GB2450725A

GB2450725A - A roof ladder with a fall arrest system

Info

Publication number: GB2450725A
Application number: GB0712952A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Leonard John Stamp
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-07-04
Filing date: 2007-07-04
Publication date: 2009-01-07
Also published as: GB0712952D0; GB0812138D0; GB2450800A

Abstract

A roof ladder with means to secure a wire or rope 10 at either end of the longitudinal axis of the ladders elongated stiles 9, the wire or rope is secured to a safety harness via an arrest device 6 attached to the wire/rope 10 that arrests the fall of the wearer should they fall or slip off the ladder. The means comprises a L-shaped bracket 1, 1Awhere the upright can be fixed to the stile of the ladder and the horizontal member forms a U-shaped saddle to receive a rung of the ladder, a retaining bar in the form of a semi circular hook connects the upright to the horizontal members forming an aperture to secure the ends of the wire/rope. Preferably one bracket is placed on the uppermost rung of the ladder and a second is inverted and straddles the lowest rung, one end of the wire/rope is attached via a carabineer 3 to the top bracket 1 and the opposing end attached to the rope/wire control device 4 to tension the rope/wire that is attached to the bottom bracket 1A via a carabineer 3. The operator attaches his safety harness to an arrest device 6 on the wire/rope that will arrest the operator in the event that the operator slips or falls, transmitting the forces to the top rung of the ladder and ultimately to the apex of the roof supporting the ladder.

Description

Roof Ladder Bracket This invention relates to a bracket for supporting

a load on a roof ladder.

Roof ladders are widely used by indqstry and the emergency services, to gain access and to work in elevated positions, such as roofs of varying material construction.

In one use of the roof ladder a person tasked to perform a duty working on a roof, will climb the roof ladder using only their hands and feet and will not be secured by any other attachment methods which will assist in their safety in the event of a slip or fall.

Indeed the Health & Safety Executive has produced legislation to restrict the use of roof ladders to perform required tasks on roofs and require a detailed risk assessment before any such work can be performed and would require other alternative methods to be put in place if possible.

In order to overcome the above mentioned problem, it has been proposed to attach the person working on the roof ladder directly to the roof ladder rung.

It will be appreciated that the rungs of the ladder are not designed to withstand the kind of forces involved.

In accordance with this invention there is provided a roof ladder comprising of a pair of elongated stiles, a plurality of rungs extending between the stiles at respective locations deposed longitudinally of the roof ladder, a semi circular hook extends at one end of each of the elongated stiles, connected between these hooks is a cross bar retainer and means opposite ends of the ladder to which a rope or wire can be attached, each of the said means comprising of an L shaped bracket with the up right section being of a flat rectangular plate with holes for the purpose of fixing such means to the elongated stiles at the top and bottom of the roof ladder in an opposing fashion, a U shaped channel is also fixed to the rectangular plate to form a saddle to which the respective roof ladder rung can be received, a circular brazing bar is attached to the top of the rectangular L shaped bracket and the top of the saddle to form a right angle this presents an enclosed aperture to retain any attachments so that any forces applied are kept in the required area and are subjected through the means to the elongated stiles and the roof ladder rung, this point proved to be a strong area for the means to be attached.

In use, one end of the rope or wire can be attached to the means at the upper part of the roof ladder which is the part with the hook attached to the elongated stile and feed down the face of the roof ladder, the rope or wire is then tensioned of any slack by an approved rope or wire control device.

An operator of such system should be in an approved harness and should be attached to an approved rope or wire grab device, which in turn is attached to the rope or wire, the operator can now travel freely up or down the system as required to perform designated tasks. 2.

In the event of a slip or fall the operators load is applied to the rope or wire grab device, then on to the rope or wire which is attached to the means at the top of the ladder, were the load is then applied through the means and on to the roof ladder, the forces are then distributed through the elongated stiles and roof ladder rungs to the semi circular hooks at the top of the ladder, whereby the forces are transmitted to the roof structure itself.

Minimum load is applied to the means attached to the bottom of the roof ladder as its purpose is to have an approved rope or wire control device connected to take in any slack rope or wire and to retain the rope or wire as close to the elongated stile which the top means is fixed to, also the fixing of the rope or wire to the one elongated stile via the means allows the centre of the roof ladder to be free for access purposes.

The forces applied to the member when a person falls acts downwardly on the upper member, the forces do not act to detach the member from the roof ladder rung, in this manner the risk of the member becoming detached is avoided.

The means serves to strengthen the area of the roof ladder to which it is connected to and comes in contact with.

The means also supplies a visible attachment point to which a safety system can be connected, as well as alleviating wear from safety systems being directly connected to the roof ladder at a concentrated point of contact causing abrasion, the means being made of a harder composite material than the roof ladder.

An embodiment of this invention will now be described by way of an example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view from the front and above of an embodiment of a roof ladder in accordance with this invention and the system of work along with the attachment of such.

Figure 2 is a perspective view from the front of an attachment member and the inner side of an elongated stile and the cross section of a roof ladder rung.

Figure 3 is a perspective view from the side of an attachment member, fixed to an elongated stile and roof ladder rung.

Figure 4 is a perspective view from the front and above of a section of an embodiment of a roof ladder with an attachment member fixed into position, ready to receive the deployment of a system of work. 3.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, a roof ladder 7 comprises of a pair of elongated stiles 9, a plurality of rungs 5 extending between the stiles 9 at respective locations disposed longitudinally of the roof ladder, attachment members 1 and 1A are disposed at respective opposite ends of the roof ladder.

The roof ladder is deployed by placing the hook 8 over the ridge of the roof this acts as a retainer to prevent the roof ladder from sliding down the roof; a system of safety is attached to the member 1 via a large carabineer 3 or hook or similar, a rope or wire is attached to the carabineer 3 at the top of the roof ladder this is the end with the hook 8 extending from the elongated stile 9, the rope or wire runs down the face of the roof ladder rungs close to the elongated stile 9 which the member I is fixed to, passes through an approved rope or wire control device 4 which is connected to a carabineer 3 which in turn is connected to a member IA, note member 1A is fixed to the elongated stile 9 in an apposing manner to member 1, any free play in the rope or wire is taken in by tensioning the rope or wire through the approved rope or wire control device 4, an operator using the safety system put in place would be donned in an approved full body harness the harness attachment point will be connected to an approved rope or wire ascend and descend device 6, this device 6 attached to the rope or wire 10 will arrest a body in the event of a slip or fall and transmit the forces generated into the member 1, which in turn would be transmitted into the roof ladder via the elongated stiles 9 and the roof ladder rungs 5 to the hook 8, which in turn will transmit the forces generated on the supporting roof structure.

Refernng to Figure 2 of the drawings, shows a front perspective view of an attachment member fixed to an elongated stile 9 by bolting the member 1 on by means of bolts 2, the member I is attached to the inner side of the elongated stile 9 by sliding the U shaped saddle 14 over the roof ladder rungS, between the under side of the saddle 14 and the roof ladder rung 5 is placed a plastic protection sheath 13, running from the top of the member to the top of the U shaped saddle is a retaining bar which is fixed in position 11.

Referring to Figure 3 of the drawing, shows an attachment member side perspective view positioned and fixed to an elongated stile 9 and resting on a roof ladder rung 5, the member 1 is positioned tight to and parallel to the inner face of the elongated stile 9, placed between the back of the member I and the elongated stile 9 is a plastic protective sheath 12, the member is the slide over the roof ladder rung 5 so that the U shaped saddle 14 rests on the roof ladder rung 5, two holes are drilled through the pre drilled holes in the member 1 through the elongated stile 9 to receive two bolts 2 which are completed by fixing and tighten nuts 16 after first positioning washer 15. 4.

The circular retaining bar II is bent to form a right angle curve, fixed at one point to the top of the member I and the other end fixed to the U shaped saddle 14, the circular retaining bar 11 serves two purpose, first to form an enclosed aperture were by attachments are retained in position to the U shaped saddle 14 and second to form a strengthening strut between the top of the member 1 and the U shaped saddle 14.

Referring to Figure 4, shows a perspective view from the front and above of an embodiment of a roof ladder, with the member I fixed in place to the elongated stile 9 and resting on the roof ladder rung 5, awaiting the attachment of the safety system. 5.

Claims

Claims 1. A roof ladder comprising of a pair of elongated stiles, a

plurality of rungs extending between the stiles at respective locations deposed longitudinally of the roof ladder, a semi circular hook extends at one end of each of the elongated stiles, connected between these hooks is a cross bar retainer and means opposite ends of the roof ladder to which a rope or wire can be connected, each of said means comprising of an L shaped bracket, with an upright formed of a rectangular plate to which through a series of holes, can be fixed to the elongated stile, attached to the rectangular plate and forming a right angle to the plate is a U shaped saddle having a longitudinally extending channel in which a respective rung of a roof ladder is received, fixed to centre and top of the rectangular plate and forming a right angle curve which then is fixed to the top of the U shaped saddle, is a retaining bar.
2. A roof ladder as claimed in claim 1, in which the rope or wire is connected to the means at one end of the roof ladder via a carabineer, to which the carabineer is located at the upper end of the roof ladder.
3. A roof ladder as claimed in claim 2, in which the rope or wire is connected to the means at the other end of the roof ladder via a rope or wire control device.
4. A roof ladder as claimed in any preceding claim, in which each member extends partially along its respective rung between the stiles
5. A roof ladder as claimed in any preceding claim, in which an aperture is formed in each member at opposite ends of the roof ladder, the aperture providing a point to which the rope or wire can be connected.
6. A roof ladder as claimed in claim 5, in which the aperture extends perpendicular to the plane of the roof ladder.
7. A roof ladder as claimed in claim 6, in which the aperture extends through respective eyes on the member.
8. A roof ladder as claimed in any preceding claim, in which each member comprises of an L shaped bracket with a receiving U shaped saddle to receive a roof ladder rung, and a right angled retaining braze fixed to form an aperture for attachment purpose.
9. A roof ladder as claimed in any preceding claim, in which one of the members is attached to the top roof ladder rung and the other member being attached to the bottom roof ladder rung.
10. A roof ladder substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawing.