Patent Application
20180266127
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to safety rail systems.
Safety rail systems are used to prevent workers or other people from falling off of elevated surfaces or to prevent people from entering dangerous or restricted areas. Conventional safety rail systems may be permanent or temporary. Permanent rail systems are installed on site and are typically integrally mounted or constructed to the surface or area to be protected, which presents a number of drawbacks. For example, these rail systems must be designed and specified by a safety expert and a structural expert, who must coordinate with the building's architect for aesthetic considerations. This tremendously increases the building cost. Permanent railing systems also cannot be removed, which may reduce the building's aesthetic appeal. Temporary railing systems may be used instead of permanent rail systems, but they have drawbacks as well. For example, temporary rail systems must be installed before the protected area can be used or worked on. This is time consuming and costly. In addition, the workers installing the temporary railing system either do not have fall protection or must use alternative fall protection, which further increases time and cost. Also, temporary railing systems may be installed incorrectly by unskilled non-safety oriented workers.
An automated safety rail system for use on an elevated surface or for temporarily blocking off a restricted area and constructed in accordance with embodiments of the invention is illustrated. The automated safety rail system broadly comprises a set of modular sections each including one or more primary support rails, a set of horizontal rails connected to the primary support rails, an actuator attached to one of the primary support structures for shifting the primary support rails and the horizontal rails between a disengaged and an engaged configuration, and a locking mechanism for securing the primary support rails and the horizontal rails in the engaged configuration. The automated safety rail system may also include an electronic control system for remotely activating the actuators and the locking mechanism.
Another embodiment of the invention is a method of controlling an automated safety rail system. The electronic control system activates a first set of pneumatic valves to send pressurized air to the actuators and then activates a second set of pneumatic valves to send pressurized air to the locking mechanisms.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described in the detailed description below. The summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawing figures.
Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
The drawing figures do not limit the current invention to the specific embodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention.
The following detailed description of the invention references the accompanying drawings that illustrate specific embodiments in which the invention can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can be utilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the current invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the current invention is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to are included in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separate references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” in this description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and are also not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. For example, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment may also be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included. Thus, the current technology can include a variety of combinations and/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.
Turning now to the drawing figures, and particularly
Turning again to
The primary support structures 18a-c are provided for supporting the horizontally extending members 20a,b and for bearing horizontal and vertical forces to prevent a person from falling off of the elevated surface 12 or to prevent the person from passing into the restricted area. Because the primary support structures 18a-c are essentially identical, only primary support structure 18a will be described. The primary support structure 18a may be cylindrical or another elongated structural member and is formed of a strong material such as steel, aluminum, or titanium. The primary support structure 18a may also be an elongated plate with perpendicular or angled slats 34a,b for providing strength, as shown in
The horizontally extending members 20a,b are provided for preventing a person from falling off of the elevated surface 12. The horizontally extending members 20a,b may be rails, cables, chains, beams, or other structural members for bearing horizontal and vertical forces to prevent a person from falling off of the elevated surface 12 or to prevent the person from passing into the restricted area. The horizontally extending members 20a,b may be formed of a strong material such as steel, aluminum, titanium, or wood. Some of the horizontally extending members 20a,b are mounted between tops of the primary support structures 18a-c (i.e., toprails) and some are mounted between midportions of the primary support structures (i.e., midrails). Some of the horizontally extending members 20a,b may include bends or curves along their lengths for use on corner sections or angled sections of the safety rail system 10, as described below. The horizontally extending members 20a,b may be connectable to adjacent horizontal rails via a fastener, clamp, or other component.
The actuator 22 is configured to shift the primary support structures 18a-c and the horizontally extending members 20a,b from the disengaged configuration to the engaged configuration when pressurized air is supplied to it and from the engaged configuration to the disengaged configuration when pressurized air is released from it. The actuator 22 is attached to the middle primary support structure 18a for providing a balanced lifting force to the primary support structures 18a-c. The actuator 22 may be pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical, or magnetic. Additional actuators may be used if one actuator 22 does not provide sufficient lifting force. The actuator 22 is connected to a valve 36 via a pneumatic line that is configured to be activated to allow pressurized air to be supplied to the actuator 22 for engaging the safety rail system 10. The actuator 22 may be connected to another valve 38 that is configured to be activated to release the pressurized air for disengaging the primary support structures 18a-c and the horizontally extending members 20a,b. Alternatively, the actuator 22 may receive positive air pressure for both actively engaging and disengaging the primary support structures 18a-c and the horizontally extending members 20a,b. The actuator 22 may be continually pressurized as long as the section 14a is engaged. Additional valves and pneumatic lines may be used to sectionalize the safety rail system for complete control of the safety rail system. For example, if only a portion of the elevated surface will be accessed, the additional valves can be activated to only engage a portion of the safety rail system 10. As another example, if one section does not engage properly, air can be rerouted to the remaining sections by switching the additional valves so that as many sections can be engaged as possible. This allows for maximum safety while the non-engaging section is repaired.
Dampers 40a,b may be attached to the primary support structures 18a-c for limiting a speed at which the actuator 22 shifts the primary support structures 18a-c and the horizontally extending members 20a,b between the disengaged configuration and the engaged configuration.
The locking mechanism 24 is configured to secure the primary support structures 18a-c and the horizontally extending members 20a,b in the engaged configuration when pressurized air is supplied to it. The locking mechanism 24 may also provide additional support to the primary support structures 18a-c for withstanding forces. The locking mechanism 24 may be pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical, or magnetic. The locking mechanism 24 may receive positive air pressure for both actively locking and unlocking or may be passively unlocked by releasing the air pressure. The locking mechanism 24 may have a spring, a magnet, or other biasing mechanism for shifting the lock when air pressure is removed. Additional locking mechanisms may be used on each section 14a if one locking mechanism 24 does not sufficiently secure the primary support structures 18a-c in the engaged configuration. The locking mechanism 24 is connected to a valve 44 that is configured to be activated to allow pressurized air to be supplied to the locking mechanism 24. The locking mechanism 24 may be connected to another valve 46 that is configured to be activated to release the pressurized air.
The lights 26a-c (
The electronic control system 28 (
The electronic control system 28 broadly includes a computing device 46 for controlling the safety rail system 10 and a user interface 48 for communicating with an operator. The electronic control system 28 may also include a plurality of relays 50a-c for supplying power or signals to the lights 26a-c and the valves 36, 38, 42, 44 and a plurality of limit switches 52a,b and a plurality of sensors 54a-c for sensing conditions of the safety rail system 10.
The computing device 46 may include or may be configured to access one or more computer programs stored in or on non-transient computer-readable medium. The computer programs may comprise listings of executable instructions for implementing logical functions in the computers and can be embodied in any non-transitory computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system that can fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, and execute the instructions. In the context of this application, a “computer-readable medium” can be any non-transitory means that can contain, store, or communicate the programs. The computer-readable medium can be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electro-magnetic, infrared, or semi-conductor system, apparatus, or device. More specific, although not inclusive, examples of the computer-readable medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable, programmable, read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact disk read-only memory (CDROM). The computing device 46 may be a desktop computer, a server, a laptop computer, a tablet, a smartphone, a remote control, or other mobile or portable device, a GPS device, a mobile station in a rollable cabinet, or any other electronic device.
The computing device 46 receives data signals from the switches 52 and the sensors 54a-c and inputs from the user interface 48 to engage, disengage, or stop the safety rail system 10. The computing device 46 may also determine if any control or actuation component of the safety rail system 10 needs to be replaced or fixed based on data received from the sensors 54a-c. The computing device may also manage and store data generated by the operation of the safety rail system 10. For example, time stamps corresponding to the time period that the safety rail system 10 is engaged may be recorded for later showing that the safety rail system 10 was in fact engaged at a particular time of interest. Similarly, worker start and end times may be stored. Safety rail system inspection information such as inspector names, times of inspection, inspection scope, and relevant notes may be stored as well for future reference. Information corresponding to work performed on the elevated surface 12 such as worker name, task completed, start time and end time on the elevated surface 12, materials used, and any related issue may also be documented in the computing device 46.
The computing device 46 receives inputs from the user interface 48 such as commands to engage or disengage the safety rail system 10. The computing device 46 then controls the valves 36, 38, 42, 44 accordingly. The computing device receives data in the form of signals from the sensors 54a-c that assist the computing device 46 in controlling the safety rail system 10. For example, if the sensors 54a-c sense an obstruction that prevents the safety rail system 10 from engaging or disengaging normally, the computing device controls the valves 36, 38 to stop the safety rail system 10 from engaging. The computing device also sends outputs such as virtual images to the user interface 48 representing the information received from the sensors 54a-c. The computing device 46 may also determine possible actions and options for the operator to choose (or to be executed automatically) if the safety rail system 10 does not engage or disengage normally so that maximum safety is employed. The computing device 46 may also store any of this information for troubleshooting or for later reference.
The user interface 48 (
The user interface 48 may include virtual input boxes for inputting inspection information, as described above. It will be appreciated that the user interface 48 for this purpose may be part of a mobile device separate of a central user interface, which an onsite worker may use on the elevated surface 12 when inspecting the safety rail system 10 or working on the elevated surface 12.
Turning again to
The sensors 54a-c are provided for sensing a number of conditions of the safety rail system 10. The sensors 54a-c may include air pressure sensors, pressure sensors, light sensors, motion sensors, etc. For example, the sensors 54a-c may sense the amount of air pressure at any point in the safety rail system 10 for determining whether the safety rail system 10 is engaged, disengaged, or being actuated, or for sensing air leaks. The sensors 54a-c may preemptively sense that an obstruction such as a worker is in the way of the safety rail system 10 so that the control system 28 may stop the safety rail system 10 from shifting. The sensors 54a-c may also sense that the safety rail system 10 has encountered an obstruction by sensing an impact or by sensing a rise in backpressure. The sensors 54a-c may be positioned one of each type of sensor on each section 14a or component for making determinations for each section 14a or component separately. This allows complete information and control of the safety rail system 10, as described above.
Although the invention has been described with reference to the embodiments illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it is noted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims. Having thus described various embodiments of the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includes the following:
