DISMANTLABLE LATTICE PIECE FOR CRANE BOOM

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a dismantlable lattice piece for a crane boom. The lattice piece comprising two corner bar sides that are each formed by at least two corner bars that are fixedly welded to one another by a plurality of connection bars and comprising a transverse connection gibbable with the corner bar plates.

Claims

1. A dismantlable lattice piece for a crane boom comprising: two lateral corner bar parts that each comprise at least two corner bars that are fixedly welded to one another by a plurality of connection bars, and at least one transverse connection that connects the lateral corner bar parts and is gibbed to the lateral corner bar parts.

2. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 1, wherein the transverse connection comprises a plurality of diagonal bars gibbed with the lateral corner bar parts, and the diagonal bars of the transverse connection being gibbed to a corner bar, a post, to another connection bar, or to a fork-finger connection of the lateral corner bar part.

3. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 2, wherein the transverse connection comprises two planar lattice plates gibbed in a perpendicular manner to the lateral corner bar part, with the lattice plates being gibbed with the end regions of the lateral corner bar parts and forming side surfaces of the lattice piece.

4. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 3, wherein the lattice plates comprise two parallel longitudinal beams that are connected by diagonal bars and/or by posts.

5. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 1, wherein the lateral corner bar parts each have at least two, connection consoles, to connect lateral corner bar parts to one another, and the corner bar parts are stacked onto one another for the transport.

6. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least two lateral corner bar parts are spatial lateral corner bar parts that each comprise four corner bars, with the corner bars disposed in one plane being fixedly welded to one another by connection bars.

7. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 6, wherein the two lateral corner bar parts are gibbed to one another by an x-shaped transverse connection.

8. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 7, wherein the x-shaped transverse connection is formed by at least one pair of intersecting diagonal bars with the at least one pair being disposed in parallel with one another and welded to one another by means of bars.

9. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 8, wherein the intersecting diagonal bars are connected to one another at the point of intersection pivotable about a transverse axis.

10. The lattice piece in accordance claim 9, wherein two planar lattice plates are gibbed in a perpendicular manner to the lateral corner bar parts, are gibbed with the end regions of the lateral corner bar parts, and form side surfaces of the lattice piece.

11. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 10, wherein the lattice plates each comprise two parallel longitudinal beams that are connected by diagonal bars and/or posts; and/or the lattice plates are gibbed with the ends of the x-shaped transverse connection.

12. The lattice piece in accordance claim 1, wherein one or more of the following applies: the working height of a lattice piece substantially corresponds to the transport width of a transport unit formed from the individual parts of the lattice piece; all the individual parts of a lattice piece form a transport unit; and the lateral corner bar parts are rotated by 90° about the longitudinal axis of a corner bar with respect to the assembly position.

13. A crane having at least one lattice piece in accordance with claim 1.

14. A method of assembling a lattice piece comprising the steps: erecting a corner bar plate by 90° and fixing the corner bar plates to an assembly frame and/or to an assembly console such that is stands on the assembly frame and/or on the assembly console; erecting a second corner bar plate about 90° such that it stands on a corner bar and connecting the corner bar plate to the assembly frame and/or to the assembly console; assembly or unfolding of the first lattice plate and connecting the lattice plate to the oppositely disposed corner bar plate; inserting at least one diagonal bar; and assembly or unfolding of the second lattice plate and connecting the second lattice plate to the oppositely disposed corner bar plate.

15. The method in accordance with claim 14, wherein all the further diagonal bars are inserted after the assembly of the second lattice plate, with all the bars first being inserted between the corner bars lying on the ground or being close to the ground, and metal gangway plates being installed at the diagonal bars after the insertion of the diagonal bars.

16. The method in accordance with claim 14, further comprising the steps: erecting the x-shaped transverse bracing by rotation by 90° at its longitudinal axis; positioning the x-shaped transverse bracing in an assembly frame; unfolding the first and second lattice plates; and erecting the first and second corner bar plates by a 90° rotation about their longitudinal axes and gibbing to the x-shaped transverse bracing.

17. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 4, wherein the diagonal bars and/or posts are fixedly welded to one another.

18. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 5, wherein the connection consoles are twistlock consoles.

19. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 6, wherein the connection bars are diagonal bars and/or posts.

20. The lattice piece in accordance with claim 11, wherein the two longitudinal beams are fixedly welded together.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0029] Further advantages and properties of the disclosure will be explained in more detail in the following with reference to an embodiment shown in the Figures.

[0030] FIGS. 1a-1d depict different perspective representations of the lattice piece in accordance with a first embodiment;

[0031] FIGS. 2a, 2b, 2c depict three representations of the stacked part components of the dismantled lattice piece in accordance with FIGS. 1a-1d;

[0032] FIGS. 3a to 3d depict a chronological representation of the required assembly steps for the assembly of the lattice piece in accordance with FIGS. 1a to 1d;

[0033] FIGS. 4a-4c depict different perspective representations of the lattice piece in accordance with the invention in accordance with a second embodiment;

[0034] FIGS. 5a, 5b depict two representations of the stacked part components of the dismantled lattice piece in accordance with FIGS. 4a-4c; and

[0035] FIGS. 6a to 6d depict a chronological representation of the required assembly steps for the assembly of the lattice piece in accordance with FIGS. 4a to 4c.

[0036] FIGS. 1a-6d are shown approximately to scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] FIGS. 1 to 3 relate to a first embodiment variant of the lattice piece. Such a lattice piece 1 comprises two individual lateral corner bar parts 2 or lateral corner bar plates 2 that are connected by individual diagonals 4 and planar perpendicular lattice plates 3. FIG. 1a shows a perspective lateral representation of the lattice piece 1; FIG. 1b a side view of the lattice piece 1; FIG. 1c a plan view of the lattice piece 1; and FIG. 1d a front-side view of the lattice piece 1.

[0038] Each lateral corner bar part 2 comprises two corner bars 5 each having polygonal or oval corner bar cross-sections. The two corner bars 5 are fixedly welded to one another via a respective perpendicular post 6. The diagonal bars 7 arranged between the two posts 6 and connecting the corner bars 5 are also fixedly welded to the corner bars 5. Connection elements 8 for finger-fork connections are located at the ends of the corner bars 5 to be able to assemble the lattice pieces for setting up the crane or crane boom.

[0039] The two lateral corner bar parts are connected to one another via a releasable transverse connection to form the shape of the assembled lattice piece in accordance with FIG. 1a. The transverse connection comprises a plurality of diagonal bars 4 and planar perpendicular lattice plates 3. In the embodiment shown, the oppositely disposed corner bars 5 of the lateral corner bar parts 2 are connected via respective diagonal bars 4a and 4b, with the diagonal bars of the corner bars 5 disposed at the top in the drawing being marked by reference numerals 4a and the lower diagonal bars for connecting the corner bars 5 disposed at the bottom being marked by reference numeral 4b. The diagonal bars are gibbed to gib mounts 5a. The gib mount 5a can, as shown, be on the corner bar 5, but alternatively also on the fork 8 or on the post 6.

[0040] The planar lattice plates 3 each comprise two longitudinal beams 9 that extend in parallel and that are fixedly welded to one another via a respective transverse bar 10 and diagonal bars 11 arranged therebetween. The ends of the longitudinal beams 9 can likewise be gibbed to matching gib mounts 5a of the corner bars 5. The lattice plates 3 remain gibbed to a lateral corner bar part 2 for the transport and are folded onto it around the existing gib connection.

[0041] The lateral corner bar parts 2 have connection consoles 12, or twistlock consoles (so-called “container corners”), with which the lateral corner bar parts 2 can be stacked onto one another and connected to one another for an efficient transport. The connection here may take place using twistlocks that are also used for connecting ocean containers. This is shown in FIG. 2b.

[0042] The transport width b.sub.Transport of the lattice piece 2 in the transport state corresponds to the lattice height in the operating state. The components remain within the permitted transport dimensions in the transport state. This can be seen in FIG. 2a that shows two lateral corner bar parts 2 stacked onto one another. The distance between the two corner bars 5 of a lateral corner bar part 2 extending in parallel is marked by the transport width b.sub.Transport here.

[0043] In the following, the basic assembly routine for the lattice piece 1 will be described with reference to the illustrations of FIGS. 3a to 3d.

[0044] The starting point is the transport state in accordance with FIG. 2c; a plurality of lateral corner bar parts 2 are stacked onto one another and connected by twistlocks at the consoles 12 present at the corner bar 5 therein. The setting up of an assembly frame 20 and the connection of the assembly frame 20 to the ballast weight 21 for the stabilization of the assembly frame 20 take place first. Individual assembly consoles 2 are furthermore set up disposed opposite the assembly frame 20.

[0045] A lateral corner bar part 2 is then first set up by a 90° rotation about its longitudinal axis and connected to the assembly frame 20 and to an assembly console 22 (see FIG. 3a). The setting up of a second lateral corner bar part 2 follows, likewise by a 90° rotation about its longitudinal axis (see FIG. 3b). The second lateral corner bar part 2 is also connected to the assembly frame 20 and to a further assembly console 22 and its position is thereby stabilized. The assembly frame 20 defines the distance between the lateral corner bar parts 2 here.

[0046] The first lattice plate 3 can subsequently be unfolded and gibbed to the second lateral corner bar part 2 (see FIG. 3b). At least one of the lower diagonal bars 4b is next inserted with the aid of an auxiliary crane and is gibbed to both side parts to achieve a stabilization of the lateral corner bar parts 2.

[0047] In the next step, the second lattice plate 3 is unfolded and is connected to the first lateral corner bar part 2 (see FIG. 3c). Then, the remaining lower diagonal bars 4a can first be inserted between the lateral corner bar parts 2 and then the upper diagonal bars 4a. Finally, the gangway 13 can be placed onto the upper diagonal bars 4a and the assembled lattice piece 2 can be raised out of the assembly frame 20, 22 (see FIG. 3d).

[0048] The described steps are carried out in reverse order for the dismantling of the lattice piece.

[0049] The properties of the lattice piece can be summarized as follows:

[0050] Dismantlable lattice piece 1 that has larger dimensions in the working configuration than in the economic (and in some countries permitted) transport dimensions in road transport.

[0051] Two foldable planar lattice plates 3 for the transverse connection of the two lateral corner bar parts 2.

[0052] Gibbable individual diagonal bars 4 between the lateral corner bar parts 2.

[0053] Components placed together and rotated by 90° for transport.

[0054] Height of the lattice piece 1 in the working configuration smaller than a permitted or economic transport width (height in operation=width in transport due to 90° rotation about the longitudinal axis)

[0055] Lattice piece 100 [0056] can be transported dismantled into individual parts or [0057] all the parts can be folded up and transported when stacked onto one another as a single transport unit.

[0058] The gibbing of the individual lateral corner bar parts 2 of a lattice piece 1 at the consoles 12 in the transport state takes place using “container corners” (twistlock consoles) and twistlocks=>inexpensive connection of the lateral corner bar parts

[0059] The consoles 12 can be used for stacking a plurality of lattice pieces 1.

[0060] A second embodiment variant of the lattice piece is shown in FIGS. 4 to 6. Unlike the first embodiment, this variant comprises two individual spatial lateral corner bar parts 30 that are each designed as lattice pieces. The two lateral corner bar parts 30 are connected by a dismantlable x-shaped transverse connection 40. FIG. 4a shows a perspective lateral representation of the lattice piece 100; FIG. 4b a side view of the lattice piece 30; and FIG. 4c a top view of the lattice piece 100.

[0061] Each lateral corner bar part 30 comprises four corner bars 31, with their spatial arrangement forming a parallelepiped. Adjacent corner bars 31 are fixedly welded by means of a plurality of diagonal bars 32; the more spaced apart corner bars 31, here the upper and lower corner bars, are additionally connected at the end sides by means of perpendicular posts 33. Connection elements 34 for finger-fork connections are in turn located at the ends of the corner bars 31.

[0062] The two lateral corner bar parts 30 are connected to one another via a dismantlable or foldable x-shaped transverse connection 40 that is formed by two pairs 41, 42 of intersecting diagonal bars 43, 44. The ends of the diagonal bars 43, 44 are gibbed to the corner bars 31 via gib mounts 35 thereon Each pair 41, 42 comprises a continuous diagonal bar 43 and a diagonal bar 44 divided into two. The individual bars of the diagonal bar 44 are each connected in an articulated manner to the continuous diagonal bar 43 pivotable about axes of rotation D1, D2. Two respective ends of the diagonal bars 43, 44 are connected to one another via a planar lattice plate 50, with the lattice plate 50 being set up analogously to the lattice plate 3 of the first embodiment of the lattice piece 1. The ends of the longitudinal beams of the lattice plate 50 are pivotably connected to the diagonal bars 43, 44 and to the gib mounts 35 of the corner bars 31 so that the overall construction of the x-shaped transverse connection 40 can be folded together with the lattice plates 50 in a space-saving manner.

[0063] All the components of the lattice piece 100 can be stacked onto one another for transport as is shown in FIGS. 5a, 5b. The same advantages with respect to the transport width are also achieved as have already been shown with reference to the first embodiment.

[0064] The individual assembly steps for setting up the lattice piece will be explained in the following with reference to the illustrations of FIGS. 6a to 6d. In this respect, a stack of the individual parts in accordance with FIGS. 5a, 5b is assumed. The connection between the individual parts during the transport may take place here as in the first embodiment variant by means of a twistlock via the connection elements 36.

[0065] The center X-shaped latticing 40 (diagonal bars 43, 44, including the lattice plates 50) is set up in a first step for the assembly by a 90° rotation about its longitudinal axis and is fixed in an assembly frame 60 that permits a perpendicular assembly (see FIG. 6a). After the removal of the gangways 51 from the transport position (the gangways 51 are transported either individually or in the folded lattice piece 100), the first foldable lattice plate 50 of the center latticing 40 can be unfolded about the center axis of rotation D1 on the assembly frame 60 (see FIG. 6b). The second foldable lattice plate 50 of the center latticing 40 is then unfolded about the center axis of rotation D2 on the assembly frame 60 (see FIG. 6c).

[0066] The first lateral corner bar part 30 can subsequently be set up by a 90° rotation about its longitudinal axis and can be gibbed to the center latticing 40. This is done analogously for the second lateral corner bar part 30 (see FIG. 6d). The required rotation of the lateral corner bar parts about their longitudinal axes takes place by means of an auxiliary crane that can take up the parts 30 via suitably arranged attachment eyes.

[0067] Finally, the gangway 51 is placed on again and the lattice piece 100 is removed from the assembly frame 60.

[0068] The advantages of the second embodiment variant are comparable with those of the first variant, but will be listed again in the following: [0069] Dismantlable lattice piece 100 that is larger in the working configuration than in the economic (and in some countries permitted) transport dimensions in road transport. [0070] Two narrow lateral corner bar part 30 of conventional assembly and comprising four corner bars 31, fork-finger connections 34, and welded diagonals 32 and posts 33 similar to a P boom or a boom having two towers. [0071] Additionally, central X-shaped latticing 40 to increase the torsion resistance of the lattice piece 100. [0072] The torsion resistance with respect to two individual unconnected lateral corner bar parts 30 is considerably increased by the diagonal connections of the central latticing 40. The diagonals of the central latticing 40 here prevent the twisting and displacement of the two lattice piece towers toward one another (the diagonals take up tension and compression here). [0073] Foldable X-shaped diagonal connections 40. [0074] The X-shaped diagonal connections 40 can here be designed as planar framework. [0075] The free distance between two x-shaped diagonals can be approximately as long as the total lattice piece due to the x-shaped latticing. The area moment of inertia about the vertical axis of the lateral corner bar part cross-section therefore has to be so large in order not to kink in operation under pressure load despite the above-described free kink length between two X-shaped diagonals. [0076] This high area moment of inertia required here about the vertical axis of the lateral corner bar part cross-section is achieved by a spatial design of the lateral corner bar part. That is, an x-shaped checkering requires a very high area moment of inertia of the lateral disk cross-section. [0077] Embodiments of the X-shaped center latticing as diagonal connections 40 have to be made for every lattice piece 100. [0078] Components of the lattice piece 100 can be folded for the transport and can be rotated by 90° about the longitudinal axis. [0079] Height of the lattice piece 100 in the working configuration smaller than a permitted transport width (height in operation=width in transport due to 90° rotation) [0080] Lattice piece 100 [0081] 1) can be transported dismantled into individual parts or [0082] 2) all the parts can be folded up and transported as a single transport unit. [0083] The gibbing in the transport state may take place at the stack consoles 36 using “container corners” (twistlock consoles) and twistlocks=>inexpensive connection of the lateral corner bar parts 30 and the center latticing 40. [0084] The consoles 36 can be used for stacking a plurality of lattice pieces 100.

[0085] FIGS. 1a-6d show example configurations with relative positioning of the various components. If shown directly contacting each other, or directly coupled, then such elements may be referred to as directly contacting or directly coupled, respectively, at least in one example. Similarly, elements shown contiguous or adjacent to one another may be contiguous or adjacent to each other, respectively, at least in one example. As an example, components laying in face-sharing contact with each other may be referred to as in face-sharing contact. As another example, elements positioned apart from each other with only a space there-between and no other components may be referred to as such, in at least one example. As yet another example, elements shown above/below one another, at opposite sides to one another, or to the left/right of one another may be referred to as such, relative to one another. Further, as shown in the figures, a topmost element or point of element may be referred to as a “top” of the component and a bottommost element or point of the element may be referred to as a “bottom” of the component, in at least one example. As used herein, top/bottom, upper/lower, above/below, may be relative to a vertical axis of the figures and used to describe positioning of elements of the figures relative to one another. As such, elements shown above other elements are positioned vertically above the other elements, in one example. As yet another example, shapes of the elements depicted within the figures may be referred to as having those shapes (e.g., such as being circular, straight, planar, curved, rounded, chamfered, angled, or the like). Further, elements shown intersecting one another may be referred to as intersecting elements or intersecting one another, in at least one example. Further still, an element shown within another element or shown outside of another element may be referred as such, in one example.

[0086] It will be appreciated that the configurations and routines disclosed herein are exemplary in nature, and that these specific embodiments are not to be considered in a limiting sense, because numerous variations are possible. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and the like are not intended to denote any order, position, quantity, or importance, but rather are used merely as labels to distinguish one element from another. The subject matter of the present disclosure includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and sub-combinations of the various systems and configurations, and other features, functions, and/or properties disclosed herein.

[0087] As used herein, the term “approximately” is construed to mean plus or minus five percent of the range unless otherwise specified.

[0088] The following claims particularly point out certain combinations and sub-combinations regarded as novel and non-obvious. These claims may refer to “an” element or “a first” element or the equivalent thereof. Such claims should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements. Other combinations and sub-combinations of the disclosed features, functions, elements, and/or properties may be claimed through amendment of the present claims or through presentation of new claims in this or a related application. Such claims, whether broader, narrower, equal, or different in scope to the original claims, also are regarded as included within the subject matter of the present disclosure.