US3541799A

US3541799A - Bracing construction

Info

Publication number: US3541799A
Application number: US719004A
Authority: US
Inventors: Hans Jost; Fritz Jost
Original assignee: JOST AG GEB
Current assignee: Gebr Jost Ag; JOST AG GEB
Priority date: 1967-04-07
Filing date: 1968-04-05
Publication date: 1970-11-24
Anticipated expiration: 1987-11-24
Also published as: DE1708538A1; FR1564976A; GB1217527A; CH491254A

Description

Nov. 24, 1970 H. JOST L BRACING CONSTRUCTION 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 5, 1968 Nov. 24, 1970 JOST ETAL BRACING CONSTRUCTION 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 5, 1968 4 JI Q L 1 Nov. 24, 1970 H.JOST ETAL 3,541,799

BRACING CONSTRUCTION Filed April 5, 1968 v 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 All Amp!

H. JOST ET L BRACING CONSTRUCTION Nov. 24, 1970 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 5, 1968 NM mm km S M mm 0 a. VWMHHHHH NH m H I w Wm UM 2 i? Kwi Nov; 24, 1970 H. JOST ETAL BRACING CONSTRUCTION Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed April 5, 1968 ML "w United States Patent O1 Efice 3,541,799 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 zerland Filed Apr. 5, 1968, Ser. No. 719,004 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Apr. 7, 1967,

4,973 Int. Cl. E21d 19/00; E02f 3/ 62 US. CI. 61-41 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A car rolling on rails located on either side of a ditch mounts three crosspieces which support bracing wall-s that are free to roll over the ditch walls as the car progresses.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to bracing constructions for the walls of excavations and which move in tempo with the progress of the work in the excavation.

In the prior-art bracing constructions of this kind, the bracing parts were constructed as pressure links that served to hold the panel-like bracing elements in position in front of the construction. As a movable construction was advanced in step with the progress of the bracing work, the bracing elements located behind the construction had to be removed by hand and set in front.

The amount of bracing work that could be done was largely dependent on the number of available hands, who were required to transfer the bracing elements from the rear to the front of the construction. Apart from the number of employees thus required, the bracing work was expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is a bracing construction that appreciably reduces the amount of manual labor, lowers labor costs, and raises worker efliciency.

This object, and further objects, of the invention will be apparent from the ensuing detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be described with reference to the figures of the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of the invention, with the front ditch wall removed;

FIG. 2 is a view taken along line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic top view;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the upper part seen in FIG. 2, the left longitudinal member and the wheels being left out and the flanges of the two vertical support members being removed;

FIG. 5 is a partly broken away top view of the parts shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VIVI of FIGS. 7 and 8;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line VIIVII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIIIVIII of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a partly cut away view showing the arrangement for adjusting the height of a crosspiece;

FIG. 10 is a view in section on enlarged scale taken along line XX of FIG. 4;

FIG. 11 is a view on enlarged scale of the front portion of a bracing wall taken in the direction of the arrow XIXI of FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line XIIXII of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 is a sectional view, corresponding to FIG. 12, taken at the center crosspiece.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the figures, the bracing construction of the invention includes a car 1 that rolls on wheel 3 over rails 2, which are supported on respective sides of the ditch 4 by jacks 5, whereby the car 1 spans the ditch along a length there, as shown in FIG. 2, and can be driven the entire length of the ditch by any suitable vehicle. The car is essentially constructed of three crosspieces, 6, 7, and 8 and four

longitudinal members

9, 10 and 11, 12, which laterally connect together the

crosspieces

6, 7, and 8. The longitudinal members are built as trusses and bolted at their ends to the respective crosspieces by bolts 13, as shown in FIG. 5. The crosspieces are frame members composed of an outer frame 14 having

longitudinal chords

15 and 16 connected together by a series of stilfening members 17. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 9, each end of each

crosspiece

6, 7, and 8 mounts an adjustable supporting means 18 having a vertical, unthreaded pipe 22 slidably supported in a stationary guide 20 and incorporating a series of horizontal bores 19. The upper end of the pipe is held in a nut 21 fixed to a stiffening member 17a. A support incorporating a foot 23 and through bores (not visible in the figures), which correspond to the bores 19, is telescoped in the pipe 22. By means of a bolt, not shown, each foot 23 can be locked at any one of several vertical positions with respect to its crosspiece. This constitutes the coarse adjustment.

The fine adjustment of the vertical position is obtained by means of the nut 21 and a screw 24 threaded therein. The screw is prevented at its upper end from moving axially by a shoulder 27 held in a block 26, which is closed by a plate 25 and mounted on the longitudinal chord 15 by screws 28. The screw head 29 is exposed and can be turned by a suitable tool. When the car 1 is to be mounted at the site by means of the

crosspieces

6, 7, and 8 connected to the

longitudinal members

9, 10, 11, and 12, the center crosspiece is first of all set up on its feet 23 and its position adjusted by coarse and fine adjustment so that the

chords

15 and 16 are horizontal. Subsequently, the members '9, 10, 11, and 12 are connected to the crosspiece 7 by the bolt 13 and their position adjusted with respect to the rails 2, which latter must define a horizontal plane. Finally, the two end crosspieces 6 and 8 are connected to the members 9-12.

An individual, vertical bracing frame 30, of which the width can be adjusted, is suspended from each of the inner sides of the two end crosspieces 6 and 8 and the two sides of the center crosspiece 7. Each bracing frame 30 incorporates two vertical support members 32, connected together by two extensible frames 31, comprised each of two pairs of

telescopic pipes

34, 34a connected together by stiffening members 33. The bracing frame is suspended from a crosspiece by means of hooks 37 (see FIGS. 5 and 10), which are clamped at the desired position, between two horizontal stiffening members 17, by bolts 35 and plates 36. The two pipes 34 of the upper extensible frame 31 rest on the hooks 37. The pipes 34a, which have a smaller diameter than the pipes 34, are provided at their exposed ends with a collar 38 having an outer diameter equal to that of the pipes 34. The

pipes

34 and 34a can be extended as desired so as to obtain the desired spacing between the vertical support members 32 in dependence on the width of the ditch 4 that is to be braced. The

pipes

34 and 34a are locked in position by pushing bolts (not shown) into the holes 39 (FIG. 5) of these pipes.

A plurality of bracing elements 40 (in FIG. 1: three,

left; two, right) are inserted between two neighboring members 32 located on the same side. Each bracing element 40 incorporates a central support 41 essentially comprised of an upper and a lower horizontal continuous channel member 42 and 43 (see FIG. 8) held together by V-irons 44 (FIG. 6). Inwardly projecting supports 45 connect each central support 41 to an upper and lower horizontal channel member 46 (FIG. 8). As shown in FIG. 11, stiffening braces 47 connect together the members 46. The two ends of the supports 41 terminate in angle irons 48, which each form a slot that permits the support 41 to be slid on the flanges 32a of two successive vertical support members 32. Each member 32 includes at its lower end a stop plate 49 (FIG. 11), which supports the lowest of the bracing elements 40. The upper and lower horizontal channel members 46 of each element 40 incorporates staggered, upwardly and downwardly projecting V-shaped centering irons 50. An upper bracing element 40 rests with the centering irons 50 of its lower member 46 on the centering irons 50 of the upper member 46 of the next lower element 40, the neighboring irons 50 adding further prevention against longitudinal movement of the bracing elements 40.

Each central support 41 has at each end two oppositely located bearing supports 51 for a shaft 52. Three sprockets 53 are mounted on each shaft. A horizontal chain 54 runs over the corresponding sprockets of each of the two shafts of a support 41. The chains are composed of links 56 pivotal about pins 55 that connect together neighboring links. A horizontal roller 57, which is of a size suitable for the spacing between adjacent teeth of the sprockets, is mounted on each pin 55. The pins are each pivotally mounted on two spaced angle irons 58, which are fixed to inwardly projecting wings 59 of respective slat-like bracing parts 60 that extend the entire height of the bracing element 40. The bracing parts 60 are curved along one edge, whereby the bracing wall 61 formed collectively by these parts is continuous even where the Wall is turned through 180 by the sprockets 53, as shown in FIG. 6. A rail 62 for each chain strand, extending in the direction of the chain, is located within each central support 41. The rollers 57 bear on these rails perpendicular to the wall 61. Every second bracing part 60 is connected to an inwardly projecting vertical support roller 63, which rolls between two guide plates 64 (except where the chain reverses direction) fixed to the central support 41, as shown in FIG. 8. The rollers 63 transfer the weight of the bracing wall 61 to the support 41.

A series of plate wedges 65 are mounted on the front face of the foremost vertical support member 32, which wedges are locked in place by bolts 66 that pass through the member 32, as illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12. A double wedge 67, as shown in FIG. 13, is similarly connected to the pair of members 32 of the two vertical bracing frames 30 suspended from the center crosspiece 7.

As previously mentioned, the described bracing construction is built on the two rails 2 along the length of the ditch 4 that must be braced, whereby the outer facesthe bracing walls 61of the bracing elements 40 contact the ditch walls by simply varying the width of the bracing frames 30. The bracing walls 61 enable a pipe 68 to be laid, for example, without danger that the ditch walls will collapse. A suitable vehicle, such as a crawler tractor, advances the construction continuously or stepwise over the rails 2. The friction between the bracing wall 61 and the ditch wall causes the bracing element 40 to roll over the latter, so that the bracing keeps in step with the progress of the work in the ditch, merely by moving the bracing construction.

The construction of the invention lowers labor costs, increases labor efficiency, and reduces the number of men required in bracing work.

Although the preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, the scope of, and the breadth of protection afforded to, the invention are limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Bracing apparatus for use in shoring the walls of excavations, particularly ditches, comprising a vehicle adapted to be advanced along the wall of an excavation as the excavation work progresses, a bracing frame structure supported by said vehicle to extend into said excavation, said bracing frame structure being disposed transversely to the direction of movement of said vehicle, at least two spaced vertical shafts supported by said bracing frame structure so as to extend into said excavation, link chain sprockets on said shafts, at least two horizontally disposed endless link chain assemblies cooperating with said sprockets, each said link chain assembly including rollers mounted on vertical axes and bearing against a horizontal track supported by said structure, bracing means secured to the links of the chains of said chain assemblies for supporting a wall of an excavation during movement of said vehicle, and support means for supporting the weight of said bracing means including a plurality of rolling means fixed to at least some of said bracing means and horizontal guide means fixed to said bracing frame structure along which said rolling means roll.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bracing means comprise vertical slat-like members.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said slat like members overlap so as to form a continuous surface at least in the region where they contact the excavation wall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATEN 1' S 1,267,058 5/1918 Clarkson 61-41 X 3,309,799 3/1967 Kinkade 3780 FOREIGN PATENTS 279,732 5/ 1967 Australia.

OTHER REFERENCES DAS 1,123,988 February 1962, German printed application to Bender.

JACOB SHAPIRO, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 3784; 6163, 72.1, 72.5