Abstract:
A hydraulic deck crimper for securing adjacent panels of a steel deck together and including a wheeled support structure and spaced apart depending pinch clamps operated by hydraulic cylinders to pinch mating flanges of adjacent panels that form a locking seam securely together.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     Not Applicable 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to tools used to crimp together overlapping flanges of the galvanized steel decking often found in steel buildings. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Steel decking is commonly used to form floors and roofs of buildings. The decking generally consists of sheets of steel formed with elongate grooves separated by elongate bridges. Adjacent sheets have parallel side edges, with one side edge turned upwardly within a common side edge groove and with the other side edge turned upwardly and then turned back so that the edge is downturned to fit over the upwardly turned side edge of an adjacent sheet and to form a locking seam centrally positioned within the common groove formed between adjacent sheets of steel. 
     PRIOR ART 
     For most installations, hand held crimping pliers are manually operated to crimp the turned back edge of a steel decking sheet to an upwardly extending side of an adjacent steel decking sheet. Crimping is done at spaced intervals along the length of the locking seam, with the number of crimps, the lengths of the crimps and the pressure applied during crimping determining the quality of the completed floor or roof. It is not uncommon for a workman to initially make good crimps using the available crimping pliers, but, as the job proceeds and the workman tires or blisters form on his hands, he becomes unable to continue to apply sufficient pressure through the pliers necessary to make good quality, sufficiently long crimps or to continue to make closely spaced crimps. Failure to make good quality crimps can result in a building deck, floor or roof incapable of withstanding design stresses, sometimes with a resultant loss of the structure and possibly injury to people. 
     At the present time it is also common for a welder to apply a weld to the top of each of the crimps This further prevents separation of the crimps and greatly increase the strength of the structure. However, if the crimps are not made tight, the weld applied to the top of the crimp may not uniformly weld the sheets together and the welds may shear. Consequently, it is very important in the placing of the sheets of a steel decking that tight crimps be formed. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a hydraulically operated tool that is easily used to crimp together adjacent steel sheets of a deck. Another object is to provide a tool capable of making simultaneous crimps along a plurality of locking seams formed between adjacent steel decking sheets of a deck, floor or roof, or the like, thereby providing cost savings over the known process of crimping individual seams, by hand. 
     Other objects are to provide a tool that will make uniformly tight crimps of uniform length, thereby providing a satisfactory weld surface on the top of each crimp. 
     FEATURES OF THE INVENTION 
     Principal features of the invention include a handle controlled support plate carried by wheels spaced apart to travel in central grooves formed in a steel decking sheet. An outrigger arm is carried by a leading edge of the support plate and must extend beyond both side edges of the support plate. A hydraulically operated pinch clamp is carried by each of the ends of the outrigger arm and each pinch clamp travels along and extends onto a locking seam that is formed by interlocking edges of adjacent decking sheets within a common groove formed by the adjacent decking sheets. 
     Control valves regulate liquid flow to the pinch clamps and may be operated to have only one pinch clamp operational or to have both pinch clamps operated simultaneously. 
     Additional objects and features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, from the following detailed description and drawings. 
    
    
     THE DRAWINGS 
     In the drawings: 
     FIG. 1, a pictorial view, showing the hydraulic deck crimper of the invention on a steel deck; 
     FIG. 2, a front elevation view; 
     FIG. 3, a side elevation view; 
     FIG. 4, an enlarged view, taken within the line  4 — 4  of FIG.  3  and showing a pinch clamp; and 
     FIG. 5, a schematic diagram of the hydraulic and electric circuits of the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring now to the drawings: 
     In the illustrated preferred embodiment of the invention the hydraulic deck crimper of the invention is shown generally at  10 , positioned on a steel deck  12  made up of overlapping panels  14 ,  16 , and  18 . Wheels  20 ,  22 ,  24 , and  26  of the crimper  12  are shown in central grooves  28  and  30  of the panel  14  and  16 . Wheels  20  and  22  are mounted on opposite ends of an axle  32  that is journaled through lower ends of legs  34  and  36  that depend from opposite sides at the rear  38  of a support plate  40 . Similarly, wheels  24  and  26  are mounted on opposite ends of an axle  42  that is journaled through lower ends of legs  44  and  46  that depend from opposite sides and the front  48  of the support plate  38 . Wheels  20  and  24  are aligned and, as shown, are positioned to travel in central groove  28  of deck  12  and wheels  22  and  26  are aligned and, as shown, are positioned to travel in central groove  30  of deck  12 . 
     An outrigger arm  50  is fixed to and extends transversely across and as an extension means beyond each side of the front  48  of the support plate  38 . Channel members  52  and  54  are respectively fixed to and depend from opposite ends of the outrigger arm  50 . The channel members are spaced apart such that a pinch clamp  58  carried by and mounted within each channel member will have a tip end  60  positioned centrally within an outer groove common to the panel in which wheels  20 ,  22 ,  24 , and  26  are positioned to travel in central grooves of the panel and an adjacent panel. 
     Each pinch clamp  58  is connected to a rod  62  of a hydraulic cylinder  64 , also mounted in and carried by a channel member  52  or  54 . Expulsion of the rod  62  from the cylinder  64  forces the ends  66  of oppositely acting links  68  that are remote from the pivotal connections of the links to the rods  62  outwardly and down. At the same time the crimping ends  70  of arms  72  that are pivotally connected to the ends  74  of links  68  are moved inwardly towards one another, thereby applying a pinching action. The tips  74  of the crimping ends are elongate and sufficiently long to provide a crimp of suitable length. A two inch long crimp has been found suitable, for example, in many operations. 
     An electric motor  80  is mounted on the support plate  38  to drive a hydraulic pump  82 , having a hydraulic reservoir  84 . A supply hose  86  connects the pump with one end  88  of each hydraulic cylinder and a return hose  90  connects the other end of the cylinder to the hydraulic reservoir. 
     A switch  92 , shown mounted on a handle  96  that is centrally fixed to and projects upwardly and rearwardly of the support plate  38  controls power to the electric motor  80  and another switch  94 , also mounted on the handle  96 , controls valves  98  and  100 , respectively controlling flow through the supply hoses  86  and valves  102  and  104  controlling flow through the return hoses  90 . Switch  94  will actuate either of the valves  98  or  100  to allow hydraulic fluid from pump  82  to expel a rod  62  or to expel both rods  62  simultaneously. At the same time, switch  94  will open valves  102  to allow flow from the opposite ends of the cylinders into the reservoir. Positioning of switch  94  to a release position will reverse flow into the cylinders, thereby retracting each previously expelled rod  62  of the cylinders  64 . 
     Each time a rod  62  is expelled a pinching action takes place at the tip end  60  of a pinch clamp  58 . The pinching action then securely crimps together mating flanges of adjacent sheets of the deck  12 . 
     The mating flanges of adjacent panels include an upturned flange  110  at the outer edge of one panel and an overlapping flange  112  on an outer edge of the connecting panel. Pinching and subsequent welding of portions of the mating flanges, which are centrally located within a groove formed by the edges of adjacent panels, securely locks the panels together. 
     While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been herein disclosed and described, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is to be proscribed only by the following claims, which claims define my invention.