Fall protection safety process & apparatus
The present invention relates to a safety apparatus and process for use by a workman in the installation of roofing truss and roofs on buildings and especially to a fall protection safety apparatus for securing a worker during installation of a roof.
This invention relates to a safety apparatus and process for use by workmen in the installation of roofing truss and roofs on buildings and especially to a fall protection safety apparatus for securing a worker during installation of a roof.
In the construction of buildings, workers are often required to work on installation of roofing truss and roofs thereover. In these situations, it is desirable to secure the worker to a safety line to minimize the risk of a fall. Not only must a worker be careful of missed steps, he must also contend with unexpected gusts of wind and other unanticipated circumstances. Thus, it is known to attach a safety line to some portion of the roof or roof truss and then to attach a safety line to a worker either with a safety harness or safety belt or the like. This not only prevents injury but helps in reducing construction costs by reducing the insurance rates for construction work of a hazardous nature.
In the past, workers must move a fall protection safety line and re-anchor the safety line in different positions as the roof is going up. Building roof trusses are generally attached to a building header starting at one end and extending across as each adjacent truss is attached to the building.
The present invention contemplates a fall protection safety process and apparatus for roof installations which allows anchoring means for a roofing truss to be moved or walked along the roof truss while having the roof truss attached at times.
Past roofing safety devices can be seen in the Smith U.S. Pat. No. 3,217,833 for a safety device for use by workmen on steel or like structures in which flanged beam members are used and in the Poldmaa U.S. Pat. No. 6,786,020 for an anchor for a safety rope. In the Walcher et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,694,720, a standing clamp for standing seam roofs is provided. A safety clamp engages the standing seam to hold three standing seams in clamped relationship between the tabs for supporting a safety line attached to a worker. In the Glynn et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,713, a roof attachment member for a safety line is provided which attachment member attaches to the roof peak to which a safety line can be clipped. The Gray U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,646 is a retractable fall restraint device for restraining a workman from a fall from a roof or other structure. The Curtin U.S. Pat. No. 6,966,531 is for a roof anchor for securing a working line as is the Nichols U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,202 for a fall arrest lifeline roof anchor and U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,021. The Arisman, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,036 is a roof lifeline anchor while the Crocker et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,949 is a motion stopping safety system for workers.
The present invention allows a roofer or workman to be connected to a safety line which is anchored to the roof truss and which is moved across a series of truss without ever disconnecting the safety line from at least one roofing truss.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA fall protection safety process for roof installation includes the step of selecting a roof truss attaching apparatus having an elongated arm having two end portions. A first clamp is rotatably attached to one end portion and a second clamp is rotatably attached to the other end portion of the elongated arm. The elongated arm has a safety line attachment thereon between the end portions thereof for attaching a safety line. The first clamp is clamped to one roof truss while the second clamp is attached to an adjacent roof truss with the arms spanning between the two truss. The process includes unclamping the first clamp from one roof truss and rotating an elongated arm on the second clamp to bring the first clamp to the next adjacent roof truss and then clamping the first clamp to the next adjacent roof truss so that a roof attachment apparatus remains attached to one roof truss while moving the roof attachment-apparatus across a plurality of roof truss. The process also includes rotating an unclamped first clamp to align it with the next adjacent roof truss. The process includes selecting a roof truss attaching apparatus having a safety line attachment which may be a traveler eye attached to the elongated arm and attaching a line swivel member thereto which has the safety line attached thereto. A safety harness for a workmen is attached to the elongated arm with the safety line. The process includes selecting first and second clamps which are rapidly attaching toggle clamps. The elongated arm has a shaft extending from each end portion thereof so that the first and second clamps are each rotatably attached to one arm shaft.
A fall protection safety apparatus for a roof installation is provided which includes a roof truss attaching apparatus having an elongated arm having two end portions and having a first clamp rotatably attached to one end portion thereof-and a second clamp rotatably attached to the other end portion of the arm. The arm has a safety line attachment thereon between the end portions thereof for attaching a safety line. A safety line is attached to the safety line attachment of the roof truss attaching apparatus. The roof truss attaching apparatus can be attached between two adjacent roof truss for holding a workman on a safety line and then one clamp unclamped to allow one end of the arm to be rotated on the other clamp clamped end for clamping onto an adjacent roof truss to thereby always have the roof truss attaching apparatus clamped to at least one roof truss while installing a roof.
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the written description and the drawings in which:
Referring to the drawings
The operation of the clamps 15 and 16 are illustrated in
As seen in
Turning more specifically to
Thus, the fall protection safety process is illustrated for a roof installation which selects a roof truss attaching apparatus 10 having an elongated arm 11 having two end portions and having a first clamp 15 rotatably attached to one end portion of the arm 11 and a second clamp 16 rotatably attached to the other end portion of the elongated arm 11 and the arm having a safety line attachment 12 thereon between the end portions of the arm for attaching a safety line 25. The selective roof truss attaching apparatus is first clamped by the first clamp to one roof truss and the second clamp is clamped to an adjacent roof truss with the arms spanning between the two roof truss. Then as new truss are added, one clamp can be unclamped from one roof truss and the elongated arm 11 rotated, as seen in
It should be clear at this time that a fall protection safety process and apparatus have been provided which allows a workman installing a new roof to be held with a safety line which is always attached with a roofing truss as the attachment is moved across the roofing truss as new truss are added to the roof while always being clamped to at least one roofing truss. This provides for the rapid movement of the roofing truss attachment while maintaining the safety of the workman. However, the present invention should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.
Claims
1. A fall protection safety process for roof installation comprising the steps of:
- selecting a roof truss attaching apparatus having an elongated arm having two end portions and having a first clamp rotatably attached to one end portion and a second clamp rotatably attached to the other end portion of said elongated arm and said arm having a safety line attachment thereon between the end portions thereof for attaching a safety line;
- clamping said first clamp to one roof truss and said second clamp to an adjacent roof truss with said arm spanning between the two trusses;
- unclamping said first clamp from said one roof truss and rotating said arm on said second clamp to bring said first clamp onto the next adjacent roof truss; and
- clamping said first clamp to said next adjacent roof truss;
- whereby a roof attachment apparatus remains attached to one roof truss while moving the roof attachment apparatus across roof trusses.
2. The fall protection safety process for roof installation in accordance with claim 1 including the step of rotating said unclamped first clamp to align said first clamp with the next adjacent roof truss.
3. The fall protection safety process for roof installation in accordance with claim 2 in which said selected safety line attachment is a traveler eye.
4. The fall protection safety process for roof installation in accordance with claim 3 including a line swivel member movably attached to said safety line attachment.
5. The fall protection safety process for roof installation in accordance with claim 4 including a safety line attached to said line swivel member for attaching a safety harness for a workmen to said elongated arm.
6. The fall protection safety process for roof installation in accordance with claim 5 in which said first and second clamps are each rapid attaching toggle clamps.
7. The fall protection safety process for roof installation in accordance with claim 6 in which said elongated arm has a shaft extending from each end portion thereof and said first and second clamps are each rotatably attached to one said arm shaft.
8. The fall protection safety process for roof installation in accordance with claim 7 in which said first and second clamps each have a swinging handle that is rotated to-clamp onto a truss.
9. A fall protection safety apparatus for roof installation comprising:
- a roof truss attaching apparatus having an elongated arm having two end portions and having a first clamp rotatably attached to one end portion thereof and a second clamp rotatably attached to the other end portion of said arm and said arm having a safety line attachment thereon between said end portions of said arm for attaching a safety line;
- a safety line attached to said safety line attachment of said roof truss attaching apparatus;
- whereby a roof truss attaching apparatus can be attached between two adjacent roof truss for holding a workmen on a safety line and then one clamp unclamped to allow one end of said arm to be rotated on the other clamp clamped end for clamping on an adjacent roof truss to thereby always have the roof truss attaching apparatus clamped to at least one roof truss while installing a roof.
Type: Application
Filed: Jul 14, 2008
Publication Date: Jan 14, 2010
Inventor: Jonathon M. Bodnar (Orlando, FL)
Application Number: 12/218,263
International Classification: E04G 3/34 (20060101); E04B 1/00 (20060101); E04G 3/32 (20060101);