MOBILE MOUNT FOR ATTACHMENT OF A FALL ARREST SYSTEM

Abstract

A mobile mount for attachment of a fall arrest system. The mobile mount includes a mobile base, a support, at least one base, at least one arm and at least one anchor. The mobile base has a first side and a second side. The support extends upward from proximate the first side of the mobile base. The support also has a first end coupled to the mobile base and a second end. The at least one brace is coupled between the support and the mobile base to maintain the support in an upward position in relation to the mobile base. The at least one brace is slideably coupled to the mobile base. The at least one arm assembly is coupled to the second end of the support and extends from the support so as to be cantilevered over the mobile base. The at least one anchor is configured to be attached to the fall arrest system. Moreover, the at least one anchor is coupled to the at least one arm assembly.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/841,838, filed on May 10, 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates a mobile mount for attachment of a fall arrest system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Full protection of operators working in a situation where a fall can take place over a sufficient distance to cause injury or death is becoming generally required in most industries. Many arrangements are provided for mounting an anchor post on a structure adjacent the worker so that a personal fall arrest system can be attached to the anchor.

Such personal fall arrests systems include a harness together with a cable system for attachment to the harness and to a suitable anchor where the cable system can be paid out to allow the worker to move to a required location but the cable system arrests any fall within a short distance. Such devices are well known and commercially available and many different designs have been proposed.

In most cases the structure itself provides or has attached a suitable anchoring post so that the relatively high loading necessary can be readily provided by a simple post rigidly attached to the structure.

In the interior buildings, such anchors can be mounted on a rail which allows the anchor to slide longitudinally along a track attached to the rail.

However some structures are unsuitable for attachment of an anchor post or have been designed without the possibility of attachment of an anchor post so that operators in this environment are often unprotected against fall. In a particular area where this is problematic is in that related to aircraft where aircraft design does not lead to the suitability of attachment of mounting posts. Up until now, therefore, operators working in this environment have remained unprotected with the potential of serious injury or death.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The above-mentioned problems of current systems are addressed by embodiments of the present invention and will be understood by reading and studying the following specification. The following summary is made by way of example and not by way of limitation. It is merely provided to aid the reader in understanding some of the aspects of the invention.

A mobile mount for attachment of a fall arrest system is provided. The mobile mount includes a mobile base, a support, at least one base, at least one arm and at least one anchor. The mobile base has a first side and a second side. The support extends upward from proximate the first side of the mobile base. The support also has a first end coupled to the mobile base and a second end. The at least one brace is coupled between the support and the mobile base to maintain the support in an upward position in relation to the mobile base. The at least one brace is slideably coupled to the mobile base. The at least one arm assembly is coupled to the second end of the support and extends from the support so as to be cantilevered over the mobile base. The at least one anchor is configured to be attached to the fall arrest system. Moreover, the at least one anchor is coupled to the at least one arm assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

On embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the first embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 modified to incorporate a ladder and platform by which the operator can raise to the elevated structure.

FIG. 3 is an isometric view of a second embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a modified version of the embodiment of FIG. 3 incorporating two of the components of FIG. 3 connected together.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1 is shown a first embodiment according to the present invention which includes a base 10 and a support 11 for supporting anchors or receptacles 12 and 13 at a raised position above the base.

The base comprises a pair of side rails 14 and 15 extending forwarding from a rear frame structure 15. At the outer end of each side rail is provided a ground engaging wheel 16 for rolling over the ground supporting the base.

The frame 15 comprises a pair of rails 17 and 18 which are parallel and generally at right angles to the side rails 14 and 14A. The rails 17 and 18 are parallel and interconnected by a number of cross members 19 which hold the rails parallel. The rails 14 and 14A are attached to respective ends of the rails 17 and 18 so as to form a rigid structure. Some of the cross members 19 extend outwardly beyond the rails 17 and 18 and provide a support for a ground wheel 20 which cooperates with a ground wheel 16 in supporting the base for movement across the ground. The number of ground wheels and arrangement of ground wheels depends upon the weight to be supported and the type of ground wheel to be used. The base provides a relatively wide area for support over the ground to prevent toppling of the structure when load is applied.

At opposite ends of the frame 15 is provided a pair of upstanding posts 22 and 23 which form a part of the support 11. The upstanding posts are formed in two sections including upper portions 22A and 23A which are slidable vertically relative to the lower portions 22B and 23B. Suitable mounting using bearings can be provided between the portions to allow the vertical sliding movement required to elevate the upper section relative to the lower section. A cross member 24 connects the upper end of the lower portions 22B and 23B to retain the structure rigid. A similar cross member 25 is provided across the top of the upper portions 22A and 23A to maintain the upper section rigid. The upper section is raised relative to the lower section by chains 26 and 27 carried on lower pulleys 27 and 28 respectively operated by manually rotatable handle 29 attached to a shaft 30. The shaft 30 extends between the two pulleys 27 and 28 so the rotation of the handle 29 pulls the chains 26 and 27 over an upper pulley 31, 32 respectively at the top of the respective posts portions 22B and 23B so as to pull on the lower end of the upper portions 22A and 23A pulling them upwardly along the slide mounting indicated at 34.

Thus the upright portion of the support 11 defined by the posts and the cross members can be raised and lowered to a required height. At the top of the upper portion of the posts is provided a cantilever arm section generally indicated at 35 forming part of the support 11. The cantilever arm structure comprises a rail 36 parallel to the cross beams 25 and 24 and cantilevered outwardly therefrom on support rails 37, 38, 39 and 40. The rails 38 and 40 form a brace at an angle to the rails 37 and 39 thus maintaining the rail 36 at a position approximately midway across the base from the frame 15 towards the wheels 16.

The rail 36 is formed by a structural tube together with a transport track attached to the underside of the structural tube so the track carries a pair of trolleys 41 and 42 which can slide along the track 43 independently of one another. Each trolley carries a respective one of the anchors 12, 13.

Thus the operator shown in FIG. 1 can be wheeled to a required location at an elevated structure with the rail 36 supported at a position above the elevated structure by any necessary adjustment of the height of the support. The location of the rail 36 over the elevated structure can be obtained by moving the base on the wheels to the required position relative to the elevated structure. The arrangement as shown is particularly suitable for location over the wing of an aircraft with the rail 36 at a position approximately head height above the operator standing on the wing. Thus the base is located under the wing with the rail 36 above the wing.

The structure is designed and arranged to provide sufficient loading so that the anchors can receive the full force obtained by an operator falling from the elevated structure.

In practice it has been determined that the necessary loading which the anchor must accommodate is of the order of 1800 lbs. for a single operator and either 2000 lbs. or 3000 lbs. for two operators depending upon the jurisdiction where the standards are in force. Thus the anchor is not merely an anchor location but must provide sufficient strength so that the fall of a heavy operator potentially carrying heavy equipment and the impact of that fall on the personal fall arrest system can be applied to the anchor and through the anchor to the ground without damaging the structure or allowing the operator to fall beyond the intended position arrested by the fall arrest system.

Turning now to FIG. 2, there is shown exactly the same structure as shown in FIG. 1 together with the additional elements of a ladder 50, a platform 51 and a hitch 52. The ladder 50 comprises side rails 53 and 54 together with transverse rungs 55. The ladder is formed of a lower section 56 and an upper section 57 which can extend at its lower section 56 by sliding along side rails at a coupling 58. The upper end of the ladder is mounted on a cross beam 59 attached to the slides 34 by posts 60. Thus the upper end of the ladder is attached to the upper part of the frame for elevation therewith so that elevation of the other part of the frame obtained by the operator rotating the handle 29 automatically acts to lift the upper end of the ladder relative to the lower end of the ladder. The lower end of the ladder is attached to a pair of extension pieces 62 and 63 which extend outwardly from respective ones of the cross members 19 of the frame 15. Such cross members can be formed from a tube so that the lower part of the ladder includes a smaller tube inserted into the outer tube of the cross member 19 for readily attaching the ladder to the structure.

Thus the lower end of the ladder is fixed and the upper extends with the support to the required height to allow the operator to climb the ladder to the required location. At the top of the ladder is provided the platform 51 which is cantilevered out from the rail 59 and may be supported by braces from the rail 25. The platform provides a horizontal surface onto which the operator can step to transfer from the ladder to the horizontal surface and from the horizontal surface onto the structure to be worked upon. Alternatively the operator may remain on the platform to carry out the work while protected from falling by the fall restraint system provided by the anchors 12 and 13. Hand rail 51A can supplement the platform to allow the operator to stand while supported.

Turning now to FIG. 3, an alternative embodiment is shown including a base 100 and a support 111 for anchors 112 and 113. In this embodiment the base 100 is formed by cross beams 101 and 102 carrying ground wheels 103 together with longitudinal beams 104 and 105. The wheels are suitable castor wheels or may alternatively be driven wheels for moving the base by powered operation.

In this embodiment the support 111 is in the form of a ladder structure 114 with side rails 115 and 116 together with transverse rungs 117 and an upper platform 118. The ladder structure is again formed in two pieces with an upper part 120 which can be raised relative to a lower part 121 by actuation of a manually operable chain lifting system 124. Thus the upper parts of the rails of the ladder can slide upwardly to raise the platform 118 and the anchors 112 and 113 to a required height above an elevated structure to operated on. The lower part of the ladder is rigidly attached to the cross beam 103 and is supported by braces 125 and 126 extending downwardly to the longitudinal rails 104 and 105. The lower end of the braces is attached to slide members 127 which can move longitudinally along the respective rails 104, 105 and carry a cross beam 128 which has stabilizing legs 129 at each end. Stabilizing legs can be moved down into engagement with the ground so as to transfer some loading from the base from the wheels to the legs to maintain the base at a required location.

At the upper end of the rails 115 and 116 of the ladder is provided a tubular receptacle 130, 131 for a curved post 132 and 133 respectively which extends upwardly from the receptacle and forwardly beyond the end of the upper part of the ladder to the upper anchor 112, 113 respectively. Thus the anchors are cantilevered forwardly beyond the end of the ladder by the curvature of the posts 132 and 133. Thus again the anchors 112 and 113 are located approximately over the midline of the base and a cantilevered over structure with the base located underneath the structure. Again this arrangement is particularly suitable for the wing of an aircraft where the base can be moved to a position beneath the wing with the platform moved up to the end of the wing and the anchors 112 and 113 located over the wing for the operator to transfer from the platform onto the wing for operations on the aircraft.

In FIG. 4 is shown an alternative arrangement which utilizes basically the structure of FIG. 3 arranged in a pair of such structures connected together by cross members 140 and 141. Thus each base 100 and each support 111 is provided at a position spaced transversely of the base frames and connected together at spaced positions by the rails 140 and 141. At the top of the post 132 and 133 is provided a transverse rail 136 similar to the rail 36 which carries a track 137 and trolleys 138. Each trolley is attached to a personal safety arrest system generally indicated at 145. Thus the basic system shown in FIG. 3 can be modified to provide an elongated structure to provide an elongated protection system along the full extent of the rail 136 which may be up to 30 feet in length so that a number of operators can be properly protected by personal fall arrest systems slidable along the rail 136 in its track 137. The rail 136 can be removed from the posts 132 and 133 and the base 100 can be separated to provide two separate elements which can be used independently. The base structure in FIG. 4 is slightly different in construction from that shown in FIG. 3 in that the side rails extend at an angle outwardly and the wheels are attached to the ends of the side rails rather than to the ends of the cross rail 101 as shown in FIG. 3. It will be appreciated that different forms of base structure be designed with the intention that the structure merely provides sufficient ground engagement area to accommodate any side loads which occur as an operator falls to prevent the system from toppling and to maintain the rail 136 at its elevated position despite any direction of fall of one or more operators from the elevated structure.

The structure shown in FIG. 1 can also be extended by providing additional posts and increasing the length of the rails 24, 25 and 36. Thus for example the basic rail 36 may be of the order of 20 ft. which should be increased to 30 ft. by providing an additional post to provide three such posts in a row.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the Claims without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

1. A mobile mount for attachment of a fall arrest system, comprising:

a base carried on ground wheels for movement over a ground surface to an elevated structure on which one or more persons is intended to work, the elevated structure being separate from the base;

a support upstanding from the base having an upstanding support portion extending from the base to an elevated position above the base and an arm assembly extending from the upstanding support portion to a position cantilevered over the base, the upstanding support portion being vertically adjustable in height proximate the base;

at least one receptacle mounted on the arm assembly of the support at a position located over the base for attachment to a personal fall arrest system including a harness and a self-retracting lifeline for said one or more persons;

the receptacle, the base, and the support being designed and arranged to receive a loading of 1800 to 3000 pounds from the personal fall arrest system in the event of a fall of the person from the elevated structure; and

wherein the upstanding support portion includes a first ladder and a second ladder, the first ladder and the second ladder each having side rails and transverse rungs for the person to ascend to the elevated structure from the ground, and wherein the arm assembly of the upstanding support includes a post attached to an upper end of each side rail with a transverse beam extending between the first and second ladders and carrying the at least one receptacle, and wherein the upstanding support portion is vertically adjustable to position the at least one receptacle proximate above the elevated structure on which the one or more persons is intended to work.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the posts are inclined forwardly of an upper end of the side rails to cantilever the receptacle in front of the ladders.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein there is provided a platform between the rails proximate the top of each of the ladders for the person to step onto the elevated structure.

4. A mobile mount for attachment of a fall arrest system comprising:

a mobile base having a first side and a second side;

a support extending upward proximate the first side of the mobile base, the support having a first end coupled to the mobile base and a second end;

at least one brace coupled between the support and the mobile base to maintain the support in an upward position in relation to the mobile base, the at least one brace slideably coupled to the mobile base;

at least one arm assembly coupled to the second end of the support, the at least one arm assembly extending from the support so as to be cantilevered over the mobile base; and

at least one anchor configured to be attached to the fall arrest system, the at least one anchor coupled to the at least one arm assembly.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

at least one slide member to slidably couple the at least one brace to the mobile base;

a cross beam coupled to the at least one slide member; and

at least one stabilizing leg coupled to the cross beam, the at least one stabilizing leg configured to selectively engage a surface upon which the mobile base is resting.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the support includes at least one ladder.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein a length of the support is adjustable.

8. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

at least one platform extending from the support proximate the second end of the support so as to be cantilevered over the mobile base such that the at least one platform is positioned between the at least one receptacle and the mobile base, the at least one platform providing a support surface for an operator of the system.

9. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

at least one tubular receptacle coupled to the support, the at least one arm assembly configured to be received in the at least one tubular receptacle.

10. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

the mobile base having at least one a beam interconnecting the first and second sides, wherein the at least one brace is slidable along the at least one beam.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the brace is slidable to adjust an angle between the mobile base and the support.

12. The system of claim 4, wherein the support further includes a first and a second ladder spaced a select distance away from each other.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one arm assembly includes a first pair of posts and second pair of posts, the first pair of posts being aligned with the first ladder and the second pair of posts being aligned with the second ladder.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

a traverse rail extending between the first and second pair of posts, the fall arrest system slideably coupled to the traverse rail.

15. A mobile mount for attachment of a fall arrest system comprising:

a first structure including, a mobile base having a first side and second side, a ladder extending upward from proximate the first side of the mobile base, the ladder having a first end coupled to the mobile base and a second end, at least one post coupled to the second end of the ladder, the at least one post extending from the ladder to be cantilevered over the mobile base, and at least one anchor coupled to an end of the at least one post;

a second structure including, a mobile base having a first side and second side, a ladder extending upward from proximate the first side of the mobile base, the ladder having a first end coupled to the mobile base and a second end, at least one post coupled to the second end of the ladder, the at least one post extending from the ladder to be cantilevered over the mobile base, and at least one anchor coupled to an end of the at least one post;

at least one cross member configured to couple the mobile base of the first structure with the mobile base of the second structure; and

a traverse rail coupled to the at least one anchor of the first structure and the at least one anchor of the second structure, the traverse rail configured to slideably engage the fall arrest system.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the first and second structures includes at least one brace coupled between the ladder and the mobile base to maintain the ladder in an upward position in relation to mobile base, the at least one brace slideably coupled to the mobile base.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the first and second structures includes at least one stabilizing leg coupled to the mobile base, the at least one stabilizing leg configured to selectively engage a surface upon which the base is resting to maintain the mobile base at a desired location.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein a length of the ladder in the first structure and the length of the ladder in the second structure are both adjustable.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein at least one of the first and second fall structures includes at least one platform extending from the support proximate the second end of the support, wherein the at least one platform is cantilevered over the mobile base such that the at least one platform is positioned between the at least one anchor and the mobile base, the at least one platform providing a support surface for an operator of the system.

20. The system of claim 15 wherein the system is designed to handle a loading of 1800 to 3000 pounds from the personal fall arrest system.

21. The system of claim 15 wherein at least one of the first and second fall structures includes at least one receptacle coupled to the ladder configured to receive the at least one post.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the at least one receptacle is tubular in shape.