Temporary Tower Fall Protection Guide Channel
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing fall protection systems for tall structures like towers and pylons are costly and time-consuming to install and maintain, requiring regular inspection and reinstallation, which increases expenses and poses safety risks due to exposure to weather conditions.
Innovation Solution
A method and assembly that involves securing a guide channel to the top of the tower and using a guide line to easily install and remove a temporary fall protection system, allowing for quick and secure setup and teardown, reducing maintenance and inspection needs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a stationary safety line is attached to each structure, then fall protection reliability is improved, but investment cost and inspection time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The fall protection system transitions from a stationary, permanently attached configuration to a dynamic, temporarily installable configuration. The guide channel remains fixed on the structure, but the safety line and associated components can be quickly installed and removed as needed, allowing the system to adapt between deployed and stored states without requiring permanent attachment of all components.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is divided into separate functional components: a permanently installed guide channel and a temporarily installed safety line assembly. This segmentation allows the guide channel to remain on the structure for reliability while the safety line can be removed for inspection or storage, reducing both inspection time and loss from weather exposure.
2Ease of operation
If safety lines are removably attached to a structure, then ease of removal is improved, but reinstallation time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The guide channel is pre-installed on the structure in a permanent or semi-permanent fashion before any safety line installation. This preliminary action creates a ready-made pathway that guides the safety line during installation and removal, significantly reducing the time and complexity of reinstallation compared to attaching safety lines directly to the structure without pre-positioned guidance elements.
3Reliability
If a stationary fall protection system is exposed to weather conditions, then fall protection availability is improved, but system durability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system allows the safety line components to transition between deployed and stored states. When not in use, the safety line can be removed from the structure, reducing its exposure to weather conditions and extending its service life, while the guide channel remains as a protected, weather-resistant permanent fixture.
Solution Approach 2:
The safety line is extracted from the permanent structure and made into a removable component that can be taken off the structure when not in use. This extraction protects the safety line from continuous weather exposure while maintaining fall protection availability when needed through quick reinstallation.
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A~2B
AI summary
A method of handling fall protection systems (2) in association with towers, pylons and masts includes climbing a tower (5), securing a guide channel (10) to a top portion (6) of the tower, extending a fall protection guide line (20) through the guide channel, connecting a first end (3) of a fall protection system (2) to a first end (21) of the guide line (20), extending the fall protection system (2) through the secured guide channel (10) by pulling a second end (22) of the guide line, securing the first end (3) of the fall protection system to a ground (G) level fixing point (8) and securing a second end (4) of the fall protection system to personal protection equipment worn by a worker. An assembly (1) for handling fall protection systems in association with towers, pylons and masts is also provided.