GB2095358A

GB2095358A - Scaffolding joints

Info

Publication number: GB2095358A
Application number: GB8208748A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: DUGGAN JOHN JOSEPH
Current assignee: DUGGAN JOHN JOSEPH
Priority date: 1981-03-25
Filing date: 1982-03-25
Publication date: 1982-09-29
Also published as: GB2095358B

Abstract

A scaffolding upright 1 has a plate support 2 fixed to it by which a cross member 6 is detachably secured to the upright. The plate support is preferably of polygonal shape, e.g. octagonal, and comprises a body portion by which it is secured to the upright and a rim 5 which is spaced from and extends around the upright and projects from the body portion, preferably upwardly, longitudinally of the upright. The cross member is secured to the plate support by means of a clamp 7 comprising a claw member 9 which hooks onto the rim 5 of the plate support and engages an inner surface of the rim, and a locking wedge 11 which is movable relative to the claw member by screw means 15, 16 and wedges in opposition to the claw member between an outer surface of the rim and a surface 12 of the clamp. There may be two or more of the plate supports spaced along the upright. Several cross members may be clamped to the or each end plate support at angularly spaced positions around the upright. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to scaffolding The present invention reiates to scaffolding of the kind in which cross members, such as horizontal ledger members, transom members, or handrails, or shelf or platform supports, or diagonal bracing members, are separably connected to uprights. Such scaffolding is hereinafter referred to as "of the kind described".

An object of the invention is to provide scaffolding of the kind described in which a cross member is securable in a plurality of positions to an upright, or alternatively or additionally providing that a plurality of cross members is securable to the upright at one level on the upright.

The present invention consists in scaffolding of the kind described comprising an upright and a cross member, the upright having fixed to it a plate sup port comprising a body portion by which the plate support is fixed to the upright, and a rim which pro jects from the body portion in, or substantially in, the longitudinal direction of the upright and extends on spaced relationship around the upright, and the cross member having a clamp comprising a claw member adapted to hook onto the rim of the plate support and engage an inner surface of the rim, and a locking wedge movable relative to the claw member by screw means and adapted to be wedged in opposition to the claw between an outer surface of the rim and a surface of the clamp to retain the claw member in engagement with the rim, and thereby secure the cross member to the upright.

The plate support enables a cross member to be secured at any one of a plurality of angular positions around the upright. Alternatively two or more cross members can bye secured to the upright at angularly spaced positions around the upright.

The plate support may possibly be circular but pre ferably it is of polygonal shape because of the range of positive locations it then provides for the cross member or members. Conveniently the plate sup port is of octagonal shape but it may have any other number of sides, as desired.

Two or more plate supports may be provided at spaced intervals along the upright.

The rim of the plate support preferably projects upwardly from the body portion in order that the claw member can hookoverthe rim andthatthe cross member is thereby supported by the plate support. The rim is conveniently integral with the body of the plate support. The entire plate support may be made, for example, as a pressing. Alternatively the rim may be a separate component secured to the body portion, for example by welding.

The clamp is preferably permanently fixed to the cross member. It may be provided for this purpose, for example, with a spigot or socket adapted to fit into or receive, as the case may be, an end portion of the cross member and to be secured to the end portion, as for example by welding. It would be possible to arrange for the clamp, alternatively, to be detachably secured to the cross member, for example by screwing it into engagement with an end of the cross member or by bolting it to the cross member.

The locking wedge may have a projection which in use engages the body portion of the plate support at a surface thereof facing in a substantially opposite direction from that in which the rim projects. In the preferred form in which the rim projects upwardly the projection engages an undersurface of the body portion.

The wedge may be locked in position by means of a nut threaded on a bolt which passes through both the wedge and the claw. The bolt may have its head countersunk in a recess in a surface of the claw, the nut engaging the locking wedge. In an alternative arrangement, the bolt may have its head countersunk in a recess in the locking wedge, the nut then engaging the claw member.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows a partly exploded perspective view of scaffolding according to the invention, Figure 2 shows a plan view of the scaffolding, Figure 3 shows a side elevation, partly in section along line Ill-Ill of Figure 2, and Figure 4 shows a view, corresponding to that of Figure 3, of a modified form of the scaffolding.

Referring to Figures 1 to 3, the scaffolding comprises an upright member 1 (Figure 1) formed from steel tubing and having welded to it an octagonal plate support 2. The plate support is also formed in steel as a pressing and has a body portion with upper and lower flat faces 3 and 4 respectively and an upturned rim 5.

One or more cross members 6 are each joined to the upright by means of a clamp 7 (best seen in Figures 2 and 3). Each clamp has a spigot 8 by which it is attached to the cross member 6 by welding. A claw member 9 projects from and is integral with the spigot 8. The spigot and claw member may conveniently be formed as parts of a casting. The claw member 9 hooks over the rim 5, the inner face of the rim being engaged by a surface 10 of the downwardly disposed end portion of the claw member.

The end of the claw member engages the upper such face 3 of the body portion of the plate support 2. The claw member is retained in position in engagement with the plate support by a locking wedge 11 which acts against an inclined wedging surface 12 of the clamp 7 and the outer face of the rim 5. The locking wedge is itself retained in position by a nut 15 and a bolt 16, the head 17 of the bolt, which is conveniently a T-head, being at least partially countersunk in the recess 18 in the upper surface of the claw member, and the shank of the bolt passing through aligned bores in the claw member and locking wedge and being fitted below the locking wedge with the nut which tightens against the locking wedge.

As illustrated in the drawings the rim 5 projects at right angles to the body portion of the plate support 2, and the surface 10 of the claw member 9 and the face of the locking wedge 11 which co-operates with the outer face of the rim lie in planes which, when the clamp is engaged with the plate support, are perpendicular to the flat faces 3 and 4 of the body portion of the plate support so as to make flush contact with the faces of the rim. In this arrangement the locking action of the wedge is provided by the cooperation of the wedge with the wedging surface 12 of the clamp, which is upwardly inclined towards the rim and causes the wedge to be urged towards the rim, and hence towards the surface 10 of the claw member, so that the rim is tightly gripped between the surface 10 and the wedge.

The rim may alternatively be inclined upwardly and outwardly away from the body portion, and the surface 10 and co-operating surface of the wedge may be correspondingly inclined so that they are still able to make flush contact with the inner and outer surfaces respectively of the rim. The outward inclination of the rim may be relatively small, for example less than 10 from the vertical and typically 7" to 80.

Preferably the outward inclination is similar to the inclination of the wedging surface 12 of the clamp 7 so that that surface and the rim are symmetrically upwardly convergent. Thus, the locking wedge may have similarly upwardly and inwardly sloping, opposite side faces for engagement with the inclined wedging surface 12 and the outer face of the rim.

The advantage of this alternative arrangement is that the locking wedge acts not only to cause the rim to be gripped tightly between the surface 10 of the claw 9 and the wedge but also to urge the claw member down on to the plate support.

A similar action could be obtained by having the surface 12 of the clamp vertical and also the surface of the locking wedge which co-operates with that surface.

It will be appreciated that other modifications are possible. For example, Figure 4 shows a modification in which the clamp is provided with a socket 8a, adapted to receive the end of the cross member 6 which is subsequently welded in place. In another modification shown in Figure 4 the locking wedge 11 of the clamp, which is otherwise similar to that of the embodiment illustrated by Figures 1 to 3 of the drawings, is provided with a projection 19 which engages the lower face 4 of the plate support 2. The clamp may be adapted to fix to cross members which in use are required to be diagonally disposed in a vertical plane by simply extending the spigot, or the part containing the socket as the case may be, and having it bent to the required angle. The bolt may be inserted from the underside of the bracket and the head countersunk in the locking wedge surface, or for some applications when the locking wedge has the projection the whole arrangement may be inverted, with the rim 5 downwardly disposed in use.

The flexibility of the scaffolding afforded by the use of the polygonal plate support enables it to be used in a wide range of applications.

Claims

1. Scaffolding of the kind described comprising an upright and a cross member, the upright having fixed to it a plate support comprising a body portion by which the plate support is fixed to the upright, and a rim which projects from the body portion in, or substantially in, the longitudinal direction of the upright and extends in spaced relationship around the upright, and the cross member having a clamp comprising a claw member adapted to hook onto the rim of the plate support and engage an inner surface of the rim, and a locking wedge movable relative to the claw member by screw means and adapted to be wedged in opposition to the claw between an outer surface of the rim and a surface of the clamp to retain the claw member in engagement with the rim, and thereby secure the cross member to the upright.

2. Scaffolding according to Claim 1 wherein the plate support is circular.

3. Scaffolding according to Claim 1 wherein the plate support is of polygonal shape.

4. Scaffolding according to Claim 3 wherein the plate support is of octagonal shape.

5. Scaffolding according to any preceding claim wherein the rim projects upwardly from the body portion of the plate support, and the claw member is adapted to hook over the rim and to rest on the body portion inside the rim, the cross member thereby being supported by the plate support.

6. Scaffolding according to any preceding claim where the rim projects at right angles to the body portion, and the surface of the clamp between which and the outer surface of the rim the locking wedge is adapted to be wedged, is inclined towards the rim thereby to urge the locking wedge towards the rim as it is moved towards the claw member by the screw means.

7. Scaffolding according to any of Claims 1 to 5 wherein the rim is inclined away from the upright as it projects from the body portion, the surface of the clamp between which and the outer surface of the rim the locking wedge is adapted to be wedged, is inclined towards the rim, and the locking wedge has opposite surfaces which are respectively engaged with and inclined similarly to the rim and the said surface of the clamp, the arrangement being such that as the locking wedge is moved towards the claw member by the screw means it is urged towards the rim and it causes the claw member to be drawn towards the body portion of the plate support.

8. Scaffolding according to any preceding claim wherein the rim is integral with the body portion of the plate support.

9. Scaffolding according to Claim 8 wherein the plate support is made as a metal pressing.

10. Scaffolding according to any preceding claim wherein there is a plurality of the plate supports on the upright, the plate supports being at spaced intervals along the upright.

11. Scaffolding according to any preceding claim wherein the clamp is permanently fixed to the cross member.

12. Scaffolding according to Claim 11 wherein the clamp has a spigot or socket which co-operates with and is rigidly secured to an end portion of the cross member.

13. Scaffolding according to any preceding claim wherein the locking wedge has a projection which in use engages the body portion of the plate support at a surface of the body portion facing in a substantially opposite direction from that in which the rim projects.

14. Scaffolding according to any preceding claim wherein the locking wedge is locked in position by means of a nut threaded on a bolt which passes through both the wedge and the claw.

15. Scaffolding according to Claim 14 wherein the bolt has a head which is at least partially countersunk in a recess in a surface of the claw.

16. Scaffolding according to Claim 14 wherein the bolt has a head which is at least partially countersunk in a recess in a surface of the locking wedge.

17. Scaffolding substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 and 3 of the accompanying drawings.

18. Scaffolding substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated by Figures 1 to 3 as modified by Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.