Patent ID: 9637975
Date: 2017-05-02
CPC Classifications: B65G,E04G,E06C

Claim:
1. An apparatus that provides worker fall protection to an elevated platform that is accessible via a vertically extending ladder and having selectively deployable worker access to at least a portion of the top of a tank disposed above the ground and carried by a railcar on a railroad track, the platform extending in a longitudinal direction and defined in part by a deck having a pair of longitudinally extending sides that are separated apart from one another in the transverse direction, each side of the deck being disposed to a respective opposite side of a virtual longitudinal centerline that extends down the length of the platform and is oriented normal to the transverse direction, the apparatus comprising: a. a gate detachably connectable along a first one of the longitudinally extending sides of the platform, the gate including a first gate post and a second gate post, each gate post spaced apart from the other in the longitudinal direction to define therebetween an opening that permits worker passage therethrough when walking on the platform, and the rate further including a barrier pivotally connected directly to and hung from the first gate post, wherein each of the gate posts extends in a vertical direction between an upper end of the gate post and a vertically lower end of the gate post defining a foot flange, the foot flange defining at least one bolt opening; b. at least one bolt having a threaded end; c. at least one threaded nut, wherein the at least one bolt and the at least one nut are detachably connectable to each other so as to detachably connect the gate along the first one of the longitudinally extending sides of the platform; and a ladder extension including a pair of longitudinally spaced apart sidebars, each sidebar configured to be pivotable between an extended position and a retracted position, wherein the ladder extension includes a first linkage and a second linkage, at least the first linkage having one end pivotally connected to a first one of the sidebars and a second end pivotally connected to the first gate post at a point between the Upper end and the lower end of the first gate post, wherein pivoting movement of the first one of the sidebars with respect to the linkages renders the ladder extension selectively deployable between an extended mode and a retracted mode, wherein in the extended mode the first one of the sidebars of the ladder extension is disposed spaced apart from the first gate post by a distance that is about the length of the first linkage.