GB2473025A

GB2473025A - Prefabricated concrete twin lift shaft assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2473025A
Application number: GB0914977A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Steve Perkin
Original assignee: WAYCON PRECAST Ltd
Current assignee: WAYCON PRECAST Ltd
Priority date: 2009-08-26
Filing date: 2009-08-26
Publication date: 2011-03-02
Also published as: GB0914977D0

Abstract

A lift shaft assembly is formed of prefabricated reinforced concrete sections 1,2, which are assembled to span a plurality of storeys. Each storey comprises front 3 and rear 4 walls connected by end walls 5,6 and at least one partition wall 7 disposed between the end walls to divide the storey into two or more shafts 8,9. Each storey preferably includes a door section 1 and an overlying spacer section 2, the spacer section having no apertures and the door section having a door aperture 10,11 in the front wall of each shaft. Each section may include vertical reinforcing bars 16 cast into external corners 12-15. Locating dowel pins 23 and co-operating sockets 19 may be used to locate the sections.

Description

PREFABRICATED LIFT SHAFTS

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates o lift shafts which are formed from prefabricated sections.

BACKGROUND

(0 GB 2 363 110 A discloses a lift shaft which is prefabricated in (\J reinforced concrete sections which are stacked one upon another. Each section has four integrally-formed sides. The sections include alternate door sections and shorter spacer sections, the door sections having a rectangular door aperture formed in one side. The opposed op and bottom faces of the stacked sections are provided with projecting bars and sockets.

The sections are formed by moulding within inner and outer shuttering secured o a vibrating table.

ft is known from GB 2 437 142 A o incorporate a reinforcing pose into each corner during casting of the sections. The pose may include a vertical element which is encased in concrete with op and bottom plates which define the op and bottom corner faces of the section. The op plate has a screw threaded socket for receiving a lifting loop or a locating pin, and the boftom plate has a hole for receiving the pins of another such section. One of the locating pins may be significantly higher than the others o assist location during assembly of the lift shaft.

A significant number of buildings require wo or more lift shafts and these are presendy consruced as separate shafts, the individual sections of which muse each be lifted into position and secured. This is considerably quicker and more accurate than consrucing the shafts in situ using concrete building blocks, and has the advantage of cost savings due o large-scale off-site fabrication methods.

(0 The present invenUon seeks o provide a new and inventive way (\J. . of consrucing wo or more lift shafts in the same building.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention proposes a lift shaft assembly formed of prefabricated reinforced concrete sections which are assembled o span a plurality of soreys, in which each sorey comprises front and rear walls connected by end walls and a lease one pariion wall disposed between the end walls o divide the sorey into a plurality of shafts.

In most cases each sorey will have a respective door aperture for each shaft, and the door apertures will be provided in the front wall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following description and the accompanying drawings referred o therein are included by way of non-limiting example in order o illusrae how the invention may be pu into practice.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a general view of wo sections which form *1 one sorey of a lift shaft assembly in accordance with the invention. (0 (\J

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1, shows a door section 1 and a spacer section 2 which together form a single sorey of a twin lift shaft ha spans several soreys of a building. The door section is of standard height, e.g. 2.2 metres, while the spacer section is of a smaller height which is selected from a range of standard heights or specially fabricated o suit the floor spacing of the building.

Where the size or weight of the sections dicae, additional joints may need o be provided so ha each storey is formed from more than wo sections.

Both sections 1 and 2 are of rectangular shape with front and rear walls 3 and 4, joined by a pair of end walls 5 and 6. The front and rear walls 3 and 4 are approximately twice die length of the end walls 5 and 6, and subsanially mid-way between the end walls 5 and 6 the front and rear walls are joined by a single pariion wall 7, dividing the interior of the sections into wo parallel vertical shafts 8 and 9. In the case of the spacer section 2 the five walls are continuous with no gaps, bu in the case of the door section 1 the front wall has wo gaps forming door apertures 10 and 11 providing access o the wo shafts 8 and 9 respectively. The door apertures completely divide the front wall 3 into three separate sections.

The arrangement of the door openings just described is the most (0 common configuration. However, since the position of the door (\J openings depends upon the layout of the building i would be possible for the wo shafts o have door openings formed in different walls. For example, one door opening could be in the front wall 3 and the other in the rear wall 4. One or both of the door openings could even be formed in the end walls 5 and 6.

In a few cases i is possible ha door openings o both shafts will not be required on a particular floor (e.g. if one shaft is used by staff and the other is used for public access) so that only one door opening may be required on that floor.

The four external corners 12-15 of each section, which are formed a the junction of the walls 3-6, each include a respective vertical reinforcing bar 16 which are cast into the section. Each bar 16 is secured to top and bottom plates 17 and 18 which are shaped to extend a short distance along the inner and outer faces of the wall sections. The top plate 17 is joined to the bar 16 via an internally threaded socket 19 while the bottom plate 18 is joined to the bar 16 via a plain socket 20.

During installation of a section the threaded sockets 19 each receive a lifting loop 22 which is used to lift the section into position, as shown for the spacer section 2. When the section is in place the lifting loops are unscrewed and replaced with locating dowel pins 23 which are screwed into the sockets 19, as shown for the door section 1. When the next section is lowered into position the upwardly projecting dowel pins 23 are received in the bottom sockets 20 of the next section when it is lowered into position, thereby providing positive location of the sections.

(0 One of the four dowel pins 23 may be significantly longer than the other three to assist location during lowering of a section.

The lift shaft is formed of alternate door and spacer sections which are stacked one upon another to span the required number of storeys in the building.

The sections significantly speed up the construction of twin lift shafts by reducing the number of lifting operations. There are also significant cost savings because less material is used per shaft than with single-shaft constructions, and the carbon impact of the construction is significantly reduced. Furthermore, since the twin shaft sections have a larger footprint than a single section, levelling of the sections is easier and more accurate, and the risk of verUcaliy errors is reduced.

Whilst the above description places emphasis on the areas which are believed o be new and addresses specific problems which have been identified, i is intended that the features disclosed herein may be used in any combination which is capable of providing a new and useful advance in the are. (0 (\J

Claims

CLAIMS1. A lift shaft assembly formed of prefabricated reinforced concrete sections which are assembled o span a plurality of soreys, in which each sorey comprises front and rear walls connected by end walls and a lease one pariion wall disposed between the end walls o divide the sorey into a plurality of shafts.
2. A lift shaft assembly according o Claim 1 in which each storey has a respective door aperture for each shaft.
3. A lift shaft assembly according o Claim 2 in which the door aperWres are all provided in the front wall. (0
4. A lift shaft assembly according o any preceding claim in which each sorey includes a door secUon with a Ieas one door aperture and a spacer section with no door apertures located above the door section.
5. A lift shaft assembly which is subsanially as described with reference o the drawing.