GB2598124A

GB2598124A - Climbing formwork

Info

Publication number: GB2598124A
Application number: GB2012938.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Taylor Mark; Forshaw Richard
Original assignee: Ischebeck Titan Ltd
Current assignee: Ischebeck Titan Ltd
Priority date: 2020-08-19
Filing date: 2020-08-19
Publication date: 2022-02-23
Also published as: GB202012938D0

Abstract

The climbing formwork comprises a formwork panel mounted on a carriage 10 secured to a track 11 attached to a platform. The track comprises a first plurality of holes 40 with an equal first spacing therebetween, and the carriage comprises a locking means 10a with a peg 44 and a second plurality of (e.g. three) holes 41,42,43 overlying the first plurality of holes. Inserting the peg through one each of the first and second pluralities of holes locks the carriage on the track. The spacing of adjacent ones of the second plurality of holes differs from (e.g. is less than) the first spacing by a non-integer multiple (e.g. one third) of the first spacing. The spacing between adjacent of the second plurality of holes optionally includes an additional varying integer multiple of the first spacing. The peg may be a shear plate and the holes rectangular and/or on an upper surface 39 of the track. The carriage may be pushed manually or moved by a rack and pinion.

Description

Climbing Formwork The present invention relates to climbing formwork, where a formwork panel is mounted to one or more carriages, one or more carriages run on respective tracks across a deck of the climbing formwork, to enable the formwork panel to be moved backwards and forwards across the platform between each subsequent pour.

In modern construction, particularly in the construction of high-rise buildings it is common to have a central core, which houses lift shafts and stair wells and which provides support to the floors of the construction, wherein the central core and floors are formed by poured concrete. Generally the central core is built up in a number of steps, with each step corresponding to one or more storeys of the building and comprising a separate pour of concrete. All of the concrete pours need to be contained, in order to hold the concrete in place until it hardens sufficiently to hold its own shape. Such containment is generally effected by use of temporary shuttering, most commonly referred to as formwork.

As the height of the building core increases, the height at which the formwork needs to be provided above ground level increases, wherein each successive pour can only take place after the preceding pour has properly set. For this purpose there exist climbing formwork systems. Climbing formwork systems generally comprise a formwork support assembly, which consists of a platform adapted to extend substantially horizontally and on which is slidably mounted, for horizontal movement, a framework which supports a vertically extending formwork panel. The platform may be located in an initial position and the formwork may be advanced horizontally to a suitable position for the pouring of concrete. After the concrete has been poured and at least partially cured the supporting framework may be moved horizontally to withdraw the formwork from the concrete. The platform, still supporting the framework and the formwork panel may then be translated vertically using a crane or hydraulic assembly to a higher position and clamped to the structure that has just been built. The formwork may then be advanced horizontally to a suitable position for a subsequent pouring step.

The formwork is locked in the advanced position and one known way of doing this is by driving a wedge through a slot in a carriage carrying the formwork, into one of a series of slots in a track on which the carriage runs. The position of the carriage and the formwork is thus determined by the position of the slots in the track and the spacing between those slots, with the length of the slots, being sufficient to accommodate the wedge, resulting in there being a significant spacing between adjacent slots.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved climbing formwork.

According to the present invention there is provided climbing formwork comprising: a platform arranged to be supported by a structure being formed and to be progressively raised up that structure as the height of the structure increases; a formwork panel mounted on the platform and arranged to shutter concrete to extend the structure being formed; and a support structure for mounting the formwork panel to the platform, the support structure comprising at least one track mounted to the platform and at least one carriage to which the formwork panel is mounted, the carriage being secured to the track and arranged to traverse on the track backwards and forward across the platform, wherein; both the carriage and the track have a common longitudinal direction, the direction in which the carriage travels along the track; the at least one track has a first plurality of holes, the holes having centres in the longitudinal direction which are equally spaced in the longitudinal direction and which spacing defines the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track; the carriage comprises a locking means for engaging with the track in one of a plurality of locations; the locking means comprising a peg and a second plurality of holes on the carriage the holes having centres in the longitudinal direction which are spaced in the longitudinal direction and which spacing in the longitudinal direction defines the spacing between adjacent ones of the second plurality of holes in the carriage; the second plurality of holes are arranged to overlie the first plurality of holes; the peg is arranged to be simultaneously inserted through one of the second plurality of holes in the carriage and one of the first plurality of holes in the track, to lock the position of the carriage on the track; and wherein the spacing between adjacent ones of the second plurality of holes in the carriage is different to the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track by an amount which is a non-integer multiple of the spacing of the first plurality of holes.

For the avoidance of doubt, the term "overlie" is to be interpreted to mean that the second plurality of holes overlie the first plurality of holes, but this is not to be restricted to any particular orientation. Particularly, the second plurality of holes need not lie above the first plurality of holes in a vertical direction.

Climbing formwork in accordance with the present invention provides a convenient way of locking the formwork panel in place, by locking the carriage in position on the track, on which carriage the formwork panel is either directly or indirectly mounted (normally by means of a panel frame on which the formwork panel will normally be mounted). The invention is particularly advantageous in that it provides a very simple locking means that can also be arranged to fairly precisely and reliably lock the carriage to the track, in a hostile environment and in a manner where it may provide an immediate visual indication that the carriage is locked in place.

Preferably the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track is greater than the spacing between adjacent ones of the second plurality of holes in the carriage and also it is preferable if the spacing of adjacent ones of the second plurality of holes in the carriage is greater than half and less than twice the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track.

Preferably, the spacing of each pair of adjacent holes of the second plurality of holes in the carriage is equal to a fixed fraction of the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track, plus an additional amount equal to zero or an integer multiple of the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track, where the integer multiple may vary for different adjacent pairs of the second plurality of holes in the carriage. In this manner the second plurality of holes need not be in the form of a continuous array of equally spaced holes, but at least some of the holes may be spaced apart by from other by said additional non-zero amount, to permit convenient locating on the carriage, without altering the function achieved relative to an arrangement where the holes were all equally spaced as a single continuous array.

Advantageously the first plurality of holes may be arranged in a linear array and the second plurality of holes are arranged in a linear array, in line with the first plurality of holes, with the first plurality of holes in the track extending over at least one fifth of the length of the track.

Advantageously, the second plurality of holes in the carriage comprises three holes, wherein, when the carriage is in a particular location on the track: the centre in the longitudinal direction of a first one of those three holes will be in register with the centre in the longitudinal direction of one of the first plurality of holes in the track; the centre in the longitudinal direction of a second of those three holes will be one third of the way in a first longitudinal direction between the centres in the longitudinal direction of two adjacent holes of the first plurality of holes in the track; and the centre in the longitudinal direction of a third of those three holes will be two thirds of the way in the longitudinal direction between the centres in the longitudinal direction of two adjacent holes of the first plurality of holes in the track. This arrangement permits the carriage to be located at a number of positions each separated by a distance of only one third of the spacing of the centres of adjacent holes in the track.

Preferably, both the first and second plurality of holes are in the form of pluralities of rectangular slots, wherein the peg is in the form of a rectangular shear plate arranged to be received in those slots.

The first plurality of holes may conveniently be formed on an upper surface of the track, possibly a surface on which the carriage runs, for in this manner a peg located in one of the holes in the carriage and extending through one of the holes in the upper surface of the track will be both easily accessible and easily visible and thus provide a visual indicator that the carriage is locked to the track.

Preferably, the carriage is arranged to be retained by the track and cannot be raised off the track. Thus the peg, locking the carriage in position on the track, will prevent any movement of the carriage in any direction relative to the track.

The carriage or track may comprise a rack and the other comprises a pinion arranged to be rotated to move the carriage backwards and forwards along the track. This may assist in moving particularly large formwork. Alternatively, the support structure and formwork panel may be arranged to be pushed manually backwards and forwards across the platform.

The spacing between the centres of the first plurality of holes in the track may be less than 54mm. In this case, where the carriage comprises three holes equally spaced in the manner described above, the carriage may be positioned at intervals of less than 18mm. Thus, even with a 54mm spacing between adjacent holes in the track, if the carriage is positioned at a desired location, where the formwork panel is correctly positioned, in a worst case scenario it need only move a maximum of 9mm, either forwards or backwards, to reach a point where the carriage can be locked in place on the track.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures, of which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a climbing formwork in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a side elevation, to an enlarged scale, of a formwork panel and a support structure for that panel to be mounted on a platform of the climbing formwork of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a front elevation, to a further enlarged scale, of a section of the support structure taken along the line of Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a top view of the locking mechanism for locking a carriage of the climbing formwork to a track; and Figures 5 and 6 show alternative possible configurations of slots for use with a locking mechanism described in the previous figures.

Referring now to Figure 1, climbing formwork, indicated generally as 1, is shown mounted to a concrete structure 2, which is being constructed and out of which extends a number of reinforcing bars 3. These are to be shuttered by the climbing formwork 1 and encased in concrete, which once set will extend the concrete structure 2.

The climbing formwork 1 comprises a platform, indicated generally as 4. The platform 4 engages with brackets 5, only one of which can be seen in Figure 1, fixed to the concrete structure 2, the brackets 5, together with legs 6 extending beneath the platform 4 support the platform in the substantially horizontal position shown. The brackets 5 may, for example, be of the type disclosed in UK Patent GB 2543933 Bl, which brackets have a locking means for preventing the platform 4 from lifting out of the brackets 5. However, the platform 4 could be attached to the concrete structure 2 by any other known suitable means, for example by climbing rails of the various types illustrated and described in UK Patent GB 2524472 Bl, all of which enable the platform 4 to be raised up the concrete structure as the concrete structure extends upwards, with the platform and all the components mounted on it being lifted as a complete unit, either by a crane or by mechanical actuators or jacks.

The climbing formwork 1 illustrated in Figure 1 comprises a formwork panel 7 mounted to a panel frame 8, so that the formwork panel is arranged vertically, as shown in Figure 1. The panel frame 8 is connected by front supports 9 to respective carriages 10, only one of which can be seen in Figure 1, which carriages can move forwards and backwards on tracks 11, only one of which can be seen in Figure 1, secured to the platform 4. Adjustable props 12, only one of which can be seen in Figure 1, extend between the panel frame 8 and respective carriages 10, to enable the panel frame 8, and thus the formwork panel 21, to be correctly positioned, orientated and subsequently retained in place against wind force. In the embodiment shown, the bottom of each carriage 10 has a rack 46, which engages with a toothed pinion attached to the bolt 11a passing through the track 11, such that rotating the bolt 11a will advance or withdraw the panel frame 8. However, in other embodiments this may be omitted and the panel frame 8 may be positioned by simply pushing it forward and backwards on the carriages 10. A locking means 10a is provided on the end of the carriage 10, for locking the carriage to the track 11 against the forces exerted by the poured concrete.

Although only one set of climbing formwork 1 is shown in Figure 1, two sets of climbing formwork will be arranged to either side of the concrete structure 2 and these ill climb and form the concrete structure 2 as a pair, with the respective panel frames being tied together to retain the mass of poured concrete.

The sequential performed when using such formwork 1 are well known and are described in detail in UK Patent GB 2524472 B1. However, in brief summary, the climbing formwork will be arranged as shown in Figure 1 with the carriages 10 in a forward position on the tracks 11 and locked in place by the locking means 10a, with the formwork panel 7 then correctly positioned, both in vertical height and alignment. Concrete is then poured and retained by the formwork panel 7 until the concrete has hardened. The locking means 10a is then release and the formwork panel retracted away from the concrete structure 2 on the carriages 10, which move to the right as shown in Figure 1, away from the concrete structure 2. Once the concrete has set, additional brackets 5 are secured higher up the concrete structure 2. The entire climbing formwork 1 is then raised by a crane or similar to engage with the higher brackets 5, whereupon workers on the platform 4 may assemble additional reinforcing bars or steelwork prior to the formwork panel being moved on the carriages 10, to the left as shown in Figure 1, where the carriages 10 are again locked in position on the respective tracks 11 by the locking means 10a. Any minor adjustments to the position of the formwork panel may then be made prior to the concrete being poured and the process repeated until the concrete structure 2 reaches the desired height.

Referring now to Figure 2, this shows in greater detail the support structure of Figure 1, indicated generally as 20 in Figure 2. This is arranged to support a formwork panel 21 similar to the formwork 21 panel of Figure 1.

Figure 2 shows the support structure 20 to an enlarged scale relative to that of Figure 1 and this, in conjunction with the further enlarged partial front elevation of Figure 3, taken along the line Ill-Ill of Figure 2, more clearly shows how the carriage 10 is connected to the track 11. From the front elevation of Figure 3, it can be seen that the carriage 10 runs along the top of track 11 on internal top rollers 22, arranged in pairs on axles 23 and extending below a bottom surface of the carriage 10, to rest on the track 11. Wings 24 are located at all four corners of the carriage 10 and these each support an associated lower roller 25. Each lower roller 25 engages under a top rail of the track 11, to prevent the carriage 10 from lifting away from the track, thus securing the carriage 10 to both the track 11 and the platform 4 (not shown in Figures 3 or 4) to which the track is secured by bolts 28. The wings 24 also prevent the carriage 10 being displaced laterally from the track 11.

Figure 3 also shows the pinion 26 extending through a top section of the track 11, to engage with rack 46 of the carriage 10. This permits the carriage 10 to be wound backwards and forwards along the track 11, by rotating the bolt 11a, to which the pinion 26 is fixed.

As can be seen most clearly from Figures 3, the panel frame 8 is supported by the support, indicated generally as 9. The support 9 comprises a threaded shaft 27 with a nut 28 welded to it, such that rotation of the nut 28 rotates the threaded shaft 27. The threaded shaft 27 passes through plate 29 of a clevis 30. The threaded shaft 27 is secured in place on the plate 29 by a collar 31 fixed to the threaded shaft 27, such that the nut 28 with the collar 31 retains the threaded shaft 27 on the plate 29, with the threaded shaft 27 perpendicular to the plate 29, but able to rotate relative to that plate 29.

The threaded shaft 27 engages with a threaded member, not shown, forming part of the panel frame 8, so that rotation of the nut 28 enables the panel frame 8 and formwork panel 21 to be adjusted up or down, as required, relative to the platform 4.

The clevis 30 is secured by a clevis pin 32 passing through the clevis and one of three respective pairs of holes 33 in the carriage 10, to secure the clevis 30 20 and thus the panel frame 8 and formwork panel 21 to the carriage 10, which in turn is secured to the platform 4 through the track 11.

Referring now to Figure 4 this shows a top view of the rear portion of the carriage 10, located above the track 11 and shows the locking mechanism 10a protruding from the rear of the carriage 10. The locking mechanism 10a comprises a steel plate 34 with upturned edges 35 and 36, to brace a base portion 36 against a rear face 38 of the carriage 10. A top surface 39 of the track 11 has a plurality of rectangular slots 40 through it which are equally spaced and define a rack in the top surface 39 of the track 11.

The base portion 37 of the steel plate 34 comprises three similarly shaped rectangular slots 41, 42 and 43. These are also regularly spaced but the spacing of the slots 41 to 43 is one third less than the distance between each adjacent pair of rectangular slots 40.

When one of the rectangular slots 41 is in line with one of the rectangular slots 40 in the track 11, then a locking shear plate 44, attached to the steel plate 34 by wire 45, is arranged to be placed through both, to lock the carriage 10 securely to the track 11.

The provision of the three slots 41 to 43 on the steel plate 34, with a spacing between there centres different to that between the centres of adjacent slots 40 in the track, enables the carriage to be moved to a position on the track and locked in that position by the shear plate 44 with a relatively high degree of precision. For example, if the slots 40 in the track are centred at 24mm intervals, then by selecting an appropriate one of the slots 41 to 43 in the steel plate 34, the carriage 10 may be locked in one of multiple positions which are at 8mm intervals. That is to say that if the carriage 10 were to be initially positioned at a desired location, then if none of the slots 41 to 43 on the carriage 10 were aligned with any of the slots 40 in the track 11 at that location, then the furthest the carriage would need to be moved to bring two slots into register would be 4mm, either forward or backwards, in order to lock the carriage in place with the shear plate 44.

The locking mechanism illustrated in Figure 4 thus provides a way of locking the carriage 10 in a relatively precise location (plus or minus 4mm) on the track 11. Furthermore, the locking mechanism is very simple and robust and provides an immediately evident visual indication that the carriage 10 is locked to the track 11.

In addition, because the locking mechanism 10a only requires a very minor extension to the carriage 10 (see Figure 2) and this extension lies close to the track 11, the locking mechanism results in no additional clutter, trip hazard or the like on the platform Referring now to Figure 5, here there is shown, by way of example only, how three slots 47, 48 and 49 may be arranged on a modified carriage 50, so that they may function in an identical manner to the slots 41, 42 and 43 in the example of Figure 4 In the example of Figure 5, the slots 40 in the track 11 are spaced apart by a distance x. If we consider this to be 24 mm, as in the case of Figure 4, then by selecting an appropriate one of the slots 47 to 49, the carriage 50 may again be locked in one of multiple positions which are at 8mm intervals along the track 11. This is because the spacing y between slots 48 and 49 in the carriage 50 is two thirds (16mm) of the spacing x of the slots 40 in the track 11 and the spacing z between slots 47 and 48 in the carriage 50 is two and two thirds the spacing x of the adjacent slots 40 in the track 11. That is to say the spacing z is two thirds the spacing x of the slots, plus an integer multiple of the spacing x (in this case the integer is two). In effect the slot 47 in the carriage 50 has been positioned further along the carriage 50 by a distance of twice the spacing x, compared to the position of the slot 41 of Figure 4. Thus, instead of being aligned with the slot 51 of the track 11, it is instead aligned with the slot 52. Likewise, if the said integer multiple had been one, instead of two, in this example, then the slot 47 would have been in a position on the carriage 50 where it would have been aligned with the slot 54 in the track 11.

It will be appreciated that Figure 5 is provided to illustrate how the slots 47 to 49 in the carriage 50 need not be equally spaced from each other, but their effective spacing may be the same, when considered in term of their position relative to an appropriate slot 40 in the track 11. This means that if other components on the carriage prevent the slots in the carriage being laid out a single continuous array of equally spaced slot, then one or more of those slots may be located in another convenient position.

In the embodiments of Figure 4 and 5, only three slots are provided on the carriage, increasing the number of positions at which the carriage can be locked to the track 11 by a factor of three, thus reducing the distance between adjacent positions at which the carriage can be locked to the track 11 by a third, relative to a carriage employing only a single slot. Figure 6 shows how this could be expanded upon by providing, in this example, ten slots 53 on a carriage 55, with the spacing y between adjacent slots being 90 percent of the spacing x between adjacent slots 40 on the track 11. This results in the spacing between adjacent locking positions of the carriage on the track being just one tenth of the spacing x between adjacent slots 40 on the track. Thus, if the spacing of the slots 40 in the track 11 is again 24 mm, then the spacing between adjacent locking positions will be just 2.4mm.

If it should not be possible to accommodate the ten slots 53 on the carriage 54 as a single linear array, then the principle illustrated with reference to Figure 5 above could be used, to divide up the array into appropriate sections to be located at different positions on the carriage.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described above by way of example only and it will apparent to those skilled in the art that many modifications may be made which fall within the scope of the following claims.

Claims

Claims 1. Climbing formwork comprising: a platform arranged to be supported by a structure being formed and to be progressively raised up that structure as the height of the structure increases; a formwork panel mounted on the platform and arranged to shutter concrete to extend the structure being formed; and a support structure for mounting the formwork panel to the platform, the support structure comprising at least one track mounted to the platform and at least one carriage to which the formwork panel is mounted, the carriage being secured to the track and arranged to traverse on the track backwards and forward across the platform, wherein; both the carriage and the track have a common longitudinal direction, the direction in which the carriage travels along the track, wherein; the at least one track has a first plurality of holes, the holes having centres in the longitudinal direction which are equally spaced in the longitudinal direction and which spacing defines the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track; the carriage comprises a locking means for engaging with the track in one of a plurality of locations; the locking means comprising a peg and a second plurality of holes on the carriage the holes having centres in the longitudinal direction which are spaced in the longitudinal direction and which spacing in the longitudinal direction defines the spacing between adjacent ones of the second plurality of holes in the carriage; the second plurality of holes are arranged to overlie the first plurality of holes; the peg is arranged to be simultaneously inserted through one of the second plurality of holes in the carriage and one of the first plurality of holes in the track, to lock the position of the carriage on the track; and wherein the spacing between adjacent ones of the second plurality of holes in the carriage is different to the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track by an amount which is a non-integer multiple of the spacing of the first plurality of holes.
2. Climbing formwork as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track is greater than the spacing between adjacent ones of the second plurality of holes in the carriage.
3. Climbing formwork as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 wherein the spacing of adjacent ones of the second plurality of holes in the carriage is greater than half and less than twice the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track.
4. Climbing formwork as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the spacing of each pair of adjacent holes of the second plurality of holes in the carriage is equal to a fixed fraction of the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track, plus an additional amount equal to zero or an integer multiple of the spacing of the first plurality of holes in the track, where the integer multiple may vary for different adjacent pairs of the second plurality of holes in the carriage.
5. Climbing formwork as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the first plurality of holes in the track are arranged in a linear array and the second plurality of holes in the carriage are arranged in a linear array in line with the first plurality of holes.
6. Climbing formwork as claimed in Claim 4 wherein the first plurality of holes in the track extend along at least one fifth of the length of the track
7. Climbing formwork as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the second plurality of holes in the carriage comprises three holes and wherein, when the carriage is at a particular location on the track: a centre in the longitudinal direction of a first one of those three holes will be in register with the centre in the longitudinal direction of one of the first plurality of holes in the track; the centre in the longitudinal direction of a second of those three holes will be one third of the way in a first longitudinal direction between the centres in the longitudinal direction of two adjacent holes of the first plurality of holes in the track; and the centre in the longitudinal direction of a third of those three holes will be two thirds of the way in the longitudinal direction between the centres in the longitudinal direction of two adjacent holes of the first plurality of holes in the track.
8. Climbing formwork as claimed in any preceding claim, where both the first and second plurality of holes are in the form of rectangular slots and wherein the peg is in the form of a shear plate arranged to be received in those slots.
9. Climbing formwork as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the first plurality of holes are formed on an upper surface of the track.
10. Climbing formwork as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the carriage is arranged to be retained by the track and cannot be raised off the track.
11. Climbing formwork as claimed in any preceding claim wherein one of the carriage or the track comprises a rack and the other comprises a pinion arranged to engage with the rack and to be rotated to move the carriage backwards and forward along the track.
12. Climbing formwork as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein the support structure and formwork panel are arranged to be pushed manually backwards and forwards across the platform.
13. Climbing formwork as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the spacing between the centres of the first plurality of holes in the track is less than 54mm.