Suspended cable scaffold assembly

Abstract

A versatile suspended scaffold assembly is provided. The scaffold assembly includes a plurality of suspended cables, each having a plurality of support elements pressed or clamped thereon at regular intervals, the distance between consecutive support elements being selected between 250 mm and 1000 mm, preferably about 500 mm. Beams are supported by the support elements on which platforms, guardrails and stairways may be mounted.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of scaffoldings and more particularly concerns a versatile suspended cable scaffold assembly for use inside a building or a vessel, for working on the side of or under a bridge, at the construction field of a multi-storied building or the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional scaffoldings are erected by successively assembling pipes and related components vertically from the ground level up, along the exterior of a structure such as a building. With this method, the maximum height of the scaffolding is limited by physical factors such as weight, installation and stability, making any attempt to go beyond a reasonable height too costly to be realized in practice. Another disadvantage of the conventional bottom/up method of setting up a scaffold is that the resulting structure occupies a lot of space to provide proper balance and support to the whole scaffold system, obstructing access to the building at locations where the scaffold serves no purpose.

A solution to the above-mentioned issues is to suspend scaffoldings from the top of the building or structure it allows access to. Various hanging scaffolds designs are known is the art. For example, FOSTER (U.S. Pat. Nos. 763,274 and 763,275, both dated Jun. 21, 1904) discloses a scaffold comprising a set of outriggers, steel cables carried by the outriggers and platforms suitably supported by the suspending cables. Adjustment possibilities are mentioned, but no specific teaching is made in that regard or as to the means to clamp a scaffold to a building. The possibility of adding levels to the scaffolding is discussed, but not the modification of the already mounted scaffold levels. Generally, the structure taught by FOSTER seems rudimentary in terms of size and no communication is provided between the different stories.

Other designs of suspended scaffolds are for example known from U.S. Pat. No. 1,750,269 (JOHNSTON); U.S. Pat. No. 3,700,071 (KIKUCHI); U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,707 (LIENHARD Sr.); and U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,563 (PUCCINELLI et al.).

Despite the teachings of prior art, there is still a need for a stable, inexpensive, semi-permanent, interconnected, multi-levelled, adjustable, light suspended scaffold assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention provides a suspended scaffold assembly for allowing access to a structure. The assembly first includes a plurality of cables suspended from an elevated portion of the structure. Each cable has a plurality of support members rigidly affixed thereon at regular intervals therealong with a distance between consecutive support members being selected between 250 mm and 1000 mm, the support members of neighbouring cables being in alignment with each other.

The assembly further includes a plurality of beams, each mounted horizontally between a pair of cables. Each beam has opposite extremities, each provided with a fastening assembly for fastening this extremity to a respective cable of the pair of cables. The fastening assembly is supported by one of the support members affixed to this respective cable.

The assembly finally includes a plurality of scaffold elements mounted to the beams and positioned so as to allow access to the structure.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, there is also provided a suspended scaffolding kit mountable to allow access to a structure. The kit includes a plurality of cables suspendable from an elevated portion of the structure, each cable having a plurality of support members rigidly affixed thereon. The support members are disposed along the cables at regular intervals with a distance between consecutive support members being selected between 250 mm and 1000 mm. A plurality of beams are further provided, each mountable horizontally between a pair of cables. Each beam has opposite extremities, each provided with a fastening assembly for fastening this extremity to a respective cable of the pair of cables, in a supported relationship with any one of the support members affixed to this respective cable. A plurality of scaffold elements, mountable to the beams so as to allow access to the structure, is also provided.

Advantageously, the suspended scaffold of the present invention may be mounted in a limitless number of configurations to allow proper access to a structure. The positioning of the support members further allows to easily design and modify these configurations before and after installation so that at all time access to the structure can be optimized.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood upon reading of preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the appended drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a multi-level scaffold installed on a structure according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of a multi-level scaffolding according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view of the top of a scaffold according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial side view of the top of a scaffold according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a detailed side view of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional top view of an adjustable ring of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional elevation view of an adjustable ring of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a partial elevation view of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 11 is a partial side view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a partial side view of a cable of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a partial front view of a cable of the present invention.

FIG. 14A is a front view of a part of a scaffold assembly according to another preferred embodiment of the invention; FIG. 14B is a partial side view of the scaffold of FIG. 14A; and FIG. 14C is a top view of a cable clamp used in the embodiment of FIG. 14A.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a suspended scaffold assembly 20 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is understood throughout the present description that the scaffold of the invention is intended to provide access to any appropriate structure, may it be a building or a vessel, for working on the side of or under a bridge, at the construction field of a multi-storied building or any other structure which needs to be accessed by a scaffold system, indoors or outdoors. It is a particularly advantageous feature of the present invention that it provides great flexibility of design so that it may be adapted to structures of a wide variety of shapes and heights.

The scaffold 20 includes a plurality of supporting cables 22. The number of cables in a given assembly may vary and is preferably sufficient to provide the necessary access to the structure. The cables are preferably made of threaded steel of ⅝″ of diameter, but could have different dimensions or be made of any sufficiently strong material, such as for example nylon, aluminum, stainless steel or even be chains of such materials.

The cables 22 are solidly suspended from an elevated portion of the structure. By “elevated portion”, it is meant that the fastening point of the scaffold to the structure is sufficiently high to ensure that the scaffold provides access to the areas of the structure which need accessing, and it is understood that this does not necessarily need to be at the actual top of the structure. Referring more particularly to FIG. 3, in the preferred embodiment, outriggers 24 are affixed to a counterweight 25 or directly to the structure by any appropriate means such as bolts, and project horizontally therefrom. The outriggers could for example be embodied by any I-Beam or beams of rectangular or round hollow sections, etc. The cables 22 are suspended from the outriggers by solid attachment means such as eyebolts. In cases where the portion of the structure to which the outriggers are mounted is uneven, means may be provided to adjust the length of the cables to compensate, such as a turnbuckle 23 (see FIG. 4). It is of course understood that any other suspension system able to suspend cables from an elevated structure would still fall within the scope of the present invention.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the spacing between the cables varies from 7′ to 10′ apart, and the length of the cables is either 50′ or 100′. Referring to FIGS. 12 and 13, according to another preferred feature of the present invention, a typical connection between two cables 22 and 22′ is shown attached end to end by a loop formed at one of their respective extremities, and then joined together by a bolt 21 inserted in the loop of each cable, typically of 1¼″ in diameter and 4½″ in length.

Referring to FIG. 5, each cable 22 is provided with a plurality of support members 26, rigidly affixed thereon and disposed at regular intervals along the cable 22. By “rigidly affixed”, it is understood that the support members 26 are solidly pre-installed on the cables 22, before installation of the scaffold assembly, and are not removable therefrom. In the preferred embodiment, the support members 26 are made of steel, have a 2″ diameter and are pressed or clamped on the cables 22. Although the support members are herein shown to be cylindrical, they could have a different cross-section, such as rectangular, or be variable along the cable length.

The distance between consecutive support members 26 is a fixed value selected between 250 mm and 1000 mm, and is preferably of about 500 mm. When the cables 22 are suspended, the support members 26 on a given cable 22 are in horizontal alignment with the support members 26 of the neighbouring cables 22, so that it is possible to affix a platform, stairway, guardrail, etc., at every support member height. In this manner, all of the support members form a “grid” which serves as the basis for the scaffold design and configuration. This feature is particularly advantageous in that it allows the scaffolding to be very versatile and adaptable to the needs of a particular job or to structures of various configuration or geometry. It also facilitates modifications to these configurations after installation of the scaffold.

The scaffolding further includes a plurality of beams 36 mounted horizontally between pairs of neighbouring cables 22. The beams 36 are preferably made of steel but may be made of any other appropriate rigid material. They may also be of a telescopic construction. The opposite extremities of each beam 36 are provided with fastening assemblies 37 for fastening the corresponding extremity of the beam 36 to a given cable 22, supported by one of the support members 26 on this cable 22.

Referring to FIGS. 9 to 11, a fastening assembly 37 according to a preferred embodiment is illustrated, the fastening assembly 37 at each extremity of a given beam 36 being provided with a pair of parallel transversally projecting arms 38 disposed so as to be supported by the top surface 39 of the corresponding support member. The arms 38 may be embodied by any appropriate members such as, for example, a clip, an H-clip, or an L-shaped metallic pin. The arms 38 are preferably affixed to the corresponding beam by bolts 40. A further bolt 40 is used to bridge the space between the arms 38 on the other side of the cable 22 to prevent the cable 22 from slipping out of the space between the parallel arms. In alternative embodiments, the arms 38 may be welded to the beam 36 or affixed thereto by any other appropriate means. It is understood that the above description of a fastening assembly is given by way of example and that the beams may be retained to the cables in any way without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The suspended scaffold assembly of the present invention further includes a plurality of scaffold elements mounted to the beams and positioned so as to allow access to the structure. The scaffold elements may be embodied by aluminum platforms, as is well known in the art, or guard ramps or stairways, further adding to the versatility of the design. Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2, there are shown two examples of different simple configurations which could be obtained with the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a series of platforms 42 installed so as to surround a bridge pillar at four different levels. Guardrails 44 are also provided. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, four cables 22 are disposed to form a stairwell in which stairways 46 are mounted, allowing workers to travel conveniently from one platform to another.

Typically, the guardrails 44 are made of pipes of ½″ or ¾″ in diameter but could also be made of wire rope, nylon, wood, aluminum, pvc or any other appropriate material. The guardrails 44 may be embodied by the same beams 46 used to support the platforms and stairways, or may be of a different construction. The support of each platform is preferably made of hollow structural steel (HSS) of 2″×2″ and of a length of 42″ along the width of the platform. The platforms may be made of metal, wood or plywood, steel, duckboard, aluminum, etc. The platform attachment means that allow the attachment of the platform to the beams preferably include ½″ bolts with jam nuts. The stairways may be of any appropriate construction and material and be provided or not with guardrails. Of course, these characteristics are given by way of example and are not limitative to the scope of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 6 to 8 and 14A to 14C, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention the scaffold assembly may be further provided with adjustable support members 48 removably affixed to cables 22 at intermediate positions between the rigidly affixed support members 26 (see FIG. 14A). Contrary to the rigidly affixed support members 26, the adjustable support members may be added after installation of the scaffolding are preferably used to support guardrails only. Preferably, the adjustable support members 48 are made of two halves 28 and 30 attached together and around the cable by bolts 32, typically ½″ in diameter for a steel cable of ⅝″ in diameter. The adjustable support members 48 may be provided with a cable clamp 34 supporting it from underneath, as shown in FIGS. 6, 14B and 14C. In yet another embodiment, the adjustable support members could be embodied by wire clips or disks such as typically found in standard scaffoldings for fastening components together.

The present invention therefore provides a versatile scaffold assembly which is easy to install for one skilled in the art and may provide convenient access to an elevated structure. In a previous realisation of an embodiment of the invention, it was surprisingly possible to mount a forty-five-level suspended scaffold without difficulty, the overall structure being very stable, and relatively inexpensive. Conveniently, the overall structure may be covered with a hood (not shown) attached thereto, made for example out of plastic or strong cloth, that would allow workers to stay on the structure independently of bad weather or the period of the year.

Advantageously, the cables with the pre-affixed support members, beams, and scaffold elements of the present invention may be sold in the form of a kit, which the user may install according to his particular needs. The accompanying mounting components may or may not be included as part of the kit.

Of course, numerous modifications could be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A suspended scaffold assembly for allowing access to a structure, said assembly comprising:

a plurality of cables suspended from an elevated portion of said structure, each cable having a plurality of support members rigidly affixed thereon at regular intervals therealong with a distance between consecutive support members being selected between 250 mm and 1000 mm, the support members of neighbouring cables being in alignment with each other;

a plurality of beams, each mounted horizontally between a pair of said cables, each beam having opposite extremities each provided with a fastening assembly for fastening said extremity to a respective cable of said pair of cables, said fastening assembly being supported by one of the support members affixed to said respective cable; and

a plurality of scaffold elements mounted to said beams and positioned so as to allow access to the structure.

2. A suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, further comprising anchoring means for anchoring said cables to said elevated portion of the structure.

3. A suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 2, wherein said anchoring means comprise a plurality of outriggers.

4. A suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 3, wherein at least one of said outriggers is attached directly to said structure.

5. A suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 3, wherein said anchoring means further comprise a counterweight supporting at least one of said outriggers.

6. A suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein said cables are made of a material selected from the group comprising threaded steel, nylon, aluminum and stainless steel.

7. A suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of said support members has a cylindrical shape.

8. A suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of said support members is affixed to a corresponding one of said cables by pressing.

9. A suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of said support members is affixed to a corresponding one of said cables by clamping.

10. A suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of adjustable support members removably affixed to at least a portion of said cables at intermediate positions between said support members rigidly affixed thereon, said adjustable support members comprising two complementary halves positioned on opposite sides of a corresponding one of said cables, and fastening means for fastening said complementary halves together and to said corresponding cable.

11. A suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 10, further comprising a plurality of cable clamps each mounted beneath one of said adjustable support members.

12. A suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein said distance between consecutive support members is of about 500 mm.

13. The suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein each of said support members is made of steel.

14. The suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein said beams are made of steel.

15. The suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein said fastening assembly provided at each extremity of said beams comprises:

a pair of arms projecting longitudinally away from said extremity, each arms of said pair having a proximate end affixed to said extremity of the corresponding beam and a distal end opposite the proximate end, said arms further defining a space therebetween adapted to receive the corresponding cable therein; and

a stopper bridging said space at the distal end of the arms to prevent the corresponding cable from slipping out of said space.

16. The suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 15, wherein the proximate end of said arms is affixed to the extremity of the corresponding beam by means selected from the group comprising bolts and welding.

17. The suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 15, wherein said stopper comprises a bolt.

18. The suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 15, wherein said arms rest on a top surface of a corresponding support member so as to be supported thereby.

19. The suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein said scaffold elements comprise at least one scaffold platform.

20. The suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein said scaffold elements comprise at least one stairway.

21. The suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein said scaffold elements comprise at least one guardrail.

22. The suspended scaffold assembly according to claim 1, wherein said scaffold elements comprise a plurality of scaffold platforms and a plurality of stairways providing communication between said scaffold platforms.

23. A suspended scaffolding kit mountable to allow access to a structure, said kit comprising:

a plurality of cables suspendable from an elevated portion of said structure, each cable having a plurality of support members rigidly affixed thereon, said support members being disposed along said cables at regular intervals with a distance between consecutive support members being selected between 250 mm and 1000 mm;

a plurality of beams, each mountable horizontally between a pair of said cables, each beam having opposite extremities each provided with a fastening assembly for fastening said extremity to a respective cable of said pair of cables in a supported relationship with any one of the support members affixed to said respective cable; and

a plurality of scaffold elements mountable to said beams so as to allow access to the structure.

24. A suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein said cables are made of a material selected from the group comprising threaded steel, nylon, aluminum and stainless steel.

25. A suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein each of said support members has a cylindrical shape.

26. A suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein each of said support members is affixed to a corresponding one of said cables by pressing.

27. A suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein each of said support members is affixed to a corresponding one of said cables by clamping.

28. A suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, further comprising a plurality of adjustable support members removably affixed to at least a portion of said cables at intermediate positions between said support members rigidly affixed thereon, said adjustable support members comprising two complementary halves positioned on opposite sides of a corresponding one of said cables, and fastening means for fastening said complementary halves together and to said corresponding cable.

29. A suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 28, further comprising a plurality of cable clamps each mounted beneath one of said adjustable support members.

30. A suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein said distance between consecutive support members is of about 500 mm.

31. The suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein each of said support members is made of steel.

32. The suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein said beams are made of steel.

33. The suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein said fastening assembly provided at each extremity of said beams comprises:

a pair of arms projecting longitudinally away from said extremity, each arms of said pair having a proximate end affixed to said extremity of the corresponding beam and a distal end opposite the proximate end, said arms further defining a space therebetween adapted to receive the corresponding cable therein; and

a stopper for bridging said space at the distal end of the arms to prevent the corresponding cable from slipping out of said space.

34. The suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 33, wherein the proximate end of said arms is affixed to the extremity of the corresponding beam by means selected from the group comprising bolts and welding.

35. The suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 33, wherein said stopper comprises a bolt.

36. The suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 33, wherein said arms are adapted to rest on a top surface of a corresponding support member so as to be supported thereby.

37. The suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein said scaffold elements comprise a plurality of scaffold platforms.

38. The suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein said scaffold elements comprise a plurality of stairways.

39. The suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein said scaffold elements comprise a plurality of guardrails.

40. The suspended scaffolding kit according to claim 23, wherein said scaffold elements comprise a plurality of scaffold platforms and a plurality of stairways for providing communication between said scaffold platforms.