DE29703879U1 - Walkable plank, especially plank for scaffolding - Google Patents

Description

HlEBSCH PEEGE., BEH N.

patent applicant* ^# j* ' Il .^I

EUROPEAN PATENT AND TRADEMARK ATTORNEYS

Patent attorneys Hiebsch e.o.. PO Box 464, D-78204 Singen Dipl.-lng. Gerhard F. Hiebsch Dipl.-lng. Klaus Peege (-1996) Dip!.-lng. Niels Behrmann M.B.A. (NY)

D-78224 Singen/Germany Heinrich-Weber-Piaiz 1

Telephone(s) (07731)95 73-0 Fax (07731)4 20 99

(07731)95 73-30 eMail Bodenseepaien1®@t-oniine.de

(31) Priority Application Number:

(32) Priority Date:

(33) Priority Country:

Our reference: AL2143DE7

H/mu

(54) Title:

Walkable plank, especially plank for scaffolding construction.

(71) Applicant:

Alusuisse Technology & Management AG Bad. Bahnhofstrasse 16

CH-8212 Neuhausen am Rheinfall

(74) Representative / Agent:

Dipl.-Ing. Gerhard F. Hiebsch Dipl.-Ing. Niels Behrmann M.B.A. (NY) -Patent Attorneys-Heinrich-Weber-Platz 1 D-78224 Singen

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Walkable plank, especially plank for scaffolding

The invention relates to a walkable plank -- in particular a plank for scaffolding construction having at least one extruded open covering profile -- with reinforcing profiles of a beam-like cross-section formed from the underside of a base plate and with a box profile of a closed cross-section attached to the front side of the covering profile(s), which has connecting devices for securing to a scaffolding element or similar device.

There are various versions of so-called scaffolding planks made of light metal alloys. In addition to planks made of bent, embossed and/or perforated sheets, there are also others made of extruded profiles. In addition to the static requirement of transferring vertical and horizontal forces, scaffolding planks must be built in such a way that they can withstand the stresses of handling and use, i.e. they must be able to withstand local forces - for example impacts - without permanent deformation. As a result, the minimum wall thickness cannot be chosen to be arbitrarily thin, which is why scaffolding planks made of hollow profiles are usually relatively heavy. The advantage of hollow cross-sections is their torsional rigidity.

So-called open profiles made of plate-shaped cross-sections with webs are lighter. Their disadvantage is that they are more soft than the scaffolding planks described above, which is particularly noticeable when the edge areas are subjected to loads. If the edge area is made thicker through structural measures, the weight or height increases to an undesirable extent.

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US-PS 2,742,121 describes an open profile with edge supports running on both sides and central supports parallel to these. Several rib strips protrude from the surface above the attachments of the stiffening profiles, parallel to these, and in the fields between the rib strips -- which offer several ribs -- there are openings on which two parallel edges are designed with protruding edge beads. These edge beads are perpendicular to the direction of the reinforcing profiles and the rib strips.

A plank of this type can be found in the applicant's document DE-U-295 02 666. Box profiles are welded to the front edges of the decking profiles for transverse rigidity; the height of the box profiles corresponds approximately to the height of the cross section of the decking profiles. Hook strips are formed on the box profile as connecting devices, with which the planks are hooked into counter-members of the scaffolding. Openings in the box profile for inserting tenon-like counter-members are also indicated.

Knowing this state of the art, the inventor has set himself the goal of further improving the manufacture and handling of such an open plank or scaffolding board - if possible without increasing the weight.

The doctrine of the independent claim leads to the solution of this problem, the sub-claims provide favorable further developments.

According to the invention, the box profile of the plank is connected to the hook-shaped connecting device(s) and is connected to them in a force-fitting and/or form-fitting manner, wherein the hook-shaped connecting device has a support yoke as a boundary of an insert recess open towards one of the two main surfaces of the plank and/or edge recesses opening towards the long side of the plank

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are present; scaffolding rods -- running horizontally or vertically -- should be able to be inserted into the insert recesses or the edge recesses.

According to a further feature of the invention, the insert recess is equipped with a partially circular cross-sectional contour, which on the one hand grips a free end web of the support yoke and on the other hand merges into an inclined desk surface. The end web and desk surface significantly improve handling in accordance with the task.

An extruded hook profile has proven to be advantageous with a channel section as a support yoke, to which a plug-on end with two web tabs is formed at approximately a right angle; the web tabs run essentially parallel to the main diameter of the insert recess. This main diameter is parallel to the building ground in the installed position. In order to strengthen the support yoke, it is necessary to
viewed longitudinally -- only near the end of the bay by means of an inclined surface into the mentioned end web.

The web tabs advantageously have inclined inner surfaces and use them to define an insertion space for the box profile of the plank that widens towards their free edges. The latter is inserted into the insertion space and welded to the plug-in tabs - at least on the underside. For this purpose, the free ends of the plug-in tabs should offer cross-sectionally inclined edges that, in the installed position, each define a welding groove with oppositely inclined shoulder surfaces of the associated box profile.

The box profile for this hook profile consists in a known manner of a profile front wall, a profile rear wall as well as a base wall and ridge wall connecting them; according to the invention, the base wall and ridge wall are provided with the shoulder surface and run from this to the profile front wall at an angle to each other. Thanks to

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If the attachment area of the hook profile is shaped accordingly, it can be pushed on without any problem.

Another version of a hook profile -- also made from an extruded part as a semi-finished product -- consists of a flat support yoke with a molded-on connection section, preferably of greater thickness, with the free end of the connection section being designed as a plug-in section with a reduced height; its height is adapted to the inner height of the plank or an edge web of one of the covering profiles forming the plank.

It has proven to be advantageous to fix the plug-in section to the edge web, whereby the plate-like connecting section should span the free end of the box profile running at right angles to it. This box profile should extend between two hook profiles assigned to the long sides of the plank.

Independent protection is required for another feature; at both ends of the box profile - preferably instead of the hook-shaped connecting devices - at least one corner bracket should be attached, which projects beyond the box profile on the long side and the front side of the plank and is provided with an edge cutout for a scaffolding part on the edge of the bracket that is approximately parallel to the long edge of the plank; in the installed position, a vertical scaffolding rod should be locked into the edge cutout.

For this purpose, it has proven to be advantageous for the corner tab to be in contact with the box profile for about half its width; this makes it possible for the other half of the tab to overlap the next box profile.

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Furthermore, the corner bracket should be fixed or welded to the ridge wall of the box profile on one of its two front sides and to the bottom wall of the box profile on the other front side. This makes it easier to insert into the scaffolding.

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Further advantages, features and details of the invention emerge from the following description of preferred embodiments and from the drawing; this shows in

Fig. 1: a plan view of a two-part

Walkable plank composed of extruded decking profiles;

Fig. 2: a side view of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3: an enlarged cross-section

through the plank of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4: the enlarged partial plan view of

an end portion of the plank;

Fig. 5: Bottom view of an end section

a plank;

Fig. 6: an enlarged view of the

plank covering profile;

Fig. 7, 8: enlarged sections through Fig. 4

according to their line VII-VII or VIII-VIII with hook profiles for the plank;

Fig. 9: a box profile as a detail of the

Fig.8;

Fig. 10: another box profile on the

Front side of a plank with attached hook profile, only partially shown ;

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Fig. 11: the hook profile to Fig. 10;

Fig. 12: a representation similar to Fig. 10

to another embodiment;

Fig. 13: one of Fig. 12 -- rotated by 90° -

- associated stack of several indicated planks;

Fig. 14: the top view of a corner area

a plank with a corner tab;

Fig. 15: Corner areas of two joined

Corner tabs
Planks in side view.

A walkable plank 10 with a plank width b of, for example, 600 mm and a plank height h of about 50 mm for a scaffolding that is not shown in the drawing for reasons of clarity consists of two extruded open profiles or covering profiles 12 with a profile length a of 2900 mm, each of which has a base plate 14 with a thickness e of 2 mm that faces upwards in the installed position and four longitudinal webs molded onto it. Cross-sectionally L-shaped edge webs 18 are molded onto the base plates 14 along the two long edges 16 of the planks. The cross-sectional length f of the short legs 19 of the edge webs 18 that are parallel to the base plate 14, which can be seen particularly in Fig. 6, measures 24 mm here. The two legs 19 of the plank 10 face each other and are equipped with longitudinal ribs 20 pointing downwards in Fig. 3.

Parallel to the edge webs 18, two T-shaped middle webs 22 are formed on the profile base surface 13 at equal distances and an end web with an L-shaped cross section 24; the latter rests against the end web 24 of the adjacent covering profile 12. The

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parallel transverse flanges 23, 25 of the longitudinal webs 22, 24 are approximately aligned with the short legs 19 of the edge webs 18. The thickness of the longitudinal webs 22, 24 corresponds approximately to the thickness e of the base plate 14 and the edge webs 18.

In Fig. 3, web strips 28 with longitudinal grooves formed from the surface 15 of the base plate 14 run along the upper outer edges 16 of the planks; parallel to this, narrow longitudinal ribs 30 are formed on the surface 15.

The two covering profiles 12 of the plank 10 are connected on each of their open narrow sides by a box profile 32 of width g of, for example, 50 mm, which is placed in front of them and whose height corresponds approximately to the plank height h; according to Fig. 8, 9, two parallel plate webs 38, 38 _t of different cross-sectional lengths i, I ₁ are formed onto the profile rear wall 34 in such a way that they approximately continue with the ridge and bottom walls 35, 36 of the box profile 32. Longitudinal webs 30 _a also protrude from the ridge wall 36.

The two plate webs 38, 38 _t -- notched in the areas of the longitudinal webs 22, 24 -- are inserted between the profile base bottom surface 13 and the transverse flanges 23, 25 until the profile rear wall 34 strikes the front edges 11 of the covering profiles 12. Welded connections of an example length q between the covering profiles 12 and the plate webs 38, 3 8 _t are indicated at 39.

The box profile 32 ends at both ends at a hook body 40 of thickness k, which is flat in plan view in Fig. 3, 4 and which is attached to the covering profile 12 with a plate-shaped connecting section 41 -- cut to length from an extruded profile (not shown); a plug-in section 42 of length c, adapted to the inner height h _x of the covering profile 12 or the edge web 18, is inserted into the edge web 18 and welded thereto, among other things, at 3 9 _a .

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According to Fig. 7, a support yoke 44 curved in a part-circle shape is formed onto that connecting section 41, which offers an insert recess 46 with a semicircular contour of inner diameter d (about 50 mm) towards the bottom. The latter grips at the free end of the yoke an end web 45 which defines this and runs parallel to the profile front wall 33 of the box profile 32, which merges longitudinally upwards via an inclined surface 47 into the part-circular outer surface 48 of the support yoke 44. At the other end, the semicircular contour is followed by a desk surface 49 inclined thereto. The distance η of the design center Z of the insert recess 46 from the covering profile 12 measures about 100 mm, the distance n _t between the two design centers Z of the plank 10 from each other is, for example, 3100 mm.

As can be seen in particular in Fig. 4, the thickness k of the support yoke 44 is less than the thickness of the adjoining connection section 41 -- and thus of the plug-in section 42 -- against which the front edge of the box profile 32 abuts - for the sake of a better overview, the inner surface 43 of the support yoke 44 in Fig. 8 is highlighted by cross-hatching, to which -- unshaded -- the thicker connection section 41 adjoins.

In the installed position of the plank 10, a horizontal scaffolding rod engages in the insert recess 46, which is indicated at 50 in Fig. 4, 14.

The box profile 32 _a of another embodiment according to Fig. 10, which is equipped with a diagonal wall 31, runs slightly conically from shoulder-like steps 51 in the ridge wall 35 _a and the bottom wall 36 _a to its profile front wall 3 3 _a ; according to Fig. 10, 11, correspondingly designed web tabs 52 of a plug-on end 53 of depth X ₂ of a hook body 40 _a are pushed onto this box profile 32 _a and welded to the box profile 32 _a or its shoulder-like step 48 at a welding groove 55. The cross section of the

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Welding groove 55 widens towards the respective plank outer side, since both the end edge of the web tab 52 and the mentioned shoulder-like step 48 are inclined towards the ridge wall 35 _a or the bottom wall 3 6 _a .

The web tabs 52 -- with inner surfaces inclined away from each other -- run parallel to the main diameter of the insert recess 46, designated by D, and delimit an insertion space 54 that widens outwards in cross-section.

Fig. 13 illustrates the locking function of the mentioned web strips 28 when a second plank 10 is loaded; the web strip 28 engages between the longitudinal ribs 20 of the edge web 18.

The plank 10 _a of Fig. 14, 15 is provided on one end face with a pair of corner brackets 56 which are welded to the ridge wall 35 _b of the box profile 32 _b ; on the other end face of this plank 10 _a, the two corner brackets 56 are attached to the bottom wall 36 _b of the box profile 32 _b there.

Thanks to this reciprocity, the planks 10 _a can be easily inserted and also, as shown in Fig. 15, can be easily butted against one another with their oppositely arranged box profiles 32 _b .

The corner tab 56 is cut from a metal strip with a width s of approximately 95 mm and a thickness t with an approximately square contour, and is provided on one side - approximately in the middle - with a semicircular edge cutout 58. One of the corners opposite this is broken by a hypotenuse edge 60, and the diagonal corner to it is also removed - to a lesser extent - by means of a beveled edge 62.

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This corner bracket 56 is welded to the shoulder-like shoulder 48 of the box profile 32 _b -- resting on its ridge wall 35 _b -- and to a slope of the profile front wall 33 _b (weld seams 3 9). It then projects freely over the profile front wall 3 3 _b with approximately half the width s and over the plank's long edge 16 with a smaller cantilever dimension y. It accommodates a vertical scaffolding rod 50 _a of the scaffold in its lateral edge cutout 58 - the plank 10 _a is therefore attached on both sides between two vertical scaffolding rods 50 _a thanks to the corner brackets 56.

The base plate 14 _{a of} the plank 10 _a has rows of approximately square openings 62, the corners of which are formed with a radius; two opposite opening edges are embossed in the same direction, upwards and downwards. The embossings 64, which are thus oriented in the same direction in pairs -- highlighted with hatching in Fig. 14 -- of an opening 62 are rotated by 90° compared to the embossing pair of the neighboring opening 62. The preferred shape of the embossing 64 is part-circular.

Claims (15)

PROTECTION CLAIMS 1. Walkable plank, in particular a plank for scaffolding construction with at least one extruded open covering profile, with reinforcing webs of a beam-like cross-section formed from the underside of a base plate and with a box profile of closed cross-section firmly attached to the front side of the covering profile(s), which has connecting devices for securing to a scaffolding element or similar devices, characterized, that the box profile (32, 32 _a , 32 _b ) is connected to the hook-shaped connecting device(s) (40, 40 _a ) in a force-fitting and/or form-fitting manner, wherein the hook-shaped connecting device has a support yoke (44) as a boundary of an insert recess (46) open towards one of the two main surfaces of the plank (10) and/or an edge recess (58) opening towards the long side of the plank (10 _a ). 2. Plank according to claim 1, characterized in that the insert recess (46) has a part-circular cross-sectional contour which on the one hand grips a free end web (45) of the support yoke (44) and on the other hand passes into an inclined desk surface (47). 3. Plank according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by a hook profile (40 _a ) with a groove section as a support yoke (44), to which an attachment end (53) with two web tabs (52) delimiting this is formed approximately at right angles, the web tabs running essentially parallel to the main diameter (D) of the insert recess (46). AL2143DE7 ."15- 4. Plank according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the end web (45) is adjoined in side view by an inclined surface (47) which merges into the outer surface (48) of the support yoke (44). 5. Plank according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the plug-in tabs (52) have inclined inner surfaces and with these delimit an insertion space for the box profile (32 _a ) of the plank (10), which expands towards their free edges. 6. Plank according to claim 3 or 5, characterized in that the free ends of the plug-in tabs (52) have cross-sectionally inclined edges which, in the installed position, each delimit a welding groove (55) with oppositely inclined shoulder surfaces (51) of the associated box profile ( _32a ). 7. Plank with a closed box profile having a profile front wall, a profile rear wall, a bottom wall and a ridge wall, according to claim 6, characterized in that the bottom wall (36 _a ) and ridge wall (35 _a ) are provided with the shoulder surface (51) and run inclined towards one another away from this towards the profile front wall (33 _a ). 8. Plank according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by a hook profile (40) with a flat support yoke (44) which is formed onto a connecting section (41), the free end of the connecting section being designed as a plug-in section (42) and the height of which is adapted to the inner height Ch ₁ ) of the plank (10) or of an edge web (18) of a profile (12) forming the plank. AL2143DE7 9. Plank according to claim 8, characterized in that the thickness of the connecting section (41) is greater than the thickness (k) of the support yoke (44). 10. Plank according to claim 3 or 8, characterized in that the hook profile (40, _40a ) is cut to length from an extruded shaped body. 11. Plank according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the plug-in section (42) is fixed to the edge web (18) and the plate-like connecting section (41) spans the free end of the box profile (32) running at right angles to it. 12. Plank according to one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that the box profile (32) extends between two hook profiles (40) assigned to the longitudinal sides (18) of the plank (10). 13. Plank according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that at least one corner tab (56) is fastened to each end of the box profile (32 _b ), which projects beyond the box profile on the long side and the front side of the plank (10 _a ) and is provided with an edge cutout (58) for a scaffolding part (50 _a ) on the tab edge approximately parallel to the plank longitudinal edge (16). 14. Plank according to claim 13, characterized in that the corner tab (56) rests against its box profile (32 _b ) with approximately half its width (s). 15. Plank according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that on one of its two end faces ■^ two corner tabs (56) are fixed on the ridge wall (35 _b ) of the box profile (32 _b ) and on the other end face on the bottom wall (36 _b ) of the box profile.