Ladder Safety Guard

Abstract

A device for preventing the use of the topmost rung and hindering access to the top step of a ladder that can easily be attached and removed in order to prevent unsafe ladder use and reduce injury.

1 . A ladder safety guard consisting of a guard body that prevents the use of the topmost rung  18  and hinders access to the top step  22  of a ladder. 
   
   
       2 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1 , further including external clips  12  that wrap around the outside of the side rails  20  of a ladder. 
   
   
       3 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1 , further including vertical hand openings  14  to allow the use of the side rails  20  as handholds. 
   
   
       4 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1 , further including a horizontal hand opening  16  to allow the use of the topmost rung  18  as a handhold. 
   
   
       5 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1 , further including a support brace  30  that keeps the guard body in position. 
   
   
       6 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1 , further including internal clips  24  which contact the inside of the side rails  20 . 
   
   
       7 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 6 , further including a release tab  26  on the end of the internal clips  24 . 
   
   
       8 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1  wherein said guard body  10  consists of more than one piece. 
   
   
       9 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 8  wherein said guard body consists of two halves  42  and  44  that slide horizontally relative to each other. 
   
   
       10 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 9 , further including a locking tab  32  and locking teeth  36  that keep the halves in position relative to each other. 
   
   
       11 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 9 , further including a slide bracket  34  along the top and bottom edge of one guard body half  42  that wraps around the other guard body half  44 . 
   
   
       12 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 8 , further including side braces  38  that contact the side rails  20  of said ladder. 
   
   
       13 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 12 , further including side brace grips  40  on the outside edge of the side braces  38 . 
   
   
       14 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1  wherein said guard body  10  is made of plastic. 
   
   
       15 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1  wherein said guard body covers an area delineated by the topmost rung  18 , top step  22 , and side rails  20  of said ladder. 
   
   
       16 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1  wherein said guard body  10  is tall enough to cover the span between the top step  22  and the rung that is below the topmost rung  18 . 
   
   
       17 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1 , further including a plurality of hooks for holding tools. 
   
   
       18 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1 , further including a plurality of holes for holding tools. 
   
   
       19 . The ladder safety guard of  claim 1 , further including a plurality of cups for holding small tools or hardware.