GB2529470A

GB2529470A - Climbing screen support

Info

Publication number: GB2529470A
Application number: GB1414937.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stuart Bamford
Original assignee: Ischebeck Titan Ltd
Current assignee: Ischebeck Titan Ltd
Priority date: 2014-08-22
Filing date: 2014-08-22
Publication date: 2016-02-24
Anticipated expiration: 2034-08-22
Also published as: GB2529470B; GB201414937D0

Abstract

A climbing screen support 4a comprising a support member 5 fixable to a floor 2, adjacent the edge of a construction 200, a climbing shoe 6 attachable to the support 5 for engaging the climbing rail 101 of a climbing screen 100, and a tie 7 attached between the support member 5 or climbing shoe 6 and the immediately adjacent upper floor of the construction. The tie may be rod or cable, at an oblique angle to the vertical and attached to the support beyond the floors edge. There may be at least one prop 13, and spacing elements 12 between floor and support. A further support 4b may be attached to a floor above or below the first support to take the horizontal load of the climbing screen whilst the first support 4a takes all the vertical load, which is spread between two floors by virtue of the tie. The supports allows a screen to be attached without applying any load on balconies 3.

Description

Climbing screen support The present disclosure relates to a climbing screen support, and to a climbing screen support system and a climbing screen system, which comprise one or more of the climbing screen supports.

In modern construction, particularly in the construction of high rise buildings it is common to have a central core, which houses lift shafts and stairwells and which provides support to the floors of the construction, wherein the central core and floors are formed by poured concrete. Such structures commonly have no external walls. During large periods of construction therefore, the floors remain open at their edges. It is only when a façade is introduced that the perimeter of the building is enclosed. Such open floors cause numerous health and safety risks. Workers operating on the exposed floors of the construction are at risk of falling from the construction. Workers or members of the public on the ground are at risk from tools, equipment or debris falling from the exposed floors.

It is known to provide safety screens, which extend around at least a portion of the perimeter of constructions, which effectively provide a temporary façade, and advantageously provide safe working platforms spaced outwardly from the floors. These safety screens are advantageously moveable vertically to protect the perimeter of any required floor as the construction progresses. Such screens are commonly referred to as "climbing screens". Movement of the climbing screens up the construction may be effected either by crane or by hydraulic lifting equipment located on floors of the construction.

These climbing screens typically comprise a climbing rail and a safety screen. The climbing rail is engaged, in use, by floor guides (climbing screen supports), which project outwardly from the edges of the floors. The floor guides allow translation of the climbing screen along the construction and are further operable to lock the position of the climbing screen adjacent appropriate floors during use.

A problem arises, however, when balconies (or similar structures) are attached to the peripheries of floors, which balconies are not suitable for supporting the weight of the climbing screens. The floor guides may not simply be attached to the balconies. Typically the balconies must be temporarily propped so that the climbing screen may be supported.

Such propping is generally required down a number of floors below the level at which the climbing screen is supported; and in some cases may have to extend to ground level. The propping must subsequently be removed and generally causes an inconvenience.

The present invention arose in a bid to provide an improved climbing screen support.

According to the present invention in a first aspect, there is provided a climbing screen support comprising: a support fixable to a floor of a construction, adjacent an edge of the floor; a climbing shoe attachable to the support for engaging the climbing rail of a climbing screen; and a tie attached at a first end portion thereof to the support or climbing shoe and fixable at a second end portion thereof to the immediately adjacent upper floor of the construction.

By virtue of the tie, the vertical load of the climbing screen is shared between two floors of the construction. Also, the support may be supported adjacent the shoe, or the shoe may be supported, either of which is preferably at a point extending outwardly beyond the edge of the floor. The support may be extended to bridge weak structures, such as balconies, attached to the periphery of the floor. Back propping may be omitted or at least minimised.

According to the present invention in further aspects, there are provided a climbing screen support system comprising one or more climbing screen supports as detailed above; and a climbing screen system comprising a climbing screen and one or more of the climbing screen supports as detailed above.

Further, preferred, features are provided in the dependent claims.

Non-limiting embodiments will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 shows a side view of a climbing screen system on a construction, which system comprises a climbing screen support system and a climbing screen.

The climbing screen system of Figure 1 comprises a climbing screen support system 1 and a climbing screen 100. The climbing screen is shown mounted to a construction 200 using the climbing screen support system 1. The climbing screen support system comprises at least two climbing screen supports 4a, 4b.

Five floors 2 of the construction are shown. There will, however, clearly be a number of further floors 2, which are omitted from Figure 1 for clarity. With reference to Figure 1, the bottom floor shown may be considered to be floor one, with floors two, three, four and five provided above in sequence.

Attached to the periphery of each floor is a balcony 3. The balconies 3 are not suitable for supporting the load of the climbing screen 100. Floors two and three support the entire load of the climbing screen 100 through climbing screen supports 4a, 4b. By virtue of the unique structure of the climbing screen support 4a of the climbing screen support system 1 of the present embodiment, the vertical load is shared between these two floors, as will be described in greater detail below.

Whilst the climbing screen supports 4a, 4b of the climbing screen support system 1 of the present embodiment may be used with numerous forms of climbing screen, the climbing screen 100 of Figure 1 will briefly be discussed below.

The climbing screen is a rigid self supporting structure, which comprises at least two climbing rails 101 and a safety screen 102.

The climbing rails 101 are adapted to engage the climbing screen supports 4a, 4b of the climbing screen support system 1, which climbing screen supports 4a, 4b project outwardly from the edges of the floors 2 of the construction 200, as shown. The climbing screen 100 may be translated vertically up the construction 200 either by use of a crane or by using a self-climbing mechanism, as will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.

The safety screen 102 comprises longitudinally extending screen support members 103, a plurality of screen panel support brackets 104 and a plurality of screen panels 105.

Other configurations will, of course, be possible and the safety screen is not to be limited to such construction.

Each of the screen support members 103 is paired with a respective one of the climbing rails 101. The paired climbing rails and screen support members are parallel to one another and in alignment with one another, extending vertically in use. The screen support members 103 lie outwardly of the climbing rails in use (in a direction away from the construction) is spaced relation thereto. The paired climbing rails and screen support members are joined to one another by a plurality of support elements 106 that are fixed thereto and extend therebetween. A number of the support elements support platforms 107, which in turn are adapted to support work surfaces 108. Also extending between the paired climbing rails and screen support members are a plurality of tie braces 109, which provide increased rigidity to the climbing screen 100. Each tie brace extends at an oblique angle relative to the climbing rails and screen support members. The tie braces are preferably provided in pairs that cross with one another and combine to form an X-shape, as seen in Figure 1.

The number and configuration of support elements 106 and tie braces 109 is not limited. More or less support elements and tie braces may be provided, and in various configurations.

Attached to the vertically extending screen support members 103 are the plurality of screen panel support brackets 104, which support the plurality of screen panels 105, which panels close off the open perimeter of the floors of the construction and prevent injury to workers on the floors or those on the ground. The screen panels 105 may be rigid mesh panels or similar.

The climbing screen supports 4a, 4b and the climbing screen support system 1 comprising those supports will now be considered in greater detail.

The climbing screen support 4a comprises a support 5 fixable to any floor 2 of the construction, adjacent an edge of the floor; a climbing shoe 6, which is attachable to the support S for engaging the climbing rail 101 of the climbing screen 100; and a tie] attached at a first end portion thereof to the supportS or climbing shoe 6 and fixable at a second end portion thereof to the immediately adjacent upper floor of the construction. In the arrangement of Figure 1, the support 5 is fixed to floor two and the tie 7 is fixed to floor three at its underside.

The support 5 may be largely conventional in form/structure, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the arm. It may, for example comprise an I-beam or similar. It may be fixed directly to the floor or may, more preferably, as seen in Figure 1, be fixed to the floor via spacing elements 12, which vertically space the support S from the upper surface of the floor. The spacing elements may comprise wooden or steel blocks or otherwise. The vertical spacing of the support from the upper surface of the floor is of particular use in scenarios where it is desirable to bridge over a balcony or other weak structure attached to a periphery of the floor. In the present arrangement, the support S bridges over the balcony 3 on the periphery of floor two. No load is transmitted through the balcony 3 as a result of the attachment of the climbing screen 100 to the construction. Irrespective of the use of spacing elements 12, the support 5 may be fixed to the floor in any conventional manner. In the arrangement of Figure 1, fixing means 10, 11, which are spaced from one another along the length of the support 5, are cast into floor three and the support 5 is bolted thereto. Numerous fixings suitable for attachment of the supports to the floor will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.

The shoe 6 may take any conventional form, as again will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art. It may comprise, for example, a pair of pivotable claws arranged to grasp the climbing rail 101.

Tie 7 is a tension tie, which may take any suitable form so long as it has sufficient tensional strength. It may comprise a cable or rod. In particular it may comprise a steel cable or rod. Means may be provided for altering the length of the tie 7, for example, a threaded tie rod arrangement may be used.

The tie] is attached to the support 5 or the shoe 6 at its first end. In the arrangement of Figure 1 the tie is shown attached to an intervening element between the support Sand the shoe 6, which may be considered to comprise part of the supportS. The shoe 6 may be attached directly or indirectly to the support 5. In preferred alternative arrangements (not shown) the intervening element will be omitted with the supportS extended to engage directly with the shoeS. Numerous fixings suitable for attachment of the first end of the tie 7 to the support S or shoe 6 will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.

In use the fixing point of the first end of the tie 7 to the supportS or shoe 6 is located outward of the peripheral edge of floor two (or whichever floor the support S is fixed to).

As mentioned above, the tie provides support against the vertical load on the support, which could otherwise cause the support S to bend vertically downward.

The tie 7 is fixed to the underside of floor three at its second end. A suitable fixing 8 is provided that is attached to the underside of floor three. It may be bolted to the underside of floor three or cast into floor three. The fixing may be cast into and extend through floor three to be integrated with a fixing 9 for fixing supports of climbing screen support 4b to the upper surface of floor three. The fixing is preferably adjacent an edge of floor three. It is spaced inward from the peripheral edge of floor three. Numerous fixings suitable for attachment of the second end of the tie 7 to floor three (or any floor that is immediately above the floor to which the supportS is attached) will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art.

The tie 7 extends at an oblique angle to the vertical.

By virtue of the tie 7, the vertical load of the climbing screen 100 is spread between the floors two and three. The vertical load of the climbing screen is taken exclusively by floors two and three.

The use of the props is not essential and should generally not be required. However, in some scenarios it may be desirable to provide one or more props 13, which extend between the floor to which the supportS is fixable (floor two in the present arrangement) and the immediately adjacent upper floor (floor three in the present arrangement -to which the second end of the tie 7 is fixed). Such scenarios include where it is desired to proceed with construction before the upper floor has fully cured. As shown, such prop(s) 13 may be provided inward of the fixings, which fixes the second end of the tie 7 to the construction.

A further climbing screen support 4b comprising a further supportS fixable to another floor of the construction (floor three of the present arrangement), adjacent an edge of that floor, and a climbing shoe 6 attachable to that support for engaging the climbing rail 101 of the climbing screen at a point that is vertically spaced along the climbing rail from the support is provided. It should be noted that the further climbing screen support 4b may be fixed to any other floor of the construction as long as it is able to grip the climbing rail 101 in vertically spaced relation to the climbing screen support 4a. The other climbing screen support 4b is not provided with a tie 7. It is provided to take a horizontal load of the climbing screen 100. The climbing screen support 4a, as discussed is provided to take substantially all of the vertical load of the climbing screen.

It should be noted that whilst the climbing screen is shown to be supported at its bottom in the present arrangement, there may be scenarios where it is instead supported at its top and hangs down from that support. In such a case, the other climbing screen support 4b may be fixed on a lower floor than the climbing screen support 4a.

Claims

Claims 1. A climbing screen support comprising: a support fixable to a floor of a construction, adjacent an edge of the floor; a climbing shoe attachable to the support for engaging the climbing rail of a climbing screen; and a tie attached at a first end portion thereof to the support or climbing shoe and fixable at a second end portion thereof to the immediately adjacent upper floor of the construction.
2. A climbing screen support as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the tie extends at an oblique angle to the vertical in use.
3. A climbing screen support as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the tie is fixable at its second end portion to a fixing means on the underside of the immediately adjacent upper floor of the construction.
4. A climbing screen support as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the first end portion of the tie is attached to the support or climbing shoe at a point that is arranged to be positioned beyond the edge of the floor to which the support is fixable.
5. A climbing screen support as claimed in any preceding claim comprising one or more props, which extend between the floor to which the support is fixable and the immediately adjacent upper floor.
6. A climbing screen support as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the tie comprises a rod or cable.
7. A climbing screen support as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the support is fixable to the floor via one or more spacing elements for vertically spacing the support from an upper surface of the floor.
8. A climbing screen system comprising a climbing screen support as claimed in any preceding claim, and a climbing screen, which comprises a climbing rail and a safety screen.
9. A climbing screen support system comprising a climbing screen support as claimed in any of Claims ito 7 and at least one further climbing screen support, which comprises a support fixable to another floor of the construction, adjacent an edge of that floor, and a climbing shoe attachable to that support for engaging the climbing rail of the climbing screen at a point that is vertically spaced along the climbing rail from the support.i0 10. A climbing screen support system as claimed in Claim 9, wherein the other floor may be the immediately adjacent upper or lower floor from the floor to which the support member is fixable.11. A climbing screen system comprising a climbing screen support system as claimed in is Claim 9 or 10, and a climbing screen, which comprises a climbing rail and a safety screen.12. A climbing screen support as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.13. A climbing screen system as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.Amendments to the claims have been made as follows: Claims 1. A climbing screen support comprising: a support member fixable to an upper surface of a floor of a construction, adjacent S an edge of the floor, byfixing means arranged, in use, to be spaced inwardly of the edge of the floor; a climbing shoe attachable to the support member for engaging the climbing rail of a climbing screen; and a tie, which is attached at a first end portion thereof to the support member or climbing shoe at a point that is arranged, in use, to be positioned beyond the edge of the floor to which the support member is fixable and is fixable at a second end portion thereof to the immediately adjacent upper floor of the construction, wherein, in use, the support member supports a vertical load of the climbing screen, and the tie transmits a proportion of the vertical load to the immediately adjacent upper I4D5 floor, such that the vertical load is shared between the floor of the construction and the immediately adjacent upper floor of the construction. rc 2. A climbing screen support as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the tie extends at an C) oblique angle to the vertical in use.3. A climbing screen support as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, wherein the tie is fixable at its second end portion to a fixing means on the underside of the immediately adjacent upper floor of the construction at a point which is spaced inwardly of the edge of the immediately adjacent upper floor in use.4. A climbing screen support as claimed in any preceding claim comprising one or more props, which, in use, extend between the floor to which the support is fixable and the immediately adjacent upper floor.5. A climbing screen support as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the tie comprises a rod or cable.6. A climbing screen support as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the support member is fixable to the floor by first and second fixing means, the first fixing means engaging the support member at a position that is arranged, in use, to be spaced inwardly from the edge of the floor, and the second fixing means engaging the support member at a position that is arranged, in use, to be spaced from the first fixing means along the length of the support member closer to the edge of the floor.7. A climbing screen support as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the support member is fixable to the floor via one or more spacing elements for vertically spacing the support from an upper surface of the floor. Lois8. A climbing screen system comprising a climbing screen support as claimed in any preceding claim, and a climbing screen, which comprises a climbing rail and a safety screen.CC) 9. A climbing screen support system comprising a first climbing screen support as claimed in any of Claims ito 7 and at least one further climbing screen support, which comprises a further support member fixable to another floor of the construction, adjacent an edge of that floor in use, and a climbing shoe attachable to that further support member for engaging the climbing rail of the climbing screen at a point that is vertically spaced along the climbing rail from the first climbing screen support in use.
10. A climbing screen system comprising a climbing screen support system as claimed in Claim 9, and a climbing screen, which comprises a climbing rail and a safety screen.
ii. A method of fixing a climbing screen support as claimed in any of Claims ito 7 to the construction, wherein a structure is attached to the periphery of the floor, the method comprising fixing the climbing screen support to the floor of the structure so that the climbing screen support bridges the structure attached to the periphery of the floor.
12. A method as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the structure attached to the periphery of the floor comprises a balcony.
13. A climbing screen support as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
14. A climbing screen system as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. IC) (4 rC