Fire escape – ladder – or scaffold – Wall- or floor-attached
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-29
2002-09-10
Stodola, Daniel P. (Department: 3634)
Fire escape, ladder, or scaffold
Wall- or floor-attached
C182S224000, C182S150000, C248S241000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06446752
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to assemblies which may be used in construction and repair. More particularly the invention relates to bracing, alignment or scaffolding assemblies which permit adjustment under load conditions.
Upright structures may be fences, walls, sides of buildings, etc. They may also be structures such as foam block walls or concrete wall forms for pouring concrete foundation walls or they may be vertical members in scaffold assemblies, such as walkway assemblies. When working on such structures or using such assemblies it is sometimes necessary to adjust the vertical orientation.
For example, when making concrete wall foundations, a walkway assembly is needed to provide a platform from which workers may pour in cement into the forms for the foundation. The forms may be plywood structures or hollow interlocking foam blocks. Such a walkway assembly is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,663 herein incorporated by reference. After pouring the cement, there may be changes in the vertical orientation of the block structure defining the wall giving rise to a need for adjustment.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,663, it is suggested to adjust the vertical orientation of the wall by means of clamps which join two lengths of lumber which together form a brace. However, in the realities of the construction site, for example in inclement weather, such adjustment is not easy. The clamp may jam because of spilled cement or dirt or because of the cold weather. Fine adjustment is difficult with such clamps. Further, the adjustment normally requires two workers, one worker to make the adjustment, and another to check the plumb line for vertical orientation.
Similar problems are encountered in other situations in which the vertical orientation of an upright structure needs adjustment.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved bracing assembly which can be adjusted under load conditions.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a bracing assembly for controlling the vertical orientation of an upright structure, the assembly comprising:
an angle brace having first and second ends, the first end for attachment to a fixed point adjacent to the structure;
and an adjustable connector for connecting the angle brace to the structure;
the adjustable connector including a mounting member for attachment to the structure, a brace mount for attachment to the second end of the angle brace, and a means for movably connecting the mounting member with the brace mount and selectively adjusting the position of the brace mount under load conditions and in a substantially vertical plane.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a walkway assembly for use with a foam-block wall or a wall form and capable of providing support to the wall or wall form, a side of the wall or wall form comprising a workface, said assembly comprising:
(1) a plurality of vertical support posts for placing adjacent to the workface;
(2) a walkway support bracket mounted on each post, each bracket having a horizontal walkway lumber support bar upon which walkway lumber may be placed to span the space between adjacent brackets;
(3) at least one angle brace for each of said vertical support posts, the angle brace having a first end for attachment to a fixed point adjacent the workface and a second end; and
(4) an adjustable connector for each of said angle braces for connecting the angle brace to a support post, wherein the adjustable connector includes a mounting member for attachment to the support post, a brace mount for attachment to the second end of the angle brace, and a means for movably connecting the mounting member with the brace mount and selectively adjusting the position of the brace mount under load conditions and in a substantially vertical plane.
The brace assembly usually provides support to the upright structure, as well as adjustment of the vertical orientation. At the first end, the angle brace would be attached to the ground or other suitable fixed surface. For this purpose, the angle brace may conveniently be provided with flanges rotatably mounted at the first end to secure the brace to the ground whilst allowing angular movement of the brace. The first end of the angle brace would normally be secured to the ground, however, it is only necessary that the first end of the brace is secured in such a way that angular variation in the position of the brace by raising or lowering the height of the second end, adjusts the vertical orientation of the upright structure. It will be seen that the angle brace thus represents one side of an imaginary triangle of which the other two sides may be considered to be formed by the upright structure and the ground. Thus when the adjustable connector changes the angle made by the angle brace to the ground, the vertical orientation of the upright structure is also changed. The angle brace may also be used in an orientation in which the first end is attached to the workface and the adjustable connector is attached to the ground so that adjustment of the means for movably connecting the mounting member with the brace mount in a substantially horizontal plane adjusts the vertical orientation of the workface.
The angle braces are preferably provided with a telescopic or adjustable length. For example, preferably the brace is formed of three cooperating parts including two outside parts which are slidable within a sheath-like middle part so that the length may be roughly adjusted before attachment to the upright structure. Such length adjustment allows flexibility of placement at the work site.
The brace assembly may be positioned at any angle which permits adjustment of the vertical orientation. When the first end is attached to the ground, usually angles of from 30° to the horizontal to 60° to the horizontal, would be suitable and angles of about 45° to the horizontal would normally be most suitable.
In a preferred embodiment the brace assembly is part of a walkway assembly such as the assembly described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,663 which is suitable for accessing different wall heights and pouring concrete walls. In that assembly vertical support posts are provided by two-by-four lumber pieces which are notched on one side (the side adjacent the workface), with a shallow notch which is intended to receive a fastening ring. This ring may be rectangular and dimensioned to just slide down the vertical posts. At the notch, one side of the ring is dropped in, allowing a space to develop on the other side of the ring. In that assembly, walkway brackets are provided with an engaging leg that fits between the post and the ring. The brackets also have a horizontal bar (to serve as a walkway lumber support), a downwardly angled brace, and a post-contacting thrusting flange at the lower end of the brace. By hooking the walkway bracket engaging leg onto the fastening ring and placing the thrusting flange against the support post beneath this connection, a sturdy support bar is formed that can carry walkway lumber to form a walkway. The brace assembly according to the invention can then be attached to the workface of the wall forms, or preferably attached directly to the vertical support posts to provide-the vertical support posts with lateral support. As long as the vertical support posts are in contact with the workface, adjusting the vertical orientation of the posts will also adjust the vertical orientation of the workface.
The vertical support posts may also be of any suitable material strong enough to provide support such as metal (steel or aluminum for example), plastic or a composite material, so that they can be more conveniently transported from site to site and more readily re-used.
In the case of metal vertical support posts, the posts may have regularly spaced holes for connection of the brackets by pins or bolts and for convenient adjustment of the working height of the brackets. The posts may also have flanges at the bottom with holes so that the posts may be secured to the ground, such as by nail
Pendorf & Cutliff
Stodola Daniel P.
Thompson Hugh B.
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