Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
2091930
POLE CLIMBING DEVICE
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of pole climbing
equipment and more particularly to a pole climbing device
adapted to assist a person in climbing a pole which comprises
a rigid rod having a rope loop at the end of the rod with
means for tightening the loop. The user carries the rod up
with his hands as he climbs the pole. In action, the user
pushes the rod up, thightens the rope, pulls himself on the
rod, releases the rope and raises the rod again in a
repetitive cycle~
PRIOR ART
Pole climbers such as telephone and electrical cable repairmen
conventionally known as linemen commonly use spikes or cleats
attached to their footgear which they insert or sink into the
pole as the same is ascended. Typically, the climber reaches
around the pole with his arm or a belt as he ascends. A
strand of flexible material is also often used for additional
safety. The strand of flexible material is attached to the
body of the climber and constructed to tighten about the pole
should the climber start to fall.
However, the conventional safety devices have proven to be
both unergonomical and unreliable. To circumvent this
problem, the present invention proposes a device adapted to
assist the climber in manually pulling himself up the pole
while providing a safety attachment which is most reliable
should the climber loose his grip and start to fall.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention proposes a pole climbing
2091930
device for climbing a pole comprising a substantially
elongated rod having a top end and a bottom end. The device
also comprises a first releasable fixing means for releasably
fixing the fixed end of the piece a substantially flexible
material to the rod adjacent its top end. A second releasable
fastening means is provided for releasably fixing a section
of the flexible piece of material intermediate the top fixed
end and the loose end of the rod at a position adjacent the
top end for forming a loop adapted to encircle the pole. The
second releasable fastening means has a locking means for
allowing slidable adjustment of the size of the loop.
In the preferred embodiment the relatively flexible piece of
material is a rope.
The first releasable fastening means comprises an eyelet fixed
to the pole in a position adjacent the top end of the pole.
The first releasable fastening means also uses a fastening
ring fixed to the fixed end of the flexible piece of material
whereby the fastening ring is adapted io be releasably
fastened to the eyelet.
In the first embodiment of the invention the second releasable
fastening means comprises a substantially oval-shaped frame
fixed to the rod. The oval-shaped frame has a longitudinal
axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the
rod, a transversal rod extending across the frame
substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the
frame.
The relatively flexible piece of material is adapted to be
squeezed between a segment of the frame and the transversal
rod for releasably and frictionnally preventing the piece of
relatively flexible material from sliding longitudinally
across the frame thus locking the loop at a given size.
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2091930
In another embodiment of the invention, the second releasable
fastening means comprises a sleeve element having a
longitudinal aperture extending therethrough. The sleeve
element is slidably mounted on the rod adjacent the top end
of the latter with a section of the rod inserted in the
longitudinal aperture. The sleeve element has a sleeve
indentation extending substantially perpendicularly into the
longitudinal aperture. The rod has a corresponding rod
indentation adapted to be put in register with the sleeve
indentation. A closing element is pivotally mounted on the
sleeve element. The closing element is adapted to rotate
between the first closing element position wherein it clo~es
the sleeve indentation and in second closing element position
wherein it allows insertion of the segment of the piece of
relatively flexible material into the sleeve indentation. The
rod is adapted to slide inside the longitudinal aperture
between the first rod position wherin the sleeve indentation
and the rod indentations are in register thus allowing
insertion of a segment of the piece of relatively flexible
material into the rod indentation and a second rod position
wherein the sleeve indentation and the rod indentation are not
in register, an abutting section of the rod indentation being
adapted to frictionnally abut against the segment of
relatively flexible material for frictionally preventing the
latter from sliding inside the indentations.
The sleeve element preferrably has a pair of longitudinal
slots and the rod has a pin extending radially therethrough,
the pin being adapted to cooperate with the slot for limiting
the sliding of the sleeve element in the rod. With the second
embodiment of the second releasable fastening means the eyelet
extends through the closing element. The locking element has
a locking aperture and the sleeve element has a corresponding
sleeve locking aperture adapted to receive a locking pin
extending through both apertures for locking the locking
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element in the locking element second position.
The pole climber typically has a safety belt fastened around
his waist. The pole climbing said device further comprises
a safety attachment means fixed to the loose end of the
substantially flexible piece of material. The safety
attachment means is adapted to be attached to the safety belt
of the climber for limiting his fall.
The pole climbing device is typically used by initially
encircling the relatively flexible piece of material around
the pole thus forming a loop around the pole and then
executing the following steps in a repetitive cycle: loosening
the loop around the pole, pushing the loop upwardly on the
pole, tightening the loop around the pole.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1: is a perspective view of a first embobiment of a
pole climbing device embodying the invention. ~`
Figure 2a: is a schematic view of the first embodiment of
the pole climbing device being positioned on a
pole.
Figure 2b: is a schematic view of the first embodiment of
the pole climbing device being pushed up a pole.
Figure 2c: is a schematic view of a user pulling himself up
a post on the first embodiment of the pole
climbing device illustrated in figure 1.
Figure 3: is a perspective view of a second embodiment of
a pole climbing device embodying the invention.
Figure 4a: is a schematic view of the second embodiment of
the pole climbing device being positioned on a
pole.
Figure 4b: is a schematic view of the second embodiment of
the pole climbing device being pushed up a pole.
Figure 4c: is a schematic view of a user pulling himself up
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2091930
a post on the second embodiment of the pole
climbing device illustrated in figure 3.igure 5a: is a cross-sectional view of the locking
mechanism of the second embodiment of the pole
climbing device taken along arrows 5-5 of figure
4 without the rope.igure 5b: is a cross-sectional view of the locking
mechanism of the second embodiment of the pole
climbing device with a pivoting closing element
in a position allowing insertion of a rope.igure 5c: is a cross-sectional view of the locking
mechanism of the second embodiment of the pole
climbing device with the pivoting closing element
in a position allowing insertion of the rope and
the rod in a rope locking position.
ETAILED DESCRIPTO~ OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to figure 1, there is shown a first embodiment 10
of a pole climbing device embodying the invention. The device
10 has a telescopic elongated rigid rod 12. The rod 12 has
an eyelet 14 extending integrally from one of its end. A
piece of substantially flexible material such as a rope 16 has
a fixed end 18 attached to the eyelet 14 by a first releasable
fastening means such as a fastening ring 2Q. The first
releasable fastening ring 20 has an internally threaded
cylinder 22 adapted to engage an open threaded segment of the
ring 20 or releasably closing the latter.
A loose end 24 of the rope 16 is threaded through the eyelet
14. The rope 16 thus forms a loop 26.
A segment of the rope 16 intermediate the fixed end 18 and the
loose end 14 is attached to the rod 12 by a second releasable
fastening means 28. ;;
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2091.930
The second releasable fastening means 28 is adapted to provide
a pole climber 30 with a slidable adjustment means for quickly
modifying the size of the loop 26 and releasably preventing
the loop 26 from unvoluntarily changing in size. The second
releasable fastening means 28 thus allows the pole climber 30
to readily tighten or loosen the loop 26 around a pole 32 and
to releasably lock the loop 26 at a given size.
In this first embodiment of the invention, the second
releasable fastening means 28 has a substantially oval-shaped
frame 34 fixed to the rod 12 with the longitudinal axis of the
frame 34 substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of
the rod 12. A transversal rod 36 extends integrally across
the frame 34 substantially perpendicularly to the rod 12.
As illustrated in figure 1, the rope 16 is adapted to be
squeezed between the frame 34 and the rod 36. The rod 36 thus
frictionally prevents the rope 16 from sliding longitudinally
across the frame 34.
As the rope 16 gets tensioned, it will have a tendency to be
squeezed with greater force, between the frame 34 and the rod
36 as it tries to straighten. The second releasable fastening
means 28 thus efficiently prevents the loop 26 from enlarging
when the rope 16 gets tensioned. An adaptor 38 extends
integrally from the rod 12 at its end opposite the eyelet 14.
The adaptor 38 is provided for allowing the rod 12 to be
readily coupled to an extension rod 40. The adaptor 38 has
a slot 42 for receiving a coupling pin 43 part of the
extension rod 40.
In use, the pole climber 30 first forms the rope 16 into a
loop 26 by encircling the pole 32 and fastening the fixed end
18 to the eyelet 14 with the fastening ring 20. Once the
fixed end 18 is fastened, the climber 30 can manually pull on
a section of the rope 16 intermediate the eyelet 14 and the
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209~30
second fastening means 28 as illustrated in figure 2a toloosen the tension in the segment of the rope 16 which
encircles the pole 32 thus enlarging the loop 26.
The pole climber 30 enlarges the loop 26 in order to be able
to reduce the friction between the rope 16 and the pole 32
thus allowing him to push on the extension rod 40 in order to
raise the loop 26 on the pole 32 as illustrated in figure 2b.
Once the loop 26 has been raised, normally by pushing on the
extension rod at arm's lenght, the pole climber 30 reduces
the size of the loop 26 by pulling on a segment of the rope
16 between him and the second releasable fastening means 28.
The loop 26 being reduced in size, it tightens around the pole
32 thus providing a friction braking means against the loop
26 being pulling down when the pole climber 32 pulls on the
extension rod 40.
As stated earlier, a pulling action on the rod 12 or the
extension rod 40 will in fact increase the squeezing force on
the second releasable fastening means on the rope 16 thus
preventing the loop 26 from unvoluntarily enlarging in size.
The loose end 24 of the rope 16 is adapted to be attached to
a conventional safety belt 66 worn around the waist of the
pole climber 30 by a conventional attachment means such as the
clip 68. The device 10 thus acts both as a means for helping
the climber 30 in pulling himself up the pole 32 and as a
safety means adapted to hold the climber 30 by his belt 66
should he start to fall.
.~
A second embodiment 10' of the invention is illustrated more
specifically in figures 3 through 5c. The pole climbing
device 10' also has an elongated rigid rod 12' and an eyelet
14' positioned adjacent one of its end. A piece of
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2091930
substantially flexible material such as a rope 16' has a fixed
end 18' attached to the eyelet 14' by a first releasable
fastening means such as a fastening ring 20'. The first
releasable fastening ring 20' has an internally threaded
cylinder 22' adapted to engage an open threaded segment of the
ring 20' for releasably closing the latter.
The rope 16' also has a loose end 24'. A segment of the rope
16' intermediate the fixed end 18' and the loose end 24' is
attached to the rod 12' by a second releasable fastening means
28'. As with the second releasable fastening means 28 of the
first embodiment, the second releasable fastening means 28'
of the second embodiment is also adapted to provide a pole
climber 30' with a slidable adjustment means for quickly
modifying the size of the loop 26 and releasably preventing
the loop 26 from unvoluntarily changing in size. The second
releasable fastening means 28' thus allows the pole climber
30 to readily tighten or loosen the loop 26' around the pole
32' and to releasably lock the loop 26' at a given size.
The second releasable fastening means 28' of the second
embodiment comprises a sleeve element 42 slidably mounted on
the rod 12'. The sleeve element 42 has a cylindrical aperture
44 extending longitudinally therethrough for allowing the rod
12' to translate. The sleeve element 42 is fixed to the rod
12' by a pin 46 extending axially through both the rod 12' and
a pair of opposite slots 48 provided in the sleeve element 42.
The pin 46 prevents the rod 12' from being inadvertently
withdrawn from the sleeve element 42 while allowing a limited
translational motion of the rod 12' inside the aperture 44.
The sleeve element 42 is provided with an indentation 48
extending substantially perpendicularly into the aperture 44.
The rod 12' is provided with a corresponding indentation 50.
A closing element 52 is pivotally mounted on the sleeve
element 42. The closing element 52 is adapted to pivot about
an hinge pin 54. The closing element 52 has a protruding
2~91930
tongue 56 adapted to be inserted in the indentation 48 for
closing the latter. The closing element 52 also has a locking
aperture 58 extending therethrough. The aperture 58 is
adapated to be positioned in register with a corre ponding
aperture 60 in the sleeve element 42 and a removable locking
pin 62 is adapted to be inserted through both apertures 58 and
60 for releasably locking the closing element 52 in a closed
position illustrated in figures 3 and 5a where the tongue 56
is inserted in the indentation 48. A handle 64 facilitates
handling of the removable locking pin 62.
The eyelet 14' typically extends through the body of the
closing element 52.
In use, the fixed end of the rope 16' is first attached to the
eyelet 14' by the fastening ring 20'. The rope 16' is then
formed into a loop 26' and wrapped around a pole 32' by the
pole climber 30' as illustrated in figure 4a. A segment of
the rope 16' intermediate its fixed end 18' and its loose end
24' is releasably attached to the second releasable fastening
means 28'. The segment of the rope 16' is introduced into the
second releasable fastening means 28' by removing the
removable locking pin 62 and pivoting the closing element 52
in its opened position illustrated in figure 5b.
The segment of the rope 16 is then introduced into the
indentation 48. The rod 12' is then pushed inside the
aperture 44 relatively to the fastening means 28' so that the
indentation 50 is in register with the indentation 48 as
illustrated in figures 5a and 5b.
The indentation 48 being in register with the indentation 50
when the rod 12' is pushed so that the pin 46 abuts against
a lower edge 66 of the slots 48 which acts as a stopper means.
The indentations 48 and 50 being in register, the segment of
the rope 16 is pushed inside both indentations 48 and 50. The
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2~9~930
closing element 52 is then pivoted back to its closed position
with a curved surface 57 of the tongue 56 trapping the segment
of the rope 16' inside the indentations 48 and 50 and the
locking pin 62 is placed back to its original position.
In this position illustrated in figure 3, the fixed end 18'
of the rope 16' is attached to the eyelet 14' and an
intermediate segment of the rope 16 is slidably trapped inside
the second releasable fastening means 28'.
When both indentations 48 and 50 are in register, the rope 16
is free to slide through the indentations 48 and 50 allowing
the pole climber 30'to increase or reduce the size of the loop
26' To releasably prevent the rope 16 from sliding through
the indentations 48 and 50 in order to releasably lock the
loop 26' at a given size, the pole climber 30' merely needs
to pull on the rod 12'. The pulling action on the rod 12'
will create a relatively displacement between the rod 12' and
the sleeve element 42 slidably mounted on it. The rod 12'
will translate inside the aperture 44 thus displacing the
indentation 50 relative to the indentation 48. As illustrated
in figures 5a, 5b and 5c, ~the indentation 50 has a
substant ally rounded segment ~ and a relatively straight
segment ~4 adapted to abut against the segment of the rope 16'
for frictionally locking it.
During ascension of the pole 32', once the rope 16' has been
looped around the pole 32', the pole climber 30 pushes the rod
12' or the extension rod 40' upwardly thus translating the
rod 12 upwardly relative to the sleeve element 42 until the
pin 46 abuts against the lower edge 66 of the slot 48. In
this position illustrated in figure 5a, the rope 16' is free
to slide inside the spacing formed by the indentations 48 and
50 and the arcurate surface 57 of the tongue 56.
The user thus merely needs to pull on the rod 12' axially away
2091930
from the pole 32' to enlarge the loop 26l. Once the loop 26'
has been sufficiently enlarged, the climber 30 is free to push
the rod 40' at armsl length siæe since the loop 26' is no
longer tighten around the pole 32.
The climber 30 then pulls on the rope 16l to tighten the loop
26l around the pole 32. Once the loop 26l is sufficiently
tight it will provide a frictional stopping means preventing
the rod 40' from sliding down the pole 32'.
The pulling action of the climber 30 will then translate the
rod 12' downwardly relative to the sleeve 42 to a position
illustrated in figure 5c wherein the relatively straight
segment ~4 of the indentation 50 abuts against the
intermediate segment of the rope 16' inserted in the opening
formed by the indentations 48 and 50 and thus frictionally
prevents the latter from sliding.
The operation is repeted in a repetitive cycle as the climber
uses the rod 40 to pull himself up the pole 32'. Again as
with the previous embodiment, the loose end 24' of the rope
16l is adapted to be attached to the conventional safety belt
66' worn around the waist of the pole climber 30l by a
conventional fastenign means 68'
The device 10' again thus acts both as a means for helping the
climber 30' in pulling himself up the pole and as a safety
means adapted to hold the climber by his belt 66' should he
start to fall.
