WO2016153367A1 - A device for carrying building cylindrical pieces - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for carrying cylindrical elements, concrete rings in particular, equipped with a central unit consisting of an inner sleeve (1) ended at the bottom with a tee (7) with outer arms (4), and at the top with a sling (8), and equipped with a slider (2) in the form of an outer sliding sleeve, with inner arms (3) attached to the top of it and a rotating fastener (9) attached to the bottom of it, whereas the outer arms (4) and the inner arms (3) connect both elements of the device in a scissor-like manner, and both the inner (3) and outer (4) arm unit is pivotally connected from the outside with a pressure arm (5) ended with a pressure jaws system (6), and the upper part of each pressure jaw (6) holds a rotating lock (10).

Description

A device for carrying building cylindrical pieces

The subject of the invention is a device for carrying building cylindrical pieces (such as concrete rings). The device can be particularly useful in the construction of sewage lines, wells or road culverts. Due to the considerable weight of concrete rings (up to 3000 kg) and their size, carrying and placing them at the intended location is quite often a challenge (which involves several people who use manual handles). The state of the art knows mechanical devices for carrying concrete rings that use pivotally-mounted elements which clamp on the inner surface of the piece. SchachtFix by SchachtFix & Baugerate GmbH is one of such devices. Its clamping lugs are connected to arms, whose upper part is pivotally attached to the frame. During lifting, a tubular member moves in the frame. The bottom of the member is ended with slanted sliding beds, on which the lower part of the arms rests. During lifting, the arms swing out and slide along the extending beds, and the lugs clamp on the vertical side surfaces of the ring.

The state of the art also knows a similar device from Polish patent No. PL 212759 Bl. This device is equipped with a central unit ended at the top with a sling operated by a controller. In the lower part of the central unit there are main arms attached pivotally and spaced evenly at every 120° on the circumference of the unit. The arms include support profiles extendable to desired length and equipped at the end with pivotally mounted pressure jaws, whereas, during the operation of the device, the arms are oriented between 10° to 13° in relation to the horizontal plane, which is made possible by adequately choosing the length of the arms in relation to the diameter of the lifted ring. The arms are connected by tie rods with a slider that moves axially along the central unit. Raising the slider via the controller makes it possible to release the clamp and remove the device from the ring.

Polish Patent No 187983 also knows a grabber for carrying and rotating hollow cylindrical pieces, in particular strips rolled in coils. The grabber consists of a fixed arm whose upper part is connected to the body of a mechanism that balances the lifted load. Its lower part includes a movable arm, to which a clamping mechanism equipped with clamping jaws is mounted via support columns. The body of the balancing mechanism is equipped with sliding guides attached to the fixed arm. The movable arm can pivot from 0° to 90° relative to the vertical plane.

In the patent publicationUS4093296A there was discloseda bottle gripper for handling a bottle when depositing powder paint on the bottle in an electrostatic powder coating process and the like, the gripper comprises a cylindrical arm in which a shaft is inserted coaxially for relative movement in an axial direction. Several swingable pieces are attached to and are linked between the arm's lower end and the lower portion of each of the pieces, which forms a short thin cylindrical shell when gripping a bottle and is wrapped in a hat-shaped cover made of resilient material such as rubber with the outer rim of the resilient cover being fixed to the lower end of the arm in order to protect against entry of powder particles into the swing mechanism. The resilient cover is closed or opened by the relative movement between the arm and the shaft when gripping or releasing the head of a bottle.

In the publication US5280982A a there was described clamp device for transferring a construction material capable of eliminating manual handling of the construction material prior to transferring of the construction material, leading to labor saving. First and second brackets are connected to each other through a joint and a second bracket is engaged with a clamp. The first bracket is suitably mounted on an arm of a civil engineering machine such as a hydraulic shovel and the second bracket is provided with guide slits, in which shafts or pins of the clamp are engagedly fitted.

In the publicationUS2011243703 there was discloseda highly- efficient barrel placement device comprised of an attachment plate which attaches to the front of a skid steer loader; tubular support members; and a plurality of barrel pincers with gears that allow the barrel pincers to move in unison with the use of a single hydraulic cylinder. The hydraulic cylinder has hydraulic lines which connect to the auxiliary controls of a skid steer loader allowing the barrel pincers to be controlled to grasp and release traffic barrels from the interior of the skid steer loader.

From the publication WO0009434A1 it is knowna lifting apparatus for lifting disk stacks, the lifting apparatus includes a structural member having a central guide bore and at least three connecting members operatively positioned about the outer periphery thereof; a central guide member, operatively positioned relative to the central guide bore of the structural member and operatively connected thereto; a ring member, operatively positioned on the central guide member, and having at least three connecting members operatively positioned thereon; at least three linking means, operatively connected to each of the structural member connecting means and to each of the ring member connecting means, for providing movement of the ring member relative to the structural member; and a gripping member, operatively connected to each of the linking means and to each of the structural member connecting means, for interacting with at least one disk stack such that at least one disk stack is transported to another position. Systems and methods for utilizing the lifting device are also disclosed.

In the publicationWO2010043464Al there was disclosed a gripping tool for a crane or the like, comprising a bracket for connecting the tool to the crane or the like, a main body connected to the bracket, where jaw parts are pivotally arranged on the main body, where the jaw parts are controlled by actuators and where the jaw parts are arranged so that they may cooperatively grip and hold goods to be lifted or manipulated, wherein an supplementary jaw member is displaceably arranged on one of the jaw parts can be displaced from a position where a gripping surface on the supplementary jaw member rests against a gripping surface of the outer surface of the jaw member, to a position where the gripping surface (16) has a distance to the gripping surface of the jaw member, and where the displacement of gripping surface is a substantially parallel displacement, is decribed.

In the publicationWO2011137908Al it was described alifting tool for lifting composite items, for example moulds for injection moulding, consisting of two or more parts brought to an assembled position, where the lifting tool is arranged with means for fixing to the composite item and including at least a first arm and a second arm, where the arms are mutually displaceable for adaptation to a specific composite item, and where the arms are further connected with a lifting eyelet where both the first and the second arms include means for fastening the item, and which is peculiar in that the first and second arms are connected to a body, where the body forms a lifting yoke with a lifting eyelet, and where the first and the second arms, respectively, are individually movable in relation to the body.

From the publication WO2012162617A2 it is known an attachment is described that is configured for attachment to an arm of a piece of heavy construction equipment. The attachment is configured to rotate a section of pipe during break out (i.e. disconnection or disassembly) from another section of pipe and/or make up (i.e. connection or assembly) with another section of pipe. The attachment is configured to break the joint or torque the joint to a predetermined torque value, unthread or thread pipe, and lift the pipe under the power of the heavy construction equipment.

In the publication WO2014083184A1 there was disclosed a lifter for handling a rotor blade, a method of operating a lifter and a system comprising a lifter and a rotor blade is provided. The lifter comprises at least one device, in particular a grabbing jaw, for contacting an outer surface of the rotor blade. The lifter may further comprise a non-optical wave based system for detecting a position of the rotor blade with respect to the lifter.

In the publication WO2014097254A1 there was disclosed a device for placing a structural component, in particular a rotor blade of a wind turbine. The device comprises a hoisting means provided on a surface in the form of a boom rotatable around a horizontal axis in a lifting plane, wherein the boom comprises a lifting device which is connected to the boom for displacement in the longitudinal direction of the boom, and wherein the lifting device is provided with a coupling means configured to couple the structural component to the lifting device, wherein the coupling means are displaced parallel to the lifting plane from a position in the vicinity of the boom to a position further removed from the boom and/or vice versa.

The device is characterised by high reliability compared to similar devices available on the market. Its simple design is based on a scissor-like strut system which enables fault-free and reliable performance of the device. The advantage of the device is the ease of its adjustment to carry concrete rings of different diameters, unlike the competing products that can be used to carry pieces with certain diameter of only e.g. 50 cm or 80 cm. The proposed device can be used to carry pieces with a diameter between 80 and 200 cm. The use of rubber lugs on the arms makes it possible to also carry rings made of other materials e.g. steel or plastic. Another advantage is also a possibility of disassembling the device and cleaning its parts: all the components can be easily attached together and are fastened by screws and nuts. A considerable advantage, compared to other devices of this type, is also a small number of components of the device, which largely contributes to its reliability.

The presented invention is distinguished by the ease and speed of use, as well as the precision of grabbing pieces with a cylindrical opening with a diameter between 80 cm and 200 cm. The subject of the invention is a device for carrying any building cylindrical pieces, such as concrete rings with a diameter between 80 cm and 200 cm. The device is equipped with a central ended at a top with a sling used to actuate the device - the device is ready for use after releasing the sling. In the lower part of the central unit there are arms attached pivotally and spaced evenly at every 120° on its circumference. The scissor-action arms include support profiles extendable to desired length and equipped at the ends with pressure jaws. The slider is located in the centre and can move freely along the central unit, which makes it possible to adjust the spread of the arms attached to the slider. Raising the slider clamps the jaws, whereas lowering the slider releases the jaws in order to remove the device from the ring.

The device according to the invention can be used to carry concrete rings of different sizes.

The device according to the invention in the embodiment presented in a drawing showing its schematic diagram. The subject of the invention is shown as an embodiment, in which Fig. 1 shows the structural diagram of the system (isometric view) in the open position - for large diameter rings, Fig. 2 shows the structural diagram of the system (isometric view) in the open position - for small diameter rings, Fig. 3 shows the top view - for large diameter rings (rotating locks in the closed position), Fig. 4 shows the top view - for small diameter rings (rotating locks in the open position), Fig. 5 shows the cross-section, Fig. 6 shows the side view - for small diameter rings (rotating locks in the open position).

A device for carrying cylindrical elements, in particular concrete rings, consists of a tubular central unit - an inner sleeve (1) with a tee (7) attached to its lower part together with internal strut arms (3). The central unit is ended with a sling (8) at the top. A slider - outer sliding sleeve (2) is mounted directly on the central unit and moves vertically along its height. Inner strut arms (3) are attached to the lower part of the slider. The arms of the device act as scissors that couple all the components. All the components of the system are connected in a symmetric and uniform manner which enables their parallel operation. A ring is carried by releasing the sling, opening the pressure arms (5) and lifting the device with a jack. Lifting the device spreads the pressure arms (5) and locks them via the feet inside the carried ring (6). The outer (4) and inner (3) pressure arms are pivotally connected from the outside with a coupling element - the pressure arm of the feet (5), ended with a pressure jaw system - feet (6). A ring is lifted by joint action of the jaw pressure force and the frictional contact between the ring and the clamping pressure jaws -feet (6). All the feet are equipped with rotating locks (10) which allow the device to be arranged in the desired position. The locks (10) have arms with variable reach so that they can be adjusted to different ring diameters. During operation, the arms (3, 4) are never at an angle of 90° in relation to the vertical plane, so as to provide adequate pressure on the walls of the ring, whereas the vertically arranged jaw units (the upper jaw is parallel to the lower - evenly distributed pressure on the ring surface) prevent excessive stress of the material.

When the ring is placed in target location, the clamp is released by loosening the central unit. When the outer sliding sleeve is lifted (2) and the sling is locked by placing the rotating fastener (9) on the hook of a lifting device, the device can be removed from the inside of the ring.

The trials and tests attest to the usefulness and functionality of the device. A prototype device has worked flawlessly, and has proven that the ease of use of the device is its main advantage. The presented invention can be used to carry concrete rings with diameters from 80 to 200 cm with ease. No structural or functional deficiencies were found during the tests, and the simplicity of the scissor system has proven the reliability of the device.

Claims

Patent claim

A device for carrying building cylindrical elements, concrete rings in particular, characterised in that it is equipped with a central unit consisting of an inner sleeve (1) ended at the bottom with a tee (7) with outer arms (4) and at the top with a sling (8), and equipped with a slider (2) in the form of an outer sliding sleeve, with inner arms (3) attached to the top of it and a rotating fastener (9) attached to the bottom of it, whereas the outer arms (4) and the inner arms (3) connect both elements of the device in a scissor-like manner, and both the inner (3) and outer (4) arm unit is pivotally connected from the outside with a pressure arm (5) ended with a pressure jaws system (6), and the upper part of each pressure jaw (6) holds a rotating lock (10).