AU602937B2 - Scaffolding coupler - Google Patents

Description

I--i I I,~---~~"c"g~acrrsa~i~L~E~ar rs 602937 COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PATENTS ACT 1952 Form COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR OFFICE USE Short Title: Int. Cl: Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification-Lodged: Accepted: Lapsed: Published: e Priority: This document con lains the amendments made underl Section 49 and is correct foi printing. Related Art: -I I ~D--s TO BE COMPLETED BY APPLICANT r Name of Applicant: Address of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for Service: LONDON MIDLAND DROP FORGING COMPANY LIMITED St. Lukes Works, Petford Street, P.O. Box 41 (Old Hill), Cradley Heath, Warley, WEST MIDLANDS B64 6EJ, ENGLAND Jack Graham Lowe GRIFFITH HASSEL FRAZER 'il YORK STREET SYDNEY NSW 2000

AUSTRALIA

Complete Specification for the invention entitled: SCAFFOLDING COUPLER The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us:- 5324A:rk 1A.

SCAFFOLDING COUPLER This invention relates to a scaffolding coupler intended for use in connecting together a pair of elongate scaffolding members in generally transverse relationship, the coupler including a body having transversely disposed seatings for the respective members, and a pair of clamping jaws each pivotally connected at one of its end portions to the body and being adapted at its other end portion to be releasably connected to the body to enable each of said scaffolding members to be clamped between one of said body seatings and the respective cooperating clamping J C jaw.

C It is advantageous in couplers of this kind to be able j "to limit the degree of pivotal opening movement of the jj clamping jaws relative to the body so that each jaw li extends, when fully open, generally at right angles to the adjacent body seat. This enables the open jaw, when disposed generally horizontally, to serve as a support for a horizontal scaffolding member prior to 1 tccc L the final clamping of the latter by the coupler and C greatly facilitates the use of the coupler in scaffolding erection. When the clamping jaws are Sconnected to the body by placing an apertured portion J of each jaw in surrounding relationship with part of the body, as .in one conventional type of coupler, it becomes difficult to limit the pivotal openings of the jaws in a satisfactory manner consistent with providing the required jaw strength and the result has hitherto been undesirable complication in the shapes of the components, with consequent high manufacturing costs.

2 A scaffolding coupler comprising a body having transversely disposed seatings for respective-elongate scaffolding members, and a pair of clamping jaws each pivotally connected at one of its end portions to the body and being adapted at its other end portion to be releasably connected to the body to enable each of said scaffolding members to be clamoed between one of said body seatings and the respective cooperating clamping jaw, the body including a pair of arms to which the clamping jaws are respectively pivotally connected by closed loop formations of the jaws surrounding the arms, at least one arm having, at a position along its length, a portion of increased thickness whereby, in use, at said position, c said arm can be engaged by a surface of one of the jaws e15 at the portion of increased thickness to jam it on said

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arm in a predetermined angular position in order to limit I the pivotal opening movement of that jaw.

Typically, said pivotal jaw opening movement is limited so that the open jaw extends substantially at right angles to the body.

In one convenient arrangement, the thickness of the arm varies in such a manner that the jaw jams thereon in a predetermined angular position, in order to limit its pivotal openirg movement.

Preferably, each of said arms provides an additional seat position spaced longitudinally from and in alignment respectively with said body seatings to afford additional support for said members, when clamped.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:- 9S/sy it l ~i Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of the scaffolding coupler of the invention interconnecting a pair of scaffolding members, one of which is illustrated in faint outline; Figure 2 is an end elevation of the coupler of Figure 1 in an alternative orientation, with one of said members disposed vertically and the other horizontally; Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1 with part of the Scoupler in a released condition and one of the I scaffolding members removed, and Figure 4 is a scrap vfew illustrating a modified form of part of the coupler.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, these show a scaffolding coupler having a body i, formed as a drop forging and having, on each side thereof, a pair of aligned concave seating portions 2A, 2B. Each pair of seating portions extends in a direction generally perpendicular to the other pair and to each pair is clamped, in use, one of two mutually perpendicular scaffolding tubes 3 and 4, connected together by the coupler. The body is also provided with a pair of mutually perpendicular curved arms 5, 6, which are inverted with respect to each other, each arm having a curved main portion 5A, 6A and an end portion 5B, 6B extending perpendicular to the general plane of its associated arm and forming, at its free end, a respective curved seat portion 5C, 6C each of which is aligned with one of the pairs of seating portions 2A, 2B to afford additional support to the adjacent tubular member 3, 4 which rests thereon, in use.

The coupler further includes a pair of generally arcuate clamping jaws 7, 8, each formed as a metal 4 pressing, the jaw 7 being pivotally mounted on the arm and being connectable at its free end to the body 1, in conventional manner, by means of a clamping assembly in the form of a pivotally mounted bolt 9 and an associated nut 10, the bolt, when operative, extending into a bifurcated end portion 11 of the arm, as illustrated. The jaw 8 is pivotally mounted on the arm 6 and cooperates with a clamping bolt 12 and nut 13, in similar manner to the jaw 7.

The manner of pivotally mounting the jaws 7, 8 on the arms 5, 6 is identical and will now be described in detail, for convenience, with reference to the jaw 7 and arm 5. The jaw 7 is provided with a through opening 14 bounded on one side by a tongue 7A, itself defined by slots 7B, the tongue being initially bent out of the plane of the adjacent part of the jaw, With the tongue in this position, the opening 14 is large enough to permit the clamp to be passed over the projecting portion 5B of the arm 5 and onto the main curved portion 5A thereof, whereupon the tongue 7A is bent back to its initial position in the plane of the clamp, the opening 14 becoming thereby restricted to an extent such that it is unable to pass over the thickest portion 15 of the arm which occurs at the junction between the main curved portion 5A thereof and the projection 5B. The jaw is therefore retained upon the arm and can pivot into and out of a position, as shown, in which it may be used to clamp the tube 3 to the body 1 under the action of the clamping bolts 9.

The thickest portion 15 of the arm 5 also serves to limit the pivotal opening movement of the jaw to the I position illustrated in Figure 3 in which it is generally at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the body 1. This can be useful in practice, when the tubular member 4 has already been clamped in a vertical position by the jaw 8, since the outstanding jaw 7 in the position illustrated in Figure 3 can act as a support for the horizontal member 3 prior to clamping of the latter. In the present embodiment, the jaw 7 is retained in the generally horizontal projecting position shown by arranging the dimensions of the opening 14 and thickened portion 15 of the arm such that jamming occurs between the edges of the opening 14 and said thickened portion to prevent the c jaw from moving further than the position shown.

e In an alternative embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, the arm 5' is of generally uniform thickness adjacent the junction between the curved portion 5A' and projection 5B' and the outward swinging movement of the jaw is limited by a protrusion 16 on the outer surface of the arm arranged to co-operate with the opening 14' to limit the swinging movement of the jaw for the purpose described above.

Further alternative possibilities exist for limiting the swinging movement of the arm; for example, the thickening of the arm may be provided at right angles to that illustrated so that jamming of the sides of the opening 14 occurs on the sides of the arm, rather than on the upper and lower surfaces thereof. When a protrusion 16 is employed, it may alternatively be provided on the underside or on one or both sides of the arm instead of on the top thereof as illustrated in Figure 4.

In the preferred version of the coupler illustrated, the body 1 is a forging and the jaws 7 formed as pressings. It would alternatively be possible for the jaws also to be forgings and, although this results in a rather more expensive product, this is compensated 1 Sp6 for, in part, by the fact that no rivets or pivots are j required to connect the jaws to the body and swinging of the jaws is limited in a simple and effective manner, as described.

It will be understood that the present invention can be applied to a coupler in v'hich the body portion is formed in two parts which are pivotally connected together, each having one or more seatings thereon and a jaw pivotally connected thereto. This arrangement enables two scaffolding members to be connected together in such a manner that they may be moved angularly relative to each other about an axis which is perpendicular to both of their lengths.

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Claims (5)

1. A scaffolding coupler comDrising a body having transversely disposed seatings for respective-elongate scaffolding members, and a pair of clamping jaws each pivotally connected at -ne of its end portions to the body and being adapted at its other end portion to be releasably connected to the body to enable each of said scaffolding members to be clamoed between one of said body seatings and the respective cooperating clamping jaw, the body including a pair of arms to which the clamping jaws are respectively pivotally connected by closed loop formations of the jaws surrounding the arms, at least one arm having, at a position along its length, a portion of increased thickness whereby, in use, at said position, said arm can be engaged by a surface of one of the jaws at the portion of increased thickness to jam it on said arm in a predetermined angular position in order to limit the pivotal opening nrovement of that jaw.

2. A scaffolding coupler as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said arm is of generally uniform thickness over the portion traversed by the jaw during its pivotal movement, and the portion of increased thickness comprises one or more protrusions provided on the or each arm to jam with the jaw to limit its pivotal openina movement.

3. A scaffolding coupler as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said pivozable jaw opening movement is limited so that the open jaw extends substantially at right angles to the body.

4. A scaffolding couple-- as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each of said arms provides an additional seat portion spaced longitudinally from and in alignment respectively with said body seatings to afford additional support for said members, when clamped. A scaffolding coupler as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the body is a forging and the jaws are pressings.

716. A scaffolding coupler as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the body is formed in two parts which are pivotally connected together, each part having f one of said seatings and a clamping jaw pivotally CCC connected thereto. 7. A scaffolding coupler substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to, and as shown in Figures 1 to 3, or Figures 1 to 3 as modified by Figure 4 of the C accompanying drawings. Dated this 6th day of August 1990. LONDON MIDLAND DROP FORGOING COMPANY LIMITED By their Patent Attorney ct 11 GRIFFITH HACK CO rCC