Background Art The building industry is becoming evermore conscious of the need for ensuring the safety of its workers and, indeed, authorities in many jurisdictions have introduced, or are in the process of introducing, recommendations and regulations which seek to make building sites and buildings on which workers must perform their duties safer workplaces.

It has long been recognised that a primary cause of injuries, particularly to inexperienced workers, arises from falls from elevated building structures resulting sometimes in severe injury or even death. Prior art methods of addressing this problem include the mounting of temporary rails around the periphery of roof areas and the fixing of personal safety harnesses and ropes to anchor points, such as exposed rafters, etc. Whilst the rails may be helpful in most situations, there remains the possibility that an unsecured worker may still topple over the railing. Anchor points, such as those which may be mounted on exposed beams or rafters, may not be satisfactory as the structural members themselves may not be capable of sustaining the loads necessary to withstand the damage resulting from the impact occasioned by the fall of a worker.

Moreover, such falls will end in a severe jolt to the worker when the full extent of the rope or cable is taken up, which may itself occasion injury.

Consequently, it has been found advantageous to provide a safety line in the form of a cable or rail anchored at suitable locations by means of anchors to a structure. The structure may include a building structure. The building structure may be in the process of being built, or may be the subject of maintenance or renovation activities. The building may be a commercial or domestic structure and the invention is applicable to any type of roof covering, requiring only that it is possible to gain access to structural

members to which the anchors and safety line may be affixed. Such structural members include purlins, structural beams and the like.

A safety device may then be attached to the safety line by means of a runner or shuttle so as to allow the safety device to move along the length of the rail or cable. The attached safety device may include a range of devices adapted to secure a worker or an object, particularly against the likelihood of falling, including a simple rope or cable, or a harness, attached to the person.

However, many of the prior art shuttle devices are overly complex and clumsy to use, or rely on hinged mechanisms which can deteriorate with time and/or fail in use. This is especially true for hinged mechanisms which rely on a spring to close them. If the spring fails, the shuttle becomes difficult to use, and in some cases if the spring were to fail in use, the shuttle could be rendered ineffective and unsafe.

Object of the Invention It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an alternate shuttle arrangement designed to ameliorate some or all of the shortcomings of previous prior art devices. At the very least the shuttle of the invention provides an alternative to previously known shuttle devices.

Disclosure of the Invention According to the invention there is provided a connecting shuttle for attaching a safety device to a safety line, wherein the shuttle is free to move along the safety line upon being attached thereto, the shuttle having receiving means to attach the safety device, the shuttle comprising a first and a second member slideably interconnected so as to move between a first open and a second closed position, the first or coupling member having means for locating the shuttle on or about a safety line attached to a structure when the respective members of the shuttle are moved relative to each other so as to be in the first open position, and the second or retaining member having means for retaining the shuttle on the safety line once the retaining member is moved relative the first member so that the shuttle is in the second closed position ; the shuttle further

having securing means to secure the shuttle to the safety line by maintaining it in the closed position so as to prevent the shuttle from being opened and hence removed from the safety line, whilst the shuttle is in use on the safety line.

The safety line may be a cable or rail affixed by anchors in known fashion to a structure as described hereinbefore. The safety device may be any rope, cable, tie or harness, or combination thereof, by which a person may be prevented from falling, once attached to the safety line by means of the shuttle.

Preferably, the shuttle members once fitted together during manufacture cannot be separated from each other in the normal course of use. That is to say, there are means to prevent the second retaining member from being moved other than slideably between the first open and second closed position. This may be accomplished in any one of several known ways including providing flanges or the like on one or other of the members at appropriate locations to prevent separation.

Preferably the means associated with the coupling member for locating the shuttle on or about the safety line is provided by a hook portion formed in the coupling member.

Preferably the hook portion is so formed as to allow the shuttle to pass smoothly along the cable or rail forming the safety line.

Preferably, the retaining means associated with the second or retaining member is provided by a ramp portion located thereon so that in the first or open position, the ramp portion of the retaining member is separated sufficiently from the hook portion of the coupling member so as to allow the shuttle to be located onto the cable or rail of the safety line, or removed therefrom as the case may be, whilst in the second or closed position the ramp is brought into proximity with the hook of the coupling member so as to prevent removal of the shuttle from the safety line, ie whilst in an in-use situation.

The ramp portion may be a simple flange.

However with advantage, the ramp and hook may be so designed that a gap remains between the ramp and the leading edge of the hook in the otherwise"closed"position to allow the shuttle to pass by the shaft of an anchor to which the rail or cable is fitted (the

cable itself for example passing through a sleeve or tube portion of the anchor as described above). In other words, if the diameter or other relevant cross sectional dimension of the cable or rail is greater than that of the shaft of the anchor supporting the said rail or cable, then the shuttle can be made to pass the shaft if the gap is wide enough to allow same, but the shuttle will not be able to leave or be removed from the safety line if the gap is less than the diameter or other relevant dimension of the cable or rail, whilst the shuttle is maintained in the closed position.

With further advantage, the leading edges of the hook portion (ie leading in the sense by which the shuttle is able to move along the safety line) may also be suitably bevelled or otherwise shaped so as to assist the shuttle to pass by any anchor means attaching the cable to the structure, including any tube or sleeve etc through which the cable passes, whether as part of the anchor itself or used in relation to one or more anchors, for example in corner arrangements to change the direction of the safety line as described in at least one of my co-pending patent applications, the details of which are imported herewith by such reference.

The receiving means for attaching the safety device to the shuttle may be any suitable means known in the art, including but not limited to a hole or aperture through which a karabiner or like element may be inserted. A harness, rope or tie etc may then be attached to the karabiner. The advantage of'employing a karabiner is so that the rope or tie etc does not need to be untied each time, the karabiner serving the purpose of providing quick and safe attachment of the safety device to the shuttle in known fashion.

However, with advantage, the securing means for maintaining the shuttle in the closed position whilst it is being used on the safety line, is provided by a pair of holes in each of the two members, which are brought into registration when the members are moved relative each other to reach the closed position, and through which a karabiner or other attachment device may be inserted as described above, thereby not only providing the means of attachment for the safety device to the shuttle, but the very means by which it

can be prevented from coming open, ie so as to prevent the members being moved relative each other to once again reach the open position. It will be understood that the orientation of such holes must be such that once the members are slid towards the open position the holes will no longer be in registration. That is to say the axis of the holes must be oriented at angle to the axis or plane of direction in which the members slide.

If it is desired to remove the shuttle from the line, the karabiner must first be removed from where it passes through the then corresponding holes in the members, allowing the members to be slid relative each other to once again reach the open position for removal of the shuttle from the line.

Preferably, the holes for receiving such karabiner or the like are located on corresponding flanges of the members, the flanges being so oriented that the natural travel position of the shuttle is achieved whereby the rope or tie etc attached thereto causes the shuttle to ride on the safety line with the gap facing downwardly to pass easily by a perpendicular shaft of the safety line anchor. Such a safety line anchor is described in at least another of my co-pending patent applications, the details of which are again are imported hereto by such reference. In this orientation it will also be appreciated that the hook of the coupling member can be made to extend around the opposite side of the safety line (ie opposite to the direction of load) so that when a sudden load is applied the line is prevented from being forced into the gap, which might otherwise weaken the arrangement.

Brief Description of the Drawings The invention may be better understood from the following non-limiting description of a preferred embodiment of a shuttle, in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a shuttle according to one aspect of the invention, the shuttle being in the closed position; Figure 2 is a view of the shuttle of Fig 1 looking in the direction of arrow A; Figure 3 is a side elevation of the shuttle of Fig 1, viewed from the opposite side and oriented so as to be the normal in-use position;

Figure 4 is a view of the same shuttle as the previous Figs, corresponding specifically to the view of Fig 3 looking in the direction of arrow C; Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the shuttle of the previous Figs, in the same orientation as Fig 3; Figure 6 is a view of the same shuttle as the previous Figs, corresponding specifically to the view of Fig 3 looking in the direction of arrow B; and Figure 7 is a side elevation of the shuttle of the previous Figs, corresponding especially to the orientation of Fig 3, but in the open position.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments Referring generally to Figs 1 to 7, there is depicted a shuttle generally referenced 10, having a coupling member 11 and a retaining member 12 slideably located therein. In normal use, once assembled, the retaining member 12 cannot be removed from the other member 11, for example by means of a flange formed on one of the members (11, 12), although this feature is not specifically disclosed. The members 11, 12 are preferably forged from stainless steel.

The coupling member 11 has a hook portion 13 located at one end for placement of the shuttle 10 on or about a cable or rail not shown. At its other end, the coupling member 11 is provided with a flange member 14 through which there passes a hole 15.

The retaining member 12 is provided with a ramp portion 16 at one end and a corresponding flange member 17 at the other end through which there passes a second hole 18.

As shown in Figs 1 to 6, the retaining member 12 can be slid into the closed position after the shuttle is placed on a safety line (not shown), the line effectively occupying part of void 19. The ramp 16 cooperates with hook portion 13 to thus enclose the safety line, the diameter of which will necessarily be larger than the gap 20 remaining between the hook 13 and ramp 16 to prevent removal of the shuttle 10, whilst it remains in the

closed position. This is simply and effectively achieved by passing a karabiner (not shown) through the holes 15 and 18 which are now in alignment as shown particularly in Figs 1,3 and 5. Once the karabiner is in place, the respective members 11 and 12 cannot be slid to apart to the open position (as shown in Fig 7). Only upon removal of the karabiner can that be accomplished. It will be apparent from Fig 7 that the holes (15, 18) are no longer in alignment in the open position and that position can only be reached by removal of the karabiner.

Figures 3 and 5 are particularly useful in understanding the natural travel position of the shuttle 10 on the safety line, where it will be apparent that a rope or the like attached to a karabiner (neither of which are shown) will generally provide a load in the direction of arrow D such that when coupled with the weight of shuttle 10, will cause it generally to adopt the orientation as shown. This is advantageous in that the gap 20 will then naturally be pointing downwards facilitating travel of the shuttle passed an anchor shaft (not shown) which supports the safety line at that point as described above and by reference elsewhere to my co-pending patent applications.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that many modifications and variations may be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

Throughout the specification the word"comprise"and its derivatives are intended to have an inclusive rather than exclusive meaning unless the context requires otherwise.