A TUBE AND FITTING SCAFFOLDING SYSTEM

摘要

A SCAFFOLDING MEMBER (10) FOR AN IMPROVED TUBE AND FITTING SCAFFOLDING SYSTEM. THE TUBULAR SCAFFOLDING MEMBER (10) IS PROVIDED WITH A PLURALITY OF INDELIBLE MARKINGS IN THE FORM OF DIMPLES (12) AT EQUAL PREDETERMINED SPACED APART DISTANCES ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE TUBE (10). THE FIRST DIMPLE (12) NEAREST ONE END OF THE TUBE (10) IS LOCATED A PREDEFINED DISTANCE FROM THE END OF THE TUBE, EQUAL TO HALF THE SPACING BETWEEN DIMPLES (12) LESS HALF THE DIAMETER OF THE TUBE (10). THIS ALLOWS THE SPACING OF THE DIMPLES TO BE MAINTAINED ACROSS AN END TO END CONNECTOR, OR WHERE TWO HORIZONTAL TUBES (10) ABUT EITHER SIDE OF A VERTICAL TUBE (10). THE DIMPLES (12) FACILITATE BOTH HEIGHT OR LENGTH POSITIONING AS WELL AS ROTATIONAL POSITIONING OF COUPLERS AND OTHER FITTINGS ON THE TUBE. A NOVEL SPIGOT-TYPE END-TO-END CONNECTOR (16) IS ALSO DISCLOSED. THE TUBES (10) MAY BE PROVIDED WITH TERMINAL HOLES (48) TO INDICATE THEY ARE OF STANDARD LENGTH AND TO RECEIVE A LATCHING ELEMENT THEREIN, WHEREBY TERMINAL COUPLING ELEMENTS (56) CAN BE LOCKED MORE SECURELY TO THE TUBE (10). A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING CONVENTIONAL SCAFFOLDING TUBES TO BE COMPATIBLE WITH THE SCAFFOLDING SYSTEM OF THE APPARATUS IS ALSO DISCLOSED.(FIG 1)