# US 2013/0240297 A1 · Motorized height access device for tower cranes > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2013/0240297 A1 - Document ID: US20130240297A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/829,580 - Filed: 2013-03-14 - Published: 2013-09-19 - Earliest claimed: 2012-03-15 - Assignees: Manitowoc Crane Group France SAS - Applicants: Manitowoc Crane Group France SAS - Inventors: François Aquino; Arnaud Jaouen; Michel Lissandre; Guillaume Reymond; Jacky Valleyre - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130240297A1 ## CPC - B66B 9/00: Kinds or types of lifts in, or associated with, buildings or other structures (characterised by control systems B66B1/00; apparatus for raising or lowering persons on stages of theatres A63J5/12) - B66B 9/16: Mobile or transportable lifts specially adapted to be shifted from one part of a building or other structure to another part or to another building or structure - B66C 13/54: Operator's stands or cabins - B66C 23/26: for use on building sites; constructed, e.g. with separable parts, to facilitate rapid assembly or dismantling, for operation at successively higher levels, for transport by road or rail (with supporting couples provided by walls or buildings B66C23/20; mounted on vehicles B66C23/36; jib constructions B66C23/64) - B66C 23/54: {with pneumatic or hydraulic motors, e.g. for actuating jib-cranes on tractors} - E04G 3/30: suspended by flexible supporting elements, e.g. cables - E04H 12/34: Arrangements for erecting or lowering towers, masts, poles, chimney stacks, or the like - B66F 11/04: for movable platforms or cabins, e.g. on vehicles, permitting workmen to place themselves in any desired position for carrying out required operations ({Working platforms on fork-lift trucks B66F9/127; } vehicle aspects of service vehicles B60P3/14; platforms for cleaning windows A47L3/02; devices for rescuing persons from buildings A62B1/02; liftable or lowerable platforms for use on ladders E06C7/16; maintenance travellers for bridges E01D19/10; scaffolds on an extensible sub-structure E04G1/22) - B66B: ELEVATORS; ESCALATORS OR MOVING WALKWAYS ({apparatus for raising or lowering persons on theatrical stages or the like A63J5/12} ; funicular railbound systems with rigid ground-supported tracks and cable traction, e.g. cliff railways, B61B9/00; arrangements of ammunition handlers in vessels B63G3/00; hoists, lifts, or conveyors for loading or unloading in general B65G; braking or detent devices controlling normal movements of winding drums or barrels B66D; ship-lifting devices E02C; garages for many vehicles with mechanical means for lifting vehicles E04H6/12; hoists for feeding ammunition or projectiles to launching apparatus or to loading mechanisms F41A9/00) - B66C: CRANES; LOAD-ENGAGING ELEMENTS OR DEVICES FOR CRANES, CAPSTANS, WINCHES, OR TACKLES ({specially adapted for lifting invalids A61G7/10;} rope, cable, or chain winding mechanisms, braking or detent devices therefor B66D; specially adapted for nuclear reactors G21) - E04G: SCAFFOLDING; FORMS; SHUTTERING; BUILDING IMPLEMENTS OR AIDS, OR THEIR USE; HANDLING BUILDING MATERIALS ON THE SITE; REPAIRING, BREAKING-UP OR OTHER WORK ON EXISTING BUILDINGS - E04H: BUILDINGS OR LIKE STRUCTURES FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSES; SWIMMING OR SPLASH BATHS OR POOLS; MASTS; FENCING; TENTS OR CANOPIES, IN GENERAL (foundations E02D) - B66F: HOISTING, LIFTING, HAULING OR PUSHING, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR, e.g. DEVICES WHICH APPLY A LIFTING OR PUSHING FORCE DIRECTLY TO THE SURFACE OF A LOAD ({invalid lifting devices A61G7/10; } mounting artificial islands on piles or like supports E02B17/00; scaffolding combined with lifting devices E04G1/22; lifting devices for sliding forms E04G11/24; lifting of buildings E04G23/06; shores or struts E04G25/00; lifts or other hoisting devices on ladders E06C7/12; props for mining E21D15/00) ## Abstract A height access device enables motorized access to the driving station of a tower crane atop a mast formed of superposed mast elements. It includes a lift cabin installed inside the mast of the crane and movable vertically along the mast. The height access devices further includes a working platform positioned above and separably connected to the lift cabin. A coupling device provides a non-permanent connection of the working platform to the lift cabin and immobilizes the working platform relative to the mast at a required height. The height access device enables the crane driver to ascend and descend with the lift cabin alone when disconnected from the working platform and with the lift cabin and working platform together, particularly during the assembly and dismantling of the mast. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A motorized height access device for tower cranes that include a mast, the motorized height access device comprising: a lift cabin that is installed inside the mast of the tower crane and that is movable vertically along this mast; a working platform with a guard rail positioned above the lift cabin, wherein the working platform is separably connected to the lift cabin; a coupling device configured for connecting the working platform to the lift cabin when the coupling device is in a locked position and for disconnecting the working platform from the lift cabin when the coupling device is in an unlocked position, the coupling device further configured to immobilize the working platform relative to the mast of the tower crane at a required height when in the unlocked position, thereby enabling the use of the lift cabin alone for height access when the lift cabin is separated from the working platform. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The motorized height access device of to claim 1, wherein the coupling device is manually operated. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The motorized height access device of claim 2, wherein the coupling device is operable from at least one of inside the lift cabin and from the working platform. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The motorized height access device of claim 3, wherein said coupling device includes a latch operable via a top trapdoor in a roof of the lift cabin, the latch configured to engage a ladder of the mast when the latch is not connecting the working platform to the lift cabin. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The motorized height access device of claim 4, wherein the latch is connected with an electrical switch configured to detect the locked position and the unlocked position of the latch, the electrical switch further configured to permit a reduced speed of travel of the lift cabin when the switch detects the locked position and to permit a non-reduced speed of travel of the lift cabin when the switch detects the unlocked position. ### Claim 6 (depends on 3) The motorized height access device of claim 3, wherein said coupling device includes a lever mechanism actuated by a rod that is operable from inside the lift cabin. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The motorized height access device of claim 1, wherein the coupling device is motorized. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The motorized height access device of claim 1, wherein the lift cabin includes a bottom trapdoor in a floor of the lift cabin, a top trapdoor provided in a roof of the lift cabin, and an interior ladder, and wherein the working platform includes a floor with a platform trapdoor positioned to open onto the top trapdoor of the lift cabin. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The motorized height access device of claim 1, further comprises at least one of a main control station in the lift cabin, another control station at the base of the tower crane, and a further control station on the working platform, each control station configured to control the ascent and the descent of the lift cabin. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The motorized height access device of claim 8, wherein the ladder is inclined. ### Claim 11 A method of assembling and dismantling a tower crane that includes a mast formed by the superpostion of mast elements through the use of a motorized height access device, said method comprising: operating a motorized height access device installed inside a mast element of the tower crane, the motorized height access device including: a lift cabin that is installed inside the mast of the tower crane and that is movable vertically along this mast; a working platform with a guard rail positioned above the lift cabin, wherein the working platform is separably connected to the lift cabin; a coupling device configured for connecting the working platform to the lift cabin when the coupling device is in a locked position and for disconnecting the working platform from the lift cabin when the coupling device is in an unlocked position, the coupling device further configured to immobilize the working platform relative to the mast of the tower crane at a required height when in the unlocked position, thereby enabling the use of the lift cabin alone for height access when the lift cabin is separated from the working platform; placing the coupling device in the locked position; moving the connected lift cabin and the working platform to a level of the mast element to be at least one of assembled and dismantled. ### Claim 12 A motorized height access device for tower cranes, the motorized height access device including a lift cabin that is installed inside the mast of the crane and that is movable vertically along this mast, the lift cabin being surmounted by a working platform with a guard rail, wherein the working platform is separably connected to the lift cabin, a coupling device being provided for non-permanent connection of the working platform to the lift cabin and for immobilizing the working platform relative to the mast of the crane at a required height, so as to enable use of the lift cabin separated from the working platform, and therefore on its own, for height access.