Method And Apparatus For Mounting Building Panels

Abstract

A method and apparatus for mounting building panels, wherein a plurality of building panels may be raised alongside a building structure and then separately mounted on the structure to form a wall thereof, which method and apparatus requires a reduced number of men and a much safer operation.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The field of this invention is methods and apparatus for mounting building panels.

Building panels, particularly corrugated asbestos cement sheets or panels, are relatively heavy and cumbersome to handle and install on a building framework or other structure. When making a large commercial or industrial building it is usually necessary to lift such panels off the ground level and install them at second, third or even higher tiers to form the complete walls. Heretofore, conventional scaffolding suspended by ropes from the building structure has been employed, the panels were left on the ground and manually lifted one at a time by a rope and a well wheel pulley mounted on the building. The pulley had to be moved frequently and a man was required at that point. Also, for lifting each panel from the ground to the scaffolding, two men were required on the ground as well as two men on the scaffolding. Because each panel was raised on the outside of the scaffolding, the scaffolding had to be left open to receive each panel, so that there was no safety rail to keep the men on the scaffolding from falling, and of course, as the scaffolding was raised to higher elevations for the upper tiers of panels, the danger to the men on the scaffolding increased.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates a new and improved method and apparatus for mounting building panels which reduces the manpower required and improves the efficiency and safety of operation. A plurality of panels are raised alongside a building structure to an elevation at which the panels are to be mounted, and then the panels are transferred and mounted separately to form a wall of the building. The apparatus for elevating and transferring the panels is supported and moved independently of the building and safety rails are provided for the workmen.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevation, partly in section illustrating the method and apparatus of this invention, with the apparatus supported at an elevation for the mounting of panels on a building structure;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, with certain portions omitted for illustration;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 1, but illustrating the apparatus with one of the panels in position for mounting on the building structure; and

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating the substantially complete mounting of one of the panels on the building structure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

In the drawings, the letter A designates generally the apparatus of this invention which is adapted to be elevated and moved horizontally with a conventional mobile hoisting device, a portion of which is illustrated and is designated with the letter M. As will be explained in detail, the apparatus A is adapted to lift a plurality of building panels to an elevation alongside a framework or building structure B for the mounting of such panels P separately by a man C who is also raised with the apparatus A.

Considering the apparatus A more in detail, such apparatus includes a platform F for receiving the man C and the panels P thereon. The platform F may be made in a suitable manner so long as it has adequate strength for hoisting same with the mobile hoisting mechanism M and for supporting the load thereon.

As illustrated in the drawings, the platform F includes longitudinally extending channel members 10 and end channel members 11, all of which are welded together or otherwise secured to form a rectangular base for a platform grill 12 made of expanded metal, screen or other suitable supporting material. The grill 12 is welded or otherwise secured to the rectangular base provided by the longitudinal platform members 10 and end members 11.

A pair of hollow tubes 14, each of which is preferably rectangular in shape and is provided with a rectangular shaped internal opening 14a, are welded or are otherwise secured to the longitudinal platform members 10 and they are spaced apart a distance equal to the spacing of the fork lift fingers 15 or similar lifting members which are a part of the hoisting and moving mechanism M. The fingers 15 are adapted to be inserted and removed from the open ends of the openings 14a as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

Such fingers 15 are illustrated as attached to a supporting plate 17 and operating arms 18, a portion of which is illustrated, which extend to a vehicle of known construction which has wheels for rolling movement on the ground and which have several power means for moving the vehicle on the ground and for also raising and lowering the plate 17 with the fingers 15 to thereby raise and lower the apparatus A with respect to building structure B and the ground level therebelow, as will be more evident hereinafter.

To lock each of the fingers 15 in each of the finger-receiving tubes 14, a plurality of locking bolts 20 are mounted, each with a nut 21 that is welded or otherwise secured to the side of the tube 14 so that the bolts 20 can be threaded through each nut therewith and a suitable opening in the wall of the tube 14 for engagement with one of the fingers 15. When a plurality of such bolts 20 are tightened so that they clamp each of the fingers 15 in the tubes 14, it will be appreciated that the entire apparatus A is prevented from shifting off of the fingers 15 until such bolts 20 have been unthreaded and released from engagement with the fingers 15.

The platform F is provided with safety rails 25 at the outer longitudinal side of the platform and at a height sufficient to prevent the man C from inadvertently falling from the platform when the apparatus A is in an elevated position above ground level. Also, similar safety rails 26 are provided at each end of the platform F at a height which is substantially the same as the height of the rails 25 so that the man or men C are protected from falling from the platform F on at least the three sides of the platform F. The inner side of the platform which is adjacent to the building structure B does not need a permanent safety rail since it is disposed very close to the building structure B, although a safety rail may be utilized in some instances, or a temporary safety line may be extended from the end rails 26 out of an abundance of caution in some situations. The safety rails 25 and 26 are preferably supported by vertical angle iron members 27 at each of the corners, each of which is welded to the platform F in the preferred form of the invention.

Also, a plurality of toe plates 30 and 31 are welded or otherwise secured to the platform F by any suitable connecting means so as to provide a stop or a warning for the man or men C so that they will know that they are at the edge of the platform F in the event they are working and not looking downwardly as they move around on the platform.

The apparatus A also includes a vertical support post or column 40 which is preferably made in two or more sections and is releasably joined together by a coupling 41 so that the post 40 can be disassembled into relatively small lengths for transportation to and from each job site. The lower end of the column 40 is preferably rotatably mounted in a tubular support 42 which is welded or is otherwise secured to and forms a part of platform F. The bottom of 42a of the tubular support 42 is closed so that the lower end of column or post 40 rests thereon or on any other suitable base within the column supporting member 42.

A substantially horizontal boom 45 which is formed with at least one lower rail 45a is preferably releasably mounted to the upper end of the post or column 40 by means of releasable bolts 45b which extend through a plate 45c which is a part of the boom 45 and another plate 40a which is welded or is otherwise secured to the post 40 near its upper end.

The boom track 45a is adapted to receive wheels 50 on a trolley 51 so that the trolley 51 may move horizontally on such boom 45. The wheels 50 are confined by any suitable means (not shown) so that they cannot shift off of the track 45a as they move along the boom 45. A slight lip on the track 45a will provide such restriction to movement of the wheels 50 laterally off of the track 45a, or the trolley 51 may be provided with a corresponding set of wheels 50 to those shown but on the opposite side of the boom 45 so that they are not visible in FIG. 1 and they would move on a track similar to 45a, thereby preventing any lateral shifting of the trolley 51.

The trolley 51 has an upper pulley 52 mounted therewith and it carries an operating line or cable 53 over it and such line or cable 53 is connected to a travelling block or pulley 54 in the preferred form of the invention. The end of the line 53 indicated at 53a is preferably free so that it may be grasped by the man C to effect a raising and lifting of one of the panels P. The other end of the line 53b has a hook 55 or other suitable means (FIG. 1) for engaging the lower edge of the panel P which is to be moved.

To facilitate the handling of each panel P as it is moved from a stacked position on the platform F to a position for mounting on the building structure P, the operator C preferably has a special tool T which has a long handle 60 having its lower end 60a which is grasped by the operator C and its upper end 60b which is welded or is otherwise secured to a pipe or tubular member 61. The pipe or tubular member 61 is formed with a notch 61a sufficiently large to slide over the upper end of the panel P. The line 53 passes through a portion of the pipe 61 or to one side of it.

Although the building structure B may be formed in any suitable manner so long as it is capable of receiving the panels P, as illustrated in the drawings, the building structure B includes a plurality of horizontally extending angle iron members 70 of known construction which are mounted to a vertically extending member 71, a portion of which is schematically illustrated in the drawings. It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the mounting of the panels P upon any particular kind of building structure, and the invention is described herein with respect to the building structure B solely for illustrative purposes. It should also be understood that the panels P are preferably and are normally of the asbestos cement type which are extremely heavy and difficult for one man to handle. A suitable support block 75 is preferably provided on the platform grill 12 for supporting the panels P so that they are not damaged and may be more readily engaged by the hook 55 to pick them up for moving same into position adjacent the building B.

In carrying out the method of this invention, the apparatus A is lowered to ground level, or near ground level, by lowering the fingers 15 of the hoisting unit M. A plurality of the panels P are then loaded onto the platform and are disposed on the support 75, assuming such support is utilized on the platform F. The panels P are positioned substantially vertically to the outside of the platform F and they are preferably disposed at an angle so that they lean against the column or support post 40 as best seen in FIGS. 1 and 3.

Usually there are two men or operators C which then ride up with the apparatus A and they may steady the panels P during the lifting or hoisting of the apparatus A to the desired elevation for the beginning of the mounting of the panels P to the building structure B. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the apparatus A has been raised to a point above a tier of panels P which have already been attached to the building structure P. The operator then engages the hook 55 below the panel P which is closest to him, and he positions the special handling tool T with the knot 61a over the upper end of the panel P. The operator thus has control of the panel P at the upper and lower ends and he may raise the panel P by pulling downwardly on the end 53a of the cable or line 53.

After the panel P has been raised upwardly by the operator pulling downwardly on the line 53 at the end 53a, the operator turns the panel P 180.degree. so as to position the panel between him and the building structure B so that it assumes the position generally shown in FIG. 3. The movement of the panel P horizontally or laterally is accomplished by the trolley 51 moving laterally on the boom 45. Such urging is accomplished by the operator pulling on the tool T and also on the line 53. Also, if an additional operator is used on the apparatus A, he may assist in handling the panel P as it is moved from its stacked position to the position for attaching to the building structure B.

When the panel P has been moved to the position shown in FIG. 3, a fastener 80 of known construction is forced through the panel P or a previously drilled hole therein and into one of the angle iron members 70 of the building structure B so as to initially attach the panel P to the building structure B. Thereafter, the hook 55 may be released and also the tool T may be released and additional fasteners 80 such as shown in FIG. 4 may then be inserted at the appropriate locations for connecting the panel P to the building structure members 70. The last or uppermost part of the panel P is not normally fastened to the member 70 adjacent thereto until the next panel thereabove has been positioned over it so that there is an overlapping connection such as shown at the bottom of panel P at the connector or fastener 80' in FIG. 4.

During the fastening of the panel P, the apparatus A may be raised to facilitate the inserting of the fasteners 80 at the various heights which might not otherwise be reached conveniently by the men C in the apparatus A.

It is to be noted that the boom 45 extends inwardly past the vertical member 71, so it is assumed that the vertical member 71 is positioned with vertical spaces therebetween, which is usually the case. In other words, there is ample room for the boom 45 to extend into the building structure as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3. However, the boom structure can be shorter in length and can terminate at the edge of the building structure B if the building structure B is so made that the boom 45 cannot extend into the space between the vertical support 71.

The apparatus A is moved horizontally by moving the mobile support and hoisting means M horizontally when it is desired to move the apparatus A for the positioning of the next panel P on the building structure B. In some instances, several panels P may be installed on the building structure B without horizontally or laterally moving the apparatus A, but when that does become necessary, the entire apparatus A may be moved without lowering it back to the ground level, or if more convenient, the apparatus A may be lowered back to the ground level and then moved horizontally to locate the apparatus A for the positioning of the next panel P in the same manner as heretofore described with the first panel P. All of the panels P are thus mounted on the building structure B and when the supply panels P on the apparatus A has thus been exhausted, the apparatus A is lowered back to the ground level and another group of panels P are mounted on the platform F and the procedure is repeated.

Although the method of this invention has been heretofore described and illustrated in the drawings with each panel P being rotated 180.degree. when picked-up from the stacked position and moved to the mounting position, the invention is not limited thereto. Thus, instead of engaging the tool T with the handle 60 thereof inwardly of the panel P as shown in FIG. 1, the operator C may engage the tool T so that the handle 60 is outwardly of the particular panel P which is to be moved. This normally requires two operators C so that one of the operators can hold the panel P spaced from the other stacked panels P so as to provide a space outwardly of the panel P which is to be picked up for thereby receiving the handle 60 of the tool T. When the handle 60 is thus outwardly disposed with respect to the panel P, the operator simply moves the panel P inwardly without turning or rotating same so that the tool T ends up in the same position as shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings. It should be noted that the hook 55 is also preferably disposed so that it faces inwardly as shown in FIG. 3, when initially engaged in the position of FIG. 1 so as to facilitate the removal of the hook 55 after the panel P has been fastened to the building structure B.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size, shape, and materials as well as in the details of the illustrated construction may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Claims

I claim:

1. A method of mounting building panels on a building structure, comprising the steps of:

positioning a plurality of building panels in a panel carrier at substantially ground level;

hoisting the building panels in the panel carrier to an elevation above ground level and approximately at the elevation for mounting the panels on the building structure;

thereafter separately transferring each of said panels from said panel carrier to a position on the building structure at which the panel is to be mounted;

thereafter fastening said panel to the building structure; and

repeating said steps of transferring and fastening for each of said panels until all of said panels in said panel carrier have been mounted on the building structure.

2. The method set forth in claim 1, including the step of:

moving said panel carrier horizontally while elevated above ground level to reposition said panel carrier to facilitate the mounting of subsequent panels on the building structure from the carrier.

3. The method set forth in claim 1, wherein said separate transfer of each of said panels in the carrier includes:

lifting each of said panels to a raised position off the platform of said carrier;

supporting each panel in said raised position; and moving each panel in a direction towards the building structure while supporting same in a raised position.

4. The method set forth in claim 1, wherein: said panels are stacked substantially vertically on the outer portion of the panel carrier prior to being transferred therefrom for mounting on the building structure.

5. The method set forth in claim 1, including: raising the panel carrier by means which is located at the ground level and is unsupported by the building structure.