Stairway for Use on Building Sites

Abstract

The invention is a portable, modular stairway unit for use on a building site during construction of a multistorey building, the stairway unit including: a stair run section with a plurality of rise-separated stair treads, the stair run section having an upper and a lower end; an upper landing connected to the stair run section at, or at a distance from, the upper end of the stair run section; a lower landing connected to the stair run section at, or at a distance from, the lower end of the stair run section; wherein each of the landings have portions that extend laterally beyond a width of the stair run section, the landings being devised to extend inwardly into respective upper and lower storey levels of the building when the stairway unit is situated adjacent to a face of the building; and anchoring means arranged to removeably secure the landings, in use, at the upper and lower storey levels thereby to provide a double-cantilevered mounting of the stair run section extending between the two building storey levels.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to stairs, in particular to stairways suitable for temporary erection and use on a building site during construction of a building.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Temporary stairways are often required on building sites during construction of a multistorey building to allow construction workers to move from one storey of the building to another.[0003]Whilst permanent stairways are often formed at the same time as the floor slabs of the storeys, making the rough (eg concrete cast) stairways safe for use by workmen requires additional onsite construction, ie installation of security items such as handrails, anti-slip stair tread surfaces, and similar. More importantly, the stairwells of permanent stairways are often located within the building or at one end thereof, such that during construction work, when workers are working at different locations within the building, additional travel time is required to access the stairways...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0016]Modular stairways in accordance with the present invention achieve significant cost savings with regards to erection time given that the stairway can be positioned as a pre-assembled unit at an outside location adjacent to the building face, whereupon suitable anchoring of the landings at the upper and lower storeys secure the stairway module in place.

[0022]Preferably, the anchoring means are provided by adjustable-height props arranged for loading in compression when extending between the floor and ceiling of a respective storey where the respective landing is to be secured. Use of compression props rather than more conventional anchoring bolts, hooks and loops avoids damage to the building structure, as there is no need to drill into the building structure to provide a fixing point or attachment for the landings of the modular stairway unit. Height adjustable props are known in the construction industry for securing form work prior to and subsequent to casting of building storey slabs. It should be noted, however, that conventional fasteners such as bolts can also be used, eg to temporarily secure the landings in deploying the modular stairway.

Problems solved by technology

More importantly, the stairwells of permanent stairways are often located within the building or at one end thereof, such that during construction work, when workers are working at different locations within the building, additional travel time is required to access the stairways.

This inconvenience is exacerbated if materials are also required to be transported between building levels, as several trips from distant locations might be required.

Whilst portable stairway assemblies that are incorporated into scaffolding have found increasing use in the building sector, the disadvantage of such scaffolding stairway structures is that they require the presence of an external scaffold, and incorporation of numerous additional structural components, in particular to secure the modular step-ladder sections onto the scaffolding for example.

Another problem that exists with such types of modular / portable stairways is that they lack floor-height adjustability, ie they are designed for a discrete storey height between the floor levels of a lower and adjacent upper storey.

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