IL297637B2

IL297637B2 - System and Method for Scaffolding Platform

Info

Publication number: IL297637B2
Application number: IL297637A
Authority: IL
Original assignee: Sba Metal Works Ltd
Priority date: 2022-10-25
Filing date: 2022-10-25
Publication date: 2025-01-01
Also published as: IL297637B1; IL297637A

Description

0288150916- System and Method for Scaffolding Platform TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD The presently disclosed subject matter is related to the field of climbing scaffolding systems, and in particular, to a scaffolding locking mechanism operational in a climbing scaffolding system.

BACKGROUND ART References considered to be relevant as background to the presently disclosed subject matter are listed below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TRw0pQEgpAcknowledgement of the above references herein is not to be inferred as meaning that these are in any way relevant to the patentability of the presently disclosed subject matter.

BACKGROUND Climbing scaffolding systems are known in the art, and are useful in the construction of multi-story structures for transporting workers and equipment up and down the faces of the structure on scaffolding assemblies, so that various activities on the various levels of the structure can be performed. In some examples, scaffolding assemblies can be lifted by crane and lowered onto mounting members of anchoring assemblies anchored to the structure, while a mechanism is employed to secure the scaffolding assembly to the anchoring assemblies.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION The presently disclosed subject matter is concerned with climbing scaffolding systems which can be used in the construction of multi-story structures. According to a first aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a scaffolding locking mechanism comprising a housing, the housing comprising a pivoting lever pivotally secured within 0288150916- the housing by a pivot pin. The pivoting lever is configured to pivot between an open position and a locked position. The housing is configured for a mounting member of an anchoring assembly to be introduced therein when the pivoting lever is in the open position, and when the pivoting lever is in the locked position and the anchoring assembly is in an assembled state, the scaffolding locking mechanism is configured to engage the mounting member, and the housing is configured to encage the mounting member and to bear at least a portion of a weight associated with a scaffolding assembly articulated to the scaffolding locking mechanism. The housing can comprise an pathway along which the mounting member is introduced into the housing, the pathway being unobstructed when the pivoting lever is in the open position, and being at least partially obstructed by at least a portion of the pivoting lever when the pivoting lever is in the locked position. The housing can be configured with an opening extending along at least a portion of a bottom side and at least a portion of a front side of the housing, the opening having a receiving width and constituting the pathway, wherein the front side of the housing is opposite a rear side of the housing, the housing being articulated to the scaffolding assembly at its rear side. The housing can comprise two lateral sides, each of the two lateral sides extending between the front side and the rear side of the housing and forming an enclosure of the pathway within the housing. The pivot pin can be connected to the two lateral sides and the pivoting lever disposed within the enclosure. The opening extending along the front side of the housing can comprise a slot, the slot being open at its bottom end and closed at its top end. The slot can have a width which is equal to the receiving width and which is narrower than a width of the front side of the housing, and it can have a height which is shorter than a height of the front side of the housing. The mounting member can comprise an enlarged head portion having a width W H and a constricted neck portion having a width W N, and the receiving width W R of the slot can be such that W N < W R < W H. The pivoting lever can be configured to have a center of gravity such that it is biased to remain in the open position. 0288150916- Alternatively, the scaffolding locking mechanism can comprise a biasing mechanism, configured to bias the pivoting lever to remain in the open position. The biasing mechanism can comprise at least one spring. The spring can be a coiled spring. The pivoting lever can have an upper portion and a lower portion. The pivoting lever can be pivotally secured within the housing by the pivot pin at the upper portion, and configured so that the lower portion is allowed to pivot between the open position and the locked position. The pivoting lever can be configured to pivot between the open position, in which position the lower portion of the pivoting lever is at least partially clear of the pathway such that the pathway is at least partially unobstructed, and the locked position, in which position the lower portion of the pivoting lever at least partially obstructs the pathway. The pivoting lever can be configured to pivot in a first direction toward the front side of the housing from the open position to the locked position, and in a second direction opposite the first direction from the locked position to the open position. The locking mechanism can further comprise a locking pin, and the pivoting lever and the two lateral sides can each comprise a guiding slot. The locking pin can be configured to pass through the housing via the guiding slot in each of the pivoting lever and the two lateral sides, so as to slide along each guiding slot in accordance with the movement of the pivoting lever between the open position and the locked position. The guiding slot in the pivoting lever can be a vertical guiding slot having an upper end and a lower end. The locking pin can be disposed in the upper end when the pivoting lever is in the open position, and it can be disposed in the lower end when the pivoting lever is in the locked position. The guiding slot in each of the two lateral sides can be an L-shaped guiding slot comprising a first vertically oriented section having a top end and a bottom end, and a second section oriented along an imaginary circle having the pivot pin at its centerpoint, and a radius of the distance between the pivot pin and the locking pin, the first vertically oriented section being spaced at a distance D from the front side of the housing, and the second section extending between the top end and a rear end spaced at a distance E from the top end. The locking pin can be disposed in the rear end when the pivoting 0288150916- lever is in the open position, and it can be disposed in the bottom end when the pivoting lever is in the locked position. The pivoting lever can comprise an upper bearing surface on an underside of its upper portion, and it can be configured to pivot in the first direction toward the front side of the housing when the mounting member of the anchoring assembly is introduced into the housing and impinges upon the upper bearing surface, thereby introducing into the pivoting lever a locking moment force acting in the first direction toward the front side of the housing. The pivoting lever can be configured to push the locking pin from the rear end to the top end of the guiding slot in each of the two lateral sides, when the locking moment force is introduced into the pivoting lever. The locking pin can be configured, when positioned in the top end of the first vertically oriented section of the guiding slot in each of the two lateral sides, to fall into its bottom end, and to remain in the bottom end at least on account of gravity, thereby maintaining the pivoting lever in the locked position. The locking mechanism can be configured such that at least a portion of the weight associated with the scaffolding assembly articulated to the locking mechanism can be borne at the upper bearing surface when the pivoting lever is in the locked position. The pivoting lever can comprise a lower bearing surface on a top side of its lower portion, and when the pivoting lever is in the locked position and the anchoring assembly is in a disassembled state, the lower bearing surface can be configured to serve as a support surface for the mounting member, and the housing can be configured to encage the mounting member so as to contain the mounting member securely in the housing for being carried along with the scaffolding assembly. The pivoting lever can have a C-shaped profile, comprising a web member, an upper flange member and a lower flange member, and can be configured to pivot about a point in the upper portion where the web member meets the upper flange member. The upper bearing surface can be on an underside of the upper flange member, and the lower bearing surface can be on a top side of said lower flange member. The scaffolding locking mechanism can further comprise a handle articulated to the locking pin configured to allow the locking pin to be lifted out of the lower end, thereby returning the pivoting lever from the locked position to the open position. 0288150916- In an embodiment of the scaffolding locking mechanism comprising a biasing member which is a spring, the spring can be configured to apply to the pivoting lever an opening moment force acting in the second direction, so as to bias the pivoting lever to remain in the open position. Furthermore, in an embodiment of the scaffolding locking mechanism comprising a biasing member which is a spring, the pivoting lever and each of the guiding slots are configured so that when the locking pin is moved from the bottom end to the top end of the guiding slot in the lateral sides of the housing, the locking pin is snapped into the rear end of the guiding slot by the opening moment force applied to the pivoting lever by the spring. According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of mounting a scaffolding assembly on a mounting member of an anchoring assembly when the anchoring assembly is in an assembled state, the mounting including: - providing a scaffolding locking mechanism comprising a housing, the housing comprising a pivoting lever pivotally secured within the housing by a pivot pin, the pivoting lever configured to pivot between an open position and a locked position; - articulating the scaffolding locking mechanism to the scaffolding assembly; - lowering the scaffolding assembly with the locking mechanism articulated thereto over the mounting member, such that the mounting member is introduced into the housing when the pivoting lever is in the open position; - proceeding with the lowering until the mounting member engages the pivoting lever and brings it into the locked position, in which position the housing is configured to encage the mounting member and to bear a weight associated with the scaffolding assembly. The method of mounting a scaffolding assembly on a mounting member of an anchoring assembly can further comprise transporting the mounting member when the anchoring assembly is in a disassembled state, the transporting including: 0288150916- - disassembling the anchoring assembly when the pivoting lever is in the locked position such that the mounting member is separated from the anchoring assembly and remains encaged in the housing; - selecting one of lifting and lowering the scaffolding assembly so as to carry the mounting member to a location where it can be retrieved for reuse.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to better understand the subject matter that is disclosed herein and to exemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1A is a partially cutaway side view of a scaffolding locking mechanism operational in accordance with the presently disclosed subject matter, in a climbing scaffolding system in use on a multi-story structure under construction, the scaffolding locking mechanism being in the locked position; Fig. 1B is a partially cutaway close-up side view of the scaffolding locking mechanism of Fig. 1A, the scaffolding locking mechanism being in the open position; Fig. 2 is a schematic perspective illustration of the scaffolding locking mechanism shown in Fig. 1B; Fig. 3 is a partially cutaway close-up side view of the scaffolding locking mechanism shown in Fig. 1A; Fig. 4A is a close-up view of the scaffolding locking mechanism shown in Fig. 1B; Fig. 4B is a close-up view of an alternative embodiment of the scaffolding locking mechanism shown in Fig. 1B; and Fig. 5 is the partially cutaway side view of the locking mechanism shown in Fig. 3, the locking mechanism carrying a mounting member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Reference is made to Fig. 1A, which shows a scaffolding locking mechanism in accordance with the presently disclosed subject matter, operational in an exemplary climbing scaffolding system 20. 0288150916- As shown in Fig. 1A, the exemplary climbing scaffolding system 20 comprises a scaffolding assembly 21, which comprises a vertically oriented scaffolding panel 25 and a horizontal platform 26. A bracing member 23 connects between the vertically oriented scaffolding panel 25 and the horizontal platform 26, providing bracing support to the scaffolding assembly 21. The scaffolding assembly 21, operational within the climbing scaffolding system 20, can be maneuvered alternately up and down the face of a multi-story structure which is under construction, in accordance with the requirements of the construction process, while the horizontal platform 26 provides a working surface for workers and/or a support surface for equipment. A safety railing 22 at the edge of the horizontal platform 26 functions as a safety barrier for preventing accidental falls of workers and/or equipment from the horizontal platform 26, which, during the course of its operation, is likely to be located many feet off the ground. In the example shown in Fig. 1A of a construction operation in which the scaffolding assembly 21 is operational, the climbing scaffolding system 20 is being used for assembling the formwork for the concrete pours required to construct each successive upper story S of the multi-story structure 45, as each lower story S of the structure is cast and cured, and the structure grows in height. The scaffolding assembly 21 can be seen to be mounted to the structure 45 at an upper portion of the vertical wall W1 of the lower story S1 which has already been cast, as indicated by the concrete hatching pattern on the vertical wall W1. The diagonal hatching on the floor slab FS1 and the ceiling slab CS1 of the lower story S1 similarly indicate that these slabs have already been cast. While the floor slab FS2 of the upper story S2 can also be seen to have already been cast, as the floor slab FS2 of the upper story S2 is constituted by the ceiling slab CS1 of the lower story S1, the vertical wall W2 and the ceiling slab CS2 of the upper story S2, as indicated by the dashed lines outlining these parts of the structure 45, have not yet been cast. Thus, it will be appreciated that the scaffolding assembly 21, in its position shown in Fig. A1 and described above, is positioned such that the horizontal platform 26 can function as a working platform for workers and equipment, for casting the concrete members of the upper story S2, i.e., the vertical wall W2 and thereafter the ceiling slab CS2 of the upper story S2, and thereafter in the same manner, additional 0288150916- upper stories S3, S4 etc., so as to continue the construction of the structure 45 until its uppermost story S is cast. As can be seen in Fig. 1A, and more clearly in Fig. 1B, reference to which is now made, the scaffolding assembly 21 is mounted, via the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 of the presently disclosed subject matter, to a mounting member 56 of an anchoring assembly 52 which is anchored to an upper portion of the vertical wall W1 of the lower story S1 as described above. In addition to the mounting member 56, the anchoring assembly 52 further comprises a rod 53 which passes through the vertical wall W1, and a bolting assembly 55. The bolting assembly 55 is bolted to an interior end portion 53I of the rod 53 at an interior surface W1I of the wall W1, in an interior space I of the structure 45. The mounting member 56 is connected to an exterior end portion 53X of the rod 53 at an exterior surface W1X of the wall W1. It will be appreciated that after casting, the vertical wall W1 will have been allowed to cure so as to allow the concrete to strengthen prior to the installation of the anchoring assembly 52, so that the vertical wall W1 is capable of bearing forces exerted upon it by the scaffolding assembly 21, including for example, the weight of the scaffolding assembly itself, as well as the maximum load it is allowed to bear (i.e., of workers and equipment), when it is mounted on the mounting member 56 of the anchoring assembly 52. In Fig. 1A, at an upper portion of the vertical wall W2 corresponding to the location on the upper portion of the vertical wall W1 where the anchoring assembly is disposed, an anchoring rod sleeve 47 is indicated, where it will be formed during the casting of the vertical wall W2, so that it will be possible to mount the scaffolding assembly 21 on the anchoring assembly 52 which will be installed there after the vertical wall W2 has been cast and cured. This will allow the scaffolding assembly 21 to be raised to the level of the story S2 of the structure so that casting of the story Scan be performed. It will be appreciated that the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 of the presently disclosed subject matter is configured to be articulated to the scaffolding assembly 21 and to engage the mounting member 56 of the anchoring assembly 52 so that the scaffolding assembly 21 can be securely mounted to the structure 45. 0288150916- It will be appreciated that it is important that the scaffolding assembly 21 be mounted securely to the mounting member 56 for safety reasons, so that the scaffolding assembly 21 cannot accidentally be detached from the mounting member 56, by being flipped over by wind forces, for example, or due to an impact from a load being lifted by a crane in close proximity to the scaffolding assembly 21. A situation in which the scaffolding assembly 21 would become detached from the mounting member 56 would be dangerous both for workers working on the scaffolding assembly 21, as well as anyone else located in the vicinity of the scaffolding assembly 21 at ground level, upon whom objects could be liable to fall from a height with great force. It will further be appreciated that various resources, including time, equipment and human resources, are required for the use of climbing scaffolding systems such as the climbing scaffolding system 20 shown in Figs. 1A and 1B, in order to anchor the anchoring assemblies 52 with the mounting members 56 to the structure 45. In some cases, it is necessary that an additional horizontal platform be articulated to the scaffolding assembly 21 below the main working platform in order to provide a surface for a worker to stand on while assembling and/or disassembling the anchoring assemblies. In view of a first objective of providing a mechanism and a method for securely mounting a scaffolding assembly to a mounting member of an anchoring assembly anchored to a structure, the scaffolding locking mechanism of the presently disclosed subject matter comprises a housing, the housing comprising a pivoting lever pivotally secured within the housing by a pivot pin. The pivoting lever is configured to pivot between an open position and a locked position. When the pivoting lever is in the open position, the housing is configured for the mounting member of the anchoring assembly to be introduced therein. When the pivoting lever is in the locked position and the anchoring assembly is in an assembled state, the scaffolding locking mechanism is configured to engage the mounting member, and the housing is configured to encage the mounting member, and to bear at least a portion of the weight associated with the scaffolding assembly articulated to the scaffolding locking mechanism. In view of a second objective of providing a mechanism and a method for conveniently disassembling an anchoring assembly configured for use in a climbing scaffolding system, the scaffolding locking mechanism is further configured, such that 0288150916- when the pivoting lever is in the locked position and the anchoring assembly is in a disassembled state, the mounting member, after its separation from the other components of the anchoring assembly, remains securely contained inside the housing so that it can be carried along with the scaffolding assembly to a location where it can be retrieved for reuse. Accordingly, as shown in Fig. 1B, the scaffolding locking mechanism comprises a housing 30, the housing 30 comprising a pivoting lever 16, pivotally secured within the housing 30 by a pivot pin 18. The pivoting lever 16 is configured to pivot between an open position and a locked position. In Fig. 1B, the pivoting lever is shown in its open position. The locked position of the pivoting lever 16 will be described below with respect to Figs. 3 and 5. As further shown in Fig. 1B, the housing 30 has a front side 32 which faces the structure 45, and a rear side 34 on an opposite side of the housing 30 from the front side 32, at which the housing 30 is articulated to the scaffolding assembly 21. In the example of Fig. 1B, the connections between the rear side 34 of the housing 30 and the scaffolding panel 25 can be seen to include two pins 27, each secured by a locking clip 28. The housing 30 further has two lateral sides 33, which extend from the front side to the rear side 34 of the housing 30. It will be appreciated that only the lateral side which is on the far side of the housing 30 with respect to the point of view shown in Fig. 1B, is shown in Fig. 1B. The other lateral side 33, which would have obscured the interior of the housing 30 had it been shown in Fig. 1B, has been removed from the figure so as to allow the interior of the housing 30 to be seen in the figure. The housing 30 furthermore has a bottom side 39, which extends on an underside of the housing 30 from the front side 32 to the rear side 34 of the housing 30 between the two lateral sides 33. The housing 30 further comprises a pathway 38, via which the mounting member 56 is introduced into the housing 30 when the scaffolding locking mechanism 10, articulated to the scaffolding assembly 21, is lowered, for example, by a crane, over the mounting member 56, so as to execute the mounting of the scaffolding assembly 21 on the mounting member 56. The mounting member 56 is introduced into the housing along the pathway 38, when the pivoting lever 16 is in the open position and the 0288150916- pathway 38 is unobstructed by the pivoting lever 16. The pivoting lever 16 is shown to be in the open position in Fig. 1B as well as in Fig. 2, reference to which is now made. As can be seen in Fig. 2, the housing 30 is configured with an opening extending along a portion of its bottom side 39 and its front side 32, the opening having at least a receiving width WR and constituting the pathway 38. It can be seen in Fig. 1B that when the pivoting lever 16 is in the open position, the opening along the bottom side which is unobstructed by the pivoting lever 16, i.e., bottom opening 37, has a length of 37A which extends between the front side 32 of the housing 30 and a leading edge 69 of a lower portion 64 of the pivoting lever 16. It can be seen in Fig. 1B that the length 37A of the bottom opening 37 is just sufficiently long enough so that the mounting member 56 can enter the housing while passing by the leading edge 69 of the pivoting lever 16. This can be seen in Fig. 1B where the length of the portion of the mounting member 56 which enters the housing 30, length 56L, is shown to be just nearly as long as the length 37A of the bottom opening 37 when the pivoting lever 16 is in the open position. It can further be seen in Fig. 2 that the opening extending along the front side of the housing 30 comprises a slot 31 which is open at its bottom end and closed at its top end. The slot 31 can further be seen to have a width which is equal to the receiving width WR and which is narrower than a housing width 30W of the front side 32 of the housing 30. The slot 31 can further be seen to have a slot height 31H which is shorter than a housing height 30H of the front side 32 of the housing 30. It can furthermore be seen in Fig. 2 that the two lateral sides 33 of the housing form an enclosure of the pathway 38 within the housing 30. It will be appreciated that the pivot pin 18 is connected to the two lateral sides of the housing 30, and that the pivoting lever 16 is disposed within the enclosure of the pathway 38 within the housing 30. It will further be appreciated that the pivoting lever 16 is configured to pivot in a first direction toward the front side 32 of the housing 30 from the open position to the locked position, and in a second direction opposite the first direction from the locked position to the open position. It will be appreciated yet further that the pivoting lever 16 is configured to have a center of gravity such that it is biased to remain in the open position shown in Fig. 1B. Alternatively, the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 can comprise a biasing 0288150916- mechanism which biases the pivoting lever 16 to remain in the open position. One example of such a biasing mechanism is described in further detail below with respect to Fig. 4B. In addition to the lower portion 64 of the pivoting lever 16 mentioned above, the pivoting lever 16 shown in Fig. 1B can further be seen to have an upper portion 62, the pivoting lever 16 being pivotally secured within the housing 30 by the pivot pin 18 at the upper portion 62. The pivoting lever 16 is configured so that the lower portion is allowed to pivot between the open position and the locked position. The pivoting lever 16 is further configured such that in the open position, the lower portion 64 is at least partially clear of the pathway 38 such that the pathway 38 is at least partially unobstructed. The pivoting lever 16 is further configured such that in the locked position, the lower portion 64 at least partially obstructs the pathway 38. Thus when the scaffolding assembly 21 is lowered such that the mounting member 56 is received in the pathway 38 of the housing 30 of the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 when the pivoting lever 16 is in the open position, such that the pivoting lever 16 is not obstructing the pathway 38, and the pathway 38 is unobstructed, the lowering of the scaffolding assembly 21 proceeds until the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 engages the mounting member 56. In the example shown in Fig. 1B, it can be seen that it is an upper bearing surface 66 of an underside of the upper portion 62 of the pivoting lever 16 which the mounting member 56 engages, i.e., with which the mounting member 56 comes into contact. As can further be seen in Fig. 1B, the exemplary pivoting lever 16 has a C-shaped profile, comprising a web member 72, an upper flange member 71 and a lower flange member 73. The pivoting lever 16 is configured to pivot about a point in the upper portion 62 of the pivoting lever 16 where the web member 72 meets the upper flange member 71, i.e. where the pin 18 can be seen to be disposed in Fig. 1B. The upper bearing surface 66 is on an underside of the upper flange member 71. A lower bearing surface 68 is on a top side of the lower flange member 73. The function of the lower bearing surface 68 will be discussed in further detail below with respect to Fig. 5. The pivoting lever 16 is configured to pivot in a first direction, which in the example shown in Fig. 1 is a clockwise direction indicated by the arrow R1, when the mounting member 56 of the anchoring assembly 52 is introduced into the housing and impinges upon the upper bearing surface 66. The force F exerted on the upper 0288150916- bearing surface 66 by the mounting member 56, acting through the moment arm 64D between the point of exertion of the force F on the upper bearing surface 66 and the pivot pin 18, introduces into the pivoting lever 16 a locking moment force M1 acting in the first direction, as shown in Fig. 1B. Thus, the pivoting lever 16 pivots from the open position, shown in Fig. 1B, in which the pathway 38 is open to receive the mounting member 56, to the locked position, shown in Fig. 3, reference to which is now made, in which the pathway 38 is at least partially obstructed by the pivoting lever 16. In the case of the exemplary scaffolding locking mechanism 10 shown in the figures, the pathway 38 becomes partially obstructed by the lower portion 64 of the pivoting lever 16 as a consequence of the pivoting lever 16 pivoting from the open position into the locked position. It can be seen in Fig. 3 that in accordance with the above mentioned, the length 37B of the bottom opening 37 of the housing 30 when the pivoting lever 16 is in the locked position is a shorter length than the length 37A of the bottom opening 37 when the pivoting lever 16 is in the open position, shown in Fig. 1B. Accordingly, the length 37B is also shorter than the length 56L required for the mounting member 56 to enter or exit the housing 30 while passing by the leading edge 69 of the pivoting lever 16. It will appreciated that the mounting member 56 is prevented from exiting the housing 30 from the bottom side 39 due to the partial obstruction of the pathway 38 by the pivoting lever 16 which results in a reduction in the length of the bottom opening 37 from the length 37A to the length 37B, the length 37B being less than the length 56L required for the mounting member 56 to be able to pass by the leading edge 69 of the pivoting lever 16.The scaffolding locking mechanism 10 thus performs its function as a safety mechanism, i.e., by blocking the exit of the mounting member 56 from the housing 30, the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 assures a secure connection between the scaffolding locking mechanism 10, and thereby, the scaffolding assembly 21, with the mounting member 56. In order to ensure that the pivoting lever 16 remains in the locked position, the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 further comprises a locking pin, and each of the pivoting lever and the two lateral sides further comprise a guiding slot, configured for the locking pin to be guided therein, as will be explained in further detail below. An exemplary locking pin 81, which can be seen in Figs. 1B, 2, and 3, is configured to pass through the housing 30 via the guiding slot in each of the pivoting 0288150916- lever 16 and the two lateral sides 33, so as to slide along each guiding slot in accordance with the movement of the pivoting lever 16 between the open position and the locked position. In Fig. 4A, reference to which is now made, the guiding slot 86 of the pivoting lever 16 and the guiding slot 83 of the lateral side 33 are shown. It will be appreciated that there is a corresponding guiding slot 83 in each of the two lateral sides 33, although only one lateral side 33 is shown in Fig. 4A for the same reason explained above with respect to Fig. 1B. The guiding slot 86 is disposed in the lower portion 64 of the pivoting lever 16, and it is a vertically oriented guiding slot with an upper end 87 and a lower end 85. When the pivoting lever 16 is in the open position, as it is in Fig. 4A, the locking pin is disposed in the upper end 87, as shown in Fig. 4A. The guiding slot 83 in each of the two lateral sides 33 is an L-shaped guiding slot, oriented such that the L shape familiar from the alphabet has undergone a clockwise rotation of 90 degrees. Thus, the ordinarily horizontal segment of the letter L is oriented vertically, comprising a first vertically oriented section 96 of the guiding slot 83, having a top end 97 and a bottom end 95, and the ordinarily vertical segment of the letter L is oriented horizontally, comprising a second section 98 of the guiding slot 83. The first vertically oriented section 96 is spaced at a distance D from the front side of the housing 30 and the second section 98 extends between the top end 97 and a rear end 93 which is spaced at a distance E from the top end 97. When the pivoting lever 16 is in the open position, as it is in Fig. 4A, the locking pin 81 is disposed in the rear end 93, as shown in Fig. 4A. It will be appreciated that, as can be seen in the example shown in Fig. 4A, the second section 98 is not strictly horizontal, but rather has a slight curvature, as its path between the top end 97 and the rear end 93 is along an imaginary circle having the pivot pin 18 at its center, and a radius defined by the distance between the pivot pin 18 and the locking pin 81. This curvature allows the locking pin 81, which passes through the pivoting lever 16 as well as through the two lateral sides 33 as explained hereinabove, to move along the second section 98 as the pivoting lever 16 rotates about the pivot pin 18 between its open and locked positions, as will be explained below in further detail. As explained previously with respect to Figs. 1B and 3, when the mounting member impinges upon the upper bearing surface 66 of the pivoting lever 16, the resulting 0288150916- locking moment force M1 acts upon the pivoting lever 16, causing it to pivot from the open position shown in Fig. 1B to the locked position shown in Fig. 3. The pivoting lever 16 is configured such that when the locking moment force M1 is introduced into the pivoting lever 16, the pivoting lever 16 pushes the locking pin in the direction indicated in Fig. 4A by the arrow 92, from the rear end 93 to the top end 97 of the guiding slot 83 in both of the lateral sides 33, while the pivoting lever moves into the locked position. Then, when the locking pin 81 is positioned in the top end 97 of the guiding slot 83, the locking pin 81 falls into the bottom end 95 of the guiding slot 83. It will be appreciated that at the same time that the locking pin 81 falls from the top end 97 into the bottom end 95 of the guiding slot 83, it also falls from the upper end 87 into the lower end 85 of the guiding slot 86 in the pivoting lever 16, the pivoting lever 16 having moved into the locked position. The locking pin 81 is thus moved by the pivoting lever 16, from its position in the open position of the pivoting lever 16, which is in in the upper end 87 of the guiding slot 86 in the pivoting lever 16, and in the rear end 93 of the guiding slot 83 in the two lateral sides 33, to its position in the locked position of the pivoting lever 16, which is in the lower end 85 of the guiding slot 86 in the pivoting lever 16, and in the bottom end of the guiding slot 83 in the two lateral sides 33. Having dropped into the lower end 85 of the guiding slot 86 in the pivoting lever 16, and into the bottom end 95 of the guiding slot 83 in the two lateral sides 33, the locking pin 81 is configured to remain there on account of gravity, thereby maintaining the pivoting lever 16 in the locked position. The scaffolding locking mechanism 10 thus encages the mounting member inside the housing 30, such that the mounting of the scaffolding assembly to the mounting member 56 via the locking mechanism 10 is secure. It will be appreciated that the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 further comprise a handle 29, shown in Fig. 2, which is articulated to the locking pin 81, and is configured to allow the locking pin to be manually lifted out of the lower end 85 of the guiding slot 86 in the pivoting lever 16, and out of the bottom end 95 of the guiding slot 83 in the two lateral sides 33. The locking pin can then continue to be moved manually, using the handle 29, into the rear end 93 of the guiding slot 83 so that the pivoting lever is returned from the locked position to the open position. 0288150916- As mentioned previously, an alternative embodiment of the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 can comprise a biasing mechanism which biases the pivoting lever 16 to remain in the open position. Fig. 4B, reference to which is now made, shows one such example of a scaffolding locking mechanism 110 having a biasing mechanism in the form of a pair of springs 109 and 109’. It will be appreciated that corresponding elements of the alternative embodiment of the scaffolding locking mechanism 110 shown in Fig. 4B have been numbered similarly to the elements with which they correspond in the first embodiment of the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 shown in Fig. 4A. The reference numerals used with respect to the alternative embodiment have been increased by 100 with respect to the reference numerals of the first embodiment. It will further be appreciated that for the same reason as explained previously with respect to Figs. 1B and 4A, only one of the two lateral sides 133 of the housing 130 of the scaffolding locking mechanism 110 is shown in Fig. 4B. As can be seen in Fig. 4B, the spring 109 is coiled around the pivot pin 118, with a first one of its ends E1 attached to the pivoting lever 116, and the second one of its ends E2 attached to the lateral side 133 of the housing 130 adjacent to which it is disposed. The second spring of the pair, which is not visible in the figure, spring 109’, is disposed adjacent to the other lateral side 133 of the housing 130. In a similar manner to spring 109, spring 109’ is coiled around the pivot pin 118, has its first end E1’ attached to the pivoting lever 116, and its second end E2’ attached to its adjacent lateral side 133’. The pair of springs 109 are configured to apply a moment force to the pivoting lever 116, so as to bias the pivoting lever 116 to stay in the open position. In Fig. 4B, the springs 109 can be seen to apply the opening moment force M2 acting in the counterclockwise direction so as to keep the pivoting lever 116 in the open position. It will be appreciated that the configuration of the locking pin 181 in the guiding slot 186 of the pivoting lever 116, and the guiding slots 183 of the lateral sides 133, for the alternative embodiment of the scaffolding locking mechanism 110 shown in Fig. 4B, is similar to the configuration of the corresponding elements of the first embodiment of the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 shown in Fig. 4A. However, it will be appreciated that in operation, when the mounting member impinges upon the upper bearing surface 166 of the pivoting lever 116, the resulting locking moment force M1 acting upon the pivoting lever 116, as explained previously 0288150916- with respect to Fig. 4A, to cause the pivoting lever 116 to pivot from the open position to the locked position, acts not only against the gravitational inertia of the pivoting lever 116, but rather also against the opening moment force M2 applied by the springs 109 to the pivoting lever 116 in the opposite direction. When the locking moment force M1 introduced into the pivoting lever 116 by the mounting member 56 overcomes the opening moment force M2 of the springs 1acting in the opposite direction, the pivoting lever 116 pivots from the open position into the locked position, pushing the locking pin 181 in the direction 192, similar to the operation in the first embodiment described previously with respect to Fig. 4A, such that the locking pin 181 falls into the bottom end 195 of the guiding slot 183. However, it will be appreciated that once the locking pin 181 is disposed in the bottom end 195 of the guiding slot 183, as indicated in Fig. 4B by the dashed circle 181’, the locking pin 181 remains there on account of gravity, as in the first embodiment, but it is furthermore acted upon by the moment M2 which continues to be applied by the springs 109 to the pivoting lever 116, and results in a force, indicated by the arrow 195, acting upon the locking pin 181 in its position at the bottom end 195 of the guiding slot 183. The pivoting lever 116 is configured to be returned from the locked position to the open position by the handle 29, which can be articulated to the locking pin 81 as shown in Fig. 2, in the manner explained previously for the embodiment of the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 shown in Fig. 4A. However, it will be appreciated that unlike the embodiment shown in Fig. 4A, when the locking pin 181 is manually lifted using the handle 29, out of the lower end 185 of the guiding slot 186 in the pivoting lever 116, and out of the bottom end 195 of the guiding slot 183 in the two lateral sides 133, it is not necessary for the locking pin 181 to continue to be to be moved manually, using the handle 29, into the rear end 193 of the guiding slot 183 so as to return the pivoting lever 116 from the locked position to the open position. Rather, once the locking pin 181 has been moved manually using the handle into the upper end 187 of the guiding slot 186 in the pivoting lever 116, and into the top end 197 of the guiding slot 183 in the two lateral sides 133, as indicated in Fig. 4B by the dashed circle 181’’, the opening moment force M2, which continues to be applied by the springs 109 to the pivoting lever 116, applies the force 199 shown in Fig. 4B 0288150916- which serves to snap the locking pin 181 back into the rear end 193 of the guiding slot 183 so as to return the pivoting lever 116 from the locked position to the open position. It will be appreciated further that once the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 or 110 has become securely mounted on the mounting member 56 as described above, the housing 30 is securely connected to the mounting member 56 with respect to the possibility of movement perpendicular to the vertical wall 42 due to the configuration of the mounting member 56 and the slot 31. As shown in Fig. 1B, the mounting member comprises an enlarged head portion 58 and a constricted neck portion 51. While the slot 31 has a receiving width WR as described previously with respect to Fig. 2, the constricted neck portion 51 has a width WN which is a narrower width than the receiving width WR, and the enlarged head portion 58 has a width WH which is a wider width than the receiving width WR. The mounting member 56 is thus narrow enough at its constricted neck portion to be received in the slot 31 so that the mounting member 56 can be received into the housing 30 of the scaffolding locking mechanism 10, but the wider width of the enlarged head portion 58 of the mounting member 56 prevents movement of the housing 30 with respect to the mounting member 56 in a direction perpendicular to the vertical wall W1. It will be appreciated yet further that the locking mechanism 10 is configured such that at least a portion of the weight associated with the scaffolding assembly 21 articulated to the latching-lifting mechanism 10 is borne at the upper bearing surface when the pivoting lever 16 is in the locked position. It will be appreciated yet further that once the mounting member 56 is held securely in the housing 30, the anchoring assembly 52 can be disassembled so as to separate the anchoring member 56 from the other components of the anchoring assembly 52, and then the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 can be employed to carry the mounting member 56 along with the scaffolding assembly 21, as the scaffolding assembly 21 is moved up or down the face of the structure 45, to a location where the mounting member 56 can be retrieved for reuse. Such a location could be, for example, the upper surface of the floor slab of the structure which was the last slab to be constructed at the time, such as floor slab FS2 shown in Fig. 1A. It will be appreciated that while the mounting member 56 is already held securely inside the housing 30, a worker can disassemble the anchoring assembly 52, 0288150916- from the conveniently accessible and safe location inside the interior space I of the structure 45, by disassembling the bolting assembly 55 disposed at the interior end portion 53I of the rod 53 at the interior surface W1I of the wall W1. The use of the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 can thus obviate the need for the various resources, as explained above, for disassembling anchoring assemblies from the less conveniently and more dangerously accessed external side of the structure 45. In some cases, the need for an additional horizontal platform articulated to the scaffolding assembly below the main working platform, as described above, can be obviated by the use of the scaffolding locking mechanism 10 as described herein. It will further be appreciated that in practice, it may be necessary for the mounting member 56 to be free of the load of the scaffolding assembly 21 in order for the bolting assembly 55 to be disassembled. This could be accomplished, for example, by connecting the scaffolding assembly 21 to a crane during the process of disassembling the bolting assembly 55, so that the crane could bear the load of the scaffolding assembly 21 while the bolting assembly 55 is disassembled. In Fig. 5, reference to which is now made, the pivoting lever 16, shown in the locked position, can be seen to comprise the lower bearing surface 68, previously described with respect to Fig. 1B, on a top side of its lower portion 64, and more specifically, on a top side of the lower flange member 73. When the pivoting lever 16 is in the locked position and the anchoring assembly 52 is in a disassembled state, as shown in Fig. 5, the lower bearing surface 68 is configured to serve as a support surface for the mounting member 56, and the housing 30 is configured to encage the mounting member 56 so as to contain the mounting member 56 securely in the housing 30 for being carried along with the scaffolding assembly 21 as it is raised or lowered along the face of the structure 45. It will be appreciated that the mounting member 56 is held securely inside the housing 30 when the anchoring assembly 52 is in a disassembled state in the same manner and for the same reasons as described hereinabove for when the anchoring assembly 52 is in an assembled state, and therefore there is no danger of the mounting member 56 falling out of the housing 30 and possibly damaging something or injuring someone located below.

Claims

1. 297637/2 02881509 01 - CLAIMS 1. A method of disassembling a climbing scaffolding system from an anchoring assembly articulated to a wall of a structure, said wall having an interior side and an exterior side, and said anchoring assembly comprising a mounting member and a rod passing through said wall, said rod extending from said interior side to said exterior side, said scaffolding system comprising a housing configured for said mounting member to be introduced therein, wherein when in an assembled state said mounting member is secured to said rod at said exterior side of the wall, and said housing encages said mounting member, said method comprising steps of: - disassembling the rod from the mounting member from the interior side of the wall, such that the mounting member remains encaged in the scaffolding system; - transporting the scaffolding system to another location along the structure.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of transporting the scaffolding system to another location along the structure comprises raising or lowering the scaffolding system via a crane.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said disassembling the mounting member from the rod comprises withdrawing the rod towards the interior side of the wall.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said withdrawing the rod towards the interior side of the wall comprises fully removing the rod from the wall.

5. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the anchoring assembly further comprises a bolting assembly, and when said anchoring assembly is in said assembled state said bolting assembly is secured to said rod at the interior side of the wall, said method further comprising a step of disassembling the bolting assembly from the rod prior to the step of disassembling the rod from the mounting member. 297637/2 02881509 01 -

6. The method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said method further comprising a step of lifting the scaffolding system to decrease gravitational load on the mounting member by the scaffolding system prior to said step of disassembling the rod from the mounting member.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein said step of lifting the scaffolding system comprises lifting the scaffolding system via a crane such that the mounting member is freed of the load of the scaffolding system while the anchoring assembly is being disassembled.