GB342018A - Improvements in or relating to portable stages, platforms and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

342,018. Portable stages and platforms. SMITH, S. J., 5, Lloyd Place, Chelsea, London. Nov. 8, 1929, No. 34112. [Classes 20 (i) and 20 (ii).] A portable stage, platform, or the like comprises a series of open-sided crates each having a permanent top deck and capable of being nested to form a compact unit when required for transport. In one construction, a stage comprises a number of spaced crates 1, Figs. 1, 3, having decks 3 secured to beams 4 which extend from the fronts to the backs of the crates and are secured to front and back top rails 5. The side edges of the decks 3 terminate short of the sides of the crate to form shoulders 7 upon which rest bridge-pieces 8 which bridge the gaps between the crates. Projections on the undersides of the bridge-pieces engage upstanding plates 11 on the crates and hold the bridgepieces firmly in position. Sliding bolts 13 are provided at the four corners of each crate and engage holes in the bridge-pieces to hold these parts together when the stage is erected. A number of rows similar to that shown in Fig. 1 are arranged side by side when a platform of greater depth is required. In order to connect adjacent rows, the bridge-pieces 8 are each provided with a plate 15, Fig. 11, pivoted on a pin 19 and having three holes 21, 22 and 23. In the inturned position shown, the hole 21 is engaged by the bolt 13 of the adjacent crate in the same row. In the operative position, the plate 15 is rotated about the pin 19 until the said bolt can engage with the hole 22. In this position, the hole 23 is engaged by a bolt 13 of a crate in the adjacent row to lock the two rows together. When a bridge-piece is at the end of a row, it is supported by a tie-bar 29, Fig. 15, the hooked ends 30 of which are passed over the top rails 5 of the crates on either side. Extra struts are provided to support bridge-pieces which are at the corners of the stage. The shoulders 7 of those crates at the edge of the stage are filled by special filling-pieces. The crates of one row are of the same height but vary in dimensions from side to side and from front to back. so that they may nest one within the other. The nesting operation is performed by inverting the largest crate and by placing the others therein in order of size. The open sides are covered by the bridge-pieces which have eyes which engage hooks 43 on the largest crate. Spare parts may be stored in the box thus formed. The Provisional Specification also describes (1) a modification wherein the bolts 13 are arranged on the bridge-pieces and (2) a method of securing the crates together in the operative position when the same are erected side by side.