US Patent 11779783 Fall-protection apparatus comprising braking device with velocity-actuated, acceleration-modulated pawl(s)

A fall-protection apparatus with a drum and a rotationally-activated braking device including at least one velocity-actuated pawl that is mounted on a pawl-support plate that is rotatable relative to the drum through a predetermined range between a first position and a second position. The pawl-support plate is rotatable relative to the drum from the first position to the second position upon the pawl-support plate experiencing a rotational acceleration that is above a predetermined threshold value of rotational acceleration. When the pawl-support plate is in the second position, the velocity-actuated pawl can be actuated by a rotational velocity that is lower than a rotational velocity required to actuate the pawl when the pawl-support plate is in the first position.