SYSTEM FOR REPOSITIONING A CRANE
20210292134 · 2021-09-23
Inventors
- Ljubomir KALANJ (Mt Pritchard, AU)
- Pang Ong TUAN (Mascot, AU)
- Nathan Vella (Mollymook Beach, AU)
- Shenandoah Chong (Newington, AU)
- John Patrick Dawson (Canterbury, AU)
Cpc classification
B66C23/283
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
International classification
Abstract
A system for repositioning at least one crane superposed on a tower positioned within a bay of a building structure includes a supporting structure positioned within the bay of the building structure arranged surrounding the tower having a plurality of a repositionable support braces, at least one supporting platform reversibly mounted to the tower by a plurality of support hooks, a ladder vertically suspended from the supporting platform adapted as a track and a main platform adapted to carry and reposition the tower comprises at least one first lifting means configured to reversibly extend the main platform, at least a first climbing means and a second climbing means reversibly engageable to the ladder.
Claims
1. A system for repositioning at least one crane superposed on a tower positioned within a bay of a building structure surrounded by a supporting structure having a plurality of repositionable support brackets, comprising: at least one supporting platform reversibly mounted to the tower by a plurality of support hooks; a ladder vertically suspended from the supporting platform adapted as a track; and a main platform adapted to carry and reposition the tower comprises at least one first lifting means configured to reversibly extend the main platform, at least a first climbing means and a second climbing means reversibly engageable to the ladder, wherein the main platform is configured to reposition the tower crane) by engaging the first climbing means to the climbing ladder, extending the main platform with the first lifting means, engaging the second climbing means to the ladder, disengaging the first climbing means from the climbing ladder and retracting the main platform by the first lifting means, consequently repositioning the tower along the climbing ladder to reposition the at least one crane.
2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein either the main platform or both the main platform and the supporting platform further comprising a lateral supporting means.
3. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the lateral supporting means comprises a plurality of outrigger arms extending from the main platform or the main platform and the supporting platform adapted to reversibly connect to the supporting structure.
4. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the outrigger arms are retractable.
5. The system as claimed in 3, wherein the plurality of outrigger arms are rotatable with respect to the main platform or the main platform and the supporting platform.
6. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of the outrigger arms are connected to the main platform or the main platform and the supporting platform by a pin adapted to be rotatable at an axis with respect to the pin.
7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein each of the outrigger arms comprises an outrigger beam extendable from an outrigger housing connected to the main platform or the main platform and the supporting platform by the pin.
8. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein each of the outrigger arms are configured to be telescopically extendable from the outrigger housing by at least one hydraulic cylinder.
9. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein each of the outrigger arms further comprises a horizontal brace extending from the main platform or the main platform and the supporting platform to the outrigger housing.
10. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein each of the outrigger arms further comprises a vertical brace extending from the main platform or the main platform and the supporting platform to the outrigger housing.
11. The system as claimed in claim 7, wherein each of the outrigger arms further comprises a connecting point at an end of the outrigger beam reversibly connectible to the supporting structure by the repositionable support brackets.
12. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the outrigger arms of the supporting platform are adapted to be extended and connected to the supporting structure during tower repositioning.
13. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the supporting platform comprises a first section and a second section connected by at least one lifting means.
14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the plurality of support hooks are configured to the first section and the second section.
15. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the first section and the second section are reversibly mounted to the tower by connecting the plurality of support hooks to the tower.
16. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of support hooks are disconnected from the tower during tower repositioning.
17. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the second section comprises a guide to maintain Z-axis stability of the tower during tower repositioning.
18. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the guide comprises at least one adjustable clamp block adapted to be in proximity with the tower during tower repositioning to maintain Z-axis stability of the tower.
19. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ladder comprises a plurality of rungs.
20. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ladder is rotatable about the X and Y axis with respect to the supporting platform.
21. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ladder is attached to the supporting platform by a lug and at least one connector.
22. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main platform further comprising a first assembly and a second assembly connected by the first lifting means.
23. The system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the first assembly is adapted to support the tower during repositioning of the tower.
24. The system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the second assembly is secured to the tower adapted to carry the weight of the tower.
25. The system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the main platform is adapted to extend by extending the first lifting means for elevating the second assembly away from the first assembly or lowering the first assembly away from the second assembly.
26. The system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the main platform is adapted to retract by retracting the first lifting means for elevating the first assembly towards the second assembly or lowering the second assembly and the tower towards the first assembly.
27. The system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the first climbing means comprises a plurality of hooks pivotally connected to the first assembly.
28. The system as claimed in claim 22, wherein the second climbing means comprises a plurality of hooks pivotally connected to the second assembly.
29. The system as claimed in claim 24, wherein the outrigger arms is extended from the second assembly adapted to reversibly connect to the supporting structure.
30. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the outrigger arms are adapted to retract for detaching the outrigger arms from the supporting structure during tower repositioning.
31. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first climbing means is adapted to latch to the rungs of the ladder during extension of the main platform.
32. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second climbing means is adapted to latch to the rungs of the ladder after the main platform is extended.
33. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first climbing means is configured to unlatch from the rungs of the ladder prior to retraction of the main platform by pulling the first assembly towards the second assembly.
34. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the extension and retraction of the main platform are configured to be repeatable to reposition the tower to a height along the structural support and limited by height of the structural support.
35. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the outrigger arms are configured to extend towards the supporting structure to connect the main platform to the supporting structure after repositioning is complete.
36. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first climbing means and the second climbing means are configured to disconnect from the ladder when repositioning is complete.
37. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the lateral supporting means comprises at least three outrigger arms.
38. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of support hooks are reversibly rotatable by a pivot to reversibly hook the supporting platform to the tower.
39. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the supporting platform is repositionable along the tower.
40. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the supporting platform is configured to be reversibly extendable.
41. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the supporting platform is repositionable along the tower by rotating the plurality of support hooks of the first section to disconnect the plurality of support hooks from the tower, extending the second lifting means to extend the supporting platform to reposition the first section at a desired height, reconnecting the plurality of support hooks of the first section to the tower, disconnecting the plurality of support hooks of the second section, and retracting the second lifting means to retract the supporting platform to reposition the second section, thereby repositioning the supporting platform.
42. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the outrigger arms are retracted during the repositioning of the supporting platform.
43. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the supporting structure, the main platform, and the lateral supporting means are modular.
44. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system further comprises a dismantling structure deployable to the main platform and the supporting structure to facilitate dismantling of the main platform.
45. The system as claimed in claim 44, wherein the dismantling structure comprising a truss structure configured in a bridge configuration deployable to the main platform and attachable to the supporting structure to bear the main platform.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
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[0067] It is noted that the drawings may not be to scale. The drawings are intended to depict only typical aspects of the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numberings represent like elements between the drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0068] It should be noted that the following detailed description is directed to a system (100) for repositioning at least one crane (101) superposed on a tower (102), which is not limited to any particular size or shape, but in fact may be presented in a multitude of sizes and shapes within the general scope of the following description.
[0069] With reference to
[0070] The system (100) is preferably employable to a building structure having a plethora of possible supporting structure (40) configurations. A building under construction typically possesses a supporting structure to support the building's construction process. The supporting structure (40) is typically positioned within the bay of the building in a configuration that a building requires. In order to describe the embodiment of the present invention, the system (100) is employed to the supporting structure (40) that comprises four columns arranged in a square, rectangular, or any other formation with the tower (102) positioned therein. It is preferred for the support brackets (42) to be repositionable vertically along the columns of the supporting structure (40) to facilitate flexible repositioning of the tower (102). Preferably, each of the columns comprises the repositionable support brackets (42).
[0071] The main platform (10) or both the main platform (10) and the supporting platform (20) are preferably equipped with a lateral supporting means (24, 15) to support loads imposed by the tower (102) and the crane (101) by transferring the load to the supporting structure (40) during operations of the crane (101). The lateral supporting means (24, 15) comprises a plurality of outrigger arms (24, 15) extending from the main platform (10) or the main platform (10) and the supporting platform (20) adapted to reversibly connect to the supporting structure (40) for connecting the main platform (10) and the supporting platform (20) to the supporting structure (40) by the support brackets (42). It is preferred for both the main platform (10) and the supporting platform (20) to be equipped with the lateral supporting means (24, 15). The supporting platform (20) is adapted to transfer operational loads to the supporting structure (40) during tower (101) crane (102) repositioning process. The supporting platform (20) may also be adapted to transfer operational loads of the tower crane (102) to the supporting structure (40) along with the main platform (10), thereby providing greater stability to the tower (102) and the crane (102).
[0072] Preferably the outrigger arms (24, 15) are retractable and rotatable by the main platform (10) and the supporting platform (20). The outrigger arms (24, 15) are retractable in order to allow the outrigger arms (24, 15) to retract from the supporting brackets (42) to initiate repositioning of the tower crane and to allow the outrigger arms (24,15) to extend to the next supporting brackets (42), after the repositioning is performed. Further, the provision of the rotatable outrigger arms (24, 15), as shown in
[0073] With reference to
[0074] In order to strengthen the outrigger arms (24, 15), a horizontal brace (26, 16) and a vertical brace (25, 17) are configured to the main platform (10) and the supporting platform (20), as shown in
[0075] The supporting platform (20) preferably comprises a first section (22) and a second section (23), as shown in
[0076] With reference to
[0077] The main platform (10) further comprises a first assembly (11) for supporting the weight of the tower (102) and the crane (101) during repositioning of the tower; and is vertically connected to a second assembly (18) by the first lifting means (13). With reference to
[0078] The first climbing means (12) preferably comprises a plurality of hooks that is adapted to latch to the rungs of the ladder (30), whereby the plurality of hooks are preferably pivotally connected to the first assembly (11). The second climbing means (14) is also equipped with a plurality of hooks adapted to latch to the rungs of the ladder (30), pivotally connected to the second assembly (18). The arrangement of the pivotal connection of the first climbing means (12) allows the plurality of hooks to rotate to latch to the rungs of the ladder (30) as the first assembly (11) is lifted up by the first lifting means (13).
[0079] With reference to
[0080] In use, in order to reposition the tower (102) and the crane (101), the outrigger arms (24) of the supporting platform (20) are first configured to be extended and connected to the supporting structure (40) by the connecting point (24e). The outrigger arms (24) are preferably secured to the repositionable support brackets (42) of the supporting structure (40) by bolts or other possible fastening means.
[0081] Next, the plurality of support hooks (27) from both the first section (22) and the second section (23) are then disconnected from the tower (102), thereby transferring the weight of the supporting platform (20) to the supporting structure (40) through the outrigger arms (24), while maintaining verticality of the tower (102) during tower repositioning process. The support hooks (27) are disconnected from the tower (102) to clear the path of the tower (102) to move vertically along the ladder (30).
[0082] After the outrigger arms (24) of the supporting platform (20) are secured to the supporting structure (40), the first climbing means (12) is then latched to the ladder (30). Next, the outrigger arms (15) extending from the main platform (10) will be retracted (15f) from the support brackets (42) to allow the movement of the main platform (10) by clearing the movement path for the main platform (10) from the support brackets (42). Next, the first lifting means (13) is activated to extend and retract (10a and 10b) the main platform (10) by moving the first assembly (11) and the second assembly (18) away and towards each other, respectively. In order to commence the extension (10a) of the main platform (10), the first lifting means (13), upon activation, is configured to reposition the second assembly (18) upwards to a preferred height along with the tower (102) and crane (101). The second assembly (18) is preferably repositioned to a point that allows the second climbing means (14) to align and latch to the rungs of the ladder (30).
[0083] After the second climbing means (14) are latched to the ladder (30), the first climbing means (12) of the first assembly (11) is adapted to unlatch from the rungs of the ladder (30). The first lifting means (13), which could be a hydraulic cylinder or any other possible means to extend the main platform (10) to elevate the tower (102) and crane (101), is activated thereafter to retract (10b) the first assembly (11) of the main platform (10) towards the second assembly (18), thereby completing the repositioning (elevating) of the tower (102) along the ladder (30).
[0084] The above steps are then repeated to the point that the tower (102) reaches a desired height. Upon reaching the desired height, the outrigger arms (15) are then extended towards the supporting structure (40) to connect the main platform (10) to the supporting structure (40) by the support brackets (42). The second climbing means (14) are then unlatched from the ladder (30) and the supporting platform (20) are connected to the tower (102) by deploying the supporting hooks (27) to the tower (102).
[0085] In one embodiment, the main platform (10) and the supporting platform (20) comprise substantially similar dimensions and strength in order to allow the main platform (10) and the supporting platform (20) to cooperatively support the working load of the tower (102) crane (101) during operation of the crane (101). In this configuration, it is preferable for the outrigger arms (24) of the supporting platform (20) and the outrigger arms (15) of the main platform (10) to have substantially similar dimensions, with substantially similar strength profiles.
[0086] In another embodiment, the main platform (10) can be configured to be dimensionally bigger and built sturdier than the supporting platform (20). The outrigger arms (15) of the main platform (10) are also preferred to be sturdier and bigger than the outrigger arms (24) of the supporting structure (20), to improve transfer of operational loads (loads induced by crane during operation of the crane (102) at a building under construction) from the tower (102) and crane (101) to the structural support (40). This configuration is preferred when the upper part of a building structure is unable to carry higher loads associated with the operations of the tower (102) crane (101).
[0087] Preferably, at least 3 outrigger arms (24, 15) are used as a lateral supporting means in the system (100). However, it is possible to have more than 3, depending on needs of a building.
[0088] In accordance to another embodiment of the invention, the supporting platform (20) is extendable and retractable in a similar manner of the main platform (10), yet differing to the main platform (10) in that the supporting platform (20) is not configured to carry the tower (102) crane (101). The supporting platform (20) is configured to reversibly mount to the tower (102) by a plurality of support hooks (27) that are rotatable by a pivot. The supporting platform (20) is configured to be extendable in order to allow repositioning of the supporting platform (20) along the tower (102). The supporting platform (20), which comprises the first section (22) and the second section (23), is preferably equipped with at least one second lifting means (28), which connects the first section (22) and the second section (23).
[0089] With reference to
[0090] The repositioning of the supporting platform (20) may be performed whenever there is a need to adjust the position of the ladder (30). By repositioning the ladder (30), the main platform (10) is provided with more reach, thereby allowing the main platform (10) to reposition the tower (102) with more flexibility, thereby allowing the tower (102) crane (101) to be elevated higher.
[0091] Preferably, the main platform (10), the supporting platform (20), and the lateral supporting means (the outrigger arms) (24, 15) are made with modular configuration. This allows faster installation of the system (100) as well as efficient dismantling of the system (100), when a need to do so arises. The modularity of the system (100) further reduces the need to preassembling the main platform (10), supporting platform (20), and the lateral supporting means (24, 15), thereby providing more efficient logistics as components of the system (100) may be transported in parts to improve transportability of the system (100), as well as increasing efficiency in assembling the system (100) to the tower (102) crane (101) at the building construction site.
[0092] With reference to
[0093] The terms “a” and “an,” as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. The term “plurality,” as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term “another,” as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having,” as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language).
[0094] While this invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.