Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02476943 2004-07-19
1
TITLE OF THE INVENTION:
Ladder jack having fall protection
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a ladder jack having fall protection.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Ladder jacks are used to support scaffolding planks, which extend between
ladders.
Each ladder jack consists of a ladder attachment member having means for
engaging a ladder
and a plank support member pivotally mounted to the ladder attachment member.
An angular
brace member extends between the ladder attachment member and the plank
support member.
The angular brace member has a plurality of attachment positions. By selecting
the
appropriate one of the attachment positions, the angular brace member can be
positioned to
maintain the plank support member in a substantially horizontal orientation.
The ability to
adjust the positioning of the angular brace is necessary, as the ladder
attachment member will
always reflect the angle at which the ladder is resting.
The present problem with ladder jacks, is that they provide no fall
protection. This
lack of fall protection limits the height at which they may be used safely.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
What is required is a ladder jack having fall protection.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a
ladder jack
2 5 having fall protection. The ladder jack includes a ladder attachment
member having an upper
end, a lower end and means for engaging a ladder. A plank support member is
pivotally
mounted to the ladder attachment member. The plank support member has a
pivotal
connection end and a remote end. An adjustable angular brace member extends
from the
lower end of the ladder attachment member to engage the plank support member.
The plank
3 0 support member has a plurality of brace attachment positions. When an
appropriate one of
the brace attachment positions is selected, the angular brace member maintains
the plank
support member in a substantially horizontal orientation. A coupling
positioned at the remote
CA 02476943 2004-07-19
2
end of the plank support member. The coupling is adapted to engage a vertical
support and
maintain the vertical support in a substantially vertical orientation. The
coupling enables
provision to be made for fall protection in a ladder jack scaffold assembly,
as will hereinafter
be further described.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a
ladder jack
scaffold assembly, which includes the above described ladder jacks. The ladder
jack scaffold
assembly also includes a pair of vertical supports. Each of the vertical
support has a coupling
adapted to engage the coupling on the plank support member of one of the pair
of ladder
jacks. A fall prevention side rail is provided which is adapted to be secured
to and extend
between the vertical supports in a substantially horizontal orientation. A
pair of end rail
braces are provided; each of the end rail braces having a first end adapted to
be secured to one
of the vertical supports and a second end adapted to be secured to a building
structure. The
described ladder jack scaffold assembly is capable of being assembled to
provide fall
protection for workers using the ladder jacks.
According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a
method of
providing fall protection on a ladder jack scaffolding assembly. A pair of
ladders are
positioned leaning them against a building structure in spaced apart relation.
The ladder
2 0 attachment members of each of the ladder jacks are mounted to one of the
pair of ladders.
The angular brace members of each of the ladder jacks is adjusted by selecting
the appropriate
brace attachment position on each plank support member to maintain each plank
support
member in a substantially horizontal orientation. A plank is positioned so
that the plank
extends between a.nd is supported by the plank support members. Vertical
supports are
2 5 coupled with the coupling on each plank support member of each of the
ladder jacks, so that
the vertical supports are maintained in a substantially vertical orientation.
A fall prevention
side rail is secured to each of the vertical supports, so that the side rail
extends between the
vertical supports in a substantially horizontal orientation and at a height to
provide fall
protection. The first end of each of the end rail braces is secured to one of
the vertical
3 0 supports. The second end of each of the end rail braces is secured to the
building structure at
a height to provide stability to each the vertical supports while concurrently
providing fall
protection.
CA 02476943 2004-07-19
3
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the
following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the
drawings are
for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit
the scope of the
invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:
FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a ladder jack having provision for fall
protection
in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of a ladder jack scaffolding assembly utilizing
the
ladder jack illustrated in FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 3 labelled as PRIOR ART is a perspective view of a ladder jack that
does
not have provision for fall protection.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The preferred embodiment, a ladder jack with fall protection generally
identified by
reference numeral 10, will now be described with reference to FIGURES 1
through 3.
Referring to FIGURE 3, labelled as PRIOR ART, there will first be described a
2 0 prior art form of ladder jack, generally identified by reference numeral
100. Ladder jack 100
includes a ladder attachment member 12 having an upper end 14, a lower end 16
and means
for engaging a ladder 18 such as a pair of spaced apart rung engaging bodies
19 on ladder
attachment member 12. A plank support member 20 is pivotally mounted to ladder
attachment member 12. Plank support member 20 has a pivotal connection end 22
and a
2 5 remote end 24. An adjustable angular brace member 26 extends from lower
end 16 of ladder
attachment member 12 to engage plank support member 20. Plank support member
20 has a
plurality of brace attachment positions which are defined by a plurality of
openings, or slots
28 as shown, on plank support member 20. A common channel 32 connects the
bottom of
each slot 28. Other openings may be used in the art. Angular brace member 26
is secured by
3 0 fasteners 30 into the selected slot 28. Once an appropriate brace
attachment position is
selected, angular brace member 26 maintains plank support member 20 in a
substantially
horizontal orientation.
CA 02476943 2004-07-19
4
Referring to FIGURE 1, ladder jack 10 differs from ladder jack 100 only to the
extent
that a coupling 34 is positioned at remote end 24 of plank support member 20.
Coupling 34 is
adapted to engage a vertical support 36 as shown in FIGURE 2 and maintain
vertical support
36 in a substantially vertical orientation. Coupling 34 enables provision to
be made for fall
protection in a ladder jack scaffold assembly, generally identified by
reference numeral 40, as
will hereinafter be further described.
Referring to FIGURE 1, it will be appreciated that coupling 34 on plank
support
member 20 can be either a male member or a female member. We have chosen to
illustrate
coupling 34 on plank support member 20 as a male member.
Refernng to FIGURE 2, the other components of ladder jack scaffolding assembly
40
are illustrated. Ladder jack scaffold assembly 40 also includes a pair of
vertical supports 36.
Each vertical support 36 has a coupling 42 adapted to engage coupling 34 on
plank support
member 20 of ladder jack 10. A fall prevention side rail 44 is provided which
is adapted to be
secured to and extend between vertical supports 36 in a substantially
horizontal orientation.
A pair of end rail braces 46 are provided; each end rail brace 46 having a
first end 48 adapted
to be secured to one of the vertical supports 36 and a second end 50 adapted
to be secured to a
2 0 building structure 52. The described ladder jack scaffold assembly 40 is
capable of being
assembled to provide fall protection for workers using ladder jacks 10.
Referring again to FIGURE 2, there is illustrated a method of providing fall
protection with the components of ladder jack scaffolding assembly 40. A pair
of ladders 54
2 5 are positioned leaning them against a building structure 52 in spaced
apart relation. Ladder
attachment members 12 of each ladder jack 10 are mounted to the ladders 54.
The angular
brace member 26 of each ladder jack 10 is adjusted by selecting the
appropriate brace
attachment position on each plank support member 20 to maintain each plank
support
member 20 in a substantially horizontal orientation. A plank 58 is positioned
so that plank 58
3 0 extends between, and is supported by, plank support members 20. Coupling
42 of vertical
supports 36 are coupled with coupling 34 on each plank support member 20 of
each ladder
jack 10, so that vertical supports 36 are maintained in a substantially
vertical orientation. Fall
CA 02476943 2004-07-19
prevention side rail 44 is secured to each vertical support 36, so that side
rails 44 extend
between vertical supports 36 in a substantially horizontal orientation and at
a height to
provide fall protection. The first end 48 of each end rail brace 46 is secured
to one of the
vertical supports 36. The second end 50 of each end rail brace 46 is secured
to building
5 structure 52 at a height to provide stability to each vertical support 36
while concurrently
providing fall protection.
In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-limiting
sense to
mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically
mentioned are not
excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not
exclude the
possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context
clearly requires that
there be one and only one of the elements.
It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made
to the
illustrated embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention as
hereinafter defined in the Claims.
