Travelling formwork for concrete forming of a tunnel

Abstract

A travelling formwork for concrete forming of a tunnel includes a trolley provided with a front pair of legs, a rear pair of legs and a supporting structure attached to the front and rear pair of legs, and a reconfigurable formwork assembly mounted on the supporting structure. The reconfigurable formwork assembly can be configured in a deployed position for concrete casting and in a folded position for its transportation. The length of each leg is variable so that the formwork assembly and the trolley can be lowered when the formwork assembly is in its folded configuration. The travelling formwork can travel through a tunnel having sections of reduced cross-sectional areas, without the need to disassemble the formwork trolley when it has to pass through tunnel sections of reduced cross-sectional area.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A travelling formwork for concrete forming of a tunnel, the travelling formwork comprising:
 a trolley provided with a front pair of legs, a rear pair of legs and a supporting structure attached to the front and rear pair of legs,   a reconfigurable formwork assembly mounted on the supporting structure, wherein the reconfigurable formwork assembly can be configured in a deployed position for concrete casting and in a folded position for its transportation, and   wherein the length of each leg is variable so that the formwork assembly and the trolley can be lowered when the formwork assembly is in its folded configuration.   
     
     
         2 . A travelling formwork according to  claim 1 , wherein the legs are telescopically extendable and retractable in order to vary their length. 
     
     
         3 . A travelling formwork according to  claim 2 , further comprising hydraulic means for extending and retracting the legs. 
     
     
         4 . A travelling formwork according to  claim 3 , wherein the hydraulic means comprises an hydraulic cylinder for each leg. 
     
     
         5 . A travelling formwork according to  claim 4 , wherein the travelling formwork further comprises a controller for controlling the operation of each hydraulic cylinder, and
 wherein the controller is adapted to extend or retract all the hydraulic cylinders simultaneously or individually when the reconfigurable formwork assembly is in its folded configuration, and   wherein retraction of the legs is impeded when the reconfigurable formwork assembly is in its deployed configuration.   
     
     
         6 . A travelling formwork according to  claim 5 , wherein each leg has rolling means for the trolley to move on the ground of a tunnel. 
     
     
         7 . A travelling formwork according to  claim 6 , wherein the rolling means are crawler tracks. 
     
     
         8 . A travelling formwork according to  claim 7 , wherein the crawler tracks are self-driven. 
     
     
         9 . A travelling formwork according to  claim 1 , wherein the trolley has a passage dimensioned such that vehicles can travel lengthwise and internally trough the trolley, when the legs of trolley are in their extended position. 
     
     
         10 . A travelling formwork according to  claim 1 , wherein the reconfigurable formwork assembly is formed by a plurality of panels attached to each other in an articulated manner, and wherein travelling formwork has hydraulic means for moving the panels from the deployed configuration to the folded configuration and vice versa.