SCAFFOLDING ATTACHMENT ARRANGEMENT
For attaching a scaffold stand (101) to the deck (130) of a bridge, which scaffold stand is arranged to be supported from at least two support points above the deck of the bridge, of which support points above the deck at least one support point (120) is arranged to receive compressive force and at least one support point is arranged to receive pulling force. The attachment member is characterized in that it (102) is fitted to be detachably attached to the deck (130) of the bridge with at least two attachment means (103), and comprises at least one attachment means (104) for attaching the attachment member (102) to the support point of the scaffold stand receiving pulling force. An arrangement and a method utilizing the attachment member are also presented.
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The invention relates to an attachment member of a bridge repair scaffold as well as an arrangement for attaching the repair scaffold to the deck of a bridge.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONWO2008132277 presents a scaffold arrangement suitable for repair work on the deck of a bridge. The arrangement is composed of a group of scaffold stands to be installed on the deck of the bridge, which are supported against the bridge by bolting the stand to the upper surface of the deck of the bridge and, thereafter, by supporting the stand with a pivotable support member against the lower surface of the deck of the bridge.
One problem of scaffold stands according to the arrangement of prior art is the strength required of the bolting. With short bolts, to be attached to the deck of the bridge and located as close to each other as possible, adequate strength can be achieved for some intended purposes, for example, for supporting workers moving on a scaffold. However, if to the scaffold stands are attached heavy machine tools, such as, for example, water blasting hardware, or concrete casting moulds carrying heavy concrete castings, the strength of a bolt attachment according to prior art may no longer be adequate. Problems may be created especially, when the concrete of the bridge to be repaired has become brittle.
Thus, what is needed is an attachment arrangement, with which the scaffold stands of the bridge repair scaffold can be attached to the deck of a bridge such that with the attachment is achieved the strength required for the task. The levels of strength required from the attachment may, depending on the task, be more than one. It should be possible to safely perform the attachment work of the scaffold stand from the deck of the bridge and from the scaffold to be installed.
OBJECT OF THE INVENTIONOne object of the invention is an attachment member and arrangement for safely attaching a scaffold stand to be used in the repair of the bridge to the deck of a bridge during the time of repair work.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONThe first aspect of the invention is an attachment member for attaching a scaffold stand to the deck of a bridge. The scaffold stand to be attached can be arranged to be supported, for example, from at least two support points against the upper side of the deck of the bridge, of which support points on the upper side of the deck at least one support point is arranged to receive compressive force from the deck of the bridge and at least one support point is arranged to receive pulling force from the attachment member attached to the deck of the bridge. The attachment member is characterized in that it is fitted to be detachably attached to the deck of the bridge with at least two attachment means and comprises at least one attachment means for attaching the attachment member to the support point of the scaffold stand receiving pulling force.
The scaffold stand to be attached can also be arranged to be supported from at least one support point against the underside of the deck of the bridge.
The support point of the scaffold stand receiving compressive force from the deck of the bridge is preferably arranged outside the area of the attachment member.
In one embodiment of the invention, the attachment member is further fitted to be attached to the deck of the bridge with at least one bolt going through the deck of the bridge.
In one embodiment of the invention, the attachment member comprises attachment means for detachably attaching a drilling machine to the attachment member.
The second aspect of the invention is an arrangement comprising an attachment member and scaffold stand according to the first aspect.
The third aspect of the invention is an arrangement comprising an attachment member of the scaffold stand and a drilling machine, therein detachably attached with attachment means, for drilling a hole through the deck of a bridge.
The fourth aspect of the invention is a method for detachably attaching a scaffold stand of the invention to the deck of a bridge.
In the following, the invention is described in more detail with reference to the accompanying figures, of which
The attachment member 102 is further fitted to be combined with connection means, for example, one or more bolts 104 for detachably attaching the scaffold stand to the member.
The surface area of the sheet and/or the number of connection means 103 and their distance from each other can all be selected according to how great a load it is desired to have the attachment structure formed by means of the attachment member 102 bear. By increasing the distance of the connection means 103 from each other, the strength of the attachment can be improved. A bridge deck that is brittle on its surface may require the use of an attachment member 102 (and possibly more connection means 103) having a greater surface area than a bridge deck of stronger structure.
Above the hole in the middle of the attachment member 102 is permanently fitted a bushing 109. The bushing extends above the upper surface of the attachment plate 110 of the scaffold stand 101 itself. That is, there is also a hole in the plate 110 of the stand, from which the bushing extends above the plate 110. The hole of the plate 110, from which the bushing extends above the plate, is somewhat larger than the bushing so that the bushing fits through it.
The bushing 109 serves to guide the scaffold stand, when it is installed in place. In this way, an attempt is made to keep the attachment bolts 104 from getting so easily damaged. The bushing extends above the attachment plate 110 also for the reason that when bolting through the deck is performed, the nut of the bolt rests up against the bushing and transfers force to the attachment plate of the deck. In one embodiment, the bushing can also function as the attachment point for the drilling machine in a drilling situation, preferably when drilling actual attachment holes for the bolts 103 and/or a through attachment hole 112 for the bolt 105.
In one embodiment, the support plate 120 can also be bolted to the deck of the bridge, for example, to assure that the stand will remain in place even in difficult wind conditions, in which the wind load may attempt to lift the scaffold stand upwards.
In the preferred embodiment shown in this figure, the attachment bolts 104 and 105 are essentially in the same line in relation to each other and the attachment bolt 105 is fitted essentially to the centre of the attachment member 102. With this arrangement, the strength of the structure can be improved.
Because the attachment member 102 to be attached to the deck is “massive”, for example, several tens of kilos in mass, and it gets tensile stress alone, the degree of evenness of the deck does not influence the durability of the attachment member 102. If there were to be compression on the attachment member 102, unevennesses of the deck would cause point-like loads on those parts of the plate, which would be against the concrete, whereas those parts of the plate, which due to the unevenness of the deck were not against the concrete, would not bear any load. Correspondingly, a support plate 120 receiving compressive force, which is relatively small in surface area, is capable of distributing load efficiently to the deck of the bridge.
It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the exemplary embodiments presented above are, for the purpose of illustrating the description, relatively simple in structure and function. Following the model presented in this patent application, it is possible to construct various and very complicated solutions, which will utilize the inventive idea presented in this patent application.
Claims
1. An attachment member for attaching a scaffold stand to the deck of a bridge, which scaffold stand is arranged to be supported from at least two support points above the deck of a bridge, of which support points above the deck at least one support point is arranged to receive compressive force from the deck of the bridge and at least one support point is arranged to receive pulling force from the attachment member, wherein the attachment member is fitted to be attached to the deck of the bridge with at least two attachment means, and comprises at least one attachment means for attaching the attachment member to the support point of the scaffold stand receiving pulling force.
2. An attachment member according to claim 1, wherein it further comprises at least one attachment means for detachably attaching the attachment member to the deck of a bridge with a bolt going through the deck.
3. An attachment member according to claim 2, wherein the attachment member comprises a bushing extending above the upper surface of the attachment plate of the attached scaffold stand and through which the attachment means is fitted to be installed.
4. An arrangement comprising an attachment member according to claim 1 and a scaffold stand.
5. An arrangement according to claim 4, wherein the support point of the scaffold stand receiving compressive force from the deck of the bridge is arranged outside the area of the attachment member.
6. An arrangement according to claim 4, wherein it comprises attachment means for attaching a scaffold stand with an attachment member fitted into a hole drilled through the deck of a bridge.
7. An arrangement comprising an attachment member of a scaffold stand according to claim 1 and attachment means for detachably attaching a drilling machine to the attachment member for drilling a hole.
8. A method for detachably attaching a scaffold stand to the deck of a bridge, wherein the method comprises steps of:
- a. detachably attaching an attachment member to the deck of a bridge with at least two attachment means,
- b. lowering a scaffold stand on top of the attachment member and attaching it to the attachment member with at least one attachment means,
- c. supporting a scaffold stand from the underside of the deck of the bridge with at least one support member receiving compressive force.
9. A method according to claim 8, wherein the method further comprises steps of:
- a. drilling a hole through the deck of a bridge with a drill detachably attached to the attachment means of the attachment member, and
- attaching a scaffold stand to the deck of a bridge with attachment means.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 8, 2011
Publication Date: Nov 28, 2013
Applicant: MOLDTECH OY (Espoo)
Inventors: Tomas Jorkama-Lopez (Porvoo), Taneli Ala-Rakkola (Pertteli)
Application Number: 13/885,001
International Classification: E04G 5/06 (20060101);