TRINCHI, Francesco (c/ - 3 Albert Coates Lane, QV BuildingMelbourne, Victoria 3000, AU)
| CLAIMS 1. A guardrail post support, including: a body portion with an element that is adapted to be mounted to an upright component of a shoring framework so that the body portion projects cantilever fashion laterally of said upright component; a brace member for additionally supporting the body portion when it is mounted to said upright component; and at least two post mounts upstanding from said body portion, which post mounts when in situ are horizontally spaced from said upright component and mutually spaced apart so as to accommodate between them a horizontally extending beam supported by said upright component; whereby when posts are inserted in the post mounts, the posts extend upwardly above said upright component of the shoring framework. 2. A guardrail post support according to claim 1 , wherein the body portion includes an elongate element and a transverse element on which the post mounts are disposed. 3. A guardrail post support according to claim 2, wherein the body portion is generally T-shaped. 4. A guardrail post support according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the body portion is formed from metal beam components. 5. A guardrail post support according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the body portion is adapted to be mounted to an upright component of a shoring framework by having a depending tab at an end of the body portion for receipt into a pocket on the upright component. 6. A guardrail post support according to claim 5, wherein a depending tab is also provided on the brace member for supporting the brace member at a lower pocket on the upright component. 7. A guardrail post support according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the body portion is mounted to an upright component of a shoring framework by simply resting in one or more pockets on the framework. 8. A guardrail post support according to any one of claims 5, 6 or 7, wherein safety catch means is provided to guard against inadvertent lifting of the post supports from their pocket. 9. A guardrail post support according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the post mounts are upstanding tubular elements of sufficient length to stably receive the lower end of post of complementary dimensions. 10. A guardrail post support according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the post support carries means for fixing the posts to the post mounts. 11. A guardrail post support according to claim 10, wherein said means for fixing is threaded fastenings. 12. A guardrail post support according to claim 10, wherein said means for fixing is pin fastenings. 13. A set of one or more of the guardrail post supports according to any one of claims 1 to 12, and multiple guardrail posts dimensioned to be received in the post mounts of the post support. 14. A set according to claim 13, wherein the posts are more than two meters long, for mounting a guardrail above table forms supported above the level of the one or more post supports. |
Field of the invention
This invention relates generally to the protection of personnel during the construction of buildings, especially multi-storey buildings. The invention has a particular but not exclusive focus on the safety of personnel involved in the installation of formwork systems to support successive slab floors as the height of a building progresses upwardly.
Background of the invention
A known approach to the support of formwork systems for slab and other floors is to employ frame-linked post networks such as the Alshor system available from RMD. The posts or legs have regular polygonal cross sections and, at vertically spaced intervals, mounting rings or lugs that define circumferentially spaced pockets to receive depending tabs on frames and beams that can thereby be supported from the lugs.
The usual present practice is to prepare formwork above the current floor by supporting transverse beams from the aligned lugs of multiple shoring posts and then to build up the formwork, for example table formwork, on the transverse beams. Although it is normal practice to quickly install guardrails about these beams and about the formwork, it has been realised that there is an interim period when personnel can be exposed to open edges above the currently guarded level.
It is a primary object of the present invention to address this deficiency.
Reference to any prior art in the specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia or any other jurisdiction or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be ascertained, understood and regarded as relevant by a person skilled in the art. Summary of the invention
The invention provides a guardrail post support, including:
a body portion with an element that is adapted to be mounted to an upright component of a shoring framework so that the body portion projects cantilever fashion laterally of said upright component;
a brace member for additionally supporting the body portion when it is mounted to said upright component; and
at least two post mounts upstanding from said body portion, which post mounts when in situ are horizontally spaced from said upright component and mutually spaced apart so as to accommodate between them a horizontally extending beam supported by said upright component;
whereby when posts are inserted in the post mounts, the posts extend upwardly above said upright component of the shoring framework.
Preferably, the body portion includes an elongate element and a transverse element on which the post mounts are disposed. In an advantageous configuration, the body portion is generally T-shaped.
Typically, the body portion, and preferably also the brace member, are metal beam components, for example square steel tubes.
The body portion may be adapted to be mounted to an upright component of a shoring framework by having a depending tab at an end of the body portion for receipt into a pocket on the upright component. A similar arrangement may conveniently be provided on the brace member for supporting the brace member at a lower pocket on the upright component.
The guardrail post support may be mounted to an upright component of a shoring framework by simply resting in one or more pockets on the framework. Safety catch means is preferably provided to guard against inadvertent lifting of the post supports from their pocket.
In a typical arrangement, the post mounts may be upstanding tubular elements of sufficient length to stably receive the lower end of post of complementary dimensions. The post support preferably carries means for fixing the posts to the post mounts, for example threaded or pin fastenings.
The invention extends to a set of one or more of the post supports and multiple guardrail posts dimensioned to be received in the post mounts of the post support. Preferably, the posts are more than two meters long, more preferably more than 2.2 meters long. This allows the posts to mount a guardrail above table forms supported above the level of the one or more post supports.
Brief description of the drawings
The invention will now be further described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a pair of guardrail post supports according to an embodiment of the invention, shown in situ mounted to respective upright components of a shoring framework, with one of a variety of possible guardrail arrangements erected on the post supports;
Figures 2, 3 and 4 are respective front, rear and side elevations of the guardrail post support; and
Figure 5 is a side elevation of an assembly of a shoring framework post, a guardrail post support of the form depicted in Figures 1 to 3, and a guardrail.
Detailed description of embodiments of the invention
The illustrated guardrail post support 10 includes a body portion 12 formed from a pair of square steel tubes 14,15 welded together in a T-shape, an underlying brace member 20, and a pair of upstanding post mounts 30,32 at the respective ends of the transverse element 15 of body portion 12.
The juncture of the tubes 14,15 of body portion 12 is strengthened by a pair of right angle brackets 16,17 welded into position to both tubes 14,15 at either side of tube 14, while brace member 20, which is also a square steel tube of a similar dimension to tubes 14,15, is welded to the underside of tube 14 between the brackets. The structure may be further stabilised and strengthened by a vertical strut 55 linking tubes 14,20 and/or by bracing tie-rods 18 (shown only in Figure 1 for the front post support).
Welded at the free ends of tubes 14,20 are respective thick steel plates 40,41 (e.g. 8mm thick) that are arranged in a common vertical plane and depend below the respective tubes to define respective tabs 42 (see Figure 4) by which they can be dropped into vertically spaced pockets 105 on an upright post or leg 102 of a shoring framework 100. It will be seen from Figure 1 that the guardrail post support 10 is thereby mounted to post 102 so that body portion 12 projects cantilever fashion laterally of the post 102. Pockets 105 are defined by respective circumferential octagonal mounting rings or lugs 104.
To guard against inadvertent uplift of the post support 10, the post support is latched down by a spring loaded catch 50 pivotally mounted to strut 55. Catch 50 has a pair of serrated or toothed upper edges 52 (see Figure 4) that engage under the respective octagonal mounting lug 104 on post 102 below the pocket 105 defined by the lug and in which plate 40 seats. The spring loading on catch 50 biases it to the outer, engaging position.
Each post mount 30,32 is a square tube of larger cross section than tubes 14,15 and 20. Each post mount 30,32 is closed at its lower end by a welded-in plate and open at its upper end so as to define a socket that snugly receives a respective guardrail post 110 of similar cross sectional dimension to tubes 14,15 and 20. The guardrail post is retained in its mount by one or both of a chain mounted pin 34 that engages registered apertures 36,116 on the post mount and the post (see Figures 1 and 2), or a threaded screw or pin 38 (see Figures 3 and 4) fitted to a welded nut 39 on the outer face of the post mount to engage one of a corresponding set of apertures in the posts.
Each guardrail post at its upper end is fitted on its inner face (when mounted in the correct orientation in its post mount) with a right angular bracket 120 to receive a guardrail 122 (see Figure 1). A further threaded pin and welded nut arrangement 124 (Figure 5) is provided for locking the rail in place. Depending on the length of the posts 110, further intermediate rails 123 may be fitted, to the posts, e.g. at 600mm vertical spacings, by further brackets 121.
The guardrail posts 110 may of course come in a variety of lengths, but a particularly convenient length is greater than two metres, and preferably between 2.2 and 2.5 metres in length. This arrangement permits a guardrail to be provided atop table formwork being installed on cross beams, immediately above the level of body portion 12 of the post supports 10.
Figure 1 depicts one way in which a guardrail can be erected on guardrail post supports of the form illustrated in Figures 1 to 4. As a primary step when it is planned to commence installation of the next level of floor supporting formwork, multiple post supports 10 are fitted to a succession of uprights 102 at the edge of the working zone.
The provision of two spaced post mounts 30,32 means that the post supports can be linked in a pair-wise fashion by guardrails 122,123 while leaving vertical clearance between the post mounts of each post-support to accommodate the passage between them of items such as horizontally extending beams 150. The beams are depicted, by broken lines at 150, in position supported by the adjacent uprights 102. The formwork can then be installed above these beams. Personnel can be located above table formwork extending beyond the uprights and yet be protected by the already installed guardrail.
Other guardrail arrangements are of course possible. For example, the guardrails can be continuous (broken lines 122', 123' in Figure 1), and/or there may be only one guardrail post 110 fitted to one or more of the post supports 10. It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined in this specification extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text or drawings. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention.
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