Safety bracket for securing ladder in place

A safety bracket for securing a ladder in place against a building structure, the bracket having two extending arm members interconnected in crossing relation intermediate the respective ends thereof with each arm member being slidable with respect to the other. Each arm member includes an intermediate portion and two end portions pivotally joined to the intermediate portion, the two end portions of each arm member including, respectively, a hook shaped portion which may be hooked around an upright member of a ladder and an eyelet for receiving therethrough a projecting member secured to the building structure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a device for holding a ladder securely in 
place against a building structure to facilitate the safe use thereof. 
After the initial location and placement of a ladder against a house or 
other building structure, there is always the danger that the upper end 
thereof may slide to one side or the other during its use. This risk is 
substantially increased when a workman is standing on one of the upper 
rungs of the ladder because the weight of the workman is concentrated at 
the top of the ladder and is substantially displaced from the bottom end 
of the ladder providing the sole support therefor. It is therefore not 
surprising that statistics published by the National Roofing Contractors 
Association reveal that injuries resulting from falls represent one of the 
two most frequent time-loss accidents which plague roofing workmen, most 
such falls resulting from inadequate or non-existent tie-off of ladders 
used by workmen to gain access to the roof of a building structure. 
A number of devices designed to engage a ladder and hold it securely in 
place against a building during its use have heretofore been proposed. 
Such devices have generally utilized a variety of means for engaging the 
building to prevent inadvertent or accidental movement of the ladder from 
its initial resting place against the building, some of these prior art 
devices including pointed elements disposed to slightly penetrate the roof 
of the building while other devices provide members which merely 
frictionally engage the roof of the building. Typical of these types of 
ladder supports are those shown in J. J. Gilmour, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 
2,815,160, W. Enssle, U.S. Pat. No. 1,522,292, and E. W. Wendel, U.S. Pat. 
No. 1,467,597. While each of these devices provides some degree of 
stability to the ladder to which they are attached, such devices may 
nevertheless be disengaged from the building with relatively little force, 
thereby providing only minimal protection against accidental sliding of 
the ladder with respect to the structure against which it is supported. 
Still other devices provide means for engaging the ladder and holding it 
securely to the roof guttering normally provided on houses and other small 
building structures, an example of this type of device being found in 
Jarboe, U.S. Pat. No. 3,853,202. Finally, as shown in Phelan, U.S. Pat. 
No. 3,903,991, other devices utilize relatively complex locking assemblies 
which must be bolted both to the ladder itself and to the building 
structure against which it is to rest. 
In contrast, the present invention provides a safety bracket for securing a 
ladder in place against a building structure which may be relatively 
quickly and easily attached in place without requiring complicated locking 
assemblies or engagement of guttering and which provides significantly 
greater stability against accidental disengagement of the ladder from the 
building than conventional devices which utilize frictional members or 
pointed elements to engage the roof of the building. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a safety bracket for securing a ladder in 
place against a building structure, the safety bracket including two 
extending arm members and interconnection means disposed intermediate the 
respective ends of the arm members to connect the arm members in crossing 
relation so that each arm member is slidable with respect to the other. 
Each of the arm members have first attachment means at one end thereof for 
attaching the arm members to the ladder, and each arm member has second 
attachment means at the other end thereof for receiving a projecting 
member secured to the building structure. 
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first 
attachment means comprises a hook shaped portion formed at one end of each 
arm member which may be hooked around an upright member of the ladder to 
attach such ends to the ladder, and the second attachment means comprises 
an eyelet formed at the other end of each arm member for receiving the 
projecting member therethrough to attach such other ends to the building 
structure. The interconnecting means includes a bridge portion connected 
at each end thereof to one of the arm members intermediate the respective 
ends thereof and extending in spaced parallel relation thereto. In this 
manner, a slot is defined through which the other arm member extends in 
sliding relation to such one arm member. 
It is additionally preferred that each arm member include an intermediate 
portion and two end portions joined to the intermediate portion by pivot 
connection means, the two end portions including the first and second 
attachment means, respectively. The pivot connection means includes 
interengaging eyelets formed at the adjacent ends of the intermediate 
portion and the two end portions, the interengaging eyelets having 
dimensions larger than the slot to prevent separation of the arm members.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now in detail to the accompanying drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates 
the preferred embodiment of the safety bracket of the present invention, 
and FIGS. 2-4 illustrate such safety bracket as it would typically be used 
in securing a ladder to buildings having a variety of roof structures, it 
being understood that the safety bracket of the present invention is not 
limited to the representative application illustrated in the drawings. 
Referring now to FIG. 1, the safety bracket of the present invention 
comprises two extending arm members 10, 11, each arm member 10, 11, having 
a hook shaped portion 12 formed at one end thereof which may be readily 
hooked around an upright member or rail of a ladder to attach the 
extending arm members 10, 11, to the ladder, and each arm member 10, 11, 
also having an eyelet 14 formed at the other end thereof for receiving 
therethrough a nail or spike driven into the roof of a building or any 
similar projecting member which is secured to the roof of the building 
structure against which the ladder is to be placed, to thereby attach the 
extending arm members 10, 11, to the building structure. A bridge portion 
16 is connected at each end thereof to arm member 11 intermediate the 
respective ends thereof in spaced parallel relation thereto to define a 
slot 18 through which arm member 10 extends. In this manner, the extending 
arm members 10, 11, are interconnected in crossing relation with each arm 
member 10, 11 being slidable with respect to the other. By virtue of the 
crossing relationship between the respective arm members 10, 11, the 
respective arm members 10, 11 of the safety bracket, when in use, exert 
opposing forces against the ladder to which the bracket is attached, 
thereby opposing the forces which can cause an unsecured ladder to slide 
with respect to the structure against which it is supported and securing 
the ladder in a more static state than would be the case if a bracket 
comprising two non-crossing arm members were used. The slot 18 allows 
slidable adjustment of the arm members 10, 11, which assists the user in 
manipulating the bracket to adapt it to the installation requirements of a 
variety of different roof shapes and slopes, thereby enabling the user to 
maximize the aforesaid static effect obtained from the crossing 
relationship of the arm members. 
It is additionally preferred that each of the two extending arm members 10, 
11, include an intermediate portion 20 and two end portions 22, 23, 
connected, as hereinafter described, to opposite ends of the intermediate 
portion 20, each end portion 22 having at the outer end thereof the hook 
shaped portion 12 described above, and each end portion 23 having at its 
outer end the above-described eyelet 14. Each intermediate portion 20 is 
provided with two eyelets 24, 25, formed at opposite ends thereof, the 
eyelets 24 being interconnected with corresponding eyelets 26 at the inner 
ends of end portions 22, respectively and the eyelets 25 being 
interconnected with corresponding eyelet 27 at the inner ends of end 
portions 23, respectively, whereby each intermediate portion 20 is 
pivotally connected individually with each of its respective end portions 
22, 23. The intermediate portion 20 of arm member 11 includes the 
above-described bridge portion 16 and slot 18, with the arm member 10 
extending through slot 18 and the intermediate portion 20 thereof being 
slidable therewithin. The pivotal units formed by interengaging eyelets 
24, 26, and interengaging eyelets 25, 27, have height and width dimensions 
larger than the width of the slot 18 to prevent separation of the 
interconnected arm members 10, 11. In this manner, not only is the safety 
bracket of the present invention slidably adjustable by virtue of the 
interconnection of arm members 10, 11, at slot 18, the arm members 10, 11, 
are also each individually pivotally adjustable by virtue of the pivotal 
connection of each intermediate portion 20 with each of its respective end 
portions 22 and 23, thereby allowing the pivotal manipulation of the 
safety bracket to adjust it to conform to almost any conventional roof 
design or configuration. 
It can therefore be seen, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, that the safety 
bracket of the present invention may be installed to secure a ladder, 
indicated generally at 28, placed against the edge of the roof of a 
building structure by initially engaging the hook shaped portions 12 about 
the upright members or rails 30 of the ladder 28 at a location adjacent 
the roof edge, extending the arm members 10, 11, outwardly therefrom over 
the roof (indicated generally at 32) in opposite directions until taut, 
and securing the end portions 23 to the roof 32 by driving a rail or spike 
31 through each eyelet 14. In this manner, a ladder placed against a 
building having a slanted roof (FIG. 2) or a flat roof (FIG. 3) may be 
quickly and easily secured against sliding or falling. Additionally, the 
safety bracket of the present invention may be easily installed in a 
similar manner on building structures which do not have a flat surface 
adjacent the roof edge against which the ladder is placed and over which 
the safety bracket could be planarly extended. An example of such an 
installation is illustrated in FIG. 4 wherein the safety bracket of the 
present invention has been utilized to secure a ladder against a building 
structure having a flat roof with a parapet. By virtue of the pivotable 
end portions 22, 23 and the relatively slidable intermediate portions 20, 
optimum stability of the ladder is achieved by initially attaching the 
hook shaped portions 12 to the rails 30 of the ladder 28 and extending the 
arm members 10, 11, outwardly in opposite directions while slidably 
adjusting the intermediate portions 20 to locate the pivotal connection 
between the intermediate portions 20 and their respective end portions 23 
at the rear edge 34 of the parapet wall 33. The end portions 23 may then 
be pivoted to extend downwardly along the vertical inner surface 35 of the 
wall 33 and secured in place by driving a rail or spike 31 through each 
eyelet 14. The safety bracket of the present invention may be similarly 
adjusted to conform to other irregular roof or wall designs by adjusting 
the bracket to locate the pivotal connections between the intermediate 
portions 20 and the end portions 22, 23, at points or lines of change in 
the roof configuration. 
Although the present invention has been described in relation to the 
preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and 
variations may be resorted to without departing from the substance or 
scope of the present invention, as those skilled in the art will readily 
understand. Such modifications and variations are within the scope of the 
present invention, which is intended to be limited only by the appended 
claims and equivalents thereof.