CA1144583A - Climbing device for vehicles - Google Patents

Climbing device for vehicles

Info

Publication number
CA1144583A
CA1144583A CA000349214A CA349214A CA1144583A CA 1144583 A CA1144583 A CA 1144583A CA 000349214 A CA000349214 A CA 000349214A CA 349214 A CA349214 A CA 349214A CA 1144583 A CA1144583 A CA 1144583A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
climbing device
vehicle
supporting member
foot step
climbing
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000349214A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
G. Ingemar Johansson
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to CA000349214A priority Critical patent/CA1144583A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1144583A publication Critical patent/CA1144583A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B60VEHICLES IN GENERAL
    • B60RVEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • B60R3/00Arrangements of steps or ladders facilitating access to or on the vehicle, e.g. running-boards

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Ladders (AREA)

Abstract

ABSTRACT

A ladder for use with vehicles is composed of two flexible supporting members and a number of foot steps, said supporting members comprising a reinforcement located in the vicinity of that face of the member which is directed outwardly from the vehicle so as to give said member a greater reistance to ben-ding in the direction of the vehicle than in the opposite direc-tion. According to another aspect of the invention each foot step at the opposite ends thereof is pivotally connected to brackets mounted in the flexible supporting members.

Description

11~4583 A CLIMBING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES
BAC~GROUND AND SUMMARY 0~ THE INVENTION
~his invention relates to a climbing device for vehicles comprising a number of foot steps arranged on a frame composed members of one or more supporting/ which are made of flexible material in order to allow temporary deformation of the frame without causing permanent damages therein if striking an obstacle.
Such a climbine device, which is advantageously used in con-nection with tractors, earth moving scrapers and similarly high vehicle~, i8 previously known by the US patent specifi-cation 38 87 216 which discloses a device comprising one single foot step and two supporting bodies in the form of portions of a single rubber strap, These supporting members are of rectan-gular cross sectional shape providing a greater resistance to bending perpendicularly to a plane through the device than parallel to said plane in order to make said me~bers yield easier for strains acting laterally on the device than for strains actine perpendicularly to the plane Or the device.
When examined in the latter direction only, each supportin6 member is however as apt to yield inwardly towards the vehicle as it is apt to yield outwardly therefrom. In practice this means that the foot step rather easily moves inwardly towards the vehicle when a person gets up on it and thereby the climbing operation is felt unpleasant and unsafe. Such inward movement may also injure the legs and knees of theclimbing person in question, A climbing device consisting of a single foot step snd two supporting chains is further known by the British patent specification 1 485 929. Also in this case the supporting members are as apt to yield inwardly towards the vehicle as outwardly therefrom. As a matter of fact the supporting chains of this device is equally yieldable in all directions.
It is an object of an aspect of the present invention to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art devices and provide a climbing device or ladder which guarantees a safe and steady climbing at the same time as the frame or the supporting members of the device are free to yield in those directions which are essential in order not to damage said members when striking an obstacle.
An aspect of the invention is as follows:
A climbing device for vehicles, said climbing device comprising a number of foot steps arranged on a frame composed of at least one supporting member, said supporting member being made of flexible material to allow temporary deformation of said frame without causing per-manent damages in said frame when striking an obstacle, said device having means at one end thereof for attachment to the vehicle with the other end of said device being adapted to terminate freely spaced from the vehicle and, during use, from the ground, said flexible supporting member including a reinforcement located in the vicinity of that face of said member which is directed outwardly from the vehicle in order to provide said member with a greater resistance to bending in the direction inwardly toward the vehicle than in the opposite direction.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
An embodiment of the climbing device or ladder according to the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the front portion of a vehicle provided with a ladder of the invention;
Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the ladder of Fig. l;
Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the ladder as seen from the left in Fig. 2, parts of the ladder being broken away in order to illustrate the structure of a supporting member;
Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV of Fig. 2; and , i ,~; .

~1~4583 Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line V-V of Fig. 2, IJETAILED DESCI~IPTION OF THE INVENTION
The vehicle 10 of Fig. 1 is provided with a ladder 11 according to the invention. This ladder is fixed by means of holders 12 attached to a platform 13 of the conventional type existing on the vehicle. In the present case the vehicle is ~hown as a forest tractor. This does not however mean that the ladder of the invention could not be used in connection with other vehicles, such as trucks, earth moving scrapers, etc.
The details of the ladder appear from ~'igs 2 to 5 to which reference is now made.
As seen in Fig, 2 the ladder 11 comprises two rather long supporting members 14 consisting of a fle~ible or resilient material, especially crude or synthetic rubber. Instead of rub-ber it i6 al80 conceivable to use different types of plastics having a suitable resiliency, A number Or foot steps or cross pieces 15 extend between the two supporting members 14, In the embodiment shown in the drawing the number of foot steps is three but it should be understood that the number in question may be varied all from one and upwards, As best illustrated in Fig, 5 the supporting members 14 have a substantially greater extension perpendicularly to a plane through the foot steps 15 than parallel to said plane, In other words the supporting members have a width or depth which i6 greater than the thickness thereof, In practice the width/thickness ratio may be 2:1 or greater, In this manner the supporting members get a greater resistance to bending perpendicularly to the imaginary plane through the foot steps than in said plane itself. Accordingly the supporting members yield considerably easier for strains directed substantially parallel to the direction of movement of the vehicle than perpendicularly thereto, Fig. 3 illustrates how the supporting members 14 are arranged in the holders 12 in such a way that they slope out-wardly and downwardly from the vehicle or the platform thereof.
This has been carried out by the fact that the holder 12 is made with a downwardly opening seating 16 the inside shape of which rather accurately corresponds to the outside shape of the top portion of the supporting member in question, said member automatically assuming said sloping position as it is inserted in said seating of the holder, In the embodiment shown the angle of inclination relative to the vertical plane is about 15, This anele may however vary within wide limits, e,g, from 5 to 45, preferably 10 to 30 or 15 to 20 , In order not to allow the individual supporting member to deflect downwardly too easily when loaded by a person standing on the ladder tne same is provided with a reinforcement in the shape of a textile strap 17 which is embedded in or other-wise connected to that face of the supporting member which i~
directed obliquely upwards or outwards rather than obliquely downwards or inwards, This textile reinforcement extends along the whole length of the supporting member and at the upper end of said member the reinforcement is folded over or arranged to enclose a sleeve 18 which extends acros~ the length of the supporting member, said reinforcement being terminated not before it approaches the back side of the supporting member, At the lower portion of said member the reinforcement is similarly folded about a tube 19 and is terminated in the ~icinity of the back side of the member, ~y the fact that the supporting member in this manner has a reinforcement on its front face the member in question is given a considerably greater resistance to bending downwardly or inwardly than to bending upwardly or outwardly; somethin~ that lends to the ladder a desirable stability for the person climbing the same, The holder 12 may advantageously be made of metal sheet, In the two sheets which confine the seating 16 in the lateral direction holes are recessed the positions of which correspond to the position of the sleeve 18 wnen the supporting member is inserted in the seating, The supporting member is locked in ~1~4583 the holder by means of a bolt 20 provided with a nut 21 (see Fig. 2).
In the embodiment shown in the drawings each foot step comprises two separate,substantially parallel rods 22, 23 which are interconnected at their ends and lie in a substan-tially horizontal plane as illustrated in Fig. 4, According to an important aspect of the present invention each foot step i5 pivotally connected, at the opposite ends thereof, to brackets 24 mounted in the flexible supporting members 14. More exactly each of these brackets consists of a U-shaped yoke having a pin-like projection 25 which is inserted in the above mentioned tube 19 which in turn is embedded or anchored in the body of the flexible supporting member in question. The projection 25 and the bracket as awhole is secured in the tube by means of a locking element in the form of a screw 26 and a bowl-shaped washer 27. Each yoke 24 ¢arries between the two free branches thereof an axle stub 28 on which a cage 29 is rotatably mounted. Said cage is in turn joined to the foot step 15 by welding.
The projection 25 as well as the tube 19 have a non-circular sectional shape so as to provide a non-rotatable connection between the supporting member on one hand and the bracket and the foot step on the other.
~ccording to a further important feature of the invention the eeometrical axis of the axle stub 28 is oblique in relation to the length of the frame body. In the embodiment shown the angle 0~ i9 about 60, In practice this angle may vary in the range of 50 to 80. By arranging this angle between the stub axis and the length direction of each supporting member one lends to the ladder as awhole a stability which on one hand i8 great enoueh to avoid palpable lateral movements of the ladder upon climbing the same and on the other hand i9 not great enough to prevent the ladder from yielding upon striking an obstacle. If said axis were positioned perpendicularly to the length direction of the supporting members, then unpleasant .

lateral movements of the ladder would occur when even a light wei~ht person climbs the ladder, but by making the angle C~
acute within the above mentioned range a good stability of the ladder is achieved in connection with climbing without however preventing the ladder from yielding when greater forces are involved in connection with the strikine of an obstacle.
As previously mentioned the angle of inclination of the supporting members relative to the vertical plane is about 15 in the exampl~, while the angle c~ i9 60, This means that there is also an angle ~ of 15 between the substantially hori-zontal plane of the foot step and the cage 29 mounted on the stub 28. In other words said cage is welded to the end of the foot step while forming an angle determined by the angle of inclination of the ladder and the angle of inclination of the stubs 28 relative to the supporting members, POSSI~L~ MODIFICATIO~S
Of course the invention is not merely limited to the embodiment disclosed in the drawings, Thus it is possible to apply the first aspect of the invention also to such climbing deviceæ which instead of two ir.dividual supporting members or string members have one single frame or supporting member which is common to a plurality of foot steps projecting in opposite directions therefrom. Further it is possible to modify not only the holders for the supporting members in order to adapt the climbin~ device or ladder to different types of vehicles but also the foot steps which for instance may be made of plates or by simple rods instead of double rods as illustra-ted.

Claims (8)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:
1. A climbing device for vehicles, said climbing device comp-rising a number of foot steps arranged on a frame composed of at least one supporting member, said supporting member being made of flexible material to allow temporary deformation of said frame without causing permanent damages in said frame when striking an obstacle, said device having means at one end thereof for attachment to the vehicle with the other end of said device being adapted to terminate freely spaced from the vehicle and, during use, from the ground, said flexi-ble supporting member including a reinforcement located in the vicinity of that face of said member which is directed outwardly from the vehicle in order to provide said member with a greater resistance to bending in the direction inwardly toward the vehicle than in the opposite direction.
2. A climbing device according to claim 1, wherein said rein-forcement, at an upper end of said flexible supporting member, is folded about a sleeve which extends across the length of said member and receives a locking bolt of a holder attached to the vehicle, said holder having a downwardly opening seating, the inside shape of which corresponds to the outside shape of the top portion of said supporting member, said top portion being inserted in said seating and locked therein by means of said bolt.
3. A climbing device according to claim 1, wherein the frame comprises two supporting members and each foot step is construc-ted as a stiff and rigid element, each foot step being, at the opposite ends thereof, pivotally connected to brackets mounted in said flexible supporting members.
4. A climbing device according to claim 3, wherein the axes about which said foot step pivots are oblique in relation to the length of said supporting members so as to lend to the climbing device as a whole a stability which on one hand is great enough to avoid palpable lateral movements of the device upon climbing the same and on the other hand is not great enough to prevent the device from yielding upon striking an obstacle.
5. A climbing device according to claim 4, wherein the angle of inclination between said axis and the length of said suppor-ting members is 50° to 80°.
6. A climbing device according to claim 3, wherein said brackets each comprises a yoke having a pin-like projection which is inserted in the supporting member and secured therein by means of a locking element, said yoke carrying between the two free branches thereof an axle stub on which a cage is rotatably mounted, said cage being joined to the proper foot step.
7. A climbing device according to claim 6, wherein said projec-tion has a non-circular sectional shape and is arranged in a tube which is anchored in the supporting member and has the same sectional shape as said projection in order to provide a non-rotatable connection between said foot step and the suppor-ting member in question.
8. A climbing device according to claim 4, wherein said suppor-ting members are attached to said vehicle in such a manner that they slope outwardly and downwardly therefrom at an angle of inclination differing from the angle of inclination between the pivot axes of the foot step and the length of said supporting members, the plane of said foot step and the pivot axes forming an angle with each other.
CA000349214A 1980-04-03 1980-04-03 Climbing device for vehicles Expired CA1144583A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000349214A CA1144583A (en) 1980-04-03 1980-04-03 Climbing device for vehicles

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000349214A CA1144583A (en) 1980-04-03 1980-04-03 Climbing device for vehicles

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1144583A true CA1144583A (en) 1983-04-12

Family

ID=4116636

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000349214A Expired CA1144583A (en) 1980-04-03 1980-04-03 Climbing device for vehicles

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1144583A (en)

Cited By (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
IT201900011769A1 (en) * 2019-07-15 2021-01-15 Iveco Magirus LADDER FOR RESCUE VEHICLES

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
IT201900011769A1 (en) * 2019-07-15 2021-01-15 Iveco Magirus LADDER FOR RESCUE VEHICLES
EP3766736A1 (en) * 2019-07-15 2021-01-20 Iveco Magirus Ag Stepladder for rescue vehicles

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US4333547A (en) Climbing device for vehicles
US4542915A (en) Carriage assembly
US5007654A (en) Truck step
US4668002A (en) Vehicle tail gate ramp assembly
US4057283A (en) Motorcycle trailer
US4733810A (en) Foldable bicycle support device
US5512018A (en) Wheeled seesaw device
CA2125006A1 (en) Bumper mounted anti-tip stabilizers for chair-mounting vehicles utilized by physically disadvantaged persons and others desiring mobility assistance, and methods of stabilizing such vehicles
US5131495A (en) Hollow plastic ladder
US6416108B1 (en) Cover for all terrain vehicles
US4190263A (en) Wheelchair with shock absorber
US3746367A (en) Retractable bicycle training wheels
EP0522783B1 (en) Pushchair
US3854752A (en) Vehicle step mounting arrangement
US4266808A (en) Overhead guard for lift truck
US4588128A (en) Folding boom for agricultural sprayers
US4022488A (en) Guard frame for bicycle tandem child seat
CA1144583A (en) Climbing device for vehicles
US5066032A (en) Wheel chair cycle apparatus
US2783056A (en) Operator protecting frame for tractors
US4859134A (en) Foldable ramp extension for wheel lift apparatus
US4135591A (en) Snowmobile rollover protective structure
US3549165A (en) Cart
GB2146591A (en) Folding wheelbarrow
US3498633A (en) Vehicle attachment for motorcycles

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
MKEX Expiry