In the construction and related trades, it is necessary in almost every situation to provide protection to the surfaces located nearby and adjacent to the work locations and the pathways leading to and from these locations. Examples are, without limitation, locations within buildings, including flat and sloped tile, wood, carpet and stone floor surfaces, and outside buildings, including flat and sloped ground surfaces comprised of softscape, e.g. grass (natural and synthetic), and flat and sloped tile, wood, and stone and a wide variety of other natural and synthetic deck and outdoor surfaces. Flat and sloped roof surfaces require the same kind of protection.
A building's roof is intended to keep out the heat of the sun, the chill of the wind, and precipitation. A long roof-life is desirable in order to avoid the inconvenience and the damage that can result from a leaky roof and the usually associated high cost of repair and maintenance. Many roofing materials, which normally have a long life-span even when they are exposed to the damaging effects of sunlight and precipitation, can still become desiccative and extremely brittle over time. Brittle roofing materials can include natural materials, such as slate, and also man-made materials constructed of synthetic or inorganic components. Some man-made materials designed to be used instead of slate, such as those that are cement or oil based, or wood, can become extremely brittle as well. Roofing surface materials, even those that tend not to become as brittle as some others, e.g. composition shingle and metal, still require protection from damage in the process of installing, repairing or maintaining a flat or sloping roof surface.
Accordingly, a suitable apparatus is necessary for distributing the load of a person's weight and the weight of any materials or equipment that person might be carrying to permit such person to walk about and work without causing damage to the underlying surface. This apparatus needs to be stable and provide a safe and reliable working platform upon which a person may walk and work in any direction properly balanced while protecting the underlying surfaces, as described heretofore.
In order to aid in the understanding of this invention, it can be stated in essentially summary form that the invention is directed to a support pad apparatus, which includes a fairly rigid platform, which may be flat or slightly convex, with a load-spreading pad thereunder that conforms to the bottom surface of the platform and may either be flat or concave along its bottom surface to engage the surface of a flat, uneven or sloped roof or some other type of flat, uneven or sloped hard or soft underlying surface, both within and outside of a building, or in any other appropriate working environment. The top of the platform contains the structural means to ensure that the person working or walking upon the platform is able to maintain a secure, stable, and balanced footing on its surface.
Accordingly, it is a purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a support pad apparatus which is configured to lay upon a fragile, brittle or any other type of sloped, uneven or flat underlying surface and assist in distributing the weight of a person walking upon the apparatus and the weight of any materials or equipment that person may be carrying in order to prevent damage to the underlying structure or surface, or its individual component elements.
It is a further purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a support pad apparatus which is configured to lay upon a fragile, brittle or any other type of flat, uneven or sloped underlying surface and provide the means for a safe, secure and balanced footing for a person walking upon the underlying surface in any direction.
It is a further purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a support pad apparatus, which is configured to ensure enhanced stability and balance for a person when walking or working upon any type of flat, uneven or sloped surface that requires protection from damage or destruction.
It is a further purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a support pad apparatus which can be employed on sloped, flat or uneven surfaces, such as roofs and a wide variety of fragile and sometimes expensive indoor or outdoor hardscapes and softscapes, to ensure the protection, preservation and integrity of the underlying surfaces.
It is a further purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a support pad apparatus which can be used to support the weight of all kinds of items, including product inventory equipment and the like, placed in temporary or permanent storage.
It is a further purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a support pad apparatus structured to be lightweight, and which has one or more handholds so that it can be easily transported.
It is a further purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a support pad apparatus which has friction grit on the top of the platform to improve a person's traction and balance while walking upon the apparatus.
It is a further purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a support pad apparatus to provide the means for supporting a person's feet, for compensating for an uneven or sloped underlying surface, and enhancing a person's balance by leveling the person's body orientation.
It is a further purpose and advantage of this invention to provide a support pad apparatus which is configured so that several of the support pads can be attached together, either vertically or horizontally in a row, to provide a person a greater area upon which the person can move in any direction without walking directly upon or damaging the underlying surface.
The features of this invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may be best understood by reference to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The support pad apparatus of the present invention generally designated at 10 in
The support pad apparatus is also appropriate to provide the means to walk about and work upon roofs of buildings and preserve the integrity of their underlying surfaces. For example, the building shown in
Accordingly, it is necessary to avoid direct heavily-weighted loads upon most types of roofs and, whenever possible, to distribute the weighted overload on the roof when a person walks and works upon its surface. The support pad apparatus of the present invention may be provided for use on flat, uneven and sloped roofs made of all kinds of materials to ensure that a person's walking load is spread sufficiently across the entire apparatus to avoid damage to the roofs surface.
The support pad apparatus, particularly when deployed on the surface of a sloped roof, must also provide a safe and reliable working platform for the person standing, walking and working on it. Consistent with this objective, the support pad must also provide the means to ensure that the person standing, walking and working on the pad can maintain the proper body balance, and that the risk of slipping or falling off the pad or off the roof entirely is absolutely minimized.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated by reference to support pad apparatus 10, which forms the principal load distributing member and may be deployed upon a roof 14 (see
Key member 42, which conforms to the configuration of slot 30, is slidably insertable into slot 30 entering the slot by engaging it at opening 36. Key member 44, which conforms to the configuration of slot 32, is slidably insertable into slot 32 entering the slot by engaging it at opening 40. Foot supports 46, 47, and 48, 49 are formed along corresponding edges 46a, 47a and 48a, 49a of slots 30 and 32, respectively, and are used to give the person standing and working on the platform a stable and secure footing and a level body orientation appropriately tangential to the slope of the underlying roof surface to assist in maintaining a proper balance (see
Foot supports 46, 47 and 48, 49 enhance the support characteristics of the support pad by providing the means to ensure that the worker's body, particularly when standing and performing a task, is oriented in a more natural horizontal position. This enables the person to walk and work more safely on the apparatus with greater balance and with less risk of slippage or disorientation.
Slots 30 and 32 are tapered so that the width at one end is narrower or wider than the width at the opposite end, as the case may be. Key members 42 and 44 are tapered in conformal relationship with their respective slots.
When key members 42 and 44 are inserted into their respective slots, either slot 30 or slot 32, the combination of the two elements provide for a flat uninterrupted working surface on the platform. There are situations where this kind of platform is required, such as, for example, when the work involves a level or only slightly uneven surface not requiring the use of foot supports 46, 47 and 48, 49, such as a flat roof, the flooring inside a building or a level or slightly uneven ground surface in a backyard or some other type of outdoor environment (
Particular examples include grass surfaces and surfaces containing softscape, such as low-lying plants or other types of low-profile foliage; or hardscapes, such as ground level brickwork, stonework, low-lying outdoor statuary, and sculptural works, or above-ground decking made of wood or any other type of natural or synthetic material. In this embodiment, key members 42 and 44 are securely held tightly within their respective slots. Thus, for example, end 51 of the key member 42 is “wedged” into the corresponding tapered end of slot 30 and the end 52 of the key member 42 is prevented from slipping back out with the use of means to hold end 52 in place, such as, for example, VELCRO® material, also known by its generic components as hook and loop fasteners 58 and 60.
Platform 16 is typically constructed of materials consistent with the mechanical needs of a load distribution apparatus. A thick sheet of plywood or any suitable polymer-based material having a 2′ width by a 4′, 5′, or 6′ length is preferred for working surface applications or for use to support foot traffic. When used to accommodate storage or for staging applications and for use in equipment and material transport, the preferred dimensions for the platform are 4′×4′, 4′×6′ and 4′×8′.
Attached to bottom surface 28 of platform 16 is resilient pad 70, which is employed to spread the load of the weight of the platform and a person walking on it, including any item (equipment, products, etc.) that person might be carrying, and preferably is ½″ to ¾″ thick when deployed within an enclosed structure, and 1″ to 1½″ thick when deployed in an outdoor environment. Resilient pad 70 includes top surface 72 and pliable bottom surface 74, which can be flat, but also may be concave as the conditions may require. Pliable concave bottom surface 74 is adapted to more closely conform to the shape of the underlying surface, particularly when uneven, to provide stability and eliminate an unsettling fulcrum effect that could easily result from contact between a support pad apparatus with a rigid or inflexible flat bottom surface and an uneven underlying surface (see
Platform 16 can be configured so that top surface 26 is flat, and bottom surface 28 is either flat or concave. Resilient pad 70, when joined with platform 16 having a concave bottom surface 28, conforms to the concave bottom surface either because of the conformable material employed or by actually shaping top surface 72 of resilient pad 70 in a mateable convex configuration.
Platform 16 is sufficiently rigid and resilient pad 70 sufficiently resilient so that the load created by a person's weight and/or any materials, equipment, or consumer or other goods the person is transporting or working with is distributed more evenly and the underlying working surface is not damaged.
Platform 16 and resilient pad 70 are joined together with some type of suitable adhesive or with the use of any other conventional attachment means commonly employed for this purpose.
Support pad apparatus 10 needs to be easily and comfortably carried to and from the job site or wherever else it may have application. It is for this reason that 2′×4′, 2′×5′, and 2′×6′ configurations are desirable. Hand grips 90 and 92 are formed as slots through platform 16 usually at its midpoint and adjacent its edges. The hand grips are each sized sufficiently large to accommodate almost any size hand. It should be noted that in any embodiment of the present invention resilient pad 70 may include notches 94 and 96 (see
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention shown in
Cleats 100, 102 and 104 are secured in place using any suitable means, including, without limitation, nuts and bolts, or any strong adhesive.
A person usually requires at least two support pads when walking or working on any type of underlying surface, whether inside a building or in any kind of outside environment. In this application, the person typically stands on one support pad while deploying a second ahead of the first. If necessary to proceed across the underlying, surface, the person normally would step to the second support pad and deploys the first pad as the next one in the sequence. In this way, a person can reach the area where the person is intending to perform the work without directly stepping on the underlying surface.
There may be situations in which a person may wish to move up and down a section the underlying surface without having to reposition the support pads in the process. Illustrative of this is
The preferred means to interconnect several support pads, either vertically or horizontally, across the underlying surface is to employ mateable VELCRO® fastener strips attached to each end of a support pad (see
Fastener 106 is affixed against either the front or back end of each pad and used to hold another fastener out of the way, such as fastener 82, when fastener 82 is not being used to interlink support pads. To achieve this, fastener 82 is simply folded down and pressed against fastener 106 (
This invention has been described in its presently preferred embodiment, and it is clear that it is susceptible to numerous modifications, modes and embodiments within the ability of those skilled in the art and without the exercise of this inventive faculty.
This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 11/436,945 filed May 19, 2006, now abandoned.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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2061664 | Lincoln | Nov 1936 | A |
2708543 | Matich | May 1955 | A |
5119904 | Dierolf | Jun 1992 | A |
5282597 | Babcock | Feb 1994 | A |
5415109 | McBride | May 1995 | A |
5730245 | Conway | Mar 1998 | A |
D461564 | Neulieb | Aug 2002 | S |
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20060191446 | Discacciati | Aug 2006 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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2131475 | Jun 1984 | GB |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11436945 | May 2006 | US |
Child | 12317570 | US |