AU742100B2 - Improved roofing stanchion - Google Patents

Description

V r4 P/00/0011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A STANDARD PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Address for service in Australia: Invention Title: HAL KRAUS Hal Kraus ADDRESS FOR SERVICE

ALTERED

2 Railway Parade vA Qe3r-e jV2 iCamctoria 3124 C_ SOS3 IMPROVED ROOFING STANCHION Details of Associated Provisional Application: P09435 filed 25 September 1997 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us -2- IMPROVED ROOFING STANCHION INTRODUCTION TO INVENTION This invention relates to building construction and in particular, to roof construction and the safety of workers involved in such construction.

BACKGROUND TO INVENTION Elevated building construction involves an inherent element of risk for workers who are'often required to operate on partially constructed or elevated building sites. Typical of such operations is the construction and/or maintenance of roofs. In most industrial construction on large scale building operations, protective scaffolding is generally provided to give workers comprehensive access to the working site and safety while working above the ground. However, domestic construction of housing rarely justifies the expense and complication of comprehensive scaffolding and workers generally just climb up onto the construction as it is erected and continue to perform the building operations, often from very o o* 15 elevated and dangerous positions.

To date, a range of protective barrier devices have been developed to protect such workers from falling off a roof in the form of stanchions which are adapted for fitting to the framework of a partially constructed roof. These devices are well described in various Patents including Australian Patents 610721, 608166, 652609, 626247, 628011, 650590, 675213 and 624181. Such devices are all adapted for temporary incorporation in the construction of a building to provide upstanding posts o:o onto which can be fitted rails so as to provide a protective boundary "fence" around a partially constructed roof. Such a boundary can then function to provide a "safety net" to catch any worker who should fall and thereby prevent such a worker falling from the roof and risking injury.

Whilst all of the foregoing prior art devices appear to operate quite satisfactorily, they are all quite limited in being designed for incorporation in a partially constructed building and none of the devices are readily adapted for use on a finished construction where maintenance of a roof is undertaken. Maintenance workers require the same type of protection as do construction workers.

MAW:PP:#26134.CAP 14 September 1998 -3- Furthermore, it is desirable to have a stanchion device which can be readily and safely fitted to an existing roof with the minimum description to the roof per se, so as to allow maintenance work to proceed without compromising the integrity of the roof which is necessary to protect any finished constructions, preferably without relying on tarpaulins.

OBJECT AND STATEMENT OF INVENTION One object of the invention is to provide an improved roofing stanchion.

Accordingly, in one aspect, the invention provides a stanchion assembly for use on a framed roof construction comprising an elongate post adapted to support a safety rail at or near a first end thereof wherein said post has an elongate outrigger at or near a second end thereof projecting outward from said post, said outrigger having a bearing surface at or near a first end thereof near the point of joining to said post adapted to bear down on the 15 facia top plate or equivalent first portion of said roof frame and having an engagement means at or near a second end thereof removed from the point of joining to said post adapted to engage a second portion of said roof frame removed from said first portion such that said stanchion assembly can be fitted to and cooperate with a framed roof so as to project directly upward 20 from said roof frame at a point removed from the cladding of said roof :wherein said assembly can be rotated about said bearing surface in one direction only to facilitate fitting to and removal from said framed roof but preventing rotation in a second direction so as to provide a rigid support for said safety rail.

25 The outrigger preferably projects outwardly from the post in an approximately orthogonal direction.

The engagement means may be a U-shaped offset bracket adapted to engage the underside of a roof frame rafter or soffit. The bearing surface may be part of the outrigger or a plate adapted to bear down on the fascia board, top plate or the terminal end of a rafter.

The outrigger is preferably at least 20% the length of said post.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figure 1 shows the stanchion assembly of the invention.

Figure 2 shows the assembly in place on a temporarily exposed roof.

-4- Figure 3 shows the assembly fitted to a roof with the roof cladding replaced.

Referring firstly to Figure 1, the stanchion assembly of the invention is shown in isolation from a roof structure and can be seen to comprise an elongate post 1 having a first end 2 and a second end 4 with means provided along its length, particularly towards the first end for supporting a safety rail 10. Toward the second end 4, the elongate post is provided with an outrigger 3 projecting substantially at right angles outward from the post. The outrigger has a bearing surface 5 at a first end 6 thereof near the point of fitting of the outrigger to the post. The bearing surface 5 is adapted to provide sufficient surface area for bearing down on a first portion of a roof frame onto which the assembly is fitted. The outrigger 3 has a second end 9 having an engagement means in the form of a bracket 8 at or near that :second end being removed from the point of fitting of the outrigger to the elongate post. The engagement means is in the form of a U-shaped bracket and is dimensioned and designed to engage a second portion of a roof frame particularly in the form of a rafter by fitting underneath the rafter.

Referring to Figure 2, the stanchion assembly can be readily fitted to an existing roof structure by the removal of only one or two roof tiles and rotated in "a first direction so as to slide into the roof cavity with the second end 9 of the outrigger 3 sliding underneath a rafter 10 with the first end 6 of the outrigger having the bearing plate 5 adapted to fit on a first portion of a roof frame, particularly a fascia board 7. When fitted to the roof frame in this manner, the stanchion assembly can be pulled up or rotated back in a second direction about the bearing plate to substantially engage the rafter whilst bearing down on the fascia board in such a manner as to prevent the stanchion assembly rotating beyond a certain limit thereby providing an elongate post 1 rising substantially vertically from a roof structure and incapable of pushing back or rotating around the bearing plate in a second direction 14 such that the provision of safety rails 10 along a plurality of such stanchion assemblies will provide secure safety railing right around the perimeter of a roof.

As can be seen from Figure 2, the fitting of the stanchion assembly to an MAW:PP:#26134.CAP 14 September 1998 existing roof structure, requires the minimum interruption of the 'roof cladding material requiring only the removal of one or two tiles and once fitted, provides a very secure safety rail system.

Referring to Figure 3, the stanchion assembly can be seen fitted to a roof with the roofing tiles returned to their correct position such that in use, the stanchion assembly can be rapidly fitted to an existing roof by the removal of a minimum number of tiles and once fitted, the tiles can be returned to their place allowing the provision of safety railing 10 right around the perimeter of the roof with affectively no interruption to the protective cladding material of the roof.

Amongst the numerous advantages of the invention are highly simplified construction and ease of fitting to an existing roof structure without any interruption to the construction of the roof. In use, the stanchion assemblies are fitted by removal of one or two tiles and the assembly is fitted under the rafter of the roof by :i rotation in a first direction 15 and inserted up to a point where the bearing surface 15 5 is brought to bear against the fascia board 7 of a roof frame. Once that position II: is reached, the whole assembly is rotated back causing the bracket 8 to lift up and firmly and securely engage the underneath of the rafter 10. At that point, the tiles or the roof cladding can be repositioned and once a plurality of the stanchion assemblies are fitted to a roof, the safety railing 10 can be attached. The length of the elongate post and outriggers can be adjusted according to requirements; however, it would be desirable to have the outrigger constructed at a length of at least oo*oo that of the elongate post in order to ensure a safe moment of rotation around the bearing surface 5 in the event that the safety railing is required to arrest a falling worker.

In addition to the aforementioned features, the stanchion assembly additionally comprises a number of optional features including a securing bolt 13 fitted to the engagement means and adapted for securing the engagement means to the rafter in order to prevent any movement either in a first or second direction. Similarly, the bearing surface 5 can be provided with holes for rigid attachment to the fascia board if this is deemed necessary.

MAW:PP:#26134.CAP 14 September 1998 -6- The elongate post can be fitted with suitable brackets or clips for fitting of a safety rail thereto when two or more stanchions have been fitted to a roof.

The stanchion assembly of the invention provides many advantages over the prior art particularly in respect of its adaptation for use on an existing roof structure but also the assembly of the invention can be used on construction sites where the roofs are partially under construction, providing of course that the roof framing is sufficiently advanced to receive the bearing surface and engagement means of the outrigger.

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Claims (6)

1. A stanchion assembly for use on a framed roof construction comprising an elongate post adapted to support a safety rail at or near a first end thereof wherein said post has an elongate outrigger at or near a second end thereof projecting outward from said post, said outrigger having a bearing surface at or near a first end thereof near the point of joining to said post adapted to bear down on the facia, top plate or equivalent first portion of said roof frame and having an engagement means at or near a second end thereof removed from the point of joining to said post adapted to engage a second portion of said roof frame removed from said first portion such that said stanchion assembly can be fitted to and cooperate with a framed roof so as to project directly upward from said roof frame at a point removed from the cladding of said roof wherein said assembly can be rotated about said bearing surface in •one direction only to facilitate fitting to and removal from said framed roof 15 but preventing rotation in a second direction so as to provide a rigid support for said safety rail. i"

2. A stanchion assembly according to claim 1 wherein said outrigger projects outwardly from said post in an approximate orthogonal direction to said post. 20

3. A stanchion assembly according to claims 1 or 2 wherein said engagement means is an offset U-shaped bracket adapted to engage the underside of a portion of said roof frame.

4. A stanchion assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said first portion of roof frame is a facia board or top plate and said second 25 portion is a rafter or soffit. -:400:

5. A stanchion assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said post includes a pair of U-shaped clips projecting outwardly from or near the first end thereof for fitting of a safety rail.

6. A stanchion assembly according to any one of claims 1 to substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the Figures. Dated this tenth day of October 2001 Hal Kraus Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F B RICE CO