Portable, personnel guard rail

Abstract

A portable, reusable personnel guard rail for providing a safe work area for workmen working at dangerous heights, particularly in the building construction industry, comprising a plurality of upright posts having attachment bases thereon shaped complemental to a unit of the building or the like to which the post is to be affixed, quick release fastening means on the bases for quick attachment and release of the bases and posts to a building unit, and barriers secured to and extending between the posts to provide safe, ubobstructive protection against falls which would otherwise result in severe or fatal bodily injury.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A lightweight, portable, easily repositioned, completely reusable, personnel guard rail system which provides a safe, unobstructive enclosure for workers engaged in special trades working above ground level at dangerous heights, commonly encountered in the building construction trades, such system being mounted to building structural members or components to provide safe, uninterrupted protection against falls, which would otherwise result in severe or fatal bodily injury.

There are no portable, lightweight guard rail systems known in the prior art which are effective to prevent falls and which can be easily and quickly moved from one position to another while special trades are working at dangerous heights.

Except for single family residences and the like, most building construction today involves multistory construction and, accordingly, workmen are required to work at considerable heights above ground level, and the danger of a fall is substantial in the absence of some means to insure that a workmen does not accidentally step or fall from an unprotected area.

Recent governmental action has been taken to insure that the American worker is given protection against occupational hazards, and guide lines have been established for the employer to provide the necessary protection. The present invention provides the necessary elements and measure of safety necessary or desirable in those special trades in the building construction industry or other activity wherein such personnel guard rail systems are desirable or required.

Moreover, the guard rail system of the present invention is portable and lightweight and can be easily moved from one building construction site to another and is easily and quickly mounted and repositioned and is completely reusable.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a portable and lightweight personnel guard rail system which can be easily and quickly mounted and repositioned, and which provides a safe, unobstructive enclosure for workmen working at dangerous heights.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary, perspective view of a portion of a building structure incorporating the personnel guard rail system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of a corner post of the guard rail system of the invention, having a quick release clamping means thereon for attachment thereof to one type of roof purlin.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, vertical sectional view of a portion of the base of the post of FIG. 2 and the clamping means shown in operative clamping relationship with a roof purlin.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of the remote end of the diagonal brace for the post showing its manner of connection to an adjacent roof purlin.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, bottom perspective view of the post and attachment means of FIG. 2, shown connected to a different type of roof purlin.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, vertical sectional view of a modified brace connection for attachment to a ribbed roof panel having upstanding seam means thereon.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary, perspective view of a portion of the seamed roof structure and brace means and attachment means of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a greatly enlarged, fragmentary, perspective, exploded view of still a further form of brace attaching means for attachment of the remote end of the brace to a roof structure, as seen, for example, in FIG. 11.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary, perspective view with portions broken away of a post and portion of a diagonal brace means, showing one type of connection for the near end of the brace to the post.

FIG. 10 is a greatly enlarged, fragmentary, sectional view of the attachment means for the brace and post of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of a portion of the guard rail system of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged, fragmentary, perspective view of a post and brace means, and of still a further form of attachment means for attaching the post and braces to the roof structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, a building construction is indicated generally at 10 in FIG. 1 and comprises a plurality of substantially vertically oriented support columns 11 supporting a plurality of transversely extending roof beams 12 on their upper ends and a plurality of longitudinally extending roof purlins 13 extending transversely to the roof beams 12. A plurality of substantially flat, ribbed roof panels 14 are supported on and fixed to the roof purlins 13 in a substantially conventional and well-known manner, and a personnel guard rail system 15, in accordance with the invention, is removably affixed to the roof panels 14 and to the purlins 13 for defining a safe area for workmen working on the roof.

The personnel guard rail system 15 comprises a plurality of spaced apart, substantially vertically oriented posts 16, having attachment bases 17 rigidly affixed to the lower ends thereof. A plurality of diagonal braces 18 are connected with the posts 16 and with the building structure to rigidify the guard rail system, and a corner post 16' also includes a second diagonal brace 18'.

Quick release fastening means 19 is connected with the attachment bases 17 for quick attachment and release of the bases and posts to the building structure. A plurality of substantially horizontally extending barriers 20, such as straps, rods, bars or the like, are connected at their opposite ends to the posts 16 to enclose a safe work area on the building structure.

A preferred type of quick release attaching means 19 is seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the attaching means comprises an overcenter level actuated clamp, comprising a pivotally mounted handle 21 and a clamp bar 22 operated by the handle and extending at right angles thereto, and an adjustment bolt 23 extending at right angles through the clamp bar 22 for engagement with the underside of a roof purlin 13' to clamp the attachment base or plate 17 securely down on top of the purlin 13'. Accordingly, the attachment means 19 of this form of the invention may be quickly and easily secured to a roof purlin 13' and removed therefrom simply by manipulating the handle 21 either upwardly or downwardly, as seen, for example, in FIG. 2, to either clamp or release the bolt 23 to the underside of the purlin 13'.

In FIG. 2, a corner post 16' is shown, and the corner post has a plurality of rings 24 permanently affixed thereto, as by weld or the like, for attachment thereto of the barriers 20, in a manner to be more fully described hereinafter.

A brace attachment bracket 25 is affixed to the corner post 16' near the upper end thereof, but below the uppermost set of rings 24, and the bracket 25 has a plurality of openings 26 therethrough, through which a bolt or pin or the like 27 may be extended to releasably secure the uppermost end of a first portion 18a of a diagonal brace 18. A second portion 18b of the brace extends downwardly at its lower end to an adjacent roof purlin 13' and is suitably secured thereto by means of an angle bracket 28 or the like, having a horizontally extending flange 29, which is suitably secured to the purlin 13' by means of a bolt 30 or the like extended therethrough, and having a vertically extending flange 31 to which the lower end of portion 18b of brace 18 is pivotally secured by means of a bolt or pin or the like 32. The adjacent ends of portions 18a and 18b of brace 18 are adjustably interconnected by means of a screw or bolt 33 or the like extended through a pair of aligned holes in the adjacent ends of the brace portions, a plurality of such holes 34 being provided for adjusting the length of the brace 18.

In FIG. 5, a substantially similar attachment means 19 is shown releasably clamped to a slightly different roof purlin 13. In this form of the invention, the attachment means 19 would be actuated only on one side of the post 16' to clamp under the horizontally extending upper flange of the purlin 13. Alternatively, a slightly modified attachment means could be provided, wherein the clamps 19 would be provided only on one side of the post 16' and the plate or attachment base 17 would extend only from one side of the post 16'.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, a modified attachment means 29' for attachment of the lower end of the brace 18 to a roof panel 14' is provided. The modified brace attachment means 29' comprises a substantially rectangular plate 35, having an upstanding plate or bracket 36 suitably secured substantially in the middle thereof, as by a weld W or the like, and one flange of the angle brace 18 is pivotally connected to the upstanding bracket or plate 36 by means of a bolt 37 extended therethrough and held therein by means of a nut or the like 38 threaded onto the bolt. A C-clamp device 39 is suitably affixed to the underside of plate 35, as by a weld or the like, and includes a horizontally extending, inwardly pointed end portion 40 and a substantially aligned inwardly pointing threaded adjustment member 41 for clamping against opposite sides of an upstanding bead or seam 42 formed between adjacent panels 14' of the roof. Thus, whereas the brace attachment means 29 of FIG. 4 is utilized to attach the base to a roof purlin 13', the base attachment means 29' of FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 is used to attach the brace to a roof panel having an upstanding seam 42 therein.

In FIG. 8 a still further form of brace attachment means 43 comprises a substantially rectangular base plate 44, having a substantially rectangular, upstanding plate or bracket 45 suitably affixed thereto at approximately the midportion thereof near one end of the plate 44 by means of a weld W or the like, and the upstanding bracket 45 has a central opening 46 therethrough, whereas the plate 44 has a central opening 47 therethrough adjacent the end opposite the point of attachment of plate 45. The plate 44 may thus be placed on a flat portion of a roof panel 14 or on a roof purlin having a flat upper flange surface, and a screw or the like 48 may then be extended through the opening 47 into the roof panel or purlin or the like to secure the plate 44 thereto. A bolt 37 is then extended through the lower end of the brace 18 and through the opening 46 in the bracket or plate 45 and a nut 38 threaded thereon to secure the brace to the bracket 45, and thus to the building structure.

In FIGS. 9 and 10, a modified attachment means for attachment of the upper end of the brace 18 to a post 16 includes a first, elongate, rod-like member 49 suitably secured at one end portion thereof to an inside face of the flanges of the upper end of the brace 18, as by means of a weld W or the like, and externally threaded at 50 at its other end. An internally threaded adjustment sleeve or nut 51 is threaded at one end thereof onto the threaded end 50 of rod 49, and an L-shaped rod 52 has a threaded end 53 thereon threadably engaged in the other end of the threaded adjustment sleeve or nut 51, and has an elongate threaded end 54 extended through aligned openings 55 in diametrically opposite portions of the post 16 and suitably secured in adjusted position in the openings 55 by means of lock nuts 56 engaged on the threaded end 54 on diametrically opposite outer sides of the post 16. The adjustment provided by adjustment sleeve 51 in this form of the invention may be used in lieu of the screw or bolt 33 and plurality of openings 34, as in FIG. 2, or it may be used in conjunction therewith, and the threadably engaged L-shaped member 52 is easily and quickly attached to and removed from the post 16 by means of the nuts 56.

A still further form of attachment base 57 for the post 16 is seen in FIGS. 11 and 12, and in FIG. 11 the attachment base 57 comprises a pair of oppositely extending, substantially coplanar plates 58 and 59, having upwardly inclined, adjacent edge portions 60 and 61 integrally joined at their upper edges by means of vertically extending portions 62 and 63 and a horizontally extending portion 64. Clamping screws or bolts 65 and 66 are adjustably threaded through the vertically extending portions 62 and 63, respectively, and a plurality of bolts or screws or the like 67 are extended through the plates 58 and 59 and into the relatively flat portions of roof panels 14, with the upstanding portion 60-64 of the attachment base 57 disposed in straddling, overlying relationship to the upstanding peak or corrugation 14a of the roof panel 14. When the attachment base 57 is used with a roof panel 14 which does not have an upstanding seam as, for example, in FIG. 11, the clamping screws or bolts 65 and 66 are not used, and the bolts or screws or the like 67 extended through the oppositely extending portions 58 and 59 are relied upon to secure the post to the roof panel.

In FIG. 12, however, the attachment base 57 of FIG. 11 is used with a roof panel 14', having an upstanding seam 42 therein, and thus the clamp screws or bolts 65 and 66 are threadably adjusted against opposite sides of the upstanding seam 42 to securely clamp the attachment base 57 to the roof panel. Additionally, screws or the like 67' may be extended through the oppositely extending plates 58 and 59 into the flat portions of the roof panels 14' for providing secure attachment of the attachment base 57 to the roof panel.

Also seen in FIG. 12 is a modified brace attachment means 68 for attachment of the lower end of the brace 18 to the seam 42 of the roof panel 14'. The brace attachment means 68 comprises an inverted, channel shaped, elongate body 69, having an upstanding brace attachment bracket 70 suitably affixed, as by welding or the like, to the upper surface thereof, and in a plane substantially parallel to the axis of the body 69. A plurality of clamping bolts or screws 71 and 72 are threaded through the vertical depending portions of channel shaped body 69 and into engagement with opposite sides of the seam 42 for securely clamping the brace attachment 68 to the roof panel 14'. A second upstanding brace attaching bracket 73 is also suitably affixed to the upper surface of the channel shaped body 69 adjacent the other end thereof and in a plane substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the body 69. This bracket 73 is used, for example, as seen at the left-hand side of FIG. 12, for attachment of a brace 18 extending substantially transversely of the longitudinal axis of a roof panel 42.

Referring again to FIG. 11, the method of attachment of the barriers or safety straps 20 to the post 16 is clearly illustrated. One end of each strap 20 has a hook member 74 thereon for engagement in one of the rings 24 and the opposite end of each strap member 20 has a turn buckle means 75 associated with a hook 76 for engagement in a ring 24. Thus, by adjustment of the turn buckle means 75, the tension on the barriers or straps or the like 20 may be adjusted to obtain a satisfactory and proper degree of tautness of the barriers 20. An elongate rod 77 may be inserted vertically downwardly through the loop formed at the turn buckle end of the straps or barriers 20 to prevent turning of the straps when the turn buckle means 75 is adjusted.

A safety harness or belt attaching cable 78 may be provided behind the uppermost strap or barrier 20 completely around or along the length of the personnel guard rail for attachment thereto of a safety line or rope 79 by means of a snap link or hook 80 for attachment thereto of a safety belt or harness or the like 81 to be worn by a workman.

The posts are preferably tubular, as illustrated, and the braces are preferably angle shaped in transverse cross section, and the posts and braces of the invention may comprise any suitable, strong but lightweight material, such as metal, plastics, and the like. Further, a brace 18 is preferably provided at each post extending transversely to the plane of the guard rail, but a brace extending parallel to the plane of the guard rail need be provided only about every 100 feet. Of course, different arrangements and numbers of braces may be provided.

Thus, the present invention provides a portable, lightweight, personnel guard rail system, which can be easily positioned for use and moved from one location or building structure or the like to another, and wherein various means and modifications are provided to enable use of the personnel guard rail system with various types of building structures and components.

As this invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, the present embodiment is, therefore, illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description preceding them, and all changes that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims or that form their functional as well as conjointly cooperative equivalents are, therefore, intended to be embraced by those claims.

Claims

I claim:

1. A lightweight, reusable, portable personnel guard rail for unobstructively enclosing a work area for workmen working at dangerous heights, to protect the workmen against falls, comprising: a plurality of upright posts having barrier attaching means thereon for attachemnt thereto of elongate barriers extended substantially horizontally between adjacent posts; and quick-release post attaching means on the bottom ends of the posts for releasably attaching the posts to a support structure, said post attaching means comprising a substantially horizontal plate fixedly secured to the lower end of the post, said plate having an upstanding, inverted, open-ended channel-shaped portion between opposite edges thereof and oppositely outwardly directed substantially horizontal side portions on opposite sides of the channel-shaped portion, said channel-shaped portion adapted to receive an upstanding roof seam of a roof panel and said side portions adapted to rest in flat relationship upon the upper surface of the roof panel on opposite sides of the seam; and a plurality of adjustable clamping means extended horizontally through opposite sides of the channel-shaped portion and adapted to releasably engage opposite sides of the seam to securely but releasably clamp the post to the roof panel.

2. A personnel guard rail as in claim 1, including diagonally extending brace means connected with the posts to brace the posts and thus the guard rail.

3. A personnel guard rail as in claim 1, wherein said barrier means comprises a plurality of substantially horizontally extending, vertically spaced apart straps secured at the opposite ends thereof to adjacent posts.

4. A personnel guard rail as in claim 3, wherein a safety belt attaching cable is secured to the posts and extends parallel to and behind the uppermost strap for attachment thereto of a safety belt or harness or the like to be worn by a workman.

5. A personnel guard rail as in claim 1, wherein diagonally extending brace means is releasably secured at one end thereof to the post and releasably secured at the other end thereof to the support structure, said support structure comprising a building structure.

6. A personnel guard rail as in claim 1, wherein said support structure comprises a roof panel of a building structure, said plate has substantially coplanar, oppositely extending portions resting in substantially flat engagement on said roof panel, and said attaching means includes a plurality of separate fasteners extended through the oppositely extending portions into the roof panel.

7. A personnel guard rail as in claim 5, wherein said brace means comprises a pair of nested angle members axially slidably interengaged at adjacent ends thereof, and fastening means connected to the adjacent ends to secure the angle members together in different axially adjusted positions therebetween.

8. A personnel guard rail as in claim 5, wherein a brace attaching bracket is fixed to the post, and separate quick release fastening means is connected to the upper end of the brace means and to the bracket to releasably secure the brace means to the post.

9. A personnel guard rail as in claim 5, wherein an angle bracket is connected to the lower end of the brace means and to the support structure, said angle bracket having a substantially horizontally extending flange and a substantially vertically extending flange, fastening means extended through the horizontally extending flange into the support structure and fastening means extended through the vertically extending flange into the lower end of the brace means.

10. A personnel guard rail as in claim 5, wherein a quick release brace attaching means is secured to the lower end of the brace and to the building structure, said brace attaching means comprising a substantially flat, horizontal plate, a substantially flat, vertical plate secured at its lower edge to the upper surface of the horizontal plate, a substantially C-shaped clamp means secured to the underside of the horizontal plate and including a substantially horizontal, inwardly pointing clamp arm and an aligned, inwardly pointing adjustable clamp member for releasably clamping an upstanding seam of a roof panel therebetween.

11. A personnel guard rail as in claim 5, wherein a quick release brace attaching means is secured to the lower end of the brace and to the building structure, said brace attaching means comprising a substantially flat, horizontal plate, separate fastening means extended through said horizontal plate into the building structure, an upstanding, substantially rectangular brace attaching bracket fixed to the upper surface of the horizontal plate, and separate fastening means extended through the bracket and the lower end of the brace.

12. A personnel guard rail as in claim 5, wherein a quick release brace attaching means is secured to the lower end of the brace and to the building structure, said brace attaching means comprising an inverted, channel shaped member having a horizontal wall and opposite, vertical depending side walls, adjustable clamp means extended through the side walls into clamping engagement with opposite sides of an upstanding seam of a roof panel or the like, a first vertical, rectangularly shaped brace attaching bracket fixed at its lower edge to the upper surface of the horizontal wall of said channel shaped member in a plane parallel to the longitudinal axis of the channel shaped member for attachment thereto of a brace whose axis is in substantially the same plane as the axis of the channel shaped member, and a second rectangularly shaped, vertical brace attaching bracket fixed to the upper surface of the channel shaped member in spaced relation to the first bracket and in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the channel shaped member for attachment thereto of a brace whose axis is in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of the channel shaped member.

13. A personnel guard rail as in claim 5, wherein an elongate rod is fixed to the upper end of the brace and projects at one end thereof axially beyond the upper end of the brace, said one end of the rod having screw threads thereon, an internally threaded adjustment sleeve threaded at one end thereof onto the threaded end of the rod, an elongate, L-shaped rod having one threaded end threadably engaged in the other end of the adjustment sleeve and another threaded end at a right angle thereto and extended through aligned openings in the post and releasably secured therein.

14. A personnel guard rail as in claim 3, wherein each said strap has a hook member secured thereto at one end thereof, said hook member received in a ring member secured to a first post, a turn buckle means secured to the other end of each strap and having a hook means thereon, said hook means received in a ring member on another post spaced from said first post, and means connected with said other end of said strap to prevent turning of the strap when the turn buckle means is adjusted.

15. A lightweight, reusable, portable personnel guard rail for unobstructively enclosing a work area for workmen working at dangerous heights, to protect the workmen against falls, comprising: a plurality of upright posts having barrier attaching means thereon for attachment thereto of elongate barriers extended substantially horizontally between adjacent posts; and quick-release post attaching means on the bottom ends of the posts for releasably attaching the posts to a support structure, said post attaching means comprising a substantially horizontal plate fixedly secured to the lower end of the post, and a plurality of quick-release overcenter type clamps carried by the plate on the underside thereof, said overcenter clamps including a pivotally mounted handle and a clamp bar operated by the handle and extending at substantially a right angle thereto, said clamp bar movable to a latched position engaged against the underside of a support structure when the horizontal plate is supported on top of the support structure, whereby the post attaching means may be attached to an edge portion of a large structural element such as a roof panel or portion of a floor or the like, and may be attached to an elongate frame structural element at a desired location along the length of the structural element.

16. A personnel guard rail as in claim 15, wherein said barrier means comprises a plurality of substantially horizontally extending, vertically spaced apart straps secured at the opposite ends thereof to adjacent posts.

17. A personnel guard rail as in claim 15, wherein an adjustable clamp member is adjustably carried by the clap bar at substantially a right angle thereto for movement away from and into clamping engagement with the underside of a portion of a roof purlin or the like.