Protective Guard Fixture

Abstract

A convertible protective guard fixture for open work areas in building construction having two vertical posts which support a barrier frame member. The vertical posts having movable collars with a first locking means attatched to each collar in vertical positioning of the collar on the vertical post and a second locking means attatched to each collar used for supporting and retaining the barrier frame member. The barrier frame member also having a foldable and detachable section to provide convertibility.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is in the general category of protective devices and particularly in the field of protective devices used in building construction.

More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a multi-purpose guard fixture for protecting workmen in open work areas of building construction such as open entrances to elevator shafts, utility and mechanical floor openings, terraces, material hoistways, exposed building perimeters, unprotected stairwells, material, equipment and walkway ramps.

2. Description of Prior Art

Heretofore, the usual method of protecting workmen at building construction sites was by means of makeshift wooden barriers which were usually discarded after use. Other methods or barriers for protection were attempted but produced certain problems associated with the use of these barriers, such as, inadequate safety protection, high cost factors of time, labor, and material for installation, and wastefulness of material. Removing of barrier from position of its intended protection and the distruction of the barrier due to it's material properties. That is if the barrier was made out of wood it would be burned for heat. In addition, since the barrier is moveable vertically it does not interfere with adjacent working areas.

The present invention overcomes these problems by utilizing a reuseable, multi-purpose guard fixture for open work areas. Additionally, this guard fixture is quickly installed, permits accessibility to work areas without it being moved out of position, dismantling, and is constructed of steel for long life and maximum safety.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is a multi-purpose guard fixture for protecting workmen in open work areas in building construction such as open entrances to elevator shafts, utility and mechanical floor openings, terraces, material hoistways, exposed building perimeters, material, equipment and walkway ramps. A movable gate permits accessibility to the work area. The guard fixture may also be used as a safety hand and guard rail for open stairwells. The guard rail is rapidly installed by attaching a barrier frame member to two vertical support posts which can be adjusted to the required floor to ceiling height.

In addition, several guard fixtures may be linked together to shield long work areas.

A major object of the present invention is to provide a reusable, multi-purpose guard fixture for open work areas.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rapidly installed guard fixture.

Another object of the invention is to provide maximum safety to workmen.

Another object of the invention is to provide a non-combustible guard fixture.

Another object of the invention is to provide rapid accessibility to the work area after the guard fixture is installed.

Still another object of the invention is to reduce the overall cost of providing protection to workmen in open work areas.

These and other object and features of the invention are pointed out in the following description in terms of the embodiments thereof which are shown in the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional detail view of the vertical strut bars;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a front detail view of a collar member;

FIG. 5 is a side detail view of the collar member shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a partial front view of a counter-weight attachment; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7--7 of FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The invention in a multi-purpose protective guard fixture which may be utilized in different configurations. In one configuration the guard fixture will protect workmen at open work areas such as unfinished entrances to elevator shafts, while in another configuration the guard fixture may be employed on sloping construction areas such as unfinished stairwells or ramps. Still another configuration for the guard fixture is a serial connection of several units for long work areas such as exposed building permiters.

A typical application of the guard fixture, such as shielding an open elevator shaft, is illustrated in the drawing. Two hollow vertical support posts 10, 12 are placed at each end of the work area and securely fastened in place between the floor 16 and ceiling 14 by means of jacks comprised of threaded bars 30, 36; bearing nuts 32, 38; and bearing supports 34,40. The vertical support posts 10, 12 may be adapted to different ceiling heights by means of vertical extension bars 25, 27 which can be made in various lengths to engage the vertical support posts at one end and terminate in bearing supports 26, 28 at the other end.

It should be noted that the bearing supports at the ends of the vertical support posts will not damage concrete floor or ceilings since these bearing supports have a relatively large surface area.

A barrier frame member is attached to these vertical support posts by means of four collars, 42, 43, 44, 45, each having two locking means which will be described in detail later. The barrier frame member is comprised of an upper and lower section. The upper section has two horizontal bars 54, 56 which engage the collars by means of elongated aperatures 55, 57 at the ends of each horizontal bar. In addition, three vertical strut bars 58, 60, 62 are pivotally attached to the two horizontal bars.

The lower section is identical to the upper section and the two sections are joined by mating integral hinge sections mounted on horizontal bars 56, 64. Hinge sections 74, 76, 82, 84 are joined by loose hinge pins 78, 86 which are also called scenery pins. Only one scenery pin is chain mounted to each horizontal bar, one to the upper and one to the lower bar, having hinge sections, as shown in FIG. 1. So that the scenery pins cannot be lost and a symmetrical connection arrangement is also achieved.

After the lower section is attached to the upper section by means of the hinges the barrier frame member is complete. If access to the elevator shaft is required then the lower section is swung upwards until the lower horizontal bar engages a retaining ring clamp 65 located on the upper horizontal bar of the upper section. This will allow passing of construction material through the lower opening.

If it is necessary for physical axis or to pass larger construction material then the two spring locks 46, 50 on the upper collars 42, 44 are released from the inner peripheral aperatures 22, 24 located on the vertical support posts 10, 12 and the entire barrier frame member may be raised to the required height.

The barrier frame member is then locked in place by means of the two spring locks 39, 41 located on the lower collars 43, 45. These spring locks engage the outer peripheral aperatures 18, 20 of the vertical support posts. In this manner the spring locks 39, 41 will not prematurely engage aperatures of the vertical support posts while the barrier frame member is being raised. This rapid accessibility feature of the protective guard fixture reduces time and labor for various construction and finishing workmen and therefore reduces overall costs.

An important feature of the invention is the sliding collar having two locking means, a spring lock and gravity lock. One of the typical collars 44 is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 4 and 5. The purpose of the spring lock 46 shown in FIG. 4 is to determine the vertical position of the collar on the vertical support post 10. Lever 46 of the spring lock is pivoted centerally on a fulcrum pin 51. A compression spring 53 exerts and outward force on the top end of the lever 46 while the bottom end of the lever engages one of the aperatures 22 of the vertical support post 10.

The second locking means is a gravity actuated lock mounted orthogonally with respect to the spring lock. The purpose of this gravity lock is to support one of the horizontal bars 54 by engaging the elongated aperature 55 at the end of the horizontal bar with the holding member 59 of the gravity lock. This holding member may be a small diameter pipe having one end welded to the collar and the other end slotted. A retaining lug member 48, mounted off-center on a pivot pin 49, is positioned vertically by gravity actuation and therefore retains the horizontal bar 54 in place.

Another feature of the invention is a disengageable toe board 90 that is attatched to the lower section of the barrier frame member as shown in FIG. 1. The purpose of the toe board is to prevent debris from falling into the open elevator shaft or other open work areas. This toe board is attached to vertical strut bars 68, 70, 72 by means of spring clamps.

In another configuration the protective guard fixture is utilized in shielding slanted work areas such as an unfinished stairwell, material, equipment and walkway ramps. This configuration is shown in FIG. 3 where the two vertical support posts 10, 12 are positioned at different levels and a single barrier frame section is used. The same components used previously have now been adapted to a different structure in building construction. It should be noted that the pivotal joint construction at the ends of the vertical strut bars 58, 60, 62 permits the barrier frame section to be slanted at any desired angle. This pivotal joint construction is shown in more detail in FIG. 2, where the horizontal bar 54 is pivoted on a pivot pin 61 within a slotted end section of a vertical strut bar 58.

A further feature of this invention is the aid of raising the barrier. That is the barrier frame may be raised by a counter-weight 92 shown in FIG. 6 which is attatched to a wire cable 94 which is further attached to the barrier frame by a clamp 96. The counter-weight 92 is weighted for each of raising the barrier frame. A pin 98 is inserted into the vertical posts at a predetermined position depending on the height the gate is raised to hold the gate in an open position, allowing entry into previously protected area. When the pin 98 is extracted the gate will drop to a closed position. The wire cable 94 is looped around pulleys 100 located atpredetermined positions at top of the vertical posts. The barrier frame may be raised by tension springs (not shown) which have a pull sufficient to raise the barrier frame.

Although some embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, various changes in the form and relative arrangement of the parts which will now appear to those skilled in the art may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Reference is, therefore, to be had to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A protective guard fixture for open work areas in building construction, having an existing floor and ceiling, comprising:

a hollow vertical support post positioned at each end of said open work area said vertical support post having a lower group of vertically aligned aperatures at a first peripheral position and an upper group of vertically aligned aperatures at a second peripheral position;

vertical height adjustment means engaging bottom end of said vertical support post so that said vertical support post may be securely positioned between floor and ceiling;

a pair of collars slidable mounted on each of said vertical support posts;

a first locking means mounted on each collar, said first locking means engaging said aperatures for vertical positioning of said collars;

a second locking means mounted d orthogonally on each of said collars with respect to said first locking means;

a barrier frame member for said second locking means on each of said collars; and,

a coupling means attached to each end of said barrier frame member for engaging said second locking each of said collars.

2. A protective guard fixture as claimed in accordance with claim 1 wherein said protective guard fixture safeguards open work areas including unfinished elevator shaft entrances, material hoistways, and exposing building perimeters, material, equipment and walkway ramps, and wherein said barrier frame member comprises:

an upper section comprised of:

at least two horizontal bars an upper and a lower bar, each having elongated aperatures substantally the same as said coupling means at both ends of said horizontal bars;

at least two vertical strut bars pivotally attached at both ends to each of said horizontal bars;

a retaining ring clamp mounted on said upper horizontal bar;

a first and second hinge section mounted on said lower horizontal bar; and

a first scenery pin will chain mounted adjacent to said first hinge section on said lower horizontal bar;

a lower section comprised of:

at least two horizontal bars an upper and a lower bar, each having elongated aperatures substantially the same as said coupling means at both ends of said horizontal bars;

at least two vertical strut bars pivotally attached at both ends to each of said horizontal bars;

a third and fourth hinge section mounted on said upper horizontal bar; and

a second scenery pin, chain mounted adjacent to said fourth hinge section on said upper horizontal bar;

said lower section attached to said upper section by engaging said first scenery pin through said first and third hinge sections and engaging said second scenery pin through said second and fourth hinge sections so that in one position the lower section guards the lower area and in a second position the lower section is swung upwards to engage said lower horizontal bar of the lower section to said retaining ring clamp on said upper section; and,

an auxiliary barrier means attached to said lower section.

3. A protective guard fixture as claimed in accordance with claim 2 wherein said auxiliary barrier means comprises:

a disengageable toe board connected to the lowest portion of said lower section by a plurality of spring clamps engaging said vertical strut bars of said lower section.

4. A protective guard fixture as claimed in accordance with claim 1 wherein said protective guard fixture safeguards unfinished stairwells lacking handrails, and guard rails, and wherein said barrier frame member comprises:

an upper horizontal bar having elongated aperatures as said coupling means at both ends of said horizontal bar;

a lower horizontal bar having elongated aperatured as said coupling means at both ends of said horizontal bar; and,

at least two vertical connecting bars pivotally attached at both ends to said upper and lower horizontal bars.

5. A protective guard fixture as claimed in accordance with claim 1 wherein said hollow vertical support post is a round steel pipe for structural strength.

6. A protective guard fixture as claimed in accordance with claim 1 wherein said vertical height adjustment means comprises:

a vertical extension bar;

a mating insert section attached to bottom of said vertical extension bar and engaging top hollow portion of said vertical support post said mating insert section joining said vertical extension bar at a shoulder stop; and,

a frictionally surfaced bearing support connected to upper end of said vertical extension bar.

7. A protective guard fixture as claim 1 wherein said vertical jack means comprises:

a threaded bar engaging bottom hollow portion of said vertical support post;

a bearing nut engaging threaded bar and supporting lower end of vertical support post; and,

a frictionally surfaced bearing support connected to bottom end of said threaded bar.

8. A protective guard fixture as claimed in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first locking means comprises:

a fulcrum mounted on said collar;

a lever pivotally mounted on said fulcrum; and,

a compression spring engaging one end of said lever while other end of said lever engages an aperature of said vertical support post.

9. A protective guard fixture as claimed in accordance with claim 1 wherein said second locking means comprises:

a holding member mounted at one end to said collar while other end is vertically slotted along its longitudinal axis; and,

a lug member pivotally mounted off-center within said slot so that said lug member automatically provides locking action by gravity actuated closure.

10. The structure of claim 1 further comprising a counter weight operable within said vertical support posts and connected to said barrier frame member for ease of raising said barrier frame member.