LIFTING HOOK AND METHOD FOR ATTACHING A LIFTING HOOK TO A SUPPORT MEMBER

Abstract

A lifting hook adapted to be attached to a support member remotely and manually by an operator, where the lifting hook is carryable, where the lifting hook comprises a hook eye and a hook, where the hook comprises a body and a tip having a tip end, where the lifting hook comprises a line guiding means permanently and pivotable attached to the tip, where the line guiding means is arranged to support or hold a guideline. The lifting hook can be attached to an overhead support member in an easy and safe manner by an operator standing on the ground.

Claims

1. A lifting hook adapted to be attached to a support member remotely and manually by an operator, where the lifting hook comprises a hook eye and a hook, where the hook comprises a body and a tip having a tip end, characterized in that the lifting hook comprises a line guiding means permanently and pivotable attached to the tip, where the line guiding means is arranged to support or hold a guideline.

2. The lifting hook according to claim 1, wherein the tip end is provided with a contact surface that is perpendicular to a centre plane of the lifting hook, and where the line guiding means extends outside of the contact surface of the tip end.

3. The lifting hook according to claim 1, wherein the line guiding means constitutes a pivotable lever for the guide line.

4. The lifting hook according to claim 1, wherein the line guiding means is positioned in a central slit of the tip end, and that the line guiding means is attached to the tip end by a pin that is positioned through a hole that is perpendicular to the slit.

5. The lifting hook according to claim 4, wherein the line guiding means is a carbine hook.

6. The lifting hook according to claim 4, wherein the carbine hook comprises a locking member.

7. The lifting hook according to claim 1, wherein the line guiding means is a U-shaped bent steel wire and a flexible wire loop attached to the tip.

8. The lifting hook according to claim 7, wherein the wire loop is attached inside the bent steel wire.

9. The lifting hook according to claim 1, wherein the lifting hook comprises a safety latch.

10. The lifting hook according to claim 1, wherein the lifting hook is carryable.

11. The lifting hook according to claim 10, wherein the lifting hook weighs less than 20 kg.

12. A lifting hook arrangement for remotely and manually attaching a lifting hook to a support member, comprising a lifting hook according to claim 1, wherein the lifting hook arrangement further comprises a guideline attached to the line guiding means of the lifting hook.

13. A method for remotely and manually attaching a lifting hook to a support member, comprising the following steps: attaching a guideline to a line guiding means that is permanently and pivotable attached to a tip of the lifting hook, threading the guideline over a remote support member, manually pulling s free end of the guideline until the line guiding means bears on the support member, further pulling the guide line such that the line guiding means glides on the support member, further pulling the guideline until the hook is attached to the support member.

14. The method according to claim 13, comprising an additional step of: attaching a chain or wire to s hook eye of the lifting hook prior to threading the guideline over the support member.

15. The method according to claim 13, where the guideline is threaded over the remote support member with a line threading means.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0012] The invention will be described in greater detail in the following, with reference to the embodiments that are shown in the attached drawings, in which

[0013] FIG. 1 shows a first example of a lifting hook according to the invention,

[0014] FIG. 2a-b show details of the first example of a lifting hook according to the invention,

[0015] FIG. 3 shows a second example of a lifting hook according to the invention,

[0016] FIG. 4a-e show a lifting hook assembly being attached to an overhead support member.

MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

[0017] The embodiments of the invention with further developments described in the following are to be regarded only as examples and are in no way to limit the scope of the protection provided by the patent claims.

[0018] FIGS. 1 to 3 show different examples of a lifting hook according to the invention, and FIG. 4a-e show a lifting hook being attached to an overhead support member.

[0019] A lifting hook 1 according to the invention is provided with a line guiding means 10 arranged at the tip 5 of the lifting hook. The line guiding means is adapted to hold a guide line that is to be used when attaching a lifting hook to an overhead support member, e.g. a rod or a lifting eye arranged e.g. at the ceiling of a building. The guideline is threaded over or through the support member. The guideline is a thin flexible member and can be a wire, a string, a rope, a chain or the like. By pulling the guideline, the lifting hook is moved to the support member. By attaching the line guiding means at the tip of the lifting hook such that the line guiding means extends outside of the contact surface of the tip end of the lifting hook, the tip end of the hook can be pulled over the support member such that the hook is attached to the support member. This simplifies the hanging of a lifting hook considerably. Further, the safety of the operator is enhanced, since the operator can attach the lifting hook from below, standing on the floor of the building. In this way, no heavy lifting is necessary. The lifting hook may also be attached to a structure below the user, e.g. to an underwater structure or a structure arranged at a floor below the user.

[0020] FIGS. 1 and 2 show a first example of a lifting hook 1 according to the invention. The lifting hook 1 comprises a hook eye 2 and a hook 3, where the hook 3 comprises a body 4 and a tip 5 having a tip end 6. The body of the hook is the part of the hook that is adapted to carry the nominal load of the lifting hook. The tip of the hook is the part of the hook that is not adapted to carry the nominal load. The tip end is the part of the tip that is positioned outside of the recess 8 for the safety latch 7 and outside of the bearing surface for the safety latch 7. The hook eye is adapted to connect the hook to a lifting means such as a chain or wire. The hook eye may be fixed or may swivel. The safety latch is spring-loaded and the hook is in the shown example provided with recesses 8 on each side of the tip in which the outer end branches of the safety latch can rest.

[0021] The tip end 6 of the lifting hook is in this example provided with a central slit 17 such that two tip end arms are created. The slit 17 is parallel with the centre plane 22 of the lifting hook. A hole 16 is provided through the two tip end arms, perpendicular to the slit 17. A pin 18 is inserted through the hole 16. A line guiding means 10 in the form of a carbine hook 19 or safety hook is arranged in the slit and is suspended by the pin. In this way, the carbine hook is permanently and pivotable attached to the tip. The line guiding means extends outside of the contact surface 23 of the tip end 6. The contact surface plane 24 of the contact surface 23 is perpendicular to the centre plane 22 of the lifting hook. In this example, the carbine hook is provided with a locking member 25 such that a guideline can be securely attached to the line guiding means. A guideline 103 can be attached to the carbine hook or can be routed through the carbine hook.

[0022] FIG. 3 shows a second example of a lifting hook according to the invention. In this example, the line guiding means 10 constitutes a bent rigid wire 11 and a flexible wire loop 20. The bent wire 11 and the wire loop 20 are mounted to the tip, in the shown example with a tube clamp 21. The bent wire 20 has a closed end 12 that is arranged at the front of the tip end 6, and that is positioned outside of the contact surface of the tip end. In this way, the lifting hook will glide on the first leg 14 and the second leg 15 when the lifting hook is attached to a support member. The open end 13 of the bent wire is attached in the recess 8. The first leg 14 and the second leg 15 of the bent wire 20 are arranged outside of the wire loop, such that the wire loop is positioned between the first leg and second leg. A guideline 103 can be attached to the wire loop or can be routed through the wire loop.

[0023] The line guiding means is used when the lifting hook is to be attached to a support member of some sort, e.g. arranged overhead of the operator. In order to allow the tip end of the hook to pass over the support member without catching or getting stuck on the support member, it is important that the line guiding means extends outside of the contact surface of the tip end, such that the line guiding means will glide against the support member during the attachment of the lifting hook on the support member. The tip end will at the same moment not contact the support member. When a carbine hook is used as a line guiding means, the carbine hook will act as an extension of the guideline and will further act as a small lever that helps the tip end of the hook over the support member.

[0024] In FIGS. 4a to 4e, an example of a lifting hook being attached to a lifting eye is shown, but the lifting hook may be attached to any suitable support member. To be able to attach the lifting hook, a guideline is attached to the line guiding means of the lifting hook, in the shown example via a carbine hook. The guideline is either attached to the line guiding means or is threaded through the line guiding means and is used in a double folded manner.

[0025] The purpose of attaching a lifting hook to a support member is to be able to lift an item by the lifting hook. A chain or wire of some type (not shown) is thus attached to the hook eye 2 of the lifting hook before the lifting hook is attached to the support member. In one example, the lifting hook is used to attach a lifting hook that is used to assemble the wires for an elevator to the upper elevator support. In this case, a wire pulley with an additional guideline is attached to the hook eye of the lifting hook. With the lifting hook in place, the guideline of the wire pulley is used to pull the elevator wires to the upper elevator support. The upper elevator support may be positioned e.g. 4-6 meters above the upper landing platform for the elevator, and with an angle to the landing platform. By threading a guideline through the upper elevator support and attaching a lifting hook to the upper support, the installation of an elevator is simplified considerably. The installation can thus be made both quicker and safer.

[0026] The guideline may be threaded over the support member or through a lifting eye with some kind of threading tool, or an operator may thread the guideline through the lifting eye standing on a ladder. In one example, the guideline is threaded through or over the support member with a boat hook from Hook&Moor. In this way, the guideline can be threaded through a lifting eye by an operator standing on the floor.

[0027] When the guideline is threaded through the lifting eye, the operator pulls the guideline such that the lifting hook comes closer to the lifting eye, as shown in FIG. 4a, until the line guiding means bears on the lifting eye, as shown in FIG. 4b, and further until the safety latch bears on the lifting eye, as shown in FIG. 4c. Here, the line guiding means will also act as a lever for the lifting hook, which simplifies the attachment of the lifting hook and reduces the risk that the tip of the lifting hook will be caught on the lifting eye. By continuing the pulling of the guideline, the safety latch of the lifting hook will open and the line guiding means will be pulled over the lifting eye, as shown in FIG. 4d. The lifting hook can now fall down on the lifting eye and hangs secure on the lifting eye, as shown in FIG. 4e. The item to be lifted can now be lifted.

[0028] The lifting hook may also be used to attach a lifting hook on other support members, such as to insert a lifting hook in a submarine foundation eye. In this case, the lifting hook may be used to anchor a vessel or the like. The foundation eye may e.g. be positioned a few meters below the waterline, and a normal manner to attach the lifting hook to the foundation eye would be to use a diver to attach the lifting hook. With the inventive lifting hook, a guideline can be threaded through the foundation eye and the lifting hook can be attached to the foundation eye by pulling the guideline. This simplifies the attachment of lifting hooks to support members positioned below the operator.

[0029] The invention is not to be regarded as being limited to the embodiments described above, a number of additional variants and modifications being possible within the scope of the subsequent patent claims.

REFERENCE SIGNS

[0030] 1: Lifting hook [0031] 2: Hook eye [0032] 3: Hook [0033] 4: Body [0034] 5: Tip [0035] 6: Tip end [0036] 7: Safety latch [0037] 8: Recess [0038] 10: Line guiding means [0039] 11: Bent steel wire [0040] 12: Closed end [0041] 13: Open end [0042] 14: First leg [0043] 15: Second leg [0044] 16: Hole [0045] 17: Central slit [0046] 18: Pin [0047] 19: Carbine hook [0048] 20: Wire loop [0049] 21: Tube clamp [0050] 22: Centre plane [0051] 23: Contact surface [0052] 24: Contact surface plane [0053] 25: Locking member [0054] 100: Lifting hook arrangement [0055] 101: Support member [0056] 102: Structure [0057] 103: Guideline [0058] 104: Line threading means