Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to a safety belt adapted to be worn
by a person for preventing the fall of such person on a ladder or when
ascending or descending the ladder. The 5afety b~lt comprises a
first belt member for fitting around the waist or a person. A second
belt member iS provided which is adapted to be secured to a ladder and
terminates in a first free end and a second free end. The second
belt is slidably secured to the first belt between the first free end
and the second free end. ~ Ladder rung engaging members extend from
each of the free ends of the second belt whereby when the safety belt
is worn and in use by a person on a ladder and secured to a ladder
through the ladder engaging members, a person can alternately reach
to the left or ri8ht of the Iadder and slidably move the first belt
towards either of the free ends without adjustmg the length of the
second belt and remain securely held to the ladder. The s~econd belt
may be adjustable in length. This may be conveniently accomplished
by providing a second belt that extends longitudinally to a buckle
hauing a first opening and a second opening separated by a cross-bar
and through the second opening and then in a looped configuration back
to the cross-bar where it iS secured. The looped configuration
comprises one of the ends of the second belt. The ladder securing
member may comprise a looped substantially rigid device lying in a
first plane through which the second belt passes and is secured. The
looped member extends into a hook lying in a sec ond plane substantially
normal to the first plane.
The second belt may be sIidably secured to the first belt through a
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loop rnember adapted to slidably pass the second belt therethrough
substantially from end to end
Receiving members may be provided on the first belt for
holding the ladder securing members thereto when the second belt
is not in use.
The first belt may be adjustably securable to itself to change
the circumference thereof when worn by a person.
FIG. 1 comprises a plan view of a safety belt comprising a first
and second belt slidably connected one to the other in which the
¦ second belt terminates in hooks securable to the rungs of a ladder.
¦ FIG. 2 comprises a plan view of the safety belt described with
¦ respect to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 to illustrate the use of the safety belt
of the present invention by a person standing on a ladder.-
¦ Safety devices for securing a person to a ladder to prevent their
fall are disclosed in the prior art in United States Patents to Smith,
¦ 913,171; Rose et al, 2, 886, 227 and ~costa, 3, 885J 647. The afore-
mentioned Smith Patent describes a fireman's belt that will allow the
user to secure themselves to a ladder by means of a first belt to
which is attached a second belt terminating in a hook used to engage
a ladder rung. The second belt in this respect is secured to the
first belt and is not slidably positionable on the first belt. This
arrangement hinders the person using such a device from reaching
alternately from left to right to any great degree and further compris ~s
a single hook which is not as safe as a belt having two ladder rung
engaging hooks.
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The Smith references discloseg a third belt secured to the first
one by means of a loop; however, the patentee describes that this
is employed to carry fire hose and thereby Pree the hands of the
person using the device.
The Rose et al Patent disclo6es a safety belt comprising a
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first belt to be worn about the waist of a person and a second and
a third belt secured to the first. The second and third belt
terminate in hooks that are securable to step-ladder rungs. The
prime disadvantage of usmg a device such as that of Rose et al
is that a person secured to a ladder by such a device cannot lean
alternately to the left or to the right of the ladder when the safety
belt is fixed in place without adjusting the second and the third
belts. In order to alternately move to the extreme left or rlght
of a ladder when using the device of Rose et al, the sec~ond belt
would have to be shortened and the third belt lengthened by the
person while standing on the ladder which is not only inconvenient
but attempting to make such adjustments while on the ladder could
also present a safety problem.
Acosts illustrates a belt which comprises a single belt member
that rides on specially provlded tracks extending from the; side
rails of a step-ladder.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome t
these and other dif~iculties encountered m the prior art. It IS
a further ~object of the present mvention -to provide~ a novel safety
belt which will allow the~user of the belt to alternately reach to
the left or right of the ladder without adjusting the length of the
belt during use and further allow the person using such a belt to
remain securely held to the ladder.
These and other objects have been achieved according to the
present invention and will ~become apparent by reference to
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the disclosure and claims that follow as well as the appended drawing,
Referring to the drawing and FIGS. 1-3, a safety belt 10 is
illustrated comprising a belt 12 adapted to be positioned arvund the
waist of a person, belt 12 terminating in a loop 18 which secures a
buckle 20 thereto at one end. The opposite end 22 of belt 12 is
inserted through the buckle 20 and may be drawn through the buckle
to change the circumference of belt 12 when worn.
A loop 24 extends fro~ belt 12 and is arranged to move
along the length o~ belt 12 and is adapted to slidably
receive a second belt 26. Belt 26 extends through opening
30 and over cross-bar 32 and then through opening 34 of buckle 28 for
a distance and then to a loop 36 and back along its length so that the
end 38 in turn is passed through opening 34 and then over cross-bar
; 32 and through opening 30. End 38 is riveted to belt 26 or otherwise
secured thereto to allow the length of belt 26 to be adjusted through
buckle 28. Loop 36 comprises one end of belt 26 and has a triangular
shaped open hook ring 44 lying in a plane, ring 44 extending into a
hook 46 lying in~ a plane substantially normal to the plane of ring 44.
Ring 44 and hook 46 comprise a ladder securing member although any
of the art known equivalents thereof may be employed in lieu of the
embodiment i~lustrated. SimilarlyJ the end opposite end 36 of belt 26
terminates In a ioop 39 for securing an open triangular shaped ring
40 thereto, ring 40 lying in a plane and extending into a hook 42, the
latter lying in a plane normal to the plane oi ring 40. The ring 40 and
hook 42 also comprise a ladder securing member and any of the art
known equivalents thereof may be employed in lieu thereof as with
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ring 44 and ho k 46. Loop 39 is secured to the length or belt 26 by a
rivet or other art known equivalent securing means.
Eyelets 14 and 16 are provided along the length of belt 12 to recel~re
respectively the hooks 42 and 46.
In use, and referring to FIG. 3, the belt 12 is secured around the
waist of a person and the hooks 42 and 46 on belt 26 are secured to the
rungs 50 of a ladder 48. As the person using the ladder 48 ascends or
descends the ladder, the hooks may be removed and placed on
either an upper or a lower rung as the case may be.
As can be seen by reference to FIG. 3 when employing the belt of
the present invention, the person using it may lean alternatsly to the
left or to the right of the ladder such as is required when painting a
surface such as the side of a h~use where in order to save the time
of moving the ladder to a new area to be pamted, the pa~nter may lean
to elther the left or the right side ~of the ladder to extend the area that
may be painted to one beyond the immediate reach of the ladder.
This is easily accompIished with the safety belt of the present
invention by virtue of the slidable arrangement of belt 26 with respect
to belt 12 through the~loop 24. In the prior art devLces such as the
Rose et al and Smith Patents as well a9 the Acosta reference this
was not possible since the belt employed in those references did not
allow the freedom of movement to a person using the belt to permit
them to extend to the left or right of a ladder without first adjusting
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¦ the belt. With the present invention, the belt 26 does not have to be
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lengthened in order to~ increase the reach to the left or right, the step
of reaching left or right bemg accomplished rnerely by moving in
either directlon as the need arises.
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¦ One of the other advantages of the pregent invention is th~t
when used by a person as described herein, leaning to the left or
right from a position on the ladder will not cause the weight of the
user or the strain on the ladder engaging means or hooks 42 and 46 to
be transferred to only one of such ladder engaging means as is the
case when using the Rose et al device. When using the present
invention, the ladder engaging means will take up the strain or weight
of a person in a substantially equal manner and as such less strain
is placed on each individually which is a safety feature not
afforded by the prior art devices.
Although the invention has been described by reference to some
embodiments, it is not intended that the novel safety belt be limited
thereby but that modifications thereoI are intended to be included
within the broad spirit and scope of the foregoing disclosures, the
appended drawing and the claims.
