Folding guard rail method and apparatus
OwnerJohn Seto, Ronnie J. Jonesinventors
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is for a safety guard rail system having folding guard rails designed to be raised or lowered at their base by a single individual from an acceptable safe distance from the edge of a precipice, such as the edge of a building roof. A sliding sleeve hinge lock locks each folding rail in an erect position and can be remotely unlocked for folding the rail. An elongated grappling tool has a hook-like end for grabbing the sliding sleeve hinge lock handle for locking and unlocking the hinge lock from a distance when erecting or folding a guard rail.
Claims14
A remotely folding guard rail system comprising:
- a safety rail having at least one horizontal rail and a vertical rail supporting post;
- a base post attached to a building structure and having a hinge attached between an upper end of said base post and a lower end of said safety rail supporting post for folding said safety rail between an upright position and a folded position;
- a locking sleeve slidably mounted to said safety rail supporting post, said locking sleeve having a handle attached thereon and being adapted to slide on said safety rail supporting post and over said hinge when said safety rail is in a generally upright position in which said rail supporting post is aligned with said base post to lock said rail supporting post in said upright position;
- and
- an elongated grappling tool having a locking sleeve handle engaging end portion shaped for remotely engaging said handle and lifting said locking sleeve above said hinge to allow said safety rail to be folded about said hinge from said upright position to said folded position;
- whereby the safety rail held in the upright position may be remotely lowered to the folded position.
A method of remotely folding a guard rail comprising the steps of:
- selecting a guard rail having at least one horizontal rail and a vertical rail supporting post and having a base post attached to a building structure, a lower end of said rail supporting post being hingedly attached to an upper end of said base post via a hinge and said rail supporting post having a sliding hinge lock having a handle thereon and being adapted to slide on said rail supporting post and over said hinge when said guard rail is in a generally upright position in which said rail supporting post is aligned with said base post to lock said rail supporting post in said upright position;
- selecting an elongated grappling tool having a sliding hinge lock handle engaging end portion shaped for engaging and lifting said sliding hinge lock;
- grasping and raising said sliding hinge lock handle from a distance with said elongated grappling tool to lift said sliding hinge lock above said hinge to unlock said hinged rail supporting post from said base post to allow said guard rail to be folded about said hinge;
- and
- folding said guard rail from said upright position to a folded position;
- whereby the guard rail is remotely moved from the locked upright position to the folded position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.