ROOF HATCH GRAB BARS

BARRES D'APPUI POUR TRAPPE D'ACCES

English Abstract

A roof hatch grab bar assembly for adding comfort to a person ascending or descending a roof hatch and its complementary through the roof ladder. The roof hatch grab bar assembly includes grab bar handrails and a cross support assembly with side supports on either side that include telescoping arms. The design is adjustable, easily installed and will not crush the insulation surrounding a roof hatch that is conventionally adhered to the hatch. Installation may be done while minimizing the potential for leaks in the roof.

French Abstract

Une barre dappui pour trappe daccès pour ajouter du confort à une personne qui monte ou descend une trappe daccès à un toit et son complémentaire par léchelle de toit. La barre dappui pour trappe daccès comprend des mains courantes pour la barre dappui et un support transversal avec des supports latéraux sur chaque côté qui comprennent des bras télescopiques. Le concept est réglable, facilement installé et nécrasera pas lisolation qui entoure la trappe daccès qui est habituellement collée à la trappe. Linstallation peut être faite tout en minimisant le potentiel de fuites dans le toit.

Claims

What is claimed is:
1. A roof hatch grab bar assembly to be secured around the outside of a
roof hatch housing
a ladder for accessing the roof, comprising:
upwardly extending permanently attached grab bar hand rails which are also
permanently
centered on the ladder;
a hollow cross support assembly having apertures at either end supporting and
permanently welded to the grab bar hand rails;
at least two side supports including telescoping arms adapted to be received
within the
apertures of the hollow cross support assembly around the base of the outside
of the roof hatch
housing, said at least two side supports further including a side rail welded
to the side supports;
and
each side rail having an integral stand-off bolt receiving member, whereby
bolt movement
is minimized to prevent damage to roof hatch insulation; and
whereby the upwardly extending grab bar hand rails are permanently attached to
the
hollow cross support assembly to add comfort to a person ascending or
descending the ladder.
2. The roof hatch grab bar assembly of claim 1, further comprising
telescoping arm
attachment to vertical surfaces of the roof hatch housing for minimizing roof
and insulation
damage due to installation.
3. The roof hatch grab bar assembly of claim 1, further comprising
adjustability for use on
many roof hatch openings by scoping the telescoping arms of the at least two
side supports to
allow for permanent attachment around a roof hatch, and attachment to vertical
surfaces of the
roof hatch housing.
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Description

CA 02630462 2014-12-12
ROOF HATCH GRAB BARS
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TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a safety device for use with rooftop applications,
and more
particularly relates to a new device for attaching grab bars to the top of a
roof hatch.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In many industrial and/or commercial buildings a roof hatch is attached as a
through hole to the top of the roof for maintenance performance. As one may
know from using a
roof hatch, it is quite dangerous to climb up onto the roof through the hatch
without having a
secure grab hold to steady a maintenance person carrying a lot of tools and/or
equipment.
It would be an advantage to secure a roof hatch grab bar to a roof hatch in
order to
allow stability and security for maintenance personnel and/or anyone climbing
up onto the top of
an industrial roof. It would also be an advantage to provide stability to a
maintenance person for
bringing equipment and tools up onto the roof to perform the maintenance
procedures.
A need has arisen for a grab bar assembly that is easy to install for
adjustable roof
hatch dimensions, without crushing the insulation around the hatch. As other
hatch safety railing
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CA 02630462 2014-12-12
,
systems typically crush the insulation, thereby causing leaks into the
building below, it would be
a real advantage to provide a new, non-crushing design.
USPN 6,167,659 issued January 2, 2001 to Harold Swindell III is a prior art
hatch
rail system, but is not a non-crushing design, leaking to potential leaks.
USPN 6,681,528 issued January 24, 2004 to Profeta, et. al, also disclosed a
prior
art hatch rail system, although it also poses a problem with the insulation as
well as causing
potential leak problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the above-mentioned advantages, one aspect of the present
invention seeks to provide a telescoping roof hatch safety grab bar making
ascent and descent
through a roof hatch more comfortable and secure. Specific adjustable features
allow the roof
hatch grab bar assembly to fit all standard roof hatches, while meeting OSHA
regulation
1910.27(d)(3).
In another aspect of the present invention, a caged roof hatch safety grab bar
system provides an added measure of comfort to an existing roof hatch. Again,
the construction
is fully adjustable to fit all standard roof hatch sizes, and enabling easy
installation without
crushing any insulation around the roof hatch.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, a back bar caged safety grab
bar set
is further disclosed for non-standard hatch orientation where lid hinges at
the side instead of the
back of the roof hatch.
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,
In a broad aspect, the invention pertains to a roof hatch grab bar assembly to
be secured
around the outside of a roof hatch housing a ladder for accessing the roof,
comprising upwardly
extending permanently attached grab bar hand rails which are also permanently
centered on the
ladder, a hollow cross support assembly having apertures at either end
supporting and
permanently welded to the grab bar hand rails, and at least two side supports
including
telescoping arms adapted to be received within the apertures of the hollow
cross support
assembly around the base of the outside of the roof hatch housing. The at
least two side
supports further include a side rail welded to the side supports, and each
side rail has an integral
stand-off bolt receiving member. Bolt movement is minimized to prevent damage
to roof hatch
1 0 insulation, and the upwardly extending grab bar hand rails are
permanently attached to the
hollow cross support assembly to add comfort to a person ascending or
descending the ladder.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a further understanding of the nature and advantages of the expected scope
and
various embodiments of the present invention, reference shall be made to the
following
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detailed description, and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings, in which
like parts are given the same reference numerals, and wherein;
FIG. 1 is an environmental perspective view of a roof hatch grab bar assembly
made in accordance with the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a front elevational exploded view of the grab bar assembly;
FIG. 3 is a close up of a stand-off tube in relation to the grab bar assembly;
FIG. 4 is a side elevational perspective view of the grab bar assembly of FIG.
1;
and
FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the telescoping feature of the invention
of
FIG. 1.
=
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Looking first to FIG. 1, a new roof hatch grab bar assembly made in accordance
with the present invention is shown in-situ perspective view to show relative
placement of the
assembly once it is installed. A roof hatch grab bar is generally denoted by
the numeral 10 and is
shown installed on a roof hatch 12 coming through a roof 14. Roof hatch grab
bar assembly 10
includes grab bar hand rails 16 and a cross support assembly denoted by the
numeral 18,
including side supports 20 on either side. Side supports 20 include
telescoping arms which are
received by hollow cylindrical cross supports 22.
As one can see, when roof hatch 12 is in the open position, a maintenance
worker
can climb up the ladder, through roof 14, and grab a hold of handrails 16 to
steady himself as he
is entering onto roof 14. Preferably an anti-slip mat may be placed in front
of handrail 16 to have
a non-slip surface for the maintenance to egress and ingress through the roof
hatch 12.
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Looking next to FIG. 2, an exploded view of the roof hatch grab bar assembly
10
is shown, and is generally denoted by numeral 30 including handrails 32 and
gives more detail
about the cross support denoted by numeral 22 of FIG. 1. Handrails 32 are
welded to a top and
bottom cross support hollow cylindrical receiving tube, 34 and 36
respectively, which are also
welded to back plate 38. Looking to the right side of FIG. 2, there is shown a
side support with a
top inner cross support 40 and a lower inner cross support 42 both welded to a
side support.
Looking to the left of FIG. 2, there is shown a left inner cross support on
the
upper member 44 and a lower member 46 both welded to a side support 48. As
will be shown in
greater detail hereinbelow, the upper and lower right inner cross supports 40
and 42 are received
within the upper and lower facing cross supports, 34 and 36 respectively.
Likewise, the left inner
cross support upper member 44 and lower member 46 are also received within the
face cross
support upper and lower members, 34 and 36 respectively. After the arms are
received by the
face cross support, holes are tapped through the cylindrical tube to secure
the inner cross
supports therein for stability and security. The installation becomes final
when the sides are
attached to the sides of the roof curb.
FIG. 3 shows in detail the side support generally denoted by numeral 50,
including a side rail 56 with a stand-off bolt receiving member 52 integral
with inner cross
supports upper member 44 and lower member 46. Upper and lower members 44 and
46 are
welded to the interior facing side of the face 54.
Stand-off 52 is helpful for receiving a nut and bolt that is attached to the
side of
the roof curb shown in FIG. 1 where the side support is bolted through the
bottom of roof hatch
12, i.e. the roof curb. The stand-off is useful because the material on the
side of the roof curb is
spongy and insulative, and, if a bolt goes through a single area, it may twist
and turn with use
and become loose from its point of entry into the roof hatch 12. By providing
the extended length
as shown in stand-off 52 of FIGS. 3 and 4, the bolt is held into position, and
is not allowed to
wiggle to become dislodged. This feature should also alleviate leaks caused by
installation
issues.
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;
Looking at FIG. 4, a perspective view of the roof hatch grab bar is shown so
that
the telescoping effect of upper and lower inner cross members 44 and 46 can
travel in direction
"A" into upper and lower cross support members 34 and 36 respectively. As
upper and lower
face cross support members 34 and 36 are welded to back plate 38 on the back
and to handrails
32 on the front, the cross supports are held in good securement to the upper
and lower inner cross
support members 44 and 46, which are in turn welded to the side support
receiving member 54,
which is integral with side rail 56. During assembly, bolts are put through
stand-offs 52 and
attached to the side of the roof curb, as is more clearly shown in FIG. 5.
FIG. 5 shows a close-up of the roof hatch 12 receiving the roof hatch grab bar
of
the present invention. The right side inner cross member upper and lower parts
40 and 42 are
shown telescopically received by the upper and lower 34 and 36 cross members
of the face cross
support and secured thereto and therethrough. The side rail 56 is shown with
the stand-offs 52
abutting on the backside, the roof curb underneath roof hatch 12. Note that
handrails 32
preferably rest upon roof 14, without placing too much pressure on the roof as
it is spongy and
will not support a great deal of weight in one small place. Preserving the
integrity of these
spongy materials keeps installation issues to a minimum.
Although the invention has been described by way of examples hereinabove for
specific embodiments having certain features, it must also be realized that
minor modifications
that do not require undo experimentation on the part of the practitioner are
covered within the
scope and breadth of this invention. Additional advantages and other novel
features of the
present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon
examination or may be learned
within the practice of the invention. Therefore, the invention is capable of
many other different
embodiments and its details are capable of modifications of various aspects
which will be
obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art all without departing from the
scope of the inven-
tion as defined in the claims.
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