Climbing device for tower crane and crane

Abstract

Climbing device for a tower crane with at least one guide piece open on one side, which can be mounted on a tower in an axially displaceable manner by means of at least one hydraulic unit, wherein the climbing device has at least one pivoting part pivotally articulated on the guide piece for receiving a tower section to be climbed, and wherein the climbing device comprises at least one lifting cable for raising a tower section to be climbed, wherein the lifting cable is guided by a winch drive of the climbing device over one or more guide rollers of the pivoting part or the portal in the direction of a tower section to be received, characterized in that a tower section receiving means in the form of a crossbeam (30) is provided, wherein the lifting cable is guided back to the pivoting part / portal (20) over at least one deflection pulley provided on the crossbeam (30).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a climbing device for a tower crane with a guide piece which is open on one side and which can be mounted on a tower so as to be displaceable in the axial direction by means of at least one hydraulic unit, and to a crane with such a climbing device.

[0002] Tower cranes are adapted to the increasing height of the structure by subsequently adding tower sections. This process is generally referred to as "climbing." For example, DE 17 56 481 A discloses a method for elevating a mobile tower crane. The crane crane comprises a rotating superstructure, a crane tower that can be assembled from individual tower sections, a cage that can be moved along the axis of the crane tower, a boom, and a boom support equipped with a rope pulley for accommodating a suspension device. Further relevant examples from the prior art in this context include DE 11 84 050 A and DE 10 2004 026 992 B4.

[0003] To insert a tower section, the connection between the topmost tower section and the ball bearing slewing ring support is released, and the upper section of the crane is connected to the tower via a guide piece that can be moved axially. The guide piece has an opening through which the tower section to be inserted can be inserted after the upper section of the crane has been lifted. After the tower section has been inserted, it is connected to the existing topmost tower section, and if necessary, space is created for additional tower sections by further lifting the upper section of the crane. Once the final height has been reached, the upper section of the crane is placed on the last tower section to be inserted and connected to it.

[0004] The lifting of the upper part of the crane is usually achieved by means of a hydraulic piston-cylinder unit of the guide piece, the piston movement of which enables the guide piece to be moved up or down along the tower.

[0005] To install the tower section to be climbed, it must first be lifted to the height of the guide section opening using the tower crane's regular hoist rope and then hooked into the designated rail system of the climbing device. After the guide section has been moved upwards, the tower section can be pulled inward into the guide section using a pulling device along the rail system, and the cylinder, including the tower section, can be lowered until the climbed-in tower section can be connected to the top lattice section of the tower crane.

[0006] This described process is extremely time-consuming, with an estimated assembly time of approximately 30 to 70 minutes per tower section to be climbed. The use of such a climbing device also requires a multitude of additional crane components, such as a climbing tower section, a climbing hook, a traverse, a guide section, and a corresponding rail device on the guide section.

[0007] The objective of the present invention is to further develop the climbing device of this type in order to shorten the required assembly time. Furthermore, it should optionally be possible to reduce operating costs and increase operational reliability.

[0008] This object is achieved by a climbing device according to the features of claim 1, according to which the climbing device has at least one guide piece which is open on one side and which can be mounted on a tower so as to be displaceable in the axial direction by means of at least one hydraulic unit, wherein the climbing device has at least one pivoting part which is hinged to the guide piece in a luffing manner and for receiving a tower section to be climbed into, and wherein the climbing device comprises at least one hoist rope for lifting a tower section to be climbed into, wherein the hoist rope is guided by a winch drive of the climbing device via one or more guide rollers of the pivoting part or the portal in the direction of a tower section to be picked up. The pivoting part is mounted on the guide piece of the climbing device so as to be directly or indirectly pivotable, i.e. so as to be luffable, in particular pivotable about a horizontal axis.The pivoting part serves to accommodate a tower section to be climbed into, allowing it to be inserted into the cavity of the guide piece by pivoting and then mounted to the topmost tower section of a tower crane. With the help of the pivoting part, a received tower section can be pivoted from a position outside the guide piece inward into the guide piece. Advantageous embodiments of the climbing device are the subject of the dependent claims following the main claim.

[0009] According to the invention, starting from a generic climbing device, this is modified in such a way that a tower section receiving means in the form of a cross member is provided on the climbing device, wherein the hoist rope is guided back to the pivoting part / portal via at least one deflection pulley provided on the cross member.

[0010] Unlike the current state of the art, the proposed solution dispenses with a complex rail system. Furthermore, the previously required climbing tower section is eliminated. The entire climbing process is simplified and noticeably accelerated. This reduces assembly costs and the resulting energy consumption. Furthermore, the operational reliability of the crane is increased, as the entire climbing process is shortened and safer.

[0011] Preferably, the pivoting part is pivotable about a horizontal pivot axis. The pivoting linkage is preferably located on or within the cavity of the guide piece, with the pivoting part projecting outward from the opening of the guide piece depending on the pivot angle.

[0012] The at least one pivoting part is preferably designed in the form of a portal. A suitable portal design preferably consists of two longitudinal beams that are connected to one another at their ends via a cross beam. The longitudinal beams run in the rocking plane of the rockable pivoting part, preferably parallel to one another. The two rockable longitudinal beams are pivotally connected at their ends, preferably to the side of the guide piece opposite the opening in the guide piece. In this case, the parallel longitudinal beams extend transversely through the cavity of the guide piece and, depending on the pivoting angle, protrude from the opening of the guide piece.

[0013] In the area of ​​the opening and the pivoting part protruding from the opening, one or more bearing points are sensibly provided, allowing temporary support of the pivoting part depending on the tilting angle. It is conceivable that, in a portal-like design, both longitudinal beams are mounted on separate bearing points in the area of ​​the guide piece opening. Ideally, the one or more bearing points are height-adjustable in the longitudinal direction, allowing support of the pivoting part or the longitudinal beams of the portal for different tilting angles.

[0014] According to the features of claim 1, the climbing device comprises at least one hoist rope for receiving the tower section to be climbed into. The hoist rope preferably runs over one or more pulleys of the pivoting part or the portal. A corresponding winch drive is preferably provided for the climbing device, which enables operation of the hoist rope. The winch drive is expediently located in or on the guide piece. With the aid of the hoist rope, a tower section to be climbed into can be picked up from the ground or a corresponding means of transport and raised to the height of the climbing device. After the tower section to be climbed into has been lifted to the height of the opening in the guide piece, the tower section can be introduced into the cavity of the guide piece by means of the pivoting movement of the pivoting part.A particular advantage of the invention according to claim 1 is that the operation of the climbing device's hoist rope and the necessary axial upward or downward displacement of the guide piece can be performed simultaneously. Previously, the tower section to be climbed was raised or lowered using the crane's regular lifting mechanism, so that, for safety reasons, parallel operation of the guide piece of a climbing device and the hoist rope was not possible in the climbing devices known from the prior art. The possibility of parallel operation of the invention according to claim 1 results in a time saving of 15 to 30 minutes per tower section to be climbed.

[0015] According to the invention, a crossbeam is provided to accommodate the tower section to be climbed. In this case, it is conceivable to feed the hoist rope to the crossbeam via one or more pulleys of the pivoting part and from there redirect it back to the pivoting part via a deflection pulley or back to the winch via another pulley. The hoist rope can also be reeved multiple times on the crossbeam. The crossbeam serves to accommodate the tower section to be climbed. The winch drive can lower the crossbeam from the pivoting part or portal to pick up a tower section to be climbed from the ground.

[0016] Ideally, the swivel part or portal is provided with appropriate attachment devices that allow the traverse to be attached when the hoist rope is properly retracted. In the stop position, further retraction of the hoist rope causes the swivel part or portal to pivot inward around the pivot axis into the guide piece, thereby moving the attached tower section into the cavity. Alternatively, a separate swivel drive for the swivel part is also conceivable.

[0017] For the climbing process, the hoist rope first enables a vertical movement of the tower section to be climbed up to the height of the climbing device and then, after the traverse is attached to the swivel part, an arc-shaped swivel movement into the hollow space of the guide piece is achieved.

[0018] In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, at least one locking means is provided within the guide piece, which allows the pivoting part or the portal to be locked in the target luffing position. This target luffing position is characterized in that the tower section to be climbed into only needs to be lowered downwards via the luffing drive by lowering the hoist rope in order to connect it in alignment with the uppermost tower section of the crane. The locking means can be a support that fixes the luffing angle of the pivoting part through a positive connection with the pivoting part. For example, the support can be releasably attached to the pivoting part using a suitable hook connection.

[0019] Furthermore, it is conceivable for the pivoting part to be pivoted further back into a nearly vertical position, allowing it to be stored space-savingly at the rear of the guide piece when the climbing device is not in use. In particular, a sufficiently large cavity is provided at the rear of the guide piece to accommodate the pivoting part. This measure ensures that the pivoting part does not block axial displacement of the guide piece.

[0020] The invention further relates to a crane, in particular a tower crane, with a climbing device according to the present invention or an advantageous embodiment of the present invention. The crane is therefore characterized by the same advantages and properties as the climbing device according to the invention, which is why a repetitive description is omitted here.

[0021] Further advantages and features of the invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to an embodiment illustrated in the drawings. They show: Fig. 1: a sketched side view of the climbing device according to the invention for a tower crane, Fig. 2: a rear view of the climbing device according to the invention, Fig. 3: a chronological representation of the climbing process using the climbing device according to the invention, Fig. 4: a representation of the climbing device with the portal folded back and Fig. 5: Detailed views of the traverse for receiving a tower section according to the present invention.

[0022] In Fig. 1 shows part of a tower crane having a series of tower sections 12 placed on top of one another and connected to one another. The illustration only shows the uppermost tower section 12, which is designed in the form of a conventional lattice structure. In order to be able to climb in a new tower section 12', the connection between the uppermost tower section 12 and a ball bearing slewing ring support (not shown) is released. The guide piece 16 has a sufficiently large cross-sectional area to completely encompass the tower sections 12 and to enable a sliding movement in the longitudinal direction of the tower, i.e. in the axial direction, upwards or downwards. The upper part of the crane is connected to the guide piece 16 in order to lift it upwards in the axial direction.

[0023] Furthermore, the guide piece 16 has an opening 17 through which a tower section 12' to be climbed can be inserted after the uppermost crane section has been raised. After the tower section 12' is inserted, it is connected to the existing uppermost tower section 12. The axial movement of the guide piece 16 is achieved by means of the hydraulic drive 15, which typically comprises a hydraulic piston-cylinder unit whose piston movement displaces the guide piece 16 up or down along the tower.

[0024] The focus of the invention lies on the technical design of the guide piece 16 and the lifting mechanism, or rather, the insertion of the tower section 12' into the cavity of the guide piece 16. According to the invention, in the technical design of the present climbing device, the lattice section 12' to be climbed into is no longer lifted via the usual hoist rope of the tower crane, but via a separate hoist rope 22 of the climbing device. The hoist rope 22 is actuated via the winch drive 21 arranged on the guide piece 16 and runs from the winch 21 over the head end of a pivoting part 20.

[0025] The pivoting part 20 serves as a type of boom, which is arranged on the guide piece 16 so as to be pivotable about a horizontal pivot axis 18 in a vertical rocking plane. The design of the pivoting part 20 is shown in the rear view of the Fig. 2. The swivel part 20 consists of two parallel longitudinal beams 20a, 20b, which, in their vertical position, extend in the axial direction of the tower crane. The longitudinal beams 20a, 20b are connected to each other at the head end via the common cross beam 20c.

[0026] Longitudinal beams 20a, 20b and cross beams 20c thus form a portal which serves to accommodate a tower section 12' to be climbed into.

[0027] Two guide rollers 23, 23' with identical rotation axes are arranged at a distance from one another centrally on the cross member 20c. These guide rollers serve to guide the hoist cable 22 over the head end of the pivoting part 20. Both longitudinal members 20a, 20b are pivotally connected by their free ends to a component of the rear wall of the guide piece 16 opposite the opening 17.

[0028] A crossbeam 30 is used to hold the lattice section 12' by means of the hoist cable 22 and is connected to the lattice section 12' by means of corresponding connecting means 33. The construction of the crossbeam 30 is shown in the detailed view of the Fig. 5. The structure consists of a crossbeam 32 with a centrally arranged deflection pulley 31. The two longitudinal beams 35, 35' of the crossbeam 30 extend vertically upwards during climbing operation and are equipped with V-shaped attachment means 34, 34', the openings of which serve to receive the common shaft 24 of the guide rollers 23, 23' of the portal crossbeam 20c.

[0029] The hoist rope 22 runs from the winch 21 over the left guide pulley 23 of the portal 20 to the crossbeam 30, where it is deflected back to the portal 20 by means of the deflection pulley 31. The open, returning rope end is guided at the portal 20 by the right guide pulley 23' to the fixed point on the tower crane or the climbing device.

[0030] The climbing process will be described below using the chronological representation of the Fig. 3a to 3e are explained in more detail. At the beginning of the climbing process, the hoist rope 22 is lowered and the tower section 12' to be climbed is connected to the hoist rope 22 by means of the crossbeam 30 and the attachment means 33 (see Fig. 3a). By lowering the hoist cable 21, the gantry 20 pivots out of the opening 17 at the head end and assumes a specific tilt angle defined by the height-adjustable bearing points 19, 19'. In particular, a separate bearing point 19, 19' is provided for each longitudinal beam 20a, 20b at the opening area of ​​the guide piece 16.

[0031] The tower section 12' to be climbed is now lifted from the ground via the winch drive 21 until the cross member 30, via the lifting means 34, 34', strikes the guide rollers 23, 23' of the portal 20 or their common shaft 24 (see Fig. 3b, Fig. 5a). These steps are particularly preferred by Fig. 3a, Fig. 3b is carried out parallel to an axial upward displacement of the guide piece, resulting in a significant time saving for the entire climbing process due to the parallel operation. The time savings are typically between 15 and 20 minutes.

[0032] If the winch drive 21 is further actuated in a next step and the hoist rope 22 is wound up accordingly, this leads to a pivoting movement of the portal 20 about the horizontal pivot axis 18 upwards, whereby the tower section 12' to be climbed is pivoted inwards into the guide piece 16 in an arc-shaped pivoting movement.

[0033] In Fig. In Figure 3d, the tower section 12' to be climbed is in the target position within the guide piece 16. The portal 20 is fixed by the support 40 to maintain a constant tilt angle. The support 40 can be attached to the opposite longitudinal beam 20b of the portal 20 via the hooks located at the end. Only one support 40 is shown, but separate supports for each longitudinal beam 20a, 20b can also be provided.

[0034] With the luffing angle of the portal 20 fixed, the luffing drive 21 can lower the hoist rope and lower the tower section 12' to be climbed down so that it can be connected to the topmost tower section 12 of the tower crane. This mounting position is in Fig. 3e illustrates this.

[0035] After the assembly process is complete, the gantry 20 can be fully pivoted back into a vertical pivot position via the winch drive 21, allowing the gantry 20 to be stowed in the rear space 14 of the guide piece in a space-saving manner. After the connection to the longitudinal beam 20b of the gantry 20 is released, the locked support 40 is pivoted backward from the horizontal position by means of a preloaded spring 41, so that it also rests against the rear wall of the guide piece 16 in a space-saving manner.

[0036] Fig. Figure 4 shows the portal 20 fully pivoted back when the climbing device is out of operation. Due to the space-saving arrangement in the rear space 14 of the guide piece 16, a sliding movement of the guide piece 16 in the axial direction is possible, for example, to lower it to the base of the tower and, if necessary, to be easily dismantled from the ground.

[0037] The climbing device according to the invention serves not only for the assembly of further tower sections 12', but also for their disassembly, whereby the previously described assembly steps of the Fig. 3a to 3e are carried out in reverse order.

Claims

[1] Climbing device for a tower crane with at least one guide piece which is open on one side and which can be mounted on a tower in an axial direction by means of at least one hydraulic unit, wherein the climbing device has at least one pivoting part which is pivotably connected to the guide piece for receiving a tower section to be climbed in, and wherein the climbing device comprises at least one hoisting rope for lifting a tower section to be climbed in, wherein the hoisting rope is guided by a winch drive of the climbing device via one or more guide rollers of the pivoting part or the portal in the direction of a tower section to be picked up, characterized by that a tower section receiving means in the form of a cross member (30) is provided, wherein the hoist rope is guided back to the pivoting part / portal (20) via at least one deflection pulley provided on the cross member (30). [2] Climbing device according to claim 1, characterized bythat the pivoting part (20) is designed as a portal comprising two longitudinal beams arranged on the guide piece (16) in a rockable manner and a cross beam (20c) connecting the longitudinal beams (20a, 20b). [3] Climbing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the pivoting part (20) or the portal longitudinal members (20a, 20b) is / are pivotably connected to the side of the guide piece (16) opposite the opening of the guide piece (16) and extends / extend outwards through the opening of the guide piece (16) depending on the tilting angle. [4] Climbing device according to claim 3, characterized by that the guide piece (16) has one or more bearing points in the region of the opening for supporting the pivoting part (20) extending through the opening or the portal longitudinal members (20a, 20b), wherein the one or more bearing points are preferably height-adjustable in the longitudinal direction of the guide piece (16). [5] Climbing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that a guide roller is provided for each portal longitudinal beam (20a, 20b) and the hoist rope is preferably reeved one or more times on the cross member (30), ideally via a guide roller to the deflection roller of the cross member (30) and from there back via the second guide roller. [6] Climbing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the cross member (30) comprises one or more stop means for attaching the cross member (30) to the pivoting part / portal (20), in particular to the guide rollers provided thereon. [7] Climbing device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by that the climbing device has a locking means for locking the pivoting part / portal (20) within the guide piece (16). [8] Crane, in particular a tower crane, with a climbing device according to one of the preceding claims.

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