Not applicable.
1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to a device used, in conjunction with a rope, to stop a falling object and/or to lower an object in a controlled manner. In particular it pertains to a belay device and, more specifically, to an auto-locking belay device. The subject invention has application in the sport of rock climbing and in certain industrial applications for fall protection.
2. Description of Prior Art
In the sport of rock climbing, a belay device is used to protect a climber from injury in the case of a fall. Generally the climber wears a harness to which one end of a rope is attached. The rope passes through a belay device that is often attached to the harness of another person, the “belayer”. The belayer operates the belay device and typically remains at a stable point while the climber ascends. When the climber is “lead” climbing, the climber drags the rope up the rock as he ascends. At various points during the ascent, the climber clips the rope into metal loops (carabiners) that, in turn, are attached to the surface of the rock. When the climber is “top-rope” climbing, the rope extends down toward the climber from above. In the case of lead climbing, the belayer feeds out rope as the climber ascends. In the case of top-rope climbing, the belayer takes in rope as the climber ascends. In either case, if the climber falls, the belayer must grasp the rope securely by means of the belay device. The fall is therefore stopped by means of the belay device and the climber comes to rest suspended from above by the rope. Thereafter, the belayer may gently lower the climber to the ground by operating the belay device so as to gradually release tension on the rope. Anyone experienced in rock climbing is familiar with this practice and with the various forms of belay devices.
Over the years many devices have been developed to grip a rope and to control the rate of movement of rope, and many of these devices have been used for the purpose of belaying or for the very similar purpose of descending. Much of the patented prior art deals with descenders, many of which can also be used as belay devices. A descender is designed to lower a person or object in a controlled fashion.
The devices of the prior art can be broadly categorized into two classes:
The first class, manual belay devices, consists of relatively simple devices that contain no moving parts. These devices, many of which are very effective, rely entirely upon frictional forces developed within a torturous path through which the rope runs. A positive attribute of this class is that these devices are inexpensive since they are based on simple designs and contain no moving parts. On the negative side, these devices require action on the part of the belayer in order to stop a fall. If the belayer is inattentive or looses his grip, the result can be disastrous. Also on the negative side, it is difficult to feed rope quickly through these devices due to the torturous path of the rope. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. D413,786 to Graham, U.S. Pat. No. 5,217,092 to Potter, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,671,822 to Phillips.
The second class, auto-locking belay devices, generally consist of relatively more complicated designs, often with moving parts, that have the benefit of requiring no action on the part of a belayer in order to stop a fall. Often, such devices consist of one or more cams over which the rope runs. The cams either have an off-center axis of rotation or a variable radius that increases as the cam rotates. At least one such cam in each such device is usually designed such that, under normal climbing conditions, the rope slips over the surface of the cam and the cam remains stationary but, in the event the climber falls, the friction developed by the rapid passage of the rope along the cam surface causes the cam to rotate. Due to the shape of the cam, rotation thereof causes the rope to be pinched and stops the rope. These rotating cams are often spring loaded so as to resist rotation until a certain threshold frictional force has been achieved. A positive attribute of this class is that these devices require little or no action on the part of the belayer in order to stop a fall. On the negative side, these devices are relatively more expensive since they are more complicated designs and often have multiple moving parts. The presence of a moving part usually implies the requirement for manual labor in the assembly of that part which, in turn, implies relatively higher manufacturing cost. Examples of these auto-locking devices include U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,610 to Fertier et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,360,083 to Hede, U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,576 to Petzl et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,052 to Rogleja.
At least one device has been developed which achieves the enhanced functionality of the auto-locking class of belay devices, while maintaining the relative simplicity of design found in the manual class of belay devices. The device presented in US Patent Application Publication No. US 2003/0034203 A1 by Hewlett et al. is such a device. Hewlett's device is auto-locking yet has no moving parts.
All of the auto-locking belay devices contain two braking surfaces which, in one configuration are sufficiently separated so as to allow a rope to easily pass between them, and in another configuration are sufficiently close so as to pinch a rope that is positioned between them. The forces on the rope from the fall of a climber cause the device to shift from the former configuration to the latter configuration, the pinch on the rope by the braking surfaces thus stopping the rope and arresting the fall of a climber. Since the two braking surfaces must move relative to each other in order to pinch the rope, it would seem unlikely that an auto-locking belay device could be made which has no moving parts. Hewlett's device overcomes this apparent restriction by relying on the attachment carabiner to provide one of the braking surfaces. Therefore, although Hewlett's device itself has no moving parts, the device moves with respect to its attachment carbiner in the event of a fall by a climber, thus causing two braking surfaces to move with respect to each other, one braking surface being on the carabiner and the other being within Hewlett's device.
In order for an auto-locking belay device to work well, there are a great many design characteristics that must be optimized and that often appear to be in conflict with each other. Some ideal characteristics of a belay device are:
It should be simple to operate. A device that is simple to operate allows the belayer to pay more attention to the climber and less to the operation of the device.
It should be strong, yet lightweight and small. Since climbers often have to carry a substantial amount of equipment, weight and size are important factors.
It should grip the rope very tightly when the climber falls. Sometimes climbers fall from heights significantly above their last rope attachment point. The device must be able to stop a heavy climber who has been in a free fall.
It should allow easy passage of the rope as the climber is climbing.
It should render the climber in a safe position should the belayer accidentally loose his grip either on the device itself or on the rope.
It should allow for the belayer to easily lower the climber in a controlled fashion.
Its manufacturing costs should be such that it is affordable.
It should not cause undue wear on the rope.
These desired attributes can lead to design features that are in conflict with each other. For example:
Although Hewlett's device offers an innovative approach to a simple auto-locking belay device, it poses design restrictions that limit the ability to optimize a device for all of the desired characteristics. An important feature of Hewlett's device is an elongated opening through which the carabiner is clipped. When the carabiner is positioned in one portion of this opening, a rope is able to pass freely. When the carabiner is positioned in another portion of this opening, the rope is pinched and prevented from moving. The rope forces resulting from the fall of a climber cause the carabiner to move from the first position within the opening to the second position within the opening. Hewlett's device thus stops the rope by causing the rope to be pinched by the tubing of the carabiner, the carabiner tubing lying across the rope and pinching the rope against a surface of Hewlett's device.
One negative aspect of Hewlett's device is that the size of the carabiner braking surface is relatively small. Since the carabiner tubing which forms the braking surface passes across the rope and is directly perpendicular to the path of the rope, the size of that braking surface is limited based on the tubing radius of a standard locking carabiner. It is possible that a significant force, transmitted to such a small braking surface, can cause damage to the rope.
Another negative aspect of Hewlett's device is that it greatly limits design flexibility with respect to the physical concept of mechanical advantage. In the locked configuration, the carabiner lies directly above, and in contact with, the rope. Also, the centerline of the carabiner tubing that passes through the opening serves as the axis of rotation around which Hewlett's device can rotate with respect to the carbiner. This means that the distance between the axis of rotation and the rope pinch point is equal to the radius of the carabiner tubing. As will be explained in the description of the subject invention, the aforementioned distance is a critical variable in determining the mechanical advantage between the force on the rope from a fallen climber and the pinch force exerted on the rope by the belay device.
The devices described in the above mentioned patents, do not disclose, teach or illustrate the unique structure, function and advantage of the subject belay device.
The essence of the present invention is a simple auto-locking belay device for use in the sport of rock climbing or for certain industrial applications involving fall protection. The subject invention offers flexible design characteristics to achieve optimal functionality with a device that is both simple to use and inexpensive to manufacture. Certain embodiments of the subject invention contain no moving parts. A key innovation of the subject invention, unlike belay devices of the prior art, is the placement of the carabiner in the same geometric plane as the plane of the rope path through the belay device. This unique, and counter-intuitive, carabiner placement yields a device that overcomes limitations found in the prior art.
In view of the foregoing, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a simple belay device that achieves an optimal balance of desired performance characteristics that can often be in conflict with one another. Of particular note is the fact that this device is small, easy to use, able to grip the rope very firmly, yet requires minimal force to lower a climber in a controlled fashion. Design parameters of the subject invention are flexible, such that different embodiments can be optimized for different use applications.
Another object is that the device requires little or no action on the part of the belayer in order to stop a fall. If the belayer releases his grasp on the present invention altogether, a fall will be stopped.
Still another object is that the device is inexpensive relative to its performance features. With the exception of a pin, the entire device can be constructed from one inexpensive piece of material. Certain embodiments of the subject invention contain no moving parts.
Still another object is that the device provides a simple means for a fallen climber to be lowered to the ground in a gradual and controlled fashion. With the present invention, the belayer may lower a climber simply by exerting a relatively small force on a small, yet comfortable, lowering handle; the rate of descent being in direct proportion to the force exerted by the belayer.
Still another object is that the device grips a rope securely, even in the case of a fall of a heavy climber.
Still another object is that the device does not cause undue wear on a rope. The path of the rope through the present invention contains only smooth surfaces and all turns are of gradual curvature. The device contains no teeth or rough surfaces with which to grip the rope. The surface that pinches the rope can be made with sufficient area so as to distribute the pinch force in a manner that does not cause damage or excessive wear to the rope.
Still another object is that the device is relatively small and lightweight.
Still another object is that the device contains a relatively smooth rope path that allows the belayer to feed out rope very quickly.
These and other objects of the subject invention will become apparent to those familiar with the different types of belay devices when reviewing the following detailed description, showing novel construction, combination, and elements as herein described, and more particularly defined by the claims, it being understood that changes in the embodiments to the herein disclosed invention are meant to be included as coming within the scope of the claims, except insofar as they may be precluded by the prior art.
To operate the device as a belay device for climbing, the Locking Carbiner (30) is first attached through a loop (not shown) in a belayer's harness (not shown), then locked. A section of the Rope (28) is positioned within the Inner Channel (16). The Locking Carabiner (30) is then inserted into the Inner Channel (16) just behind the Rope (28). The Pin (12) is then inserted through the Front Pin Aperture (24) and received within the Rear Pin Aperture (26) such that the Pin (12) passes through the Inner Channel (16) within the enclosed loop of the Locking Carabiner (30), with one end of the Pin (12) positioned within the Front Pin Aperture (24) and the other end of the Pin (12) positioned within the Rear Pin Aperture (26). The Pin (12) is then secured in the aforementioned position by any number of conventional means (not shown) including, but not limited to, bolt/nut threads, clevis pin type hole with cotter pin, or spring-loaded ball-end. When the Rope (28) is inserted into the Inner Channel (16) care must be taken to ensure that the end of the Rope (28) nearest the Carabiner Gate (32) is the end leading to the climber (not shown), and the end of the Rope (28) nearest the Pin (12) is the free end of the Rope (28). The Climber End Of Rope (34) and Free End Of Rope (36) are designated in the figures.
By lightly holding the Body (14) so that it cannot rotate around the Pin (12) with respect to the Locking Carabiner (30), the Rope (28) can pass in either direction through the device. However, if the Body (14) is not restrained when the Rope (28) is pulled quickly from the Climber End Of Rope (34), the First Embodiment Belay Device (10) locks the rope against further movement. The pull on the Rope (28) from the Climber End Of Rope (34) causes the Locking Carabiner (30) to pivot with respect to the loop in the belayer's harness (not shown) in a manner that causes the Rope (28) to exert upward force on the end of the Inner Top Surface (22) nearest the Climber End Of Rope (34). This upward force causes the Body (14) to rotate around the Pin (12) with respect to the Locking Carabiner (30). This rotation of the Body (14) narrows the distance between the Inner Top Surface (22) and the Locking Carabiner (30) in the region of the Body (14) nearest the Free End Of Rope. This rotation of the Body (14) thus pinches the Rope (28) between a portion of the Inner Tops Surface (22) and a portion of the Locking Carabiner (30) thus locking the Rope (28) against further movement. Once the device has locked the rope, the belayer may free the Rope (28) by exerting force on the Body (14) in a direction which causes the Body (14) to rotate around the Pin (12) with respect to the Locking Carabiner (30) in the opposite direction as that which caused the device to lock the Rope (28).
Although the following analogy is simplified, physical concepts of circular motion and torque being more appropriate than those of linear motion and leverage, for ease of understanding certain portions of the device can be thought of as acting like a lever. In this analogy, the Pin (12) may be thought of as the fulcrum of the lever. The distance between the Pin (12) and the Inner Top Surface (22) at the point where the Rope (28) leaves the device toward the Climber End Of Rope (34), may be thought of as the long arm of the lever. The distance between the Pin (12) and the Rope Pinch Region (38) may be thought of as the short arm of the lever. The mechanical advantage from the device, controlling the amount of force which is applied to stop the Rope (28) in the Rope Pinch Region (38), is related to the ratio of the length of the long arm of this lever to the length of the short arm of this lever. Since the subject invention offers flexibility to choose the lengths of these lever arms, it offers flexibility to choose the appropriate multiple of the force from a falling object which is used to stop the rope. Also, depending on the shape of the Inner Top Surface (22) in the vicinity of the Rope Pinch Region (38), the area of the surface that contacts the Rope (28) can be changed. This feature allows design flexibility to ensure that sufficient force is applied to stop the Rope (28) but that the force is distributed so as to not damage the Rope (28).
Thus the reader will see that the simple belay device of the subject invention provides a simple economical device that optimizes the desired performance characteristics. The simple belay device makes use of advantages derived from placing the locking carabiner in the same geometric plane as that of the rope path through the device. This unique and counter-intuitive design offers a very simple device that achieves better mechanical advantage properties than those of prior art devices with few or no moving parts, while also being relatively more gentle on the rope. With respect to the sport of rock climbing, it can function either as a belay device or as a descender. It can also be used in a variety of situations to lower an object in a controlled fashion.
While the above description contains many specifics, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as examples of five embodiments thereof. Each piece described within the aforementioned embodiments could be changed in form in ways that would not affect its function. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the embodiments illustrated, but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents.
This is a continuation application from application Ser. No. 11/308,064.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11308064 | Mar 2006 | US |
Child | 12098968 | US |