Trenching panels, panel assembly, system and method

Abstract

A panel for shoring a wall of a trench, the panel including an outer face arranged to face the wall, an opposing inner face, opposing sides, a top end and a bottom end, wherein the panel includes fixed couplings located at or adjacent to the inner face and toward the opposing sides, the fixed couplings being adapted to couple with a removable coupling which is inter-connectable in a first installed condition between a respective one of the fixed couplings of the panel and a respective one of the fixed couplings of an adjacent further panel. A panel assembly including at least two panels and a removable coupling is also disclosed as well as a system and method including interchangeable panels and couplings that allow for the formation of trenching supports in a variety of geometric configurations.

The claims defining the invention are as follows: 
     
         1 . A panel for shoring a wall of a trench, the panel including an outer face arranged to face the wall, an opposing inner face, opposing sides, a top end and a bottom end,
 wherein the panel includes fixed couplings located at or adjacent to the inner face and toward the opposing sides, the fixed couplings being adapted to couple with a removable coupling which is inter-connectable in a first installed condition between a respective one of the fixed couplings of the panel and a respective one of fixed couplings of an adjacent further panel.   
     
     
         2 . The panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the fixed couplings are arranged such that sides of the panel and the adjacent further panel substantially abut with one another in the first installed condition. 
     
     
         3 . The panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the fixed couplings are arranged such that in the first installed condition the removable coupling extends at least partially across inner faces of the panel and the adjacent further panel between the respective fixed couplings thereof such that when a force applied to the outer faces of the panel and the adjacent further panel, the removable coupling is placed in tension and the respective adjacent opposing sides of the panel and the adjacent further panel move toward one another into compression. 
     
     
         4 . The panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the fixed couplings are located so as to be accessible from at least one of the inner face and the top end thereby allowing decoupling of the panel assembly to a disassembled condition from the first installed condition from a position within the trench. 
     
     
         5 . The panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the fixed couplings are each provided in the form of at least one of a slot, channel and recess adapted to receive and couple with the removable coupling in the first installed condition. 
     
     
         6 . The panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the panel includes a strut coupling portion adapted to couple with a removable strut that spans the trench to an opposing panel at an opposing side of the trench in the first installed condition. 
     
     
         7 . The panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the fixed couplings are arranged to couple with the removable coupling such that in the first installed condition the panel and an adjacent further panel are substantially fixed relatively to one another. 
     
     
         8 . The panel according to  claim 1 , wherein the fixed coupling is arranged to pivotally couple with the removable coupling such that the panel is pivotable from the first installed condition, in which the panel and adjacent further panel are in a linear side-by-side arrangement, to a second installed condition in which the panel and adjacent further panels are angled relative to one another. 
     
     
         9 . A panel assembly for trenching, the panel assembly including a first panel attachable in a side-by-side arrangement by a releasable coupling arrangement to a second panel in an installed condition in which an outer face of each of the first and second panels are locatable against a wall of the trench, wherein the releasable coupling arrangement includes a removable coupling arranged so as to be accessible from at least one of inner faces and top ends of the first and second panels thereby allowing at least one of coupling and decoupling of the first and second panels from a position within the trench. 
     
     
         10 . The panel assembly according to  claim 9 , wherein each of the first and second panels include fixed couplings located at or adjacent to the inner faces and toward the opposing sides of the first and second panels, the fixed couplings being arranged such that in the installed condition the adjacent opposing sides of the first and the second panels substantially abut one another with the removable coupling spanning across the respective inner faces between the first and the second panels. 
     
     
         11 . The panel according to  claim 9 , wherein each of the first and second panels includes fixed couplings located at or adjacent to the inner faces and toward the opposing sides of the first and second panels, wherein the in the installed condition the removable coupling is arranged to coupling extend at least partially across inner faces of the first panel and the second panel between the respective fixed couplings thereof such that when a force applied to outer faces of the panel and adjacent further panel, the removable coupling is placed in tension and the respective adjacent opposing sides of the panel and the adjacent further panel move toward one another into compression. 
     
     
         12 . The panel assembly according to  claim 9 , wherein the releasable coupling arrangement is configurable between a first configuration in which the first and second panels are at a first installed angle relative to one another, and a second configuration in which the first and second panels are at a second installed angle relative to one another. 
     
     
         13 . The panel assembly according to  claim 12 , wherein the releasable coupling arrangement is configurable by interchanging the removable coupling with another removable coupling arranged to angle the first and second panels relative to one another. 
     
     
         14 . The panel assembly according to  claim 12 , wherein the first installed angle is about 0 degrees with the panels being parallel with one another and wherein the second installed angle is up to about 90 degrees in either direction. 
     
     
         15 . The panel assembly according to  claim 9 , wherein at least one of the first and second panels include a strut coupling portion adapted to couple with a removable strut that spans the trench to an opposing panel at an opposing side of the trench in the installed condition. 
     
     
         16 . The panel assembly according to  claim 10 , wherein the fixed couplings of each of the first and second panels are provided in the form of two slots, each of the two slots being located toward respective opposing sides of the first and second panels and at least partially extending along the inner faces and between the top and bottom ends thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The panel assembly according to  claim 16 , wherein the removable coupling is provided in the form of a coupling member having spaced apart projections that are each respectively received by one of the two corresponding slots of adjacently arranged first and second panels in the installed condition, the coupling member thereby spanning between adjacently arranged first and second panels along the inner faces thereof. 
     
     
         18 . A trenching system for shoring opposing walls of a trench, the trenching system including:
 a plurality of interchangeable panels having fixed couplings located toward opposing sides of the panels; and   a plurality of removable couplings arranged to interconnect and span between the fixed couplings of adjacently arranged panels,   wherein the plurality of removable couplings are configured to couple the plurality of interchangeable panels in at least one of a first configuration wherein adjacently arranged panels are parallel with one another and a second configuration wherein the adjacently arranged panels are angled relative to one another.   
     
     
         19 . The trenching system according to  claim 18 , wherein the removable couplings are interchangeable and are of different sizes and configurations to couple between the adjacently arranged panels in the respective first and second configurations. 
     
     
         20 . The trenching system according to  claim 18 , wherein the system further includes a removable strut and at least one of the panels locatable on each of the opposing walls of the trench includes strut coupling portions to couple with the strut such that the strut spans the trench between the respective panels.