US3396945A - Mounting for elevated platform - Google Patents

Description

g. 1963 K. SCHREIER ETAL 3,396,945

MOUNTING FOR ELEVATED PLATFORM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I i l /Kurf schreler- Johann Loibl INVENTORS.

BY 9 R v W Attorney lllll-lll' 13, 1968 K. SCHREIER ETAL 3,396,945

MOUNTING FOR ELEVATED PLATFORM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 1, 1966 FIG? Kuri' Schreier Johann Loibl INVENTORS.

13, 8 K. SCHREIER ETAL 3,396,945

MOUNTING FOR ELEVATED PLATFORM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 1, 1966 NiZNTQRSI Kurf Schrewr Johann L01)! 13, 1968 K. SCHREIER ETAL 3,396,945

MOUNTING FOR ELEVATED PLATFORM Filed Au 1, 1966 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Kuri Schreq'en Johann LOIbI INVENTORS United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mounting for elevating and lowering a platform along an upright support, with two sets of grippers selectively engageable with a vertical rib on the su port and with a frame on the platform bracketing the housings of the two sets of grippers, one housing being linked directly to the platform while the other is connected with the first housing by means of hydraulic or pneumatic jacks and is slidably guided in the frame.

Our present invention relates to an adjustable mounting for an elevated, portable platform of the type used, for example, in harbors or at other off-shore locations as a work station or observation post. Such platforms are also useful on dry land, e.g for the drilling of oil wells.

In order to accommodate itself to difierent terrains, or to tidewaters of varying depths, such platforms must be readily displaceable along the uprights by which they are supported from the ground. Adjustable mountings heretofore used for this purpose were not fully satisfactory, either because they did not afford continuous change in elevation or because their construction (egg. in the form of racks and pinions) was not sturdy enough to sustain large loads.

. The general object of our invention, therefore, is to provide a mounting for elevated platforms which obviates the drawbacks referred to.

A more particular object is to provide a mounting of this description which is operable in a simple manner, e.g. by a workman atop the platform itself, for raising and lowering the platform to any desired extent.

These objects are realized, pursuant to the present invention, by the provision of two separate gripperunits, advantageously mounted one above the other, which are independently engageable with an upright support for the platform to be adjusted, one of these units being linked with the platform and being connected with the other unit by way of a fluid-operated actuator, such as a hydraulic or pneumatic jack, for relative vertical displacement along the support whereby the platform'can be moved up or down by alternate engagement and release of the two gripper units with intervening change of their relative spacing by operation of the hydraulic or pneumatic actuator.

In accordance with a more specific feature of our invention, ea-ch gripper unit comprises oppositely oriented wedge-shaped clamping members disposed, preferably in pairs, alongside a vertical rib ofthe support so as to bear sideways upon this rib in an engaged position. The wedge members are advantageously under spring pressure which biases them against the support, e.g. the aforementioned rib, inthe absence of a countervailing force which may be provided by an associated piston selectively subjected to fluid pressure for retraction of these members into a disengaged position. When not so retracted by a hydraulic or pneumatic controller, the wedge members are automatically drawn into firm engagement with the support upon incipient relative motion by frictional en- 3,396,945 Patented Aug. 13, 1968 trainment of their contact surfaces which may be suitably corrugated or otherwise roughened for this purpose.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of an elevated platform and a supporting upright equipped with adjustable mounting means in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side-elevational view of the mounting means of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view at right angles to that of FIG. 2, taken on the line III-III of the latter;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line IV-IV of FIG. .2;

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are views similar to FIG. 3 but with parts broken away, showing the assembly in different operating positions;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view (parts broken away) of a holder for a plurality of wedge members disposed side by side;

'' FIG. 9 is a perspective rear view of the holder shown in FIG. 8; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a single wedge member.

Reference will first be made to FIG. 1 which illustrates a platform 4 supported on several uprights 1 (only one shown) in the form of tubular columns. The column 1 is formed on diametrically opposite sides with a pair of radially projecting ribs 7 each frictionally engaged, in a manner more fully described hereinafter, by a pair of gripper units having housings 2 and 2' mounted one above the other within a common frame 13. The lower gripper housing 2' is connected via hinged links 3 with the platform 4; the links 3 may themselves be of adjustable length, e.g. for leveling purposes, as by being in the form of hydraulic or pneumatic jacks.

As best seen in FIGS. 2-4, each gripper housing 2, 2' is provided with lateral lugs 9, 9' which slidably engage the side members of the frame 13 so that the two grippers are vertically movable with reference to that frame which is rigid with platform 4. In order to minimize the risk of binding stresses, the lugs 9, 9' are secured to the respective gripper housings with limited universal mobility in a horizontal plane.

The two gripper housings 2, 2' straddling each of the ribs 7 are interconnected by hydraulic or pneumatic jacks 8 constituting, in eifect, linkages of variable length which can be contracted or extended as shown in FIGS. 5-7. As also best seen in these figures, each of the gripper housings has two serrated inner surfaces which confront the sides of the rectangularly profiled rib 7 and form ramps for two sets of oppositely oriented wedge members 6a, 6b (housing 2) and 6a, 6b (housing 2). The upper wedge members 6a, 6a, of which only a single pair is visible in FIGS. 5-7 even though each of these members may be representative of several such members on its own level (as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9), resist upward displacement of the respective gripper housings along the column 1 upon being brought into engagement with the rib 7. Conversely, the lower wedge members 6b, 6b, of which several vertically stacked pairs can be seen in FIGS. 5-7, and which are more numerous since they must sustain the weight of the platform 4, oppose in their engaged position a downward shift of the corresponding gripper housings with reference to the column; naturally, each of these wedge members is also representative of a bank of wedge members disposed side by side. Operating fluid, when supplied to the wedge members via conduits 5, 5' (FIG. 1) under the control of a manually operable selector such as a panel of electric switches in a cabinet 18, withdraws the wedge members from contact with the rib 7. This has been illustrated in FIG. 8 where these wedge members, generally desigserve for the admission and return, respectively, of a gaseous or liquid motive fluid as indicated by the arrows in FIGS. 8 and 9. Biasing springs 14, advantageously of the dished or Belleville type, bear upon the pistons 15 in a sense tending to displace them in a direction (upward in FIG. 8) in which the ramps 22 will cam them inwardly toward the confronting rib surface.

In the position of FIG. the wedge members 6a, 6b in housing 2 have pressure fluid applied to them so as to be withdrawn from the rib 7; the wedge pieces 6a and 6b in housing 2, on the other hand, are urged by their biasing springs into contact with that rib so that this gripper assembly is operative to support the platform 4 through the intermediary of jacks 8, housing 2' and links 3. If, now, the jacks 8 are foreshortened as shown in FIG. 6, housing 2 and platform 4 are lifted and may be subsequently immobilized in their new position by an engagement of wedge members 6a, 6b with rib 7. Upon such engagement, as shown in FIG. 7, the wedge members 6a, 6b in housing 2 may be released whereupon this housing may be lifted by re-expansion of jacks 8 into a more elevated position, preparatorily to a repetition of this operation by re-engagement of wedge member-s 6a, 6b and release of wedge members 6a, 6b if a further raising of the platform should be desired. The inverse sequence is observed for a lowering of the platform. Naturally, at least one gripper assembly 2 or 2' of each pair must be in engaged position at all times while the platform is mounted on its supports 1.

A particular advantage of our invention is that the gripper units herein described can sustain large loads even when made from ordinary, easily weldable steel as distinct from the high-strength alloy steels which are required in prior-art constructions and which can be welded and/ or machined only with difliculty.

The system described and illustrated can be readily enlarged for greater load-bearing capacity, e.g. by horizontal expansion of platform 4 and addition of further supports with synchronized grippers in conformity with the building-block principle. By the same token, several interconnected platforms may be vertically stacked on a common set of supporting columns and provided with synchronized grippers for the described ascending or descending displacement therealong.

We claim:

1. A mounting for adjusta-bly securing a platform to an upright support therefor, said support having a vertical rib, comprising first and second gripper means independently engageable with said support, control means for selectively operating and releasing said first and second gripper means, link means connecting said gripper means with said second platform, fluid-operated actuating means interconnecting said first and second gripper means for relative vertical displacement whereby said platform is vertically movable along said support by alternate engagement and release of said first and second gripper means with intervening change of their relative spacing by operation of said actuating means, said first and second gripper means comprising respective housings disposed one above the other along said rib and wedge 4 members in said housings positioned for lateral contact with said rib, and a frame rigidly secured to said platform and bracketing said first and second gripper means, the housing of at least said first gripper means having lateral extension slidably engaging said frame for vertical movement therealong.

2. A mounting as defined in claim 1 wherein said wedge members are provided with biasing means resiliently urging same against said contact surface, said control means including piston means displaceable by fluid under pressure to counteract said biasing means for disengaging said wedge members from said rib.

3. A mounting as defined in claim 1 wherein the housing of each of said gripper means containing a plurality of said wedge members oppositely oriented for resisting upward and downward displacement, respectively, with reference to said rib, the number of wedge members resisting downward displacement exceeding the number of wedge members resisting upward displacement.

4. A mounting as defined in claim 1 wherein each housing accommodates a plurality of said wedge members disposed therein side by side for concurrent engagement with said rib.

5. A mounting as defined in claim 1 wherein said actuating means comprises a jack interposed between said first and second gripper means.

6. A mounting as defined in claim 1 wherein each housing is formed with confronting ramps on opposite sides of said rib, said wedge members being disposed in pairs adjacent said opposite sides for limited vertical movement along said ramps between an engaged and a released position.

7. A mounting as defined in claim 1 wherein each housing engages said frame with limited universal mobility in a horizontal plane.

8. A mounting for adjustably securing a platform to an upright support therefor, said support having a vertical rib, comprising first and second gripper means independently engageable with said support, control means for selectively operating and releasing said first and second gripper means, link means connecting said second gripper means with said platform, and fluid-operated actuating means interconnecting said first and second gripper means for relative vertical displacement whereby said platform is vertically movable along said support by alternate engagement and release of said first and second gripper means with intervening change of their relative spacing by operation of said actuating means, said first and second gripper means comprising respective housings disposed one above the other along said rib and wedge members in said housings positioned for lateral contact with said rib, the housing of each of said gripper means containing a plurality of said wedge members oppositely oriented for resisting upward and downward displacement, respectively, with reference to said rib, the number of wedge members resisting downward displacement exceeding the number of wedge members resisting upward displacement.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,352,370 6/1944 Carruthers 24-263 2,830,788 4/1958 Bentley et a1. 254- 31 2,839,164- 6/1958 Roussel 61-465 X 2,969,648 1/1961 Rechtin 61-465 3,065,573 11/1962 Goldberg 254-106 X 3,096,072 7/1963 Brown 25429 3,203,669 8/ 1965 Johansson 25'4107 OTHELL M. SIMPSON, Primary Examiner.

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