Tether System for Fall Arrest with Guide Track
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fall protection systems for tall structures, such as towers and wind turbines, face issues with the exposure of safety lines to corrosion when not in use and difficulties in tensioning and operation in harsh maritime environments, particularly due to pulley systems becoming corroded and tangled.
Innovation Solution
A fall arrest system featuring a fixed position elongate guide track with tensioning arrangement, secured to the structure, and plastic stay clips that allow sliding travel along the guide track, preventing tangling and corrosion, while maintaining tension and facilitating easy retraction of the safety line.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a pulley system is used to manage the tether line, then the safety line can be paid out and retracted, but the pulley wheels and line arrangement become corroded and seized in the hostile maritime environment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the pulley wheels and line arrangement from the system, replacing them with a guide track and stay element mechanism. This extraction eliminates the components that were prone to corrosion and seizing in the maritime environment, while maintaining the core functionality of safety line payout and retraction through a different mechanical approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes the pulley-based mechanical system with a guide track and stay element system. The stay elements slide along the guide track to control tether line payout, replacing the pulley wheel mechanism. This substitution reduces moving parts that are susceptible to corrosion and improves reliability in harsh maritime conditions.
2Ease of operation
If an auxiliary line is used to pay out the safety line, then the safety line can be deployed, but the auxiliary line becomes tangled making subsequent automatic retraction difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the tether management function into separate components: the tether line for safety, the guide track for guidance, and the stay elements for control. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function without interfering with others, preventing the tangling issues that occur when a single auxiliary line is used for both deployment and retraction.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide track acts as an intermediary structure that guides the stay elements and tether line along a defined path. This intermediary mechanism ensures that the tether line is paid out in an organized manner and can be cleanly retracted, preventing the tangling that occurs with direct auxiliary line deployment methods.
3Ease of operation
If the safety line is left exposed when not in use, then it remains accessible, but the internal parts of the SRL are left open to corrosion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a system where the tether line is automatically gathered and retracted to the drum when not in use, before exposure to corrosive elements. This preliminary retraction action protects the SRL internal parts from corrosion while maintaining the capability for quick deployment when needed, as the tether line can be rapidly paid out from the drum.
Data Source
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AI summary
A tether system for a safety line has an elongate guide track and stay elements arranged to move along the guide track and be carried at spaced positions along the length of a tether line. The system is typically employed in a fall arrest or protection system mounted to a structure, having an ascent/descent ladder fixed to the structure, the system including a self-retracting safety line device including a safety line, mounted at height.