Dec. 8, 1964 J. DE LlLLO Filed May 27, 1960 SUSPENDED EARTH-SHOEING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 8, 1964 J. DE LlLLo 3,159,977

SUSPENDED EARTH-SHORING DEVICE Filed May 27, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L, 2a F/G. 5

INV EN TOR. JOSEPH .fZ/LO United States Patent C),

3,159,977 SUSPENDED EARTH-SHGRHNG DEVICE Joseph De Lillo, 3 Fulton Place, .lei-ichs), Long Island, N.Y. Filed May 27, 196i), Ser. No. 32,290 3 Claims. (Cl. 61-41) Y The present invention relates generally to accessory equipment for excavating operations, and in particular to an improved type of earth-shoring device.

In the construction eld it is well known that shoring of the side surfaces ot' a trench or other excavation is required in order to preserve the contours of the trench against the forces of erosion and to allow a man to work .in the trench without danger of being injured by a cavein. A problem is encountered in that the need for shoring increases as continuing work on the trench makes it progressively deeper, and Ways must be found of accommodating the sharing device employed to the changing depth of the trench.

Some previous shoring devices sink bodily ntothe trench `as the latter gets progressively deeper. Unless the device originally extends far above the top of the trench, creating a hazardous obstruction, such sinkingresults in exposure of the upper portions ofthe trench sides where collapse is most likely and shoring lis therefore most important. If on the o* er hand the shoring device is fixed at the upper portion of the trench wall, some other provision must be made for shoring the deepening lower portion of the trench wall.

it is broadly an object of this invention to provide a solution to the problem of shoring an excavation, and particular to provide an earth-shoring device which is better able to accommodate itself to the increasing depth `of the excavation.

.the externally supported member in confronting relationship to the side surface of the excavation. Itvwill thus be appreciated that by suspending the shoring Wall from outside the excavation, the shoring wall is prevented from sinking bodily as the depth of the excavation increases,

yand consequently the upper part ol' the excavation remains protected. As a further feature oi the invention, the

Referring in detail to thedrawings, there is seenI in v FIG. 2 an earth-shoring device, generally designatedV 10, including a pairof cross beams 12 and 14 extending across the mouth of an elongated trench T and a pair of downwardly extensible Walls 16 and 18 which are suspended `from the cross beams inl confronting relationship to the respective opposite sidersurfaces S vof the trench for shoring the latter. l

The members 12 and 14 may be any conventional type of beam such as the metal I-beams shown in FIGS'. l-3. Thesel beams are placed across the trench T at locations spaced along the length of the trench. The opposite ends of the beams 12 and 14 rest'on the earth on opposite `sides of the trench Tas seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, to provide iirrn support therefor and enable them to support the weight of the shoring walls 16 and 18 suspended therefrom. v

For suspending the walls 16 and 18 from the beams 1 2 and 14, there are provided bridging beams 20, 22, 24, and 26, which may also be metal l-beams, secured to the crossbeams 12y and 14 by means of bolt and nut assemblies 28 extending through suitable bores in the anges of the I-beams. A first pair of the bridging beams 2li and 2?. are placed in spaced and parallel relationship to each other and positioned on the cross beamslZ and 14 so as to extend bridgingly therebetween directly above one of vthe Vside surfaces S and substantiallyV parallel thereto. A

second pair of the bridging beams 24 and'26 is similarly placed in relation to the other side surface S. With the "bridging beams 2l) through 26 thus arranged, the elongated spaces between the paired beams 20 and 22 and between'the paired beams 24 and 26 form a pair 0f mounting channels 29 above the respective side surfaces S through which the respective shoring Walls 16 and 18. de"- pend in confronting'relationship to the side surfaces.

'The shoring wallsl and 18 are identical, asV seen in FIGS. l and 3, and each consists of a plurality-of wall elements 3i) mountedin. a row in the channels .between i the bridging beams 20, V22 and 24, 26, each row forming a y against collapse.

against the side surfaces S and thereby shore the Ylatter y, vin FIG; 4, includes three coaxially arranged hollow metal shoring 'wall may include vertically telescoping sectionsy ,dropping lower as the excavation becomes deeper, thus simultaneously shoring the upper portion of the excava- FIG. A1 is a top plan View of a suspended earthfshoring-V i device in accordance with therpresent Vinvention installed Y in an elongatedtrench;k Y g FIG. 2 is a side elevationalview ofthe device of FIG. 1; A

FIG. 3 is afront elevational View of one of the opposed shoring walls of the device of the preceding gures; and, FIG. 4 is a perspective View of a single shoring wall Velement disassembled from the device of the previous iigreveal theinternal structure thereof.

, ures, with lparts broken awayand shown in phantom to n - boxsections 32, 3d and 36 of appropriately decreasing .size to be slidable one within the other for mutually tele- -scoping motion. This'enables the inner and lower sections 34 ,and 36 to slide` downwardly relative to the outermost and uppermost.'sectionl 32 under the iniluence of their own weight, thus automatically extending the shoring walls 16V and 13 to reach to thebottom of the trench` T as the4 latter becomes progressively deeper. Thevsecsments 30 -from the'channels 29 by merelylifting them upwardly therefrom. The middle and lower sections 34and Y36 are retained in assembly with the upper and middle V,sections 32 and V34 respectively by tongues 40 and 42, the V,former projecting inwardly from the loweredges of an 'outer, upper section 3201- 34 and the latter projecting A.outwardly from the upper edge of an inner, lower section 34 or 36 and being above the tongues 40 to abut thereagainst for limiting the downward travellof the inner, lower sections,V The projecting tongues 38, 40, Vand 42 may beimade'of small pieces of bar or heavy plate stock welded to appropriate surfaces of, the sections 32, 34, and. 36.l A number of reinforcing partitions 44 are welded:y in place in the innermost section 36 to lend. extra rigidity Y to the structure. lt be readily appreciated that the A representative element 30, as seen i- 'ture and to warrant its use. Y1'16 and 18 are installed by inserting rows of the wall'ele- Y Y s I-beams and partition-reinforced box sections of the shoring device give the latter a relatively high strength to weight ratio, especially if aluminum is chosen as the construction material.

As an additional precaution it maybe desired to provide braces extending transversely across the trench T to hold the opposite shoring walls 16 and 18 apart to more eiectivelyrcontain the side surfaces S.V For this purpose a somewhat oversize beam may be forced into place between the shoring walls, or an extendable mechanism such as a screw jack may be expanded against the walls, the tight t serving to hold the beam or jack in place.V In a preferred embodiment of the invention, however, the brace may be suspended between the shoring walls to eliminate the need to hold it in place by a tight t. A pair of H-shaped structures are each formed of a pair of carrier beams 50, which may be metal I-beams, positioned longitudinally of the trench T and adjacent the respective oppositeshoring walls 16 and 18, and cross braces 52,.'which-may also be metal I-beams, welded to the carrier beams adjacent the opposite shoring walls in position to extend therebetween across the trench T. lThe two H-shaped structures are suspended at different levels within the-trench T by chains 54 at the four corners of the H arrangement passing through suitable bores in the inwardly pointing flanges of the bridging beams 22 and 24 and the central webs of the carrier beams 50.y Links 56 at both ends and in the 'middle of chains 54 are made Vtoo large to pass through these bores so as to retain the i other, then the H-'shaped structures become engaged therebetween to buttress the shoring walls against such collapse.

A typical installation lof the shoring device 10 may now be discussed in order to demonstrate the ease of handling and using this device. The cross beams 12 and 14 are rst set in `place across the site of the trench T, and theny the outer bridging beams 20 and 26 are bolted in place thereon. Next the assembly of the; inner bridging beams 22 and 24 and the H-' shaped bracing structures 50, 52,`

54 suspended therefrom are bolted in place Aonthe inner bridging beams 22iand 24. At tirstr thc'suspended bracing structure 50, 52, 54 can rbe furled up and lashed to one of the cross beams 12 and 14, and then later released to depend into the trench rT'when the depth thereof has increased sutcientlyrto accommodate the bracing struc- Finally, the shoring walls ments 30 side by side into the channelsl 29 between bridging beams 20,722 and 24, 26. The walls 16 and 18 rwill be prevented from extending by the shallow bottom ofthe trench T as excavation isrst begun, `but asy the 'trench deepens progressively with lcontinuedexcavation,v

d vice 10 will at all times cover both the upper part of the sides S and as much of the lower part thereof as has so far been excavated, and as the device extends far into the earth it will automatically be braced against collapse if the earth begins to cave in against it. When no longer` needed, the device 10 can be disassembled and removed from the excavation, by simply reversing the.

installation process, and used over again in other excavations as often as necessary.V

It will now be readily appreciated that the present invention provides a light but strong earth-shoring device which is suspended to. prevent it from sinking into the excavation as the latter` becomes progressively deeper, and which extends automatically to accommodate itself to the increasing depth, thus assuring simultaneous support of both the top and bottom portions of the excavation at all stages of the Work. In addition, there is provided a brace structure which does not need to be compressed between the opposite walls of the shoring device to maintain it in place, but which hangs freely in place, ready to automatically exert the proper amount of buttressing.

should be accorded a breadth of interpretation consistent with this specification.

What I claim is: Y

1. A device for shoring the side surfaces of an excavation comprising a pair of cross beams adapted to extend across-the mouth of an excavation with the opposite ends of said beams extending substantially beyond the opposite sides of the excavation to provide support for the suspension of shoring elements, a pair of bridging members extending between said cross beams and being supported thereby within the mouth of an excavation, a plurality of vertically telescoping sections adapted for gravitational elongation into the excavation as the same becomes deeper, said sections being tubular in form and rectangular in cross-section and jointly comprising a shoring wall adapted for suspension from said bridging members in confronting relationship to the side `surfaces of the excavation, and means at one end of said telescoping sections releasablyV engaging said bridging members comprising means for suspending said sections in contiguous order along the Wall of the excavation. v

2. The device of claiml in which said bridging members consist of a pair of spaced beams forming therescoping sections.

the lower sections 34 and 36 of each wallelement 30 will slide downwardly :out of the upper` sections 32 under the telescoping sections 32, 34,'and 36 inassembly, and the entire element 30 is limited in itsdescent through the channel 29 by tongues 38 which suspend the wall elements fromV above to assure that they will extend rather than collapse and sink bodily into the `deepening trench T. Thus, as the excavation work proceeds, the shoring de- 3. The device of claim V1 in which said bridging membersk consist of -a pair of spaced beams forming therebetween a channel adapted to accommodate Ysaid telescoping sections, and said means for releasably engaging said bridging members comprises abutments extending laterally from said telescoping sections in abutting relation to said beams at opposite sides of vsaid channel.

References Cited in the tile of this patent Y UNrrED STATES PATENTs Ravers Sept. 20,