AU7310998A - Tiltable tankstand - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): BREMCOTE PTY LTD A.C.N. 075 242 312 Invention Title: Tiltable Tankstand 0e 0 #*t

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The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 2 TILTABLE TANKSTAND The present invention concerns tower structures for supporting fluid storage tanks with distance from the ground, otherwise also known as tankstands.

It is known to erect framework towerstructures at the top of which is located a cylindrical tank for water storage.

This is generally done to provide water pressure in the water distribution lines emanating from such storage tanks.

The tower structure typically comprises 3 or 4 vertically ~extending or slightly inclined legs, i.e. I- or hollow square steel beam sections. One terminal end of the legs is embedded into concrete foundations in holes in the *ground to provide for adequate vertical and lateral stability. Bracing and tie rods are subsequently bolted or otherwise attached to the core legs at predetermined heightwise intervals to increase overall stiffness and lateral stability of the tower frame work. Once the tower structure has been constructed a platform or decking is assembled on top of the tower and a cylindrical tank is hoisted with a crane onto the decking where it is properly secured using cables, shackles and ears.

g Such assembly technique has a number of drawbacks.

Firstly, it requires the persons assembling the structure to use ladders and/or scaffolding to make the connections between leg beams, braces and tie rods in the upper regions of the structure, thus increasing risk of accidents during assembly. Secondly, a crane is required to lift the tank from the ground for mounting on the assembled tower structure which adds to the assembly costs. When such tankstand is to be assembled in remote areas, problems arise with the availability of suitable cranes. Also, the area on which the tankstand is to be erected may not be 3 easily accessible for such cranes.

Therefore, one aim of the present invention is to provide a tankstand and method of erection thereof which simplifies assembly and which are in particular useful for remote areas lacking suitable hoisting facilities to lift the tank onto the tower structure.

Accordingly, in one aspect thereof, the present invention provides a tiltable tankstand comprising a framework structure including at least three main legs at least one of which is adapted at a lower end to pivotally couple to a ~leg footing or foundation, said legs at an upper end being designed whilst in a horizontal orientation to connect to a tank or a platform on which a tank is to be mounted whereby in operation the framework structure together with the tank can be tilted from the horizontal into an upright orientation.

Advantageously, the tankstand comprises four main legs arranged to form a tower framework structure quadrilateral in cross-section, two of the main legs arranged on the side of the framework structure being pivoted to a respective hinge flange secured to the ground, the other two legs 25 being provided with fixed flanges for bolting into the ground.

Preferably, and if four hinge flanges are provided instead of only two, the hinge flanges are arranged such that only two of these provide a common pivoting axis for the tower structure for erection purposes, thus enhancing resistance against parallelogram-type movement of the main legs with respect to one another under sidewise exerted loads.

Preferably, the tower framework structure may be provided with an erecting frame member, i.e. two beams or struts -4 arranged in inverted v-form, removably connected through its two free ends to the lower ends of those two main legs of the tower structure which in the horizontal, pre-erection state are furthest away from the ground, an erecting cable being attachable to or running at an apex of the inverted v-frame member to provide for an increased moment arm from the fulcrum point of the tower structure during tilting into its upright position.

The tankstand may incorporate, as stated above, a platform structure rigidly connected to the upper-ends of the main leg beams; the cylindrical tank being then mounted and secured to the support platform. Alternatively, the cylindrical tank may be provided on one of the flat surfaces thereof with appropriately arranged connecting flanges or brackets for bolting the free ends of the framework tower structure to the cylindrical tank.

While the tankstand is primarily designed for water storage, other materials may be stored in the cylindrical tank, ie petrol, and the tank as such may have a different shape, i.e. spherical.

In another aspect, the present invention also provides a 25 method for erecting a tankstand involving the steps of: fabricating a framework structure including at least three main legs; pivotally coupling a lower end of at least one of said legs to a leg footing or foundation; mounting a tank to either an upper end of said legs, or a platform adapted to connect to an upper end of said legs whilst the framework structure is in a horizontal orientation; and tilting the framework structure together with the tank into an upright orientation.

5 It is to be understood that the erection sequence as far as assembly of the framework structure and the attachment of the legs to the hinge flanges is concerned is not intended to be restricted to the above sequence, i.e. the two legs in the horizontal plane may be hingedly joined at their one (lower) ends to their respective hinge flanges which are either then or have been previously secured to the ground or to an appropriate foundation in the ground, whereupon bracing and tying of these two legs as well as with the further leg(s) may then be accomplished to provide the framework tower structure. The decking platform may itself be pre-assembled or may be assembled on site utilising bearer and joist beams and decking planks.

15 Depending on the design and environmental loads, in particular wind loads to which the tankstand may be subjected, the number of braces and ties along the height extension of the legs may be increased or reduced or omitted altogether; however, in the latter case, the upper 20 ends of the main legs have to be fixed rigidly to the support platform or the tank itself, as the case may be, and the lower ends of the main legs should preferably be secured additionally against rotation about the horizontal and the vertical axis.

While many variations of the above described general inventive concept may be provided by the skilled person in the art, a preferred embodiment of a tiltable tankstand and method of assembly thereof will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of an erected tankstand in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; Figs. 2a to 2e show in schematic the various assembly stages of the tankstand of Fig. 1; and 6 Figs. 3a and 3b provide perspective schematic illustrations of the hinged mountings for two of the legs and the fixed mountings for the other two legs of the tankstand, respectively.

Referring first to Fig. i, reference numeral 10 relates to a tankstand used for water storage and provide water pressure in the lines (not shown) emanating from such water storage facility. The tankstand 10 comprises a cylindrical tank member 12 located on and secured in known manner to a support platform 14 which itself is supported at the upper terminal end of a tower framework structure 16 assembled from four main legs 18 and a number of brace and tie elements 20, 22, respectively interconnecting and rigidly joining the main legs 18 together in known manner to provide a tower framework. The tankstand 10 is erected over foundations 24 in a manner which shall be described in the following with reference to Figs. 2a to 2e. Fig. 1 *"illustrates schematically the provision of an access ladder 20 26 which runs along the height of the tower structure 16 from an access opening (not shown) in tank 12 to the **ground.

Turning now to Fig. 2a, there is illustrated the beginning 25 of the erection procedure. Firstly, four suitable foundations in form of rectangular concrete pillars 24a, 24b with a spacing adapted to the cross-sectional dimensions of the tower structure 16 are poured into suitably formed holes in the ground; alternatively a concrete slab may be provided as foundation. Into the concrete are embedded a number of securing bolts 26 with an arrangement as illustrated in Figs. 3a and 3b. In Fig. 3a is illustrated an arrangement to provide four securing bolts extending with their threaded portion so as to protrude from the stand surface of pillars 24a, whereas Fig. 3b shows only two bolts 26 on Pillars 24b. Onto 7 concrete pillars 24a are mounted, respectively, a hinge flange 28 comprising a base plate 29 with four through holes spaced so as to correspond with the spacing of the bolts 26 which extend in the fixed position therethrough, and two spaced apart brackets or ear members 30 having an opening each which are co-axially aligned to provide a horizontally extending hinge axis A. The hinge flange 28 is secured to the foundation pillars 24a by appropriate nuts 32. In order to avoid removal thereof, suitable fixing means can be provided or the threads could be burred.

It is to be ensured that the stand surfaces of the ***foundation pillars 24 are within a predetermined height range, say 20mm, of each other to allow adjustment when plumbing the tankstand. Once the hinge flanges 28 have been properly secured to the foundation pillars 24a as described above, a respective main leg 18, which can be a hollow, quadrilateral steel section or an I-steel beam with base flange, is pivotally secured onto the hinge flange 28 by inserting a bolt through the ear members 30 so as to **extend through an appropriate opening at the lower end of the main leg sections 18 (not shown). The area around the bores in the main legs 18 may be reinforced or 25 alternatively a separate armature or mounting can be fixed to the lower ends of the main legs.

Once the two main legs 18 have been pivotally coupled to the hinge flanges 28, appropriate bracing and tie rods and 22 are fastened in a known manner between the main legs 18, i.e. by bolting, so that the two main legs 18 are arranged in one common horizontal plane. As can be seen in Fig. 2a, the upper end of the main legs 18 are respectively provided with a support plate 34 welded to the terminal ends of the main leg 18 and having a plurality of openings for receiving fastening bolts (not illustrated in detail).

8 A spacing jig 36 is assembled over the four foundation pillars 24a, 24b and consists of a cross-bar 37 and two lateral struts 38 on either side of the cross running between the pillars 24a and 24b. The length of the lateral struts 38 corresponds to the width of the tower structure 16 and will serve as the lowermost bracing element of the structure once erected.

As can be seen in Fig. 2b, the further erection involves bolting a respective I-beam sections 40 onto each of the support plates 34 at the free ends of the main legs 18 such that the I-beam sections 40 extend perpendicular to the main legs. Further brace rods and tie rods 20, 22 are bolted to extend between the I-beam sections 40 as 15 illustrated. Suitably spaced lateral brace rods 21 are bolted to the main legs 18 so as to extend perpendicular therefrom in an upward direction, the longitudinal dimension of the brace rods 21 corresponding to the width "of the tower structure 16. The spacing jig 36 is now 20 raised such that the lateral struts 38 extend vertically and is subsequently bolted with the lower end onto to the main legs 18.

As can be seen in Fig. 2c, two additional main legs 18b are 25 then secured onto the lateral struts 38 and lateral brace rods 21 such as to provide a rectangular, quadrilateral tower structure 16. The additional two legs 18b have, as previously described, at their upper ends, support plates 34 for bolting the main legs 18 to the I-beam sections and are provided at the lower ends with welded-on support plates 42 as can be seen in Fig. 2c and in particular Fig. 3b, which shows how the other two main legs 18 will be fastened to the foundation pillars 24b subsequent to erection of the support structure into its upright position.

9 The platform structure 14 is finalised by bolting appropriately spaced apart joist I-beams 44 onto the I-beam sections 40 (see Fig. 2d) and suitable decking planks 46 (see Fig. 2e) are subsequently tacked onto the joist 44 in known manner. Subsequently, four angled brackets are fastened onto the decking equally spaced apart along a circle about 40 to 50mm wider in diameter than the cylindrical tank section 12 to be fastened on the decking.

The cylindrical tank section 12 is rolled into position between the four angled brackets and attached thereto using the angle brackets and four holding cables and turn buckles. The inspection ladder 26 is fastened onto the side of the decking to correspond with the manhole in the tank 12.

Once the tank, the ladder, the valves and pipe network emanating from the tank are mounted, a temporary mounting jig 50 consisting of two steel beams arranged in inverted V-form is connected to the lateral struts 38 of the spacing S 20 jig 36 as illustrated in Fig. 2e. Erection slings 52 are shackled into holes on the upper and lower side of the platform 14, wherein the upper erection sling 52 is directed so as to pass on the apex of erection/mounting jig 50 and secured thereon against lateral movement. As can be 25 seen in Fig. 2e, it is preferable that the erection jig extends perpendicular to the main legs beams 18 such as to provide an increased moment arm for subsequent tilting of the assembled tankstand 10 about the pivot axis A provided by the hinge flanges 28 at foundation pillars 24a.

The tankstand 10 is erected using two vehicles, i.e.

four-wheel drives, providing an erection vehicle and a steadying vehicle, whereby erection sling 52 is connected to the erection vehicle B and steadying sling 54 is connected to steadying vehicle C. Vehicle B is used to tilt-up the tankstand 10, which during the tilting 10 operation, once it passes the point of balance, is prevented from uncontrolled slumping into its vertical position by the steadying vehicle C and is lowered gradually so that the supporting plates 42 at the free ends of the main legs 18 can be lowered onto the foundation pillars 24b with the through holes 27 aligned with the hold-down bolts 26 on foundation pillars 24b. Once the hold-down bolts 26 project through openings 27, the tankstand can be plumbed by adjusting nuts 31 arranged between the supporting plates 42 and foundation pillars 24b and which engage with the supporting bolts 26 by tightening the securing bolts 32 on top of the supporting plate 42, the mounting procedure is finished.

15 It is to be understood that other ways of fastening the non-pivoting legs to the respective foundation members 24b are possible, for example by providing a threaded socket embedded into the foundation adapted to receive a hold-down bolt engaging into openings 27 of support plate 42 at the *4 end of the legs 18.

It is of course also possible to have identical hinge flanges 28 on all four main legs 18, in which case it is preferable to arrange the two hinge flanges not used during 25 the tilt-up operation with their pivoting axis extending perpendicular to the pivoting axis of the hinge flanges which actually are used during the tilt-up procedure. Use of identical flanges reduces the amount of different parts and does not affect the stability of the erected structure.

All such variations and modifications are to be considered within the scope of the present invention the nature of which is to be determined from the foregoing description.

Claims (13)

1. A tiltable tankstand comprising a framework structure including at least three main legs at least one of which is adapted at a lower end to pivotally couple to a leg footing or foundation, said legs at an upper end being designed whilst in a horizontal orientation to connect to a tank or a platform on which a tank is to be mounted whereby in operation the framework structure together with the tank can be tilted from the horizontal into an upright orientation.

2. A tankstand as defined in claim 1 further comprising a pivotal coupling being configured to interconnect the 15 lower end of said at least one main leg and the leg footing or foundation so as to allow tilting of said ~leg and the framework structure about said footing or foundation.

3. A tankstand as defined in claim 2 wherein the framework structure has four main legs, two of said ~legs being pivotally coupled to said footing or foundation. 25

4. A tankstand as defined in claim 3 wherein the pivotal coupling is one of a pair of hinged flanges each being adapted to connect to a lower end of one of said two main legs and mount to said footing or foundation so that tilting of the framework structure is about a pivot axis common to said two main legs.

A tankstand as defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the framework structure further comprises a plurality of braces and/or ties arranged so as to interconnect the main legs to provide a framework tower structure. 12

6. A tankstand as defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the other of said at least three main legs is designed to be fixed to the leg footing or foundation whilst the framework structure is in the upright orientation.

7. A tankstand as defined in any one of the preceding claims further comprising an erecting assembly detachably coupled to the framework structure so as to assist in tilting of said structure together with the tank between the horizontal and upright orientations.

8. A tankstand as defined in claim 7 wherein the erecting assembly includes a pair of erecting struts arranged in a V-form with their free ends detachably coupled to the framework structure. ooeo

9. A tankstand as defined in claim 8 wherein the erecting assembly also includes an erecting cable at opposing ends being coupled to the framework structure and an erecting vehicle, respectively, said cable operatively cooperating with the erecting struts to assist with tilting of the framework structure into the upright orientation.

A method for erecting a tankstand involving the steps of: fabricating a framework structure including at least three main legs; pivotally coupling a lower end of at least one of said legs to a leg footing or foundation; mounting a tank to either an upper end of said legs, or a platform adapted to connect to an upper end of said legs whilst the framework structure is in a horizontal orientation; and 13 tilting the framework structure together with the tank into an upright orientation.

11. A method for erecting a tankstand as defined in claim 10 wherein the step of pivotally coupling said at least one leg to a footing or foundation involves mounting at least one hinged flange to the footing or foundation and connecting said flange to the lower end of said leg so as to permit tilting of said leg and the framework structure together with the tank into the upright orientation.

12. A method for erecting a tankstand as defined in *claim 10 or 11 wherein the step of tiling the framework structure involves detachably coupling an erecting assembly to the framework structure, the erecting assembly including a pair of erecting struts arranged in a V-form with their free ends detachably coupled to the framework structure and an erecting 20 cable at opposing ends coupled to the framework structure and an erecting vehicle, respectively, whereby the vehicle effects movement of the framework structure together with the tank between the horizontal and upright orientations with the 25 assistance of the erecting cable and struts.

13. A tiltable tankstand or a method for erecting a tankstand substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Dated this 22 nd day of June 1998 Bremcote Pty Ltd By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK