Fire escape – ladder – or scaffold – Having transpositioning base and erecting means
Patent
1991-09-25
1994-06-07
Chotkowski, Karen J.
Fire escape, ladder, or scaffold
Having transpositioning base and erecting means
182 2, 182 625, E04G 300
Patent
active
053181492
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting the underside of bridges, with an undercarriage, an intermediate carrier attached to the undercarriage, a guide member mounted on the intermediate carrier rotatably about a horizontal axis of rotation, a lifting tower received by the guide member, movable perpendicularly relative to its axis of rotation and having four corner spars, a lifting-tower bottom part mounted on the lifting tower rotatably about its longitudinal mid-axis, and a work platform attached to the lifting-tower bottom part.
In known apparatuses of this type for inspecting the underside of bridges, the lifting tower has a symmetrical, especially square cross-section, and the guide member encloses it all round. Such a guide member of hollow cross-section which receives the tower cross-section, is also designated as a guide box. Disadvantages are the large amount of space required, which makes it difficult to fold the apparatus together compactly for transport, and the unfavorable weight distribution as a result of the symmetrical cross-section of the lifting tower.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object on which the invention is based is to provide a compact apparatus of increased stability for inspecting the underside of bridges which is versatile to use and which can be erected automatically.
Starting from an apparatus of the type designated in the introduction, this object is achieved according to the invention in that the guide member has a flat shape and is in sliding engagement only with the two corner spars of the lifting tower adjacent to it, and in that these corner spars are designed with a higher loadbearing capacity than the other two corner spars. Racks can also be attached to the load-bearing corner spars and interact with a rack mechanism on the guide member for driving the lifting tower. As a result of this provision, the weights of the lifting tower and of the guide member are concentrated on the bridge side to a substantially higher degree, above all when the corner spars remote from the bridge and the struts consist of light metal.
Preferably, the guide member is mounted by means of a live ring on the intermediate carrier which is preferably likewise flat and plate-shaped. In order to extend the lifting tower almost up to its free end, the guide member has in relation to its axis of rotation preferably a shorter portion pointing to the free end of the lifting tower and a longer portion pointing to the work platform.
To avoid endangering the traffic when the apparatus is erected on a road bridge, it is proposed that the intermediate carrier be mounted on the undercarriage by means of a lever parallelogram pivotable about vertical axes and consisting of at least two levers. The unit composed of the lifting tower and work platform and folded together for transport can thereby be lifted parallel to itself above and beyond the bridge edge and then set up by pivoting about the horizontal axis of rotation. The parallel levers are preferably telescopic. A third parallel lever, preferably arranged at somewhat greater height, can also be provided. If these three parallel levers are individually telescopic and releasable from the intermediate carrier, the erected be available for traffic over their entire width, it is proposed that the intermediate carrier be attachable to the narrow side of a movable gantry structure. It can be the same intermediate carrier articulated otherwise on the parallel levers of the undercarriage. Instead, it is connected to jibs of variable length of the gantry structure which are appropriately attached to a slide movable vertically on the gantry structure. To move round lampposts or the like, here too three jibs arranged at horizontal spacings, of individually variable length and releasable from the intermediate carrier can be provided.
The basic idea of the invention also has an advantageous effect in a combined apparatus according to the following proposal, which can be used either as a low-level work stage, especially f
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patent: 4696371 (1987-09-01), Moog
patent: 4893696 (1990-01-01), Moog
Barin, S.Rl. "Automatic Bridge Control", undated, pp. 1-9.
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