Modular ladder for stealth cell towers
AssigneeT-Mobile USA, Inc.
InventorJoseph Lee
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods for providing access for workers to cell towers are disclosed. The system is useful on “stealth” cellular towers that do not have external ladders or climbing pegs for aesthetic reasons. The system may include a channel (e.g., a track) that may be permanently mounted to the cell tower and extends from a bottom of the cell tower to a top of the cell tower as well as a track-line (e.g., a chain, a belt, etc.) located within the channel such that the track-line acts as a loop running from the bottom of the cell tower to the top of the cell tower, and vice versa. A modular ladder with climbing pegs may be attached to the track-line and inserted into the channel such that the modular ladder may be pulled up the channel to the top of the cell tower by the track-line and then secured.
Claims20
A system for scaling a tower, the system comprising:
- a track-line with a length equal to at least twice a height of the tower;
- a channel disposed vertically on the tower to house the track-line from proximate a bottom of the tower to proximate a top of the tower;
- a modular ladder partially located within the channel and removable coupled to the track-line, the modular ladder comprising at least a first climbing peg and a second climbing peg, wherein at least one of the first climbing peg or the second climbing peg includes:
- a vertical portion including a top connection point and a bottom connection point for connecting multiple climbing pegs together;
- and
- a horizontal portion perpendicularly coupled to the vertical portion, the horizontal portion comprising a crossbar usable to be at least one of held on to or stepped on;
- and
- a rotating mechanism disposed proximate the bottom of the tower attached to a first end of the track-line to pull the track-line in a first direction;
- wherein the rotating mechanism moves the track-line such that, in response to the track-line pulling in the first direction, the modular ladder travels to proximate the top of the tower.
A method comprising:
- attaching a channel vertically to an exterior surface of a tower;
- installing at least one upper pulley proximate a top portion of the tower and at least one lower pulley proximate a bottom portion of the tower to direct a track-line from proximate the bottom portion of the tower to proximate the top portion of the tower;
- positioning the track-line over the at least one upper pulley and the least one lower pulley such that the track-line is located within the channel;
- installing a rotating mechanism disposed proximate the bottom portion of the tower;
- and
- installing a modular ladder partially located within the channel and removable coupled to the track-line, the modular ladder comprising at least a first climbing peg and a second climbing peg, wherein at least one of the first climbing peg or the second climbing peg includes:
- a vertical portion including a top connection point and a bottom connection point for connecting multiple climbing pegs together;
- and
- a horizontal portion perpendicularly coupled to the vertical portion, the horizontal portion comprising a crossbar usable to be at least one of held on to or stepped on;
- wherein the rotating mechanism is coupled to the at least one lower pulley such that the rotating mechanism is configured to move the track-line from proximate the bottom portion of the tower to proximate the top portion of the tower and in response to the track-line moving, the modular ladder travels to proximate the top portion of the tower.
A method for scaling a cell tower using a self-contained system, the method comprising:
- coupling multiple climbing pegs together to form a modular ladder, wherein at least one of the multiple climbing pegs includes:
- a vertical portion including a top connection point and a bottom connection point for connecting the multiple climbing pegs together;
- and
- a horizontal portion perpendicularly coupled to the vertical portion, the horizontal portion comprising a crossbar usable to be at least one of held on to or stepped on;
- coupling a first end of the modular ladder to a track-line located within a channel, the channel extending a length of the cell tower;
- activating a rotating mechanism located proximate a bottom of the cell tower, the rotating mechanism being coupled to the track-line such that the track-line causes the first end of the modular ladder to travel towards proximate a top of the cell tower in response to the rotating mechanism being activated;
- deactivating the rotating mechanism in response to the first end of the modular ladder reaching proximate the top of the cell tower;
- and
- installing a locking mechanism on a second end of the modular ladder proximate the bottom of the cell tower causing the modular ladder to be in a fixed position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.