Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Fluent material hopper or storage container with material port
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-30
2001-06-19
Safavi, Michael (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Fluent material hopper or storage container with material port
C052S745010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06247277
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a safety net system and method for grain bins and grain carts, and, more particularly, to such a safety net system and method in which a large mesh safety net is attached to anchors positioned along the inside perimeter walls of a grain bin or grain cart such that the net extends over the entire grain storage area of the bin or cart to allow grain ingress while preventing a person from entering the grain storage area.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Grain storage structures, including mobile grain carts and stationary grain storage bins are one of the leading causes of farm deaths in the United States. In 1992, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported 9 fatalities in the United States from getting suffocated in grain or caught in grain augers in a bin or cart. The State of Illinois alone reported 22 deaths from grain bins, as well as an additional number from grain carts, in the years from 1986-1994. There are a number of causes for these accidents.
When grain is stored with a relatively high moisture content, the grain tends to cake or crust at the surface and form a “bridge” of caked grain which can extend all of the way between the sidewalls of the storage bin or cart. Such bridged grain is extremely hazardous because it prevents grain from flowing into the bin or cart and hides underlying pockets of air beneath the bridge. Farmers will often walk on the bridged grain in an effort to break it up and fall through the bridge, thus getting engulfed in the grain.
Farm workers are also often buried by stored grain as the grain is being emptied from the bottom of the bin or cart. The flowing grain acts much like quick sand, pulling the worker completely under the grain surface. According to NIOSH, forces created by a grain auger unloading grain are so great that, once a person is buried up to the waist, they stand virtually no chance of escaping from the auger force, even with the aid of a safety rope. The force required to remove a person buried to the chest in grain can exceed 2,000 pounds, i.e. about the weight of a small car. Typical unloading rates will fully bury an adult person within one minute. High capacity conveyors can move 5,000 bushels of grain in an hour. At these flow rates, a six foot adult will be totally buried in 15 seconds.
The risk of suffocation increases as grain ages in a bin due to the emission of carbon dioxide, which displaces the oxygen supply in the bin. Thus, even if a worker is not buried completely, he can suffocate due to the lack of oxygen in the bin.
NIOSH recommends the following steps to prevent such accidents, 1) Break up crusts of grain from outside the bin; 2) Avoid entering storage bins or grain carts; 3) If you must enter a bin or cart, stay above the material at all times, assume that all bridged material is unstable, wear safety harnesses with properly fastened life lines, stop the flow of grain prior to entering, and turn on any ventilators
It is clear, then, that a need exists for improved safety equipment for grain storage bins and grain carts. Such equipment should preferably be economical and easily installed, yet reliable, should not interfere with operation of the grain cart or bin and should be passive and not easily defeated in purpose.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a grain storage safety net system and method which is designed to reduce or prevent accidents involving grain carts and grain storage bins. The safety net system is a wide mesh netting which is strong and durable. For example, for grain storage bins, the netting can be made of plastic coated steel cable while for grain carts it might be made of braided nylon or a similar material. The mesh is removably secured to the side walls of the grain storage bin or grain cart via a system of anchors attached about the periphery of the bin or cart. The wide mesh structure of the netting allows grain to freely drop through the netting into the bin or cart, yet prevents a person from intentionally or accidentally entering the bin or cart from above. The inventive method includes the steps of attaching a plurality of anchors to the sides of a grain storage bin or grain cart and then securing a wide mesh netting to the anchors such that it blankets the grain storage area to prevent human entry into the storage area from above, yet allows the free entrance of grain through the netting into the storage area.
OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION
The objects and advantages of the invention include: providing a grain storage safety netting system and method; providing such a system and method in which a series of anchors are attached to the inside periphery of a grain storage bin or grain cart; providing such a system and method in which a wide mesh netting is removably secured to the anchors in a position in which the netting blankets the top of the grain storage area of the bin or cart; providing such a system and method in which the netting allows the free ingress of grain into the storage area from above, while preventing human entry into the grain storage area from above; providing such a system and method which minimizes or prevents suffocation accidents involving grain storage bins or grain carts; and providing such a system and method which is reliable, easy to install, is economical to manufacture and which is particularly well suited for its intended purpose.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein are set forth, by way of illustration and example, certain embodiments of this invention.
The drawings constitute a part of this specification and include exemplary embodiments of the present invention and illustrate various objects and features thereof.
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patent: 5722197 (1998-03-01), Albritton
Sales Literature of, Brownie Manufacturing, Waverly, Nebraska, Bin & Roof Stairs Ladder and Safety Cage, exact publication date unknown, but at least one year prior to the filing of the present application.
Safavi Michael
Shughart Thomson & Kilroy P.C.
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