Improved Rigging Shackle-Pin Safety Lock

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Quick-Action Shackle Safety Fastener

This innovative mechanism eliminates hitch pins or wrenching to secure the pin, yet it stubbornly resists premature opening-- improving safety and productivity

 Shackle safety is both an ethical and financial concern for employers.  Higher workman’s compensation rates, damage or destruction of loads and project delays increase costs and lower profits.  Each lifting accident costs the oil industry $850,000 on average.  Rigging failures can result in $50 million settlements and possible criminal charges against responsible managers. 

 Costly rigging failures are far less likely with this improved shackle fastening system.  Its patent-protected value will provide higher margins and market share for its manufacturer.

Quick-Action Shackle Safety Fastening System technology is available for exclusive or field-of-use licensing.
US patent: 7,540,140, issued June 2, 2009

This innovation will give a shackle manufacturer and its distributors a long-term competitive advantage.  It would strengthen a brand known for safety and innovation.  It appeals to the user, buyer and top management.  It justifies a premium price and gives salespeople an exciting new story to share with clients and prospects. License this competitive advantage before your competitors do!

 Problems of Current Designs

 1  Current designs are vulnerable to worker errors.  When a pin lock is not properly secured or not used at all by a rigger the result can be injury or death to workers and damage to the load and impact site.  Hitch pins and nuts are easy to lose on a job-site, especially on boats, and riggers sometimes use the shackle without a hitch pin or improvise with materials that fail. Wrenches can be misplaced, leading riggers to only hand-tighten the nut, risking failure. Visual inspection doesn’t clearly tell if many pins are secured and are safe to lift. 

This new self-contained shackle design is much more secure in real-world use. It’s much less prone to worker error.

 2 Current designs may open from vibration and pin rotation.

 This new fastener ignores vibration and pin rotation

  3 Current shackle designs are slow to close and secure, creating pinch-injury risks and lower productivity. 

 This new shackle pin is quickly secured with a ¼ turn hand motion.

 4 Current designs snag lines on the nut or hitch pin, slowing work and creating a safety hazard. 

The encased fastener of this new design shrugs lines off its smooth shoulders.

The Quick-Action Safety Fastening System is completely self-contained.  It doesn’t need hitch pins, nuts or a wrench to lock the pin into the bow, yet it won’t open until an operator retracts the locking collar and turns the pin handle.

  • It is quickly secured with a one-handed turn of the handle on the end of the pin outside the bow. 
  • A visual inspection of the position of the head of the pin tells the operator whether the shackle is secured via length and a yellow warning zone.
  • Lines don’t snag on the closure, sliding past the smooth housing covering the holding lugs. 
  • This tool-free design’s fast closure, lack of small parts to lose and a visual safety check all help reduce injuries,  loss of life and financial damages, while increasing rigger productivity.

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To Open

 

  1. Move locking collar 6 in towards the bow, compressing the spring.
  2. Turn handle 52 clock-wise 1/4 turn to retract the holding lugs from inside chamber 22-23 (shown retracted in illustration) to within the pin’s diameter so it can be removed from the bow. The pin may be removed completely from the bow and may be tethered to the bow.

To Close

 

  1. Insert pin through both sides of the bow until it hits the bottom of housing 19.
  2. Turn the handle counter-clockwise until the spring extends the collar around the handle, locking it.  The holding lugs are extended by the same motion.

For Technical and Licensing Information Contact:

 

Clyde Hanson at 612-418-1192 or clyde.hanson @ventureisles.com

 Clyde Hanson is the exclusive licensing agent for the Quick-Action Shackle Safety Fastening System and is the Managing Director of Venture Isles, LLC., Minneapolis, Minnesota  USA

 

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