Fire escape – ladder – or scaffold – Torso harness
Patent
1993-01-21
1994-01-18
Chin-Shue, Alvin C.
Fire escape, ladder, or scaffold
Torso harness
182 36, A61B 3504
Patent
active
052793850
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to safety apparatus comprising a support for locally supporting a safety track in spaced relation to a fixture and a component to which a load can be coupled and which is displaceable along a said track.
Apparatus of this kind is useful for example in fall-arrest safety installations for protecting personnel working at height. A worker's safety belt or harness can be attached via a lanyard to the load coupling component. Movements of the worker generally parallel with the safety track, e.g a track formed by a wire cable, are unrestrained because the coupling means slides freely along the cable in response to a pull on the lanyard. And the worker is free to move away from the cable to an extent permitted by the length of the lanyard. But the coupling means remains permanently coupled with the safety track so that the installation prevents or restricts any fall of the worker.
It is important that movement of the coupling means along the safety track is not interrupted or impeded by any local track support. Usually it is necessary for there to be a plurality of such supports located at intervals along the track.
Various designs of apparatus which permit such movement of a load coupling means past local track supports are known. United Kingdom Patent No 2199880 describes a relatively simple apparatus in which a local track support has a head portion through which a wire cable can be threaded and the load coupling component comprises a longitudinally slotted tube for threading onto such cable. The bore of the tube is large enough to allow passage of the head portion of the track support and the tube slot is wide enough to allow passage of a portion of the track support adjoining that head portion. The slotted tube has profiled ends. If one of such ends strikes against the said head-adjoining portion of the track support during displacement of the coupling component along the safety track, the tube is thereby caused to rotate into a position in which that adjoining portion of the track support can pass along the slot. The said United Kingdom Patent also describes an alternative arrangement wherein a said slotted tube forms part of the local track support. In that case the load connecting means has a head portion which can slide along a said track and pass through the bore of the slotted tube, and a load attachment arm which projects from that head portion and can pass along the tube slot.
Research has been carried out into the design and performance of such a slotted tube type of apparatus with a view to combining high safety standards with improved versatility of use. The present invention results from this research.
According to the present invention there is provided apparatus comprising (i) a safety track support for locally supporting a safety rack in spaced relation to a fixture, said support having a track-locating head portion through which a said track can extend, and (ii) a load coupling component comprising a tube which can slide along a said track and means whereby a load can be attached to such tube; said tube defining a passageway along which the head portion of said track support can pass and which is peripherally interrupted by a slot for the simultaneous passage of a portion (hereafter called "neck") of the track support adjoining its said head portion; and at least one end of said tube having cam edges or faces shaped so that axial abutment pressure of said neck against a said edge or face causes a rotational movement of the tube which allows passage of said neck along the slot; characterised in that said load attachment means is connected to the tube so that such means is free to pivot relative to said tube about an axis which is parallel with and radially spaced from the axis of said tube, the pivot axis being located at a position which in end aspect of the tube is angularly offset, around the tube axis, from the ends of the tube slot and from the portion of the tube wall which is directly opposite such slot ends.
Otherwise defined, apparatus according to the invention
REFERENCES:
patent: 4674596 (1987-06-01), Weiner et al.
patent: 4721182 (1988-01-01), Brakmann et al.
patent: 4790410 (1988-12-01), Sharp et al.
Feathers Leonard J.
Riches David
Barrow Hepburn Sala Ltd.
Chin-Shue Alvin C.
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