SE2051139A1

SE2051139A1 - Securing arrangement

Info

Publication number: SE2051139A1
Application number: SE2051139A
Authority: SE
Inventors: Bengt Lundberg
Original assignee: Cwl Patent Ab
Priority date: 2020-09-30
Filing date: 2020-09-30
Publication date: 2022-03-31
Also published as: EP3978706A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a securing arrangement (10) for a building roof, comprising at least two anchoring structures (12, 18) to be attached to rigid elements of the building roof, at least two attachment structures (16, 20) arranged to said at least two anchoring structures, at least one connecting element (22) arranged between said at least two attachment structures (16, 20), which at least one connecting element (22) is arranged for securing personnel on said building roof, wherein said at least two attachment structures (16, 20) are designed to withstand different force levels.

Description

SECURING ARRANGEIVIENT TECHNICAL AREAThe present application relates to an arrangement for securing persons working on elevated structures such as roofs.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION On elevated structures such as roofs, there is a requirement that approved fallprotection systems must be present if the vertical drop is more than 2 meters. Therequirement further states that on roofs with low roof pitches, the roof must havearrangements that offer anchoring of persons if they are closer than 2 meters fromthe edge of the roof. For roofs with higher roof pitches, there is a requirement that persons on the roof be anchored at all times.

Some solutions for securing persons on roofs include walkways, roof ladders, snowfences and the like on condition that they are installed in accordance with approvedinstallation instructions. Other solutions include specific anchoring systems such asposts that are anchored to the roof and steel wires running between the posts. Aperson with personal safety equipment can hook onto the wires and can therebymove around on the roof. ln any of these solutions, an approved system shall be ableto handle dynamic tests with a weight of 100 kg falling freely from 2.5 meters andstatic tests with a weight of 1000 kg hanging freely for 3 minutes. ln order to reduce the effects of impact forces on a person falling off a roof and iscaught by the personal safety equipment and the securing systems, some systemshave been developed that absorb the load generated by the fall. Some systemscomprise for instance coils attached to the fixed structure at one end and with anattachment point at the other end. The attachment point may be a wire connector onto which a person may attach a personal safety equipment such as a harness. Thecoils are often protected and placed inside housings. lf the coils are exposed toforces at the attachment points, for instance if a person secured to the attachmentpoints falls of a roof, the coils will act as shock absorbers when expanded due to theforce. The solution is also intended to minimize the damage of the roof during such situations.

The drawback with these types of solutions is that the coils are rather bulky andvisible because they are positioned with a central axis generally perpendicular to theroof surface. Further, the coils are protected with covers that make them evenbulkier.

There is thus a demand for fall arrest and shock absorbers that are fully compliableand safe for users and at the same time are not too bulky and visible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION The present invention intends to solve the drawbacks of the state of the art solutionswith a securing arrangement comprising the features of the independent patentclaims. Preferable embodiments of the invention form the subject of the dependentpatent claims.

According to a main aspect of the invention, it comprises a securing arrangement fora building roof, that may comprise at least two anchoring structures to be attached torigid elements of the building roof, thereby providing fixed and sturdy anchoring structures for the securing arrangement.

Further, at least two attachment structures may be arranged to the at least twoanchoring structures and at least one connecting element may be arranged betweenthe at least two attachment structures. The at least one connecting element may bearranged for securing personnel provided with personal fall arrest equipment on saidbuilding roof.

Preferably, the at least two attachment structures may be designed to withstanddifferent force levels. With this solution, a dampening effect is obtained of the forcesacting on a person falling off the building roof in that the at least two attachmentstructures will act so to say in series with one attachment structure withstanding alower force level will deform and break first while the at least second attachment structure is capable of withstand a higher force level that will stop the fall. ln order to obtain a good performance of the securing arrangement, the at least twoattachment Structures, when the securing arrangement is mounted on a building roof,may be positioned generally in line with the inclination of the roof and wherein theattachment structure with higher force resistance is positioned closer to the eaves ofthe roof. Thus, the force from a person falling of the roof acting on the securingarrangement is generally in line with the positions of the attachment structures andmay firstly affect the attachment structure with the lower force resistance, providingthe dampening effect while the attachment structure with the higher force resistance will then stop the fall. ln order to provide a good dampening effect, the attachment structure with lowerforce resistance may be designed to break at a certain force level and in that regard,the attachment structure with the lower force resistance may be provided with breakinitiators. With such a solution, a controlled and predetermined action of the dampening effect may be obtained.

According to a further aspect, the attachment structures may comprise any of steelrings, steel wires, steel chains or steel plates. The design of the attachmentstructures may thus be realised by many different elements that can provide thedesired functionality. Further, the connecting element may comprise any of steelrings, steel wires or steel chains. An important aspect in this regard is that the designof the connecting element ensures a secure and non-breakable connection for personal safety equipment.

According to further aspects, the at least two anchoring structures may comprisebolts or screws. This provides a fast, simple and yet sturdy and secure attachment ofthe securing arrangement to the roof, without having to manipulate and/or modify theroof in order to obtain a fixed attachment, which is often the case with state of the artsolutions where parts of the roof is removed in order to provide anchoring in structures under the roof covering. ln additions, the securing arrangement may further comprise elements for providingattachment of walkways, ridge and roof rails or snow fences. The securing arrangement will then perform more functions than just for personal securing. ln that regard, the securing arrangement may comprise a steel plate Console. ln order tofurther obtain a dampening effect, the steel plate console may comprise break initiators designed to break at a certain force applied on said securing arrangement.

These and other aspect of and advantages with the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description and from the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGSln the following detailed description of the invention, reference will be made to the accompanying drawings, of which Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of a securing arrangement attached to a fixedstructure such as a roof of a building, Fig. 2 shows a detailed view of a first attachment structure of the securingarrangement of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 shows a variant of the embodiment of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 shows a second embodiment of a securing arrangement, Fig. 5 shows a third embodiment of a securing arrangement, Fig. 6 shows a fourth embodiment of a securing arrangement, Fig. 7 shows a fifth embodiment of a securing arrangement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION A first embodiment of the invention is shown in Fig. 1. The securing arrangement 10comprises a first anchoring structure 12 to be secured to a fixed structure 14 of abuilding, for example a roof truss. The first anchoring structure 12 may be a bolt orscrew or other suitable fastening element adapted to the material of the fixedstructure. The first anchoring structure 12 is provided with a first attachment structure16. ln the embodiment of Fig. 1 the first attachment structure 16 may be a ringattached to, or being integral with, the anchoring structure 12. Further, the securingarrangement comprises a second anchoring structure 18 to be secured to the fixedstructure of the building, that may have the same design as the first anchoringstructure 12. The second anchoring structure 18 may further be arranged with asecond attachment structure 20 that may be of the same type as the first attachment structure 16. However, it is of course possible that the attachment structures are ofdifferent design as will be described. The arrangement of the anchoring structureswith the attachment structures is preferably oriented such that they are generallyaligned with the direction of inc|ination iof the roof towards the eaves of the roof,which will generally correspond to the direction of force on the securing arrangementas will be described below.

A connecting element 22 is further arranged between the attachment structures 16,20 arranged to couple the attachment structures to each other. The connectingelement 22 may be a wire, chain, steel ring or the like sturdy and strong element. Theimportant thing is that the attachment structure 16, 20 act together as will bedescribed. ln this regard, the attachment structures 16, 20 are designed to withstanddifferent forces applied. For instance if a person has connected to the securingarrangement, and in particular to the connecting element 22, and the person falls offthe building, the first attachment structure 16 will break when a certain force isobtained, which force the second attachment structure 20 is designed to withstandand wherein the second attachment structure 20 then will stop the fall via theconnecting element 22.

The attachment structures 16, 20 are generally aligned with the inc|ination of the roofas described, wherein preferably the first attachment structure 16 is placed higher upthan the second attachment structure 20 as seen in the direction of inc|ination i, sothat the force created by the falling person will act mainly first on the first attachmentstructure 16 and subsequently on the second attachment structure 20. This willprovide a dampening action on the falling person so that an abrupt impact is avoided,which would be the case with a single very strong attachment point.

Designing the first attachment structure 16 to break at a certain force may forexample include a weakening point or break initiator 24 on for example the ring suchas removed material on one point as seen in Fig. 2. As an alternative, the attachmentof the first attachment structure 16 to the anchoring structure 12 may be providedwith break initiators 26. lt is to be understood that other measures may be used, forinstance that the first attachment structure is made of a material with weaker properties, causing breaking of the first attachment structure 16 at a certain force thatthe second attachment structure 20 can withstand.

Figure 3 shows a variant of the securing arrangement 10 of Fig. 1. Here theattachment structures 16, 20 are attached to a plate 26 or the like structure that inturn is secured to the fixed structure of the building by at least two anchoringstructures 12, 18 such as bolts. For the rest, the variant of Fig. 3 has the same features as the securing arrangement of Fig. 1.

Further, Fig. 4 shows another embodiment of a securing arrangement 10'. ln thisembodiment, at least four anchoring structures 12', 18' are attached to the rigidstructure of the building roof. The anchoring structures 12', 18' may be bolts screwedinto the rigid structure of the building and work in pairs. Between two first anchoringstructures 12', a first attachment structure 16' is arranged and between two secondanchoring structures 18', a second attachment structure 20' is arranged, where theattachment structures 16', 20' are attached to the anchoring structures 12' and 18'respectively. The attachment structures 16', 20' may be for example steel wiresprovided with loops at each end, through which loops the anchoring structures 12'run. With four anchoring structures 12' and 18' and thus two attachment structures16', 20' a two-step function may be obtained. ln this regard, the attachment structures16', 20' are designed with different strength. Between the two attachment structures aconnecting element 22' is arranged. The connecting element 22' may be a wire, a chain, a steel ring or the like.

With this embodiment, a securing of personal safety equipment is done by attachingto the connecting element 22'. Also here, the securing arrangement is such thatshould a connected person then fall off the roof, the first attachment structure 16' willbreak when a certain force is reached while the second attachment structure 20' canwithstand this force. As with the previous embodiment, a dampening action isobtained by this solution. As seen in the figure, the anchoring structures to the rightmay be arranged with a load distributing plate 26'. As with the previous embodiment,the first attachment structure 16' may be provided with break initiators such as weakened sections, other types of material, and the like.

For all the embodiments shown above, more than two attachment structures may beused for added security and also for added dampening functionality whereinsuccessive attachment structures as seen in the direction of inclination i towards theeaves have increasing strength.

Figure 5 shows a further embodiment of a securing arrangement 10". Here a plate,for example a steel plate 50, is bolted to a fixed structure of the building with anumber of anchoring structures 12", 18" securing the plate 50. At least a first and asecond attachment structure 16", 20" are arranged in the plate 50 in the form of firstand second tongues 16", 20" cut out in the plate 50 and bent in relation to the planeof the plate 50. The tongues 16", 20" are provided with passages 52 through which aconnecting element 22" runs. As with the previous embodiments, the connectingelement 22" may be a wire, a chain or a steel ring. ln order to obtain the desiredfunctionality, the first tongue 16" may be arranged with a breaking initiator 54 such asa groove at the base of one of the tongues, providing a lesser force resistance. Thus,when a person connected to the connecting element 22" falls off a roof, the firsttongue 16" with the lesser strength will bend and eventually break, providing adampening effect on the fall. The second tongue 20" may also provide a dampeningeffect in that it may bend, but is designed not to break. ln order to provide even further dampening effect, the first tongue 16" with the lesserforce resistance may be provided with breaking initiators 56 that run towards the cut-out for the second tongue 20". During a force applied, the breaking initiators 56 of thefirst tongue will successively break, causing a dampening effect, until eventually thebreaking of the initiators 56 reach the cut-out of the second tongue 20". lt is alsopossible to add further dampening functionality by arranging breaking initiators 58also for the second tongue 20" such that force applied on also the second tongue 20"will cause the initiators 58 to successively break along the initiators, but only to thepoint where they end. As with the previous embodiments, the plate 50 may beprovided with more than two attachment structures, where successive attachmentstructures are designed with added strength.

The embodiment shown in Fig. 5 has a somewhat different design than the previous embodiments. The securing arrangement 10"' comprises a console 60 to be attached to a roof. The Console 60 comprises a base plate 62 with at least two holes 64 orpassages through which anchoring structures 12"', 18"' may be inserted and bolted tothe rigid structure of the building. First and second attachment structures 16"', 20"' inthe form of cut-outs are arranged surrounding parts of the holes 64, in theembodiment shown rectangles with three sides. With this embodiment, the console60 will function as connecting element between the attachment structures 16"', 20"'.As with the previous embodiments, the first attachment structure 16"' is designedwith lesser strength than the second attachment structure 20"'. This may for examplebe obtained by a breaking initiator 68 that will cause the area surrounding the firstattachment structure to bend and deform and eventually break.

Personal safety equipment may be attached directly to the console 60 or to furtherroof elements such as snow fences, ridge and roof rails, walkways and the like thatare attached to the console 60. The console 60 may in line with the present inventionbe provided with further means for dampening a fall. As seen in Fig. 6, a breakinginitiator 70 in the form of a cut-out in the vicinity of a hole 72 in the console 60 isprovided. A force on the console will cause a breakage of the material between thecut-out 70 and the hole 72, causing a deformation of the console 60 that will function as a dampening action.

Figure 7 shows another embodiment of a securing arrangement 10'V. lt comprisesfirst and second anchoring structures 12'V, 18'V such as bolts or screws anchored to arigid structure of a building roof. First and second attachment structures 16'V, 20'V areattached to the anchoring structures 12'V, 18'V comprising first and second holesarranged in a plate 80, for example a steel plate, through which the anchoringstructures 12'V, 18'V pass. ln this embodiment the plate 80 is designed and functionsas a connecting element 22'V. ln order to provide an attachment point 82 for personalsafety equipment, the plate 80 may comprise a steel ring or the like firmly attached tothe plate 80.

The attachment structure 16'V is further arranged with break initiators 84 such asgrooves surrounding the first hole of the first attachment structure. lf a certain load isapplied on the connecting element 22'V by for example a person falling off the roof,the break initiators of the first attachment structure will break causing a deformation of the plate, and thereby a force dampening effect. The second attachment structure2O'V is however designed so strong that it will arrest the fall. As an alternative tobreak initiators surrounding the first anchoring structure, a break initiator 86 may beplaced between the first anchoring structure 12" and the attachment structure 82,such as a groove running generally transversal to the longitudinal direction of theplate 80. lt is to be understood that the embodiment described above and shown in thedrawings is to be regarded only as a non-limiting example of the invention and that itmay be modified in many ways within the scope of the patent claims.

Claims

1. 1. PATENT CLA||\/IS 1 _

2. Securing arrangement (10) for a building roof, comprising: - at least two anchoring structures (12, 18) to be attached to rigid elements ofthe building roof; - at least two attachment structures (16, 20) arranged to said at least twoanchoring structures; - at least one connecting element (22) arranged between said at least twoattachment structures (16, 20), which at least one connecting element (22) isarranged for securing personnel on said building roof, wherein said at least two attachment structures (16, 20) are designed to withstand different force levels. _ Securing arrangement according to claim 1, wherein said at least two attachment structures (16, 20), when the securing arrangement (10) ismounted on a building roof, are positioned generally in line with the inclination(i) of the roof and wherein the attachment structure (20) with higher forceresistance is positioned closer to the eaves of the roof.

3. Securing arrangement according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the attachmentstructure (16) with lower force resistance is designed to break at a certain force level.

4. Securing arrangement according to claim 3, wherein the attachment structurewith the lower force resistance (16) is provided with break initiators (24, 26, 54,56,68,84)

5. Securing arrangement according to any of the claims 1 to 4, wherein saidattachment structures (16, 20) comprise any of steel rings, steel wires, steelchains or steel plates.

6. Securing arrangement according to any of the preceding claims, wherein saidconnecting element (22) comprises any of steel rings, steel wires or steel chains. ll

7. Securing arrangement according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said at least twoanchoring structures (12, 18) comprise bolts or screws.

8. Securing arrangement according to claim 1, further comprising elements 60)5 for providing attachment of walkways, ridge and roof rails or snow fences.

9. Securing arrangement according to claim 8, comprising a steel plate console(60, 62). 10

10.Securing arrangement according to claim 9, wherein said steel plate consolecomprises break initiators (68) designed to break at a certain force applied on said securing arrangement.