RoofmatesTM products

Abstract

A number of roofing accessories, including a lightweight adjustable ladder and scaffold support are disclosed. The scaffold support is provided with a pair of rails spaced the standard spacing of most roof joists. Connected to the rails through suitable holes and slots, are rods supporting an adjustable platform. One of the rods may be placed through a corresponding slot to achieve a suitable angle of adjustment corresponding to roof incline. An apparatus is also provided for supporting loads of materials or supplies on an inclined roof, using components and parts in common with the scaffold support, or components and parts similar thereto. A tool tray is provided which may be backed with a layer of foam to prevent the tray from slipping off the roof, while allowing the tray to be freely moved along and up and down the roof, as work progresses.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application claims priority from Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 60 / 586,227 filed on Jul. 9, 2004, and incorporated herein by reference. [0002] The present application is related to the following co-pending patent applications, all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 050,964, filed on Jan. 22, 2002; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 050,964 in turn claims priority from Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 60 / 262,650, filed on Jan. 22, 2001; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 050,964 in turn claims priority from Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 60 / 286,527, filed on Apr. 27, 2001; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 050,964 in turn claims priority from Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 60 / 297,530, filed on Jun. 13, 2001; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 050,964 in turn claims priority from Provisional U.S. Patent Application No. 60 / 3...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0029] The platform may be provided as a planar table, with one or more edge rails to prevent materials from falling off the platform. The platform may be sized to accommodate a standard package size of shingles or a shingle “square”. Roofing materials stored on a roof may be stored on the platform in a level manner and thus reduce the likelihood that such materials will fall off. Smaller versions of the platform may be provided for holding tools and the like, and specialized version may be provided for specific applications such as holding a 5-gallon IGLOO™ water cooler.

[0050] In another embodiment of the SURETETHER™ an adjustable strap is provided which may be used to tie-off safety harnesses used by roofers. The straps are lightweight and inexpensive to use.

Problems solved by technology

An alarming number of construction site accidents are due to falls from pitched roofs by workmen, or injuries sustained by workmen when roofing materials (shingles, felt, nails, flashing, compounds, sealants, and the like) or tools (hammer, nail guns, water jugs, and the like) fall from a roof onto workers or passersby below.

One of the basic difficulties in roof work is transporting the materials up to the roof and storing them there until needed.

Thus, large quantities of shingles, tiles, slates, or the like, may need to be stored on the roof prior to installation.

If a fellow workman or passerby is below when such a large amount of material falls, serious injury or even death can occur.

In addition, although probably less hazardous, workers and passersby below are also in danger of serious injury from falling tools, hammers, and smaller amounts of roofing materials and the like.

In addition to causing stress on the body, such a work environment is inefficient, as such long reaches increase the time needed to install shingles and more readily fatigue the roofer.

Moreover, extended reaches may put the roofer at increase risk of falling due to loss of balance and the like.

Roofing materials and tools may be more likely to fall off a roof if a roofer has to stretch to reach them.

Such a primitive technique, commonly used, provides very little purchase for the roofer or materials to rest upon.

In addition, it may take time at the jobsite for the roofer to secure such scrap lumber, cut it to size, measure for nail spacing, and install.

However, most, if not all, of these attempts have failed in one or more ways, and none of these patented invention appear to have been commercially successful or readily available in the marketplace.

Most of these schemes utilize unnecessarily complicated apparatus, which is too costly for the average roofer to afford, to heavy to lift to the jobsite, and to cumbersome to work with.

The problem with the Eisenmenger system is that it requires that a ladder with specialized fittings first be hauled up to the roof and secured before the platform can be installed.

However, it appears that Bitner is limited to a device for supporting a walk-board or plank, and does not explicitly provide support for ladders, tools, supplies, or roofing materials.

In addition, the Bitner device utilizes a fairly complex and expensive screw-jack leveling system to provide infinite adjustment of angle.

While the screw-jack system may provide more levels of adjustment, it does so at the expense of added cost and complexity.

Moreover, the screw-jack of Bitner does not appear to be sufficient to support large loads (e.g., square of shingles).

As the pad is made entirely of foam rubber, it may be difficult to grip (no handles).

Moreover, the foam pad does not provide storage for small items such as nails or tools.

In addition to the above problems in the Prior Art, injuries have occurred when ladders and scaffolding set up for roof and other work are not properly secured and as a result, fall down.

However, oftentimes a convenient and easy way to tie off a ladder (e.g., to a gutter) is not present, particularly with regard to roofing work.

An aluminum ladder flying off a construction truck can cause great bodily injury or even death on a crowded superhighway.

Such dangers pose huge liabilities for construction companies, which may be ultimately responsible for the actions of their employees.

Moreover, securing any load to a vehicle present safety problems.

However contractors and homeowners have relied upon straps, ropes and even strings, to secure loads to their vehicles, with limited success and sometimes disastrous results.

Many contractors will leave ladders entirely unsecured on ladder racks, or use only a token string or rope to secure them.

In addition to being unsafe, ropes and strings are difficult to tie and untie.

Straps (since or ratchet) are one solution, however, they are generally provided with large rubber hooks, which may slip on a ladder or luggage rack or may be difficult to secure.

However, the YAKIMA® and THULE® racks may be highly specialized in their purposes and thus require an enormous amount of accessories in order to secure various items.

Moreover, accessories for one rack (e.g., YAKIMA®, which uses round tubing) may not fit another rack (e.g., THULE®, which uses square tubing).

Luggage racks supplied with cars generally are of little use and provide few or no places for tie-downs or the like.

However, there is little precision in depth of cut with a knife, and in addition, such a cut can be laborious and difficult.

Too deep a cut may create roof leaks.

Power tools are generally not well suited to cutting shingles.

Most are heavy and require electrical power.

In addition, large power tools present a hazard to workers below if they fall off the roof.

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