AU2012101697A4 - Skid Board - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of delivery building materials to a building site, the method comprising the steps of driving a loaded 5 truck to a position adjacent the building site underneath an overhead gantry, lowering at least one skid board supported by the gantry to engage the road surface adjacent the truck, unloading the truck and then lifting the skid board onto the gantry and clear of the road 10 surface. 3710137_1 (GHMatters) P91465.AU 16111/12 8 -- 3010- tw+0 0,

Description

AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Innovation Patent Applicant: Hickory Group Pty Ltd Invention Title: Skid Board The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method for performing it known to us: -2 SKID BOARDS This invention relates to the use of skid boards in building sites, especially building sites in confined 5 spaces. The construction of buildings, especially high rise buildings in cities, raises a series of logistic issues especially regarding the delivery and unloading of io building materials. Where the building occupies the majority of the site trucks that deliver the building materials have to be parked in adjacent streets with the load lifted and deposited on the site by cranes. In some confined spaces there is very little room to park and 15 unload the truck without constituting a danger to passing pedestrians or traffic. The usual means of reducing these dangers is the use of modular skid boards that are often bolted together and 20 extend vertically at the side of the building site or even at the side of the truck parking bay. The skid boards usually comprise timber boards fitted to a structural steel frame with a capacity to withstand a side impact load of at least 5kpa. Building sites are frequently 25 surrounded by boards of this kind to protect pedestrians and passing traffic. In certain circumstances where the adjacent streets are very narrow the street has to be closed off for 30 delivery of building materials because there is no room to position the safety skid boards. Building sites of this kind also frequently use overhead gantries to house amenities at a level above the 35 street or pavement. Sometimes these gantries straddle a street to provide pedestrian and vehicle access whilst at the same time providing overhead amenities to the building 3710137_1 (GHMatters) P91465.AU 16/11/12 -3 site. It is these issues that have brought about the present invention. 5 According to the present invention there is provided a system for unloading a truck in a narrow street adjacent a building site, the system comprising an overhead gantry spanning the narrow street, the overhead gantry having a io frame located at a position across the span, the frame being adapted to support and engage at least one skid board, the skid board being vertically slidable relative to the frame, whereby when a truck is being unloaded, the skid board can be lowered to engage the road surface 15 adjacent the truck and when the unloading is complete the skid board can be lifted clear of the road to be supported by the frame in the overhead gantry. Preferably the frame supports a plurality of skid 20 boards positioned end to end. Preferably a crane is used to lift and lower the skid boards. 25 Preferably the position of the frame for the skid boards is such as to define, when the boards are lowered sufficient width for the access of a truck. In one embodiment, the frame is approximately midway across the span of the gantry. 30 The frame preferably comprises a pair of channel beams with a skid located therebetween to be a sliding fit within the channelled beams. 35 Preferably the pair of channelled beams terminate at a position to provide adequate clearance under the gantry and the channelled beams support one end of the skid when 3710137_1 (GHMatters) P91465.AU 16/11/12 -4 in the lowered position. Preferably pins extending through the skid board and into the channelled beams to secure the skid in the upper s storage position. Preferably four arrays of channelled beams define support for four skid boards positioned end to end along the length of the gantry. Preferably the channelled beams of the support are 10 supported by diagonal bracing beams that extend from behind the top of the channelled beams to the gantry. In a preferred embodiment the channelled beams are interconnected at the top by a cross member. 15 According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of delivering building materials to a building site, the method comprising the steps of driving a loaded truck to a 20 position adjacent the building site underneath an overhead gantry, lowering at least one skid board supported by the gantry to engage the road surface adjacent the truck, unloading the truck and then lifting the skid board clear of the road surface. 25 The raising and lowering of the skid board is preferably carried out by a crane which is also used to unload the building materials. 30 An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gantry and support frame forming a system for unloading trucks in 35 narrow streets, Figure 2 is a plan view of the gantry at deck level, Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the 3710137_1 (GHMatters) P91465.AU 16m11/12 - 5 lines A-A of Figure 2, Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the lines B-B of Figure 2, Figure 5 is an enlarged detailed view within the s circle 3 of Figure 4, Figure 6 is an elevational view of a skid board, Figure 7 is a plan view of the system illustrating pinning of the skid board to a frame, Figure 8 is a perspective view of the gantry when 10 supporting skid boards in an upper stored position, and Figure 9 is a perspective view of the gantry when supporting skid boards in a lower working position. A gantry 10 is illustrated in Figure 1. Gantries are 15 frequently used in the building industry to provide structures for amenities during construction of a building. Gantries often straddle adjacent streets to provide an elevated platform on which can be located amenities, building materials etc. Large gantries are 20 made of steel with structural timber walkways and laneways that can be adapted to provide double or triple storey storage facilities. Skid boards in the form of structural steel frames 25 supporting panels of timber are used to protect pedestrians and vehicles that might be adjacent to building sites. The boards are usually modular 3m wide increments and can be bolted together. 30 Figure 1 illustrates a gantry 10 that is specially designed to include a support frame 20 that allows skid boards to be suspended or elevated over the space under the gantry 10. The skid boards can be lowered to engage the ground surface to define a protected loading bay in 35 which trucks can deliver building materials for unloading. 3710137_1 (GHMatters) P91465.AU 16m11/12 - 6 The gantry 10 illustrated in Figure 1 is defined by a rectangular steel frame having four spaced legs 11, 12, 13 and 14, the front pair of legs 11 and 12 and the rear pair of legs 13 and 14 are each joined by portal beams 15 and 5 16. The sides of the frame are defined by longitudinal beam 18 and 19 extending along the length of the gantry 10 to join the front legs 11, 12 to the rear legs 13, 14. The gantry 10 can be modular and, as shown in Figure io 2, the gantry 10 of Figure 1 is joined to other modular gantries on either end that provide conventional support for amenities etc. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2 the total gantry assembly is approximately 34m in length. The gantry unit 10 that is at the middle of the gantry 15 assembly is approximately 12m in length. The elevated platform or floor of the gantry units shown in Figure 2 is defined by wooden timber planks supported by an appropriate steel structure that criss-crosses the top of the gantry. 20 The gantry unit 10 has a floor 31 or walkway on one side but defines an open space 32 on the other side of the gantry. The support frame 20 comprising five parallel spaced apart channelled beams 33-37 joined by a upper 25 cross beam 38 is secured to a longitudinal bearer 39 extending along the length of the gantry. The support frame 20 is positioned at approximately the midspan of the gantry 10 and the channelled beams 33-37 extend down as shown in Figure 1 a short distance (800mm) below the level 30 of the floor of the gantry. The support frame 20 is supported by diagonal bracing beams 40-44 that extend from the rear of the top of the cross beam 38 down to the gantry floor 31 is a RSJ 50 with a central web 51 defining vertical grooves 52, 53 on either side. Thus two opposed 35 RSJs 50 define a pair of opposed grooves into which a skid board 60 can be located for sliding vertical movement relative to the beams 33-37. In the embodiment shown in 3710137_1 (GHMatters) P91465.AU 16/11112 - 7 Figure 1 five vertically spaced beams 33-37 are shown defining four spaces for four skid boards (not shown). A typical skid board 60 is shown in Figure 6 and s comprises a rectangular steel frame 61 that supports spaced timber slats 52. The skid board are quite robust in construction and is designed to withstand sideway impact load of 5kpa. The steel frame 61 is of rectangular cross section and as shown in Figures 4 and 5 each groove 10 51, 52 of the RSJ is provided with spaced inwardly projecting guides 55, 56 that define a narrow gap which accommodates the cross section of the steel frame 61 of the skid board. The guides 55, 56 more positively and firmly locate the skid boards within the channelled beams. 15 As shown in Figure 6 the top of the skid board 60 has a pair of spaced eyes 63, 64 that are joined by a chain (not shown) which could then be attached to the hook of a crane to facilitate the lifting or lowering of the skid 20 board 60. In the gantry 10 of the preferred embodiment that is shown in Figure 2, the gantry 10 is positioned to straddle a comparatively narrow street. When trucks come to the 25 building site with building supplies a crane is used to unload those supplies. The truck can only park in the street and to save the expense and inconvenience of blocking off the whole street, as shown in Figure 9, skid boards 60 are lowered from the overhead support frame 20 30 to engage the ground surface by the side of the truck to ensure passing traffic is protected whilst material is unloaded from the truck. Thus, at the start of each working day the skid boards 60 are lowered to engage the ground leaving a small passageway on the left as shown in 35 Figure 3 for passage of traffic and defining a closed off enclosure which becomes an unloading bay for trucks. As shown in Figure 8, at the end of the day the crane is used 3710137_1 (GHMatters) P91465.AU 16/11/12 - 8 to lift the skid boards 60 up into the support frame 20 where they are located thereon by pins to gantry to be held there overnight. The whole width of the road can then be opened for vehicle traffic. 5 Although a crane is used to raise and lower the skid boards it is understood that the gantry could have more sophisticated inbuilt lifting mechanisms such as block and tackles or hydraulic or pneumatic drives to lift and lower 1o the skid boards. To locate the base of the skid boards 60 a pin can be positioned within the steel frame 61 of the skidboards to extend outwardly at the lower end to engage in a small hole in the road surface. This provides the skid board 60 with positive location at the top and bottom is of each board 60. The location of the skid boards within the channelled beams in the raised position ensures against movement in high winds and the braced support of the support frame 20 is sufficiently strong to resist toppling forces that might be caused by high winds blowing 20 against the skid boards 60. The pinned arrangement is shown in Figure 7 and essentially comprises a marker on each skid board that is readily visible to an operator. The operator is in 25 communication with the crane and when the marker reaches a certain level on the channelled beams the crane operator is told to stop at which time a large metal pin 80 is inserted through the channel beams and into the metal frame 61 of the skid board 60 to firmly and positively 30 locate the skid board within the channelled beams as shown in Figure 7. At the start of the day when the skid boards 60 are lowered, the crane is attached to the skid board 60 to lift it slightly to release the load on the pins, the pins are then removed and the skid board 60 is lowered to 35 the ground engaging position shown in Figure 9. 3710137_1 (GHMatters) P91465.AU161112

Claims (5)

1.A system for unloading a truck in a narrow street adjacent to building site, the system comprising an 5 overhead gantries spanning the narrow street, the overhead gantry having a frame located at a position across the frame being adapted to support and engage at least one skid board, the skid board being vertically slidable relative to the frame, whereby 10 when a truck is being unloaded, the skid board can be lowered to engage the road surface adjacent the truck and when the unloading is complete the skid board can be lifted clear of the road to be supported by the frame in the overhead gantry. 15

2.The system according to claim 1 wherein the frame supports a plurality of skid boards positioned end to end.

3. The system according either claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the frame comprises a pair of channel beams 20 with a skid board located therebetween to be a sliding fit within the channel beams.

4. The system according to claim 3 wherein the pins are arranged to extend through the skid board and into the channel beams to secure the skid in an upper 25 storage position.

5.A method of delivery building materials to a building site, the method comprising the steps of driving a loaded truck to a position adjacent the building site underneath an overhead gantry, lowering at least one 30 skid board supported by the gantry to engage the road surface adjacent the truck, unloading the truck and then lifting the skid board onto the gantry and clear of the road surface. 3710137_1 (GHMatters) P91465.AU 16m11/12