Fire escape – ladder – or scaffold – Pitched roof conforming scaffold
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-22
2004-06-08
Thompson, II, Hugh B. (Department: 3634)
Fire escape, ladder, or scaffold
Pitched roof conforming scaffold
Reexamination Certificate
active
06745869
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of residential and commercial roofing. In particular, the present invention relates to a number of scaffolds, platforms, tools, and accessories for use in pitched roof construction as well as an apparatus for securing ladders and other devices to a ladder rack, luggage rack, or other type of vehicle accessory rack.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Safety in pitched roof construction has been an ever increasing concern. An alarming number of construction site accidents are due to falls from pitched roofs by workmen, or injuries sustained by workmen when roofing materials (shingles, felt, nails, flashing, compounds, sealants, and the like) or tools (hammer, nail guns, water jugs, and the like) fall from a roof onto workers or passersby below.
One of the basic difficulties in roof work is transporting the materials up to the roof and storing them there until needed. Typically, roofers will load most, if not all, of the roofing materials onto the roof surface before beginning work. In the past, this may have been accomplished by the use of ladder elevators (e.g., laddervator). However, in new home and large scale construction, a crane or large forklift may be used to transfer entire pallets of roofing material to the roof level upon delivery. Thus, large quantities of shingles, tiles, slates, or the like, may need to be stored on the roof prior to installation.
In some recorded instances, entire pallets or “squares” of roofing materials (e.g., shingles) have fallen off pitched roofs onto the ground below. If a fellow workman or passerby is below when such a large amount of material falls, serious injury or even death can occur. In addition, although probably less hazardous, workers and passersby below are also in danger of serious injury from falling tools, hammers, and smaller amounts of roofing materials and the like. As a result of such accidents, residential as well as commercial roofers are finding increased scrutiny from insurance companies and government agencies (e.g., OSHA).
In addition to such obvious safety concerns, government agencies and insurance companies are seeing more claims of injuries due to repetitive stress disorders (e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome). In the roofing industry, such stresses can occur as a roofer may be forced to reach in one extreme direction (e.g., downward to a scaffold walkboard) to retrieve shingles, tools, or nails, and then reach in another extreme direction (e.g. upward) to secure the shingle to the roof.
In addition to causing stress on the body, such a work environment is inefficient, as such long reaches increase the time needed to install shingles and more readily fatigue the roofer. Moreover, extended reaches may put the roofer at increase risk of falling due to loss of balance and the like. Roofing materials and tools may be more likely to fall off a roof if a roofer has to stretch to reach them.
In the Prior Art, primitive techniques have been used in an attempt to secure materials and persons on a roof. For example, a short length of 2″ by 4″ wood may be nailed to a roof to provide temporary support for a ladder, materials, or a roofer. Such a primitive technique, commonly used, provides very little purchase for the roofer or materials to rest upon. In addition, it may take time at the jobsite for the roofer to secure such scrap lumber, cut it to size, measure for nail spacing, and install.
A number of Patents have been issued which describe various apparatus in the Prior Art for correcting the deficiencies noted above. However, most, if not all, of these attempts have failed in one or more ways, and none of these patented invention appear to have been commercially successful or readily available in the marketplace. Most of these schemes utilize unnecessarily complicated apparatus, which is too costly for the average roofer to afford, to heavy to lift to the jobsite, and to cumbersome to work with.
For example, Eisenmenger, U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,154, issued Feb. 11, 1997, discloses a portable suspended roof scaffold system. Eisenmenger uses a specialized apparatus (See
FIGS. 1
,
3
, and
4
) to secure a ladder to a roof. Once the ladder is secured, an adjustable platform (See
FIG. 7
) may be secured to the ladder to support a walkboard or the like. The problem with the Eisenmenger system is that it requires that a ladder with specialized fittings first be hauled up to the roof and secured before the platform can be installed.
Moreover, the ladder, once secured, covers a substantial portion of the roof being worked on. Since shingles are generally installed in horizontal rows, the ladder of Eisenmenger necessarily covers a portion of each row at all times (See, FIG.
20
). The roofer must either move the entire apparatus or try to install shingles underneath the ladder. In addition, the apparatus, by requiring the use of a ladder, ties up one of the roofer's ladders at the jobsite. As a result, the roofer must purchase a separate ladder for such a purpose, or do without a ladder at another location on the site.
Bitner, U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,600, issued Nov. 9, 1999, discloses a leveling roof platform support. The Bitner device is an improvement over using a nailed-in 2″ by 4″ and much less complex than the Eisenmenger device. However, it appears that Bitner is limited to a device for supporting a walk-board or plank, and does not explicitly provide support for ladders, tools, supplies, or roofing materials. In addition, the Bitner device utilizes a fairly complex and expensive screw-jack leveling system to provide infinite adjustment of angle. While the screw-jack system may provide more levels of adjustment, it does so at the expense of added cost and complexity. Moreover, the screw-jack of Bitner does not appear to be sufficient to support large loads (e.g., square of shingles). No method of locking the screw jack into place appears to be present.
Thus, it remains a requirement in the art to provide a simple, flexible, lightweight, safe, and inexpensive system for supporting persons, ladders, roofing supplies, shingles, tools, and accessories on an inclined roof without covering up large portions of the roof with such a device.
Miller, U.S. Pat. No. 6,170,222, issued Jan. 9, 2001, discloses a foam rubber wedge pad for placing shingles on a roof. As the pad is made entirely of foam rubber, it may be difficult to grip (no handles). Moreover, the foam pad does not provide storage for small items such as nails or tools.
In addition to the above problems in the Prior Art, injuries have occurred when ladders and scaffolding set up for roof and other work are not properly secured and as a result, fall down. OSHA requires that ladders be “tied-off” prior to work commencing. However, oftentimes a convenient and easy way to tie off a ladder (e.g., to a gutter) is not present, particularly with regard to roofing work.
Thus, it remains a further requirement in the art to provide a safe, easy, convenient, and inexpensive way to allow ladders and scaffolds to be readily attached to a housing or other structure prior to work commencing.
In addition, safety in transporting roofing and construction ladders, as well as other items is also important. An aluminum ladder flying off a construction truck can cause great bodily injury or even death on a crowded superhighway. Such dangers pose huge liabilities for construction companies which may be ultimately responsible for the actions of their employees.
Moreover, securing any load to a vehicle present safety problems. Most commercial over-the road truckers have rather elaborate straps and chains to secure loads. However contractors and homeowners have relied upon straps, ropes and even strings, to secure loads to their vehicles, with limited success and sometimes disastrous results.
Many contractors will leave ladders entirely unsecured on ladder racks, or use only a token string or rope to secure them. In addition to being unsafe, ropes and strings are difficult to tie and untie. Straps (since or ratchet) are o
Bell Robert Platt
Roofmates, Incorporated
Thompson II Hugh B.
LandOfFree
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