Building strut

Abstract

 Building strut (1) comprising an upright (2) with a member (3) guided movably therein which is provided with openings through which a blocking means (5) can be fitted, and a support (6), in which a mechanical or hydraulic adjustment device (7,8) for setting the length of the building strut (1) has been fitted at one end of the upright (2) via which said upright rests on the ground.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a building strut comprising an upright with a member guided movably therein which is provided with openings through which a blocking means can be fitted, and a support.

[0002] Building struts are generally known and are used in the construction industry for supporting, at a certain height, beams on which planks or boards are temporarily laid and on which concrete is poured in order, in the case of this example, to form a concrete floor.

[0003] Known building struts comprise a sleeve with handles attached thereto, which is fitted at the end of the upright from which the member projects, which serves for accurately setting the length of the building strut. This sleeve engages with the blocking means which has been fitted through an opening in the member and, with the aid of a screw-thread connection between the sleeve and the upright, the blocking means together with the member can be moved in the longitudinal direction with respect to the upright by rotating the sleeve. The maximum distance which can be achieved through rotation of the sleeve is equal to the distance between two successive openings in the member through which the blocking means can be fitted.

[0004] Rotation of the sleeve is, for a number of reasons, labour-intensive work. Firstly, rotation of the sleeve requires a great deal of force. Secondly, the sleeve has to be turned a number of times in order to move the member over a certain distance with respect to the upright, due to the fact that the screw thread of the said screw-thread connection between sleeve and upright is necessarily of the self-locking type. Thirdly, the building struts are used for only a short period at one place and have to be moved many times. Each time a building strut is moved, the sleeve has to be operated. Furthermore, in practice, the number of building struts in simultaneous use on a construction site ranges from tens to hundreds.

[0005] The accuracy with which a building strut is set in terms of length is principally a function of the accurate rotation of the sleeve. Given that said rotation is labour-intensive work, this rotation is in practice restricted to a minimum so that only a small degree of accuracy is achieved.

[0006] The object of the invention is to provide a building strut which provides less labour-intensive operation for setting the length of the building strut and which makes said setting possible with a higher degree of accuracy.

[0007] This object is achieved by fitting an adjustment device for setting the length of the building strut at one end of the upright via which said upright rests on the ground.

[0008] By means of said adjustment device, the building strut can be set in terms of length accurately and with great ease of operation. The user has only to carry out two simple operations. As is customary in accordance with the prior art, the user firstly sets the building strut roughly in terms of length by fitting a blocking means into an opening of his choice in the member, after which he supports the member together with the blocking means on the upright. In the building strut according to the present invention, the user then sets the building strut accurately in terms of length by fitting an operating means, after which he operates the adjustment device.

[0009] The adjustment device may be a mechanical device which comprises a gear system, a spindle and a connecting piece for the coupling thereon of an operating lever. An embodiment of this type is characterized by a relatively high degree of operational safety and relatively low purchase costs.

[0010] The adjustment device may, however, also be a hydraulically operated device which comprises a hydraulic pump which is connected to a hydraulic cylinder, in which a piston and a spring have been fitted, via a hydraulic lead which connects to a connecting piece. An embodiment of this type affords even greater ease of operation than the embodiment mentioned previously with a mechanical adjustment device, because the user has to carry out even less work. The operational reliability and purchase costs are less favourable compared with the mechanical embodiment of the adjustment device described above.

[0011] If a hydraulic adjustment device is provided, the piston may be fitted to the upright by means of a detachable fastening means. The detachability simplifies the manufacture of the building strut, facilitates the exchangeability of the adjustment device and simplifies the carrying-out of maintenance on the building strut.

[0012] A hydraulic adjustment device requires a number of well-known elements, such as a hydraulic pump. Said hydraulic pump may form a separate device which can be fitted detachably to the hydraulic adjustment device. Given that the hydraulic pump may then be used for operating various building struts, a compact structure of the building strut is achieved and purchase costs of the pump can be spread over a large number of building struts.

[0013] The hydraulic pump and other elements which together form a hydraulic system may, however, also form an integral part of the hydraulic adjustment device. In this embodiment, a hydraulic pump does not in each case have to be connected in order to operate an adjustment device of a building strut; it may be sufficient simply to fit a temporary universal operating lever.

[0014] The operating lever may be fitted detachably to the mechanical or hydraulic adjustment device. Consequently, an operating lever for each building strut is not necessary. Moreover, no operating lever projects outwards which would give rise to inconvenience and injury.

[0015] The invention will be illustrated in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings which depict an illustrative embodiment.

[0016] Figure 1 shows a perspective side view of the building strut according to the invention which is provided with a mechanical adjustment device.

[0017] Figure 2 shows a detail of perspective side view of the building strut according to the invention which is provided with a hydraulic adjustment device.

[0018] Figure 3 shows the same detail as Figure 2 but in the case in which the hydraulic pump forms an integral part of the hydraulic cylinder.

[0019] As seen in Figure 1, the building strut 1 comprises an upright 2 with a member 3 guided movably therein which is provided with openings 4 through which a blocking means 5 can be fitted, a support 6, and a mechanical adjustment device 7 for setting the length of the building strut, which device is fitted at the end of the upright 2 via which said upright 2 rests on the ground.

[0020] By means of the openings 4 and the blocking means 5, the member 3 is placed at a certain desired height with respect to the upright 2. In order to support a beam on the support 6 at the correct height, the support 6 must still be able to move accurately in the longitudinal direction of the upright 2 over a small distance. This maximum distance which can be spanned is equal to the distance between two successive openings 4. The upright 2 via which the member 3 and the support 6 are connected is raised through operation of the adjustment device 7, as a result of which the said accurate movement can be achieved.

[0021] The mechanical adjustment device 7 is fitted at the end of the upright 2 via which the latter rests on the ground. The mechanical adjustment device 7 comprises a gear system 9, a spindle 10 and a connecting piece 11. The adjustment device may be operated by causing an operating lever to couple with the connecting piece 11. If the adjustment device does not have to be operated, the operating lever may be uncoupled from the adjustment device.

[0022] As shown in Figure 2, the hydraulic adjustment device 8 comprises a cylinder 15 in which a piston 16 and a spring 17 have been incorporated. Said hydraulic adjustment device may be operated by means of a separate, external, hydraulic pump 12 which may be connected detachably to the cylinder 15 by means of a hydraulic line 13 and a connecting piece 14.

[0023] The upright 2 is connected to the piston 16 at one end via a fastening means 18. By operating the hydraulic adjustment device 8, the upright 2 is moved under the effect of the movement of the piston 16.

[0024] Unlike the embodiment according to Figure 2, the hydraulic pump 12 may be integral with the cylinder 15, as is illustrated in Figure 3. The hydraulic adjustment device 8 may be operated by causing an operating lever 19 to couple on the adjustment device 8. If the adjustment device does not have to be operated, the operating lever 19 may be uncoupled from the adjustment device 8.

Claims

1. Building strut (1) comprising an upright (2) with a member (3) guided movably therein which is provided with openings (4) through which a blocking means (5) can be fitted, and a support (6), characterized in that an adjustment device (7; 8) for setting the length of the building strut (1) has been fitted at one end of the upright (2) via which said upright rests on the ground.

2. Building strut (1) according to Claim 1, in which the adjustment device is a mechanically operated device (7) comprising a gear system (9), a spindle (10) and a connecting piece (11) for the coupling thereon of an operating lever (19).

3. Building strut (1) according to Claim 1, in which the adjustment device is a hydraulically operated device (8) comprising a hydraulic pump (12) which is connected to a hydraulic cylinder (15), in which a piston (16) and a spring (17) have been fitted, via a hydraulic lead (13) which connects to a connecting piece (14).

4. Building strut (1) according to Claim 3, in which the piston (16) has been fitted to the upright (2) by means of a detachable fastening means (18).

5. Building strut (1) according to Claim 3 or 4, in which the hydraulic pump (12) forms a separate device which can be fitted detachably to the hydraulic adjustment device (8).

6. Building strut (1) according to Claim 3 or 4, in which the hydraulic pump (12) forms an integral part of the hydraulic adjustment device (8).

7. Building strut (1) according to Claim 2-6, in which the operating lever (19) has been fitted detachably to the hydraulic adjustment device (7; 8).

Drawing