US2988165A - Scaffolding arrangement - Google Patents

Description

June 13, 1961 E. L. OATMAN SCAFF'OLDING ARRANGEMENT Filed Feb. 7, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 fig. h

INVENTOR. ELMER L. OAT/WAN June 13, 1961 E. OATMAN SCAFFOLDING ARRANGEMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 7, 1957 o o o INVENTOR.

ELMER L. OATMA/V :QQ QQGG m AGENT June 13, 1961 E. L. OATMAN 2,988,165

SCAFFOLDING ARRANGEMENT Filed Feb. 7. 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

ELMER L. 0/] TMAN 2 A9. 507% 9 AGE/VT June 13, 1961 E. OATMAN SCAFF'OLDING ARRANGEMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Feb. 7, 1957 INVENTOR. ELMEP L. 04 TMAN 97 X9. Q OMyL AGENT United This invention relates generally to the building trades and more particularly to a device for use by masonry trade personnel to facilitate their operations.

The primary object of this invention is therefore to provide a device to permit a brick mason to increase both the speed of operation of his laying of brick or block in a continuous section, and also his endurance in laying masonry units without tiring.

Another object is to provide a device to permit a fewer number of skilled personnel to produce an increased amount productive results in laying masonry units in a straight continuous wall or section.

An additional object is to provide a device for permitting a fewer number of unskilled personnel to take care for the supply requirements of each skilled personnel than formerly possible in certain masonry operations.

A still further object is to provide an adjustable scaffold from which a mason may work and which will also carry a supply board for positioning the masons material supplies at the most advantageous location.

And another object is to provide a masons scaffold which includes both a foot board to support the mason and a supply board to support his materials and which includes means to elevate both boards simultaneously as a wall is being constructed and automatic means to elevate first one board and then the other a predetermined distance to position the materials within the strike zone of a mason at Work.

And yet another object is to provide a simple crank and ball bearing screw arrangement by which the automatic adjustment is made to take place.

And a still further object is to provide a long coordinated bank of scaffold sections to permit simultaneous production to be carried out by a number of brick masons on a continuous wall where the connection between adjacent sections of the scaffold will permit one section to be raised when a particular mason is ready without having to wait for the mason of the next adjacent section to finish his run of brick.

These and other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following specification and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 represents a top plan view of one section of the novel masons scaffold arrangement of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the device of FIGS. 1 and 2 showing its use in relation to a masonry wall being constructed. A part of the cathead has been removed for clarity of illustration.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the vertical guide and lift unit which is part of each end support member.

FIG. 4A is a fragmentary detail perspective view of a modified post unit of FIG. 4-.

FIG. 5 is a detail elevational view of the traveling cathead of each support member.

FIG. 6 is a detail top plan view of the material bracket of this invention.

FIG. 7 is a detail top plan view of the guide frame of the material support of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary detail view of one set of co- "tates Patent operating dogs for latching the movable cathead and the stationary post frame assembly.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the lines 9-9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary detail view partly in section of the ball bearing jack screw drive assembly. I

FIG. 11 is a detail top plan view of the stabilizer clamp used in FIG. 2.

FIG. 12 is a detail top plan view of the scaffold to post assembly insert shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 13 is a detail side elevational view of the device of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary side elevational View of the material board support and the board to be attached.

FIG. 15 is a front View outline drawing, partly in schematic to show the functional parts of the lift mechamsm.

FIG. 16 shows a modified post assembly having a structure to permit the use of a monorail operated automatic hod carrier assembly in conjunction with the scaffold arrangement I.

FIG. 17 is a top plan view of the supply board support shown in FIG. 4.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawing, it will be observed in FIGS. l-4 that the scaffolding arrangement, indicated here at 2 includes basically a series of spaced vertical post assemblies 3, each having a material board support 4 and a foot board support 5, which supports each receive one end of a material board 6 and a foot board 7 respectively and support these boards in cooperation with similar supports on the next adjacent post assembly and a lift assembly 8 by which the supports and consequently the board 6 and 7 are selectively raised either separately or simultaneously for optimum positioning of the workmans position relative to both his work and the materials he is using.

Each post assembly 3 includes a pair of vertically extending pipe or posts 9 having vertically spaced and aligned dogs 10 which are triangular in cross section and includes a fiat ledge for receiving a latch 12 of a cooperating latch assembly 13 of adjacent cathead 14 (and latch 13A of material support 56 as hereinafter described). At installation on the job site, the lower ends of posts 9 are joined together by a stabilizer clamp 15 (FIG. 2) which also joins the lower end of post assembly 3 with a conventional scaffold assembly 16 while the upper end of post assembly 3 is joined to scaffold assembly 16 by insert 17. In this manner the long posts 9 are stabilized against swaying or movement by virtue of their being tied in with a relatively stationary scaffold assembly 16 which has internal bracing 18 to provide in effect a rigid operating base. Details of the clamp 15 are shown in FIG. 11 while the insert 17 is shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. Clamp 15 includes a flat plate 19 having welded pipe clamps 20 at each lateral end thereon to firmly engage the lower ends of posts 9 while the back slide of plate 19 includes a telescoping pipe clamp unit 21 to anchor the clamp 15 and consequently the post assembly 3 and the entire scaffold arrangement 2 to the conventional scaffold assembly 16. Wing screw 22 permits clamp unit 21 to be adjusted to fit spacing requirements at installation. Insert 17 includes a flat horizontal top 23 having three downward extending short pipes 24, 24a and 25 Welded to the underside thereof for cooperating engagement with both the post assembly 3 and scaffold assembly 16 to provide stability for the upper end of scaffolding arrangement 2. Pipes 24 and 24a telescope into the open upper ends of posts 9, whereas pipe 25 is attached to scaffold end pipe 26 by a welded in short coupling 27.

The lift assembly 8 is inter-positioned in and on the post assembly 3 so that the two assemblies cooperate to lift the supports 4 and 5 and their particular boards 6 and 7. The lift assembly cathead 30 is made up of two parallel pipes 31 of a large enough diameter to telescope over the foot board support pipe 32 which extends from foot board support 5 upward along the outboard side of each post 9 at a slightly spaced distance therefrom. The support 5 is a triangular truss which extends outward from pipe 32 in cantilever fashion and is so constructed that it has -a fiat upper surface to receive one end of board 7 and it has suificient strength to support the required number of workmen and other loads likely to be imposed thereon. In a modified support 5a shown in FIG. 14, an angle 33 and ball 34 are attached at the lateral outboard sides of the support to receive a cooperating socket structure 35 attached to the underside of foot board 7. This latter construction has certain advantages, such as case of retention on the support and is recommended for use under certain operating conditions. Cathead 30 includes pair of connection straps 36 which rigidly attach pipes 31 to form a unitary cathead and also centrally support gear housing 37 of the crank or power unit 38. Details of the power unit 38 may be observed in FIG. wherein the housing 37, welded to straps 36, partially encloses a lead screw 40 and retains the upper end of this lead screw in rotatable relation by means of thrust bearings 41 located on both sides of top plate 42 and bearing retainer collar 43. The upper end of lead screw 40 is threaded as at 44 and engages nut 45 to retain a bearing protector cap 46 in place on top plate 42. An upward facing horizontally positioned bevel gear '47 integral with lead screw 40 is located in housing 37 so as to mesh with vertically positioned bevel gear 48 integral with crank shaft 49. The entire length of lead screw 40 below housing 37 is threaded by a square (or similar) thread 50 which meshes with corresponding threads in hole 51 of travelling block 52 of material board support 4. Block 52, in addition to being threaded through hole 51, includes a ball return channel 53 by which the plurality of balls 54 forming this ball bearing unit are recirculated as lead screw 40 is rotated in either direction. The lead screw ball bearing combination is a commercial unit and eliminates friction to such an extent that with only a moderate leverage in crank 64 on power shaft 49, one man can easily lift several men standing on foot board 7; and the alternate small reversible motor 64a would obviously lift an even greater load and in a faster time.

The material or supply board support indicated generally at 4 is actually made up of two structural units, a guide frame 55 (FIG. 7) and a support frame 56 (FIG. 6) which two frames are rigidly joined at installation to form the complete support 4. The guide frame 55 includes the screw retaining travelling block 52 and a series of spaced rollers 57 which engage and cooperate with posts 9 to both guide and provide a rolling contact for the support 4 when the latter is being lifted. The frame 56 includes a U-shaped bracket 5% having four short bars 59 welded thereto and extending both inward and outward from bracket 58 in a lateral direction. Each bar includes a ball 60 for cooperation with sockets 61 of material board truss 62 to which board 6 is fastened by bolts (not shown).

In one method of operation, which is referred to as arrangement I, the pipes 32 of foot board support 5 are pin connected as indicated at 63 to material bracket 58 so that the material board support 4 and foot board support 5 move in unison when raised. By using this specific arrangement (I), the brick mason may rotate crank lever 64 of power unit 38 in a clockwise direction and raise both himself and his materials any desired distance as the wall he is building progresses in height. The dogs 10 are spaced 2 /8 inches apart, which is the exact width of a brick plus mortar, so that the mason may raise his working position as he completes each level of brick work.

The very few seconds invested to rotate the crank lever provide a return in time saving many times over in completion of the job, and equally important provides a greater freedom of the mason from workman fatigue while also increasing his efliciency. The material board 6 in this arrangement I is located a predetermined distance above the foot board which distance is determined by the strike zone of the mason using the materials. The strike zone being that space between a masons shoulders and his knees, and if the material board is stationary relative to the mason, as it is in this specific arrangement I, the material board would be positioned at the vertical position necessary to place the average height of the brick or block B on pallet P at his waist line (midway of the strike zone).

The mechanism by which the lifting occurs in arrangement I is as followes: Cathead 30 includes inwardly facing latch assemblies 13 in which a latch 12 is pivoted therein at 66 and counterweighted at 67 so that latch 12 is normally horizontal and rests against upper stop 68 due to its pivoted and counterweighted construction. However, any downward force on the upper side of latch 12, as for instance the next adjacent dog It will force latch 12 down while it slides by the dog 10 as cathead 30' is being raised. Once past the dog 10, latch 12. rapidly pivots back to its horizontal position and prevents any downward movement of cathead 30 when latch 12 is resting on the upper side of dog 10. The material bracket 58 includes a similar latch assembly 13a which functions in the same manner as latch assembly 13. There has thus been provided two units, cathead 30 and material support 4 (together with foot support 5 when pin connected at 63) which is slidable relative to each other and both independently slidcable in an upward direction relative to posts 9 and both independently capable of being locked against downward movement. Therefore, by using either unit as a referred point, the other unit may be raised relative to this reference point and consequently relative to posts 9. For example, starting from any position such as shown in FIG. 15, when crank lever 64 is rotated clockwise its gear 48 rotates gear 47 and lead screw 40 in a direction to lift travelling block 52 and consequently its integral material support 4 (and foot support 5 when attached by pin 63) until latch 12a of its latch assembly 13a rests on a higher dog 10 of post 9. If the crank lever 64 is then rotated counterclockwise, latch assembly 13a and material support 4 then become the stationary reference point and lead screw 40 will force its bearing housing 37 and consequently connecting straps 36 and the integrally attached cathead 30 upward until its latch assembly 13 rests on another higher dog 10.

In another arrangement, specified as No. II the vertical pipe 31 of cathead 30 is rigidly attached by pin 70 through pin opening 70' to pipe 32 which is telescoped therein so that the cathead 30 and foot support 5 will move in unison, and if pin 63 is removed from pin opening 63' the material support 4, may then be moved independent of either. The value of the arrangement II is the independent movement of the material board so that as the mason uses brick 01f the top of his material stack the level he operates in may be moved up. It is pointed out again that if the mason works in his strike zone his work is both faster and more efficient, and the resulting finished product will be more attractive. Since the mason will remove brick from the top of the supply on pallet P the level of the brick will decrease, and at the same time the height of wall is increasing due to his laying the brick thereon; consequently he must either reach up or stoop down while using a specific material both if the height of both the material board 6 may be raised without moving foot board 7 during the build-up of the section of wall W which is within the masons strike zone. Since the dogs 10 are spaced a brick height apart, the masoncan turn crank lever 64 until he hears 0r sees the click of latch 12 on dog 10, at which point he may stop if he wishes to move up only one brick level as the machine has automatically moved that far only. Now if the mason has laid six rows of brick, he may turn the crank lever until he has heard six clicks and he knows he will have auto matically moved up the proper distance.

FIG. 4A shows a modified post 9A having two vertical spaced pipes 9 with a thin fiat bar 80 extending across the space separating pipes 9. The dogs 10 are then welded on the flat bar 80 rather than directly on pipe 9 as this greatly facilitates the Welded installation and the complete post will have a greater strength and rigidity than the single post 9.

FIG. 16 a hod carrier support 85 extends rearwardly from pipe 32 and is comprised of A frame 86 having a laterally extending pipe 87 at its outer end. Smaller A frames 88 and 89 are installed on cathead 30 a distance above frame 86 and support lateral pipes 96 and 9 1 respectively. Pipes 9!? and 91 will permit a roller R1 of the monorail type hod carrier H to ride regardless of the location of the load whereas pipe 87 will support and guide the main load roller R2.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that there has been produced a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of this invention, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and useful and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A scaffolding arrangement for brick laying opera tions, comprising: spaced vertical post assemblies, vertical posts in said assemblies, a cathead comprising vertical pipes parallel to said posts, a material board support on each post and cooperating with said cathead, tubular members extending from said pipes, a foot support on said tubular members, a lift means cooperatively attached between said cathead and said material support and adapted to first lift said cathead relative to said material support and post and then lift said material support relative to said cathead and post; means to selectively attach said foot sup port tubular members to said pipes or to said material support, said post including vertically spaced dogs and both said cathead and said material support including latch means in alignment with said dogs, and said lift means being adapted to selectively litf either latch means for independent engagement with certain of said dogs.

2. In a scaffolding structure having vertical support post assemblies and having a foot platform and a separate materials platform, a first vertical member adapted to be vertically movably mounted on one of said post assemblies and having a latch means effective when engaged for preventing downward motion of said first vertical member, a second vertical member adapted to be movably mounted on said one of said post assemblies and having a second latch means efi'ectivewhen engaged for preventing downward motion of said second member, said second member being adapted for motion relative to said first member, and moving means interconnecting said first and second members efiective when rotated in a first direction and when said first latch means is engaged for moving said second member upwardly along said one of said supports, said moving means being eifective when rotated in a direction opposite said first direction and when said second latch means is engaged for moving said first member upwardly; a platform supported by each first and second vertical members for carrying said foot platform and materials platform respectively.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,035,595 Johnson Aug. 13, 1912 1,616,743 Erickson Feb. 8, 1927 1,922,069 Adams Aug. 15, 1933 2,216,912 Hoitsrna Oct. 8, 1940 2,430,179 Lanchester Nov. 4, 1947

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