EP1887164A1

EP1887164A1 - Improved vice clamp for panel shuttering

Info

Publication number: EP1887164A1
Application number: EP07075621A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gaston Lijnen
Original assignee: All Bast NV
Current assignee: All Bast NV
Priority date: 2006-08-01
Filing date: 2007-07-20
Publication date: 2008-02-13
Anticipated expiration: 2027-07-20
Also published as: BE1017238A3; DE602007003642D1; ATE451513T1; EP1887164B1

Abstract

Improved vice clamp for panel formwork comprising (1) two moving jaws (2-3) as well as a clamping mechanism (4) that is formed of a base plate (5) with a first jaw (2) and an operating lever (6) on which the second jaw (3) is fixed and which is provided in a rotating and shifting manner on the base plate (5) by a pen (8) that is situated on the base plate (5) at a distance from the first jaw (2) and that is held in a guide in the operating lever (6) and whereby this operating lever (6) is hinge-mounted to a rod (13) which is in turn hinge-mounted to the base plate (5) by a stud (15) provided on the base plate (5) at a distance from the second jaw (3).

Description

The present invention concerns an improved vice clamp for panel formwork.
It is known that such panel formwork is used for casting concrete constructions and that this panel formwork is composed of panels that are joined at an edge and that are drawn together by means of vice clamps so as to form a formwork to cast concrete in.
Each panel consists of a plate on which are provided struts on one side, namely on the side designed as an outer side of the formwork, along the connecting edges, with which the panels are drawn together by means of the above-mentioned clamps.
According to a known embodiment, such a vice clamp consists of two parallel jaws provided on either side of the struts to be clamped together and which are drawn together by means of a clamping mechanism so as to fix the struts.
The clamping mechanism is hereby formed of a telescopic element with two telescopic parts sliding into one another whose mutual axial position can be adjusted by means of a wedge that is driven crosswise through an opening in one of the telescopic parts and that works in conjunction with a set of teeth on the other telescopic part, whereby the teeth of this toothing have been inserted slantingly in relation to the axial slide-in direction of the telescopic parts.
The deeper the wedge is driven through the opening, the more the telescopic parts and thus the jaws are moved towards each other, such that the struts of the panels of the formwork are drawn towards each other with much force.
Usually, a hammer is used to drive the wedge between the slanting teeth of the above-mentioned toothing and to thus obtain a clamping stress to hold the panels of the panel formwork together while the concrete is being cast.
A disadvantage of the known vice clamps is that they are relatively complex, among others due to the toothing that has to be provided.
Another disadvantage is that the teeth of the toothing are relatively weak and consequently can be easily damaged when the wedge is being driven between the teeth of the toothing by means of a hammer so as the tighten the vice clamp.
Another disadvantage is that the known vice clamps rest in only one point and that the distance over which the jaws can mutually move as the wedge is being driven in is rather limited, and that the wedge must often be put elsewhere so as to mesh between a following pair of teeth in order to be able to pull the panels together with sufficient force.
An additional disadvantage is that, with these known vice clamps, it is not excluded that the panels are not perfectly aligned with their edges, as a result of which undesired burrs are visible in the concrete.
The present invention aims to remedy one or several of the above-mentioned and other disadvantages.
To this end, the invention concerns an improved vice clamp for panel formwork, which vice clamp comprises two jaws that can be moved towards each other, as well as a clamping mechanism and a drive for this clamping mechanism, whereby the clamping mechanism is formed of a base plate on which is fixed a first jaw and an operating lever on which the second jaw is fixed and which can be rotated and shifted on the base plate by means of a pen fixed to the base plate at a distance from the first jaw and which is held in a guide in the form of a slip hole in the operating lever, and whereby this operating lever is hinge-mounted to a rod which is in turn hinge-mounted to the base plate by means of a stud provided on the base plate at a distance from the second jaw.
By turning the operating lever, the jaws are moved towards each other through the construction of the vice clamp.
Such a vice clamp according to the invention has a simple construction and is very robust, as a result of which there will be less damages during use.
By selecting the dimensions of the vice clamp in an appropriate manner, especially the length of the rod and the slip hole, the jaws can be moved towards each other over relatively large distances by a single movement of the operating lever without any additional adjustments or settings being required.
Thanks to the construction of the vice clamp, the jaws are also tilted in relation to each other as they are moved together, such that the edge profiles of connecting formwork panels are not only being clamped crosswise, but such that these edge profiles are moreover drawn against the base plate.
This offers the advantage that the panels cannot shift in relation to each other during the casting, and that, if the base plate of the vice clamp is provided with a suitable supporting edge, the plates will be automatically aligned, such that alignment errors in the formwork are avoided and hence also the ensuing burrs.
The drive for the clamping mechanism is preferably formed of a wedge that can be driven through a hole in the vice clamp and that moves the operating lever in relation to the base plate of the vice clamp while it is being driven in, in order to move the jaws towards each other.
Such a wedge makes it possible to develop large clamping forces in a simple manner, which in this case, given the robust construction of the vice clamp, cannot cause any damages.
In order to better explain the characteristics of the invention, the following preferred embodiment of an improved vice clamp according to the invention for panel formwork is described hereafter as an example only without being limitative in any way, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 schematically represents a view of a vice clamp according to the invention;
figure 2 represents the vice clamp of figure 1 when disassembled;
figures 3 and 4 are sections according to lines III-III and IV-IV respectively in figure 1;
figure 5 represents the vice clamp according to figure 1 while it is in use for a panel formwork;
figure 6 represents a section according to line VI-VI in figure 5.

The vice clamp 1 represented in the figures mainly consists of two jaws 2 and 3 that can be moved towards each other and of a clamping mechanism 4 that is formed of a base plate 5 on which the first jaw 2 is fixed and an operating lever 6 on which the second jaw 3 is fixed at a widened end 7.
The operating lever 6 is provided on the base plate 5 in such a manner that its far end 7 can be turned and axially shifted by means of a pen 8 that is fixed on the base plate 5 at a distance from the jaw 2 and that is held in a guide 5 in the shape of a slip hole 9 in the widened end 7 of the operating lever 6.
The other far end 10 of the operating lever 6 is hinge-mounted to the far end 12 of a rod 13 by means of a shaft 11, which rod is in turn hinge-mounted to the base plate 5 with its other far end 14 by means of a stud 15 fixed to the base plate 5 at a distance from the pen 8 and jaw 3, preferably near the jaw 2.
The pen 8, the shaft 11 and the stud 15 are parallel at right angles to the plane of the base plate 5.
In the given example, the jaws 2 and 3 are mainly parallel to each other, whereby the sides 16 and 17 that are directed towards each other are mainly straight and are provided with an inwardly directed claw at their free ends.
The base plate 5 is provided with a straight supporting edge 20 extending crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the jaws 2 and 3, more particularly crosswise to the directions of the sides 16 and 17, whereby this supporting edge 20 encloses a right angle with the side 16 of the first jaw 2.
The operating lever 6 and the central axis X-X' of the slip hole 9 in the widened part 7 of the operating lever 6 are both directed crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the jaw 3, whereby this slip hole 9 is situated near the foot of the jaw 3.
The length of the operating lever 6 and of the rod 13 is smaller than the centre distance between the above-mentioned pen 8 and stud 15, whereby the length of the rod 13, measured as the distance between the axes of the shaft 11 and the stud 15, preferably amounts to about one third of the above-mentioned centre distance.
The shaft 11 with which the operating lever 6 is hinge-mounted to the rod 13 is preferably eccentric in relation to the central axis X-X' of the slip hole 9.
The vice clamp 1 is also provided with a drive for the above-mentioned clamping mechanism 4, whereby this drive is formed of a wedge 21 in the given example that can be driven through a hole 22 in the base plate 5, whereby this hole 22 is rectangular and extends crosswise over an edge 23 of the operating lever 6.
The use of a vice clamp 1 according to the invention is very simple and is illustrated by means of figures 5 and 6 for coupling two panels 24 in order to form a panel formwork for casting concrete.
As is known, such panels 24 are formed of a plate that is provided with box profiles 26 along its edges on the outside of the formwork with which the connecting panels 24 are drawn towards each other.
The box profiles 26 are provided with a longitudinal groove 27 with inwardly slanting walls 28 on their inwardly turned side.
In order to clamp the panels 24 together, these panels 24 with the above-mentioned box profiles 26 are connected so as to form a continuous wall of the formwork, and said box profiles 26 are clamped together at different heights by means of vice clamps 1.
To this end, every vice clamp 1 is provided with open jaws 2-3 over the connecting box profiles 26, such that the jaws 2-3 extend on either side of the box profiles 26 and the vice clamp 1 with the above-mentioned supporting edge 20 of the base plate 5 resting against the box profiles 26.
The length of the jaws 2-3 is hereby selected such that the claws 18-19 are situated opposite a groove 27 in the box profiles 26.
In order to draw the box profiles 26 towards each other, the wedge 21 is driven in the hole 22 while the slanting edge 29 of the wedge 21 makes contact with the edge 22 of the lever 6 and the opposite edge 30 of the wedge 21 makes contact with the edge 31 of the hole 22.
As a result, the operating lever 6 is pushed away from the edge 20 and thus from the box profiles 26, such that said lever 6 tilts round the pen 8 as indicated by arrow P, and the lever 6, thanks to the hinged joint 11 with the rod 13, makes the rod 13 turn round the stud 15 in the direction of arrow M during said tilting movement.
As a result of the rotational movement of the rod 13, the shaft 11 is drawn closer to the jaw 2 and carries along the operating lever 6 in this movement, guided thereby by the pen 8 which moves in the slip hole 9.
This combined movement of the operating lever 6 results in a movement of the jaw 3 which is drawn closer to the other jaw 2 so as to be able to clamp the box profiles 26 in the crosswise direction, and which is simultaneously tilted inward, as a result of which the box profiles 26, partly thanks to the cooperation between the claws 18-19 and the slanting walls 28 of the grooves 27, is drawn against the supporting edge 20 of the vice clamp 1, as a result of which the box profiles 26 are automatically aligned at right angles to the plane of the panels 24.
The deeper the wedge 21 is driven in the hole 22, the more the operating lever 6 is turned in relation to the base plate 5 and, consequently, the stronger the box profiles 26 of the panels 24 are clamped together.
It is clear that the wedge 21 must not necessarily co-operate directly with the operating lever 6, but that the operating lever can for example also be operated indirectly by making the wedge 21 act on the rod 13 instead of on the lever 6.
Moreover, the operating lever 6 must not necessarily be driven by means of a wedge, but the drive may for example also consist of a pneumatic, hydraulic, electric or other type of driving means that can move the moving parts of the vice clamp 1 directly or indirectly in relation to each other.
It is also clear that there may be additional connections and connecting elements between the lever 6 and the rod 13.
Although a base plate 5 is described in the given example, it is not excluded to use another element having the same function or to provide the operating lever 6 and the rod 13 between two base plates to obtain an even more rigid construction.
The jaws 2-3 of the vice clamp must not necessarily be parallel, nor must the shape be adapted to the shape of the box profiles or any other parts of the panel formwork to be clamped in.
The present invention is by no means restricted to the embodiment given as an example and represented in the drawings; on the contrary, such an improved vice clamp according to the invention can be made in all sorts of shapes and dimensions while still remaining within the scope of the invention.

Claims

Improved vice clamp for panel formwork, which vice clamp (1) comprises two jaws (2-3) that can be moved towards each other, as well as a clamping mechanism (4) and a drive for this clamping mechanism (4), characterised in that the clamping mechanism (4) is formed of a base plate (5) to which is fixed a first jaw (2) and of an operating lever (6) to which the second jaw (3) is fixed and which is provided in a rotating and shifting manner on the base plate (5) by means of a pen (8) fixed on the base plate (5) at a distance from the first jaw (2) and which is held in a guide in the shape of a slip hole (9) in the operating lever (6), and whereby this operating lever (6) is hinge-mounted to a rod (13) which is in turn hinge-mounted to the base plate (5) by means of a stud (15) provided on the base plate (5) at a distance from the second jaw (3).
Improved vice clamp according to claim 1, characterised in that the base plate (5) is provided with a straight supporting edge (20) extending crosswise to the direction of the jaws (2-3).
Improved vice clamp according to claim 2, characterised in that the sides (16-17) of the jaws (2-3) directed towards each other are mainly straight and in that the above-mentioned supporting edge (20) encloses a right angle with said straight side (16) of the first jaw (2).
Improved vice clamp according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that one or both jaws (2-3) are provided with an inwardly directed claw (18-19) on their free ends.
Improved vice clamp according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the operating lever (6) is directed crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the jaws (2-3).
Improved vice clamp according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the central axis (X-X') of the slip hole (9) extends in a direction crosswise to the longitudinal direction of the jaws (2-3).
Improved vice clamp according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the slip hole (9) is situated near the second jaw (3).
Improved vice clamp according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the stud (15) with which the rod is hinge-mounted to the base plate (5) is situated near the first jaw (2).
Improved vice clamp according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the length of the rod (13) is smaller than the distance between the above-mentioned pen (8) and stud (15).
Improved vice clamp according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the length of the rod (13) amounts to about one third of the distance between the above-mentioned pen (8) and stud (15).
Improved vice clamp according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the shaft (11) with which the operating lever (6) is hinge-mounted to the rod (13) is eccentric to the central axis (X-X') of the slip hole (9).
Improved vice clamp according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the drive for this clamping mechanism (4) is formed of a wedge (21) that can be driven through a hole (22) in the vice clamp (1).
Improved vice clamp according to claim 12, characterised in that the above-mentioned hole (22) extends crosswise over an edge (31) of the operating lever (6).