A shoring leg

Abstract: A shoring leg (1) is provided with a latch (7) for use in maintaining an end plate (6) of the shoring leg (1) and a jack collar (3) in a predetermined position relative to each other. The latch comprises a latch member having a slot (21) to receive a mounting bracket (27) which mounts the latch member (8) for pivotal movement relative to the mounting means (27) from a latching position to a release position. The latch member (8) defines a recess (11) adapted, when in the latching position, to receive part of the leg end plate (6) and a corresponding part of an adjacent collar (3) of the jack (2) to retain the end plate (6) and collar (3) in the predetermined position. The latch member (8) is biased into the latching position by a coil spring (32) acting between the leg (1) and the latch member (8).

Description: THIS INVENTION relates to a shoring leg and, more particularly, to a shoring leg provided with a latch. A known shoring system comprises a plurality of vertical legs each of which is provided with an adjustable jack at the bottom thereof. A screw-threaded portion of the jack is inserted into the leg and the jack carries a rotatable threaded collar which abuts an end plate carried by the leg. As the collar is rotated, it moves up or down the threaded portion of the jack, thereby lifting or lowering the leg. In this known system, when moving the vertical legs, a jack can become disconnected from its leg, thereby necessitating additional work in relocating the jack within the leg. In order to obviate or reduce this problem, it has previously been proposed in UK Patent GB-A-2265921 to provide a shoring leg with a latch which serves to maintain an end plate of the shoring leg and a collar of the jack in a predetermined position relative to one another. The known latch comprises a latch member mounted on the leg for movement between a latching position and a release position, the latch member defining adjacent one end thereof a recess adapted, when in the latching position, to receive part of the leg end plate and adjacent one end thereof the adjacent collar of the jack to retain the end plate and the collar in the predetermined position. The latch member is retained in the latching position by means of a leaf spring which is attached to the shoring leg and to which the latch member is secured. The latch member is provided with an integrally formed fulcrum in the form of a stub which contacts the leg, whereby the latch member is movable from its latching position into its release position by pressing on the other end of the latch member to pivot the latch member about the stub. Furthermore DE-A-3 641 349, which represents the closest prior art, discloses a shoring leg according to the preamble of claim 1, whereby the mounting bracket comprises a cylindrical fulcrum pin on which the latch is pivotally mounted, the fulcrum pin being received in a cylindrical mounting hole formed in the latch member. Whilst the known shoring leg and its latch operate satisfactorily, the present invention aims to provide a shoring leg having a latch requiring fewer components. Accordingly, the present invention provides a shoring leg according to claim 1. Preferably, a central region of the mounting slot of the latch member is narrower than end regions of the slot. Conveniently, an inner longitudinal edge of the slot is of arcuate form. The recess may comprise an indentation receiving the leg end plate and a rebate for receiving the jack collar. The latch member is preferably an elongate member, the recess being defined adjacent one end of the elongate member. The elongate member may be provided at the end thereof remote from the recess, with a finger tab. Where the latch is an elongate member, the end of the elongate member which is provided with the recess may also be provided with an inclined cam face adjacent the recess. Conveniently, the latch member is at least partially received in a channel which extends axially of the leg. Resilient means, such as a spring, typically in the form of a coil spring which is compressed between the latch member and the leg, is used to retain the latch member in the latching position. The invention also relates to a leg as described above in combination with a jack, the jack having a collar adjacent the end plate of the leg, part of the end plate of the leg and the corresponding part of the collar being received in the said recess formed in the latch member. In order that the invention may be more readily understood, an embodiment thereof will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of a shoring leg having a latch engaged with a jack collar, the leg and the jack being shown partly in phantom; Figure 2 is a front view of the shoring leg of Figure 1; Figure 3 is side view of a latch member of the latch, showing a mounting slot of the latch member; Figure 4 is a side view of a mounting plate of the shoring leg latch; and Figure 5 is an end view of the mounting plate. Referring now to the drawings, a hollow vertical shoring leg 1 is provided at its lower end with an adjustable jack 2. The jack has a portion (not shown) for engaging the ground to support a vertical screw-threaded portion 2A on which is rotatably mounted an internally threaded collar 3. The screw-threaded portion of the jack 2 is dimensioned to be received within the hollow leg 1. The collar 3 has an upper radially outwardly projecting lip 4 dimensioned to engage the lower end of the leg 1 and thus support the leg. The leg 1 consists of an extruded tube of aluminium with a substantially circular cross-section. The outer surface of the leg 1 is provided with axially extending channels 5. The leg 1 carries an annular end plate 6 which is fixed at the bottom of the leg 1 for engagement with the jack collar 3. The end plate 6 projects radially outwardly of the leg 1 and has a greater external diameter than that of the jack collar 3. When shoring incorporating the leg 1 is to be moved, the leg 1 may be lifted. In order to prevent the jack 2 from becoming separated from the leg 1 when the leg is lifted, the leg is provided with a latch 7 which acts to retain the jack 2 in position. The latch 7 comprises a vertically disposed elongate member 8 which is partially received in one of the axially extending channels 5 of the leg 1. An upper portion of the exposed outer face of the latch member 8 is formed at its upper end 9 with a knurled finger tab 10. A lower portion of the inner face of the latch member 8 defines a recess 11. The inwardly facing recess 11 is bounded by upper and lower walls 12 and 13 which are substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the latch member 8. A partition wall 14 parallel to the walls 12 and 13 defines a step in the recess 11 which divides the recess into an upper indentation 15 and a lower rebate 16, the indentation 15 extending deeper into the latch member 8 than the rebate 16. A sloping cam surface 17 extends downwardly and outwardly from the inner edge of the lower boundary wall 13, while the upper boundary wall 12 is connected to the lower end of a concave central portion 18 of the inner face of the latch member 8 by a rounded shoulder 19. An upper end of the central portion 18 meets an upper portion of the inner face of the latch member 8 at a cusp 20. The latch member 8 is formed with a mounting slot 21 which extends longitudinally of the leg 1 in a central portion thereof. The slot 21 comprises upper and lower end edges 22 and 23 which are substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the latch member 8. Inner and outer longitudinal edges 24 and 25 of the slot 21 extend between the end edges 22 and 23. The inner longitudinal edge 24 is an outwardly convex arcuate edge. The outer longitudinal edge 25 comprises upper and lower linear portions 25A and 25B of equal length which are inclined relative to one another so as to meet at a fulcrum corner 26, thereby defining with the inner longitudinal edge 24 of the slot 21 a central waist in the slot from which the width of the slot increases towards each end of the slot 21. The latch 7 is located at the bottom end of the leg 1, so that the indentation 15 of the recess 11 is aligned with the end plate 6 of the leg 1 and can accommodate a peripheral part of the end plate, while a corresponding part of the collar lip 4 can be received in the rebate 15 of the recess 11 when the lip is adjacent to the end plate 6. A rigid mounting bracket 27 for mounting the latch member 8 on the leg 1 is shown in Figures 4 and 5. The mounting bracket 27 is formed from a horizontally elongate rectangular strip bent to form a central fulcrum plate 28 flanked by mounting wings 29 and 30 which extend at an angle to the fulcrum plate 28 from respective vertical edges of the fulcrum plate 28. The width of the strip from which the mounting bracket 27 is made is slightly less than the length of the mounting slot 21 of the latch member 8, while the thickness of the strip is substantially equal to the horizontal distance between the fulcrum corner 26 of the outer longitudinal edge 25 of the mounting slot 19 and the opposing point on the arcuate inner edge 24 of the slot 21. The mounting bracket 27 extends through the mounting slot 21 in the latch member 8, so that the latch member is supported on the fulcrum plate 28 of the mounting bracket 27. Each of the mounting wings 29 and 30 of the mounting plate 27 is fixedly attached to the leg 1 by suitable fasteners, such as rivets, so that the fulcrum plate overlies the channel 5 of the leg 1 in which the latch member 8 is partially received. A blind bore 31 is formed in the latch member 8 above the mounting slot 21, the bore 31 extending into the member 8 transversely of the longitudinal axis of the member 8 from an upper portion of the inner face of the member 8. A biasing coil spring is partially received in the bore 31 so that it is retained in a compressed condition between the member 8 and the bottom of the channel 5 in which the member 8 is received. In a normal latching position of the latch 7 shown in Figure 1 the latch member 8 is biased by the action of the spring 32 so that the latch member 8 sits on the fulcrum plate 28 of the mounting bracket 27 with the lower linear portion 25B of the outer edge 25 of the slot 21 in engagement with the outer surface of the fulcrum plate 28. In this position, a peripheral portion of the end plate 6 is received in the indentation 15 with the upper wall 12 of the latch recess 11 is in direct contact with the upper surface of the end plate 6 and the collar lip 4 which abuts end plate 6 is accommodated within the rebate 16 of the latch recess 11. If, for any reason, such as the leg being moved, the collar 3 starts to separate from the leg 1, the lower wall 13 of the latch recess engages the collar lip 4 and holds the jack 2 and the leg 1 together, preventing separation of the jack 2 from the leg 1. To release the latch 7, the finger tab 10 on the latch member 8 is depressed towards the leg 1 against the action of the spring 32. This causes the latch member 8 to pivot on the fulcrum plate 28 about the fulcrum comer 26, so that the lower linear portion 25B of the outer longitudinal edge 25 of the slot 21 moves away from the fulcrum plate. The pivoting movement of the latch member continues until the upper linear portion 25A of the outer longitudinal edge 25 of the slot 21 comes into contact with the fulcrum plate. In this fully depressed position, the latch 7 is in a release position in which the collar 3 can be removed from the rebate 16, thereby allowing the portion of the jack 2 within the leg 1 to be withdrawn. If the leg 1 is lowered onto the jack 2 with the latch in its normal latching position, the cam surface 17 first comes into contact with the collar lip 4. The cam surface slides over the collar lip 4, causing the lower part of the catch member to move radially outwardly until the collar lip 4 passes beyond the lower wall 13 of the recess and is captured within the recess 11 as the latch 7 is returned to its normal latching position by the spring 32. Alternatively, the leg 1 may be lowered onto the jack 2 with the finger tab 10 fully depressed. In this case, the cam surface 17 does not come into contact with the collar lip 4 and the operating lever is not released until the collar lip 4 comes into contact with the end plate 6. When this occurs, the finger tab 10 is released and the latch 7 returns to its normal latching position.

Claims: A shoring leg (1) provided with a latch (7) for use in maintaining an end plate (6) on the shoring leg and a jack collar (3) in a predetermined position relative to each other, the latch comprising a latch member (8) mounted on the leg to execute a movement from a latching position to a release position, the latch member (8) defining a recess (11) adapted, when in the latching position, to receive part of the leg end plate (6) and to receive a corresponding part of an adjacent collar (3) of the jack to retain the end plate and the collar in said predetermined position, there being means (32) to retain the latch member in the latching position, the latch member (8) being attached to the leg by mounting means (27) which mounts the latch member for movement relative to the mounting means between the latching position and the release position, whereby the mounting means (27) is a mounting bracket which is fixedly attached to the leg, characterised in that the mounting bracket comprises a fulcrum plate (28) on which the latch member (8) is pivotally mounted, the fulcrum plate (28) is received in a mounting slot (21) formed in the latch member (8), an outer longitudinal edge (25) of the mounting slot comprises two linear portions (25A, 25B) which are inclined to one another so as to meet at a fulcrum comer (26) about which the latch member (8) is pivotable on the fulcrum plate (28), whereby, in the latching position, the first linear portion (25B) is in engagement with the outer surface of the fulcrum plate (28) and in the releasing position, the second linear portion (25A) is in contact with the outer surface of the fulcrum plate (28). A leg according to Claim 1, wherein a central region of the mounting slot (21) of the latch member (8) is narrower than end regions of the slot. A leg according to Claim 2, wherein an inner longitudinal edge (24) of the slot is of arcuate form. A leg according to any preceding claim, wherein the recess (11) comprises an indentation (14) for receiving the leg end plate (6) and a rebate (16) for receiving the jack collar (3). A leg according to any preceding Claim, wherein the latch member (8) is an elongate member with the recess (11) defined adjacent one end thereof, the said one end of the elongate member being provided with an inclined cam face (17) adjacent the recess (11). A leg according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the latch member (8) member is at least partially received in a channel (5) which extends axially of the leg. A leg according to any one of the preceding Claims, wherein the means to retain the latch member in the latching position is a spring (32). A leg (1) according to any one of the preceding claims in combination with a jack (2), the jack having a collar (3) adjacent the end plate (6) of the leg, part of the end plate (6) of the leg and a corresponding part of the collar (3) being received in said recess (11).

Inventors: PAPADOPOULOS DEMETRIOS GEORGIO, PAPADOPOULOS, DEMETRIOS GEORGIOU
Applicants: SGB SERVICES PLC, SGB SERVICES PLC.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: E04G5
IPC codes: E04G25, E04G5, B66F3, B66F1, E21D15