TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a method and arrangements for removal of a balcony, comprising the steps of providing a support structure connected to a lifting arrangement, providing a guide connected to said support member,

providing a saw that facilitates cutting of the balcony from underneath the balcony, by means of running along said guide,

positioning said lifting arrangement and said support arrangement at desired locations in relation to said balcony,

cutting said balcony to be freed from said wall by means of said saw, lifting and removing said balcony by means of said lifting arrangement away from said wall. BACKGROUND

There is an increased need of removing balconies from house walls. In general it relates to balconies that more or less a formed from a layer of concretes that has been integrally attached to the wall on the house, which normally has a rectangular form and that protrudes perpendicularly from the wall.

From SE 534368 there is known a method for removal of such balconies, that has provided significant improvement to the development of methods and equipment for removing balconies. However, there is a continued need to improve up on the situation, especially in consideration of the consequences if anything should go wrong in connection with removal of a balcony.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to prove up on the situation as describe above, which is achieved by means of method and devices as defend in the independent claims.

Thanks to the invention advantages are achieved regarding safety and also regarding cost efficiency.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings wherein: Fig. 1 is a schematic side view of an arrangement for removal of balconies according to the invention,

Fig. 1 A is a side view of a preferred lifting arrangement to be used in connection with an arrangement shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 2 is detailed schematic view of an adjustment arrangement in according with a preferred embodiment in according to the invention,

Fig. 3 is a detailed view of a part of an adjustment device according to the invention as shown in Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 shows the same devices as Fig. 3 but in another position,

Fig. 5 shows a view from above of a clamping arrangement according to the invention, Fig. 6 shows a side view of the arrangement in Fig. 5,

Fig. 7 shows a view from below of a first embodiment of an adjustment arrangement according to the invention

Fig. 8 shows a side view of the arrangement in Fig. 7,

Fig. 9 is a schematic perspective view of a further arrangement for removal of

balconies according to the invention,

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of a support and adjustment

arrangement according to the invention,

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In Fig. 1 there is shown a house wall 6 having a balcony attached there to. Such balconies are often undesired and there is therefor a need to have them removed. In Fig. 1 there is shown an arrangement 1, 2, 3 for removal of the balcony 4. The basic structure of the arrangement 1, 2 is known from SE534368, which is hereby introduced by way of reference.

The arrangement comprises a saw 1 that is positioned below the balcony 4, thereby providing the advantage that the operator of the saw 1 may handle it without putting his/her weight on to the balcony 4, which is the case with the most common prior art devices. The saw 1 comprises a motor that drives a circle saw within a cover 10. The cover 10 has supply pipes 15, 16, 17, 18 connected thereto, enabling avoiding spillage, and also supply of cooling liquid and or lubricants.

Further is shown a support structure 2, for supporting the balcony 4 and also the saw 1. The support structure 2 comprises two beams 20, 21 that are parallelly arranged and interconnected by appropriate devices (e.g. pipes not shown). One of the beams 21 is used to support a guide 12, for the saw 1. The guide 12, is fixed within a gripping device 14, that in turn is interconnected to the beam 21 by means of an interface member 1 1 that is moveably arrange in a relation to the beam 21.

Further there is shown an adjustment arrangement 3, comprising a rod 30 with a handle 31 that by means of an adjustment mechanism 32, including threaded means, may be used to adjust the position of the adjustment interface 11 for the saw 1. Hence, by screwing the rod 30 the distance between the saw 1 and the wall 6 may be adjusted.

Further there is shown that on to the outer beam 20 there is attached a clamping device 24. In this embodiment the clamping device has a turn wheel 25 connected there to, for enabling enforced clamping of the balcony 4. However in most cases the clamping device 24 may safely hold the balcony 4 onto the support arrangement without any enforced clamping, i.e. instead merely by fixing the clamping devices 24 onto the beams 20, 21 (at least four of them, i.e. a pair on each beam 20, 21, but merely one is shown in Fig. 1) in tight contact with the balcony 4. When using an activation device, e.g. a turn wheel 25 for enforced clamping, this is preferably in the form of a threaded shaft, which by means of the turn wheel 25 may be turned to fix the balcony 4 in between a pair of such clamping devices 24 to the beam 20. In cooperation with the adjustment mechanism 32 described above, there is also arranged a measuring device 33 that enables easy adjustment of the position of the saw 1 into a desired path for cutting of the balcony 4. This is a beneficial arrangement, since if the cut of the saw is positioned along a desired path there will be no need for later adjustment of the remaining portion of the balcony 4 after having been removed.

In Fig. 1 A there is schematically shown a preferred lifting arrangement 7 to be used with the arrangement shown in Fig. 1. The lifting arrangement 7 comprises a beam like lifting member 75, having a pair of connection members 76 adjustably fixed adjacent one end each of the beam 76 at a position that enables chains 761, 762 (or lifting rods) to extend substantially vertically down to lifting devices 246 (see Figs. 5 and 6) where they are attached. Such an arrangement provides the advantage that the balcony fence does not need to be removed prior to lifting/removing the balcony 4 (in contrast to the method in accordance with prior art). Preferably therefore the beam like lifting member 75 has a length that extends further than the width of the balcony, thereby providing for attachment of the lifting chains 761, 762 substantially vertically, into each one of a connection member 76 positioned adjacent each end of the beam like lifting member 75. The connection members comprises a housing 760, that may be secured to the beam and which when released is moveable along the beam 75 to enable adjustment of its position for balanced lifting of the balcony 4.

In this preferred embodiment the beam like lifting member 75 includes two lower beam portions 750, 751, having substantially the same length, that are safely connected to each other by means of an upper interconnecting beam 740, to form a long beam like lifting member 75. In the preferred embodiment each lower beam portion750, 751 is at least 2 m long, more preferred about 3 m long, enabling handling of most existing balconies 4, which rarely have a width extending 6 m. Thanks to dividing the beam like lifting member 75 into two beam portions many advantages are gained, e.g. easier handling during transport and reduced weight. Reduced weight may be achieved by using an interconnecting beam 740 on top of the two other portions 750, 751, that by means of bolts 752 securely bridges them and creates an assembly 740, 750, 751 that provides sufficient strength having a substantially lower weight than a one piece beam (as is known from prior art). Furthermore the interconnecting beam 740 preferably is provided with the same kind of dimensions, at least at its outer ends, such that the connection members 76 may also be used with the interconnecting beam 740 only, i.e. when a balcony of less width is to be removed. Preferably the length of the

interconnecting beam 740 has a length of about 3 meters (e.g. 3-4 m) which enables vertical chain lift for most small seized balconies. Moreover, as is shown, the interconnecting beam 740 preferably is integrated into a lifting attachment 74. This lifting attachment 74 has a plate like member 741 protruding upwardly on top of the interconnecting beam 740. Within this plate like member 741 there are arranged a number of holes 742, 743 enabling connection to lifting devices, i.e. a centrally positioned hole 742 for connection of the main lifting device (not shown, e.g. a hook belonging to a crane) and a plurality of holes 743 distributed laterally for attachment of stabilizing chains (not shown) for increased stability during lifting of the balcony 4.

As shown in Fig. 2 the adjustment mechanism 32 comprises an anchoring part 32A that is fixedly attached to the inner beam 21. The anchoring part 32A allows for movement of a movable part 32B by means of threads as explained above. It is evident that instead of anchoring in the inner beam 21 an anchoring may as well be achieved within the outer beam 20. (Not shown) In such a case the rod 30 is rotatable and axially fixed in relation to the outer beam 20 and the outer end of the rod 30 (not shown) interacting with the moveable member 32B. Further, in accordance with the latter embodiment, it is feasible to have the whole beam 21 moveable, instead of having an interface 11 moveable in relation to the beam 21. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the measuring device 33 is in the form of a tube/rod having a number of indicator members 33 A, 33B, 33C mounted their on. The indicator members 33A-C are intended to cooperate with the edges of the guide 12 that carries the saw 1. Two of the indicator elements 33 A, 33B are position in line with each other, along the length extension of the rod 33, presenting a distance them between that substantially corresponds to, or is slightly larger than, the width w of the upper side of the guide 12. In the preferred embodiment the indicator members are in the form of stub ends and welded to the rod 33, protruding a sufficient distance to provide a stop against an edge of the guide 12, e.g. protruding 10-30mm. The distance Y between the inner most side of the first/innermost indicator member 33A and the outer end 33D of the rod 33 corresponds to a desired distance X for the guide 12, in relation to the wall 6, such that the saw blade will perform a cut sufficiently close to the wall 6 to eliminate any need of after work. The second other indicator member 33B, in line with the first one 33 A, has as its function to enable secure retaining of the rod 33 on to the guide 12. The third indicator member 33C is positioned 90 degrees radially displaced in relation to the other indicator members 33 A, 33B, in order to provide for easy positioning of the rood, when moved from a measuring state to a retaining state, as will be explained below. When adjustment is to be performed the rod 33 is moved out from its parked position (see Fig. 3) and rotated to have none of its indicator members 33 A-C protruding downwards. Thereafter the rod 33 maybe pushed, when resting on top of the guide 12 into contact with the wall 6. Now the rod 33 is rotated such that the first indicator member 33 A is pointed downwards. Thereafter the rod 33 is pulled 1 outwards to get an indication how large the gap is between its outer end 33D, when the first indicator member 33A is in contact with the outer upper edge 12A of the guide 12. An operator being positioned on the opposite side of the balcony 4 can then easily get a knowledge of how large the gap is and thereafter use the adjustment member 30 to move the guide 12 inwards to diminish the gap. Hence, this operation makes it is easy and quick to arrange for a desired positioning of the guide 12 whereby the saw 1 will cut at a desired location. Ones the desired position is obtained the rod 33 may again be positioned in the retaining position. This is done by first rotating the rod 33 90 degrees (or any other angle that corresponded to the difference in a relation to the other indicator members 33 A, 33B), until the third indicator member 33C points downwardly. Thereafter the rod 33 is easily positioned in it is retaining position by first pulling it outwards until the indicator member 33C hits the inner edge 12A of the beam, which confirms a correct position, and the rod 33 may again be rotated such that the two indicator members 33 A, 33B are positioned on each side of the guide 12. In a preferred form this is easily achieved by having at least one flat surface on the rod 33 along the extension where the first and second indication members 33A, 33B are positioned e.g. by using a tube having a square/rectangular cross section. Thanks to using sufficiently long intermediate parts 30, 33 (e.g. rods, one piece or assembled pieces) both the measuring device 33 and the adjustment mechanism 32 may be operated from a distance, i.e. such that the operator may not need standing underneath the balcony 4.

In Fig. 5 there is schematically shown a view from above of a clamping device 24 as shown in connection with Fig. 1. In Fig. 6 the same clamping device 24 is shown in a side view. In both figures the clamping device 24 is attached to a beam 20 by means of a housing 242 including a bottom plate 248 that is clamped to the beam 20. Preferably the bottom plate 248 is wider than the beam 20 and arranged with a recess 249 fitting onto the beam 20. By means of attachment members 247 the plate 248 is fixed to the beam 20 by means of bolts. A threaded shaft 241 extends through the housing 242 and is arrange with a turn wheel 240 on one side and a clamping plate 244 at the other side. The shaft 241 is substantially longer than the housing 242. Within the housing there is attached a threaded bushing 243 wherein the threaded shaft 241 may be moved forth and back, such that the clamping plate 244 can be moved forth and back in relation to housing 242. It is also shown that the end 241 A of the shaft 241 is arrange with a sphere 241 A enabling rotation of the shaft 241 independent of the clamping plate 244. In accordance with the preferred embodiment according to the invention the shaft 241 is arranged with an angle a in relation to the extension of the beam 20, e.g. an angle a in between 5-30°. This design may arrange for a safer gripping of the balcony by the clamping devices 24. Also when not using enforced clamping there is preferably arranged a clamping plate 244, i.e. nonadjustable in relation to the housing 242 but possibly with a pivotal connection (e.g. such as 241 A) to allow for flexibility in relation to the edge of the balcony, or an inter fitted clamping member (e.g. a plank) which might lean somewhat.

Furthermore there is shown that there are one lifting eyelet 246 arranged on top of the clamping device 24, facilitating using the clamping devices also to attach lifting members (not shown), e.g. chains, to remove the balcony 4 from the wall 6. There are fixing members 245 enabling arrangement of pipes or similar devices (not shown), to enable fixing of a desired distance between the two beams 20, 21. Accordingly, fixing devices 245 are arranged also on the clamping device 24 on the other beam 21. In Figs. 7 and 8 there are shown two views of an adjustment mechanism 32 according to a preferred embodiment in accordance with the invention. In Fig. 7 the adjustment mechanism 32 is seen from below and Fig. 8 it is seen in a side view (from the opposite side compared to Fig. 1). It is shown that the gripping member 14, for holding the guide 12 for the saw 1, preferably is divided into one fixed part 140 and one removable part 141, preferably in the form of a plate. In between these two parts 140, 141 there is formed a converging space 142, for safely attaching the guide 12 (not shown). The fixed part 140 of the gripping member 14 is fixedly attached to a moveable plate 322, which in turn is fixedly attached to a threaded sleeve 321. The threaded sleeve 321 may be moved by means of rotating the rod 30. The rod 30 is rotatably movable but axially fixed to an anchoring plate 323, by means of bearing sleeve 320. Accordingly when the rod 30 is rotated it will not move axially but move the threaded sleeve 321 back and forward depending on the direction of rotation. The anchoring plate 323 is arranged with a recess 328 that fits around the lower end of the beam 20. Fixation members 327 are used to attach the anchoring plate 323 to the beam 20. The movable plate 322 is safely kept in contact, while sliding, with the anchoring plate 323 by means of a bolt 325 that is secured to the anchoring plate 323 and protrudes through a slot 324 in the movable plate 32B. Accordingly the movable plate 322, that holds the holding member 14 is safely held in contact with the anchoring plate 323 by means of the retaining bolt 325, and may slide within the slot 324, to thereby enable desired positioning of the gripping member 14 for the saw guide 12. Bolts 326 may be used to adjust the play and/or adjust the angle of the saw 1 and/or to tightly fix the movable plate.

In Fig. 9 there is shown a further embodiment in accordance with the invention. Firstly it is shown that instead of using lifting members in the form of eyelets 246 the invention also enables using lifting forks 7 to remove a balcony 4. This is especially desired if it relates to a balcony 4 that is positioned within a corner, i.e. having two sides attached to walls 6. As is evident such a balcony 4 will not allow for using lifting beams 20, 21 that protrude on both sides of the balcony 4. Instead there is use of a lifting arrangement 7 comprising lifting forks 70. The forks 70 are L-shaped (in a traditional manner) and have their horizontal parts positioned under the balcony 4. The lifting forks 70 are attached to a body 71 having a beam support 72 arranged thereto. The beam support 72 has a through hole carrying a lifting beam 73, extending above and parallel with and in between the two horizontal members of the forks 70. A lifting attachment 74 is arranged substantially in the middle of the lifting beam 73, where a lifting machine (e.g. a crane) may hook in to lift. The lifting beam 73 may slide in relation to the beam support 72 and the beam support may be repositioned perpendicularly (e.g. along a slot 75) in relation to the body 71, enabling the lifting attachment to be positioned in a desired position to facilitate a balanced lifting of the balcony. Further there is shown an additional balancing arrangement 76, 77, 78, at the lower part of the forks 70, comprising a support 76 fixed between the forks 70, a rail 77 and a balancing weight 78 that may be positioned at any location along the rail 77 to obtain good balance.

In order to enable sawing also in a situation with the balcony having two

perpendicularly positioned attachment zones 46 (attached to the wall,) there is arranged a specific kind of support members 22 having an adjustment mechanism 32 attached there to. This arrangement will allow for positioning the guide 12 parallelly with the forks 70 on any side to position it close to the wall 6 where a cut is to be made.

In Fig. 10 there is a more detailed view of an adjustment mechanism 32 in accordance with the invention to attach it to a preferred support member 22. In order to be able to flexibly arrange the guide 12 on either side of a fork 70 the support member 22 is arranged with a housing 220 having a through hole 221 for the forks 70, that is rotatably arranged in relation to the adjustment member 32. This is achieved by having the housing 220 fixed on to a rotatable plate 224 in contact with a fixed plate 223. These two members 224, 223 are rotatably arranged in relation to each other, such that the housing 220 may be freely positioned in any direction in relation to the gripping member 14 for the guide 12, which comprises similar gripping members 141, 142 as describe in connection with Figs. 7-8. These members 141, 142 are movably arranged in relation to a housing 32A by means of rotating a protruding shaft 30A that may be connected to the adjustment rod 30.

In order to further improve the ability to quickly remove a balcony, especially regarding an arrangement as shown in Fig. 9, without taking any risks, the support members 22 (23 in Fig. 1) between the balcony 4 and beam 22 (20, 21) may be equipped with load cells, enabling remote control of load applied to each one of the load cells, such that the lifting arrangement 27 may be pre tensioned to more or less exactly correspond to the weight of the balcony, and in a balanced manner. This is especially true after removal of a first balcony from a wall 6, since normally there are a plurality of identical balconies attached a wall 6 and after having lifted the first balcony 4 the exact weight of that balcony will be known. Regarding the first balcony a calculation may be performed to apply a pretension that is presumed to be more or less correct. By doing as mentioned above undesired jerks and blows may be eliminated. Further it is possible to use a scale between the lifting attachment 74 and the lifting machine for obtaining feed-back regarding pretension.

The invention is not limited to what has been described above but may be varied within the scope of the appended claims. For instance, it is foreseen that many of the specific devices that are described above will also enable a similar functionality in other situations and therefor it is for seen that divisional applications may be filed at a later stage to possibly attain a protection specifically for that device also when used in other application. Furthermore, many of the arrangements may be operated remotely, e.g. instead of using a long tool 30, 33, for making adjustments, implying that it is foreseen that electrically driven motors may be used to arranged for desired movements, e.g. to move a balancing weight 78.