GB2096936A

GB2096936A - A gulley cover opening tool

Info

Publication number: GB2096936A
Application number: GB8116084A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: TRAUTVETTER WERNER KARL
Current assignee: TRAUTVETTER WERNER KARL
Priority date: 1981-02-14
Filing date: 1981-05-27
Publication date: 1982-10-27
Also published as: GB2096936B

Abstract

A tool for opening the covers of roadside gulleys which can become wedged into their frames and be difficult to remove, comprises a shaft (11) of substantial strong material, such as steel bar, having a first lateral projection (13) in the form of a U- shape or T-shape hook formed at one end and a second lateral projection (14) in the form of a flat plate welded to the shaft (11) at a distance from the U-shape hook (13). In use the tool is inserted through a slot in a gulley cover (17) the tool turned through a small angle to engage the first lateral projection (13) against the under- surface of the gulley cover on one side of the slot and the second lateral projection (14) on the upper surface of the gulley cover on the other side of the slot, following which the shaft is pulled sideways from the upper end turning it about a fulcrum between the lower edge of the second lateral projection (14) and the upper face of the gulley cover (17) to apply a substantial force to the gulley cover to cause this to turn and thereby open. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION An improved gulley cover opening tool The present invention relates to a tool for opening gulley covers.

The term "gulley" as used in this description will be understood to relate to the drainage gulleys provided along the roadside in both urban and rural areas. The gulleys take drainage water from the road which enters the gully from kerbside drains via apertured gulley covers. Since the gulley cover is located at the roadside it has to be constructed in a manner which makes it sufficiently strong to withstand the high stresses and large forces which may be applied to it if, for example, a motor vehicle such as the heavy lorry should park at the kerbside with one of the main load-bearing wheels on the cover.

Because of this gulley covers are made of very substantial thickness, in the region of three or four inches, and comprise a solid, usually cast iron, member having a number of parallel slots to allow drainage water to pass through the cover and into the gulley. As a result of its great thickness and solid construction a gulley cover is rather heavy and this, together with the fact that the gulley cover may be forced into its seating when a heavy vehicle passes over it, makes it difficult to remove when this becomes necessary, for example when requiring to gain access to the gulley for cleaning purposes.

The present invention seeks, therefore, to provide a tool by means of which gulley covers can be removed with ease utilizing only the degree of force which an operator can exert by hand, although because of the particular nature of the tool of the present invention it is possible to employ two or even three tools on one gulley cover, thereby obtaining the force exertable by up to three operators, should a cover of particular obstinacy be encountered.

According to one aspect of the present invention a tool for opening gully covers comprises an elongate handle having a first lateral projection at one end thereof and an oppositely directed second projection at a position spaced from the said one end by a distance less than the length of the handle from the opposite end thereof to the said second projection.

Operation of the tool simply involves insertion of the said one end into one of the slots of a gulley cover, usually a slot midway along the length of the cover, manipulation of the tool to engage the said first lateral projection under a cover and the second lateral projection on the upper surface of the cover, and then rocking of the handle about the fulcrum defined by the contact of the second lateral projection on the upper surface of the cover to cause the cover to turn about one edge thereby freeing the cover from its seating.

In one embodiment of the invention the first and second lateral projections are so formed and so joined to the handle as to be able to resist forces at least as great as the bending resistance of the handle. If the handle is made, for example, of solid steel or other ferrous metal, this strength can be very considerable. The second lateral projection may further be provided with a ground engaging foot having a curved surface on which the tool as a whole can rock in use of the tool to open a gulley cover.

The first and/or second lateral projection may be formed integrally with the handle or either of these may be formed separately and attached to or mounted on the handle. If the hand-le is made from steel or other ferrous metal then a separately made first and/or second lateral projection may be secured thereto by welding. On the other hand, if, for example, the first lateral projection is formed integrally with the handle, this may be achieved by bending the material of the handle at the said one end thereof to form the first lateral projection. If this is done it is preferred that the first lateral projection is bent to the form of a generally Ushape hook lying in the same plane as the handle.

In one embodiment the second lateral projection is in the form of a flat plate joined along one edge of the handle, the plate and handle lying in the same plane. The flat plate may take any suitable form, although in a preferred embodiment it is constructed as an asymmetrical quadrilateral having a first edge perpendicular to the handle, this first edge being located on the side of the plate nearest the said one end of the handle.

Whether the first and second lateral projections are integrally formed or attached as separate members to the handle they may be both positioned so that they lie in the same plane as one another, and in the same plane as the handle since this provides the simplest structure and that least likely to cause obstruction when not in us.

Alternatively, of course, there could be provided two such second lateral projections diverging from the handle in such a way that they engage the upper surface of a gulley cover on opposite sides of a slot therein when the said one end of the handle is inserted through that slot. With the preferred arrangement described above it is necessary to insert the tool through the slot and then to turn the handle about an axis parallel to its length in order to engage the first lateral projection under the cover on one side of the slot, through which the handle projects, and the second lateral projection on the upper surface of the cover on the other side of this slot.This asymmetry does not, however, cause any substantial problems in practice since the distance by which the forces are offset is very small in comparison with the length of the lever arm from the contact point between the second lateral projection and the upper surface of the cover and the point along the handle at which the operator grasps it in order to apply the required turning force.

One problem which has to be overcome in the tool of the present invention is that the depth at which gulley covers are located may vary from cover to cover and the tool must be capable of acting on a gulley cover however low it may be below ground level. This may be accommodateo for example by ensuring an adequately large distance between the two said lateral projections.

This solution, however, may lead to the shaft or handle being inclined at rather a low angle when used on gulley covers which are not very deeply set into the ground. In an alternative embodiment, particularly adapted to cater for this particular problem, the said second projection is constituted by a sliding foot member including a body having an opening extending therethrough at a position offset from a mid point of the body, the relative dimensions of the opening, that is the ratio between its axial length and its diameter, being such that the foot member becomes jammed in position along the elongate handle or shaft portion of the tool when a turning moment or couple is applied to this handle.Upon insertion of such a tool into the slots of a gulley cover the sliding foot can rest on the ground and the shaft pass through it freely until the first projection is properly positioned. When a turning force is applied by pulling laterally on the shaft or handle, in the appropriate direction, the sliding foot jams against the handle and is effectively rigidly connected thereto as long as the turning force is maintained.

The body of the sliding foot member may be in the form of a generally flat plate of substantial thickness adequate to resist the bending moments which will be applied to it during use. Preferably, however, such plate is reinforced by lateral ridges which may be bent up from the material of the plate to form a channel section body. The end of the body of the sliding foot member furthest from the said opening may be curved forming a rocking surface engageable with the ground in use of the tool.

The tool of the present invention may also be provided with means for adapting the tool for lifting inspection covers. Such covers are usually lifted by a t-shape tool engageable in a recess in the cover by inserting it in one orientation and then turning it through 900 to engage under overhanging lips of the recess. Such tools require the operator to pull upwardly, however, and this creates considerable difficulty when the cover is jammed or rusted in position. The means for adapting the tool for lifting inspection covers may comprise an adaptor element shaped so as to be engageable by the said first projection of the tool and having a t-shape extension portion engageable in the lifting slots or recesses of an inspection cover.

Various embodiments of the invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a tool constituting an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the tool in the orientation which it is placed immediately prior to operation; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the tool in operation opening a gulley cover; Figure 4 is a perspective view of a sliding foot constituting the second projection in an alternative embodiment of the invention; Figure 5 is a side view of the alternative embodiment, incorporating the sliding foot of Figure 4, shown in a typical position of use; Figure 6 is a front view of an adaptor element for adapting the tool of the present invention for lifting inspection covers; and Figure 7 is a side view of the tool of Figure 1 employed with the adaptor element of Figure 6 for lifting an inspection cover.

Referring now to Figure 1 the tool illustrated comprises a solid steel shaft 11 of circular crosssection and about 1 inch in diameter. At one end of the shaft, the lower end generally indicated 12 in Figure 1 the metal of the shaft is bent to form a U-shape hook 13 of small radius, for example about 1 inch or slightly more. The hook is, of course, asymmetrical since one arm is constituted by the shaft 11 itself whilst the other arm, from the curved portion of the hook 1 6 to the free end of the U-shape portion is only in the region of 1 or 2 inches long.

At a distance from the U-shape end 1 3 which is substantially less than the length of the shaft 11 there is fitted a second lateral projection 14 which comprises an asymmetrical quadrilateral flange welded along an edge 1 5 to the shaft and having an edge 1 6 perpendicular thereto. The edge 1 6 is that edge of the plate 14 nearest the end 12 of the shaft 11, and this edge may, as indicated in broken outline in Figure 1, be provided with a transversely extending ground engaging foot 21 having a curved edge 22 acting as a rocking surface to prevent the tool from digging into soft ground.

Although not shown in Figure 1 the end of the shaft 11 remot from the said one end 12 may be provided with a hand grip made from rubber or other suitable material to enhance the grip which can be obtained on it by the hand of an operator. It is believed that such a grip will not be found to be necessary in practice, however, since the tool is used in a static situation and the size of the shaft 1 which is described above is in the region of 1" in diameter, is adequately large for a suitable grip to be obtained quite readily.

Referring now to Figure 2 the tool is shown in a position ready for use to open a gulley cover 1 7 which is of a type hinged along an edge 18, which is adjacent a curb 19 and secured in a metal frame 20. As can be seen in Figure 3 the edges of the cover 1 7 are tapered so that the cover 1 7 is a tight fit in the frame 20, and for this reason can sometimes become effectively wedged in position.

The tool in the position illustrated in Figure 2, that is with the shaft 11 substantially vertical and the first lateral projection 1 3 aligned with a slot 21 in a gulley cover 17 it is possible to lower the tool until the first lateral projection 1 3 passes through the slot 21. It will be noted that the tool is orientated so that the free end of the U-shape portion 13 constituting the first lateral projection faces away from the hinged side 18 of the gulley cover 17 and the plate 14 constituting the second lateral projection is directed towards this hinged side. From the position illustrated in Figure 2 the tool is lowered until the first lateral projection 1 3 is below the lower surface of the cover 1 7 whilst the second lateral projection 14 is still above the upper surface of the cover 1 7.The tool is then turned about an axis parallel with the length of the shaft 11 so that the first lateral projection 1 3 passes to one side of the slot 21 and the second lateral projection 1 4 passes to the other side of the slot 21. The tool is then further lowered until the bottom edge 1 6 of the second lateral projection 1 4 or, if fitted, the foot 21 comes into contact with the upper face of the cover 1 7.

Following this a transverse force is applied to the upper free end of the handle 11, that is the end remote from the first and second lateral projections 1 2, 14 so that a levering force is applied to the cover 1 7 about a fulcrum constituted by the outer end of the lowermost edge 1 6 of the second lateral projection 1 4. The tool rocks on the curved rocker surface of the ground engaging foot 21 about this pivot until the free end of the U-shape portion 1 3 engages the undersurface of the cover 1 7 and following the application of a further force the cover 1 7 itself is turned about the edge 1 8 to the position illustrated in Figure 3.

To bring the cover to a stable position it is now necessary to exert a force along the length of the handle 11 by pulling this with the hook shaped portion 1 3 still in engagement with the lower surface of the cover 1 7 until the main body of the cover 1 7 has been displaced over the hinged edge 1 8 and a stable position has been reached. The tool can then be disengaged from the cover by turning it about the axis coincident with the handle 11 in the opposite direction from that through which it was turned upon engagement of the tool, which latter can then be drawn out through the slot 21 to complete the operation.In the event that one man cannot apply sufficient force to break the engagement between the cover 17 and the frame 20 a further identical tool can be inserted through one of the other slots and two operators can apply the required turning force. In fact, in an extreme case, it would be possible for three operators to gain access using three such tools, one at each end and one in the middle.

Referring now to Figure 4 and Figure 5 there is shown a second embodiment of the invention. In these Figures the same reference numerals have been used to identify corresponding parts of the tool described in Figure 1. These will not be described again. The second projection 1 4 of the tool of Figure 1 is replaced in the embodiment of Figure 5 with a sliding foot member generally indicated 23 and comprising a substantially flat body portion 24 having generally rectangular form with two lateral flanges 25, 26 bent up out of the material of the body portion to form this into a generally channel shape.Near one end 27 of the body of the sliding foot 23 there is formed a hole 28 through the bottom of the channel section constituted by the plates 24 and the two lateral flanges 25, 26. At the end remote from the end 27 the body portion 24 is curved to form a groundengaging rocker surface 29. The diameter of the hole 28 is very slightly greater than that of the shaft or handle 11 so that the sliding foot 23 can slide up and down the shaft 11 providing the hole 28 is maintained accurately parallel with the axis of the shaft 11, that is with the body portion 24 accurately perpendicular to this axis. This can be achieved readily when the sliding foot 23 is resting on the ground or on the upper surface of a gulley cover, and the lower end portion 13 of the tool is inserted through a slot in the gulley cover.

The use of the tool illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 is thus basically the same as that described in relation to the embodiment of Figure 1, with the exception that the tool can be raised, after the end 1 3 has been inserted and turned slightly to engage on the undersurface of a gulley cover prior to levering with the shaft 11.

Turning now to Figures 6 and 7 the adaptor illustrated in Figure 6 for adapting the tool to lift inspection covers comprises an annular part 30 from which projects a radial neck 31 having a transverse t-shape end portion 32.

The tool of the invention, which may be the embodiment of Figure 1 or the embodiment of Figures 4 and 5, is positioned with the second projection 14 or the sliding foot 23 in engagement with the ground adjacent one edge of an inspection cover 33 and the ring 30 is slipped over the hooked end 1 3. The t-shape projection 32 is then lowered into a lifting recess and the whole tool turned through a vertical axis by 900 to engage the arms of the t-shape projection 32 under the lip or overhang of the lifting recess. The tool will then be in the position illustrated in solid outline in Figure 7. A similar such tool and adaptor may be used at the other end of the inspection cover to lift this end simultaneously. By pulling on the lever 11 the inspection cover 33 can be raised without requiring any substantial force to be applied by the operator. The application of such force is much more convenient than was previously the case where the lifting tool has to be pulled directly upwards since the operator can position his feet freely where he finds it most comfortable or convenient, or as with the prior art lifting tool it was necessary to straddle the inspection cover 33 making it difficult and uncomfortable to apply the required lifting force, particularly if the inspection cover was firmly embedded or corroded in position.

Claims

1. A tool for opening kerbside gulley covers or other gratings comprising an elongate shaft having at least one first projection extending transverse the shaft at one end thereof for engagement under the cover, and a second projection, also extending transverse the shaft but not in the same direction as the first, at a position spaced from the said one end of the shaft such as to form a ground-engaging fulcrum for levering movement of the tool when the said one end of the tool is inverted through an opening in the gulley cover or like grating in such a way as to engage the first projection on the underside of the cover or grating, and a levering force is applied to the shaft at a point along the length thereof on the side of the second projection remote from the first.

2. A tool as claimed in Claim 1, in which the said first and/or the said second lateral projections is or are so formed and so joined to the shaft as to be able to resist forces at least as great as the bending resistance of the shaft.

3. A tool as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3, in which the shaft is made of steel or other ferrous metal and the first and/or the second lateral projection is or are welded thereto.

4. A tool as claimed in any of the Claims 1 to 3, in which there are two said first projections extending laterally of the shaft in opposite directions from one another.

5. A tool as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 4, in which the first, and/or the second lateral projection is or are formed integrally with the shaft.

6. A tool as claimed in Claim 5, in which the first lateral projection is formed by bending the material of the shaft at the said one end thereof.

7. A tool as claimed in Claim 6, in which the first lateral projection is bent into the form of a generally U-shaped hook lying in the same plane as the shaft.

8. A tool as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the second lateral projection is in the form of a flat plate joined along one edge to the shaft, the plate and the shaft lying in the same plane.

9. A tool as claimed in Claim 8, in which the said plate is an asymmetrical quadrilateral having a first edge perpendicular to the shaft on the side of the plate nearest the said one end of the shaft.

10. A tool as claimed in any of Claims 7,8 or 9, in which the flat plate of the said first lateral projection and the U-shaped hook of the second lateral projection lie in the same plane.

11. A tool as claimed in any preceding claims, in which the said second projection includes a transverse ground-engaging foot member a major face of which is convexly curved and faces away from the said shaft.

12. A tool as claimed in any preceding claim in which the said second projection is constituted by a sliding foot member including a body having an opening extending therethrough at a position offset from a mid point of the body, the relative dimensions of the opening, that is the ratio between its axial length and its diameter being such that the foot member becomes jammed in position along the elongate handle or shaft portion of the tool when a turning movement or couple is applied thereto.

13. A tool as claimed in Claim 12, in which the body of the sliding foot member is in the form of a generally flat plate of substantial thickness.

14. A tool as claimed in Claim 12 or Claim 13, in which the sliding foot member is reinforced by lateral ridges bent up to form a channel section.

1 5. A tool as claimed in any of Claims 12 to 14, in which the end of the body of the sliding foot member furthest from said opening is curved to form a rocking surface engageable with ground in use of tool.

16. A tool as claimed in any preceding claims, in which there are further provided means for adapting the tool for lifting inspection covers comprising an adaptor element engageable by the said first projection and having a T-shape extension portion thereof engageable in the lifting slots of an inspection cover.

1 7. A tool for opening kerbside gulley covers or other such gratings, substantially hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

18. A method of removing kerbside gulleys cover or other such gratings having openings therein comprising the steps of inserting, through an opening in the corner, a tool comprising an elongate shaft having at least one first projection extending generally transverse the shaft at one end thereof for engagement under the cover, and a second projection also extending generally transverse the shaft but not in the same direction as the first, and spaced along the shaft from the first, such as to form a ground engaging fulcrum for levering movement of the tool when a levering force is applied at or adjacent the end of the shaft opposite the said one end, and applying such a levering force whereby to turn the tool about the fulcrum where the second projection contacts the ground, so as to apply a lifting force to the cover via the said first projection or projections.