Patent Application
20220161072
The present invention relates generally to a fall arrester, and more particularly to a fall arrester whose braking module can be quickly replaced.
Nowadays, the floors of buildings are getting higher and higher. In addition, the risk of construction workers, or building exterior wall cleaners and painters working increases with the height of their working positions. Thus, when working in high-altitude places, the workers are often equipped with fall arresters with lifelines, wherein the fall arrester is fixed to a support, and the lifeline is fastened to the worker, which avoids the worker from keeping falling and ensures the safety of the worker.
A conventional fall arrester includes a rotating member, a lifeline, and a braking device, wherein an end of the lifeline is connected to and wound on the rotating member; the braking device includes a braking plate, a braking block, and a stopping member. The braking plate is connected to the rotating member, and is coaxially rotatable with the rotating member. The braking block is pivotally installed on the braking plate, and would be thrown out due to a centrifugal force generated by the instant rotation of the braking plate, and thus to engage with the stopping member for restricting the rotation of the rotating member. If the worker accidentally falls from a height, the braking device can play the role of emergency locking to stop the rotation of the rotating member, which avoids the worker from keeping falling.
However, the braking plate of the conventional fall arrester will wear out due to prolonged use. Thus, the braking plate needs to be adjusted regularly for braking parameters (such as the torque value of clamping screws). Additionally, the dismantling steps of the braking plate involve a variety of parts, which makes the dismantling steps cumbersome. If the fall arrester fails to be reassembled according to the standard steps, it may cause the fall arrester to lose effectiveness and cause potential harm to users.
From the above, a novel fall arrester is needed to solve the long-existing problems of the conventional fall arrester.
In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide a fall arrester, wherein the braking module of the fall arrester can be replaced by easy dismantling steps. Furthermore, each new braking module has the same value of braking parameters.
The present invention provides a fall arrester including a holder, a rotating drum, and a braking module. The holder includes a first arm and a second arm. The rotating drum is pivotally provided on the holder and located between the first arm and the second arm. The rotating drum includes a main body and at least one pawl, wherein the main body has an accommodating part and a setting part; the accommodating part is provided to be wound by a flexible long strip. The at least one pawl has a first abutting portion and is pivotally provided on the setting part. When the rotating drum rotates at a rotating speed which is equal to or greater than a predetermined rotating speed, the first abutting portion of the at least one pawl pivots form a first position to a second position. The braking module has a convex portion and is fixed to the first arm by the convex portion so that the braking module is located between the first arm and the setting part; the braking module further has a plurality of second abutting portions which are located on a rotation path of the first abutting portion in the second position, wherein the rotation path is formed by the rotation of the rotating drum; the second abutting portions can abut against the first abutting portion. The braking module includes a cover, a friction plate, and a ratchet plate, which are coaxially set in order. The ratchet plate has the plurality of second abutting portions on a periphery thereof, and further has an accommodation space for holding the friction plate and the cover, wherein the cover and the ratchet plate are fixedly connected to each other and clamp the friction plate therebetween; the friction plate has the convex portion which makes the friction plate be fixed to the first arm; when the rotating drum rotates at a rotating speed greater than or equal to the predetermined rotating speed, which makes the first abutting portion move to the second position and abut against the second abutting portions, the cover and the ratchet plate rotate relative to the friction plate, which is driven by the rotating drum. Moreover, the cover and the ratchet plate generate frictional resistance with the friction plate respectively so as to stop the rotation of the rotating drum.
The effect of the present invention is that, the braking module of the fall arrester can be replaced with a new one by easy dismantling steps. Furthermore, each new braking module has the same value of braking parameters.
The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which
As shown in
The holder 10 includes the first arm 12 and a second arm 14. The rotating drum 20 is pivotally installed on the holder 10, and is located between the first arm 12 and the second arm 14.
The rotating drum 20 includes a main body 21 and at least one pawl 22, wherein the main body 21 has a setting part 212 and an accommodating part 214 that is provided to be wound by a flexible long strip. Each pawl 22 has a first abutting portion 222 and a pivot shaft 221, and is pivotally installed on the setting part 212 by the pivot shaft 221. When the rotating drum 20 rotates at a rotating speed which is equal to or greater than a predetermined rotating speed, the first abutting portion 222 pivots form a first position to a second position. On the other hand, if the rotating drum 20 rotates at a rotating speed which is less than the predetermined rotating speed, the first abutting portion 222 of the pawl 22 would not always keep abutting against second abutting portions 302 of the braking module 30; at this time, the pawl 22 is in a normally open state.
The braking module 30 has a convex portion 31 and is fixed to the first arm 12 by the convex portion 31 so that the braking module 30 is located between the first arm 12 and the setting part 212 of the rotating drum 20. The braking module 30 further has a plurality of second abutting portions 302 which are located on a rotation path of the first abutting portion 222 in the second position, wherein the rotation path is formed by the rotation of the rotating drum 20. Additionally, the second abutting portions 302 can abut against the first abutting portion 222 to stop the rotation of the rotating drum 20.
As shown in
As illustrated in
When the rotating drum 20 rotates at a rotating speed greater than or equal to the predetermined rotating speed, which makes the first abutting portion 222 move to the second position and abut against the second abutting portions 302, the cover 32 and the ratchet plate 34 rotate relative to the friction plate 33, which is driven by the rotating drum 20, and moreover, the cover 32 and the ratchet plate 34 generate frictional resistance with the friction plate 33 respectively so as to stop the rotation of the rotating drum 20.
As depicted in
The friction plate 33 includes a friction part 33′ and a non-circular hole part (i.e., convex portion 31). The friction part 33′ has a first convex block 332 on an axial direction thereof, wherein the first convex block 332 has a circular hole 331; the non-circular hole part has a second convex block 312 on an axial direction thereof, wherein the second convex block 312 has the non-circular hole 311. The first convex block 332 and the second convex block 312 are connected to each other along the axial direction with dislocation.
In the embodiment of the present invention, a side surface of the first convex block 332 is detachably connected to a side surface of the second convex block 312. When the side surface of the first convex block 332 is connected to the side surface of the second convex block 312, the second convex block 312 of the non-circular hole part abuts against and pushes the first convex block 332 of the friction part 33′, so that the friction part 33′ is unable to rotate relative to the non-circular hole part.
As shown in
As shown in
In the first embodiment, the braking module 30 includes at least one elastic member 35, 36, which is located between the first friction surface 34a and the second friction surface 33a, the third friction surface 33b and the fourth friction surface 32a, or between the combination thereof. As illustrated in
Furthermore, when the cover 32 of the braking module 30, the elastic member 36, the friction plate 33, the elastic member 35, and the ratchet plate 34 are connected in sequence, and are fixed by a plurality of fixing members 321, the elastic members 35, 36 generate elastic tension on the fixing members 321. At this time, the fixing members 321 can be locked by a torque wrench (not shown) so that the fixing members 321 have a predetermined torque value. When the fall arrester 1 is used for a long time, the braking module 30 will be worn out, which reduces the torque value of the fixing members 321. In this case, if the torque values of the fixing members 321 are lower than the standard value, the braking module 30 must be replaced with a new one immediately to ensure that the braking module 30 of the fall arrester 1 has a consistent predetermined (initial) torque value.
In the first embodiment, the cover 32 and the ratchet plate 34 are fixedly connected to each other by the fixing members 321. The distances between the fixing members 321 and the axis of the braking module 30 are greater than the outer diameter of the friction plate 33 in order to improve the clamping effect of the cover 32 and the ratchet plate 34 on the friction plate 33, and to further improve the braking effect among the cover 32, the friction plate 33, and the ratchet plate 34.
With the above design of the fall arrester, the braking module of the fall arrester can be replaced with a new one by easy dismantling steps. In addition, each new braking module has the same value of braking parameters.
It must be noted that the embodiments described above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention. All equivalent structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention.
