ANCHORING ASSEMBLY FOR SCAFFOLDING BRACKET AND METHOD OF USE THEREOF

Abstract

A method of suspending scaffolding brackets which includes a first step of securing to a structure, lengths of resilient material having a load rating sufficient to support the scaffolding brackets to be suspended. A second step involves attaching each of the scaffolding brackets to one of the lengths of resilient material.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims benefit of Canadian Patent Application Serial No. 2,595,282, filed 22 Jun. 2007 and entitled Method of suspending scaffolding brackets and scaffolding brackets suspended in accordance with the method, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

The present invention relates to an anchoring assembly, a method of suspending scaffolding brackets and scaffolding brackets suspended in accordance with the teachings of the method. More specifically, the present technology relates to an anchoring assembly that comprises lengths of resilient material and attachment members. The technology provides for a readily adaptable and disposable anchoring assembly.

BACKGROUND

U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,169 (Frith); U.S. Pat. No. 5,503,358 (Lapp); U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,631 (Knauth); U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,662 (Riley) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,945,358 (Albano) are all examples of wall supported scaffolding. In each of these patents, scaffolding brackets are provided with an anchoring assembly by which the scaffolding brackets are suspended from a wall. The anchoring assembly typically involves a hook, clamp or anchor plate.

SUMMARY

There is provided an anchoring assembly comprising lengths of resilient material having a load rating sufficient to support scaffolding. A method of suspending scaffolding brackets which includes a first step of securing to a structure, lengths of strapping having a load rating sufficient to support the scaffolding brackets to be suspended is also provided. A second step involves attaching each of the scaffolding brackets to one of the lengths of strapping.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a scaffolding bracket suspended in accordance with the teachings of the present method.

FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective view of a scaffolding bracket suspended from a masonry wall by strapping in accordance with the teachings of the present method.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view, in section, of the masonry wall with strapping illustrated in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a detailed perspective view of a scaffolding bracket suspended from a wooden wall by strapping in accordance with the teachings of the present method.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation view, in section, of the wooden wall with strapping illustrated in FIG. 4

FIG. 6 is a side elevation view, in section, of a clamping member which is a variant for attaching a length of strapping to a scaffolding bracket.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view, in section, of a karalbiner attachment member which is a variant of an attachment member used to attach loops of strapping to a scaffolding bracket.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An anchoring assembly and method of suspending scaffolding brackets using the assembly will now be described with reference to FIG. 1 through 7. The anchoring assembly consists of lengths of resilient material, preferably lengths of strapping 14, and attachment members, such as a pin 20 and cotter pill 26 combination, staples, nails or clamps, for example, but not limited to.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, as well as FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, the method consists of a first step of securing to a structure (such as wall 12), lengths of strapping 14 having a load rating sufficient to support a scaffolding bracket 16 to be suspended. A second step involves attaching scaffolding bracket 16 to length of strapping 14. It will be appreciated that a scaffolding installation will always involve more than one scaffolding bracket 16, each of which will be attached in a similar manner. There are various ways in which scaffolding bracket 16 may be attached to length of strapping 14. It is preferred that each length of strapping 14 be formed into a loop 18. This enables scaffolding bracket 16 to be attached to loop 18 by inserting an attachment member (such as pin 20) through loop 18. Pin 20 has a head 22, which engages a vertical support 24 of scaffolding bracket 16 to prevent its removal in a first direction. A cotter pin 26 is inserted through an aperture 28 of pin 20, to prevent its removal in a second direction. Referring to FIG. 1, vertical support 24 may have part of an outer face 27 tapered off near the end of support 24 that strapping 14 attaches to. Face 27 is the side of vertical support 24 that is positioned parallel to, but not facing, wall 12. In addition, the sides adjacent to face 27 may be tapered along with face 27 to allow space for pin 20 to be easily inserted through loop 18. When suspended in accordance with the method, the installation with scaffolding brackets 16 secured to strapping 14 will appear as shown in FIG. 1. It will be understood that in addition to vertical support 24, scaffolding bracket 16 will include a support surface 29, railings 31, a horizontal frame 33 and railing supports 35 that provide a measure of fall protection. Support surface 29 provides a space for workers to stand. Horizontal frame 33 projects horizontally from vertical supports 24, providing structural integrity for supporting support surface 29. Railing supports 35 have stirrups 37, railing supports 35 projecting vertically from the corners of frame 33. Stirrups 37 are provided to hold railings 31 in place between railing supports 35, giving scaffolding bracket 16 structural rigidity and strength. By rigidly securing railings 31, vertical supports 24 are held square against wall 12. In addition, each of vertical supports 24 may be provided with a pad 39 as shown in FIG. 1. Pad 39 is positioned between vertical support 24 and wall 12, resisting vertical and horizontal movement and aiding in the proper positioning of vertical support 24. on wall 12.

The manner of attaching loop 18 to wall 12 will vary depending upon whether the wall is a masonry wall or wooden wall, and depending upon the height at which attachment is required. Referring to FIG. 2, wall 12, as illustrated, is a masonry wall and loop 18 is being secured part way up wall 12. Referring to FIG. 3, this is done by boring a hole 34 through wall 12. Loop 18 is then extended through hole 34. A bracing member 36 is inserted through loop 18 to prevent it from being pulled through hole 34. Pin 20, which is the form of attachment member illustrated, then connects scaffolding bracket 16 to loop 18. Referring to FIG. 4, wall 12, as illustrated, is a wooden wall and loop 18 is being secured at the top of wall 12. Referring to FIG. 5, strapping 14 is positioned on top of wall 12 and nails 38 are driven through strapping 14 into wall 12 to hold strapping 14 in place. Depending upon the weight associated with the installation, it may be advisable to position a board 40 over strapping 14 and drive nails 38 through board 40 into wall 12. The purpose of board 40 is to distribute the force holding strapping 14 in place and reduce point loading on strapping 14 where nails 38 penetrate. A combination of these two approaches may also be used.

Advantages:

The method described above is simple, effective and relatively inexpensive. When the installation is taken down, length of strapping 14 is disposed of. This may be accomplished by cutting strapping 14 and removing it. Where space is of concern, the use of length of strapping 14 to anchor scaffolding requires much less space than other scaffolding anchoring systems.

Variations:

It will be appreciated that length of strapping need not be formed into a loop. Referring to FIG. 6, there is illustrated a clamp 30 which could be used to clamp length of strapping 14 to scaffolding bracket 16. The strapping may also have a loop at one end or both ends. It will also be appreciated that other forms of attachment member may be employed that have sufficient load rating for supporting scaffolding. Referring to FIG. 7, there is illustrated a karabiner 32, which could be used, as an alternative to pin 20, to attach to loop 18. An extension of the terminus of the scaffolding bracket provides a remote end 50.

In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from scope of the Claims. For example, any resilient material of sufficient tensile strength to support scaffolding, including, for example but not limited to climbing rope, or Kevlar™ webbing could be employed. Similarly, the strapping could extend much further along the length of the scaffolding bracket than is shown in the Figures, in other words, not being located proximate the terminus. Additionally, the strapping could be affixed to a remote end.

Claims

1. A method of suspending scaffolding brackets, comprising:

securing lengths of a resilient material to a structure, the lengths of resilient material having a load rating sufficient to support the scaffolding brackets to be suspended;

attaching each of the scaffolding brackets to one of the lengths of resilient material.

2. The method of claim 1, including a step of forming each of the lengths of resilient material into a loop and attaching the scaffolding brackets to the loop by inserting an attachment member through the loop.

3. The method of claim 2, the step of securing lengths of resilient material to a structure involving inserting the loop through an opening and inserting a bracing member into the loop to prevent the loop from being pulled back through the opening.

4. The method of claim 1, the step of securing lengths of resilient material to a structure involving driving fasteners through the resilient material.

5. The method of claim 1, the step of securing lengths of resilient material to a structure involving clamping the resilient material to the structure.

6. The method of claim 2, the attachment member inserted into the loop being one of a pin or a karabiner.

7. The method of claim 1, the step of attaching each of the scaffolding brackets to one of the lengths of resilient material being accomplished with clamps.

8. The method of claim 2, the loop of resilient material being inserted into a remote end of a vertical support.

9. The method of claim 8, the vertical support having a tapered top opening to provide access for inserting attachment member through the loop.

10. In combination:

scaffolding brackets;

attachment members;

lengths of resilient material formed in loops and secured to a structure;

each of the scaffolding brackets being suspended by the lengths of resilient material from the structure by inserting the attachment member through one of the loops.

11. The combination of claim 10, wherein the loop is inserted through an opening in the structure and a bracing member is inserted into the loop to prevent the loop from being pulled back through the opening.

12. The combination of claim 10, wherein the lengths of resilient material are secured to the structure by driving fasteners through the resilient material.

13. The combination of claim 10, wherein the lengths of resilient material are secured to the structure by clamps.

14. The combination of claim 10, wherein the attachment member inserted into the loop is one of a pin or a karabiner.

15. The combination of claim 14, the loop of resilient material being inserted into a remote end of a vertical support.

16. The combination of claim 15, the vertical support having a tapered top opening to provide access for inserting attachment member through the loop.

17. The combination of claim 10 wherein the resilient material is strapping.

18. A combination for use as an anchoring assembly for a scaffolding bracket, comprising a length of resilient material and an attachment member, wherein the combination has a load rating sufficient to support scaffolding.

19. The combination of claim 18 wherein the resilient material is strapping.

20. The combination of claim 19 wherein at least a portion of the length of the strapping is a loop.

21. The combination of claim 18 wherein the attachment member is a pin.

22. The combination of claim 21 further comprising a cotter pin for insertion into the pin.