WO2010004183A1

WO2010004183A1 - System and method for handling a heavy plate

Info

Publication number: WO2010004183A1
Application number: PCT/FR2009/051241
Authority: WO
Inventors: Roland Fabbrizioli
Original assignee: Veolia Eau - Compagnie Generale Des Eaux
Priority date: 2008-06-30
Filing date: 2009-06-29
Publication date: 2010-01-14
Also published as: FR2933109B1; FR2933109A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for handling a heavy plate (10) whose upper face (12) has at least one grasping zone (16) and which is intended to close an opening (20) made in the ground or in a floor (P). Characteristically, the floor (P) is provided with at least one housing (40) arranged along one of the sides forming the front side (14) of the plate (10) and intended to accommodate at least one rolling element (52) which protrudes from the surface of the floor (P) in order to allow the plate (10) to be moved by rolling it over said rolling element (52).

Description

System and method for handling a heavy plate

The invention relates to a handling system for a heavy plate whose upper face has at least one gripping zone and which is intended to close an opening made at ground level or a floor.

The invention also relates to a method of handling a heavy plate whose upper face has at least one gripping zone and which closes an opening made at ground level or a floor. Such openings placed at ground level or floor, and which are closed by a heavy plate (trap or buffer), form manholes to access different types of underground or enclosed technical structures, including hydraulic structures and / or electrical sewer system. These plates can have variable shapes and dimensions, and because of their large weight, usually several tens of kilograms, and their large size, they are difficult to move to release or close the corresponding opening. It is for example circular or polygonal plates and very often rectangular plates, in particular metal plates, and in particular cast iron plates.

In the case of a sewerage system, structures whose access opening is closed by such a plate are for example recovery stations, flood-time pumping stations, discharge stations, basins decantation, facade or control at the location of the connection between the public sewer and the drainage pipe from a building, or manholes.

These structures can also be found in wastewater treatment plants, drinking water plants ...

It is of course necessary to make these openings, usually closed by a heavy plate, accessible to the personnel in charge of the maintenance or charged with work on these works or on the sewer pipes (in the latter case, the opening constitutes a mouth disgust).

These plates are usually equipped on their upper face with two symmetrical gripping zones consisting of a cavity provided with a horizontal material axis fixed by its two ends. In order to move the plate, the operator uses two operating rods whose end equipped with a hook is mounted on the axis, the other end forming a handle, which allows to pull the plate with both hands, by dragging it on the edge of the opening. However, because of the large weight of these plates, the operation of disengagement and closing of the opening is difficult, very painful, even dangerous.

Sometimes it is even necessary, to clear the opening, to manipulate these plates through two people, or even a crane mounted on a truck.

It is also known, in particular from US 5,511,898, to use closure plates mounted on rollers which cooperate with raceways or rails. However such solutions are cumbersome to implement because they require to equip the plate and the opening of rolling systems, which require significant changes to the equipment already installed.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a handling system and method for overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art and in particular offering the possibility of easily handling such heavy plates, without having to make substantial modifications to the prior art material. existing.

For this purpose, according to the present invention, the handling system is characterized in that the floor is equipped with at least one housing disposed along one of the sides forming the front side of the plate and intended to receive at least one rolling element protruding from the floor surface for rolling movement of the plate on said rolling element.

In this way, it is understood that by the simple addition of one or more housing in the floor, along the opening, and the installation of a rolling element in this (these) housing (s), the plate not being modified, an operator is able to move very easily this plate to open and close the opening in the floor.

Indeed, it is understood that the plate bearing on the rolling element or elements, a large part of the weight of the plate is supported by this or these rolling elements which are rotated during the displacement of the plate, this rolling movement reducing considerably the efforts to be made to release and then put back the plate relative to the opening.

For this purpose, the handling method according to the invention is implemented. This method is characterized in that the floor has at least one housing along one of the sides forming the front side of said opening and in that it comprises the following steps to make said opening accessible by the release of the plate :

at least one rolling element protruding from the floor surface is placed in said housing

for each gripping zone, a maneuvering rod is provided, one end of which has a handle and the other end of which has retaining means capable of cooperating with the gripping zone to grip the plate; cooperate the means for retaining the operating rod with the gripping zone, and

the plate is pulled from the front side of the opening, by manually holding the handle of the operating rod, whereupon as soon as the lower face of the plate is placed on said rolling element, the continuation of the displacement is obtained; rolling plate on said rolling element.

Then, the handling method according to the invention comprises the following steps for closing said opening with the plate: - the means of retaining the operating rod is cooperating with the gripping zone, and

pushing the plate from the front side of the opening, by manually holding the handle of the operating rod, whereby the lower face of the plate which is in contact with said rolling element allows the rolling of the plate on said rolling element, so that the plate gradually closes the opening.

Overall, thanks to the solution according to the present invention, it is possible to arrange in a very simple way a door or a closed look by a buffer for easy access. To facilitate the movement of the plate and minimize the forces, preferably said gripping area of the plate is located at near the front side of the plate, namely in the front half of the plate.

Preferably, the heavy plate and the aperture are rectangular and define a front side, a back side and two side sides.

Other advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from reading the following description given by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the handling system according to the invention outside a period of use of the plate;

FIGS. 2 to 4 are partial perspective views illustrating the preparation of the handling system according to the invention, and

- Figure 5 is a perspective view of the handling system according to the invention showing the implementation of the handling process at the beginning of the release of the plate outside the opening; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the handling system illustrating the continued disengagement of the plate outside the opening.

The embodiment shown in the figures corresponds to the case of a rectangular plate 10 enclosing a rectangular opening 20 having substantially the same dimensions, the plate 10 being slightly smaller to allow its housing in the opening 20.

The opening 20 has been made in a floor P (which may designate the floor, the floor, a sidewalk ...) and it is arranged to retain the plate 10: for this purpose, as it appears more clearly in Figure 6 The edge of the opening 20 delimits, away from the surface of the floor P, a peripheral bearing flange 22 in the form of a protruding shoulder.

In the closed position, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the plate 10 is disposed in the opening 20 so that the upper face 12 of the plate 10 is flush with the upper face of the floor P (the aforementioned difference corresponding to the thickness of the plate 10). As can be seen in the lower right part of Figures 1 to 4, the front side 14 of the plate 10 and the front side 24 of the opening 20 correspond.

The upper face 12 of the plate comprises, at the front half of the plate 10, two gripping zones 16 arranged symmetrically with respect to the lateral sides 18 of the plate 10, at a short distance from the front side 14 of the plate. plate.

These gripping zones 16 are conventionally made in the form of a cavity 16a provided with a horizontal material axis 16b fixed by its two ends (see FIGS. 2 to 4). Each gripping zone 16 is intended to cooperate with a conventional operating rod 30 whose first end 30a equipped with a hook is mounted on the axis 16b, the second end 30b of the maneuver rod forming a handle (see FIGS. Figures 4 to 6). According to the invention, the floor P is equipped with two housings

40 disposed symmetrically along the front side 24 of the opening 20, each housing 40 being adapted to receive at least one rolling member 50 protruding beyond the surface of the floor P for the rolling movement of the plate 10 on said housing 50. The housings 40 are arranged in the floor P just at the edge of the opening 20: the edge of the opening 20 is usually surrounded by a metal frame (L-section to cover the support flange 22), the recesses 40 in the floor P, along the front side 24 of the opening 20, directly behind the frame, are hollowed out. These recesses 40 are elongated, of rectangular shape and run along the front side 24 of the opening 20. In the embodiment shown, each housing 40 extends to the lateral side 28 of the opening 20.

In the preferred embodiment shown, as it appears in FIGS. 3 and 4, each housing 40 is able to receive a rolling element 50 formed of a roller 52 mounted on a material axis 54.

When the housing is lined with the roller 52, the latter is able to rotate about its axis and at least slightly protrudes from the surface of the floor to allow the support of the underside 13 of the plate 10 on the surface of the roller 52 (see Figures 5 and 6). In this way, a portion of the weight of the plate 10 is supported by the two rollers 52 which further allow by their rolling forward or back easy plate 10 relative to the opening 20. As it is clearly visible in Figure 3, to facilitate the rolling of the rollers 52, each end of the housing 40 is preferably equipped with a split support 42 adapted to receive an end of the material axis 54 so that the roller 52 is able to turn around its axis without touching the bottom of the housing 40 and protruding from the surface of the floor P.

To avoid any incident with the housings 40 outside periods during which the plates are maneuvered or during which the opening 20 remains clear, it is expected that the handling system further comprises removable closure means of said housing 40.

As can be seen in Figures 2 and 3, is used for this purpose, a cover 60 in the form of a perforated plate 62 which is fixed above the housing 40 at the same height as the floor surface P by means a screw 64 whose end cooperates with a tapping 44 made in the bottom of the housing 40.

To release the plate 10 from its opening 20, the housings 40 are opened by removing the screws 64 and the plates 62, then a roll is placed in each housing 40. It is then sufficient to place the hooks (first ends 30a) of the two rods. operating in the two gripping zones 16 and then pulling the plate 10 by pulling on the handles (second ends 30b) of the two operating rods 30.

After slightly raising the front side 14 of the plate 10 and after a short translational movement in the direction of the arrows 72 (see Figure 5), that is to say towards the rear for an operator who manually holds the handles or second ends 30b of the two operating rods 30, the lower face 13 of the plate 10 arrives above and bears on the two rollers 52.

From this position, as it appears in FIG. 6, it suffices to continue moving the plate 10 while continuing to fire on the two maneuvering rods 30 in the direction of arrows 72, for relieving the forces to be provided due to the rotation (arrow 74) of the rollers 52.

When the plate 10 is moved sufficiently to completely clear the opening 20, in order to place it in a configuration facilitating its return into the opening 20, it is advantageously provided (see FIG. 6) that the lower face 13 of the plate 10 is equipped, near the rear side 15 of the plate, at least one stop 19 adapted to come to lock against the edge of the opening 20 (against the frame of the support flange 22). In this case, the only arrangement of the plate 10 is the addition of this stop 19 which is preferably present in duplicate symmetrically with respect to the lateral sides 18 of the plate 10, a short distance from the rear side 15 of the plate 10.

After carrying out the desired control, maintenance or other operations on the structure accessible via the opening 20, the handling of the plate 10 for closing the opening is performed in the same way in the reverse order : then pushes on the operating rods 30 to gradually cover the opening 20 by the plate 10. Then, the operating rods 30 are removed, the rollers 52 are removed and the housings 40 are closed by placing the plate 62 then fixing it by the screw 64.

Thus, the operator who uses the handling system according to the invention uses the same operating rods 30 as before and must also have two rollers 52 mounted on their axis 54, as well as the tool to dismount and reassemble screw 64 (screwdriver or Allen key).

Claims

Handling system for a heavy plate (10) whose upper face (12) has at least one gripping area (16) and which is intended to close an opening (20) made at ground level or floor (P), characterized in that the floor (P) is provided with at least one housing (40) arranged along one of the sides forming the front side (14) of the plate (10) and intended to receive at the at least one rolling element (50) protruding from the floor surface (P) for rolling movement of the plate (10) on said rolling element (50).

Handling system according to Claim 1, characterized in that the heavy plate (10) and the opening (20) are rectangular and define a front side (14, 24), a rear side (15) and two lateral sides. (18, 28).

3. Handling system according to claim 2, characterized in that the floor (P) is equipped with two housings (40) symmetrically arranged along the front side (14) of the opening (20), each housing ( 40) being adapted to receive at least one rolling element (50) protruding beyond the floor surface (P) for rolling movement of the plate (10) on said rolling element (50).

4. Handling system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said gripping area (16) of the plate (10) is located near the front side (14) of the plate (10).

Handling system according to any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the upper face (12) of the plate (10) has two gripping areas (16) arranged symmetrically with respect to the lateral sides of the the plate (10).

6. Handling system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it further comprises closing means (60) removable said housing (40).

7. Material handling system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said rolling element (50) is a roller (52) mounted on an axis (54).

8. Handling system according to the preceding claim, characterized in that each end of the housing (40) is equipped with a split support (42) adapted to receive an end of the axis (54) so that the roller (52) ) is rotatable about its axis without touching the bottom of the housing (40) and protruding from the floor surface (P).

Handling system according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the underside (13) of the plate (10) is provided, in the vicinity of the rear side of the plate (10), with at least one stop (19) able to come to hang against the edge of the opening (20).

10. A method of handling a heavy plate (10) whose upper face (12) comprises at least one gripping zone (16) and which closes an opening (20) made at ground level or a floor (P). ), characterized in that the floor (P) has at least one housing (40) along one of the sides forming the front side (24) of said opening (20) and in that said method comprises the following steps allowing to make said opening (20) accessible by the release of the plate (10):

at least one rolling element (50) protruding from the floor surface (P) is placed in said housing (40). An operating rod (30) is provided for each gripping area (16). one end (30b) has a handle and the other end (30a) has retaining means adapted to cooperate with the gripping zone (16) to grip the plate (10),

the means for retaining the operating rod (30) are made to cooperate with the gripping zone (16), and

the plate (10) is pulled from the front (14) of the opening (20), by manually holding the handle of the operating rod (30), whereupon as soon as the lower face (13) of the plate (10) is placed on said rolling element (50), it continues to move the plate (10) by rolling on said rolling element (50).

11. The handling method according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it comprises the following steps for closing said opening (20) with the plate (10):

the plate (10) is pushed from the front side (14) of the opening (20) by manually holding the handle of the operating rod (30), whereby the lower face (13) of the plate ( 10) which is in contact with said rolling element (50) allows the rolling of the plate (10) on said rolling element (50), so that the plate (10) gradually closes the opening (20).

12. A handling method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized in that the plate (10) and the heavy opening (20) are rectangular and define a front side (14, 24), a rear side (15) and two lateral sides (18, 28).