Fire escape – ladder – or scaffold – Torso harness – With pole encircling or grasping means
Patent
1990-10-19
1991-09-24
Machado, Reinaldo P.
Fire escape, ladder, or scaffold
Torso harness
With pole encircling or grasping means
182135, A62B 3500
Patent
active
050507044
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a harness for a safety line of the type which is intended to hold a person climbing a pole or the like, while allowing him to have his hands free, comprising two suitably loop-shaped fastening means for the safety line which are each arranged along a shoulder strap of the harness, whereby tensile stresses applied to said fastening means from the safety line are distributed to the harness via said shoulder straps.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In connection with mounting or repair work on such poles as telephone poles or power-line pylons, the operator uses not only a pair of climbing irons, but also a safety line which can be passed around the pole for retaining the operator in an obliquely rearwardly-upwardly inclined position in which he has his hands free for manipulating the tools and the wiring equipment required for carrying out the work. Traditionally, the safety line is fastened to a simple belt strapped around the operator's waist. More specifically, this is done by fastening safety hooks mounted on the safety line, in loops or rings mounted on the front portion of the belt. A serious drawback of this arrangement however is that the load exerted by the weight of the operator must be taken up by the relatively narrow belt which supports only the lower part of the operator's back, but leaves the other parts of the back without any support whatsoever. In practice, this means that the spine of the operator is subjected to extreme stresses in the area of the lumbar vertebrae, with serious, often irrepairable wear of the vertebrae as a result.
To overcome the problems stated above, it is desirable to apply the fastening means for the safety line to a harness having shoulder straps which, far more efficiently than a simple belt, can distribute the stresses over the operator's body. Such a harness is previously known from AT 383,493, but in this prior art harness, the fastening means are fixedly mounted on the pertaining shoulder strap in a position given once and for all. This means that the operator nevertheless will be subjected to stresses concentrated in certain points of his body and resulting in that the harness straps will be tightened abruptly and with a pull when he leans backwards. This occurs in a predetermined rear end position from which the operator cannot lean further backwards. In practice, the operator will thus find the harness uncomfortable and too tight-fitting.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention aims at further developing the known harness such that it becomes comfortable and easy to use in practice. According to the invention, this is achieved in that each fastening means is movable along a guide associated with the pertaining shoulder strap and acted on by one or more resilient means yieldingly counteracting the movements of the fastening means along said guide.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings,
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the inventive harness with a pertaining safety line,
FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing the use of the harness in connection with pole climbing,
FIG. 3 is a front view of a further developed embodiment of the inventive harness,
FIG. 4 is a rear view of the harness according to FIG. 3, and
FIGS. 5 and 6 are detailed views showing a fastening means in two different states of operation.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
In FIG. 1, the inventive harness is generally designated 1, while 2 designates a safety line which in conventional manner comprises both stationary hook means 3 and movable hook means 4 which can be locked in the desired position along the line 2 by means of a locking mechanism 5.
In addition to a waist belt 6, the harness 1 has two shoulder straps 7,7' which are connected at their front ends to the front portion of the waist belt 6. Suitably, this connection is brought about by means of loops 8,8' which allow a certain displacement or adjustment of the shoulder straps along the waist belt. At
REFERENCES:
patent: 2796953 (1957-06-01), Becker
patent: 2834525 (1958-05-01), Shawgo
patent: 3840091 (1974-10-01), Conlon
patent: 4712646 (1987-12-01), Page
Machado Reinaldo P.
Sala Equip AB
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