Covering consisting of a plurality of gratings inserted one into another

Abstract

Covers for drains, manholes or similar constructions are known which comprise a first grate (10) made of sheet metal and comprising slots (11) and struts (12), said struts having top faces (13) and each strut having side faces (14, 14) made of sheet metal bent with respect to the top face. In order to increase the rigidity it is proposed that at least a second grate (20) is provided, the struts (22) of which are inserted in the slots (11) of the first grate (10).

Claims

1. Cover for drains or manholes, comprising: at least one first grate made of a first sheet of sheet metal and comprising slots and struts, said struts having top faces and each strut having at least one side face made of a portion of the first sheet of sheet metal which is bent with respect to the top face, the side face having downward-projecting edge rims having substantially vertical slots into which the side faces of the struts are hooked; and at least a second grate made of a second sheet of sheet metal and comprising slots and struts having top faces and each strut having at least one side face made of a portion of the second sheet of sheet metal which is bent with respect to the top face, the side face comprising support strips to support the struts, the struts of which are inserted in the slots of the first grate, wherein the struts of the grates are bent such that the top faces of said struts lie in one plane.

2. Cover according to claim 1, wherein the first grate is connected by interlocking to the second grate.

3. Cover according to claim 2, wherein the first grate is connected by interlocking to the second grate by folded over tabs of the first grate edge rims.

4. Cover according to claim 1, wherein one of the grates has edge support strips that are bent over in a U-shape, with edge support strips of all the further grates interposed.

5. Cover according to claim 1, wherein the grates are produced by roll-forming.

6. Cover for drains or manholes, comprising: at least one first grate made of a first sheet of sheet metal and comprising slots and struts, said struts having top faces and each strut having at least one side face made of a portion of the first sheet of sheet metal which is bent with respect to the top face, the side face having downward-projecting edge rims having substantially vertical slots into which the side faces of the struts are hooked; and at least a second grate made of a second sheet of sheet metal and comprising slots and struts having top faces and each strut having at least one side face made of a portion of the second sheet of sheet metal which is bent with respect to the top face, the side face comprising support strips to support the struts, the struts of which are inserted in the slots of the first grate wherein the first grate is connected to the second grate by interlocking to the second grate, and wherein the first grate is connected by edge folds to the second grate.

7. Cover according to claim 6, wherein the struts of the grates are bent such that the top faces of said struts lie in one plane.

8. Cover for drains or manholes, comprising: at least one first grate made of a first sheet of sheet metal and comprising slots and struts, said struts having top faces and each strut having at least one side face made of a portion of the sheet metal which is bent with respect to the top face; and at least a second grate made of a second sheet of sheet metal and comprising slots and struts having top faces and each strut having at least one side face made of a portion of the second sheet metal which is bent with respect to the top face, the side face comprising support strips to support the struts, the struts of which are inserted in the slots of the first grate, wherein one of the grates has downward-projecting edge rims having substantially vertical slots into which the side faces of the struts are hooked.

Description

(1) FIG. 1A shows a perspective partial view of a second grate,

(2) FIG. 1B shows a perspective partial view of a first grate,

(3) FIG. 1C shows the grates according to FIGS. 1A and 1B connected together,

(4) FIG. 2 shows a magnified view of the detail labelled II in FIG. 1C,

(5) FIG. 3 shows a schematic view of a longitudinal section for the purpose of explaining the stamping and bending process for producing a grate,

(6) FIG. 4 shows a diagram of a longitudinal section of a second grate,

(7) FIG. 5 shows a diagram of a longitudinal section through a complete grate,

(8) FIG. 6 shows a partial cross-section along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5,

(9) FIG. 7 shows a partial cross-section along the line VII-VII in FIG. 5,

(10) FIG. 8 shows diagrams of longitudinal sections through five individual grates to be connected together,

(11) FIG. 9 shows the five grates of FIG. 8 for forming a fully closed cover,

(12) FIG. 10 shows a diagram similar to that of FIG. 8 but containing only three grates,

(13) FIG. 11 shows the three grates of FIG. 10 assembled into a single grate,

(14) FIG. 12 shows a partial face-on view of a further embodiment of the invention, and

(15) FIG. 13 shows a perspective view of the embodiment of FIG. 12.

(16) In the following description, the same reference numbers are used for parts that are identical and work in the same way.

(17) An embodiment of the invention is described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

(18) FIG. 1B shows a first grate, which is produced from a single piece of sheet metal by roll-forming or stamping. This first grate 10 comprises struts 12, which are separated by slots 11.

(19) Each strut 12 has a top face, which is provided with bumps to improve the slip resistance when walked on. Directed downwards from the top faces 13, the struts 12 have side folds 14, 14, which engage by end claws 19 (FIG. 7) in slots 17, which are stamped in rims 16, 16 so that each side face 14, 14 is supported by their ends in the rims 16, 16. The top faces 13 are additionally each connected to a top arm of a U shaped fold 15, which, bent downwards, becomes the rims 16, 16.

(20) It can be seen in FIG. 1B that slots 17 are provided in exactly twice the number than the struts 12. Side faces 24, 24 of struts 22 of a second grate 20 (FIG. 1A) can now be inserted in these slots 17 to produce the finished grate shown in FIG. 1C. This finished grate thus comprises alternately struts 12 and 22 of a first grate 10 and a second grate 20 respectively.

(21) In addition, support strips 28, 28 of the second grate 20 are clamped between the side faces of the U shaped folds 15, 15, and end claws 29 of the side faces 24, 24 are hooked into slots 17 of the rims 16, 16 of the first grate 10.

(22) The advantages of this construction are explained below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

(23) FIG. 3 shows in a highly schematic representation a metal sheet that lies initially in one plane and is then severed in the region of the arrow in FIG. 3. Then the sheet segments are bent downwards, as shown in FIG. 3, to produce a row of struts having very wide slots lying therebetween. FIG. 4 shows such an arrangement, wherein the struts 22 here are inserted centrally between the struts 12 of the grate 10 of FIG. 5. The side faces 14, 14 and 24, 24 can thereby be designed to be twice as high as in a grate that is made of just one sub-piece.

(24) FIGS. 6 and 7 show sections along the lines VI-VI and VII-VII respectively of FIG. 5. These figures show that the first grate 10 has folds 15 along the side, which are bent over in a U-shape and then bent downwards to form the rims 16. These rims 16 comprise slots 17, in which engage end claws 19 of the side faces 14, so that the struts 12 of the first grate 10 are supported by their side faces 14 in the rim 16. In addition, the folds 15 clasp support strips 28 of the second grate 20, which therefore does not have folds 15 and rims 16. This construction guarantees a secure connection between the first grate and the second grate 20 by means of interlocking and also results in the increase in rigidity already explained above by means of higher side faces 14, 14.

(25) The principle just explained of interleaving two grates can also be extended to a larger number of grates. This is shown in FIGS. 8 to 11.

(26) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, in addition to a first grate 10 and a second grate 20, three further grates 30 to 32 are shown schematically. These grates can then, as shown in FIG. 9, be stacked inside one another so as to produce a completely closed cover, which, however, is produced only from formed sheet-metal parts and yet has an extraordinarily high degree of rigidity.

(27) In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, a first grate 10, a second grate 20 and a third grate 30 are fitted inside one another to produce relatively narrow slots 11, as is sometimes required. Furthermore, the rigidity of this arrangement is likewise especially high.

(28) FIG. 1 and FIGS. 6 and 7 have been used to describe grates that rest by their support strips 18, 18; 28, 28 on edges of a drain. FIGS. 12 and 13 show schematically grates that lie between frames of a drain. For this purpose, the folds 15 have a C-shaped or hook-shaped design and define the thickness of the grates 10, 20. The struts 22, or more precisely the side faces 24, 24 of same, protrude by their end claws 29 into the hook-shaped folds 15 and are supported there. The success achieved hereby is the same as in the embodiment of the invention shown previously. In addition, again two or more grates 10, 20 can be gripped inside one another in order to produce thereby a rigid grate that can be handled as a unit.

LIST OF REFERENCES

(29) 10 first grate 11 slot 12 strut 13 top face 14, 14 side faces 15, 15 fold 16, 16 rim 17 slot 18, 18 support strip 19 end claw 20 second grate 21 slot 22 strut 23 top face 24, 24 side face 28, 28 support strip 29 end claw 30 third grate 31 fourth grate 32 fifth grate