Scaffolding structure

May 5, 1964

3,131,784

G. W. JACKSON

SCAFFOLDING STRUCTURE

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May 5, 1964 g. vv. jackson

SCAFFOLDING STRUCTURE

Original Filed Nov. 8, 1959 •3,131,784

Sheets-Sheet 2

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3,131,784

Patented May S, 1964

United States Patent Office

3,131,784

SCAFFOLDING STRUCTURE

George Wilbert Jackson, 1848 W. 1st Ave., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Continuation of application Ser. No. 851,415, Nov. 8, 1959. This application Mar. 2,1962, Ser. No. 177,939

Claims. (Cl. 182—229)

This invention realtes to scaffolds, having particular reference to improvements in certain types of scaffolding structures and in the attachment of the structure to a building.

This application is a continuation of Serial No. 851,415, filed November 8, 1959 and now abandoned.

In the art to which the invention relates two basic methods of scaffolding an erected building or a buliding under construction are in common use, these usually being referred to as the free standing or double pole scaffold and the attached or single pole scaffold. Originally these were both constructed of common lumber, but for the double pole scaffold this has been to a considerable extent replaced by quickly assembled sections of steel, which may be set up by the contractor or by trained scaffolding crews.

Wooden structures are still in common use for single pole scaffolding, these consisting primarily of uprights with ledgers scabbed or nailed to the building and on which planking is laid, and including guard rails, braces and sway bars as required. It is with this type of scaffolding that the present invention is mainly, but not exclusively, concerned, replacing the wooden ledgers, braces, guard rails and sway bars with metal parts and providing novel elements for attachment of these to uprights, and to each other and the building, and including variations in the building attaching elements adapting them for use on different types of wall structures, and also to meet safety requirements by the use of locking elements for securing parts that are liable to be accidentally disengaged and for securing elements to uprights.

The herein disclosed scaffold provides a rigid and secure type of scaffold that may be quickly and easily erected or dismantled, and with parts designed to most effectively meet the various requirements. These include joiner cans to enable easy transportation of shorter lengths of uprights, an improved clamp for attachment on the uprights that is safe and readily adjustable, sway bracing for added rigidity, guard rails locked at the proper height for each level, hanging brackets opposite window spaces and entrance areas, and improved wall connections and cross bars that place the scaffolding tight to the working surface with no inside obstructions. For this a three foot cross bar is sufficient, leaving the workman close to his guard rail, and two twelve inch planks under foot are usually all that he needs.

In addition there are improved wall ties designed to prevent accidental kickout of the cross bars, and in its one form a tie that can be plastered over without requiring its removal. This eliminates the difficulties encountered in scabbing to the wall, which makes it awkward for a plasterer, tile setter or bricklayer to work.

A further improvement lies in the use of sectional steel with wooden uprights and in the speed with which it can be erected and its adaptability to odd shaped buildings. It also reduces the work on the scaffold, such as plank handling. The safety attachments and locking devices make this single pole scaffold adaptable to the needs of most contractors and trades. Also, in the use of scaffolding as herein disclosed a very considerable saving in labor 5 costs results.

In the drawings, wherein is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a part of a scaffolding structure in accordance with my invention, shown as 10 erected in attachment to a wall of a building, and with the uprights of the scaffold and some horizontal bars shown as broken away in part.

FIG. 2 is a side view in perspective of a bracket and clamp for engagement of an upright and including a frag15 ment of a horizontal bar fixed to the bracket, the clamp being shown as partly disengaged from the bracket.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIGURE 2, but with the clamp wholly engaged with the bracket.

FIG. 4 shows a side perspective of the bracket and 20 clamp and a fragment of a horizontal bar, with the bracket shown in attachment to an upright and the clamp secured in locking relation to the upright, the latter being shown as broken away.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of an angle tie plate for 25 hooked engagement of a horizontal scaffolding bar to a wall.

FIG. 6 shows a side view of a plate as in FIGURE 5 and with which the hooked end of a scaffolding bar is engageable, and with the tie plate shown carried by a 30 bolt and sleeve arrangement partly embedded in a concrete wall, shown broken away in part and in part sectioned.

FIG. 7 shows a top plan view of another type of tie plate.

FIG. 8 is an end view of the plate in FIGURE 7.

FIG. 9 shows a side view of a tie plate as in FIGURE 7 attached to a wall fragment, illustrating in phantom engagement of a hooked end of a scaffolding bar.

FIG. 10 shows a can by which lengths of scaffolding 40 uprights may be joined end to end.

Having reference to the drawings, in the erection of the scaffold a series of uprights 1 are required and for this two by four scantling may be used, or, particularly where the uprights are to form a part of a permanent set of 45 scaffolding pieces in accordance with my invention, the uprights may be of any preferred dimensions. In the present showing a pair of two by four scantling, indicated by the numerals 2—2, are used and these may be joined for increasing the height of the uprights by open ended 50 cans 3 set on the upper ends of one set of uprights and with an added set for set in the cans, as in FIGURE 1.

These cans, separately shown in FIGURE 10, have tabs 5 cut in part from opposite sides of the can and turned inward to form a support for the can on the lower 55 set of upright scantling.

On these uprights a series of box like brackets 6 are adapted to be mounted, free to slide on the uprights or secured thereto. These brackets each have a rear wall or back portion 8 from which, in right angular relation, 60 project parallel wings 9. Pivoted in the wings 9 are clamps 10, the clamps having hand grip portions 11 and cam portions 12 by which they may be turned into frictional engagement with the uprights, by which the brackets may be fixed at any desired level on the uprights ac65 cording to the height required for the scaffold.

3,131,784

Such a clamp for a bracket is common in the art, but for the present invention certain improvements have been effected. For mounting the clamps 10 on the brackets the wings 9 have each an elongated opening 13 in which lugs 14 on the clamps are engageable, and for 5 securing these lugs in the openings 13 the lugs terminate in heads 15 shaped complementary to the opening 13.

To engage a clamp in a bracket one lug 14 is first inserted in an opening 13, as shown in FIGURE 2, and the clamp is then pushed up against the wing 9 in which 10 the lug is being engaged. In this position the other lug 14 may be aligned with and inserted in its opening 13. The damp is then turned downward and it cannot then be disengaged except when the heads of the lugs 14 are aligned with openings 13, as shown in FIGURE 3, so 15 that when the clamp is pressed down to frictionally engage the face of the cam portion 12 with an upright the clamp may not be accidentally displaced.

To ensure against the clamp rising or loosening its clamping engagement with the upright a chain 16 attaches 20 the handle end of the clamp to a wing 9, the clamp attaching chain sliding in an opening 17 in the clamp and having a terminal ring 16' of greater diameter than the opening 17.

This opening 17 has an offset portion 18 in which a 25 link of the chain may be engaged, as shown in FIGURE 4,. this serving to lode the clamp in damping relation with the upright and the bracket 6 is safely held against it slipping downward on the upright. This safety measure is particularly important in the erection and use of the 30 scaffolding structure.

On the brackets 6 are fixed, as by welding, supporting bars 19 that attach right angular to the brackets and to the uprights and have an end portion 20 projecting outwardly of the brackets and a body portion 21. The body por- 35 tions 21 have hooks 22 fixed thereto, the hooks having downwardly projecting points 23 that are tapered outward on their inner faces. These points 23 are adapted to be engaged with the tie plates that are attached on the wall 24 in relation to which the scaffolding is erected. ⁴θ

Different forms of tie plates are required, according to the character of the wall to which they are to be attached. In FIGURES 5 and 6 is shown an angle plate 25 formed of a flat piece of metal intermediately bent and having an opening 25 in one portion for engagement of a hook 22 45 and an opening 27 in the other portion for bolting or similar attachment to a wall.

For attachment of such a plate to a concrete form, as shown in FIGURE 6 a bolt 28 is used, the head 29 of the bolt engaging the tie plate and the bolt passing through 50 a suitable opening in the wall 30, this wall being a part of a form in which concrete 3i is poured to form a wall. On the bolt, inside the wall 30, is a sleeve 32 between the wail and a nut 33 threaded on the bolt. When the form, of which the wall 38 forms a part, is removed the bolt is un- 55 threaded from the nut 33, leaving the sleeve and nut in the wail and the opening may be covered over with a cement facing. The head 29 of the bolt serves as a lock to prevent disengagement of the cross bar hook 22 except when the cross bar is tilted. 60

The tilting of a cross bar to disengage its hook 22 from the opening 26 in the bent end of the tie plate 25 is indicated by the dotted lines, at 34 in FIGURE 6.

For attachment of the hook 22 to a fiat wall surface a different form of tie plate, illustrated in FIGURES 7, 8 65 and, 9, is used. This consists of a fiat piece of metal 35 having a raised center portion 36 with an opening 37 in which the hook is engageable and flat end portions 38 with openings 39 by which they may be attached to the wall by nails or the like. In this form of wall tie plate 70 the opening 37 is upwardly located on the raised portion 36 to permit the hook 22 to depend within the tie plate. When a scaffolding is removed such a tie plate is left on the wall and covered over where an outer covering of stucco is used. 75

In inserting the hook 22 in the tie plate 35 the bar 19 to which the hook is attached has to be tilted downward, as indicated by the numeral 59 in FIGURE 9, so that when the bar is raised to its horizontal position the hook cannot be disengaged without tilting the bar downward again.

Where, as shown in FIGURE 1, there is no wall portion available to attach a tie plate to, such as where there is a window opening, a hanging bracket is used. For this a slightly longer box bracket 7 is provided and the cross bar 49 is bent back on itself to form a brace 41 that is fixed to the lower part of the bracket 7. The wall end of the cross bar 40 is bent to form a stop 42 for planks, such as suggested by the numeral 43, this preventing the planks from sliding off the bracket.

The cross bars 19 of the scaffolding structure are connected at their outwardly projecting end portions 20 by tie bars 44 to brace the structure. These tie bars 44 have hooks 45 attached to their ends, and the hooks are engageable in openings 46 in the cross bar end portions 20.

The scaffolding structure is further strengthened by sway bars 47, similar to the bars 44, the sway bars having hooks 48 engaged in openings 49 and 50 in the cross bars 19.

There is also shown a rail guard for the scaffold in FIGURE 1. This consists of box brackets 51 engageable on the uprights, and on these brackets are fixed short bars 52 with openings 53 for engagement of hooks 54 on guard rails 55. The guard rails may be secured against accidental displacement by locking plates 56 and 57 pivoted by a pin 58 on the bars 52 and adapted to be moved into overlying position in respect to the hooks 54 or to be turned to allow engagement or disengagement of the hooks.

The scaffolding frame structure is designed to carry planks, as indicated at 43, and the structure may be erected in sections, as required for the building for which it is used, each section serving a storey of the building or as desired and being added to by the workmen using the scaffold. It is also adaptable for use on uneven ground for which individual uprights -may be adjusted by moving brackets 6 and 51 on the uprights up or down as required to obtain a horizontal level for -the scaffold.