacent further panel between the respective fixed couplings thereof such that when a force applied to the outer faces of the panel and adjacent further panel, the removable coupling is placed in tension and the respective adjacent opposing sides of the panel and the adjacent further panel move toward one another into compression.
In yet another aspect, the fixed couplings are located so as to be accessible from at least one of the inner face and the top end thereby allowing decoupling of the panel assembly to a disassembled condition from the first installed condition from a position within the trench.
In yet another aspect, the fixed couplings are each provided in the form of at least one of a slot, channel and recess adapted to receive and couple with the removable coupling in the first installed condition.
In yet another aspect, the fixed couplings are provided in the form of slots that each extend along the inner face between the top and bottom ends and toward respective opposing sides of the panel.
In yet another aspect, the panel includes a strut coupling portion adapted to couple with a removable strut that spans the trench to an opposing panel at an opposing side of the trench in the first installed condition.
In yet another aspect, the fixed coupling is located relative the inner face such that in the installed condition the releasable coupling extends along the inner faces between the panel and adjacent further panel so as to be placed in tension by a force applied to the outer faces of the panel and adjacent further panel.
In yet another aspect, the fixed coupling is provided in the form of two slots that each at least partially extend along the inner face between the top and bottom ends and toward respective opposing sides of the panel.
In yet another aspect, the fixed coupling is arranged such that in the first installed condition the panel and an adjacent further panel are substantially fixed relatively to one another.
In yet another aspect, the fixed coupling is arranged such that in the first installed condition the removable coupling extends at least partially across inner faces of the panel and the adjacent further panel between the respective fixed couplings thereof.
In yet another aspect, the fixed coupling is arranged to pivotally couple with the removable coupling such that the panel is pivotable from the first installed condition, in which the panel and adjacent further panel are in a linear side-by-side arrangement, to a second installed condition in which the panel and adjacent further panels are angled relative to one another.
In yet another aspect, the panel includes at least two fixed couplings, each of the at least two fixed couplings being located at or adjacent to each of the opposing sides of the panel.
In yet another aspect, the fixed coupling part is arranged to pivotally couple with the fixed coupling part such that the panel is pivotable from the first installed condition, in which the panel and adjacent further panel are in a side-by-side arrangement, to a second installed condition in which the panel and adjacent further panels are angled relative to one another.
In yet another aspect, the fixed coupling is located in a recess in the inner face.
In accordance with a second main aspect there is provided, a panel assembly or system including at least two panels as defined above.
In accordance with a third main aspect there is provided, a panel assembly for trenching, the panel assembly including a first panel attachable in a side-by-side arrangement by a releasable coupling arrangement to a second panel in an installed condition in which an outer face of each of the first and second panels are locatable against a wall of the trench, wherein the releasable coupling arrangement includes a removable coupling arranged so as to be accessible from at least one of inner faces and top ends of the first and second panels thereby allowing at least one of coupling and decoupling of the first and second panels from a position within the trench.
In an aspect, each of the first and second panels include fixed couplings located at or adjacent to the inner faces and toward the opposing sides of the first and second panels, the fixed couplings being arranged such that in the installed condition the adjacent opposing sides of the first and the second panels substantially abut with one another with the removable coupling spanning across the respective inner faces between the first and the second panels.
In another aspect, each of the first and second panels includes fixed couplings located at or adjacent to the inner faces and toward the opposing sides of the first and second panels, wherein the in the installed condition the removable coupling is arranged to coupling extend at least partially across inner faces of the first panel and the second panel between the respective fixed couplings thereof such that when a force applied to outer faces of the panel and adjacent further panel, the removable coupling is placed in tension and the respective adjacent opposing sides of the panel and the adjacent further panel move toward one another into compression.
In yet another aspect, the releasable coupling arrangement is configurable between a first configuration in which the first and second panels are at a first installed angle relative to one another, and a second configuration in which the first and second panels are at a second installed angle relative to one another.
In yet another aspect, the releasable coupling arrangement is configurable by interchanging the removable coupling with another removable coupling arranged to angle the first and second panels relative to one another.
In yet another aspect, the first installed angle is about 0 degrees with the panels being parallel with one another and wherein the second installed angle is up to about 90 degrees in either direction in which the panels are substantially perpendicular with one another.
In yet another aspect, the releasable coupling arrangement includes fixed couplings carried by each of the first and second panels and the removable coupling is adapted to interconnect the fixed couplings of adjacent first and second panels in the installed condition.
In yet another aspect, the fixed coupling of each panel is provided in the form of two slots, each of the two slots being located toward respective opposing sides of the panel and at least partially extending along the inner faces of the panels between the top and bottom ends of the panel.
In yet another aspect, the removable coupling is provided in the form of a coupling member having spaced apart projections that are each respectively received by one of the two corresponding slots of adjacently arranged first and second panels in the installed condition, the coupling member thereby spanning between adjacently arranged first and second panels along the inner faces thereof.
In yet another aspect, the releasable coupling includes fixed coupling parts carried by each of the first and second panels and a removable coupling part which hingedly interconnects the fixed coupling parts in the installed condition.
In yet another aspect, wherein the releasable coupling is a double hinge.
In yet another aspect, the releasable coupling is arranged in a first configuration so as to allow pivoting of the first and second panels a first direction in which the inner faces of the first and second panels move relatively toward one another.
In yet another aspect, the releasable coupling is arranged to allow hinging movement of the first panel relative to the second panel.
In accordance with a fourth main aspect there is provided, a trenching system for shoring opposing walls of a trench, the trenching system including: a plurality of interchangeable panels having fixed couplings located toward opposing sides of the panels; and a plurality of removable couplings arranged to interconnect and span between the fixed couplings of adjacently arranged panels, wherein the plurality of removable couplings are configured to couple the plurality of interchangeable panels in at least one of a first configuration wherein adjacently arranged panels are parallel with one another and a second configuration wherein the adjacently arranged panels are angled relative to one another.
In an aspect, the removable couplings are interchangeable and are of different sizes and configurations to couple between the adjacently arranged panels in the respective first and second configurations.
In another aspect, the system further includes a removable strut and at least one of the panels locatable on each of the opposing walls of the trench include strut coupling portions to couple with the strut.
In yet another aspect, the system further includes removable pins, and the fixed coupling parts and removable couplings each include corresponding apertures to receive the pins.
In yet another aspect, the system further includes at least one of a wedge or corner post arranged to fit between the opposing sides of adjacently arranged in the second configuration.
In accordance with a fifth broad aspect there is provided, a trenching system for shoring opposing walls of a trench, the trenching system including at least two side panel assemblies adapted to be locatable in an installed condition with outer faces thereof adjacent to opposing walls of the trench with a removable strut arranged to span between and support the at least two side panel assemblies, wherein each of the at least two side panel assemblies includes a first panel coupled to a second panel in the installed condition by a releasable coupling, wherein the releasable coupling is arranged so as to be accessible from inner faces of the at least two side panel assemblies thereby allowing decoupling of the panel assembly to a disassembled condition from the installed condition.
In accordance with a sixth main aspect there is provided, method for shoring walls of a trench using a trenching system including a plurality of panels, the method including the steps of: coupling at least two adjacent panels together to form a panel assembly by fitting a removable coupling between fixed couplings carried by each of the adjacent panels; locating the panel assembly against at least one of the walls of a trench; and supporting the panel assembly by coupling the panel assembly to at least one of a further panel, panel assembly or strut extending laterally across the trench.
The invention is described, by way of non-limiting example only, by reference to the accompanying figures, in which;
Referring to
Each of the at least two side panel assemblies 12 includes a plurality of removable and interchangeable panels 20 which in this example are provided in the form of a first panel 20a coupled to a second panel 20b in the installed condition by a releasable coupling arrangement 26. The releasable coupling arrangement 26 is arranged so as to be accessible from inner faces 14 of the at least two side panel assemblies 12 thereby allowing decoupling of the panel assembly to a disassembled condition from the installed condition from a position inside of the trench.
In more detail, and referring more specifically to
The inner panel faces 38 each includes one or more strut coupling locations 42 provided in the form of an aperture or female socket 44 which receives and couple with the struts 16 in the installed condition. In some cases, all of the female sockets 44 are not use and blanks or plugs may be inserted into the female sockets 44 not in use.
The strut coupling locations 42 may be provided in the form of sockets extending from the inner panel face 38 or apertures recessed into the inner panel face 38 as is shown in this example. The strut coupling locations 42 and variations thereof are further described below with reference to
Each of the panels 20 includes a step or ledge 29 extending lengthwise along the corner of the panel 20 between the opposing sides 28 and the inner panel face 38. The step or ledge 29 is utilised to accommodate further parts of the system 10 such as corner posts that are further described below with reference to
The releasable coupling arrangement 26 is arranged to allow hinging or pivoting movement of the first panel 20a relative to the second panel 20b. The releasable coupling arrangement 26 includes fixed coupling parts or coupling sections 50 carried by or formed within each of the first and second panels 20a, 20b and a removable coupling part 52 which hingedly interconnects the fixed coupling parts 50 and hence the first and second panels 20a, 20b in the installed condition. The fixed coupling parts 50 and removable coupling part 52 are described in more detail below with reference to
In this example, the panels 20 include four of the fixed couplings or coupling parts 50 with two of the fixed coupling parts 50 being located at to adjacent to each of the flat opposing sides 28 of the panels 20. The two fixed coupling parts 50 on each of opposing sides 28 are spaced apart from one another with one of the two fixed coupling parts 50 being located toward the top end 30 between the strut coupling locations 42, and the other of the two fixed coupling parts 50 being located toward the bottom end 34 of the respective panels 20.
Each of the fixed coupling parts 50 carried by each of the first and second panels 20a, 20b include a vertically arranged aperture 54 (shown best in
The vertical axis of the aperture 54 of the fixed coupling parts 50, as indicated by I in
The inner panel faces 38 of each of the first and second panels 20a, 20b includes a recess 60 in which the releasable coupling arrangement 26 is located. This allows the apertures 54 of the fixed coupling parts 50 to be accessible and aligned relatively close to the inner panel face 38 as well as being low profile to inhibit damage.
The releasable coupling arrangement 26 is configurable or changeable between a first configuration, such as that shown in
The releasable coupling arrangement 26 allows the panels 20a, 20b to be pivotally moved or hinged into place in a direction toward the trench wall. However, once the panels 20a, 20b are in the installed assembled condition, as shown in
In use, when a load F1 (as shown in
The panels 20 and components of the releasable coupling arrangement 26 thereof may preferable be formed from a metallic material such as mild-steel or aluminium. The strut 16 may also be formed from a suitable metallic material. Other materials are also considered such as metal composite panels or high strength plastics. The length of the panels 20 is about 2.5 m and the width is about 1 m. However, other sizes of panels may also be utilised.
Referring now to
In this example, the central panel 20c is coupled via releasable coupling arrangement 26 on each of its opposing sides 28. Accordingly, in use, when a load or force F2 is applied to the outer panel faces 38 of the central panel 20c the releasable couplings 26 are placed under tension to keep the panels 20 including the central panel 20c and the flanking first and second side or outer panels 20a, 20b in a relatively straight line so as to maintain and support the walls of the trench. During the applied of this force, each of the opposing sides 28 between the panels 20a, 20b and 20c are placed into compression.
In either of the first and second examples provided above, the trenching system 10 may be assembled in a variety of ways including: assembling out of the trench and then lowering into the trench as a single unit; assembling the two side panel assemblies 12 out of the trench and the lowering the two side panel assemblies 12, in this example, including the central panel 20c between the first and second end panels 20a, 20b, and then coupling the struts 16 between the two side panel assemblies 12 within the trench; and the lowering the individual panels 20 and struts 16 into the trench and assembling the trenching system 10 in-situ. Other examples of use could also include fitting additional central panels 20c in-situ to increase the length of the trenching system 10.
Referring now to
In this example, the removable coupling 52 is provided in the form of an I-shaped coupling part 51 that includes an I-shaped (also known as dog-bone) shaped body 76 arranged to span between and couple the fixed couplings 50. However, it is noted that other shaped coupling could also be used such as double forked (3 prongs each side), or belt buckle style with backed edge bearing (under load) on outside edge of attaching cleat.
The I-shaped body 76 includes ends 78 which each include two apertures 55 arranged to align with the apertures 54, and a neck 80 which extends between the ends 78. The neck 80 is recessed relative to the ends 78 and is shaped to fit with and receive part of the corresponding wedged shaped bodies 74 of the fixed couplings 50 in the fitted condition. The pins 56 may then the inserted though the aligned apertures 54, 55. The recess 60 includes walls 61 which are sized to accommodate the I-shaped body 76 in the fitted condition and to provide clearance for a user to hand or manually insert and remove the pins 56. The wall 61 provides a ledge or step 63 between the surface 65 of the recess 60 and the inner panel face 38.
The pins 56 include a head 82, a shank 84 and a tip 86. The aligned apertures 54, 55 and head 82 of the pin 56 are arranged such that when the pins 56 are in the fitted condition, as shown for example in
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring now to
The corner post 110 is provided in the form of an outward or trench wall facing corner post 112 (as opposed to an inward facing corner post as is further described below with reference to
The retaining portion 119 include an inward face 121 which is angled at about 45 degrees relative to the inner panel faces 40 of the adjacent panels 20. The coupling 26, in particular the removable coupling part 52, is arranged to being correspondingly located at about 45 degrees relative to the adjacent panels 20 and is snuggly captured between the fixed coupling parts 52 and the inward face 121 which supports the removable coupling part 52. Accordingly, in this arrangement, when an external force F3 is applied, the removable coupling part 52 between the perpendicular panels 20 is placed into compression and the retaining portion 119 also serves to retain the ledges 29 of the perpendicular panels 20 thereby ensuring the structural integrity of the arrangement of panels 20. The two side-by-side panels 20a and 20b are coupled and function in a similar way to that described in relation to
In this example, one of the end panels 20d is shown as a short panel 20e (shown best in
Referring to
The wedges 160 include tapered sides 162 which are arranged to taper from an outward face 164 to an inward retaining portion 166 which is captured and retained by the ledges 29 of the opposing side walls 28 of the adjacent panels 20. The coupling part 52 in the form of the I-shaped coupling 51 is used to interconnect the fixed coupling parts 52 of the adjacent panels 20 in a similar manner as described above in relation to
Referring now to
In this example, two different type of corner posts 110 are provided, the first type being the wall or outward facing corner post 112 (as shown in
The releasable coupling arrangement 26, more specifically the I-shaped coupling part 51, allows the inward hinging of the panels 20, in this example the pivoting of the inner panels faces 38 of the central panel 20c and the second panel 20b toward one another to a perpendicular angle or about 90 degrees (as is shown in
However, as the I-shaped coupling part 51 does not allow for hinging of the outwardly or in a direction bringing the outward panel faces 40 together, a longer coupling part 116 is required to coupled between the fixed couplings 50 of the central panel 20c and the first panel 20a. The longer coupling part 116 includes a part C-shaped body 119 arranged to fit with and capture the inward facing corner post 114 and apertures 120 at opposing ends 122 of the body 119 arrange to receive the pins 56 and interconnect the longer coupling part 116 with the fixed coupling parts 50. The body 119 includes free end portions 121 which are angled at about 45 degrees to a central portion 123.
The inward facing corner post 114 includes abutting sides 130 arranged to abut with the opposing sides of the first panel 20a and the central panel 20c. The abutting sides 130 fan outwardly from an inner face 132, which faces the corner, to an outer face 134 which faces away from the corner and abuts with the longer coupling part 116. The outer face 134 is angled at about 45 degrees to the abutting sides 130 and opposing sides 136 of the outer face 134 are chamfered at about 45 degrees to the outer face 134. The chamfered opposing sides 136 of the outer face 134, when fitted as shown in
Referring now to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring now to
Referring to
The socket 244 includes opposing lateral channels 247 that stand proud of the inner panel face 238 and the male ends 245 of the struts 216 include flanges 249 that are slidably received between the channels 247. The male and female arrangement could, of course, be reversed with the struts 216 having the female socket and the panels have a male flange or the like.
The opposing lateral channels 247 are blinded by a ledge 251 on which the male ends 245 are seated in the installed or fitted condition, and the opposing lateral channels 247 include aperture 253 through which a locking pin 255 is fitted to secure the removable struts 216 to the panels 220. In this example, the removable struts 216 also include handles or lifting points 257 arranged to allow the lifting of the removable struts 216, and also the assembled panel assemblies 212 when secured together by the removable struts 216.
Referring now to
The elongate member 227 includes a supporting elongate body 229 and two-spaced apart coupling projections 231 extending from the elongate body 229. In this example, the two-spaced apart coupling projections 331 are provided in the form of two-spaced apart “T-shaped” flanges 333 that extend along the length of the supporting elongate body 229. The two-spaced apart coupling projections 331 are spacing inwardly from each of the opposing sides 235 of the supporting elongate body 229.
The channels or slots 221, best shown in
Similarly to the first example, in this example, in a coupled condition, opposed sides 228 of the panels 220, such as opposing sides 228a and 228b as shown in
Accordingly, in this example, two or more panels 220 may be coupled to form panel assemblies 212 that substantially remain in shape without folding or pivoting. This allows the panel assemblies 212 to be formed outside of the trench and then lowered into the trench where the panel assemblies 212 may be coupled together with the struts 216. The panel assemblies 212 may also be more easily transported and stored as complete assemblies rather than individual panels 220. The supporting elongate body 229 also serves to cover and extend over the opposing sides 228a and 228b and slots 221 thereby keeps the releasable coupling arrangement 26 generally covered or sealed in use. The arrangement of the removable coupling part 252 in the form of the elongate member 227 makes it accessible from at least the top 230 or inner face 238 of the panels 220 thereby allowing the removable coupling part 252 to inserted and removed from a position inside of the trench.
In this example, the panels 220, elongate member 227 and struts 216 may be formed from a metal such steel or other suitable material.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Advantageously, there has been described a trenching system including panel assemblies include a plurality of panels which may be pivotally coupled to one another with a releasable coupling. The panels may be interconnected at a variety of angles and moved into place or retained at various angles to one another using corner posts, wedges and removable couplings of a varied of sizes. Each of the panels are relatively lightweight and the panels may be installed in-situ, which the trench, or out of the trench. The trenching system may also be formed in sections and then multiple sections may be coupled within the trench. Likewise, to disassemble, the panels may be decoupled in-situ, by the manually realisable couplings, or the panels, panel assemblies or entire system may be lifted out of the trench as a single unit. In particular, as the panels may be installed and uninstalled in-situ one-by-one so that the trenching system may be installed by hand on sites where there is no or limited crane access or limited crane capacity.
Accordingly, the trenching system accommodates a wide range of shapes, sizes, assembly configurations and installation conditions. Importantly, the panels are generally interchangeable and may be re-used and reconfigured for different trenches or sections of the trench. This allows a user to purchase the set of interchangeable panels and the required coupling components such as the struts, pins, removable couplings, corner posts and wedges to form the panels into any required shaped or configurations. In some example, the removable couplings are advantageously interchangeable and may be provide in a variety of straight and angled forms.
It is also noted that the trenching system, panel assemblies and panel may be utilised in other applications that are not specifically “trenching”. For example, the system, panel assemblies and panel may be utilised to construct isolated wall or barriers that may be required for situation like flood levy banks Other configurations may also include doubled walling and propping a single wall from the ground.
Throughout this specification and the claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word “comprise”, and variations such as “comprises” and “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.
The reference in this specification to any known matter or any prior publication is not, and should not be taken to be, an acknowledgment or admission or suggestion that the known matter or prior art publication forms part of the common general knowledge in the field to which this specification relates.
While specific examples of the invention have been described, it will be understood that the invention extends to alternative combinations of the features disclosed or evident from the disclosure provided herein.
Many and various modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention disclosed or evident from the disclosure provided herein.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2014904145 | Oct 2014 | AU | national |