Fall-arrest systems with yielding mounting bracket for inspectio

Details Fall-arrest systems with yielding mounting bracket for inspectio Fall-arrest systems with yielding mounting bracket for inspectio

1992-02-13

1993-07-06

Oberleitner, Robert J.

Railways

Cable rails

Hangers and saddles

248548, 182 3, 188371, E01B 2518

Patent

active

052244270

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to a personnel fall-arrest system comprising a flexible safety track which is anchored in spaced relation to a fixture by track anchors located at intervals along the track, and a coupling component for connecting a worker's safety harness to said track via a safety line, said component being coupled to said track but being freely displaceable therealong.
The flexible safety track of a system of the kind to which the invention relates can most suitably be a metal cable which is threaded through track-receiving eyes or sleeves provided on the track anchors. Such anchors and the coupling component can be formed so that displacement of the coupling component along the track is not obstructed by the anchors (see e.g. United Kingdom Patent No 2 199 880).
Such systems serve to protect workers in situations where they would otherwise be exposed to risk of serious injury or death by falling. For example, they can be used for protecting workers on walkways running along the exteriors of structures, high above the ground, or on walkways above open vats or other containers holding harmful liquids. Shock-absorbing means is normally incorporated in or associated with such systems for avoiding such abrupt arrest of a fall as could itself cause serious injury.
Each of the components of a personnel fall-arrest safety system should be capable, with a wide margin of safety, of sustaining the forces which may be imposed on it in the event of the fall of a person connected to the coupling component. The track anchors must of course hold to the fixture. And they must also resist separation of the track from the anchors under the applied load.
Any personnel fall-arrest system should be systematically examined periodically in order to check that its components have not become damaged and are in serviceable condition. In the event that a fall takes place, it is important that the system be thoroughly checked and that any damaged parts be replaced before the system is again put to use. Such examinations are very demanding tasks, particularly in the case of systems of considerable length and systems in which important components are not conveniently placed for close inspection. The examinations have to be carried out in situ, where there is an inherent risk of personal accident. The work should be carried out by trained inspectors but despite every care there is always the possibility of a defect being overlooked.
The present invention provides a system wherein there is means which reduces the risk that impairment of the system, caused by heavy loading due to a fall, may be overlooked.
According to the present invention, there is provided a personnel fall-arrest system comprising a flexible safety track which is anchored in spaced relation to a fixture by track anchors located at intervals along the track, and a coupling component for connecting a worker's safety harness to said track via a safety line, said component being coupled to said track but being freely displaceable therealong, characterised in that each of the anchors has an ultimate tensile strength more than sufficient to prevent release of the track under the greatest load liable to be imposed on said anchor due to the fall of a person using the system, but is constructed so that under a load substantially smaller than that maximum it will undergo a permanent deformation which is apparent to the eye.
The invention departs from the common perception that the safety track anchors in this kind of system should be robust enough to sustain a full range of fall-arrest loads without damage. Anchors of a system according to the invention are intentionally liable to be damaged if a person using the system falls and the fall subjects the anchors to forces above a certain magnitude. Because of the adequacy of the ultimate strength of the anchors, this liability of the anchors to become damaged does not make the system unsafe. And the anchor damage, if it occurs, serves the valuable purpose of making it obvious that the system has been subjected to heavy str

REFERENCES:
patent: 1409702 (1922-03-01), Gill
patent: 2724463 (1955-11-01), Becker
patent: 3601862 (1971-08-01), Hargadon
patent: 4790410 (1988-12-01), Sharp et al.
patent: 4791243 (1988-12-01), Ibanez et al.
patent: 4932626 (1990-06-01), Guillot

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