Patent Application
20060054399
Work on roof surfaces always imposes an inherent danger due to the fact that most homes and small buildings utilize pitched roofs. Various methods have been used by roofers to promote safety and provide a means for secure maneuvering. Some of these past methods include the use of ropes secured to stationary objects located above the worker, which are very difficult to access. Such rope systems provide security but restrict movement to relatively small areas.
Other past methods involve the use of wooden planks laid upon the roof surface. Such plank systems require that a base plank be secured at the lower edge of a roof and other planks laid parallel to the base plank as the roofer works his way upward toward the peak of the roof A plank system requires a substantial number of planks and involves time-consuming transport of the planks plus potential damage to the roof.
The present invention provides for secure footing and a system, which is easily moved along the peak of the roof, enabling the user to work safely at any point on the roof surface.
The present inventor previously invented a ladder-bracing device, which utilized two bracing arms to abut the opposing pitch line of the roof Further, the bracing device also utilized on adjustable mechanism to adjust the two bracing arms to meet the various angles of pitch on the roofs encountered by the operator. This prior invention, which was used by the inventor and sold to limited other users, did not utilize the following improvements, which are described in this invention:
Wheels positioned at the end of bracing arms;
An efficient mechanism to adjust the bracing arms to meet the varying pitches of roofs;
Utilization of the rungs in order to securely attach the ladder-bracing device to the ladder; and
Ability to use the last three feet of the ladder.
The positioning of the wheels at the ends of the bracing arms allows the user to push the ladder to the pitch of the roof on the wheels while the user remains off the roof.
The improvement in adjusting the bracing arms allows for ease in use to meet the varying pitches of roofs, while securing the ladder-bracing device through the rungs provides a strong connection.
The ladder-bracing device 10 is designed to use the pitch of the roof being worked on to provide the stop for the bracing device 10.
The identical extending bracing arms 22 and 24 are designed to lay flat against the opposing pitch of the roof from where the body of the ladder 16 lays.
The ladder 16 is a conventional ladder with hollow rungs. The ladder 16 provides the user the platform from which he climbs up and down the pitch of the roof and also provides a platform to work from.
Attached to the extension arms 22 and 24 are brace arms 34 and 36. The extension arms 22 and 24 utilize a series of holes 38, 40 and 42, which are positioned opposing each other on the extension arms 22 and 24. The brace arms 34 and 36 are attached to the extension arms 22 and 24 through opposing holes 38, 40 or 42 with a shoulder bolt.
Similar to extension arms 22 and 24, brace arms 34 and 36 utilize opposing holes 44, 46 and 48. In the preferred embodiment, holes 44 of the brace arms 34 and 36 are paired with holes of the extension arms 22 and 24 and secured.
Pitch determination arms 50 and 52 are further attached between the extension arms 22 and 24 and the brace arms 34 and 36. The pitch determination arms 50 and 52 as shown in
The pitch determination arms are secured through the alignment of hole pairs 66 of the pitch determination arms 50 and 52 and the bracing arms 34 and 36. The pitch determination arms 50 and 52 besides defining pitch, provide further attachment strength between the ladder extension arms 22 and 24 and the bracing arms 34 and 36.
Positioned between the bracing arms 34 and 36 is spreader bar 68.
At the end of the bracing arms 34 and 36 are wheels 70 and 72.
To utilize the invention, the worker first determines the pitch of the roof Having made this determination, the user affixes the pitch determination arms 50 and 52 to the brace arms and extension arms thereby defining the desired pitch. Next, the user lays the wheels 70 and 72 against the roof and rolls the ladder 16 and ladder-bracing device 10 up the roof and over the roof peak thereby securing the ladder 16 and ladder-bracing device 10 so the user may start working off the ladder rungs.
As set forth in
