Patent Description:
The invention refers to the field of self-climbing structures used by vertical and near-vertical concrete surfaces.

A great number of self-climbing devices and structures are currently known and used in the field of construction, among which are <CIT> "Method for creating concreting sections with the aid of a rail-guided self-climbing formwork system", <CIT> "Climbing cylinder on a self-climbing shuttering", <CIT> "Track-guided self-climbing shuttering system with climbing rail extension pieces", <CIT> " Self-climbing perimeter protection system for construction works in buildings " and <CIT> "Self-climbing system in the field of the construction industry with a climbing or guide shoe". However all of them have a common problem in that they require tracks, guides or rails attached to the surface to be worked on, or, in any case, elements designed and made expressly for each case and which cannot be reused, with the consequent increased cost of the climbing system, which complicates and increases the cost of its assembly and subsequent dismantling, as well as only being applicable on near-flat surfaces, at least in one direction, which means that in many cases they are not applicable, for example, in multi-section precast concrete towers with a freely varying cross section.

Equipment is also known such as that described in patent <CIT> " System of self-climbing formwork and continuous support of concrete", which uses anchoring cones to secure to the wall, but which is not a structure that climbs autonomously, but rather is formwork for dams which is dismantled from the bottom and raised towards the top in a relatively manual way.

<CIT>) discloses a modular building element such as a brick or block comprising an anchor means such as a hook, a ring, or a channel to permit the attachment of an object, e.g. a safety net. The bricks bearing rings are built into the wall of a building along with conventional bricks, and are used to support a safety net to protect workers during construction. After construction, the anchors may be removed and the wall plastered in conventional manner.

<CIT>) discloses a climbing device, in particular a self-locking type wall attachment climbing device, and discloses a gravity self-locking type wall attachment climbing device. The gravity self-locking type wall attachment climbing device comprises a bottom climbing counter-force steel frame, an upper climbing structure steel frame, a large-stroke counter-force jack, wall attachment embedded parts, wall attachment climbing rails, gravity self-locking pin shafts and steel claws.

<CIT> (A1) discloses a hoisting system for the installation of a wind turbine wherein said hoisting system comprises measures to achieve a load bearing connection to the tower of the wind turbine and comprises measures to move the hoisting system up and down along the tower wherein the hoisting system, when it is fixed to an already installed part of the wind turbine tower with said load bearing connection, is arranged to install or remove any of a tower segment, a nacelle, a generator, a hub, and a blade in one or more combined hoists or in a single hoist.

Likewise there are some devices such as that described in patent <CIT> "Self-climbing device on vertical and near-vertical concrete surfaces and operating method" which have means of anchoring to the work wall, which comprise a protuberance from the anchor chassis, emerging on the face adjacent to the work wall, provided with one or several operable locking elements arranged laterally on the said protuberance, the shape and size of the said protuberances coinciding with anchor housings in the work wall, arranged in a vertical line, and these anchor housings having locking housings of a shape, size and position that coincide with the locking elements. The shape of the protuberance from the anchor chassis and of the anchor housings in the work wall is a truncated pyramid or truncated cone. This type of anchor that is used presents the problem of requiring great precision, both in positioning the anchor elements in the tower modules, and aligning the lateral locking elements for their actuation, which in the event of any slight deviations in measurements, any dirt or dilatations in materials, or misalignments, may lead to coupling failures which prevent the correct operation of the self-supporting structure, and which may be impossible to resolve or offset.

Furthermore, the anchoring of the crane in the concrete tower is delicate as concrete does not withstand tensile or shear loads well, so that, in order not to weaken the tower, the effect of the connection of the crane on the segment must be minimal, which is not the case in these embodiments.

Currently a problem exists with fixing self-supporting structures on concrete surfaces, minimising traction and shear loads and allowing self-correction of possible coupling positioning and alignment errors. This problem is solved by a system having the features of claim <NUM>. Advantageous embodiments are described in the dependent claims.

In a coupling position, the interlocking spikes are inserted into various metal inserts in such a way that the lower part of each main body of the interlocking spike is in contact with the inner part of the hollow body of its corresponding metal insert, transmitting the weight of the self-climbing structure to the tower and maintaining its position due to that weight, while the end plates fit against the peripheral end surfaces of the metal inserts, blocking any horizontal displacement of the interlocking spikes, and thus preventing them from coming loose.

The interlocking spikes are fixed, if in pairs, on both ends of a central arm, provided with free rotation movement, by means of a shaft, with respect to the main support of the assembly. Optionally, the interlocking spikes are provided with multiple chamfers, both on the main body and on the end plates.

This anchor for self-climbing structure that is presented provides multiple advantages over the equipment currently available, the most important being that as it uses appropriately-sized, round metal inserts, the tensile and shear loads on the concrete of the vertical and near-vertical concrete surface are minimised.

Another notable advantage is that in order to ensure the even, centred distribution of loads, a spherical support has been used, which has the same radius at the point of support and on the support, guaranteeing maximum contact and optimal load distribution.

Furthermore, it is to be noted that to absorb any errors in the manufacture of the metal inserts in the tower and the interlocking spikes in the self-supporting structure, the latter have been provided with the necessary articulations to ensure total contact between surfaces of the same radius, which allows optimal transmission of forces.

Another important advantage is that the rocking system of the central arm enables alignment errors between the crane and the vertical or near-vertical concrete surface, or between tower anchors (or concrete surface) and the crane climbing frames to be absorbed to a certain extent. The tilting of the spherical supports together with the tilting of the central support arm of the "spikes" provides support even when they are off-centre and facilitates the self-correction of any possible coupling position and alignment errors.

It should also be highlighted that, in addition to this capacity to absorb errors of interlockings to the vertical and near-vertical concrete surface, the very design of the spikes also favours their entry and centring in vertical and near-vertical concrete surfaces. To this end, they have a series of lead chamfers to guide their entry and, following this effect, the free rotations of the spherical support on the central shaft and of the central arm facilitate entry and correct support of the spikes in the metal inserts.

Another advantage of this invention is that since there is a spherical support on the interlockings that can absorb manufacturing and alignment errors and transfer the support loads in the central zone of the segment of the vertical and near-vertical concrete surface, load transmission to the segment is mainly compression which is that best withstood by concrete.

Another of the most important advantages to be highlighted is that the support on the vertical and near-vertical concrete surface is by simply adding metal inserts that are welded, secured with wire or another means to the internal reinforcement of the segment, so that lateral loads are transferred to the concrete through the concrete reinforcement, and they are, in their simplest solution, turned parts that can be fixed to the mould when the segment is concreted during its manufacturing process, with practically no variation or increase in cost.

Another additional advantage is that, in the alternative embodiment in a buttonhole shape, greater alignment errors are able to be absorbed, so that there are greater entry tolerances at the top part of these, this way providing an even better guarantee that the interlocking spikes enter the tower and then, upon descending, support and centre in the same way as if they were totally round in shape.

It must also be highlighted that the invention presented here can be applied to any self-climbing structure that supports any device or machine, such as, for example, a crane or a work platform, and that it is applicable and usable both on flat or curved, vertical and near-vertical surfaces with a free form and variable incline, with progressions or individual movements of variable length, adapted to the structure or zone to be climbed.

To gain a better understanding of the object of this invention, a preferred practical embodiment of a system is shown in the drawing attached.

The conformation and characteristics of the invention can be better understood in the following description that relates to the attached figures.

As can be seen in <FIG>, a system is illustrated, of the type used on vertical and near-vertical concrete surfaces, for example in the assembly and maintenance of precast concrete towers (<NUM>), the self-climbing structure (<NUM>) being able to be used for the support of cranes (<NUM>), platforms, and other auxiliary elements. As illustrated in <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG> it comprises.

The openings in the wall can be through-hole openings, and in this case the metal inserts (<NUM>), as shown in <FIG> are shaped as a hollow body (<NUM>) finished at both its ends by two peripheral end surfaces (<NUM>) of a larger size, defining a common through-hole opening. An alternative embodiment is envisaged in which the wall openings are not through-holes and adopt the form of a hollow or niche. In both cases they can adopt a circular shape, as shown in <FIG> or alternatively as shown in <FIG>, a buttonhole shape, in which the top part is wider than the lower part, the lower part being semi-circular in shape.

The interlocking spikes (<NUM>) comprise, as is shown in <FIG>,.

In a coupling position as illustrated in <FIG>, the interlocking spikes (<NUM>) are inserted in some of the metal inserts (<NUM>), in such a way that the lower part of each main body (<NUM>) of the interlocking spike (<NUM>) is in contact with the inner part of the hollow body (<NUM>) of its corresponding metal insert (<NUM>), while the end plates (<NUM>) remain fitted against the peripheral end surfaces (<NUM>) of the metal inserts (<NUM>).

In a preferred embodiment, the interlocking spikes (<NUM>) are distributed in pairs, at the same height, on each frame (4a, 4b and 4c), the metal inserts (<NUM>) being distributed vertically aligned in groups of two at the same height, at each height established for coupling on the vertical or near-vertical concrete surface (<NUM>). In an alternative embodiment, the interlocking spikes (<NUM>) are distributed as one per frame (4a, 4b and 4c), the metal inserts (<NUM>) being distributed vertically aligned, as one at each height established for coupling on the vertical or near-vertical concrete surface (<NUM>). It is technically possible to carry out other variants with groups of three or more interlocking spikes (<NUM>) on each frame and, correspondingly, with groups of three or more metal inserts (<NUM>) at each height.

In a preferred embodiment two of the frames (4b and 4c) are self-motorised and movable along the self-climbing structure (<NUM>) and at least one of them is a frame (4a) fixed to the self-climbing structure (<NUM>). An alternative embodiment is also envisaged in which all of the frames (4a, 4b and 4c) are self-motorised and movable along the self-climbing structure (<NUM>).

The interlocking spikes (<NUM>), if grouped in pairs, are fixed by pairs, as shown in <FIG>,<FIG>, by means of the rear end of the inner shaft (<NUM>) on both ends of a central arm (<NUM>), provided with free rotation movement by means of a shaft (<NUM>), with respect to the main support (<NUM>) of the assembly. Preferably the interlocking spikes (<NUM>) are provided with multiple chamfers both on the main body (<NUM>) and on the end plates (<NUM>).

Claim 1:
- A system comprising
- a self-climbing structure for a vertical or near-vertical concrete surface, the self climbing structure comprising frames, (4a, 4b and 4c), and
- an anchor assembly,
the anchor assembly comprising
- a plurality of metal inserts (<NUM>) fixable to an internal reinforcement of a segment of the vertical or near-vertical concrete surface, which is configured to form openings in a wall of the segment, and distributable at different heights on the vertical or near-vertical concrete surface (<NUM>),
- interlocking spikes (<NUM>), suitable for insertion and coupling in the metal inserts (<NUM>), and located in the frames (4a, 4b and 4c) of the self-climbing structure (<NUM>), the interlocking spikes (<NUM>) being provided with means of horizontal and vertical displacement (<NUM>) and with means of approach and distancing (<NUM>) in relation to the vertical or near-vertical concrete surface (<NUM>),
characterized in that
the interlocking spikes (<NUM>) comprising
- an inner shaft (<NUM>), provided with a spherical end,
- a main body (<NUM>), enveloping the spherical end of the inner shaft (<NUM>), and provided with free rotation movement in relation to it, the lower part of the main body (<NUM>) being semi-circular, and
- end plates (<NUM>) attached to the front and rear ends of the main body (<NUM>), and which protrude from the main body (<NUM>) at the bottom.