VERTICALLY RAISING SAFETY RAIL WITH DUAL SUPPORT STRUCTURE FOR RAIL ARM BEARING
A vertical raising safety rail with dual support structure for rail arm bearing. The safety rail includes lower linkage arm assemblies that are connected to a base and to a center rail assembly and configured to raise or lower the center rail assembly relative to the base when a rotational force is applied to the drive shaft. The safety rail also includes upper linkage arm assemblies that are connected to the center rail assembly and to a top rail. The upper linkage arm assemblies are connected to corresponding lower linkage assemblies and are configured to move the top rail relative to the center rail assembly. When the top rail is raised, one or more safety curtains are unfurled from a take-up roller inside the top rail to provide a safety curtain in the vertical plane of the safety rail. Each rail arm assembly includes a dual support structure for supporting a bearing axle.
The present application is a Continuation in Part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/669,599, filed Aug. 4, 2017 and titled, “Vertically Raising Safety Rail with Dual Curtain Assembly,” claims priority and benefit from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/689,970 filed Apr. 17, 2015 and titled, “Vertically Raising Safety Rail” which, in turn, claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/085,147, filed Nov. 26, 2014, and entitled “Vertically Raising Safety Rail”. The entire content of the parent applications and the provisional application is herein expressly incorporated by reference.
TECHNICAL FIELDThe present subject matter relates to a vertically raising safety rail having a base, a moveable center rail assembly, and a moveable top rail with a pair of operably connected upper and lower linkage arms assemblies configured to move the center rail assembly relative to the base and the top rail relative to the center rail assembly. A motor provides a rotational force to a drive shaft that transmits a force to the lower linkage arm assemblies in order to move the center rail assembly and, in turn, the top rail.
BACKGROUNDSafety rails are known and required as an OSHA requirement on industrial sites and a good safety tool. However, some applications where lifts are required to get to the work space make a traditional non-moveable safety rail impractical or dangerous. A moveable safety rail system that vertically raises and lowers, depending on the application, is desirable and currently unknown.
SUMMARYThe present subject matter is directed to a vertically raising safety rail having a moveable top rail, a base, and a moveable center rail assembly that is positioned above the base and below the top rail. A pair of lower linkage arm assemblies is operably connected to the base and the center rail assembly and configured to move the center rail assembly relative to the base. A corresponding pair of upper linkage arm assemblies is operably connected to the center rail assembly and the top rail and configured to move the top rail relative to the center rail assembly. Each individual lower linkage arm assembly and corresponding upper linkage arm assembly are operably connected. The subject matter further includes a motorized drive shaft that transmits a rotational force to the lower linkage arms assemblies in order to move the lower linkage arm assemblies between the base and center rail assembly, thereby raising or lowering the center rail assembly. The lower linkage arms may be actuated through an actuator assembly that includes an arm plate that rotates about a bearing. In an embodiment, the bearing is support by a dual support structure thereby allowing greater torque and load on the lower linkage arms. When the rotational force is reversed, the safety rail collapses into a compact footprint.
These and other advantages are discussed and/or illustrated in more detail in the DRAWINGS, the CLAIMS, and the DETAILED DESCRIPTION.
The accompanying figures, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate various exemplary embodiments.
The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the subject matter disclosed herein. The general principles described herein may be applied to embodiments and applications other than those detailed above without departing from the spirit and scope of the present detailed description. The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed or suggested herein.
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Any rotational force in one direction (e.g., clockwise) may be applied to the drive shaft, which will transfer torque to the threaded shaft, and thereby to the threaded screw. In this manner, the ball screw turns rotational motion to linear motion via the threaded nut. The threaded screw will rotate the nut to move in a linear direction. The nut moves the short linkage arm, which rotates (and raises) the lower linkage arm 30. This raising of the lower linkage arm will also simultaneously turn lower mesh gear 52, which is joined and attached to upper mesh gear 54. This will force angle α between the linkage arms to increase. The movement of the mesh gear assembly, which is connected to slidable rail guide tube 28, forces the rail guide tube to move inwardly along center rail 14. Rail stops 56 are positioned along center rail to stop the rail guide tube from moving too far and causing rail instability. Upper linkage arm 50 rotates upwardly as upper mesh gear 54 is turned, which raises upper rail 12 as the outer end of the upper linkage arm is attached to upper rail 12 via pins or other fasteners.
As illustrated in
A rotational force in the other direction (e.g., counter clockwise) will rotate the threaded shaft and, therefore the ball screw and threaded nut and all connected linkages, in the reverse direction. The ball screw and threaded nut will move the worm gear and move the short linkage arm 42, and rotate the lower linkage arm 30 so that the lower mesh gear moves in the reverse direction with the upper mesh gear. This action decreases angle α so that the top rail and center rail lower as much as desired. When the rotational force stops, the safety rail maintains its position as of that time. When the safety rail is fully collapsed, the center rail is tucked under the top rail, such as illustrated in
In one embodiment, a motor 60 is added to drive shaft 18. Drive shaft 18 may be in two pieces as illustrated in
Various embodiments are adaptable for explosion proof applications, such as painting in a large manufacturing facility. Air motors, (such as explosion proof C1D1 air motors) are particularly suited for explosion proof applications, such as painting airplane parts. An operator with a manual pneumatic valve delivers air pressure to two inputs (orifices) on the air motor. Air pressure to the first input raises the safety rail as described above. Air pressure to the second input lowers the safety rail as described above. In such an air motor application, a rotating air motor shaft transfers rotational force to a drive belt through two cogged pulleys and a cogged belt (not illustrated). Rotational force is transferred to the drive shaft (or drive shafts) via a second cogged pulley (also not illustrated).
An optional speed reducer 62 may be added. A pair of reducer couplers 64 may be positioned between the speed reducer 62 and the two drive shafts (as illustrated in
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The safety rail system can be adapted for industrial use, commercial use, and residential use (both indoors and outdoors). Indoor residential applications can be made from lightweight materials and made in a smaller configuration to function as a pet or child gate.
This embodiment further includes a curtain assembly having a curtain 110 coupled to an anchor point 112 at the base 16 and a take-up roller 111 disposed in the top rail 12. The curtain assembly is configured to unfurl the curtain 110 during the maneuvering of the top rail 12 away from the base 16. That is, as the top rail 12 is moved upwards by actuating the motor, the lower portion of the curtain 110 remains anchored at the anchor point 112 and pulls the curtain 110 to a deployed position as the take-up roller 111 unfurls the curtain 110, thereby providing a canopy over one side of the vertical plane of the vertically raising safety rail system 100.
As shown in
The dual curtain assembly is disposed within a cavity 130 of the top rail 12. The top rail cavity is defined as a space below a top surface of the top rail 12 and between an outer vertical member of the top rail 12 and an inner vertical member of the top rail 12, wherein outer and inner may refer to a personnel-facing surface (inner) and an opposite surface (e.g., not facing personnel). Each curtain 110 and 120 may comprise a material from the group composed of: a nylon material, a canvas material, a metallic mesh material, and a tarp material, and each curtain 110 and 120 are not necessarily made of the same material or only one material. Further, the material may be rather thin on the order of 150-200 mil.
Each take-up roller 111 and 121 of the dual curtain assembly comprises a take-up mechanism that may be biased to hold the curtain 110 and 120, respectively, in a rolled-up position and biased to pinch an outer surface of each curtain 110 and 120 against an inner surface of the top rail 12. Each take-up roller 111 and 121 may comprise a diameter of 1-inch. Further, the anchor points 112 and 122 are shown as disposed on the inside vertical surface of a trough of the base 16, but may be located in any suitable anchor point position so as to unfurl the curtain when the vertically raising safety rail system 100 is actuated. As alluded to above, the safety curtains 110 and 120 may only be disposed on one side or the other or may be disposed on both sides as shown in
The shaft 20, in this embodiment, is a ball-screw shaft that maneuvers threaded ball-screw assembly 48 about the shaft 20 responsive to shaft 20 rotation. The shaft 20 may be other manners of achieving threaded engagement suitable for maneuvering the assembly 48 back and forth along the shaft 20 responsive to shaft 20 rotation. The ball screw assembly 48 is coupled to a drag linkage arm 42 that is, then, also coupled to an end of the arm plate 40. Arm plate engages a linkage arm (not shown) at a linkage arm engagement 210 which may be characterized in this embodiment as a lower linkage arm. The arm plate 40 includes a double-tapered bearing 41 to facilitate rotation about a bearing axle 201.
A rotational force on the shaft 20 in one direction (e.g., clockwise) will rotate the shaft 20 thereby causing lateral movement in the ball screw assembly 48 and all connected linkages, in a direction toward the motorized actuator (not shown) to the right of
A rotational force on the shaft 20 in the other direction (e.g., counter-clockwise) will rotate the shaft 20 thereby again causing lateral movement in the ball screw assembly 48 and all connected linkages, in an opposite direction away from the motorized actuator (not shown) to the left of
The vertically raising safety rail 200 of
While the subject matter discussed herein is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the claims to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the claims.
Claims
1. A vertically raising safety rail, comprising:
- a base;
- a moveable rail assembly operably coupled to a bearing configured to rotate about a bearing axle;
- a first bearing axle support structure coupled to the base and coupled to the bearing axle at a first rotational anchor point; and
- a second bearing axle support structure coupled to the base and coupled to the bearing axle at a second rotational anchor point.
2. The safety rail of claim 1, further comprising:
- a shaft; and
- a motor configured to maneuver the shaft;
- wherein the bearing rotates in a first direction when the motor rotates the shaft in a second direction; and
- wherein the bearing rotates in a third direction when the motor rotates the shaft in a fourth direction.
3. The safety rail of claim 2, wherein the drive shaft is operably coupled to the base.
4. The safety rail of claim 2, wherein the motor comprises a motor from the group composed of: a pneumatic motor, an electrical motor, a hydraulic motor, and a magnetic motor.
5. The safety rail of claim 1, wherein the first support structure is anchored to the base at a side wall of the base.
6. The safety rail of claim 1, wherein the second support structure is anchored to the base at a bottom wall of the base.
7. The safety rail of claim 1, wherein the second support structure further comprises a vertical adjustment mechanism for vertically adjusting the second support structure.
8. The safety rail of claim 1, further comprising:
- an arm plate housing the bearing;
- a shaft assembly operably coupled to the shaft; and
- a drag linkage arm coupled between the arm plate and the shaft assembly.
9. The safety rail of claim 8, wherein the shaft comprises a ball-screw shaft and the shaft assembly comprises a ball-screw shaft assembly.
10. The safety rail of claim 1, wherein first support structure and the second support structure are coupled to each other.
11. A safety rail system, comprising:
- a mount configured to secure a maneuverable safety rail to an immovable surface;
- a base coupled to the mount;
- a moveable rail assembly operably coupled to a bearing configured to rotate about a bearing axle;
- a bearing axle support structure coupled to the base and coupled to the bearing axle at a first rotational anchor point; and
- a drag-linkage arm for facilitating the transfer of rotational motion from a shaft to linear motion of the moveable rail assembly.
12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a rail arm housing the bearing and coupled to the drag linkage arm at an anchor point set apart from a rotation axis of the bearing axle.
13. The system of claim 11, further comprising a ball-screw assembly operably engaged with the shaft and coupled to the drag-linkage arm.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein the immovable surface comprises a catwalk.
15. A method, comprising:
- actuating a motor to impart a rotational force on a drive shaft;
- imparting linear motion to a ball-screw assembly in response to the rotational force on the drive shaft;
- imparting linear motion to a drag-linkage arm coupled to the ball-screw assembly in response to the linear motion of the ball screw assembly, the linear motion of the drag-linkage arm incongruent with the linear motion of the ball-screw assembly;
- imparting a rotational motion to an arm rail plate coupled to the drag-linkage arm in response to the linear motion of the drag-linkage arm; and
- maneuvering a first linkage assembly coupled to the arm rail plate in response to the rotational force imparted to the arm rail plate so that the first linkage assembly moves away from the base.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising unfurling a safety curtain in a vertical plane formed by the base and the first linkage assembly in response to maneuvering the first linkage assembly.
17. The method of claim 15, further comprising rotating the arm rail plate about a bearing axle having a bearing axis.
18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:
- supporting the bearing axle with a first support structure coupled to a first rotational anchor point disposed on a first side of the arm rail plate; and
- supporting the bearing axle with a second support structure coupled to a second rotational anchor point disposed on a second side of the arm rail plate.
19. The method of claim 15, further comprising maneuvering the first linkage assembly toward the base in response to a second rotational force from the motor that is opposite the first rotational force from the motor.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 20, 2017
Publication Date: May 17, 2018
Inventor: Eric Moran (Camano Island, WA)
Application Number: 15/848,585