Nicros, Inc.

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

Nathan B Postma

Philip E Kendall

Ramon F Hegel

Douglas S Spencer

Kevin E Cieszkowski

Jonathan N Chasman

A warning system for use with a climbing wall and an automatic belay apparatus for belaying a climber, the warning system providing a warning that a climber is not protected by the auto-belay apparatus. The warning system includes a sensor positioned to sense that a lower end of the climbing rope is secured to the climbing wall and the climber is not attached to the auto-belay system which indicates a dangerous situation, and a height sensor for sensing when the climber has reached a selected height on the climbing wall. A processor receives signals from the sensors and compares the signals to determine if the climber has reached the selected height with the lower end of the climbing wall still secured to the wall, and if so, then actuates a warning alarm.

Automatic belay warning system

A climbing wall structure comprising of a primary frame and a plurality of wall panels is described. Each wall panel has a periphery adapted for abutment with an adjacent wall panel. Each wall panel is connected to adjacent panels with a mounting bracket, such that the wall panels form an integral exterior surface adapted for climbing. The primary frame and the wall panels are connected with kicker struts. Each kicker strut has a first end and a second end. The first end is mounted to a non-peripheral region of the wall panel. This differs from the prior art walls which connect kicker struts to angle iron or tube steel surrounding the periphery of a wall panel. Prior art walls are thus heavier, use more material, and not easily disassembled. In the present invention webbing is also used for positioning. A method for installing an artificial climbing wall structure is also described.

Climbing wall structure and method of construction

A wall-climbing accessory adapted for mounting onto a wall structure is described. The wall-climbing accessory comprises a resilient body that is flexible. The resilient body comprises an exterior surface and an edge. The exterior surface is configured to provide an engagement point capable of supporting a climber of the wall structure, whereby a climber may scale a wall structure by using the wall-climbing accessory. The edge is configured to substantially engage the wall structure such that, when affixed, the resilient body and edge impart a torsion force to the wall structure such that a flexible, friction fit is formed between the wall-climbing accessory and the wall structure. The wall-climbing accessory use only one primary fastener to attach to the wall structure and thus is less prone to rotation than prior art climbing holds. Furthermore, the resilient body is flexible and lighter when compared to prior art climbing holds.

Wall-climbing accessory

Coated abrasive comprising a backing and abrasive grain adhered to said backing by means of a binder. The binder is prepared from a composition that is curable by free-radical polymerization. The composition contains abrasive grain suspended therein at the time the composition is coated onto the backing. The abrasive exhibits high endurance for extended periods of use. The coated abrasive is prepared by a method comprising the steps of:

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White Bear Lake, MN, United States of America

Nathan B Postma