Patent ID: 7090052

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a vertical scaffolding element having a tubular portion to which is welded a star-shaped part defining a number n of radially projecting sockets, said sockets being distributed peripherally in a star arrangement and intended for attachment to one end of a horizontal crosspiece of a scaffolding, said method comprising the steps of: stamping a plane metal strip of a predetermined length at n regularly spaced locations so as to form a stamped strip with n recesses, folding said stamped strip in order to close said stamped strip on itself at abutted ends and hence to form the star-shaped part, and positioning the star-shaped part on said tubular portion and welding the star-shaped part thereto, wherein said step of stamping said strip at n regularly spaced locations so as to form n recesses forms each said recess approximately in a dihedral arrangement with a rounded ridge transverse to a length of the strip and with opposed lateral faces connected at ends thereof by joins to intermediate plane regions of the strip, wherein said folding step folds said strip stamped in the stamping step at the joins of the ends of the faces of the dihedral arrangement with the intermediate plane regions of the strip so as to bring closer to each other the lateral faces of two adjacent recesses which are located on each side of a plane region of the strip and so as to position the rounded ridges of the recesses on an axisymmetric cylindrical outline having substantially a same diameter as an external diameter of the tubular portion, wherein said stamping step is conducted in such a manner that the abutted ends of the strip are not located in one of said recesses, and wherein said welding step includes a) initially welding said abutted ends of the strip to each other, b) positioning the star-shaped part onto the tubular portion with the rounded ridges of the dihedra arrangement formed by the recesses placed bearing against an outer face of the tubular portion, and c) securing said star-shaped part to the tubular portion by discontinuous circular welds made on upper and lower edges of the rounded ridges in contact with the tubular portion.