US1744137A - Steel bleacher - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 21, 1930.

- STEEL BLEACHER Filed May '7, 1925 Fig.1.

Patented Jan. 21, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HENRY D. OBERD'ORFER, OF CHAMPAIGN, AND RALPH R. BRAMI-IALL, OF DECATUR,

' ILLINOIS STEEL BLEACHER This invention relates to a permanent seating stand of the type commonly known as bleachers. The principal object of the invention is to provide a structure of this kind which is simple and strong and can be econominally erected at any desired place. Other objects of the invention are: to provide a fabricated structure which may be easily and quickly set up; to provide new and improved seat and foot rest supports; to provide a sectional stand of this kind which can be ex tended laterally and to any height; to provide improved, hand rail supports; to properly space the top and back rails; to provide aisle step supports; and in general, to provide the construction herein shown and described.

I11 the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a sideelevation, partly broken away, of a metal bleacher constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 44: of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a detail illustrating the side hand rail; Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the back rail; and Fig. 7 illustrates a section of the hand rail at the splice of another higher section.

This invention is designed and intended to provide a permanent grand stand or bleacher construction to which sections may be added when desired both at the, sides and at the rear. The supporting or structural parts are W all metal, principally in the form of channels, angles, sheets andplates, and the seat and foot boards as well as the side and rear hand rails are preferably made of wood. The supporting towers. or bents are intended to be fabricated and connected in fiat form at the factory and then erected and connected by angle braces on the .job. This enables any one, even with unskilled labor to quickly and accurately setup the bleachers where it is desired to use them. The sections or pieces may be bolted or riveted together.

In erecting these bleachers, foundation blocks 1 are set in the ground at intervals and are preferably made of concrete so that one or moreanchor bolts 2 may be set in them with a threaded extremity extending from the top for the attachment of the supporting ly spaced to receive the supporting metal parts which are provided with perforations to engage the anchor bolts.

Each section comprises a pair of spaced rectangular towers between which are cross connecting channels 3, the towers and channels supporting the upwardly inclined channel stringers 4. The addition of another section laterally requires only another supporting tower and other cross connecting channels 3 for supporting the stringers 4 of the additional section. The additional section however, is less in width than the original one by the width of one of the towers. The addition of a section rearwardly requires supporting cross pieces to complete a tower, and rear supports for carrying an additional length of stringers, as shown in 1.

At the lowermost ends of the stringers-they may rest upon the front block or abutment 1 and they are also supported by angle clips 5 which engage the foundation bolts 2. At the succeeding abutment vertical supports 6 of different lengths are required. These supports are preferably in the form of angle bars and they are supported at the lower ends by angle clips 7 and 8 and connecting plates 9. The angle bars of adjacent abutments are turned in opposite directions so that they lend themselves readily to the formation of towers illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, of different heights, by the cross connection of angle bars 10 with the connection plates 9 at the corners of the towers in one direction, and the similar cross connection of flat bars 11 in a direction at right angles thereto. As for example by the straight angle bars direct- 1y connecting the plates 9 in both directions on the towers, and extending between the supports of adjacent towers are straight angle bars12 which greatly strengthen the towers and the supports.

The inclination of the stringers requires a greater height at the rear of the tower than atthe front thereof, and cross bars 11 are connected between the plates 9, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4. From the higher or rearmost supports additional connecting plates 13 extend laterally to form a means for connection of angle bars 14: which are attached to the cross channels 3 intermediate the towers thereby additionally strengthening the support for the stringers 4 at the upper ends thereof. With this construction it is apparent that additional supports and towers are easily connected with those already erected for the purpose of adding sections to the bleachers either laterally or at the rear. The supports are connected for partial erection at the factory, the connecting bars and plates are provided with perforations properly located and spaced so that it is necessary only to attach the parts together by means of bolts or rivets when the entire structure is assembled. For example, the pairs of supports 6 which are connected by the flat bars 11 are assembled in the factory and when they are placed in position the angle bars 10 and 12 are attached in place.

Each seat comprises a metal bracket 15 attached to the upper side of each of the stringers 4 with wood strips 16 bolted in place thereon. Each foot board comprises a similar bracket 15 disposed at the underside of each stringer, the bracket being inverted and the foot board 17 being bolted in place thereon. Each bracket 15 consists of a flat strip of metal bent at right angles intermediate the ends, and the extremities being given a quarter turn so that they are at right angles to the adjacent surfaces of the strip. One extremity 18 remains straight but the other one 19 is given a slight bend as well as a twist so that the scat boards 16 are supported not exactly horizontal but with a slight pitch rearwardly making the seat more comfortable. Likewise the foot board is pitched slightly in a rearward direction. The holes for the seat brackets and the holes for the foot brackets are all on the same longitudinal lines so that they are easily positioned, and it is an easy matter to properly position the brackets when assembling'them for the seats and foot boards. The front edge 20 of the front seat board is preferably bevelled ofi? and rounded to make the seat more comfortable.

At the end of each bleacher section a hand rail 26 is commonly provided which is supported by an angle bar post 27 secured by means of a plate 28 to one of the uprights 6. A supplemental bar 29 may also be secured to the post 27 parallel with the hand rail 26. In order to provide for sectional hand rails and additional bleacher sections, angular brackets 30 are attached at the side of the post 27 (see Figs. 5 and 7) to provide a double surface for the insertion of fastening bolts 31.

In splicing the stringer channels for additional upper seats, a side plate 32 connects the stringer. The junction point is immediately above a vertical support 6 so that an upper hand rail or back rails 33, as shown in Fig. 6, may be attached at the upper ends of the stringers. These back rails 33 are supported by uprights 39 each of which is attached by means of bolts 40 to the upper end of a channel stringer 4L, and the rails 38 below the top one are preferably disposed above and below the upper end of the side rail 29 so that it would be very diflicult for a person to fall from the upper end of the stand. The. bolt holes in the upright 39 are at an angle so it will stand vertically. If these back and hand rails are bolted in place they are easily removable for the addition of sections at the side or rear of those already erected. In extending the bleachers laterally the hand rail for this side may be removed from the section already erected and simply moved to the outside of the added section. The same is true of the back rails.

With this construction it is apparent that every provision is made for the addition of sections both laterally and at the rear, the seat and foot board supports can be easily and quickly attached, and an aisle can be placed wherever it is desired. While the structure is described as a permanent one, it is apparent that by making the connections between the parts with bolts insteadof rivets, the whole structure can be quickly and easily taken down and assembled.

We claim:

1. A sectional grandstand comprising separate rectangular towers graduated in height from front to back, transverse cross pieces connecting the tops of the towers, inclined stringers supported at the tops of the towers and by cross pieces intermediate the towers, and additional lateral units comprising corresponding towers, cross pieces similarly connecting them with the corresponding towers, and additional stringers supported by the added cross pieces between the towers and by towers parallel to the other stringers.

2. A stand of the class described, a plurality of separate structural towers s aced apart laterally and in rows graduated in height, cross pieces connecting the corresponding lateral towers, inclined stringers supported at the tops of the towers and said cross pieces intermediate the towers, means connecting the adjacent towers of each row, and an additional rear extension comprising a similar tower of additional height, additional connecting means therefor to the last previous tower of the row, and additional stringer sections connected to the stringers already in place and forming a continuation thereof.

3. In a stand construction, a plurality of angle bar upright supports, the said supports being arranged oppositely in pairs to form a rectangular tower, means for permanently connecting the opposite pairs of supports prior to the erection of the tower, and angle bar cross connectors for connecting pairs of permanently connected supports to form the supporting tower, means connecting the towers at the top thereof and inclined stringers supported by said means between the towers and by said towers.

4:. In a sectional stand, a plurality of inclined stringers, means for supporting said stringers comprising cross connected pairs of uprights spaced apart and means for connecting said spaced pairs, and an additional rear extension comprising similar pairs of uprights similarly connected, sectional stringers forming an inclined continuation of the 5 stringers, and means for connecting the stringers and said upright supports.

5. In a stand construction, the combination with. a plurality of inclined stringers, of supports therefor including connected pairs of uprights spaced apart from other connected pairs, 2. cross bar extending between the connected pairs of uprights at the tops thereof, connection plates extending laterally outward from the supports of each pair, and

inclined supporting bars extending from the plates upwardly to the cross bar intermediate the ends thereof.

6. In a structural metal stand, a plurality ofinclined stringers and upright supports therefor, transverse seats carried by the stringers, a hand rail comprising posts directly connected to upright supports at the outer side of one of the stringers, and a back rail also directly connected to the upper ends of the stringers above the uppermost seat.

7 In a metal bleacher construction, an inclined stringer which includes sectional extensions thereof, and a sectional side hand rail comprising posts attached directly at the outer side of the stringer and each post having lateral angular perforated brackets, wood hand rails attachable to the posts, the brackets forming a double means for attachment so that the extremities of two hand rails can be attached in line to the same post corresponding with the sectional addition to the stringer.

8. In a bleacher construction, an inclined stringer, seats carried transversely thereof, back rails, a post for supporting the back rails, and means for securing it in upright position at the upper extremity of the stringer, said means including bolt holes arranged transversely at the end of the stringer and corresponding bolt holes at an angle at the lower end of the upright, the bolt holes in the stringer being disposed for a sectional addition thereto.

HENRY D. OBERDORFER.

6O RALPH R. BRAMHALL.

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