US2716576A - Sectional scaffold frame brace locks - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 30, 1955 N. NORDONE 2,716,576

SECTIONAL SCAFFOLD FRAME BRACE LOCKS Filed June 16, 1954 1 I a .3 l 0 f jg I N INVENTOR Mrfio/amA mv/one hi1 ATTORNEY United States Patent O SECTIONAL SCAFFOLD FRAME BRACE LOCKS Nicholas Nordone, Miami Shores, Fla., assignor to The Patent Scaffolding Co., Inc., Long Island City, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application June 16,1954, Serial No. 437,101

2 Claims. (Cl. 304-40) This invention relates to sectional scaffold frame brace locks, and more particularly to a lock having a member slidable along the upright of a scaffold to securely lock one or more braces by its own gravity, or to conveniently release the same by simply sliding it upwardly along the periphery of the upright.

The invention provides a substantially automatic lock which may be readily applied and easily unlocked to remove one or more braces from a stud in the scaffold upright.

My novel brace lock consists of a guide member permitting vertical reciprocating movement only of the locking device which has a forked portion to surround the stud carrying the brace or braces on a scaffold upright, and a nut to hold the guide member and the locking device on the stud.

Some preferred embodiments of my invention and its many features and advantages will be further described in connection with the accompanying drawing, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a scaffold upright with the novel brace lock of my invention partly broken away;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the brace lock;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lock before the braces have been suspended on the stud;

Fig. 4 is a top view of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 2, with two diagonal braces shown in dotted lines supported by the stud and locked by my novel brace lock;

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 in Fig. 1, as viewed in the direction of arrows;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the guide member for the slidable lock; and

Fig. 8 is a view, partly in section, of a shouldered nut I replacing the guide member shown in Fig. 7.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the various views illustrated in the drawing.

Referring now in more detail to the illustrated embodiments and more particularly to Fig. 1, there is shown a tubular upright 10 of a sectional scaffold having welded or otherwise securely attached thereto a threaded bolt or stud 11. Braces 12, 13 are shown in dotted lines on bolt 11. A U-shaped guide member 14 having an opening 15 in its base 16 for the passage of bolt 11 is held against the upright 10 by a nut 17. The concavities 18 and 18a in the two legs 19, 20 of the U-shaped member 14 have a curvature such as to adhere to the periphery of upright 10, and when nut 17 is drawn tight, the vertical sides 21, 22 of member 14 guide the corresponding walls of locking member 23 for vertically reciprocating movement along the upright 10.

Lock 23 is best shown in Fig. 3 wherein it may be seen that it consists of a frame-like portion having sides 24, 25, 26, 27 and a forked portion having two legs 28, 29

2,716,576 Patented Aug. 30, 1955 surrounding a vertical slot 30 for stud 11. Walls 24 and 25 are concave with a curvature corresponding to that of the periphery of upright 10 and the whole frame-like portion of lock 23 is held against upright 10 by nut 17. U- shaped member 14 permits vertically reciprocating movement of lock 23 only. Lock 23 further comprises one or two inverted step like cutouts 31, 32 wherein the braces 12, 13 may fit when such braces are suspended on stem 11.

As seen in Fig. 2, the lifting of lock 23 permits the suspension of the braces on bolt or stem 11, and when lock 23 is released, it slides along sides 21, 22 of guide member 14 by its own gravity to lock the structure and to prevent removal of any brace until the lock is actually lifted by the operator back into the position shown in Fig. 2. When locked, the inner brace 12 is not actually en-, gaged by the wall of cutout 31, but brace 13 is firmly held by the wall of cutout 32 and thus also prevents brace 12 from any movement except pivoting around bolt 11. When only one brace is held by stem 11, lock 23 slides down farther and the wall of cutout 31 comes into con tact therewith to prevent it from sliding off the bolt 11.

The slot 30 is so proportioned that it will permit the downward movement of lock 23 sufficiently to permit firm engagement of brace 12 by cutout 31 or the engagement of the outer brace 13 by cutout 32.

In Fig. 8, a special nut 33 is shown which is a substitute for nut 17 and the U-shaped member 14 at the same time. As shown, nut 33 has an annular shoulder 34 with a diameter substantially equal but somewhat less than the distance between sides 26 and 27 in lock 23. When nut 33 is drawn tight on theraded bolt 11, walls 26, 27 slide along shoulder 34 while the hexagonal cap of nut 33 retains the lock 23 against upright 10. Nut 33 and shoulder 34 may also be two separate pieces.

The width of lock 23 is preferably somewhat less than the diameter of upright 10 so that it may not interfere with handling and stacking operations. The bottom of lock 23, which is preferably cast of a proper malleable steel, may be thickened to provide more weight for better balance of the lock. It may also be necessary to increase the dimensions of the walls having cutouts 31 and 32 for greater durability of the locking device.

The operation of my brace lock is as follows:

As seen in Fig. 2, the locking member 23 is lifted sufficiently to permit the suspension of braces 12, 13 on stud 11. When lock 23 is released, it slides along sides 21, 22 of U-member 14 or along the shoulder 34 of nut 33 until the upper wall of cutout 32 contacts the outer brace 13 and the whole structure is locked automatically. If only one brace is to be locked, then the upper wall of cutout 31 comes into contact with brace 12 and the wholestructure remains locked until member 23 is again sutficiently lifted to permit removal of the brace from stud 11.

The locking device of my invention has many advantages over the conventional brace locks in that it may be easily installed without any special tools or welding equipment. It is reliable, will last practically indefinitely and Will more firmly hold the brace or braces on a stem than any other device except a Wing nut.

While it is believed that the above description of my invention is sufliciently to enable a person skilled in the art to practice the same, I wish it to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an automatic lock for detachably securing one or more braces to the upright of a sectional scaffold, in combination: a threaded stem anchored in the upright at one end thereof, a guide member on said stem adjacent the upright, said guide member having two vertical walls parallel with the axis of the upright, a nut on said stem for retaining said guide member against the upright, and a brace locking member having a frame mounted for vertically reciprocating movement along said vertical walls of said guide member with said nut extending over the lateral portions of said frame for retaining the same on said guide member and adjacent the upright, said brace locking member further including a forked portion spaced from said frame and integral therewith at the upper extremity thereof, said forked portion having an open slot in the lower extremity thereof for reception of the other end of said stem on downward movement of said brace locking member by gravity thereof, said brace locking member having at least one inverted step like cutout between said frame and said forked portion thereof for reception of one or more braces supported by said stem between said nut and said forked portion of said brace locking member, said frame being of a length in excess of the length of said guide member whereby to expose said other end of said stem on upward movement thereof'toe gether with said forked portion to permit insertion of one or more braces onto said stem or removal of braces therefrom.

2. In an automatic brace lock for detachably securing one or more braces to the upright of a sectional scaffold, in combiantion: a threaded stem anchored in the upright at one 'end thereof, a brace locking member having a frame with a closed slot laterally limited by two vertical walls, said frame having a wall adjacent to and of a contour corresponding to the peripheral contour of the upright, said brace locking member further including a forked portion spaced from said frame and integral therewith at the upper extremity thereof, said forked portion having an open slot in the lower extremity thereof for reception of the other end of said stem on downward movement of said brace locking member by gravity thereof, said brace locking member having at least one inverted step like cutout between said frame and said forked portion for reception of one or more braces therein, said closed slot in said frame being of a length suflicient to expose said other end of said stem on upward movement of said brace locking member, and a nut on said stem having a sleeve fitting into said closed slot in said frame and extending over said vertical walls for slidably retaining said frame against said upright, whereby said brace locking member automatically locks by gravity one or more braces supported by said stem between said nut and said forked portion, said braces being removable on upward movement of said brace locking member along the upright exposing said other end of said stern.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1 ,058,608 Lightly Apr. 8, 1913 2,635,717 Albrecht et al Apr. 21, 1953 2,686,086 French Aug. 10, 1954

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