SCAFFOLDING SYSTEM

Abstract: A scaffolding system comprising a plurality of interconnected, vertically disposed tubular members (9) forming a skeleton frame of the scaffolding and a plurality of sheet members (3) providing a shelter ensuring controlled climate/working conditions. The sheet members (3) are fastened to and supported by the vertical members (9) by the provision of a fastening/supporting system (8).

Description: Scaffolding system The present invention relates to a scaffolding system, and more particularly to a side/top protecting/shielding device for scaffoldings or similar structures. It is often desirable to provide temporary weather shelters in situ, e.g. at a construction site or in connection with maintenance, renovation or painting activities on large objects such as buildings, vessels, tanks etc. Especially during the winter time it is important to provide protection against low temperatures, wind and humidity (rain, fog). Furthermore, under erection/maintenance of buildings situated in frequented areas (cities) it is also requested to protect the by-passing traffic and pedestrians against accidents due to falling objects, dust, grease and even noise caused by surface treatment (sand blowing) of buildings' walls. Consequently, several means/systems are used and proposed to be used to provide such protecting/shielding devices in connection with scaffoldings. Different means/systems are already known based mostly upon provision of suspended cladding, such as polyethylene sheeting or polyvinyl chloride fabric extending along the erected scaffolding structure. Several ways of attaching the fabric to the scaffolding structure, means of fastening and stretching such fabrics are known from numerous patent publications dealing with problems of adequate enclosure of the working site and requests for flexibility with regard to size/shape and conditions of the applied cladding material. Thus DE 4125664 discloses, in combination with a scaffolding, a plurality shielding sheets attached to the tubular horizontally extending scaffolding membe by means of a hooks arrangement In order to provide a sturdy and weather/du proof construction the shielding sheets are provided as corrugated sheets fasten within a rigid frame offering, at least along its sides, a possibility of elastic "sealin and due to the corrugation of plates also a simple overlap of the side-by-si arranged elements There are three major disadvantages connected to the disclosed shielding syste First of all because of fastening of the shielding sheets by means of a ho arrangement to horizontally extending scaffolding pipes no appropriate seali between the sheets in the vertical direction can be assured based on overlap of th adjacent corrugated sheets Secondly use of corrugated shielding sheets and complicated system of rigid frami and fastening hooks does not allow for an appropriate cleaning of the surfaces f sand and other surface treating materials and consequently a high degree recuperation of such materials Finally, the described shielding system is in particular designed for shielding plan objects, as the vertically oriented sealing lip interconnecting the panels will limit t maximum allowable angular position between these Thus, none hitherto known devices/means are complying with the complex reques to such devices regarding economics, quality and life span of conduct maintenance work and surface treatments on one hand and environmental aspec and impacts on the other hand Thus, apart from the above mentioned request protection aspects, it is furthermore desirable to provide a scaffolding syste offering also possibilities for collecting dust/applied cleaners, filtration, recirculati of such materials etc It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a new and improved scaffolding system avoiding the above shortcomings and ensuring controlled climate and working conditions Another object is to provide a light weight scaffolding system of a simple construction requiring no special (heavy) equipment for erection/dismantling of the system Still another object is to provide a complete mobile scaffolding system allowing for easy disassembling/assembling and transfer from site to site of scaffolding members and the necessary auxiliary equipment, comprising handle-proof elements and a easy and reliable disassembling/assembling fastening/supporting system These and other objects and features of the scaffolding system according to the invention are met by provision of a scaffolding system as claimed in the accompanying patent claims 1 - 10 The present invention will be described in more details and will be more apparent from the following description and drawings, Figs 1-6, where Fig 1 is a schematical perspective view of the scaffolding system according to the present invention, Fig 2 shows in a cross-sectional view along line I-I in Fig 1 schematically a sheet member employable in the scaffolding system Fig 3 shows in perspective a sheet member joint with a sheet fastening/supporting system, Fig 4 shows a vertical cross-sectional view through the fastening system shown in Fig 3, Fig 5 shows a horizontal cross-sectional view through the fastening syste shown in Fig 3, Fig 6 shows in a cross-sectional view along line A-A in Fig 5 a horizontal sealed joint between two sheet members Referring to the drawings, and particularly to Fig 1 , a storage tank, e g a large fu tank 1 , is shown schematically in a perspective view exhibiting also a scaffoldi system under erection/dismantling around the tank The scaffolding comprises conventional frame 2 of vertically and horizontally interconnected tubular membe forming a "skeleton" for the present scaffolding system According to the prese invention a plurality of sheet members 3 are attached (fastened) to the tubul members in a way ensuring a leakage proof tight connection so that an " conditioned" climate can be established between the provided scaffolding walls a the storage tank The appropriate climate (temperature, humidity etc ) is provided means of a (mobile) air conditioning unit 5 supplementaπly provided with hi capacity fans so that even a desirous degree of vacuum could be ensured emergency exit 4 is provided for the workers to evacuate the site if necessary The principle of "hermetic" encapsulation of the objects is also illustrated in Fig 2 a cross-sectional view taken along line I-I in Fig 1 The storage vessel 1 surrounded by a conventional scaffolding skeleton 2 bei additionally provided with sheet members 3 is further equipped with a roof 6 possib extending as an additional side wall 7 offering a shelter for the installed conditioning equipment 5 The roof 6 and the auxiliary side wall 7 c advantageously be provided as a fire proof fabric (sheet) in order to increase t safety for the surroundings Figure 3 shows in perspective, a vertical tubular member 9 forming part of the scaffolding frame onto which there is attached a sheet fastening/supporting system 8 interconnecting two pair of sheet members 3 (only the lower pair 3, 3' is shown in this figure) The system 8 is shown in an vertical cross-sectional view in Figure 4 and includes one lower sheet member 3 and one upper sheet member 3". Further, the system comprises a clamping device or combi-coupling 10 attached to the vertical tubular member at its one end, supporting a bracket 12 by a threaded fastener 24 at its other end To increase the torsional stiffness about the axis of the fastener 24, a yoke plate 11 is arranged between the bracket 12 and the vertical tubular member 9 The yoke plate 11 is securely fixed to the bracket 12 by appropriate means as welding, gluing or any mechanical fastener (not shown). With reference to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the bracket 12 supports two link arms 14, 14' by pivotal connections 13, 13' The link arms are provided with recesses 19 at their outermost ends, where said recesses are adapted to support the sheet members 3 The recesses consists of two spaced apart abutment walls 21 , 21 interconnected with a bridging element 23, dividing the recesses into an upper recess 28, and a lower recess 29. The bridging element 23 is provided with a slot 20. A wedging element 15 is adapted to correspond with the slot 20 and one abutment wall, forcing the sheet member into firm abutment with the opposite abutment wall to firmly hold and lock said element when properly engaged It will be seen that the outer abutment wall 21 is provided with sealing elements 26, 27 at its interior faces This feature provides that when engaging the wedging elements 15 the sheet members are brought into a sealed abutment with said wall It will be seen in Fig 3 that the lower recess 29 have a greater depth than the upper recess 28 This feature is essential when installing the sheet members 3 When installing a new sheet member, the upper edge of the member is simply brought into engagement with the recess 29. Then the member is lifted high enough to b engaged with an upper recess in an supporting/fastening system arranged at th lower edge of the sheet member (not shown). At this stage the sheet member is sel suspended. This feature allows that several sheet members may be installed in continuous operation, followed by the locking operation comprising the engagemen of the wedging elements 15. Thus, this feature contributes to a rapid and eas assembling/dissassembling procedure as handling elements and locking them ma be performed as two separate operations, by different crews or as succeedin operations by one crew. The pivotal connections 13, 13' of the link arms 14, 14' allows the sheet members 3 3' to be interconnected within a large variety of interrelated angular positions. Th resulting gap between the sheet members 3, 3' may be covered by a vertica extending sealing element 16 having bulged side sections 17 that are brought int engagement with recesses 18 formed at the end sections of the sheet members The sealing element 16 is preferably formed out of a material having elasti properties, such as plastic or rubber, but it should be stated that any appropriat sheet material may be employed. Fig. 6 shows a sealed connection between an upper sheet member 3" and a lowe sheet member 3. The connection comprises a sealing plate element 24 attached a the lower part of the upper member 3". The lower part of the plate element 24 i provided with an sealing element 25 at its inwardly facing side, and is brought int firm abutment with the outer side of the sheet member 3. The sheet members may advantageously be of any sandwich structure, comprisin at least one layer made out of a foamed material and at least one hard and smoot outer face. The outer face(s) may be formed out of materials as fibre glass appropriate resin materials, steel or aluminium. The sheet members are preferably surrounded by a frame structure that may be made out of aluminium, giving the members good strength and handling properties. The sheet members may preferably be made of a new emerging material, aluminium or Al-alloy foam offering an ideal combination of the requested properties. The inherent properties of this material, light weight, excellent thermal and sound insulation, can be further enhanced during the manufacturing process adding still new and desired features to the product. Apart from the possibility to provide a smooth surface and reinforced periphery of the sheets, it is possible by applying e.g. nitrogen or even some of the other fire inhibiting gases in the process of manufacturing the foam to provide the scaffolding sheets having up to 80% porosity in the form of closed pores filled with fire inhibiting. Such gases being released upon a possible fire on the maintenance site resulting in collapse (melting) of the sheets, will reduce the danger of major fires due to an instant fire extinguishing effect from the released gases. The above described and particular embodiment of the scaffolding system according to the present invention offers several advantages compared to the hitherto known and commercially applied scaffoldings. The fastening/supporting system of the sheet members offers easy and fast assembling/disassembling operations, as good sealing properties are maintained. Thanks to the complete encapsulation of the objects the actual maintenance of e.g. storage tanks, bridges, pipes etc. can take place even during the winter time (monsoon time) "in situ" ensuring: a) increased "life span" of the painting due to the controlled temperature and air humidity, b) blowing agents (sand) can easily be recuperated, something which represent a severe reduction of deposited (wasted) sand and applied surface treatin materials (low humidity for sand blasting, higher for painting operations) c) almost 100% collection of waste materials due to the possibility to creat underpressure conditions, d) high degree of flexibility and mobility of the scaffolding system based on ligh weight modules inclusive of auxiliary air-conditioning equipment which coul easily be dismantled and transported to the maintenance locations. e) employing sheet members with foamed layer, i.e. members having low therma conductivity, will contribute to a decrease in the energy demand for obtainin designed temperatures within the shielding system, thus smaller heatin equipment may be employed, and also energy costs may be reduced.

Claims: Claims 1. Scaffolding system comprising a plurality of interconnected, vertically disposed tubular members (9) forming a skeleton frame of the scaffolding and a plurality of shielding sheet members (3) being incorporated into the system, characterized in that the sheet members (3) extending between vertical tubular members (9) are solely fastened to and supported by the vertical members (9). 2. System according to claim 1 , characterized in that as fastening/supporting means (8) is applied a clamping device or a combi-coupling (10) that is attached to a vertical tubular member (9) at its one end and that supports a bracket (12), for instance by provision of a threaded fastener (24), at its other end, said bracket (12) being provided with preferably two arms (14, 14') having means adapted to fasten/support the sheet members (3) at their outermost ends. 3. System according to claim 2, characterized in that the arms (14, 14') are connected with the bracket (12) by pivotal connections (13, 13"). 4. System according to claim 2-3, characterized in that the means (8) adapted to fasten/support the sheet members (3) at the outermost ends of the arms (14, 14') comprises recesses (19; 28, 29) and wedging means (15), serving to suspend and clamp the sheet members (3). 5. System according to claim 4, characterized in that the recesses (19; 28, 29) comprise at least one abutment wall (21 ) provided with sealing elements (26, 27). 6. System according to claim 2-5, characterized in that the torsional stiffness the clamping device or the combi-coupling (10) with respect to the axis of th fastener (24), is augmented by the provision of an yoke plate (11 ) suspende by the vertical tubular member (9) at its one end and being secured to th bracket (12) at its other end. 7. System according to claim 1-6, characterized in that the sheet members (3 are provided with recesses (18) at their vertically oriented edges adapted t support a sealing element (16), where said sealing element may comprise sheet material with bulged side sections (18). 8. System according to claim 1-7, characterized in that the sheet members (3 are provided with a sealing plate element (24) that projects over the botto edge of the members, serving to seal the horizontally extending gap betwee one upper and one lower sheet member. 9. System according to claim 1 -8, characterized in that the sheet members (3 are single integral members exhibiting (at least on one side) a smooth surface. 10. System according to claim 1 -8, characterized in that the sheet members ar provided as aluminium (Al-alloy) foam sheets.

Inventors: LEKVEN NILS CHRISTIAN, OLSEN TERJE, LEKVEN, NILS, CHRISTIAN, OLSEN, TERJE
Applicants: LEKVEN NILS CHRISTIAN, MILJOESTILLAS A S, OLSEN TERJE, LEKVEN, NILS, CHRISTIAN, MILJOESTILLAS A/S, OLSEN, TERJE
Application year: 1996
Main classification: E04G21
IPC codes: E04G5, E04G21