Patent Application
20140076659
The present invention generally relates to safety equipment, and more particularly to a tethering and anchoring apparatus to secure workers when working near the edge of a balcony.
High-rise apartment buildings often have balconies surrounded by glass barriers. Though a building may employ rooftop-anchored window washers to clean such exterior glass, such a service is costly, and typically only occurs a few times a year.
If an individual tenant wishes to clean the glass surrounding their own balcony at any other time, it is typically their own responsibility to do so. It would generally be too costly to hire a roof-top-anchored window washer to wash the glass for a single unit, so contractors or tenants typically just lean over the edge of the balcony to clean the glass manually, which poses a severe fall risk.
Besides being dangerous or fatal, leaning over to wash the glass of a single unit also typically results in significant amounts of dirty or soapy water soiling the glass of balconies situated below the balcony being washed. Although conventional roof-top-anchored window washing is effective, it is not always practical or cost efficient for single-unit needs, and improvement is needed.
This and other objects, features, and advantages in accordance with the present invention are provided by a portable folding support structure for safely tethering an individual. In one embodiment, a portable cart has wheels and a motor that actuates at least one of the wheels. The cart is of a size and dimension to fit through a residential doorway when in a folded state. A hand-operated throttle controls the motor, while a hand-operated steering device is used to control the direction of cart travel.
An anchoring plate is extendable from the cart to contact a surface below the cart to lift the cart to prevent the cart from unwanted rolling. A substantially horizontal jib with the cart has a harness point capable of receiving a safety cable to which a worker may be attached.
A first foldable outrigger projecting from the cart provides additional stability to the cart when the outrigger is in the unfolded position. An anchoring pad attached to a distal region of the first foldable outrigger also promotes stability of the cart.
In a related embodiment, a first extension arm is connected to the first foldable outrigger. The first extension arm has an ascending portion and a substantially vertical descending portion.
Additionally, a second foldable outrigger projects from the cart to provide stability to the cart, and a second extension arm is connected to the second foldable outrigger. The second extension arm also has an ascending portion and a substantially vertical descending portion.
A textile, liquid-absorbing, surface has a first end, a second end, an inner edge and an outer edge. The first end is attached proximate the descending portion of the first extension arm and the second end is attached proximate the descending portion of the second extension arm. The liquid-absorbing surface is positionable about an outer surface of a glass balcony wall such that the inner edge contacts the glass balcony wall and the outer edge projects outwardly from the glass balcony wall to inhibit liquids used to clean the glass balcony wall from spilling below the level of the liquid-absorbing surface. In yet another related embodiment, the cart comprises means to raise and lower the first and second extension arms.
The invention also contemplates a method of maintaining an exterior surface of a building. An embodiment of this method comprises the steps of: positioning a cart proximate the exterior surface of a building in need of cleaning, the cart having a sufficient mass to counterweight a person suspended therefrom; unfolding an outrigger to stabilize the cart; securing the outrigger in an unfolded position; providing a jib having a harness point, the jib being attached to the cart; and attaching a line to the harness point; and attaching the line to a person to provide an anchor so that the person may lean over a balcony guardrail.
Additional advantages, aspects, and embodiments of the invention are described in the appended Drawings and Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments.
For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is made to the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating various embodiments of the present invention, in which:
In the Summary of the Invention above and in the Detailed Description of the Invention and in the accompanying drawings, reference is made to particular features (including method steps) of the invention. It is to be understood that the disclosure of the invention in this specification includes all possible combinations of such particular features. For example, where a particular feature is disclosed in the context of a particular aspect or embodiment of the invention, that feature can also be used, to the extent possible, in combination with and/or in the context of other particular aspects and embodiments of the invention, and in the invention generally.
The term “comprises” is used herein to mean that other ingredients, elements, steps, etc. are optionally present. When reference is made herein to a method comprising two or more defined steps, the steps can be carried in any order or simultaneously (except where the context excludes that possibility), and the method can include one or more steps which are carried out before any of the defined steps, between two of the defined steps, or after all of the defined steps (except where the context excludes that possibility).
In this section, the present invention will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
Referring initially to
A drive wheel 16 is attached to propulsion means 18. The propulsion means 18 is preferably an electric motor, but an internal combustion engine is also contemplated. The electric motor is preferably powered by on-board batteries, but an external AC electricity source is also contemplated. In one especially preferred embodiment, external AC electricity is used to charge and recharge batteries that power the electric motor, yet the AC source also provides power to the motor when the cart 10 is plugged in to the AC source.
As depicted in
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With continuing reference to
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In one embodiment, extension arms 50 are configured to secure the liquid-absorbing surface 48. In particular, each extension arm has an ascending portion 52 that attaches to an outrigger 38 and a descending portion 54 that attaches to the liquid-absorbing surface 48. The extension arm 50 is configured in approximately an upsidedown “U” shape so that the arm 50 can extend up and over a glass balcony while the descending portion 54 projects downward so that the liquid-absorbing surface 48 is placed below or near the bottom region of glass balcony surface being cleaned, the liquid-absorbing surface 48 being supported between two extension arms 50, and defining an outwardly projecting substantially horizontal surface.
In a related embodiment, the liquid-absorbing surface 48 is able to be mechanically raised and lowered about a balcony surface. The extension arms 50 ascending portions 52 are attached to extendable projections 56. The extendable projections 56 raise the extensions arms 50 so that the extension arms 50 clear the top edge of a glass balcony top, and then lower the extension arms over the glass balcony top. The extendable projections 56 are, for example without limitation, linear actuators, screw-type jacks, and hydraulic rams. The raising and lowering of the extension arms 50 is controlled by the controls 22 of the control panel 20. The controls 22 communicate with the extension arms 50 using connections 58 secured to the outriggers 38.
The invention also contemplates a method of maintaining an exterior building surface.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come to the mind of one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed, and that modifications and embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.
