GB2581510A

GB2581510A - Load bearing seating beam

Info

Publication number: GB2581510A
Application number: GB1902368.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Chi Man Ho Daniel; Plant Russell
Original assignee: BLUE CUBE (GB) Ltd
Current assignee: BLUE CUBE (GB) Ltd
Priority date: 2019-02-21
Filing date: 2019-02-21
Publication date: 2020-08-26
Anticipated expiration: 2039-02-21
Also published as: GB2581510B; GB201902368D0

Abstract

A stanchion support 12 for a seating support rail, comprising one or more side walls 21 extending from a fixing plate 18, a throat 22 secured to the side walls, having at least one open side, a clamp 25, moveable between an open first position where the throat is exposed to receive one side of a support rail, and a second closed position where the support rail is constrained in the throat; and a retainer for securing the clamp in the second position. The retainer may be a bolt. Optionally a support rail can be attached to the stanchion support. A method for attaching a support rail to a stanchion support comprising the steps of; positioning a support rail adjacent to the stanchion support, constraining a support rail bending tool relative to the stanchion support, operating the support rail bending tool to flex the support rail towards the stanchion support, securing the support rail to the stanchion support and releasing the support rail bending tool is also disclosed.

Description

LOAD BEARING SEATING BEAM

The present specification relates to a load bearing beam for supporting articles when the beam is to take a substantially curved or radiused configuration and more particularly to a seating support beam.

In the field of seating and more particularly in stadium or lecture hall seating there is often a requirement for the seating to be arranged in an arc. In a stadium, each row of seating is often secured to a horizontal beam, which itself is supported by a series of stanchions extending from the ground (or from the vertical wall behind the row of seating).

if it is desired to arrange the seating in a curve, the beam upon which the seating is mounted must be formed in the correct curve. Although beams can be formed into curves prior to being brought to the site, this requires accurate on-site measurement of the required path of the beams, as plans may not be accurate, and the curved beam must he properly identified.

A more convenient solution is to bend the beams on site, which is often done by securing the beam to some of the stanchions, applying a bending force to the beam until the required curvature has been reached, and then front and back clamps are assembled and tightened around the beam, holding the beam in the required curvature. Sometimes it is found, when the clamps are being assembled, that the curvature is incorrect, necessitating the disassembly of the front and back clamps, while the banding of the beam is varied.

The beam is not fully permanently deformed in this process, but elastically bent, being retained in a state of bending tension. If the beam is released before it is properly secured to the stanchion, it spring back to its straight configuration with considerable force, making this method dangerous.

An alternative solution is to form the beam with a cross section which requires less force to bend the beam, such as described in GB 2414025. However, it is inconvenient to provide a beam with such a cross-section. The object of the present invention is to provide a system and method that allows straight beams to be conveniently bent for curved sections of seating.

According to the present invention, there is provided a stanchion support according to claim 1. According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for attaching a support rail to a stanchion support according to claim 7.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, of which Figure 1 is a view of seating in a stadium arranged on a support rail; Figure 2 is a more detailed view of seating on a support rail; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the stanchion support and winder; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the stanchion support, winder; and support rail at the start of the flexing process; Figure 5 is a view of support rail positioned by the stanchion supports before being flexed into the final position; Figure 6 is a side elevation of the stanchion support, winder and support rail part-way through the flexing processes; Figure 7 is a side elevation of the stanchion support, winder and support rail when the flexing has been carried out and the clamping is proceeding; Figure 8 is a longitudinal section of the stanchion support and support rail 10 when clamping has been carried out; Figure 9 is a view of flexed support rail installed in the stanchion supports; and Figure 10 is a side elevation of another embodiment of the stanchion support.

Seats 14 of a stadium are typically disposed on a series of concrete treads and risers, the seats being disposed on a support rail 10. Referring to figure 1, concrete risers 16, 16' are typically cast in a straight sections, which meet at an angle to approximate the curvature of the stadium.

Referring to figure 2, a support rail 10 of standard design is a beam having an I-section, to which various seat modules 14 can be secured to by clamping. Other accessories, such as armrests 15 may also be secured to the support rail 10. A plurality of stanchion supports 12 are bolted to the concrete riser 16 at intervals, and the support rail 10 is secured to these stanchion supports 12.

Referring to figure 3, each stanchion support 12 comprises two side walls 20, 21 joined by a brace member 26, a clamp 25, and a captive screw 28. The side walls 20, 21 are two similar parallel plates which extend from the fixing plate 18, and each feature a cut-out portion that defines a throat 22 having three sides and an open section providing a throat 22. The clamp 25 is joined to the side walls 20, 21 by a pivot 30, which allows the clamp to be pivoted from an upper position where the throat 22 is open, to a lower position which closes the throat 22. Each of the side walls 20,21 includes a jacking point 32, which may be a simple circular aperture in each wall.

A winder 35 is used fix the beam to the stanchion support 12 in curved sections, the winder 35 comprising an arm 36 having a jacking lug 42 at one end, and a support element 41 at the other end, the support element 41 holding a adjusting screw 38 having a swivel head 40 at one end and a nut 39 at the opposite end. Since each of the side walls 20, 21, features a jacking point 32, the winder 35 may be secure to whichever side wall 20. 21 is convenient.

Referring to figures 4 and 5, in order to flex a straight section of support rail 10 towards the stanchion support 12, the support rail 10 is positioned in from the of the stanchion support 12, the winder 35 is attached to the stanchion support 12 by engaging its jacking lug 42 to the jacking point 32 on one of the side walls 20, 21, with the arm 36 of the winder 35 extending beneath the support rail 10. The support rail 10 is essentially an I-beam comprising to parallel flanges 44 separated by a web 45 (referring also to figure 5, rather than a single web of material, the central portion of the I beam may comprise two parallel webs 45), so that the support rail 10 has two opposite channels 46. The swivel head 40 of the winder 35 is shaped to engage with a channel 46 of the support rail 10, for example by being generally cuboid with the upper and lower walls slightly inclined. A nut runner 48 is then used to turn the nut 39 of the adjusting screw 38, causing the swivel head 40 to advance. As the winder 35 is constrained by the engagement of the jacking lug 42 with the jacking point 32, the swivel head 40 presses against the support rail 10 flexing it towards the stanchion support 12.

Referring to figure 6, the throat 22 of the stanchion support 12 has an upper surface 50, lower surface 51 and back surface 52, the back surface 52 having two notches 53. This profile of the throat corresponds to the flanges 44 and web 45 of the support rail 10, with the notches 53 of the throat 22 corresponding to the edges of the flanges 44. As the winder 35 is operated to turn the adjusting screw 38 and advance the swivel head 40, the support rail 10 is pushed into the throat 22 of the stanchion support 12. Referring to figure also to figure 4, it will be noted that when the jacking lug 42 of the winder 35 is engaged with a jacking point 32, the winder 35 is slightly offset from the stanchion support 12 and does not interfere with the movement of the support rail 10 as it is flexed towards the throat 22.

The inside surface of the clamp 25 has a flat section 56, and two notches 57, these notches corresponding to the edges of the support rail 10 flanges 44. When the support rail 10 has been flexed into its final curved position and is fully engaged with the throat 22 of the stanchion support 12, the clamp 25 is rotated about its pivot 30 so that it abuts the support rail 10. The flat section 56 of the clamp 25 abuts the surface of the web 45 of the channels 46, and the edges of the flanges 44 engage with the notches 57 of the clamp 25.

Referring to figure 6, the screw 28 is retained by a retaining nut 31 captive in a brace member 26 between the side walls 20, 21 of the stanchion support 12, however the brace member 26 also allows the screw 28 to pivot. When the clamp 25 has been lowered over the support rail 10 the screw 28 is pivoted 5 upwards in the direction shown by arrow a. so that the shaft of the screw 28 is fully within the fastening hole 58 of the clamp 25. The screw head 29 is then tightened, for example using the nut runner 48 as shown in figure 8. Once the screw 28 has been tightened to the full extent, the shortened distance between the retaining nut 31 and the screw 28 ensures that the screw 28 cannot pivot 10 downwards, and the clamp 25 is securely held in the lowered position. The winder 35 may now be safely removed from the support rail 10.

Referring to figure 10, it will be seen that the support rail 12 can be flexed to the required curvature in a controlled manner by the winder 35 until it is fully resting within the throat of the stanchion support 20, and can then be secured with the clamp and screw arrangement while still constrained by the winder, minimising the possibility of dangerously springing back to its original position.

The stanchion support described above is shown as being anchored to a stadium riser, the side walls extending in an inclined manner. However, the side walls may extend horizontally or in some other manner, depending on the requirements for the seating support, and incorporate the throat, clamp and retaining screw and operate in the same manner. Equally, referring to figure 8, the stanchion support may extend substantially vertically from the ground, with the throat 22, clamp 25 and screw disposed on the upper side to receive the support rail 1(1

Claims

Claims 1. A stanchion support for a seating support rail 10, comprising; one or more side walls extending from a fixing plate; a throat secured to the side walls, having at least one open side; a clamp, moveable between a first position where the at least open side the throat is exposed to receive one side of a support rail, and a second position where the at least open side the throat is closed and the support rail is constrained in the throat; and to a retainer for securing the clamp in the second position.
2. A stanchion support according to claim 1 wherein the retainer is a bolt that may be pivoted to engage the clamp and shortened to secure the clamp.
3. A stanchion support according to claim wherein the throat comprises an upper surface, a back surface and a lower surface, the back surface including two notches, so that the throat can accept a support rail having upper and lower flanges, the flanges engaging with the two notches.
4. A stanchion support according to claim 3 wherein the clamp comprises a surface including two notches, so that the clamp can engage with the upper and lower flanges of the support rail 10.
5. A stanchion support according to any previous claim wherein there is included at least one stanchion support engagement means for use with a support rail bending tool.the support rail bending tool comprising an arm, a push rod substantially parallel to the arm, the push rod terminating with a pushing surface, the arm including a arm engagement means such that the stanchion support engagement means and arm engagement means 5 can be interlocked to constrain the support rail bending tool against the stanchion support when bending a support rail to the stanchion support.
6. A stanchion support according to claim 5 wherein the push rod is an adjusting screw, and the pushing surface is provided by a swivel head.
7. A seating system incorporating a stanchion support according to any previous claim.
8. A method for attaching a support rail to a stanchion support, comprising the steps of; positioning a support rail adjacent to the stanchion support; constraining a support rail bending tool relative to the stanchion support, the support rail bending tool comprising an arm, a push rod substantially parallel to the arm, the push rod terminating with a pushing surface, the arm including 20 a arm engagement means to a stanchion support; operating the support rail bending tool to flex the support rail towards the stanchion support; securing the support rail to the stanchion support; and releasing the support rail bending tool.