GB2334065A

GB2334065A - A climbing aid comprising a step and releasable securing or gripping means

Info

Publication number: GB2334065A
Application number: GB9901752A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Barrie Ward
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-02-03
Filing date: 1999-01-28
Publication date: 1999-08-11
Also published as: GB9901752D0

Abstract

A climbing aid 10 comprises a rung or platform 12 having a pair of pivotable arms 14, 16 for engaging about a post or the like and a hinged strut 18 on its underside for supporting the platform by engagement with the post. Alternatively, the arms 14, 16 may be replaced by a strap to releasably clamp the step to said post (not shown).

Description

TITLE: A climbing aid DESCRIPTION This invention relates to a climbing aid and in particular, although not exclusively, to an aid for use in climbing over fences.

A fence typically used to form a boundary in a field comprises a number of spaced apart vertical wooden posts to which a wire net is secured and above the wire net there is frequently provided at least one strand of barbed wire. Usually, the height of the fence prevents it from being easily climbed over. As a result, attempts to climb over such a fence can lead to the fence being damaged or injury to the person climbing over it. Hence, there is a need to provide an aid to enable such a fence to be easily and safely climbed over.

An aim of the present invention is to provide a climbing aid.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a climbing aid comprising a step and releasable means for securing the step to a post, pole, stake or the like.

Hereinafter, references to a post will include reference to a pole, stake or the like. The releasable means may be provided by a clamp. Said clamp may comprise a strap secured at one end to the step and having a free end which is securable to the step. In use, the free end of the strap is passed around a post and secured to the step with means being provided to shorten the length of the trap in order to provide a clamping force on the post. The means for shortening the length of the strap may simply be provided by said free end having a number of locations at which it is securable to the step.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, gripping means provide said means for securing the step to a post. The gripping means may take the form of arms which, in use, extend at least partially around the circumference of the post.

Preferably, there are provided two arms each of which have one end secured to the step at spaced apart positions. It is preferred that said arms are pivotally connected to the step. The arms may be provided with projections, especially spikes, along their length which, in use, grip the post. In addition or alternatively, the free end of each arm may be provided with a sharp tip in order to grip or bite into the post.

The step may take any convenient form for supporting a foot ea a rung, but is, preferably, a plate.

The climbing aid may further comprise means for supporting said step.

When the step is a plate or the like it is preferably supportable such that, in use, it lies substantially flat ie in a horizontal plane. The support may be provided by a strut pivotally connected at one end to the step and having a free end which in use, engages said post. Preferably, said position at which the strut engages the post is spaced below the position at which said two arms engage or grip the post. The free end of the strut may be provided with projections to engage a post which may take the form of teeth or serrations.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a climbing aid comprising a foot support and releasable means for gripping a post, pole or the like.

The gripping means may take the form of arms which, in use, extend at least partially around the circumference of the post. Preferably, there are provided two arms each of which have one end secured to the foot support at spaced apart positions. It is preferred that said arms are pivotally connected to the foot support.

The arms may be provided with projections, especially spikes, along their length which, in use, grip the post. In addition or altematively, the free end of each arm may be provided with a sharp tip in order to grip or bite into the post.

The climbing aid may further comprise means for supporting said foot support. For a footrest in the form of a plate, the supporting means preferably enables the plate, in use, to lie substantially flat ie in a horizontal plane. The support may be provided by a strut pivotally connected at one end to the foot support and having a free end which in use, engages said post. Preferably, said position at which the strut engages the post is spaced below the position at which said two arms engage or grip the post. The free end of the strut may be provided with projections to engage a post which may take the form of teeth or serrations.

The arms may pivot in the same plane but, more preferably, pivot in substantially parallel planes. This feature enables the arms to pivot into a position such that they lie one above the other. The plate and arms are, preferably, dimensioned such that when the climbing aid is not in use, the arms may be pivoted to such positions wherein each lies, substantially, either directly above or below the plate.

This invention will now be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a plan view of a climbing aid; Figure 2 is a side view of the climbing aid illustrated in Figure 1, in use; Figure 3 is a top plan view of another embodiment; and Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the embodiment of Figure 3.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings, a climbing aid is indicated generally by numeral 10. The climbing aid comprises a step formed by a plate 12, two pivotal arms 14, 16 and a strut 18. The plate, arms and strut are formed of aluminium although any convenient material may be used eq plastics. The plate is generally rectangular in shape although has a curved inner side 20 which aims to match the curvature of a typical cylindrical post 22.

Arms 14, 16 are pivotally connected to plate 12 at spaced apart positions adjacent said inner side 20. The arms pivot in a plane which is substantially parallel to the plane of said plate and about axes which are substantially. perpendicular to the plate. Each arm is curved and has a hook like free end which provides a sharp tip for engagement with post 22. An arm presents a curved surface to the post which helps to ensure that it can wrap closely around the cylindrical post. The strut 18 is provided by a substantially rectangular plate 24 and is pivotally connected at one end to plate 12. The strut pivots in a plane substantially perpendicular to the plane of said plate 12. A free end 26 of the strut is serrated in order to enable it to engage with a post. Plate 24 is bent near its free end so as to project the serrations out of the plane of the remainder of the plate and thereby increase the angle at which, in use, they subtend to the surface of the post.

In use, the arms 14, 16 of the climbing aid are wrapped around either side of a wooden post such that the aid extends around at least one half of the circumference of the post. In the illustrated example, the arms 14, 16 extend around the cylindrical post in such a manner that the free ends thereof almost meet. The climbing aid may be used in connection with a square post in which case the arms must extend around the post such that the free ends thereof engage a face of the post which is directly opposing the face adjacent the inner side 20.

With the arms correctly positioned, their free ends may be pushed into the post such that they bite into the surface thereof. Strut 18 is extended such that it subtends an angle of approximately 600 to the surface of plate 12 as indicated by angle 'A'. In this position, the free end 26 lies directly below inner side 20 of plate 12. The free end is pushed into the post such that the serrations engage with the post. The strut maintains the plate 12 in a flat position ie with plate 12 substantially perpendicular to the surface of the post. A downward force exerted onto the plate ie by a foot being placed thereon, is transferred into a force acting to push the strut further into the post which is resisted thereby. The act of placing a foot onto plate 12 will usually result in a component of force acting in the direction of arrow 'B" ie in a direction from the post to the rear portion of the plate. The resulting movement of the plate causes the free ends of the arms to bite into the surface of the post in the case where they have not previously been pushed therein or forced further into the post if they already bite therein.

Also, due to the pivotal point connection between the strut and plate, a downward force acting upon the plate and, in particular, onto the rear portion of the plate e the portion furthest away from the inner side 20, will result in the aid pivoting such that arms 14, 16 will tend to move upwards. However, such a movement is resisted by the free ends of the arms which are engaged with the post. In order to remove the climbing aid from the post, the plate is lifted upwards which breaks the engagement of the strut with the post and helps to loosen the engagement of the free ends of the arms with the post, at least sufficiently to enable the arms to be pulled away from the post.

The ability of the arms to pivot enables them to extend around various diameters of cylindrical posts and even around square posts as described above.

In order to use the aid to climb over a fence, the aid is simply positioned, in the manner described above, at a suitable height on a post supporting the fence.

The person climbing over the fence can then simply step onto plate 12 thus raising them to a suitable height to enable them to more easily climb over the fence. Also, an additional climbing aid may be positioned on the post such that a step is provided on either side of the fence.

Turning to Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings, a variation of the climbing aid of Figures 1 and 2 is shown. Only the main differences between the two embodiments will be described and it is to be noted that the two embodiments operate in the same way.

The climbing aid 50 of Figures 3 and 4 has a step plate 52 that is rounded at its corners to improve safety. The plate 52 has a hole 54 near one corner, which can be used to take a canying handle or a clip for fastening the climbing aid to a belt, for example.

The climbing aid has a pair of arms 56, 58 pivotally mounted at adjacent corners of the plate 52, one above and one below the plate, so that they can pivot into positions where they overlie each other, especially to reduce the size of the climbing aid for carrying, when not in use but also to enable the climbing aid to be used on smaller diameter posts and the like. The arms 56, 58 are curved inwards and have a pair of spikes 60, 62 at their free ends. The extra spike on each ann improves grip on a post or the like.

Finally, on its underside, the plate 52 has a hinged strut 64 riveted to the plate 52 by rivets 66. The strut 64 corresponds to the strut 18 of Figures 1 and 2.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A climbing aid comprising a step and releasable means for securing the step to a post.
2. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the releasable means is a clamp.
3. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 2, wherein the clamp comprises a strap secured at one end to the step and having a free end which is securable to the step.
4. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the strap has means to shorten the length of the strap in order to provide a clamping force on a post.
5. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 4, wherein the means for shortening the length of the strap is provided by said free end having a number of locations at which it is securable to the step.
6. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the means for securing the step to a post comprises gripping means.
7. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 6, wherein the gripping means takes the form of arms which, in use, extend at least partially around the circumference of a post.
8. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 7, wherein two arms are provided each of each has one end pivotally secured to the step at spaced apart positions.
9. A climbing aid as claimed in claims 7 or 8, wherein the arms have projections along their length which, in use, grip a post.
10. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 9, wherein each arm has a free end provided with a sharp tip.
11. A climbing aid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the step is a plate.
12. A climbing aid as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11, further comprising means for supporting said step.
13. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 12, wherein the support is a strut pivotally connected at one end to the step and having a free end which in use, engages a post.
14. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 13, wherein the position at which the strut engages the post is spaced below the position at which said two arms engage the post.
15. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 13 or 14, wherein the strut has a free end provided with projections to engage a post.
16. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 15, wherein said projections take the form of teeth or serrations.
17. A climbing aid comprising a foot support and releasable means for gripping a post.
18. A climbing aid as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 17, wherein the arms pivot in substantially parallel planes.
19. A climbing aid as claimed in claim 18, wherein the plate and arms are dimensioned such that when the climbing aid is not in use, the arms are pivotable to such positions wherein each lies, substantially, either directly above or below the plate.
20. A climbing aid substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 or Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.