Patent Abstract:
A construction safety screen ( 1 ) has structural capacity to wall predetermined portions of or entire worker-area precipices which include apertures and edges of under-construction buildings and scaffolding against accidental falling. Included are a fastening border ( 7 ), fasteners ( 12, 13, 14, 28, 43 ), netting apertures ( 5 ), netting material ( 6 ), visibility coloring and size adaptors. It can be rolled up for light-weight shipping or storage and unrolled easily and conveniently for use and reuse.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to safety screens to prevent workers from falling from edges of building-construction precipices that include stair wells, elevator shafts, windows, balconies and from other high edges and openings in buildings under construction and with scaffolding used in performing exterior work thereon.  
           [0002]    Safety barriers and nets to prevent workers from falling into stair wells, into elevator shafts, out of windows and from other high portions of buildings under construction or scaffolding are known. None are known, however to have opening-height closure, restraint reliability and cost-effectiveness in a manner taught by this invention.  
           [0003]    Examples of most-closely related known but different restraints against accidental falling from construction precipices are described in the following patent documents:  
                                       U.S. Pat. No.   Inventor   Issue Date                   6,068,085   Denny, et al.   May 30, 2000       6,182,790   Denny, et al.   Feb. 06, 2001       5,582,266   Rexroad, et al.   Dec. 10, 1996       4,815,562   Denny, et al.   Mar. 28, 1989       4,875,549   Denny, et al.   Oct. 24, 1989       3,480,069   Handwerker   Nov. 25, 1969       3,805,816   Nolte   Apr. 23, 1974       4,986,389   Halligan, Sr., et al.   Jan. 22, 1991                  
 
           [0004]    Currently at building precipices, two-by-four boards nailed about forty-two inches high is the most common prevention against accidental falling into stair wells, into elevator shafts, out of windows and from other high portions of buildings under construction. Other known restraints against falling, such as described in the above prior art have not been adopted for effective use in the construction industry. An urgent need remains for effective building-precipice fall protection.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    Objects of patentable novelty and utility taught by this invention, therefore, are to provide a construction safety screen which:  
           [0006]    closes entire worker-area openings and precipices of construction buildings and scaffolding as appropriate to prevent accidental falling therefrom;  
           [0007]    allows working ventilation and visibility;  
           [0008]    can be put in place for temporary use and removed quickly and conveniently;  
           [0009]    can be stored and reused;  
           [0010]    can be customized for construction-precipice features;  
           [0011]    is readily visible;  
           [0012]    can be positioned inwardly from, in line with or outside of edges of building precipices;  
           [0013]    can be tilted outwardly and upwardly to catch individuals who fall from work on or near outsides of buildings;  
           [0014]    is reliable, sturdy and long-lasting; and  
           [0015]    is cost-effective.  
           [0016]    This invention accomplishes these and other objectives with a construction safety screen having structural capacity to screen predetermined portions of or entire worker-area openings and other precipices of under-construction buildings and scaffolding against individuals accidentally falling therefrom. The construction safety screen includes a fastening border, building-structure fasteners, netting apertures, visibility coloring, size adaptors and buckles, base rods, net struts, framework and guys. The net can be rolled up for light-weight shipping or storage and unrolled easily and conveniently for use and reuse.  
           [0017]    The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention should become even more readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described illustrative embodiments of the invention. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0018]    This invention is described by appended claims in relation to description of a preferred embodiment with reference to the following drawings which are explained briefly as follows:  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front elevation view of a multi-story apartment building under construction with the construction safety screen positioned at edges of precipices that include stairways, and balconies;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway enlarged view of the construction safety screen positioned in place in a building aperture;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 3 is a side view of a straight hook bolt for hanging the construction safety screen to a top of a precipice framework;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 4 is a side view of a centered hook bolt for hanging the construction safety screen to the top of the precipice framework;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 5 is a side view of an eye bolt for anchoring the construction safety screen to a bottom of the precipice framework;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view of a fastener socket for screwing the hook bolt and the eye bolt into and out from construction framework that can include concrete, wooden and other bio-materials;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the FIG. 6 illustration;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway front elevation view of a plurality of the construction safety screens covering a long precipice and attached end-to-end;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view of a double-ring buckle on a fastening border as an optional buckle for adjusting length of a fastening line to the eye bolt;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway side view of the double-ring buckle with the attachment line attached to the eye bolt;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 11 is a fragmentary side view of the fastening border with a strap orifice for optional use of a predetermined standard belt buckle for attaching the eye bolt to the attachment line;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 12 is a partially cutaway side view of the fastening border with the strap orifice for optional use of the standard belt buckle for attaching the eye bolt to the attachment line;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 13 is a fragmentary view of a potion of the fastening border having a buckle with optional quick disconnection shown from a top;  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 14 is a section view of the FIG. 13 quick disconnection shown through section line  13 - 13  of FIG. 13;  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 15 is a fragmentary top view of the fastening border with the quick-disconnection;  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 16 is a side view of the eye bolt positioned to receive a section of a quick-disconnect line on which a quick disconnection is positioned;  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 17 is a partially cutaway side view of the quick-disconnect line on which a quick disconnection is positioned;  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 18 is a front view of the eye bolt positioned to receive the quick-disconnect line;  
         [0037]    [0037]FIG. 19 is a top view of the quick-disconnect line;  
         [0038]    [0038]FIG. 20 is a partially cutaway side view of the eye bolt to which the quick-disconnect line is connected and with the quick-disconnect line connected to the fastening border with a quick disconnection on the fastening border;  
         [0039]    [0039]FIG. 21 is a fragmentary side view of a precipice that is a building aperture having a precipice top to which the hook bolt is attached and an precipice bottom to which the eye bolt is attached with the construction safety screen attached to them;  
         [0040]    [0040]FIG. 22 is the fragmentary side view of the building aperture with a building-structure fastener that includes a base rod having an edge end proximate a precipice edge, an anchor end anchored to a precipice floor and a guy intermediate a frame top and the anchor end of the base rod;  
         [0041]    [0041]FIG. 23 is an attachment-side view of the FIG. 22 illustration;  
         [0042]    [0042]FIG. 24 is a partially cutaway side view of a precipice edge not having a precipice top or precipice side and with the base rod extended outwardly over the precipice edge;  
         [0043]    [0043]FIG. 25 is a partially cutaway side view of the precipice edge of the FIG. 24 illustration with the construction safety screen slanted from the base rod as fall protection of individuals doing outside finish work and other work at or near outside edges of buildings under construction;  
         [0044]    [0044]FIG. 26 is a front elevation view of another embodiment of the safety screen with reinforcement straps and snap ring fasteners; and  
         [0045]    [0045]FIG. 27 is a front elevation view of the safety screen with snap ring fasteners being used on a scaffold.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0046]    Listed numerically below with reference to the drawings are terms used to describe features of this invention. These terms and numbers assigned to them designate the same features throughout this description.  
                                                    1. Construction safety screen            2. Building under construction            3. Stairwell            4. Balcony            5. See-through aperture            6. Netting material            7. Fastening border            8. Precipice top            9. Precipice bottom           10. Precipice sides           11. Attachment line           12. Eye bolt           13. Hook bolt           14. Centered Hook bolt           15. Fastener socket           16. Fastener bay           17. Socket-wrench connection           18. Double-ring buckles           19. Flat-strap buckles           20. Strap orifice           21. Quick-disconnect line           22. Quick disconnection           23. Quick-disconnection eyes           24. Double-point ratchets           25. Ratchet hooks           26. Outward-tension member           27. Closure inclines           28. Base rod           29. Precipice floor           30. Edge end           31. Anchor end           32. Precipice edge           33. Floor-anchor position           34. Net strut           35. Frame bottom           36. Frame top           37. Guy           38. Hinge           39. Adjustable fastening strap           40. Net border generally           41. Box stitching           42. Adjustable buckle           43. Swivel snap ring           44. Netting           45. Horizontal reinforcement straps           46. Vertical reinforcement strap           47. Intermediate section of horizontal reinforcement strap           48. Bottom border           49. Top border           50. Side border           51. Scaffold staging ends           52. Straps           53. Snap rings           54. Netting           55. Border                      
 
         [0047]    Referring to FIGS.  1 - 2 , a construction safety screen  1  is sized and shaped to screen a portion of a precipice of a building  2  under construction, the precipice including a stairwell  3  and a balcony  4 . The construction safety screen  1  includes see-through apertures  5  that preferably are two-to-six-inches square to screen against passage of a human body and surrounded by netting material  6  having strength to support weight of the human body predeterminedly to prevent individuals from falling from the precipice.  
         [0048]    The construction safety screen  1  includes a fastening border  7  for fastening it to building-structure fasteners that are attached detachably to predetermined building structure which can include a precipice top  8 , a precipice bottom  9  and precipice sides  10  that can be building-aperture walls and optionally structural members thereat. Attachment lines  11  having adjustable length are extended intermediate an eye bolt  12  and the fastening border  7  at the precipice bottom  9  and at the precipice sides  10 . A hook bolt  13  is used to hang the construction safety screen  1  from the precipice top  8 .  
         [0049]    Referring to FIGS.  1 - 7 , the eye bolt  12  and the hook bolt  13  can be structured designedly for sizes and shapes of attachment lines  11  and for centering with a centered hook bolt  14 .  
         [0050]    For screwing the eye bolt  12 , the hook bolt  13  and the centered hook bolt  14  in and out of hard building material that can include concrete, a fastener socket  15 , shown in FIGS.  6 - 7 , is provided with a fastener bay  16  having a laterally long portion to receive eye portions of the eye bolt  12  and a shorter but deeper portion to receive hook portions of the hook bolt  13  and the centered hook bolt  14 . A socket-wrench connection  17  can be sized and shaped to receive a wrench socket and a socket-wrench handle that are not shown. The centered hook bolt  14  is provided for concentric wrenching and thread-fastening.  
         [0051]    Concrete of building precipices can be set with the eye bolt  12 , the hook bolt  13  and/or the centered hook bolt  14  therein or with bays to receive them. Optionally, the concrete can be drilled with a concrete bit on a motorized drill.  
         [0052]    As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of the construction safety screens  1  can be joined end-to-end with attachment lines  11  that are buckled together, attached to the precipice top  8  with the hook bolts  13  or centered hook bolts  14  and attached to the precipice bottom  9  with the attachment lines  11  and the eye bolts  12 .  
         [0053]    Referring to FIGS. 2, 8 and  9 - 12 , the attachment lines  11  can have length-adjustment attachment intermediate the eye bolt  12  and the fastening border  7  with double-ring buckles  18  that are attached to the fastening border  7 . Optionally as shown in FIGS.  11 - 12 , standard flat-strap buckles  19  can be used in combination with a strap orifice  20  in the fastening border  7 . A first end of the attachment line  11  is attached to the eye bolt  12  and a second end is attached to the fastening border  7 .  
         [0054]    Preferably, the construction safety screen  1  has visibility coloration that includes yellow for the netting material  6 , orange for the fastening border  7 , pink for the attachment lines  11 , blue for the buckles  18  and blue for the building-structure fasteners  12 ,  13 ,  14  and  28 .  
         [0055]    Referring to FIGS.  13 - 20 , convenient and fast connection to and disconnection from the eye bolts  12  can be provided with quick-disconnect lines  21 . The quick-disconnect lines  21  have first line ends attached to the building-structure fastener, which includes the eye bolt  12 , with a quick disconnection  22  on the quick-disconnect line  21 . A second end of the quick-disconnect line  21  is attached to the fastening border  7  with a quick disconnection  22  on the fastening border  7 .  
         [0056]    The quick disconnection  22  can include a spring-hook projection that spring-hooks into quick-disconnection eyes  23  that are suitably bordered apertures spaced apart along the quick-disconnect lines  21 . The quick disconnection  22  includes double-point ratchets  24  that are juxtaposed with ratchet hooks  25  oppositely disposed and extended resiliently from the first line end of the quick-disconnect line  21  and from the fastening border  7  respectively to which they are attached. The double-point ratchets  24  are forced inwardly towards each other against spring force of preferably an outward-tension member  26  by insertion into the quick-disconnection eyes  23  which slide against closure inclines  27 . The quick disconnections  22  are removed by finger-squeezing the double-point ratchets  24  together and pushing them out from the quick-disconnection eyes  23 .  
         [0057]    This allows fast, convenient and secure connection and disconnection that cannot be disconnected or loosened accidently.  
         [0058]    Referring to FIGS.  21 - 23 , optionally to attachment of the eye bolt  12  and the centered hook bolt  14  to edge portions of the building precipice depicted in FIG. 21, the building-structure fasteners can include a base rod  28  that rests on a precipice floor  29  as depicted in FIGS.  22 - 23 . The base rod  28  includes an edge end  30  and an anchor end  31 . The edge end  30  is positioned selectively proximate a precipice edge  32  and the anchor end  31  is positioned inwardly from the precipice edge  32  at proximate a floor-anchor position  33  where it is anchored preferably but not necessarily with the eye bolt  12 . One or more net struts  34  are extended vertically upward from the edge end  30  of the base rod  28 . A frame bottom  35  is extended horizontally from proximate a bottom of the net strut  34 . A frame top  36  is extended horizontally from proximate a top of the net strut  34 .  
         [0059]    The fastening border  7  has a bottom edge that is attached to the frame bottom  35  and a top edge that is attached to the frame top  36 . A guy  37 , which can be a flexible line or a rigid member, is positioned intermediate a top end of the net strut  34  and the anchor end  31  of base rod  28  to brace the net strut  34 , the construction safety screen  1  and framework to which it is attached from falling outwardly.  
         [0060]    The net strut  34  can be attached to the base rod  28  with a hinge  38  for ease of reuse and storage.  
         [0061]    A plurality of the base rods  28  and the net struts  34  can be employed for wide building precipices.  
         [0062]    The edge end  30  of the base rod  28  can be positioned as close to or on either side of the precipice edge  32 . This allows screening building precipices that do not have any structure or adequate structure at sides and tops to which the construction safety screen  1  can be anchored or attached directly. With the base rod  28  extended over the precipice edge  32 , the net struts  34  can be oriented or tilted to position the construction safety screen  1  for catching individuals who fall from outsides of buildings when doing final or other outside work. This also allows walling of entire sides or side portions of buildings for protection against falling during outside or near-precipice work on buildings.  
         [0063]    Referring to FIGS.  24 - 25 , the base rod  28  can be extended over precipice edges  32  which have only the precipice floor  29  for suitable attachment. Additionally with this embodiment, the construction safety screen  1  can be slanted as fall protection of individuals doing outside finish work at or near outside edges of buildings under construction. The guy  37  can support the frame top  36  and the net strut  34  in a select orientation with protective positioning at particularly dangerous building precipices.  
         [0064]    [0064]FIG. 26 shows a safety screen wherein the fastening straps  39  are all adjustable. The safety screen is made of netting  44  surrounded by a net border  40  to which the adjustable fastening straps  39  are attached on all four sides, approximately every two feet, using a very strong box stitching  41 . All straps  39  are adjustable by suing a common adjustment buckle  42 .  
         [0065]    Stitched to the end of all straps is a swivel snap ring  43  which makes the safety screen attachable and detachable by both sides. The snap ring  43  also connects each section of screen to other screens and allows the screen to cover different size openings.  
         [0066]    Horizontal reinforcement straps  45  are stitched to the border  40  and a vertical reinforcement strap  46 . The intermediate section of the horizontal reinforcement strap  47  between the border  40  and the vertical reinforcement strap  46  is not attached to the netting  44 , so in the case that the bottom border  48  of the safety screen was not properly fastened or fastened at all and a worker fell horizontal reinforcement straps  45  will serve as a grab line. These reinforcement straps  45  also create the protection needed if the netting  44  itself was cut or torn. The reinforcement straps are located at the heights required to be in compliance with OSHA regulations. Even if the safety screen is not fastened at the bottom border  48  or at the top border  49 , so long as the screen is fastened at the side borders  50 , it is safe, strong and in compliance. This added feature also gives the worker the ability to detach the top border  44  of the safety screen and let the netting  44  fold over when the completion of upper portion of the work area has occurred and still be in compliance with current regulations.  
         [0067]    The safety screen also may be fastened to steel beans without penetrating the steel. This is possible by attaching longer adjustable straps to the borders which then may be wrapped around the steel beams and attached by the snap rings  43  to a D-ring (not shown) attached to the border  40 . Such a design may be necessary for steel erected structures where penetrations are prohibited, such as nuclear power plants.  
         [0068]    Other features, such as zipper fasteners or snap-on plastic covers may also be used, particularly to provide protection in cold climates.  
         [0069]    The safety screen system of the present invention also provides vertical fall prevention in common construction scaffolding. As illustrated in FIG. 27, the safety screen may be installed at the end  51  of staging levels, attached by straps  52  and snap rings  53  operable by the border  54  surrounding the netting  55 . The safety screen may also be attached to the end of outrigger work areas at each scaffold level by suing the same strap and snap ring fastening system. This same type of netting will also be installed inside the walk-thru area of the staging attached to the center supports of the scaffolding which provides fall prevention from a worker&#39;s feet to head along the entire working area. At the top level of scaffolding the safety screen may also be installed to provide a debris barrier as well as a brightly colored safety system which will quickly alert workers to an un-safe working area.  
         [0070]    This product may also be installed in different sections of the scaffolding to provide easy access to scaffolding stairways and ladders and prevent falls while climbing and descending to the work areas. In addition, the safety screen also provide areas to attach signs to the netting  55 , such as “Scaffold Ladder,” “Stairway,” “Caution-Men Working Above” and so forth.  
         [0071]    A new and useful construction safety screen having been described, all such foreseeable modifications, adaptations, substitutions of equivalents, mathematical possibilities of combinations of parts, pluralities of parts, applications and forms thereof as described by the following claims and not precluded by prior art are included in this invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4