Abstract:
A dismantlable, multi-story facade scaffold is formed of at least four vertical support elements and floor plates and railing elements which are mounted thereto. An additional scaffold story is erected by coupling an additional vertical support element to an already existing one and pivotally attaching one end of a railing element thereto at a location above where the floor plate for the next story will be placed. The other end of that railing element is pivotally attached to another vertical support element. This other vertical support element is then raised, thereby pivotally moving the rail element relative to the respective vertical support element until the rail element is in a horizontal position and the vertical support element is in the vertical position. The other vertical support element is now attached to the upper end of a corresponding vertical support of the lower scaffold story. Thereafter the floor plate for the additional scaffold story is installed so that a worker stepping on the floor plate of the higher story is protected from the very beginning against falling off. The connections between the ends of the railing and the respective vertical support elements are disengageable when they are in relatively inclined positions and become locked when the railing is perpendicular to the support elements. The scaffold is dismantled by reversing this procedure.

Description:
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/242,265, filed Dec. 9, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,422,345. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to a dismantlable facade scaffold and to a method for the assembly and dismantling of such a facade scaffold. 
     Such facade scaffolds, in which the vertical support consists of support elements which can be separated from one another (CH-A-658878; GB-A-0276487), are used extensively for erection at the facade of a building in order to carry out external work there, for example applying a coat of paint. 
     Such facade scaffolds are generally assembled by successively erecting the individual scaffold planes, with the individual support elements of the vertical supports of a first scaffold plane ending as a rule in each case just above a floor plate belonging to a second scaffold plane lying above it. This upper end of the support elements is then coupled by the installer to the lower end of the support elements for the second scaffold plane, in particular by means of a plug connection. 
     Thereafter, one or more substantially horizontally extending railing elements are mounted on the support elements in that scaffold plane (the second plane), in which the installer was present during the last discussed working step. These railing elements serve to reduce the danger of falling. 
     Once all the railing elements for the second scaffold plane have been installed, the floor plates belonging to the third scaffold plane lying above the second scaffold plane are coupled by the installer above his head with the previously installed support elements. 
     Finally, the scaffold is additionally stabilized during the erection of the individual planes with transverse and/or diagonal struts. 
     In known facade scaffolds of the named kind it is a disadvantage that the installer has to work both during the erection of the support elements for the next scaffold plane and also during the installation of the railing elements for this next scaffold plane without any form of side protection, or without any form of side railing. This causes a considerable accident danger. 
     In order to counter this, it has already become known (FR-A-2336532) to install the railings of a new story to be erected from the already finished story and only then to place the floor plate belonging to the next story onto the already finished part of the scaffold, so that a worker treading on the new floor plate is already protected against falling by the previously installed railing. The pre-installation of the railing of the next story makes it necessary for vertical struts to extend downwardly from both sides of the railing which must first be connected to the already finished part of the scaffold and later also to the support elements of the following story. 
     In a further known dismantlable scaffold (FR-A-2516141) of the same kind, downwardly projecting struts are provided at one end of the railing by means of which the railing which is suspended at the other end of a vertical support can thus be swung upwardly to the next story and then secured to an already previously erected vertical support element. 
     The known solutions thus require additional downwardly extending vertical supports in order to move a railing element up to the next story and to secure it to the vertical support elements of the scaffold. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the invention is to make available a dismantlable facade scaffold and also a method of assembling and dismantling such a facade scaffold of the initially named kind, in which not only the danger of an accident during the assembling or dismantling is reduced to a minimum, but rather the assembly/dismantling can be carried out economically in a simple manner. 
     Thus, in accordance with the invention, the railing elements which are pivotally connected at one end to an already installed support element are coupled at the other end to a not yet installed further support element, whereupon the further support element is lifted up, with a pivoting of the railing element into a horizontal position, and is set onto the associated support element of the already finished story. Thus, no additional vertical supports are required for the vertical pivoting of the railing element, but rather the support element which later forms a component of the scaffold is itself used. 
     Since, with facade scaffolds, several vertical units are as a rule erected alongside one another, with their floor plates adjacent to one another in a plane, it is sensible to design the coupling between the railing elements and the support elements so that two railing elements can be secured at one end of a support element and can then respectively extend horizontally in opposite directions. 
     A particularly simple coupling between railing elements and support elements results when the railing elements can be hung into the fastening positions of the support element provided for this purpose. In this respect it is again of advantage when the suspended connection is equipped with a security device against unintentional release in order to ensure, in this manner, that the railing element is reliably connected to the support element when a horizontally directed force is exerted on a railing element, such as for example occurs when an installer leans against the railing element. 
     The said securing device is preferably so designed that it is achieved solely by the coupling of the railing element and the support element, without special devices having to be actuated for this purpose or without the installer having to carry out additional manual actions. 
     The suspended connection is preferably realized by a projection element which extends substantially perpendicular to the support element and is fixedly connected to the latter, and also by a lug provided at the end region of the railing element and which can be coupled to the projection element. It is an advantage of this embodiment that moveable parts do not need to be provided either at the railing element or at the support element. 
     The projection element is preferably executed as a stamped part, which can for example be welded onto the support element. Thus, the manufacturing costs can be restricted to a minimum because the stamping procedure can be carried out at low cost. 
     The projection element can, for example, be made substantially areal or flat, with it naturally having to have a certain thickness in order to be able to withstand the forces which arise. 
     In one possible embodiment of the projection element, the latter is provided with at least two mutually displaced projections at its upper and lower sides in each case. In this case the lug of the railing element can be threaded onto the projection element while executing pivotal movements when the railing element is aligned perpendicular to the support element, with the lug being moved over one projection of the projection element during each pivotal movement. Through sequential, opposite pivotal movements the lug is thereby alternatively moved over the projections provided at the upper and lower side of the projection element. 
     It is preferred when the lug is executed as an elongate slot which extends in the longitudinal direction of the railing elements, since in this case the lug can be pushed onto the projection element while executing a substantially linear movement, when the support element and the railing element include an angle, which is for example smaller than 45°. The support element and the railing element include an angle of this kind at the stage of the erection or dismantling in which the railing element has a free end, i.e. an end which is not coupled to a support element, and the other end is connected to a support element or to be released from such an element. 
     In this case the coupling position between the support element and the railing element stands, for example, approximately three meters above the floor plate, on which the installer is actually standing, so that it is of advantage when the corresponding coupling can be easily produced or cancelled by a simple linear movement. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the invention two fastening positions, in each case for a separate railing element, are provided with an erected scaffold above the fastening position of this support element provided for the floor plate. Thus, two railing elements can be provided at different spacings from the floor plate which is subsequently to be installed, whereby the side protection to be brought about is increased. 
     The distance between the fastening position provided for the second railing element and the fastening position provided for the floor plate amounts, by way of example, to between 30 cm and 70 cm, in particular to approximately 50 cm. It is consequently possible to provide, for example, two railing elements at a distance of 50 cm and 100 cm from the floor plate. 
     The number of parts which have to be moved during erection and dismantling can in the latter case be reduced if the two railing elements belonging to a support element are pivotally connected together. This pivotal connection makes it possible for the two railing elements to be jointly swung upwardly in the manner already described above into their horizontal position. Instead of two individual railing elements, it is, however, only necessary to move one part which embraces the two railing elements and an additional stabilization of the overall scaffold is achieved by the said hinged connection of the two railing elements. 
     The effective total length of a support element with an erected scaffold can amount to between 180 cm and 220 cm, in particular to approximately 200 cm. 
     The effective total length in the erected scaffold of a support element which can be inserted into the lowermost scaffold plane can amount to between 280 cm and 330 cm, in particular to approximately 300 cm, and a support element of this kind can have two fastening positions for two base plates which are to be arranged in different scaffold planes. With support elements dimensioned in this way a situation is avoided in the lowermost scaffold plane in which a joint position or coupling position already has to be provided in this scaffold plane between two support elements arranged above one another, which would form a weak point of the overall scaffold as a result of the high forces which act in the lowermost plane. 
     The number of the parts which have to be moved during installation and dismantling can be additionally reduced in that two support elements aligned parallel to one another, and which come to lie at the narrow side of a floor plate, in particular when the scaffold is erected, are fixedly connected to one another via a transverse brace. In this case an at least approximately H-shape results for the two support elements connected to one another. 
     Since scaffolds erected in front of facades frequently only require railing elements at one side, it is sufficient with support elements which are connected to one another in the described manner when only one of these two support elements has at least one fastening position for a railing element. 
     In the context of the support elements connected to one another, it is possible to connect two support elements to one another which have different lengths, or substantially the same length, but are displaced relative to one another in the vertical direction. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a facade scaffold in accordance with the invention in the course of being built up, 
     FIGS. 2 a - 2   f  show a schematic illustration of a total of six working steps which have to be completed when building up a facade scaffold in accordance with the invention, 
     FIGS. 3 a - 3   c  show different individual elements of a facade scaffold in accordance with the invention, 
     FIGS. 4 a ,  4   b  show two variants for the coupling of support elements which respectively extend parallel to one another, 
     FIGS. 5 a - 5   c  show an example for the design of the fastening device for the attachment of a railing element to a support element, and 
     FIGS. 6 a ,  6   b  show two further alternatives with respect to the fastening device of FIG.  5 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In accordance with FIG. 1, a facade scaffold is in the course of being erected at a building  1 . Four support elements  3  are braced against the ground  2  to form vertical supports in an arrangement with a rectangular base surface, with the longer side of the rectangular base surface extending parallel to the front side of the building  1 . 
     The support elements  3  associated with the lowermost scaffold plane are supported at the base side via vertically adjustable spindle arrangements  4  and are completed by transverse beams  5  and diagonal struts  6  into a load carrying base frame  7 . This base frame  7  is continued to the right in FIG. 1 in a corresponding manner which is not, however, illustrated for reasons of clarity. 
     Further support elements which are partly braced together are pushed onto two rear vertical support projections  8  of the base frame  7  arranged behind one another at a small spacing in order to form vertical supports. In the story A, which directly adjoins the base frame  7 , an intermediate piece  9 , a connection piece  10  and also an end frame  11  are provided as support elements, with the end frame  11  consisting of two support elements extending parallel to one another and fixedly connected together via transverse strut or brace. 
     For the further stories B to F, which follow the story A, further connection pieces  10  and end frames  11  are pushed onto the support elements or onto the connection piece and the end frame  11  of the story A. The shape of an end frame  11  can be particularly well seen for the end frame  11  provided for the story E, which is actually being held by an installer  12  in the erection step shown in FIG.  1 . 
     The joints between the base frame  7 , intermediate pieces  9 , connection pieces  10  and end frame  11 , at which respective plug connections are provided, are characterized for the end regions of the overall scaffold in FIG. 1 by short horizontal lines. 
     The assembly scheme for the vertical supports of FIG. 1 will be described once again in the following with an explanation of FIG. 4 b.    
     Provided along the building  1  at uniform intervals there are a total of seven vertical support arrangements consisting of intermediate pieces  9 , connection pieces  10  and end frames  11  put together vertically above one another. 
     Respective rectangular floor plates  14  are held between two vertical support arrangements arranged in series along the building  1  and ultimately form the different working planes for the individual stories A to F. 
     The facade scaffold has furthermore two forwardly projecting auxiliary scaffolds  15  and  16  respectively. 
     In order to secure the people  12 ,  17  working on the floor plates  14 , railing elements  18  are provided at a suitable height at the front sides of the end frames  11 . The installation of these railing elements takes place in a manner in accordance with the invention in that in each case first the railing elements  18  of one story are installed, and only then the floor plate  14  belonging to this story. 
     In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1, the railing elements  18  are first secured at the fastening positions  19  of the end frame  11 ′ by the installer  12 . Thereafter, the end frame  11 ″ is connected at the fastening positions  20  to the end of the railing elements  18  remote from the fastening positions  19 , so that the two end frames  11 ′,  11 ″ jointly form a parallelogram with the two railing elements  18 . It is of importance that the railing elements  18  are hingedly mounted on the end frames  11 ′,  11 ″ so that it is possible for the installer  12  to grasp the entire arrangement at the end frame  11 ″ and swing it upwardly in the direction of the arrow in order to subsequently enable the end frame  11 ″ to be plugged onto the lower lying end frame  11  and the lower lying connection piece  10  respectively. 
     Through the above-described working step the railing  18  for the story E has already been installed before the introduction of the floor plate provided for the story E. As a consequence, it is ensured that at the time at which the floor plate  14  is secured to the story E, a side protection in the form of the railing elements  18  already exists so that the danger of an installer working on the story E falling is already reduced from the outset to a considerable degree. 
     End railings  21  are respectively provided at the ends of the total scaffold in addition to the railing elements  18 . 
     Curb strips  22  are releasably secured, in particular to the side of the floor plates  14  remote from the building  1  and, if necessary, also at the side adjacent the building  1  and at the end sides, and are intended to prevent tools which lie on the floor plates  14  being pushed sideways over the edge of the floor plates  14  when walking on them and thus to prevent the tools being able to fall downwardly from the facade scaffold. 
     The scaffold has four already finished stories A, B, C and D and two which are already under construction, E and F respectively. 
     FIG. 2 shows individual working steps during the erection of a facade scaffold in accordance with the invention. 
     In the working step of FIG. 2 a  the installer  12  is standing on a floor plate  14  which is associated with the story A. The installer  12  is secured during this by at least one railing element  18 , which is coupled at the fastening positions  19  to vertically extending support elements  3 . 
     In the working step of FIG. 2 b  the installer  12  is placing a further support element  3 ′ on the support element  3 , with the joint  23  between the support elements  3 ,  3 ′ being realized by a plug connection. 
     Subsequently, in accordance with FIG. 2 c , a further railing element  18 ′ is suspended at one end at a fastening position of the support element  3 ′ provided for this purpose. After this railing element  18 ′ has been coupled at its other end to a further support element  3 ″, the railing element  18 ′ is swung upwardly together with the support element  3 ″ in accordance with FIG. 2 d  in the direction of the arrow, whereupon, in accordance with FIG. 2 e , the support element  3 ″ is plugged onto the lower lying support element  3  at  23 ′. 
     In this position shown in FIG. 2 e , the railing element  18  is consequently already erected for the story B lying above the story A before the floor plate  14 ′ required for the story B was secured. 
     In accordance with FIG. 2 f  the floor plate  14 ′ for the story B is finally attached to the fastening positions  24  of the support elements  3 ′,  3 ″ provided for this purpose. Thereafter, the story B can be walked on for the first time by the installer  12  and at this point in time the railing  18 ′ is, however, already installed so that a side protection exists for the installer. 
     It should be remarked that the floor plates  14 ,  14 ′ in accordance with the invention can basically be secured either directly to the support elements  3 ,  3 ′,  3 ″ or also indirectly, for example via transverse struts which are connected to the support elements  3 ,  3 ′,  3 ″. 
     FIG. 3 shows different vertical support elements which can be used in the context of the invention for the erection of a scaffold. 
     FIG. 3 a  shows two support elements which are approximately three meters long which are intended for use in the lowermost plane of the scaffold. 
     At the lower end and also at a height of approximately two meters, the support elements  25  have respective fastening positions  24  for floor plates  14 ,  14 ′. Thus two floor plates  14 ,  14 ′ for two different scaffold planes can be secured to the support elements  25 . 
     Approximately 50 cm above and also approximately 100 cm above the two fastening positions  24  for the floor plates  14 ,  14 ′ there are fastening positions  19  for railing elements, which are not shown in FIG.  3 . 
     At least one of the two support elements  25  thus has fastening positions  19  for railing elements of two scaffold planes lying above one another. 
     The embodiment of FIG. 3 a  of support elements  25  for the lowermost scaffold plane is of advantage, because in this manner no joint positions or plug connections are present in the lowermost plane, which impair the stability of the overall scaffold. 
     In FIG. 3 b  there is shown a support element  3  which can be used for all scaffold planes which follow the support elements  25 . This support element  3  can be plugged at its lower end onto the upper end of the support element  25  of FIG. 3 a.    
     In accordance with the invention, two fastening positions  19  of the support element  3  intended for railing elements are located above a fastening position  24  provided for a floor plate. 
     The effective overall length of the support element in accordance with FIG. 3 b  amounts to approximately two meters. 
     In the lower region of FIG. 3 b  the fastening position  24 , which is formed as a rose, is shown in plan view and has apertures for the hanging into place of the floor plates. 
     FIG. 3 c  shows a special embodiment of a support element  26 , which can be used in the context of the invention and which only has one fastening position  24  for a floor plate at its upper end. A support element  26  of this kind can, for example, be used in the uppermost scaffold plane in which, in certain applications, the vertical supports adjacent the building are located beneath a roof projection so that care can be taken here by means of the short support element  26  of FIG. 3 c  that the roof projection and the support element do not collide with one another. 
     In the embodiment of FIG. 3 the vertical supports are built up exclusively of individual supports, with any eventual connections between adjacent support elements being produced exclusively via releasable connections. 
     In contrast to this, FIG. 4 a  illustrates how two support elements  3  are fixedly connected to one another via a transverse brace  27  to form an end frame. The overall arrangement of a support element  3  and transverse brace  27  thereby forms an H-like structure. 
     Just above the transverse brace  27  are fastening positions  24  for a floor plate  14 , which is shown in broken lines. Alternatively, the fastening position  24  could also be spared in this case if the transverse brace is used as a support and thus as a fastening position for the floor plate  14 . 
     Further fastening positions  19  for railing elements not shown in FIG. 4 a  are provided approximately one meter above the fastening positions  24 . 
     Individual end frames in accordance with FIG. 4 a  can be plugged into one another via plug connections  23 . 
     Through this embodiment the number of parts which have to be moved during erection and dismantling are reduced, since in each case two support elements  3  are combined together to a single element via the transverse brace  27 . 
     An alternative embodiment is shown in FIG. 4 b . This embodiment corresponds to the embodiment in accordance with FIG.  1 . 
     Here, the two support elements  3  which are to be connected together via the transverse brace  27  have different lengths. As one support element  3  is shortened relative to the embodiment of FIG. 4 a , the total weight of the end frame  3 ,  27  can be reduced in this way. However, allowance must be made for the fact that the individual end frames have to be coupled. 
     It should be expressly mentioned at this point that for the additional reduction of the number of parts which have to be moved, the railing elements in all embodiments in accordance with FIGS. 3 and 4 can also be fixedly hinged to the fastening positions  19  provided for this, so that a fixed but hinged connection is already present in the support elements  3  and the railing elements  18  prior to the installation. 
     FIG. 5 shows the manner in which railing elements  18  can be coupled to the support elements  3 . 
     With the illustrated way of coupling, this is essentially a suspended connection, which is realized by a projection element  28  extending substantially perpendicular to the support element  3  and also by a lug  29  provided in the end region of a railing element  18  and capable of being coupled to the projection element  28 . The projection element  28  is fixedly connected to the support element  3 , and is in particular welded to it at  32 . 
     The projection element  28  has, at its upper side and lower side, displaced relative to one another, in each case two projections  30 . 
     The transverse dimension q of the aperture  31  of the lug  29  is so selected that the railing element  18  can also be threaded onto the projection element  18  while executing alternating pivotal movements. In this respect the dimension q is precisely selected such that threading on is possible unhindered but cannot, however, be brought about by means of a linear movement of the railing element  18  or of the lug  29 , when the railing element  18  and the support element  3  are aligned approximately perpendicular to one another. 
     The fact that the pivotal or threading movement is necessary to secure the railing element  18  to the support element  3  ensures that the railing element  18  cannot be released in unintentional manner by the action of horizontally directed forces from the support element  3 . This security is, moreover, favored by the fact that the abutment surface of the projection  30  of the projection element  28  disposed closest to the support element  3  extends vertically and thus parallel to the support element  3 . 
     The further abutment surfaces of the projections  30  can, for example, be obliquely executed in order to facilitate the threading on of the lug  29  in this way. 
     The spacing d between the abutment surfaces of the projections  30  facing the support elements  3  and the support element  3  is so selected that the lugs  29  of two railing elements  18  extending in opposite directions can be threaded onto a single projection element  28 . 
     On attachment of the first end of one railing element  18  to the projection element  28 , the railing element  18  has the position relative to the projection element  28 , which is for example shown in FIG. 2 (see also FIG. 2 c ). 
     The angle α enclosed between the support element  3  and the railing element  18  is in this case smaller than 45°. 
     As a result of the aperture  31  of the lug  29 , which is formed as an elongate slot with the length  1 , a plugging of the railing element  18  onto the projection element  28  is possible in this position by the execution of a purely linear movement. Thereafter, the railing element  18  is then swung in the direction of the arrow A upwardly about the projection element  28  into a horizontal position shown in FIG. 5 c.    
     In this position it is no longer the longitudinal dimension  1  of the aperture  31  but rather its transverse dimension q which is the determining factor, with respect to the cooperation between the lug  29  and the projection element  28 . 
     As a result of the already described dimensioning of q, a situation is effectively prevented in the position of FIG. 5 c  in which the railing element  18  could be released from the projection element  28  by a purely linear movement. A release of this kind is only possible by the intentional execution of several sequential pivotal movements. 
     In the context of the system of the invention, the first end of the railing element  18  is coupled to the support element  3  in the manner shown in FIGS. 5 b  and  5   c , while the other end is threaded onto the second support element  3  by executing pivotal movements. 
     FIG. 6 shows alternative embodiments of the projection element of FIG.  5 . 
     In FIG. 6 a  the projection element is formed by two part elements  33 ,  34  arranged above one another, with the lower part element  34  having two upwardly extending projections  30 , and the upper part element having two recesses  35  at its lower side aligned with the projections  30 . 
     The operating principle corresponds here to the operating principle of FIG. 5, with the lug  29  being threaded over the lower part element  34 . 
     FIG. 6 b  shows an embodiment corresponding to that of FIG. 6 a , only with projections  30  and recesses  35  being arranged in reversed manner on the upper and lower part elements  33 ′,  34 ′ respectively. 
     The invention is not restricted to the above-described embodiments. Many other variants can be realized within the context of the disclosure.