Adjustable and transportable scaffolding
An adjustable and transportable scaffolding (10) is described. It comprises an adjustable leg support mechanism (20) for a scaffolding having vertical corner frame members (11) connected to horizontal frame members (12) and cross-braces (13). The mechanism (20) comprises an open-ended sleeve (21) adapted to receive a support rod (22) therethrough and wherein the support rod has at least a horizontal toothed edge section (23) adapted to secure to a bottom support foot (24). A tooth engaging member (25) is pivotally secured to the sleeve (21) and has a tooth engaging head (26) biased against the toothed edge (23) inside the sleeve (21) for supporting the sleeve about the support rod (22) while permitting upward displacement of the sleeve about the rod. The tooth engaging member (25) can be unbiased from the toothed edge (23) of the support rod (22) to permit downward displacement of the sleeve (21) about the rod (22). A locking member (40) is provided to lock the tooth engaging member (25) in arresting position with the toothed edge (23). The sleeve (21) is also provided with a connector (52) for support engagement with one of the corner frame members (1) of the scaffolding (10).
The present invention relates to an adjustable and transportable scaffolding and more particularly to an adjustable leg support mechanism which provides ease of leveling and transporting a scaffolding on an irregular ground support surface.
BACKGROUND ARTScaffolding devices comprising interconnectable tubular frame members are well known in the art whereby to support people and material in an elevated position whereby to facilitate working on structures such as building structures or working adjacent or under elevated ceilings. When working on scaffolding outdoors, often the ground area adjacent the structure is irregular and it is therefore necessary before climbing such scaffolding or erecting such scaffolding that the ground be preferably level or else the vertical corner posts of the scaffolding are shimmed by using all sorts of material whereby the base of the scaffolding lies substantially in a planar horizontal plane. A problem with such shimming is that often it becomes disengaged and this can cause the scaffolding to collapse resulting in injuries and sometimes death to personnel working on such structures or in the vicinity of such structure.
Another disadvantage of scaffolding is that once erected they are difficult to transport to relocate at a different site close by. Usually the entire scaffolding structure is disassembled and re-assembled at the new site where again it may be required to shim the corner vertical post to re-level the structure prior to assembly thereof. This is a time consuming process.
Solutions have been proposed to remedy these problems and reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,033 which proposes such a solution. One solution is to mount the scaffolding on wheels which may be retracted, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,967. In order to maintain the working platform of the scaffolding substantially horizontal at a desired position, telescopic legs have also been proposed as described and shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,033. However, such proposed solution is very time-consuming and is permanently adapted to a specific scaffolding platform. There is therefore a need to also provide a scaffolding which incorporates features of adjustability and transportability and which is easy to disassemble and assemble and which can be transported by small transport vehicles such as a pick-up truck or the like small vehicles. There is also a need to provide an adjustable and transportable scaffolding which is safe to use and which can be erected very quickly and easily displaceable without disassembling the scaffolding.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTIONIt is therefore a feature of the present invention to provide an adjustable and transportable scaffolding which substantially overcomes the disadvantages of the above-mentioned prior art and which provides for the required existing needs.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an adjustable leg support mechanism which is securable to vertical corner posts of a scaffolding structure and which is easy to connect thereto, and which is quick and easy to adjust by a single person.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide an adjustable leg support mechanism to which is connectable wheels whereby to transport and displace an assembled scaffolding from different locations.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a scaffolding and wherein the wheels can be displaced and locked about the scaffolding corner posts for ease of displacing the scaffolding.
According to a still further feature of the present invention there is provided a support foot for a scaffolding which is slidingly displaced over a ground support surface even when covered with snow.
According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides an adjustable leg support mechanism for a scaffolding having vertical corner frame members connected to horizontal frame members and cross-braces. The mechanism is characterized in that it comprises an open-ended sleeve adapted to receive a support rod therethrough and wherein the support rod has at least a longitudinal toothed edge section and a bottom support foot. A tooth engaging member is pivotally secured to the sleeve and has a tooth engaging head biased against the toothed edge inside the sleeve for supporting the sleeve about the support rod while permitting upward displacement of the sleeve about the rod. Means is provided to unbias the tooth engaging head from the toothed edge to permit downward displacement of the sleeve about the rod. Arresting means is provided to lock the tooth engaging head in arresting position with the toothed edge. Attachment means is provided for securing the sleeve for support engagement with one of the vertical corner frame members of a scaffolding.
According to another broad aspect of the present invention there is provided a support foot for a scaffolding having vertical corner posts. The support foot is characterized by a slide plate having a bottom ground engaging face and opposed upwardly angled end flanges. A vertical connector is disposed substantially central on a top wall of the slide plate for removable connection with a lower end section of a vertical corner post of a scaffolding structure.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to
The present invention provides for an adjustable leg support mechanism 20 which is connectable to one or more of the vertical corner frame members 11. The adjustable leg support mechanism will now be described with further reference to
The adjustable leg support mechanism 20 comprises an open-ended sleeve 21 which is adapted to receive a support rod 22 therethrough and wherein the support rod 22 has at least a longitudinal toothed edge section 23 and is adapted to secure to a bottom support foot 24, as illustrated in
The tooth engaging head 26 is mounted on a pivot pin 27 and is provided with a lever arm 28 integrally formed therewith and which constitutes a means to unbias the tooth engaging head from the toothed edge 23 to permit downward displacement of the sleeve 21 about the rod 22. The lever 28, due to its own weight, biases the tooth engaging head inwardly of a rectangular passage of the open-ended sleeve through an aperture 30 formed in a side wall 31 of the sleeve 21. It is pointed out that the support rod 22 is of square cross-section and received in close sliding fit within the rectangular passage 29 of the sleeve.
As shown in
As better illustrated in
With further reference to
As shown in
Attachment means in the form of a vertical connecting post 52, is also secured to the sleeve 21 and herein via the rod connector 50 on a top wall thereof and projects upwardly on a vertical axis 52′ which is parallel to the longitudinal axis 53 of the sleeve. The connector 50 extends on a transverse longitudinal axis 54. The vertical post 52 is structured for release engagement with a hollow, tubular end section 55, see
The sleeve 21 is further provided with flocking means in the form of a spring-bias lock pin 56 which is spring-biased inside the rectangular passage 29 by a spring 57 whereby to lock the support rod with the sleeve at one or more predetermined positions as dictated by holes 58 (see
Referring now to
Referring now to
A position arresting pin 76 interconnects the rod connector or rod end 51′ to the lock flange 70 when the pin 76 is received in one of the locking cavities 72. The position arresting pin 76 is provided with finger engaging means in the form of a top handle 77 to retract the arresting pin from one of the locking cavities 72 for disengagement therewith. Accordingly, the sleeve 22 and its wheel 60 can be locked at different angles with respect to the rod 51.
As can be seen from
With reference now to
As hereinshown, the carriage frame 85 has a pair of these connecting rods 89 and 89′ connected to a pivoting bar 91 which is pivotally connected at an end 92 to the tubular rod 80. The other end of the connecting rods 89 and 89′ are pivotally attached to a forward end of the pivotal bar 91 on pivot connections 93 and 93′, respectively. A handle 94 is secured to the free end of the pivotal bar 91 whereby to provide ease of pulling a scaffolding secured to the tandem arrangement. As shown in
Referring now to
Referring to
Referring now to
As above described, the present invention provides an adjustable leg support mechanism which can be easily assembled and disassembled in component parts for ease of transport and storage. Also, some of the component parts are considered to be optional, such as the support wheels or the carriage frame and the support wheels can be adapted to the leg support mechanisms only when required. When it is required to transport a scaffolding assembly the sleeve 21 is disconnected from the toothed edge of the support rod 22 and the sleeve is lowered therealong until the support wheel rests on the ground surface. The support rod 22 is then pulled upwardly above the ground surface and the sleeve is relocked thereto to maintain the support foot or slide plate 24 elevated from the ground surface. The tandem arrangement is then supported on its opposed support wheel 60. Of course, these tandem arrangements can be connected to opposed sides of a scaffolding structure wherein all corners are adjustable and provided with wheels.
It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any obvious modifications of the preferred embodiment described herein, provided such examples fall within the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1. An adjustable leg support mechanism 20 for a scaffolding 10 having vertical corner frame members 11 connected to horizontal frame members 12 and cross-braces 13, said mechanism being characterized in that it comprises an open-ended sleeve 21 adapted to receive a support rod 22 therethrough and wherein said support rod has at least a longitudinal toothed edge section 23 and is adapted to secure to a bottom support foot 24, a tooth engaging member 25 pivotally secured to said sleeve 21 and having a tooth engaging head 26 biased against said toothed edge 23 inside said sleeve 21 for supporting said sleeve about said support rod 22 while permitting upward displacement of said sleeve about said rod, means 27, 28 to unbias said tooth engaging head 26 from said toothed edge to permit downward displacement of said sleeve about said rod, arresting means 40 to lock said tooth engaging head 26 in arresting position with said toothed edge 23 and attachment means 52 for securing said sleeve 21 for support engagement with one of said vertical corner frame members 11 of a scaffolding.
2. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that said means to unbias said tooth engaging head is a lever arm 28 formed integral with said tooth engaging head 26, said tooth engaging head 26 having an engaging projection 34 projecting through an aperture 30 inside said open-ended sleeve.
3. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that said sleeve 21 has a substantially rectangular cross-section for receiving therethrough said support rod 22 which is of substantially square cross-section, said toothed edge section 23 being constituted by a plurality of saw tooth formations 23′ formed along a side wall of said support rod and facing said aperture 30 of said sleeve 21.
4. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 3 characterized in that said saw tooth formations 23′ each define a horizontal support ledge 32 and an outwardly sloping wall section 33, said engaging projection 34 having a wedge shape formation 34′ defining a flat bottom wall 35 for seated engagement on said support ledge 32 and a rearwardly sloping upper wall 36 for frictional sliding engagement against said outwardly sloping wall section 33 of said tooth.
5. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 4 characterized in that said tooth engaging head 26 is pivotally connected by a pivot connection 27 between a pair of support flanges 37 secured to said sleeve 21 on opposed sides of a side wall 31 of said sleeve having said aperture 30, said wedge-shaped formation 24′ being biased against said saw tooth formation 23 by the weight of said lever arm, said lever arm when displaced upwardly about said pivot connection 27 causing said wedge shape formation to retract through said aperture.
6. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 2 characterized in that said arresting means 40 is a locking lever pivotally connected 41 to said sleeve 21 and having an arresting formation 42 for removable engagement with said tooth engaging head to prevent displacement of said lever arm 28 and disengagement of said engaging projection with said toothed edge section 23 of said support rod 22.
7. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that said bottom support foot 24 is a slide plate 99 for sliding displacement on a ground support surface 14.
8. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that there is further provided a rod connector 50 secured to said sleeve 21 for connection to a transverse tubular rod 51 interconnecting two opposed leg support mechanisms 20 together.
9. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that said attachment means 52 is a vertical connecting post 52 for release engagement with a hollow tubular end 55 of said vertical corner frame member 11.
10. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that there is further provided locking means 56 to automatically lock said support rod 22 with said sleeve 21 at one or more predetermined positions.
11. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 10 characterized in that said locking means is a spring-biased lock pin 52 secured to said sleeve 21 and having a spring-biased rod 56 urged against a side wall 59 of said support rod 22 for engagement in a hole 58 formed in said side wall 59 at said one or more predetermined positions.
12. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 1 characterized in that there is further provided a support wheel 60 secured to wheel support means 61 secured to said sleeve 21, said wheel 60 having its planar axis of rotation extending parallel to said sleeve.
13. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 12 characterized in that said wheel 60 is removably secured to said wheel support means 61 which is constituted by a wheel attachment sleeve 61 secured to said sleeve 21.
14. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 12 characterized in that there is further provided a rod connector 50 secured to said sleeve 21 for connection to a transverse tubular rod 51 for interconnecting two opposed leg support mechanisms 20 together in tandem arrangement, a carriage frame connector 86, 86′ secured to said wheel support means 61, 61′, each of said two opposed leg support mechanisms 20 adapted for interconnection with carriage frame connecting rods 89, 89′ to displace said tandem arrangement on said support wheels 60.
15. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 14 characterized in that said rod connector 50 is pivotally secured to said sleeve 21, and a vertical connecting post 52 secured to said rod connector for release engagement with a hollow tubular end 55 of said vertical corner frame member 11, and lock means 76 for arresting said wheel support means 61 at a desired angular portion relative to said sleeves 21 of said tandem arrangement to displace said tandem arrangement along a desired direction.
16. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 15 characterized in that said carriage frame connector is an elongated flange 86, 86′ having a slot 88 therein to receive a connecting pin element 90 secured to a connecting end of said carriage connecting rods 89, 89′ to permit displacement of said connecting end along said slot 88, said carriage connecting rods 89, 89′ being pivotally secured 93, 93′ at a remote end to a handle 94 to effect said displacement of said tandem arrangement.
17. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 15 characterized in that said lock means 76 comprises a horizontal lock flange 70 secured to said sleeve 21 and having an arcuate outer edge 71 provided with two or more locking cavities 72 disposed therealong, a pivot connecting flange 73 spaced above said lock flange 70 and extending parallel thereto, said rod connector 50 being pivotally connected between said lock flange 70 and said pivot connecting flange 73 by a pivot pin 74, and a position arresting pin 76 spring-biased against a top peripheral edge of said lock flange 70 and secured to said rod connector, said position arresting pin 76 interconnecting said rod connector to said lock flange when received in one of said locking cavities 72.
18. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 17 characterized in that said position arresting pin 76 is provided with engaging means 77 to retract said arresting pin from one of said locking cavities 72 for disengagement.
19. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 15 characterized in that said rod connector 50 is a connecting end of said transverse tubular rod 51.
20. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 19 characterized in that said transverse tubular rod 51 is a telescopic rod 80 having interconnection means 81.
21. An adjustable leg support mechanism as claimed in claim 19 characterized in that a leveling device 83 is secured to said transverse tubular rod 51, 80 to assist in locking a scaffolding tubular structure secured to said tandem arrangement.
22. A support foot 24 for a scaffolding having vertical corner posts 11, said support foot 24 being characterized by a slide plate 99 having a bottom ground engaging face 100 and opposed upwardly angled end flanges 101, and a vertical connector 103 disposed substantially central on a top wall 104 of said slide plate 99 for removable connection with a lower end section 55 of said corner posts 11.
23. A support foot 24 as claimed in claim 22 characterized in that said vertical connector is a vertical connecting post 103 for release engagement within a hollow end 55 of said corner posts, said corner posts 11 being hollow tubular posts having at least one lock pin receiving hole 106 for receiving therein a spring-biased lock pin 105 projecting from said vertical connecting post 103.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 7, 2005
Publication Date: Jan 29, 2009
Inventors: Daniel Grenon (Sorel-Tracy), Marco Robidoux (Richelieu), Richard Boucher (Sorel-Tracy)
Application Number: 11/658,657
International Classification: E04G 1/18 (20060101); E04G 5/02 (20060101);