GB2300215A

GB2300215A - Safety apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB2300215A
Application number: GB9508475A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Simon Rood
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1995-04-26
Filing date: 1995-04-26
Publication date: 1996-10-30
Anticipated expiration: 2015-04-26
Also published as: GB9508475D0; GB2300215B

Abstract

A safety apparatus comprising a safety track, eg a cable, for guiding a worker along a raised platform, a safety track support 2 and safety coupling component adapted to cooperate with the safety track support 2. The safety track support 2 comprises a means for retaining 5,6 and supporting the cable, means for fixing 4a,4b said support to a solid structure and guide means 7a,7b for guiding the coupling component into and out of the retaining means 5,6. The track may be supported to follow an arc to provide a change of direction.

Description

Safety Apparatus This invention relates to safety apparatus in particular to a safety apparatus for reducing the risk of injury to personnel resulting from a fall from a work platform or other raised area.

One of the most common causes of workers falling when working at height is when they are working in the horizontal plane and do not have continuous access to anchorage points therefore exposing themselves to the unnecessary risk of injury or death when unclipping themselves from the safety apparatus and moving from one point to another. The workers wear a safety belt or harness which is attached via a lanyard to a load coupling component. The worker is free to move away from the cable to an extent permitted by the length of the lanyard.

Supports for the cable are generally spaced at equidistant intervals along the horizontal plane and it is generally when the worker reaches these points that he has to unclip the lanyard and reclip it onto the cable once beyond the support.

Several companies have produced systems which provide a solid permanent attachment over the complete working distance including traversing round corners and obstructions. These systems although allowing continuous hands free travel along the system are complicated and expensive to manufacture and produce. Furthermore they can be difficult to install and invariably cannot be used on both horizontal and vertical planes. Apparatus designed for use on horizontal planes, when used vertically may cause the apparatus to stick instead of moving along easily thus discouraging persons from using it and therefore may increase the risks to the personnel.

GB 2256002 discloses a fall arrest apparatus for use on a horizontal plane which comprises a sliding component in the form of a tube which is threaded onto the safety track and has a longitudinal slot which allows the tube to travel past the track supports. A link for the connection to the workers' lanyard is pivotally connected to the wall of the tube at a position such that the exertion of a downward loading force on the link causes the tube to turn into a position in which the slot opens generally sideways with respect to the safety track. In a second arrangement a slotted tube is pivotally mounted to the support about an axis and a load coupling component slides along the cable.

Generally the prior art fall arrest systems are difficult to install and are suitable for use on either a horizontal plane or vertical plane but not usually both.

It is therefore expensive to have to provide separate safety equipment for work both on vertical and horizontal planes.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a safety apparatus which obviates or mitigates these disadvantages.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a safety apparatus comprising a safety track for guiding a worker along a raised platform, a safety track support and a safety coupling component adapted to cooperate with the safety track support, wherein the safety track support comprises a means for retaining and supporting a safety track, means for fixing said support to a solid structure and guide means for guiding the coupling component into and out of the retaining means; Preferably the guide means comprises two elongate rods converging towards the retaining means to encourage the coupling means through the retaining means.

Preferably the coupling component further comprises a hollow tube for slidable engagement along the safety track, a line attachment to the coupling component and means for attachment of the free end of the line to a workers harness.

Advantageously the safety track comprises a substantially steel cable.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a means for accommodating changes in direction by providing a safety track support in which the means for retaining and supporting the safety track are curved to follow an appropriate arc to provide the required change in direction.

This invention will now be described herein below by way of illustration with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure la a perspective view of a safety support bracket according to one embodiment of the invention Figure lb a perspective view of a coupling component for use with the safety support bracket of Figure la.

A safety apparatus as shown in Figure 1 is provided in which a safety track in the form of a substantially wire cable is anchored to a fixed structure. The cable can follow a continuous course around that structure or it may extend between stations at which the ends of the cable are secured to the structure via suitable end fittings on the cable.

Cable supports in the form of cable-supporting brackets 2 are also provided which are secured by suitable fixing means, e.g bolts, to the structure at intervals along the course of the cable and serve to support the cable in spaced relation to that structure.

The cable-supporting bracket comprises a substantially cuboid block 3 of any suitable non corrosive material or any corrosive material which has been pretreated to resist or inhibit corrosion. The cuboid block has a front face and a rear face, two side faces, and a top face and a bottom face. Two apertures 4a, 4b extend through the block from the front face to the rear face. One aperture 4a is situated adjacent the edge of the block where the top face and front face and meet the second aperture 4b is positioned adjacent the edge of the block where the lower face and the front face meet.

Generally one of the apertures is positioned to the right of the centre of the front face and the other aperture is positioned to the left of the front face.

Further positioned in the front face of the block is a centrally positioned longitudinal and substantially rectangular slot 5 which extends through each side face.

The longitudinal slot 5 is of substantially less diameter than that of the safety cable. The longitudinal slot 5 also extends approximately a third of the way through the block 5 towards the rear face. At this point the slot expands to form a centrally positioned longitudinal Cshaped channel 6 which also extends through each side face. The C-shaped channel 6 extends a further third of the way through the block 5 towards the rear face.

Irremovably attached to each side face by suitable fixing means or process are at least two longitudinal guide rods 7a, 7b which extend outwards from the side face. These guide rods 7a, 7b are made from any suitable non corrosive material or any corrosive material which has been pretreated to resist or inhibit corrosion. There are two guide rods (one upper guide rod 7a and one lower guide rod 7b) attached to each side face. The upper guide rod 7a is attached in a position substantially aligned to and adjacent the top edge of longitudinal slot 5. The lower guide 7b rod is attached in a position substantially aligned with and adjacent the lower edge of the longitudinal slot 5. Furthermore, the upper guide rods 7a extend perpendicularly along an axis which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the slot 5.The lower guide rods 7a although they also extend away from block 5 are inclined slightly downwards to form an acute angle in relation to the longitudinal axis of the slot 5.

Furthermore a coupling component 8 is provided for engagement with the cable supporting bracket 1. The coupling component 8 is in the form of a longitudinal hollow tube 9. The exterior diameter 10 of the tube is of a slightly less diameter than that of the C-shaped channel in the block but of greater diameter than the longitudinal slot 5. The internal diameter 11 of the tube must be slightly greater than that of the safety cable with which it is to be used. Centrally and irremovably attached to the exterior of the tube 9, by any suitable method or process, is a substantially rectangular, planar bar 12.

The bar 12 is attached via one of its short sides in such a way as to allow the bar to extend outwards from the exterior surface of the tube 9. The short sides of the bar are of less length than the tube 9. An aperture 13 through the bar 12 is provided in a generally central position.

In another embodiment of the invention the C-shaped channel 6 and the longitudinal slot 5 follow a curved path to accommodate a change in direction for the coupling component 8. The block 3 is of appropriate shape to accommodate the curve.

In use of the aforementioned invention the coupling component 8 is threaded onto the safety track such as a cable by threading the cable through the hollow tube 9 portion so that the coupling component 8 is freely slidable along the cable. A worker's safety harness is connected to that coupling component 8 via a lanyard which is clipped through the aperture 13 in the bar 12 portion.

Support brackets 2 for the cable are generally spaced at equidistant intervals along the work plane. Carriage bolts are placed through the apertures 4a, 4b in the block 3 to securely attach the brackets 2 to the solid structure. The cable is threaded through the brackets 2 so that the cable sits in the C-shaped channel 6 in the block. As the worker progresses along the length of the cable the coupling component slides along with him thus keeping him attached to the cable at all times. As he approaches a support bracket 2 the guide rods 7a, 7b guide the coupling component up through the slot and channel in the block and through the other side. The tube portion of the coupling component travels along the C-shaped channel 6 whilst the bar portion travels along the longitudinal slot 5.Due to the fact that the hollow tube portion 9 is of a greater diameter than the longitudinal slot 5 if the person falls at this point the coupling component 8 will not be pulled out the bracket 2 by the downward force.

Furthermore a sudden downward force caused by a fall will not force the cable itself out of the longitudinal slot 5 because the diameter of the safety cable is substantially greater than that of the longitudinal slot 5.

One advantage of the present invention is that movement of the coupling component 8 along the safety cable is not interrupted or impeded by any supports 2.

Furthermore it is a simple system to use and install but the coupling component 8 still remains permanently coupled to the safety cable so that the installation prevents or restricts any fall of the worker.

It is also possible to use this system on both horizontal or vertical planes therefore reducing the cost for customer in that they only need to purchase one system to be capable of working on both planes.

The guide rods 7a, 7b on the block 3 help the coupling component 8 to pass through the bracket 2 easily thus preventing the apparatus from sticking. Although this invention is simple to use it still incorporates the high standard of safety required for this kind of apparatus.

Claims

1. A safety apparatus comprising a safety track for guiding a worker along a raised platform, a safety track support and safety coupling component adapted to cooperate with the safety track support, wherein the safety track support comprises a means for retaining and supporting a safety track, means for fixing said support to a solid structure and guide means for guiding the coupling component into and out of the retaining means.

2. A safety apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the coupling component comprises a hollow tube for slidable engagement along the safety track and a line attached to the coupling component, the free end of the line being adapted for attachment to a workers harness.

3. A safety apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the guide means are in the form of elongate guide rods.

4. A safety apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the guide means comprises two elongate rods converging towards the retaining means to encourage the coupling means through the retaining means.

5. A safety apparatus according to claim 3 wherein the guide means comprises at least one guide rod extending perpendicularly from a surface of the safety track support along an axis aligned with the track direction.

6. A safety apparatus according to claim 3 wherein at least two guide rods are provided as a cooperating pair located on a surface of the safety track support and one of said rods diverges from the other.

7. A safety apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the safety track follows a continuous course around a solid structure.

8. A safety apparatus according to any one of claims 1-6 wherein the safety track extends between two stations at which the ends of the cable are secured to a solid structure.

9. A safety apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the safety track comprises a substantially steel cable.

10. A safety apparatus comprising a means for accommodating changes in direction by providing a safety track, a safety track support in which the means for retaining and supporting the safety track are curved to follow an appropriate arc to provide the required change in direction.