Hydraulic and earth engineering – Earth treatment or control – Shoring – bracing – or cave-in prevention
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-22
2002-11-05
Will, Thomas B. (Department: 3673)
Hydraulic and earth engineering
Earth treatment or control
Shoring, bracing, or cave-in prevention
C405S283000, C405S272000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06474911
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a trench sheeting device consisting of trench sheeting boxes that are each made up of two standard trench plates that are supported against each other, the width of the trench apart, with the help of spindle spreaders, said device having at least one shaft sheeting box whose width exceeds the width of the trench, measured crosswise in relation to the longitudinal direction of the trench and comprises a standard trench plate on each wall of the shaft, as well as shaft plates detachably attached upright to the longitudinal ends of each of the trench plates transversely in relation to the longitudinal direction of the trench, said detachable shaft plates being coupled with the trench plates of an adjoining trench sheeting box after they have been driven into the ground.
In trench sheeting, for example for laying pipeline ducts, trench plates are supported against each other in pairs with the help of spindle spreaders. The individual trench plate generally has a rectangular shape. At its bottom, which has to be driven into the ground, it has a blade, and at the top edge opposing the blade, thus on the so-called anvil edge, it is provided with a stability such that it can be driven into the ground with the shovel of the excavator. On the side edges, which extend about vertically after it has been installed, such a trench plate may have tabs for connecting it with trench plates disposed adjacent to it in the longitudinal direction of the trench, such tabs generally being located on the inside surface facing the trench and being solidly molded onto, in particular welded to the side edges. In addition, provision is made on the inside surfaces of each trench plate for bearing positions for receiving the spindle spreaders. A spindle spreader is a punch that has a screw spindle, for example in the center. The punch can be made longer or shorter with the help of such a screw spindle. For forming a trench sheeting box, a pair of trench plates is generally stabilized by four spindle spreaders.
Trenches, often several meters deep, on whose bottom tube ducts, for example for waste water canals have to be installed, are produced with the help of a trench sheeting device that weighs tons. Inspection shafts are required along the course of a canal at defined intervals. Such shafts are often constructed of brickwork and their diameter is in general substantially larger than the diameter of the respective pipeline. Over the major part of its length, i.e. where only the canal tubes have to be laid, the trench, for reasons of savings, is made just wide enough as required for laying the canal tubes. Such a trench width is in most case not sufficient to allow the construction of an inspection shaft, in whose location the spacing measured crosswise in relation to the, longitudinal direction of the trench plates that are supported against each other, needs to be substantially larger than in the remaining part of the trench. In practical life, the transition from the normal width of the trench to the greater width required for the shaft poses problems. Since investments for special parts for producing a shaft box enclosing the location of an inspection shaft to be built are preferably avoided, all sorts of risky auxiliary means are often employed for supporting the site of the shaft. As an alternative, the trench is often constructed already with a spacing provided from the location intended for the inspection shaft by expanding it to the width of the shaft, to begin with. This means that either the risk of collapse is posed, or that considerably more soil has to be carted off than would be actually required for constructing the canal and the shaft.
A trench sheeting device which possibly may comprise an integrated shaft sheeting box is disclosed in EP-A-0 027 576. According to said published document, an expansion can be installed in a number of trench sheeting boxes having a normal width. Trench plates (sheeting plates) can be used on the sides of said expansion like in a trench having a normal width. For compensating the changing width of the trench, connecting pieces that can be lengthened like a telescope are used at the ends of the trench plates via vertically adjustable clamping shoes. The connecting pieces have bores at their longitudinal ends. Bolts are associated with the bores at the substantially vertical longitudinal ends of the (installed) trench plates. After the trench plates have been installed, each two adjacent longitudinal edges are coupled with each other by connecting two bolts that oppose each other on adjacent walls with one of the connecting pieces, whereby the two bores of the connecting piece are hooked up via the bolts. The horizontal spacing of the two bores can be adapted to the actual spacing of the bolts by changing a telescope that is integrated in the connecting piece. It is stated in the prior art that any vertical offset between adjacent installation plates can be compensated with the help of a vertically adjustable clamping connection consisting of a clamping shoe (on the one plate) and an associated clamping rail (on the other plate).
According to the aforementioned EP-A-0 027 576, it is possible in the manner described to compensate part of the inaccuracies that always occur when the trench plates are driven into the ground. However, for compensating driving-in inaccuracies in the direction of the depth, width and length of the trench, three different auxiliary means with screw and clamp connections that have to be mounted in the trench are required in the prior art. Such adapting means are unsuitable for the rough underground construction operations involving protection, rust and frequent bending stresses.
In addition to the connecting components which are difficult to assemble, it is necessary in the prior art according to the above-cited published document to drive a canal piling into the ground; however, gaps remain nonetheless open along the borderlines between the standard trench plates and the canal piling, through which sandy subsoil may trickle into the shaft. The known device, however, is not only difficult to assemble after it has been driven into ground: such assembly is often not possible at all, and, furthermore, it also requires much expenditure on account of the complicated telescopic component, and comprehensive stockkeeping of special parts is required because of the variety of individual parts.
The invention is based on the problem of providing a shaft sheeting box that has to be integrated in a normal trench sheeting construction, thus a sheeting construction consisting of standard trench plates. Such a shaft sheeting box can substantially make do with standard trench plates, so that the amount of soil to be excavated and the risk of collapse are minimized.
Furthermore, precautionary measures are to be implemented that permit compensating inaccuracies occurring when the shaft sheeting box or the preceding trench sheeting box are driven into the ground, using means suited to underground civil engineering.
The solution according to the invention for the trench sheeting device specified above, with trench sheeting boxes successively arranged along the trench, and with at least one shaft sheeting box, consists in that the shaft sheeting box, before it is driven into the ground, is set up upright with attached shaft plates as a structure with a U-shaped horizontal cross section appearing like one single part, and in that the coupling of each shaft plate with the adjoining trench plate consists of a vertically disposed first bolt as well as a second bolt, the latter being in each case horizontally movable versus the trench plate or the shaft plate and supported on the latter, and vertically movably connected with the first bolt. Some improvements and further developments of the invention are described in the dependent claims.
Therefore, a trench sheeting box as defined by the invention consists of two structures which, upon their installation, have an approximately U-shaped cross section, whereby the base lines of the U-shape
Addie Raymond W
Collard & Roe P.C.
Richter Wolfgang
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