Safety System with Digital Tracking and Reporting and Method of Use
Patent Number: US 12594443 Grant Date: 2026-04-07 Filing Date: 2022-03-07
Overview
This patented smart-harness safety system, filed in March 2022 and granted on April 07, 2026, captures an integrated electromechanical and digital solution for dual-tether fall protection on construction and work-at-height worksites. Developed by inventors based in College Station, TX and Liberty, TX and prosecuted with strong claim scope, the system pairs a hardened multi-part case assembly with onboard sensing, processing, and wireless reporting to detect when a climber’s two tethers are improperly tied off and trigger an alarm before a fall occurs. A controller assembly running an extension detection system, safe-zone detection system, activation system, and alert system ingests signals from a strap‑length sensor assembly, mag reed switches, position sensors, an altimeter, and GPS, then synthesizes the conditions of both tethers — not just one — to determine whether the climber is in a safe state. If both tethers are simultaneously extended, in motion, and outside the base, the device sounds a buzzer/speaker alarm and notifies a supervisor over the network through paired mobile, tablet, desktop, or wearable client devices. Retraction assemblies enclosed within the base extend and retract anchoring hooks across a defined range, while dedicated key locks and lock‑pin enclosures secure the unit in service. The architecture treats the harness as a connected piece of safety equipment — with a server, climber/supervisor/tether status tables, network telemetry, and step‑based monitoring methods — rather than a passive lanyard, addressing what the file history documents as a long‑felt unmet need in workplace fall protection.
Key Features
- Dual-tether condition synthesis — alarms only when both tethers are simultaneously unsafe
- Onboard PCB with extension detection, safe-zone detection, activation, and alert subsystems
- Multi-sensor input: strap-length sensor, mag reed switches, position sensors, altimeter, GPS
- Buzzer, LED, and speaker alerts paired with networked supervisor notifications
- Multi-piece case (front, mid, rear) with dedicated lock-pin and key-lock enclosures
- Compatible with mobile phones, tablets, personal computers, and wearables
- Server-side status tables for tether, climber, and supervisor records
This invention turns the conventional safety harness into a connected, situationally aware piece of safety equipment, enabling both worker- and supervisor-side awareness of unsafe tie-off conditions and supporting product development across construction, scaffolding, and elevated-platform applications.
Invention Details
Abstract: A safety monitoring harness system for the protection of a climber is disclosed. The safety monitoring harness system has a base, an alarm system, a strap length sensor assembly, a PCB, a first tether assembly, a second tether assembly, and a power system. The first tether assembly and the second tether assembly each comprise a strap, a retraction assembly, and an anchoring hook. The safety monitoring harness system is configured to selectively attach to the climber by securing a harness assembly to the climber and securing the base to the harness assembly. A portion of the retraction assembly for each of the first tether assembly and the second tether assembly is enclosed within the base. The anchoring hooks retract and extend between a plurality of lengths from the base.
Summary of the Invention: Said safety monitoring harness system further comprises said PCB. Said PCB comprises said processor and said memory. Said safety monitoring harness system is configured to calculate a safety status of said climber by receiving a length signal regarding said first tether assembly and said second tether assembly, comparing said length signals in said PCB, calculating whether at least one among said first tether assembly and said second tether assembly is extended out of said base, calculating a safe status if at least one among said first tether assembly and said second tether assembly is outside said base for a given period, and calculating an unsafe condition with said PCB if both said first tether assembly and said second tether assembly is inside said base for a given period. Said safety monitoring harness system is configured to trigger an alarm if said climber is not in a safe condition as defined by at least one among said first tether assembly and said second tether assembly being extended and moving. A method using said safety monitoring harness system comprises securing said harness assembly to said climber, and securing said base to said harness assembly; monitoring use by said climber of two or more tether assemblies by verifying that at least one among a two or more tether assemblies is extended; and triggering an alarm if said climber is not in a safe condition as defined by at least one among said two or more tether assemblies is extended.
Patent Document
Related: Computer Science & Software | Mechanical Engineering | College Station, Texas | Liberty, Texas | Shannon Warren, Patent Attorney