BACKGROUND Roofs on larger buildings, such as for example multi-story buildings for accommodation or office use, are normally provided with a plurality of pre-assembled safety brackets for safety wires and other devices used in conjunction with maintenance work on the roof.

In many countries, there are also governing regulations requiring such safety brackets.

Traditional safety brackets normally consist of a simple steel rod with an attachment loop in one end and a threaded portion in the other end. The safety bracket is attached by making a hole in the roof, whereby the steel rod is inserted into the hole and fastened with an anchoring washer and a nut on the inside of the roof. A drawback with this solution is that the attachment of the safety bracket normally requires two people- one on the roof and one below the roof-which complicates the attachment and makes it more expensive, even if this solution offers a secure attachment of the safety bracket.

A simplified attachment is achieved by way of another known safety bracket, which consists of a mounting plate, from which a steel plate bracket extends perpendicularly with a loop for a safety wire. The mounting plate is intended to be attached with screws directly to the roof without anchoring washers and nuts on the inside of the roof.

Hereby, attachment is admittedly facilitated when compared with the traditional attachment, but one does not obtain the same safety anchorage in a load-bearing structural element of the roof. Thus, the risk of tearing the safety bracket away from the roof in case of an accident-wherein a person connected to a safety wire falls from the roof-should be higher in this design, particularly if the fastening screws are weakened from long exposure to corrosion or metal fatigue.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention thus offers an improved safety bracket which is easily attached from the outside of the roof and still offers a strong mechanical anchorage under the roof.

The invention hereby provides a safety bracket for a roof comprising: an attachment portion provided with an attachment means for a safety wire; a roof mount portion provided with a mounting plate adapted for abutment against the roof and for attachment to a load-bearing structural element in said roof, by means of screws or similar fastening means.

The invention is particularly characterized in: that the roof mount portion further comprises a permanently angled anchor element, said anchor element extending from the side of the mounting plate which faces the roof and its adapted for insertion into a hole made for this purpose in the roof, in such a way that the anchor element at least partially abuts-and a extends substantially parallelly with-the inside of the roof when the mounting plate abuts the roof, and that the anchor element is divided into a first curve insertion portion located in conjunction with the mounting plate, and a second, subsequent straight abutment portion.

In a favourable embodiment, the anchor element is angled 90° relative to the attachment portion.

The curved Insertion portion preferably constitutes substantially half of the total length of the anchor element.

In a suitable embodiment, the attachment portion extends perpendicularly to the plane of the roof.

Preferably, the attachment portion and the anchor element are formed as a continuous curved pipe, wherein said mounting piate is located at a transition between the attachment portion and the anchor element.

In one embodiment, the mounting plate is adapted for direct abutment against said load-bearing structural element in the roof, in such a way that the external cover sheet is applied on the outside of the mounting plate, whereby the attachment portion projects through a hole-opening in the cover-sheet.

A sealing sleeve is provided around the attachment portion, said sealing sleeve being adapted to seal against water-intrusion through said hole-opening in the cover-sheet.

The sealing sleeve exhibits a first cylindrical sealing portion extending in the longitudinal direction of the attachment portion, and a second, radially extending, disc-shaped sealing portion, said second sealing portion being adapted for abutment against the roof.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the attachment means for the safety wire consists of a loop.

In a suitable embodiment, a support bracket for one or more longitudinal bar-profiles is attachable to the attachment portion of the safety bracket, said bas-profiles forming an edge-railing, snow-slide protection or a combination thereof together with a safety bracket.

Preferably, said support bracket exhibits a passage for insertion of the attachment portion of the safety bracket.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Embodiments of the invention will be described below in greater detail with reference to the appended drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a partial cross-sectional view through a commonly used type of wooden roof, upon which a safety bracket according to a first embodiment of the invention is attached; Fig. 2 shows how the safety bracket is inserted, during installation, in a hole in the roof. The safety bracket is shown with solid lines in a first installation position and with dot-dashed lines in a second installation position; Fig. 3 shows a partial cross-sectional view through a so called tin roof comprising a load-bearing corrugated plate having a trapezoidal profile. A safety bracket according to a second embodiment of the invention is shown installed on the tin roof. The safety brackets in the shown example are also provided with a support bracket for a snow-slide protection which comprises three mutually parallel longitudinal bar-profiles ; Fig. 4 shows a partial cross-sectional view along line IV-IV in Fig. 3, wherein the trapezoidal profile of the tin roof is clearly shown;

Fig. 5 shows a separate safety brackets according to a first embodiment of the invention, which is intended for use of wooden roofs and concrete roofs, and Fig. 6 finally shows a separate safety bracket according to a second embodiment according to a second embodiment of the invention, which is intended for use in a tin roof.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 generally denotes a safety bracket according to a first embodiment of the invention, said embodiment being intended for use on a wooden roof or on a concrete roof. Fig. 1 shows a cross-sectional view through a roof 2 of a simple wooden-roof design. The roof 2 substantially consists of a wooden layer 3 which is coated on the outside with a water-and whether resistant cover-sheet 4. The cover- sheet 4 normally consists of tar paper, but other materials may also be used for this purpose. The load-bearing, structural element in the roof 2 is here constituted by the wooden layer 3. The figure further shows a wooden cross-beam 5 extending below the wooden layer 3.

The safety bracket 1 is divided into an attachment portion 6 and a roof mount portion 7.

The attachment portion 6 hereby constitutes the externally visible part of the safety bracket 1, and it is provided with an attachment means 8 for a safety wire 9, drawn with dot-dashed lines. In the shown example, the attachment means consists of a substantially oval loop, which is welded to the safety bracket 1. The distance D between the roof 2 and the attachment point of the safety wire 9, is at least 150 mm according to an exemplary governing regulation.

In the shown embodiment, the attachment portion 6 of the safety bracket 1, further exhibits two attachment holes 10 adapted for attachment of a not shown edge-railing or snow-slide protection, which will be described in greater detail later in the description with reference to Figs. 3 and 4.

The roof mount portion 7 is provided with a mounting plate 11 adapted for abutment against the wooden layer 3 of the roof 2. In the shown example, the mounting plate 11 is rectangularly shaped and provided with a plurality of through-going holes 12 for screws 13 or similar fastening means. The mounting plate 11 is thus fixed to the wooden layer 3 by means of said screws 13. As previously mentioned, these screws 13 may of course be replaced by other similar, fastening means, for example serrated nails (not shown).

The roof mount portion 7 further includes an anchor element 14, which is permanently angled relative to the attachment portion 6, said anchor element 14 extending from the side 15 of the mounting plate 11 which faces the roof 2. The term"permanently angled anchor element"here means that the anchor element 14 is fixedly attached to the attachment portion 6, and thus not pivotably arranged to said attachment portion 6.

The anchor element 14 is adapted for insertion into a hole 16 made for this purpose in the roof 2. The anchor element 14 is shaped in such a way that it at least partially abuts - and extends substantially parallelly-with the inside 16 of the roof 2 when the mounting plate 11 abuts the roof 2. In the shown exemplary embodiment, the anchor element 14 constitutes a continuous continuation of the pipe which also constitutes the attachment portion 6.

The anchor element 14 is angled 90° relative to the attachment portion 6, and thus substantially follows the inside 16 of the roof 2, whilst the attachment portion 6, on the other hand, extends perpendicularly from the plane of the roof 2. As shown in Fig. 1, the anchor element 14 is divided into a first curved insertion portion 18 located in conjunction with the mounting plate 11, and a second, subsequent straight abutment portion 19. In an installed state, the abutment portion 19 hereby abuts the inside 17 of the roof 2, as mentioned above. In Fig. 1, it is further shown that the curved insertion portion 18 slightly exceeds half of the total length of the anchor element 14 in the shown embodiment. The insertion portion 18 should, for facilitating the installation, at least correspond to half of the total length of the anchor element 14. The term"length" here means the extension of the anchor element 14 in the horizontal direction of the figure.

In Fig. 2, the installation procedure for the safety bracket 1 is shown. After drilling the hole 16 in the wooden layer 3, the straight abutment portion 19 of the anchor element 14 is first inserted through the hole 16, as shown by the safety bracket 1 drawn with solid lines. The diameter of the hole 16 hereby exceeds the diameter of the anchor element 14. Then, the curved insertion portion 18 of the anchor element 14 is also inserted, whereby the safety brackets 1 is rotated clockwise in Fig. 2 during the insertion. The safety brackets finally adopts the installation position shown in Fig. 1.

As is further apparent in Fig. 1, the mounting plate 11 is adapted for direct abutment against the load-bearing structural element in the roof 2, i. e. the wooden layer 3. The external cover-sheet 14 is thus applied on the outside of the mounting plate 11, whereby the attachment portion 6 of the safety bracket 1 projects through a hole- opening 21 in the cover-sheet 4, said hole-opening 21 coinciding with the hole 16.

Furthermore, a sealing sleeve 22 is provided around the attachment portion 6. The sealing sleeve 22 is suitably made of rubber or a rubber-like material, such as soft plastic, and is adapted to seal against water-intrusion through said hole-opening 21 in the cover-sheet 4.

The sealing sleeve 22 exhibits a first, cylindrical sealing portion 23 extending in the longitudinal direction of the attachment portion 6, and a second, radially extending disc- shaped sealing portion 24. The second sealing portion 24 is adapted for abutment against the roof 2 and-in the shown example-against the mounting plate 11. The cylindrical portion 23 is fixed against the attachment portion 6 by means of a hose- clamp 25.

Fig. 3 shows a partial cross-sectional view through a so called tin roof, which includes a load-bearing corrugated plate 26 having a trapezoidal profile. The trapezoidal of the plate 26 is shown in Fig. 4, which is a cross-sectional view along line IV-IV in Fig. 3.

Here, the mounting plate 11 abuts directly against the planar ridge portion on the corrugated plate 26. The mounting plate 11 is fixed to the plate 26 by means of a plurality of screws 13. The anchor element 14 of the safety bracket 1 is hereby inserted through a hole denoted with reference numeral 16, in the plate 26, corresponding to the hole in the wooden layer 3 of the first embodiment. An inner isolation layer 28 is applied over the mounting plate 11 on the ridge-portion 27 of the corrugated plate 26. An outer isolation layer 29 is located immediately outside of the inner isolation layer 28. In this embodiment, the sealing sleeve 22 abuts against the out isolation layer 29. Here, the cover-sheet 4 extends over the outer isolation-layer 29 as well as over the radially extending disc-shaped sealing portion 24. The abutment portion 19 of the angled anchor element 14 here abuts the inside 30 of the planar ridge-portion 27 of the corrugated plate 26.

A hole-opening 31 is made through the inner Isolation layer 28 and the outer isolation layer 29. This hole-opening 31 coincides with the hole 16 in the plate 26.

The safety bracket 1 in Fig. 3 and 4 is further provided with a support bracket 32 for three longitudinal bar-profiles 33. Together with the safety bracket 1, the bar-profiles 33 constitutes a snow-slide protection in combination with an edge-railing. In cases when only an edge-railing is required, only one bar-profile 33 is attached to the support bracket 32. However, this embodiment is not shown in the figure. In certain roof maintenance tasks, the safety wire 9 may alternatively attached to one of the bar- profiles 33, whereby a sliding attachment of the safety wire 9 is obtained, resulting in

improved mobility for the person working on the roof 2. In the shown example, the support bracket 32 is made of a stamped plate and exhibits a passage 34 for the attachment portion 6 of the safety bracket 1. Upon installation of a snow-slide protection or an edge-railing, the support bracket 32 is thus brought over the attachment portion 6 and fastened, by means of bolts 35 in the two attachment holes 10 described earlier. The passage 34 is hereby dimensioned in such a way that it allows passage of the attachment means 8 of the attachment portion 6, i. e. the oval loop in which safety wire 9 is attached. The longitudinal bar-profiles 33, suitably exhibit a circular-cylindrical pipe-shape with an outer diameter of between 20-40 mm, preferably 25-30 mm. The bar-profiles 33 are inserted in corresponding circular holes 36 in the support bracket 32. The bar-profiles 33 are further fastened to the support bracket 32 by means of bolts 37 extending through an angle plate portion 38 in the support bracket 32. As shown in Fig. 4, the bar-profifes 33 extend parallelly relatively to each other and to the plane to the roof 2.

Fig. 5 shows a separate safety bracket 1 according to the first embodiment to the invention, said safety bracket being adapted for use on wooden roofs and concrete roofs (not shown). The mounting plate 11 hereby has its longest extension across the longitudinal direction of the safety bracket 1. As shown in the figure, the attachment portion 6 and the anchor element 14 are formed as a continuous curved pipe, wherein the mounting plate 11 is located at a transition between the attachment portion 6 and the anchor element 14. Hereby, the safety bracket 1 may substantially be manufactured from a steel pipe, for example made of stainless steel. The mounting plate 11 is suitably welded to the rest of the safety bracket 1. In the shown example, the mounting plate 11 is provided with a total number of 10 hole-openings 12 for screws (not shown).

Finally, Fig. 6 shows a separate safety bracket 1 according to the second embodiment of the invention, said safety bracket 1 here being intended for use on a tin roof. The mounting plate 11 is, as shown in the figure, rectangularly shaped as in the embodiment above. However, here the mounting plate 11 has its longest extension parallelly with the longitudinal direction of the safety bracket 1. In this embodiment, the mounting plate 11 is also provided with a total number of ten hole-openings 12 for screws (not shown).

The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described and shown on the drawings, but be varied within the scope of the appended claims.