Patent Application
20240133243
The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimed inventions, nor that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
The present invention relates generally to the field of ladders of existing art and more specifically relates to an apparatus for supporting a ladder on a roof.
There are many reasons that an individual may need to access a roof. For example, professional roofers, chimney sweepers, painters, etc. all regularly need access to a roof in performance of their job. To gain access to the roof, it is often necessary for the individual to utilize a ladder. Often times, ladders are leaned against a building to stabilize the ladder and enable the individual to climb up the ladder to reach the roof. However, in the case of inclined roofs, and particularly when the individual needs to access the ridge of the roof (the point at which two roof side meet), simply stabilizing the ladder against the building/roof does not suffice. Often, an extension ladder is utilized and supported in an inclined position on one of the sides of the roof.
It is important to adequately support the ladder on the roof to prevent injury to the individual. Further, it is also important to minimize damage to the roof caused by sliding the extension ladder against the roof to position it. However, attempts made in the art to address these issues have not been satisfactory. Particularly, many of the current attempts either are permanently attached to the ladder (and thus not useable in every circumstance), do nothing to address the damage caused in positioning the extension ladder (and/or even itself cause damage to the roof), and/or do not permit use with a variety of ladders or a variety of roof pitches. As such, a suitable solution is desired.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known ladder support art, the present disclosure provides a roof ridge ladder hook. The general purpose of the present disclosure, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide an apparatus used for supporting a ladder on a roof; particularly, for supporting the ladder over a ridge of the roof. The apparatus also enables easy installation and removal of the apparatus to and from the roof.
An apparatus for supporting a ladder on a roof having a ridge is disclosed herein. The apparatus includes a frame, a roof anchor, a first ladder engagement portion, a second ladder engagement portion and a wheel assembly. The frame may include a top end opposite a bottom end defining a longitudinal axis therebetween. The roof anchor may be attached at the top end of the frame and generally extending outwardly therefrom. The first ladder engagement portion may be attached at the bottom end of the frame and extending outwardly therefrom in a direction opposite to the roof anchor. The first ladder engagement portion may be configured to attach to a second-to-top rung of a ladder.
The second ladder engagement portion may be attached behind the first ladder engagement portion and extending outwardly from the frame in the direction opposite to the roof anchor. The second ladder engagement portion may be configured to attach to a top rung of the ladder. Further, the wheel assembly may be attached to the second ladder engagement portion.
The apparatus may be able to be flipped 180 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis between a downward position and an upward position. The roof anchor may be configured to anchor the apparatus over the ridge of the roof in the downward position; and the wheel assembly may be configured to contact the roof in the upward position and enable rollable movement of the apparatus at least up and down the roof.
According to another embodiment, a method of using an apparatus for supporting a ladder on a roof having a ridge is also disclosed herein. The method may include the steps of: providing the apparatus as above; attaching the first ladder engagement portion to a second-to-top rung of the ladder; attaching the second ladder engagement portion to the top rung of the ladder, thereby attaching the apparatus to the ladder; grasping the ladder; rolling the apparatus up the roof (with the apparatus being in an upward position and the wheel assembly contacting the roof and enabling rollable movement of the apparatus) until the roof anchor reaches the ridge of the roof flipping the apparatus 180 degrees relative to the longitudinal axis, from the upward position to a downward position, thereby enabling the roof anchor to anchor the apparatus over the ridge of the roof and attach the apparatus and the ladder to the roof utilizing the ladder as needed for roof work; grasping the ladder when the ladder is no longer needed for the roof work; flipping the apparatus 180 degrees, thereby moving the apparatus from the downward position to the upward position and enabling the wheel assembly to contact the roof; rolling the apparatus down the roof; removing the second ladder engagement portion from the top rung of the ladder; and removing the first ladder engagement portion from the second-to-top rung of the ladder, thereby removing the apparatus from the ladder.
For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.
The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and methods of use for the present disclosure, a roof ridge ladder hook, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present disclosure.
The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.
As discussed above, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a ladder support and more particularly to a roof ridge ladder hook. Generally, the roof ridge ladder hook may include a frame that will fit any extension ladder and can be easily attached and detached therefrom. The roof ridge ladder hook is constructed from heavy duty steel to ensure that the roof ridge ladder hook does not bend or crack. The roof ridge ladder hook may connect by a first hook slipping over a second-to-top rung of the ladder; and then a second hook slipping over a top rung of the ladder. This enables the apparatus to be positioned all the way up to the ridge, or peak, of the roof. The roof ridge ladder hook may also include two wheels to enable the roof ridge ladder hook to be easily rolled up and down the roof for installation and removal.
Referring now more specifically to the drawings by numerals of reference, there is shown in
As discussed above, the apparatus 100 may be constructed from a solid heavy duty steel to prevent bending or cracking of the apparatus 100; particularly when strained during support of the ladder 5. In some embodiments, the apparatus 100 may be constructed from ½ inch or 9/16 inch steel round bar and may weigh generally between 13-171b (depending on thickness of the round bar). Further, in some embodiments, the apparatus 100 may include a width of 9 inches; a depth of 16 inches; and a length of 33½ inches. It should however be appreciated that the dimensions provided here are given as examples only and do not limit the apparatus 100 to these dimensions or particular construction.
As shown in
The roof anchor 120 may be attached at the top end 111 of the frame 110 and generally extending outwardly therefrom. Further, the wheel assembly 150 may be attached to the second ladder engagement portion 140. The wheel assembly 150 may include a pair of wheels 151 (
As demonstrated particularly in
In some examples, a user may hold the ladder 5 (the ladder 5 being attached to the apparatus 100) and with the apparatus 100 in the upward position 102, roll the apparatus 100 up the roof 10 (using the ladder 5 as a handle of sorts) until the roof anchor 120 is about the ridge 11 of the roof 10. The user may then ‘flip’ the apparatus 100 180 degrees (using the ladder 5) so that the apparatus 100 is in the downward position 101 and the roof anchor 120 is anchored over the ridge 11 of the roof 10. The apparatus 100, and the ladder 5, is then held on the roof 10 by the roof anchor 120 utilizing the weight of the ladder 5. To bring the apparatus 100 down from the roof 10, the user may then flip the apparatus 100 180 degrees back to the upward position 102 and roll the apparatus 100 down the roof 10 (again by holding onto the ladder 5). Due to the general height of roof ridges, the user may accomplish this by standing on a second ladder.
As shown in
Further, a pair of downward sections 124 may each extend at an obtuse angle from one of the pair of outward sections 122. For example, the pair of downward sections 124 may extend at an angle between (but not limited to) 100°-150°. In addition, the roof anchor 120 may include a first crossbar 125 and a second crossbar 126. The first crossbar 125 may be attached between the pair of downward sections 124 at the top end 111 of the frame 110 and the second crossbar 126 may be located at the apex 123 of the roof anchor 120. In some embodiments, the second crossbar 126 may be utilized as a handle when attaching the ladder 5 to the apparatus 100. As shown in
As shown more specifically in
The first ladder engagement portion 130 may be configured to hook onto a second-to-top rung 6 of the ladder 5 (
Further, each of the ladder engagement portions 130, 140 may include a cross-portion 135, 145 spanning between the pair of parallel side portions 134, 144. In some embodiments, the second ladder engagement portion 140 may include the cross-portion 145 and the pair of parallel side portions 144 being part of a wheel frame 146 on which the pair of wheel brackets 152 are attached. For example, the wheel frame 146 may be a (generally) rectangular frame, with the cross-portion 145 defining a bottom side thereof and the pair of parallel side portions 144 defining left and right sides thereof. The wheel frame 146 may define a frame opening 147, and the pair of wheel brackets 152 may be seated at either side of the frame opening 147 (at the left and right sides of the wheel frame 146). In some embodiments, the pair of wheel brackets 152 may be fixed to the wheel frame 146. For example, the pair of wheel brackets 152 may be fused, or welded, to the wheel frame 146.
As demonstrated in
In some embodiments, as shown in
In one example, the first ladder engagement portion 130 may first be hooked onto the second-to-top rung 6 (
The strap 160 may attach to the first strap attachment portion 131 and the second strap attachment portion 141, thereby attaching the second ladder engagement portion 140 to the first ladder engagement portion 130 and preventing movement of the second ladder engagement portion 140. For example, as shown in
Particularly, to lock, the strap 160 may include a hook 161 (
It should be noted that, in this specification and the drawings, some elements that have substantially the same function and structure are denoted with the same reference signs, and repeated explanation omitted. It should also be appreciated that common but well understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted throughout in order to facilitate a clearer view of the various embodiments of the present invention.
Referring now to
Further steps may include step 202a, moving the second ladder engagement portion along a pair of longitudinal bars of the frame to adjust a distance between the first ladder engagement portion and the second ladder engagement portion; and step 203a, attaching a strap having a hook at each end to a first strap attachment portion on the first ladder engagement portion and a second strap attachment portion on the second ladder engagement portion, thereby preventing movement of the second ladder engagement portion and securing the ladder to the apparatus.
It should be noted that certain steps are optional and may not be implemented in all cases. Optional steps of method 200 are illustrated using dotted lines in
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners
