Stilts with non-circular support pole and method of improving safety
AssigneeCINTA Tools Inc.
InventorsWerner L. Schlecht, David T. Roman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Stilts for supporting a worker for doing elevated work, such as drywall installation, and methods of improving the safety of stilts, reducing the weight of stilts, and obtaining and providing stilts. Stilts each include a base member, a shoe plate, at least one (e.g., two) column(s), a leg-attachment mechanism, a support pole having a non-circular feature, and a guide that engages the non-circular feature to better resist twisting. In some embodiments, the non-circular feature is that the support pole has a non-circular cross section, such as an oval cross section. Inner and outer portions may telescopically engage to provide for height adjustment.
Claims18
A stilt, comprising:
- a base member;
- a shoe plate;
- a first column which, when the stilt is assembled, extends from the base member to the shoe plate;
- a leg-attachment mechanism for attaching to a leg of a worker above a shoe;
- a support pole which, when the stilt is assembled, extends from a lower attachment point at the first column to an upper attachment point at the leg-attachment mechanism, the support pole further comprising an intermediate attachment point near the shoe plate, wherein the support pole has a centerline and comprises at least one non-circular feature extending parallel to the centerline along the support pole at least over an adjustment range, and
- a guide for the support pole, the guide having an interior surface having at least one non-circular aspect;
- wherein, when the stilt is assembled, the non-circular feature of the support pole engages with the non-circular aspect of the interior surface of the guide to provide for height adjustment of the leg attachment mechanism over the adjustment range to allow the leg attachment mechanism to be raised and lowered to fit the leg of the worker while preventing the leg attachment mechanism from rotating relative to the shoe plate.
A stilt, comprising:
- a base member;
- a shoe plate;
- a first column which, when the stilt is assembled, extends from the base member to the shoe plate;
- a leg-attachment mechanism for attaching to a leg of a worker above a shoe of the worker;
- and
- a support pole which, when the stilt is assembled, extends from a lower attachment point at the first column or near the shoe plate to an upper attachment point at the leg-attachment mechanism, wherein the support pole comprises a non-circular inner pole and a mating non-circular outer tube, wherein, when the stilt is assembled, the non-circular inner pole telescopically and substantially non-rotatably engages the mating non-circular outer tube to provide for height adjustment of the leg attachment mechanism over an adjustment range to allow the leg attachment mechanism to be raised or lowered to fit the leg of the worker while preventing the leg attachment mechanism from rotating relative to the shoe plate.
A method of improving the safety of a stilt for supporting a worker for doing elevated work, the method comprising:
- obtaining or providing a base member;
- obtaining or providing a shoe plate;
- obtaining or providing a first column which, when the stilt is assembled, extends from the base member to the shoe plate;
- obtaining or providing a leg-attachment mechanism for attaching to a leg of the worker above a shoe of the worker;
- and
- obtaining or providing a support pole which, when the stilt is assembled, extends from a lower attachment point at the first column or near the shoe plate to an upper attachment point at the leg-attachment mechanism;
- wherein the support pole has at least one external non-circular feature that extends parallel to a centerline of the support pole at least over an adjustment range to resist twisting of the support pole relative to the shoe plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.