MXPA97005439A - Security belt or harnesses with colorpara code indicate my age - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for producing a safety belt or harness with color code to be used by a worker to indicate the year of its manufacture, the color coding allowing the user of the belt or harness to determine if the belt or harness has been manufactured more than a predetermined number of years, the method comprising the steps of: (a) manufacturing the safety belt or harness from a fabric mesh of a predetermined first color, and (b) coloring the a preselected portion of the mesh with a second color at the time that belt or harness is manufactured, the second color being predetermined different from the first color and, with the second color being changed in successive years over a predetermined number of years, without repeat the second cabbage

Description

SECURITY CITY OR HARNESS WITH COLOR CODE TO INDICATE THE AGE OF THE SAME SPECIFICATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to a security apparatus and more particularly to seat belts or harnesses formed of a woven cloth mesh and includes color-coded markings to indicate the age of the belt or harness to determine if the replacement is based on the age of the belt or harness. Due to the entry into force of several safety laws, people who work in high places, for example when washing the tall windows of a building, etc., need to be protected against falls. A common approach to achieve that goal is the use of a safety belt that is worn on the worker's waist or a harness worn on the worker's torso. The belt / harness is typically formed of a woven mesh of synthetic fabric, for example, nylon, polyester, etc., and typically includes a D-ring or some other metal ring fixedly attached thereto. The D-ring is placed to be connected, by means of a rope, to a "cable tie" device that is mounted on a safety line. The security line typically comprises a rope, cable or other type of sturdy line extending vertically from a fixed anchor point downwardly fixed past the point at which the worker is located. In fact in many applications the line extends all the distance to the ground. The cable tie is placed to slide along the safety line to follow the worker up or down the structure on which the worker is working. In the event that the worker falls out of the structure the rapid downward traction on the cable tie caused by the worker's moment causes the cable tie to immediately engage and lock in a fixed apposition on the safety line, thus stopping the fall of the worker and supporting him until he can be rescued. The fibers that make up the belt or harness mesh deteriorate over time due to several factors, for example, exposure to the elements and ultraviolet radiation. Therefore, it becomes prudent from a safety point of view to replace all seat belts or harnesses that are older than a predetermined conservation age. Some manufacturers of safety belts or harnesses have included labels or signs that indicate the year of manufacture, so that by examining that label or label the age of the belt or harness can be determined. Unfortunately, such labels or tags can be detached from the belt or harness or otherwise rendered legible, particularly if the belt or harness is subjected to heavy use for a long time in dirty or rough environments.

Some harnesses or safety belts that are commercially available have made use of fibers of a contrasting color or appearance fabric within the body of the strip (s) that make up the harness or belt. These fibers are not visible if the harness or belt is intact, but it becomes visible if the harness or strip is worn, by abrasion for example. If such fibers become visible that indicates that the harness / belt must be replaced or renewed. However, such harnesses / belts do not include means to indicate the age of the harnesses (unless they make use of the aforementioned labels / tags indicating the date of manufacture). Therefore, there is a need for a safety belt and / or safety harness that includes safe and permanent means to provide easy and visually distinguishable clues to indicate the age of the belt or harness.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide a safety belt or harness that meets that need. It is another object of the invention to provide a safety belt or harness that includes color coding permanently as a part of the fabric of the material forming the belt or harness to indicate the age of the belt or harness.

It is another object of this invention to provide a method of manufacturing a color-coded safety belt or harness that will allow subsequent users to easily determine the age of the same by color coding on them.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION These and other objects of this invention are achieved by providing color-coded safety belts or harnesses that are worn by workers to indicate the year of their manufacture, and the method of making and using them. Color coding allows the user of the belt or harness to determine if the belt or harness has been produced more than a predetermined number of years before the user can make a decision to discard it if it is older than the predetermined number of years. The method comprises the steps of manufacturing a safety belt or harness from a fabric mesh of a predetermined first color, for example, visible yellow, and coloring a preselected portion of the mesh with a second color at the time of manufacture. that the belt or harness is manufactured, for example, by providing at least one fiber of the second color in the mesh so that it can be easily seen.

The second color is a predetermined color different from the first color, and with the second color being changed in successive years, without repeating the second color.

DESCRI PTION OF DIAMETERS Other objects and many features dependent on this invention will become readily appreciated as they are better understood by reference to the following detailed description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 shows a harness that includes a safety belt constructed in accordance with this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED DRAWING MODALITIES Referring now to the drawing in which similar reference numerals refer to similar parts, a harness constructed in accordance with this invention is shown in FIG. The safety harness shown herein is only illustrative of various types of harnesses placed to be used by a worker to be attached to a fixed anchor point (not shown) in order to protect the worker from a fall. In fact, it should be noted that the invention in question is not limited to use in the harness. Therefore, the invention in question can be used in other fall protection devices used by a worker, for example, only a safety belt. The harness 20 (or safety belt, to be identified later) is positioned to be connected to a fall prevention device, such as a commercially available cable tie (not shown) and / or a descent device ( not shown). Regardless of the type of harness or safety belt employing the invention in question includes means of age indication 24, which form a readily visible part on all occasions, permanent belt or harness, so that only looking at the belt or the Harness can determine your age. Therefore, the user is provided with easy and safe means to determine if the belt / harness is too old to be used and must be replaced. Before describing the details of the means of indicating age, a brief description of the illustrative harness shown herein is given. Therefore, as can be seen, the harness 20 is formed of mesh or strips that are connected together. In particular the harness 20 basically comprises a pair of strips 26A and 26B which are placed in rings to encircle the user's thighs, a waist belt 28 or some other portion for surrounding the user's waist, strips 30A and 30B that they extend over the user's shoulders and cross over each other in a ring 32 approximately in the center of the user's back and a chest strap 34 connected between the chest straps 30A and 30B. Each of the strips forming the harness is composed of high strength fibers 36 of plastic or other material, such as nylon or polyester, which are woven together or otherwise interlocked to form an individual fold or a multiple mesh. The strips are secured together, by suture and several rings (to be described later) to complete the harness. An adjustable ring 38A is provided in this respect which is provided in the chest strap 30A and a similar ring 38B in the chest strap 30B. These rings allow these strips to be adjusted by the user. In a similar manner, an adjustable ring 40A is provided in the leg strap 26A and a similar ring 40B is provided in the leg strap 26B to allow those strips to be adjusted by the user. An adjustable ring 42 is provided on the belt or waist strip 28 to allow it to be adjusted by the user. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention, each of the strips forming the harness includes the means of indicating age 24 identified hitherto in the present. That provision is not mandatory. Therefore, insofar as the harness 20 or the safety belt 28 includes means for indicating age 24 in at least one strip or a portion of which will always remain as part of it, the objects of the invention. However, as will be appreciated from the following description, the greater the number of tapes that include the age indication means 24, the better it will be to ensure that the age of the belt or the harness can be easily determined. The age indication means 24 basically comprise at least one fiber or strip of different color 44 located on the outer surface of the associated harness strip or belt. Preferably the fiber (s) 44 is (are) woven (woven) or woven (s) into place within the fibers 36 that make up the fabric of the strip or mesh so that it is an integral part thereof and It is located on the external surface. In the embodiment shown in the present two such fibers 44 are interwoven between the fibers 36 and are located on the outer surface of each belt / harness strip portion and extend closely, for example, to 3.2 mm from the respective outer edges. of the strip portion. The color of the fibers indicating age 44 is selected to be easily distinguishable from the color of the fibers 36 that make up the mesh itself. In addition, the color of the fibers 44 is changed each year for a predetermined number of years, for example, five years. Therefore, for example, during the five-year or "series" period that begins in 1995, the color of the fibers that make up the harness strips are selected to be an easily visible color, for example, "visible yellow". However, the fibers with color code age indicator 44 of the belts or harnesses manufactured in the first year of the series, is a pre-selected contrasting color, for example, red. Therefore, all belts or harnesses manufactured in 1995 will be visible yellow with red indicator fibers 44 extending along the marginal edges of the strips that make up the belt or harness. The color-coded age indicator fibers 44 for all belts or harnesses manufactured in the second year of the series are of a different contrasting second color, for example, blue. Therefore all belts or harnesses manufactured in 1996 will be visible yellow with blue indicator fibers 44 that extend along the marginal edges of the strips that make up the belt or harness. The color-coded age indicator fibers 44 for all belts or harnesses manufactured in the third year of the series are of a different contrasting third color, for example, green. Therefore all belts or harnesses manufactured in 1997 will be visible yellow with green indicator fibers 44 that extend along the marginal edges of the strips that make up the belt or harness. The color-coded age indicator fibers 44 for all belts or harnesses manufactured in the fourth year of the series are of a different fourth contrasting color, for example, purple. Therefore, all belts or harnesses manufactured in 1997 will be visible yellow with purple indicator fibers 44 that extend along the marginal edges of the strips that make up the belt or harness. The color-coded age indicator fibers 44 for all belts or harnesses manufactured in the fifth and final year of the series are of a different fifth contrasting color, for example, black. Therefore all belts or harnesses manufactured in 1997 will be visible yellow with black indicator fibers 44 that extend along the marginal edges of the strips that make up the belt or harness. All belts or harnesses manufactured in the following year will start a new (ie, second) "series". In that case, the basic color of the strips, ie the color of the fibers 36, can be changed from the previous series, for example, from visible yellow to visible orange. The fibers with color code 44 for the five years of the second series may remain the same as those of the previous series since the background color will be different. Therefore, all belts or harnesses manufactured in the fifth year of the second series, for example, in the year 2000, will be of visible orange color with red indicator fibers 44 that extend along the marginal edges of the strips that make up the belt or harness. All belts or harnesses manufactured in the second year of the second series, for example in the year 2001, will be of visible orange color with blue indicator fibers 44 that extend along the marginal edges of the strips that make up the belt or Harness All belts or harnesses manufactured in the third year of the second series, for example in the year 2002, will be of visible orange color with green indicator fibers 44 that extend along the marginal edges of the strips that make up the belt or Harness All belts or harnesses manufactured in the fourth year of the second series, for example in 2003, will be of visible orange color with purple indicator fibers 44 that extend along the marginal edges of the strips that make up the belt or harness. All belts or harnesses manufactured in the fifth year of the second series, for example in the year 2004, will be of visible orange color with black indicator fibers 44 that extend along the marginal edges of the strips that make up the belt or Harness The next series can be made in a similar way with a different background color and so on. It should be noted in this regard that different color coding can be used. Therefore, for the second series, the background color (i.e., the color of the fibers 36) may still be visible yellow. In this case, the indicator fibers of age 44 will have to be different from the red, blue, green, purple and black fibers of the first series. In addition, the number of years in the series can be selected to be different to five. Therefore, each series can comprise a decade. In any case, it is contemplated that the information about the specific color coding used will be widely distributed to all users and potential users of the belts or harnesses. For example, information describing color coding may be provided through industry publications or industry standards. In addition, such information must be provided with the belts or harnesses when they are purchased. This is preferably achieved by the literature accompanying the belts or harnesses and the labels or tags fixedly fastened to the belts or harnesses that describe the color code. Therefore, once the particular code is known, all the user has to do is look at the belt or harness and immediately determine the age of the same. For example, using the illustrative five-year series described above, if one is in 2002 and the seat belt or harness being examined to determine its age is of visible yellow background (ie 36 visible yellow fibers) with fibers Indicators blue 44, the user will know immediately that the belt is at least six years old, that is, it was manufactured in 1996. Therefore, the user can decide if the belt or harness is discarded based on criteria established either by the industry, by the government or by its employer, as the case may be. Without further elaboration of the above, the invention will be illustrated so that others can, by applying current or future knowledge, adapt it for use according to various service conditions.

Claims (8)

1. A method to produce a color-coded safety belt or harness to be worn by a worker to indicate the year of its manufacture, color coding allowing the belt user or harness to determine if the belt or harness has been manufactured makes more from a predetermined number of years, the method comprising the steps of: (a) manufacturing the safety belt or harness from a fabric mesh of a predetermined first color, and (b) coloring a preselected portion of the mesh with a second color at the time such belt or harness is manufactured, the second color being a predetermined color different from the first color and, with the second color being changed in successive years for a predetermined number of years, without repeating the second color .

The method of claim 1, wherein the first predetermined color is changed at the end of the predetermined number of years.

The method of claim 1, wherein the safety belt or harness is formed of plural interlaced strips of said first predetermined color and wherein the preselected portion of the mesh comprises fibers of the second predetermined color secured to the first fibers.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the preselected portion comprises a marginal edge of the mesh.

5. A method for determining the age of a safety belt or harness to be used by a worker, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a safety belt or harness manufactured in one year from a cloth mesh of a first predetermined color and having a preselected portion of the fabric mesh of a second color, the second color being a predetermined color different from the first color, (b) changing the second color of each belt or harness manufactured in successive years , without repeating the second color, and (c) using the second color to determine the age of the belt or harness in order to determine if the belt or harness should be discarded due to the age of the belt. The method of claim 5, wherein the first predetermined color is changed at the end of the predetermined number of years. The method of claim 5, wherein the safety belt or harness is formed of plural interwoven fibers of the first predetermined color and wherein, the preselected portion of the mesh comprises fibers of the second predetermined color secured to the first fibers. The method of claim 7, wherein the preselected portion comprises a marginal edge of the mesh.