AT519353B1 - SAFETY CARABINER AND TRACK WITH SAFETY CARABINERS - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a safety karabiner (1) for attachment to a cable element (11), comprising a base body (2) having a snap hook (3) with a spring (5) hinged to the base body (2) and spring - loaded in the closing direction is in the closed position at the free end of the snap hook (3) and blocked in this position by a hand-operated safety lever (5), wherein the snapper (4) is adapted to open a receiving area (6) of the snap hook (3) for receiving of the rope element (11) release. According to the invention, a cable brake device (10) acting on the cable element (11) is arranged within the receiving region (6) of the snap hook (3). The cable brake device (10) has two clamping elements (7, 8) acting asymmetrically on the inserted cable element (11), such that the clamping elements (7, 8) release the cable element (11) during a climbing movement and braking in a falling movement the rope element (11) engage. The cable brake device (10) has a fixed clamping element (7) and a movable clamping element (8) cooperating therewith, wherein the actuation of the safety lever (5) for the snapper (4) simultaneously displaces the movable clamping element (8) into a receiving position for the rope element (11) triggers.

Description

Description: The invention relates to a safety carabiner for application to a cable element, preferably for use on fixed safety ropes on via ferrata, with a base body that has a snap hook, with a snap-on spring that is articulated on the base body and that is spring-loaded in the closing direction and that is in the closed position on the free End of the snap hook rests and is blocked in this position by a hand-operated safety lever, the catch being designed to open a receiving area of the snap hook for receiving the cable element in the open position. The invention further relates to a via ferrata set with safety carabiners and a fall arrester.

Insured via ferratas are secured with a fixed steel cable, in which the climbers hang with carabiners and are thus secured. In the event of a fall, the carabiner and the elastic safety rope (preferably with a fall strap damper) - attached to the climber's waist belt - brake the fall. The problem here is that the distances between the anchor points of the steel cables in via ferratas are often up to five meters apart - i.e. in the event of a fall, the climber falls in free fall to the next anchor point, only then does the carabiner grip and brake the fall. Even when using a via ferrata set (for example in the form of a Y with a fall arrester and two safety ropes starting from it, each of which ends in a climbing carabiner), nothing changes, since in the event of a fall just before one anchoring point, both carabiners slide unchecked to the next anchoring point.

Falls in the via ferrata are therefore, in spite of climbing equipment, usually associated with (severe) injuries, since one can seriously injure themselves when falling on the rock / on the steps / hooks / ladders etc. and can also fall on subsequent climbers.

In order to reduce the free fall, different providers have developed safety devices for via ferratas (for example the rope clamp Ferrata Bloc from AUSTRIALPIN), which are hooked directly onto the steel cable and jammed in the event of a crash. AT 511.556 B1 describes such a securing device in more detail, the base body of which has a receiving opening for passing the wire rope through, a clamp for inserting the wire rope into the receiving opening being insertable. The clamp is arranged off-center or eccentrically between the boundary edges of the receiving opening. As a result, a relatively small angle is realized between the wire rope and the main body of the securing device when the securing device suspended in the wire rope is tilted in one direction against the rope. In this position, the safety device can be carried along the wire rope with relatively little effort. When tilting in the opposite direction of the safety device suspended on the wire rope, however, a large angle is realized. In this position, the safety device clamps on the wire rope, which is used to intercept a fall of the climber. The safety device can also be used as the only safety device, but two-step safety is only achieved in combination with a conventional via ferrata set.

From DE 20 2011 002 181 U1 a blocking brake is known, which can be hung directly with its receiving opening into the wire rope of the via ferrata and should lead to jamming and thus braking if the climber falls.

The known safety devices are therefore mostly used as an addition to the normal via ferrata set with two karabiners, which then have, for example on a third safety rope of the via ferrata set, a rope clamp or rope brake. Disadvantages here are the additional weight and the cumbersome handling when an anchoring point is reached, since now two carabiners and the rope clamp or rope brake have to be transferred to the new rope section.

Furthermore, a clamping device is known from EP 2 886 164 B1, which a Füh1 / 7

AT519 353 B1 2018-06-15 Austrian patent office guideway for guiding a cable element through the clamping device, with at least one clamping body movably mounted in the guideway for clamping the cable element when it is pulled through the guideway against the guide direction, and a pretensioning element the pretensioning force of the clamping body is pushed from a release position into a clamping position. An actuating mechanism for adjusting the clamping body from the clamping position into the release position has two actuating sections which have to be moved towards one another by hand pressure. The disadvantage here is that the rope must be inserted as straight as possible into the guideway over a length of a few centimeters. In difficult climbing passages, this can be cumbersome and exhausting, especially if the steel cable sags near attachment points or has rope curvatures. The clamping device consists of many moving parts, which increases the risk of contamination and susceptibility to defects. Another disadvantage is that the handling of the clamping device when inserting the wire rope into the guideway differs from that which the climber is used to when attaching a karabiner.

From EP 1 927 767 A1, a conventional safety carabiner with a base body is known, which has a snap hook and is equipped with a snap-on snap-on to the base body, which is spring-loaded in the closing direction and which rests in the closed position on the free end of the snap hook. In this position, the snapper is blocked by a manually operated safety lever, the snapper being designed to open a receiving area of the snap hook for receiving a cable element in the open position. In the event of a crash, this safety carabiner cannot be used to brake.

Finally, from DE 38 22 989 A1 a safety carabiner has become known which does not have a carabiner with a spring-loaded catch in the closing direction, but a rigid base body with a longitudinally extending, groove-shaped insertion opening for the wire rope, the insertion opening being only from a pivotable safety lever is closed. Furthermore, a braking device is provided which has two fixed contact points, a resilient pressure bracket being provided which brings one of the contact points into frictional connection with the wire cable. If the braking device fails, however, a second safety level in the form of a closed snap hook is missing.

The object of the invention is to improve a safety carabiner for application to a cable element in such a way that the disadvantages mentioned are avoided, wherein simple handling and a robust construction of the safety carabiner should be ensured.

According to the invention this is achieved in that a cable braking device acting on the cable element is arranged within the receiving region of the snap hook, the cable braking device having two clamping elements acting asymmetrically on the inserted cable element, such that the clamping elements release the cable element during a climbing movement and in the event of a falling movement, engage the cable element in a braking manner and the cable brake device has a fixed clamping element and a movable clamping element interacting therewith, furthermore actuating the locking lever for the catch simultaneously triggers a displacement of the movable clamping element into a receiving position for the cable element.

The rope brake device is thus integrated according to the invention directly into the safety carabiner, whereby the steel cable is simultaneously accommodated in the braking device by hanging the carabiner in the steel cable.

The safety carabiner according to the invention can be optimally integrated into a via ferrata set with a shock absorber and two safety ropes starting from it, if at least one of the two climbing carabiners is replaced by a safety carabiner with a rope brake device. This eliminates the need for an additional safety device.

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AT519 353 B1 2018-06-15 Austrian Patent Office [0014] The invention is explained in more detail below using exemplary embodiments.

Some of them show schematically:

Fig. 1 [0016] Fig. 3 [0018] Fig. 4 [0019] Fig. 5 shows a safety carabiner according to the invention for application to a cable element in a side plan view in the closed position, the safety carabiner according to Fig. 1 in a side plan view in the open position for receiving a cable element, a detailed view of the safety carabiner on a vertical cable element in an upward movement, a detailed view of the safety carabiner on a vertical cable element in a falling movement, and a via ferrata set with a safety carabiner according to FIG. 1 1 and 2, safety carabiner 1 essentially consists of a base body 2, which has a snap hook 3, and a snap-action catch 4, which is articulated on the base body 2 on a pivot axis 15 and is spring-loaded in the closing direction and which, in the closed position, on the free end 14 of the snap hook 3 is present and in this position by a manually operable safety device ngshebel 5 is blocked. The catch 4 is designed to release a receiving area 6 of the snap hook 3 in the open position (see FIG. 2) for receiving a cable element 11. A rope brake device 10 acting on the rope element 11 is arranged within the receiving area 6 of the snap hook 3.

At the end of the base body 2 facing away from the snap hook 3, an eyelet 21 is arranged for the safety rope. Furthermore, an eyelet 22 can be provided for a sling carabiner in this area.

The rope brake device 10 has two asymmetrically acting on the inserted rope element 11 clamping elements 7, 8, such that the clamping elements 7, 8 release the rope element 11 during a climbing movement and intervene braking in the fall element in the rope element 11.

Preferably, the cable brake device 10 has a fixed clamping element 7 and a cooperating movable clamping element 8, the actuation of the locking lever 5 for the catch 4 simultaneously triggering a displacement of the movable clamping element 8 from a clamping position into a receiving position for the cable element 11 ,

According to the movable clamping element 8 is designed as a two-armed, pivotable about an axis 9 lever, one arm of the lever having a clamping edge 12 for the cable element 11 and the other arm, for example by means of a connecting rivet 19, on the locking lever 5 for the snapper 4 is articulated. Furthermore, the fixed clamping element 7 projecting into the receiving area 6 can be formed or fastened directly on the inside of the snap hook 3 and have a guide edge 13 for the cable element 11.

The functioning of the security carabiner according to the invention can be represented as follows:

By actuating the safety lever 5 articulated on a pivot axis 20 on the base body 2 against the force of a spring 16, the guide link 17 for a driver 18 on the catch 4 is moved forward. This clears the way down for the driver 18 and the catch 4 can be opened inwards, into the receiving area 6. At the same time, with the movement of the safety lever 5, the clamping element 8 is moved backward about its pivot axis 9 or out of the receiving area 6 via a connecting rivet 19 and thereby offers the cable element 11 space to slide into the part of the receiving area 6 defined by the guide edge 13.

The safety carabiner 1 is now hooked onto the wire rope, the rope element 11 being automatically guided into the optimal position on the fixed clamping element 7 along the leading edge 13. By omitting the safety lever 5, the catch 4 is through its

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AT519 353 B1 2018-06-15 Austrian patent office

Tension spring pressed back into the closed position. As a result, the movable clamping element 8 is pressed into its original position via the connecting rivet 19 and pressed onto the cable element 11. The safety carabiner 1 is now fixed on the wire rope.

If in the unlikely event the wire rope is not clamped tight enough by the cable brake device 10 and slip out of the clamping elements 7, 8, the additional safety of immediate jamming in the event of a fall is no longer provided, but the usual safety of a conventional climbing carabiner - namely that of catching the fall at the next fixing point of the wire rope.

The safety carabiner 1 according to the invention meets the safety standards of conventional carabiners, so use is also possible if the wire rope has a too large / small diameter for the clamping function of the cable brake device 10. In this case, the wire rope is loosely hung in the receiving area of the safety carabiner 1 and meets the requirements of conventional climbing carabiners.

The mode of operation of the cable brake device 10 is shown in the schematic representations according to FIGS. 3 and 4. It can be seen from this that the clamping elements 7, 8 of the cable brake device 10 are spaced apart in a direction n normal to a plane of symmetry ε defined by the U-shaped snap hook 3 (distance a). The leading edge 13 projects further into the receiving area 6 for the cable element 11 than the opposite edge 13 '. The safety carabiner 1 can thus be pulled up in the climbing direction on the wire rope without large friction losses (see FIG. 3). In the downward direction, ie in the event of a fall, the safety carabiner jams due to the special geometry or arrangement of the clamping elements 7, 8 and thus offers additional safety. The closed catch 4 of the carabiner ensures the conventional fall protection.

Fig. 5 shows an inventive via ferrata set 25 in a Y-shape with a shock absorber 26 and two safety ropes 27 extending therefrom, wherein at least one of the two climbing carabiners 28 is replaced by a safety carabiner 1 according to the invention with a cable brake device 10.

The following three functions are performed by the safety carabiner according to the invention:

1. Safety in the event of a crash when the wire rope is suspended in the area up to the next fastening point of the wire rope - corresponds to the function of a conventional climbing carabiner. 2. Avoidance of large fall heights through the integrated rope brake device, so that the fall is immediate and not only when Impact on the next attachment point of the wire rope is caught 3. Protection by an additional eyelet for hanging in a sling carabiner, with which the climber can additionally secure himself at fixed points such as steps, grab handles, etc. during breaks.

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AT519 353 B1 2018-06-15 Austrian patent office

Claims (6)

claims 1. Safety carabiner (1) for placing on a rope element (11), preferably for use on fixed safety ropes on via ferrata, with a base body (2), which has a snap hook (3), with a hinged to the base body (2), in Closing direction spring-loaded catch (4), which in the closed position rests on the free end of the snap hook (3) and is blocked in this position by a manually operated safety lever (5), the catch (4) being designed to open a receiving area (6) in the open position of the carabiner hook (3) for receiving the cable element (11), characterized in that a cable brake device (10) acting on the cable element (11) is arranged within the receiving area (6) of the carabiner hook (3), the cable brake device (10 ) has two clamping elements (7, 8) acting asymmetrically on the inserted rope element (11), such that the clamping elements (7, 8) remove the rope during a climbing movement Release the element (11) and engage the cable element (11) in the event of a fall, and the cable brake device (10) has a fixed clamping element (7) and a cooperating movable clamping element (8), the actuation of the safety lever ( 5) for the catch (4) simultaneously triggers a displacement of the movable clamping element (8) into a receiving position for the cable element (11). 2. Safety carabiner (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the movable clamping element (8) is designed as a two-armed, about an axis (9) pivotable lever, one arm of the lever having a clamping edge (12) for the cable element (11) has and the other arm is articulated on the shear lever (5) for the catch (4). 3. Safety carabiner (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the fixed clamping element (7) in the receiving area (6) projecting on the carabiner hook (3) is molded or fastened and a guide edge (13) for the cable element (11) having. 4. Safety carabiner (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the clamping elements (7, 8) of the cable brake device (10) in one direction (s) normal to a symmetry plane (ε) defined by the snap hook (3). are spaced apart (a). 5. Safety carabiner (1) according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at the end of the base body (2) facing away from the carabiner hook (3) an eyelet (21) for a safety rope and a further eyelet (22) for a sling carabiner is trained. 6. Via ferrata set (25) preferably with a fall arrester (26) and two safety ropes (27) with climbing carabiners (28), characterized in that at least one of the two climbing carabiners (28) is provided by a safety carabiner (1) with a cable brake device (10 ) is replaced according to one of claims 1 to 5.