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A safety gate has a frame with spaced apart top and bottom assemblies and spaced apart side assemblies in a deployed configuration. The top and bottom assembly length is extendable and retractable between the opposed side assemblies. A flexible barrier is connected to the frame. A one-way jack mecha

A safety gate has a frame with spaced apart top and bottom assemblies and spaced apart side assemblies in a deployed configuration. The top and bottom assembly length is extendable and retractable between the opposed side assemblies. A flexible barrier is connected to the frame. A one-way jack mechanism can be carried on each of the top and bottom assemblies. The length of the assemblies can be extended without actuating the jack mechanisms to adjust the frame to nearly fit a space between two surfaces. The jack mechanisms, when actuated, incrementally further extend the top and bottom assemblies so the frame interferingly fits between the two surfaces under compression. The frame can be reconfigurable between a compact configuration and the deployed configuration. The side assemblies can include latches that lock the frame in the deployed configuration.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A safety gate comprising: a frame having top and bottom assemblies spaced apart in a vertical direction and having opposed side assemblies spaced apart in a horizontal direction in a deployed configuration, a length of the top and bottom assemblies being extendable and retractable to adjust a wid

1. A safety gate comprising: a frame having top and bottom assemblies spaced apart in a vertical direction and having opposed side assemblies spaced apart in a horizontal direction in a deployed configuration, a length of the top and bottom assemblies being extendable and retractable to adjust a width of the frame between the opposed side assemblies;a flexible barrier connected to and supported by the frame, anda one-way jack mechanism carried on each of the top and bottom assemblies, each one-way jack mechanism having a lever and each lever lying generally parallel to the respective top or bottom assembly in a home position,wherein the length of the top and bottom assemblies can be extended without actuating the jack mechanisms to adjust the frame to a desired width to nearly fit a space between two surfaces, andwherein the levers of the one-way jack mechanisms, when actuated, move toward the respective top or bottom assembly and incrementally further extend the length of the top and bottom assemblies such that the frame interferingly fits between the two surfaces under compression, andwherein actuation of the levers further extends the top and bottom assemblies in a direction of extension and neither actuation nor return of the levers retracts the top and bottom assemblies in an opposite direction of retraction. 2. A safety gate according to claim 1, wherein the barrier covers a substantial portion of an opening in the frame within the top, bottom, and opposed side assemblies. 3. A safety gate according to claim 2, wherein the barrier is coupled to the top and bottom assemblies and to the opposed side assemblies and is extendable and retractable as the width of the frame is adjusted. 4. A safety gate according to claim 1, wherein each lever is a squeezable lever that, when squeezed from the home position, incrementally further extends the length of the respective top or bottom assembly and when released returns to the home position generally parallel with the respective top or bottom assembly and leaving the respective top or bottom assembly in the incrementally extended length. 5. A safety gate according to claim 1, wherein the top and bottom assemblies each have a fixed segment and an adjustable segment telescopically slidable along and relative to the fixed segment. 6. A safety gate according to claim 5, wherein each jack mechanism is connected to and positionally fixed lengthwise along the respective fixed segment, whereby actuating the jack mechanism incrementally further extends the adjustable segment relative to and telescopically along the fixed segment. 7. A safety gate according to claim 5, wherein each lever is a squeezable lever that, when squeezed from the home position and released back to the home position, incrementally further extends the adjustable segment. 8. A safety gate according to claim 5, wherein each jack mechanism prevents the adjustable segment from being retracted back along the respective fixed segment unless the jack mechanism is released. 9. A safety gate according to claim 8, wherein each jack mechanism has a release mechanism actuable to release the respective adjustable segment so as to be retractable back along the fixed segment. 10. A safety gate according to claim 1, wherein the frame is foldable to a compact configuration with the top and bottom assemblies positioned closely adjacent and generally parallel to one another and with the opposed side assemblies folded therebetween. 11. A safety gate according to claim 1, wherein the frame is reconfigurable from the deployed configuration to a compact configuration, the side assemblies each having a latch that locks the frame in the deployed configuration and that can be unlatched to allow the frame to be folded. 12. A safety gate comprising: a frame having top and bottom assemblies and opposed side assemblies, the frame reconfigurable between a compact configuration and a deployed configuration;a flexible barrier connected to and supported by the frame; anda one-way jack mechanism carried on each of the top and bottom assemblies, each one-way jack mechanism having a housing, a lever extending from one side of the housing, and a release element positioned on an opposing side of the housing wherein a length of each of the top and bottom assemblies can be extended to adjust the frame to loosely fit between two surfaces without operating the one-way jack mechanisms,wherein the levers, when actuated from a home position, incrementally extend the lengths of the top and bottom assemblies such that the frame can interferingly fit between two surfaces under compression in the deployed configuration,wherein, in the compact configuration, the top and bottom assemblies are closely spaced and generally parallel to one another and the opposed side assemblies are folded between or adjacent the top and bottom assemblies,wherein, in the deployed configuration, the levers are actuable from and returnable one or multiple times to the home position whereby each actuation incrementally extends the length of the top and bottom assemblies in one direction and each return does not retract the length of the top and bottom assemblies in a direction opposite the one direction, andwherein the release element is actuable to release the one-way jack mechanisms allowing the length of the top and bottom assemblies to be retracted. 13. A safety gate according to claim 12, wherein the opposed side assemblies each have an upper section and a lower section connected to one another at a central hinge and pivotable between an extended orientation and a folded orientation corresponding to the deployed and compact configurations, respectively, of the frame. 14. A safety gate according to claim 13, wherein each central hinge has a latch configured in a latched position to lock the respective side assemblies in the extended orientation. 15. A safety gate according to claim 14, wherein each latch can be selectively unlatched by pushing a corresponding pin, which unlocks the respective upper and lower sections, each corresponding pin defining a single pivot axis of the respective hinge about which the upper and lower section of each side assembly pivot relative to one another. 16. A safety gate according to claim 15, wherein the pins are spring biased to the latched position. 17. A safety gate according to claim 14, wherein each latch comprises: a hinge knuckle defined in part on an end of each of the upper and lower sections;a bore extending axially along the hinge knuckle and formed in part by each of the upper and lower sections, the bore having differently shaped circumferential portions spaced along its length; anda latch pin within the bore and having differently shaped circumferential segments spaced along its length, the latch pin being axially movable between a latched position and an unlatched position,wherein the differently shaped portions and segments cooperate to permit relative rotation about the pin between the upper and lower sections of the opposed side assemblies in the unlatched position and to prevent such relative rotation in the latched position. 18. A safety gate according to claim 17, wherein the latch pins, upon movement to the unlatched position, are held in the unlatched released position by misaligned portions of the bore when the upper and lower sections are pivoted from the deployed configuration toward the compact configuration. 19. A safety gate according to claim 12, wherein the length of the top and bottom assemblies can be extended without actuating the jack mechanisms in the deployed configuration to adjust the frame to a desired width to nearly fit a space between the two surfaces before actuating the jack mechanisms. 20. A safety gate comprising: a frame having top and bottom assemblies and opposed side assemblies and being reconfigurable between a compact configuration with the side assemblies in a folded orientation and a deployed configuration with the side assemblies in an extended orientation, a length of each of the top and bottom assemblies freely extendable to loosely fit between two surfaces;a one-way jack mechanism carried on each of the top and bottom assemblies, each one-way jack mechanism having a squeezable lever lying generally parallel to the respective top or bottom assembly in a home position and that, when actuated from the home position moves toward the respective top or bottom assembly and, incrementally extends the lengths of the respective top or bottom assembly such that the frame can interferingly fit between two surfaces under compression in the deployed configuration;a central hinge pivotally connecting an upper section and a lower section on each of the opposed side assemblies;a flexible barrier connected to and supported by the frame; anda latch at each of the central hinges,wherein the latches lock the central hinges with the side assemblies in the extended orientation and the frame in the deployed configuration,wherein each central hinge is unlocked by pushing a pin to an unlatched position allowing the side assemblies to pivot to the folded orientation and the frame to fold to the compact configuration, andwherein actuation and return of the levers one or more times further extends the top and bottom assemblies in a direction of extension but does not retract the top and bottom assemblies in an opposite direction of retraction. 21. A safety gate according to claim 12, wherein each lever is generally parallel to the respective top or bottom assembly and is actuable and releasable toward the respective top or bottom assembly to incrementally adjust the length of the top and bottom assemblies. 22. A safety gate according to claim 12, further comprising the release element being positioned in a recess on the housing, the recess being closed off or hidden by a movable cover.