GB2348916A - Foothold with hooked ends and wall support portions - Google Patents

Abstract

A foothold (1) includes a tread (2), side portions (3) positioned at both sides of the tread and legs (4), where the legs, side portions and tread are formed of a core (5) covered by a synthetic resin (6). Hook portions (8) are provided at the ends of the legs and contact support members (9) are located at the boundary between the side portion and the leg and the thickness of the side portions is greater than those of the legs. In use (Figure 6) the hook portions and support members contact the brick wall to aid in retaining the foothold in the desired position. In a further embodiment an upper surface of the tread may be inclined upward from a central portion towards end sides from 1-5 degrees, reflectors (13) located at both ends of the tread and a wave like grip portion (16) may be provided on a lower surface of the tread.

Description

EQOTHQLDJJSED. INBRICEALL I) EGIPTION The invention relates to a foothold used in a brick wall comprising a tread, side portions continued and positioned at both sides of the tread and legs to be inserted into a brick wall.

There is a conventional foothold having a tread, side portions continued and positioned at both sides of the tread and legs to be inserted into a concrete wall, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 6-71899, wherein come-out prevention members are provided at tip ends of the legs and the tip ends are pointed, and collars are provided at the center of the legs.

However, in the conventional foothold, there occurs a problem that gaps are generated between holes which are defined in a concrete wall into which the legs are inserted and come-out prevention members provided on the tip ends of the legs, thereby generating a play in the vertical and lateral directions of the foothold, resulting in the lack of stability. Further, although the collars are brought into contact with the concrete wall surface at the boundary between the side portions and legs, these collars do not sufficiently support the tread, leading to the drawback that the foothold hangs down when a load is applied to the foothold.

Further, in the case of a concrete wall, when the foothold is fixed to an inner wall of a manhole and so forth, an epoxy resin and so forth is filled in holes defined in the concrete wall, then the legs of foothold are inserted into the holes to fix the foothold. However, in the case of a brick wall, when holes are defined in bricks, the bricks are liable to split, causing a problem that the foothold is not reliably and easily fixed to the brick wall.

The invention has been made in view of the conventional foothold having the problems set forth above. It is an object of the invention to provide a foothold capable of reliably and easily fitting the legs of the foothold to lateral joints provided between bricks so that the foothold can be reliably fixed to the brick wall and capable of enduring for a long period of use.

To achieve the above objects, a foothold used in a brick wall according to the first aspect of the invention comprises a tread, side portions and legs which are formed of a core and a synthetic resin covering the core, thicknesses of the legs being thinner than those of the side portions so as to be accommodated in the thicknesses of lateral joints of bricks as viewed from the side, hook portions provided at the tip ends of the legs to be retained by a brick outer wall, and contact support members protruded from lower portions of boundaries between the side portions and the legs so as to contact a brick wall surface.

A foothold used in a brick wall according to the second aspect of the invention comprises a tread, side portions and legs which are formed of a core and a synthetic resin covering the core, thicknesses of the legs being thinner than those of the side portions so as to be accommodated in the thicknesses of lateral joints of bricks as viewed from the side, hook portions provided at the tip ends of the legs to be retained by a brick outer wall, an upper surface of said tread being inclined upward from the central portion toward end sides in the range of 1 to 5 degrees, reflectors provided at both ends of the tread, said reflectors being red at right side and green at left side, a wave-like grip portion formed at an inner side surface of the tread in the axial direction thereof, another wave-like grip portion having irregularities on a surface thereof at the lower surface of the tread in the axial direction, and contact support members protruded from lower portions of boundaries between the side portions and the legs so as to contact a brick wall surface.

The foothold used in a brick wall according to the third aspect of the invention further comprises belt-like projections provided along outer end of side portions, and blow receiving portions provided at front side of the tread when inserting the foothold into the brick wall.

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing a foothold used in a brick wall according to a first embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a front view in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a side view in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line A-A in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a main portion of the foothold fixed to a brick wall; Fig. 6 is a side view in Fig. 5 ; Fig. 7 is a plan view showing a foothold used in a brick wall according to a second embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 8 is a front view in Fig. 7.

First Embodiment (Figs 1 to 6): Fig. 1 is a plan view showing a foothold used in a brick wall according to a first embodiment of the invention, Fig. 2 is a front view in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a side view in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line A A in Fig. 1, Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a main portion of the foothold used in a brick wall fixed to a brick wall, and Fig. 6 is a side view in Fig. 5.

In these figures, reference numeral 1 depicts an entire foothold and comprises a tread 2, side portions 3 continued and positioned at both sides of the tread 2 and legs 4 to be inserted into a brick wall, wherein the tread 2, side portions 3 and legs 4 being formed of an iron core 5 having a U-shape as viewed from the top and a synthetic resin 6 such as polypropylene for covering the core 5 so as to keep the core 5 from rusting. Slip prevention patterns 7 are formed on the entire surfaces of the tread 2 and side portions 3.

The thickness L of each leg 4 is less than that of each side portion 3 (see Fig. 4). The core 5 is bent at the tip ends of the legs 4 and the synthetic resin 6 also covers the core 5 so as to keep the core 5 from rusting, and the bent core 5 forms hook portions 8 to be retained by a brick outer wall.

Contact support members 9 are protruded from lower portions of boundaries between the side portions 3 and the legs 4 so as to contact the brick wall surface.

When the foothold 1 having the construction set forth above is fixed to the brick wall, the contact support members 9 protruded from the lower portions of the boundaries between the side portions 3 and the legs 4 are allowed to contact the brick wall surface when heaping up bricks 10, and the legs 4 are fitted to lateral joints 12 between the bricks 10 while the hook portions 8 are retained by outer walls 11 a of the bricks 10, then an adhesive such as epoxy resin and mortal to heap up the bricks 10. These operations are performed in vertical direction at a predetermined interval so as to fix the foothold 1 to the brick wall. The legs 4 which are supported by the contact support members 9, retained by the hook portions 8 and fitted to the lateral joints 12 reliably prevent the foothold 1 from hanging down, from coming off the brick wall and from generating a play in the lateral direction in conjunction with the adhesive so that the legs 4 are brought into intimate contact with the brick wall and the foothold 1 is reliably fixed to the brick wall (see Figs. 5 and 6). Further, since the hook portions 8 are retained by the outer walls 11 a, the legs 4 can be prevented from excessively inserting into the brick wall.

It is possible to double the lengths of the legs 4 compared with those of the first embodiment. In this case, the foothold 1 can be more reliably fixed to the brick wall by the lengths of the portions which fit the legs 4 to the lateral joints 12 by retaining the hook portions 8 by an outer walls I lb. Still further, the width of the tread 2 can determined by arbitrarily selecting the width of the tread 2 on which both feet are placed or the width on which one foot is placed. The upper surface of the tread 2 is varied to incline upward from the central portion S toward both ends in the range of 1 to 5 degrees. As a result, both feet or foot of a person can be placed stably on the upper surface of the tread 2 so that the working can be safely performed by the person.

Reflectors 13 are provided on both end corners of the tread 2. If the right reflector 13 is red while the left reflector 13 is green, the right and left positions of the foothold are made clear, thereby orienting the foothold in a specific direction.

A wave-like grip portion 14 is provided on the tread 2 at the inner side thereof in the axial direction thereof. Another wave-like grip portion 16 having irregularities 15 is formed on the tread 2 at the lower surface thereof.

In this case, although it is normally conceived that the person goes up and down the foothold 1 while gripping the foothold 1 that is positioned several stages above the foothold 1 on which the person places his or her both legs, the tread 2 can be easily gripped by forming the wave shape on the inner side of the tread 2 in the axial direction. Still further, since the tread 2 has the wave-like grip portion 16 having the irregularities 15 on the lower surface of the tread 2 in the axial direction, both hands can be prevented from slipping so that the person can go up and down the foothold 1 with safety.

Second Embodiment (Figs. 7 and 8); Fig. 7 is a plan view showing a foothold used in a brick wall according to a second embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 8 is a front view in Fig. 7.

In these figures, denoted by 17 are belt-like projections provided along outer end of side portions 3. At least one blow receiving portion 18 is provided at front side of the tread 2 when inserting the foothold 1 formed of synthetic resin into the brick wall, and it is integrally formed with the synthetic resin 6 of the tread 2. Other constructions of the second embodiment are substantially the same as those of the first embodiment, and hence these components are denoted by the same reference numerals and an overlapping With the provision of these projections 17 in the foothold 1, even if both legs are placed on the side portions 3 when working, the working can be performed by the person with safety while both legs are not slipped laterally from the tread 2 owing to the projections 17.

It is possible to cover the back surfaces of the projections 17 with reflectors 13, as shown by imaginary lines in Fig. 8, whereby the areas of the reflectors 13 fixed to the projections 17 increase so that the position of the foothold 1 is made clearer.

There is a case where the legs 4 are inserted into the lateral joints 12 for fixing the foothold 1 to the brick wall. In this case, there is a case that the legs are hardly inserted into the lateral joints 12 even if the foothold 1 is pressed against the inner wall by hands. In such a case, it is normally conceivable that the front side of the tread 2 is blown by a hammer and so forth to insert the legs 4 into the lateral joints 12. With the provision of the blow receiving portions 18, the front side of the tread 2 is hardly damaged, and hence the foothold 1 can be reliably inserted into and fixed to the brick wall.

Since the foothold used in a brick wall of the first aspect of the invention comprises a tread, side portions, and legs which are formed of a core and a synthetic resin covering the core, thicknesses of the legs being thinner than those of the side portions so as to be accommodated in the thicknesses of lateral joints of bricks as viewed from the side, hook portions provided at the tip ends of the legs to be retained by a brick outer wall, and contact support members protruded from lower portions of boundaries between the side portions and the legs so as to contact a brick wall surface, the contact support members are reliably fitted to the brick wall to surely prevent the foothold from hanging down while the hook portions assure the positioning of the foothold to prevent the legs from coming off from the brick wall, and the legs can be reliably and easily fitted to the lateral joints provided between bricks so that the foothold can be reliably fixed to the brick wall and can be endure for a long period of use.

Since the foothold used in a brick wall of the second aspect of the invention comprises a tread, side portions and legs which are formed of a core and a synthetic resin covering the core, thicknesses of the legs being thinner than those of the side portions so as to be accommodated in the thicknesses of lateral joints of bricks as viewed from the side, hook portions provided at the tip ends of the legs to be retained by a brick outer wall, an upper surface of said tread being inclined upward from the central portion toward end sides in the range of 1 to 5 degrees, reflectors provided at both ends of the tread, said reflectors being red at right side and green at left side, a wave-like grip portion formed at an inner side surface of the tread in the axial direction thereof, another wave-like grip portion having irregularities on a surface thereof at the lower surface of the tread in the axial direction, and contact support members protruded from lower portions of boundaries between the side portions and the legs so as to contact a brick wall surface, the contact support members are reliably fitted to the brick wall to surely prevent the foothold from hanging down while the hook portions assure the positioning of the foothold to prevent the legs from coming off from the brick wall, and the legs can be reliably and easily fitted to the lateral joints provided between bricks so that the foothold can be reliably fixed to the brick wall and the person can safely engage in working. Further, the foothold can be oriented in a direction and the tread can be easily gripped by hands when a person goes up and down the foothold and both hands can be prevented from slipping, and capable of enduring for a long period of use.

Since the foothold used in a brick wall of the third aspect of the invention further comprises belt-like projections provided along outer end of side portions, and the blow receiving portion provided at front side of the tread when inserting the foothold into the brick wall, even if both legs are placed on the side portions when working, the working can be performed by the person with safety while both legs are not slipped laterally from the tread owing to the projections and the front side of the tread is hardly damage, and hence the foothold 1 can be reliably inserted into and fixed to the brick wall.

Claims (5)

1. A foothold (1) used in a brick wall comprising a tread (2), side portions (3) continued and positioned at both sides of the tread (2) and legs (4) to be inserted into a brick wall, said tread (2), side portions (3) and legs (4) being formed of a core (5) and a synthetic resin (6) covering the core (5), thicknesses of the legs (4) being thinner than those of the side portions (3) so as to be accommodated in the thicknesses of lateral joints of bricks (10) as viewed from the side, hook portions (8) provided at the tip ends of the legs (4) to be retained by a brick outer wall, and contact support members (9) protruded from lower portions of boundaries between the side portions (3) and the legs (4) so as to contact a brick wall surface.

2. A foothold (1) used in a brick wall comprising a tread (2), side portions (3) continued and positioned at both sides of the tread (2) and legs (4) to be inserted into a brick wall, said tread (2), side portions (3) and legs (4) being formed of a core (5) and a synthetic resin (6) covering the core (5), thicknesses of the legs (4) being thinner than those of the side portions (3) so as to be accommodated in the thicknesses of lateral joints (12) of bricks (10) as viewed from the side, hook portions (8) provided at the tip ends of the legs (4) to be retained by a brick outer wall, an upper surface of said tread (2) being inclined upward from the central portion toward end sides in the range of 1 to 5 degrees, reflectors (13) provided at both ends of the tread (2), said reflectors (13) being red at right side and green at left side, a wave-like grip portion (14) formed at an inner side surface of the tread (2) in the axial direction thereof, another wave-like grip portion (16) having irregularities (15) on a surface thereof at the lower surface of the tread (2) in the axial direction, and contact support members (9) protruded fi-om lower portions of boundaries between the side portions (3) and the legs (4) so as to contact a brick wall surface.

3. The foothold (1) used in a brick wall according to Claim 1, further comprising belt-like projections (17) provided along outer end of side portions (3), and blow receiving portions (18) provided at front side of the tread (2) when inserting the foothold (1) into the brick wall.

4. A foothold substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.

5. Any novel feature or combination of features disclosed herein.