GB2348918A - Foothold with universal washers for securing to a brick wall - Google Patents

Abstract

A foothold (1) includes a tread (2), side portions (3) positioned at both sides of the tread, leg bases (4) and leg bodies (5), where the leg bases, side portions and tread are formed of a core (6) covered by a synthetic resin (7) and the leg bodies are formed of the core only. Universal washers (12), having elliptical holes (Figure 5, ref. 13) and recessed grooves (Figure 5, ref. 14) are moveable along the legs towards the side portions where the recessed grooves locate with pins (11) which protrude radially from the side portions. In use (Figures 7 and 8) the universal washers 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 (17) located at both ends of the tread, a wave like grip portion (18) may be provided on an inner surface of the tread, belt like projections (21) may be provided along the outer end of the side portions and blow receiving portions (23) may be located at the front side of the tread.

Description

EODTHOLD JJSED IN A BRICK WALL DESCRIPTJQN 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 Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-297412, wherein spherical bodies are provided on the side portions close to boundaries between the side portions and legs and collar pieces fitted to the inner curved wall of a manhole are provided slidably and rotatably in the spherical bodies so that the collar pieces are pressed and contact the inner curved wall of the manhole.

However, there occurs a problem in that if the spherical bodies in which the collar pieces are slidably and rotatably provided for fitting the collar pieces to the inner curved wall of the manhole have small diameters, the collar pieces are easily come off from the spherical bodies, and hence they are not reliably held so that the foothold can not be reliably fixed to and held by the inner wall of the manhole. On the other hand, if the diameters of the spherical bodies are made large, the collar pieces can surely slidable and rotatable relative to the spherical bodies, but the collar pieces also become large like the spherical bodies and tip ends of the spherical bodies are likely to contact the inner wall of the manhole when fixing the foothold to the manhole.

To prevent this problem, the spherical bodies swell out largely toward the side portions of the foothold so that the entire foothold is forced to enlarge.

Further, in the case of a concrete wall, the foothold is fixed to an inner wall of a manhole and so forth, 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 pressing universal washers against various wall surfaces of a brick wall such as a straight brick wall, bent brick wall and inclined brick wall, and also capable of reliably and easily fitting the leg bodies of the foothold to joints between piled-up bricks so that the foothold can be reliably fixed to the brick wall, reduced in size and manufactured at low cost.

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 leg bases being formed of a core made of deformed bar and a synthetic resin for covering the core, leg bodies being formed of the core made of deformed bar alone, pins radially protruding from the side portions close to the boundaries between the side portions and the leg bases and positioned in vertical or lateral direction relative to the axes of the side portions, universal washers being inserted from the leg bodies into the side portions toward the pins so as to be pressed against the brick wall by the pins, said universal washers having elliptical holes in cross section through which the side portions penetrate and recess grooves provided at each short axis of the holes for accommodating the pins, A foothold used in a brick wall according to the second aspect of the invention comprises a tread, side portions, and leg bases being formed of a core made of deformed bar and a synthetic resin for covering the core, leg bodies being formed of the core made of deformed bar alone, pins radially protruding from the side portions close to the boundaries between the side portions and the leg bases and positioned in vertical or lateral direction relative to the axes of the side portions, universal washers being inserted from the leg bodies into the side portions toward the pins so as to be pressed against the brick wall by the pins, said universal washers having elliptical holes in cross section through which the side portions penetrate and recess grooves provided at each short axis of the holes for accommodating the pins, 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, beltlike 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 preferred 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 an enlarged view of a universal washer as viewed from the arrow B-B in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is an enlarged view of the universal washer as viewed from the arrow C-CinFig. 1; Fig. 7 is a plan view of a main portion of the foothold fixed to the brick wall; and Fig. 8 is a side view of the main portion of the foothold in Fig. 7.

Figs. 1 to 8 are views showing a foothold used in a brick according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In these figures, a 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 leg bases 4 and leg bodies 5 to be fixed to a brick wall, wherein the tread 2, side portions 3 and leg bases 4 being formed of a core 6 made of deformed bar and having a U-shape as viewed from the top and a synthetic resin 7 such as polypropylene for covering the core 6 made of deformed bar so as to keep the core 6 from rusting. The leg bodies 5 are formed of only the core 6 extended from the leg bases 4. Slip prevention patterns 8 are formed on substantially the entire surfaces of the tread 2 and side portions 3.

The width of each leg base 4 as viewed from the top is less than that of each side portion 3, and the width of each leg body 5 is less than that of each leg base 4 since each leg body 5 is formed of only the core 6 made of deformed bar. Exposed on the surfaces of the leg bodies 5 are ribs 9 and a plurality of nodes or projections 10.

Denoted by 11 are pins radially protruding from the side portions 3 close to the boundaries between the leg bases 4 and side portions 3 and positioned vertically relative to the axes of the side portions 3, and the universal washers 12 to be pressed against the brick wall by the pins 11 are inserted from the leg bodies 5 into the side portions 3 toward the pins 11.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, each of the universal washers 12 formed of synthetic resin has an elliptical hole 13 in cross section through which each side portion 3 is inserted and also has recess grooves 14 at a short axis of each hole 13 for accommodating each pin 11.

In the foothold 1 having the construction set forth above, the universal washers 12 are inserted from the leg bodies 5 toward the pins 11 radially provided on the side portions 3 to engage the pins 11 into the recess grooves 14 so that the universal washers 12 are mounted onto the foothold 1. Since the universal washers 12 have elliptical holes 13 in cross section, the washers 12 are swingable relative to the side portions 3 so that the universal washers 12 can be fitted to and brought into contact with the various brick walls such as straight brick wall, and a bent brick wall.

In case that the foothold 1 having the universal washers 12 is fixed to the brick wall, the universal washers 12 are brought into contact with the brick wall, holes 16'are defined in joints 16 between bricks 15 of a brick wall formed by heaping up bricks 15, then adhesive such as epoxy resin is fitted in the holes 16', subsequently the leg bodies 5 and leg bases 4 are inserted into the adhesive, thereby allowing the universal washers 12 to bring into contact with the brick wall. With the performance of the same operations at a determined interval, the foothold 1 can be fixed to the brick wall. At this time, since the leg bodies 5 are formed of the core 6 made of deformed bar, they are excellently adhered to the mortar, and so forth, and the universal washers 12 are reliably fixed to the brick wall, the vertical and lateral plays in the leg bases 4 and leg bodies 5 are surely prevented so that the leg bases 4 and leg bodies 5 are brought into contact with the brick wall to reliably fix the foothold 1 to the brick wall (see Figs. 2 and 5).

According to the preferred embodiment, although the pins 11 are positioned vertically relative to the axes of the side portions 3 so as to fit the universal washers 12 to the straight and bent brick wall, the pins 11 may be positioned laterally relative to axes of the side portions 3, whereby the foothold 1 may be fixed to the inclined brick wall since the universal washers 12 may be fitted to the inclined brick wall.

Further, 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 17 are provided on both end corners of the tread 2. If the right reflector 17 is red while the left reflector 17 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 18 is provided on the tread 2 at the inner side thereof in the axial direction thereof. Another wave-like grip portion 20 having irregularities 19 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-like grip portion on the inner side of the tread 2 in the axial direction. Still further, since the tread 2 has the wave-like grip portion 20 having the irregularities 19 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.

Denoted by 21 are belt-like projections provided along outer ends of side portions 3. With the provision of these projections 21 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 21.

It is possible to cover the surfaces of the projections 21 with reflectors 22, as shown by imaginary lines in Figs. 2 and 3, whereby the areas of the reflectors 22 increase so that the position of the foothold 1 is made clearer.

At least one blow receiving portion 23 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 7 of the tread 2.

There is a case where the leg bases 4 and leg bodies 5 are inserted into the joints 16 for fixing the foothold 1 to the brick wall. In this case, there is a case that the leg bases 4 and leg bodies 5 are hardly inserted into the joints 16 even if the foothold 1 is pressed against the brick 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 leg bases 4 and leg bodies 5 into the joints 16. With the provision of the blow receiving portions 23 on the front side of the tread 2, 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.

Although the width of the tread 2 is wide in this embodiment, the width of the tread 2 on which both feet are placed or the width of the tread 2 on which a foot is placed can be freely selected and determined. If the width of the tread 2 is narrow, one blow receiving portion 23 may be provided at the front central side of the tread 2.

Since the foothold used in a brick wall of the first aspect of the invention comprises a tread, side portions, and leg bases being formed of a core made of deformed bar and a synthetic resin for covering the core, leg bodies being formed of the core made of deformed bar alone, pins radially protruding from the side portions close to the boundaries between the side portions and the leg bases and positioned in vertical or lateral direction relative to the axes of the side portions, universal washers being inserted from the leg bodies into the side portions toward the pins so as to be pressed against the brick wall by the pins, said universal washers having elliptical holes in cross section through which the side portions penetrate and recess grooves provided at each short axis of the holes for accommodating the pins, the small universal washers are swingable along the bent or inclined surface of the brick wall, and the universal washers can be surely fitted to the brick wall, so that the leg bases and leg bodies can be reliably and easily fitted to the joints between the heaped-up bricks so as to reliably fix the foothold to the brick wall, enabling the foothold to be small and manufactured at low cost.

Since the foothold used in a brick wall of the second aspect of the invention comprises a tread, side portions, and leg bases being formed of a core made of deformed bar and a synthetic resin for covering the core, leg bodies being formed of the core made of deformed bar alone, pins radially protruding from the side portions close to the boundaries between the side portions and the leg bases and positioned in vertical or lateral direction relative to the axes of the side portions, universal washers being inserted from the leg bodies into the side portions toward the pins so as to be pressed against the brick wall by the pins, said universal washers having elliptical holes in cross section through which the side portions penetrate and recess grooves provided at each short axis of the holes for accommodating the pins, 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, beltlike 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, the small universal washers are swingable along the bent or inclined surfaces of the brick wall, and the universal washers can be surely fitted to the brick wall, so that the leg bases and leg bodies can be reliably and easily fitted to the joints between the heaped up bricks so as to reliably fix the foothold to the brick wall. Still further, even if a person places he or her both legs on the side portions when using the foothold, the person is prevented from slipping laterally owing to the projections so that the person can safely engage in working. The foothold can be oriented in a direction and the tread can be easily gripped when a person goes up and down, and also both hands can be prevented from slipping so that the foothold is hardly damaged to ensure the fixation of the foothold to the brick wall, enabling the foothold to be safe in order to endure the long term of use, to be made small and manufactured at low cost.

Claims (4)

CLAIMS.

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 leg bases (4) and leg bodies (5) to be inserted into a brick wall, said tread (2), side portions (3) and leg bases (4) being formed of a core (6) made of deformed bar and a synthetic resin (7) for covering the core (6), leg bodies (5) being formed of the core (6) made of deformed bar alone, pins (11) radially protruding from the side portions (3) close to the boundaries between the side portions (3) and the leg bases (4) and positioned in vertical or lateral direction relative to the axes of the side portions (3), universal washers (12) being inserted from the leg bodies (5) into the side portions (3) toward the pins (11) so as to be pressed against the brick wall by the pins (11), said universal washers (12) having elliptical holes (13) in cross section through which the side portions (3) penetrate and recess grooves provided at each short axis of the holes (13) for accommodating the pins (11).

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 leg bases (4) and leg bodies (5) to be inserted into a brick wall, said tread (2), side portions (3) and leg bases (4) being formed of a core (6) made of deformed bar and a synthetic resin (7) for covering the core (6), leg bodies (5) being formed of the core (6) made of deformed bar alone, pins (11) radially protruding from the side portions (3) close to the boundaries between the side portions (3) and the leg bases (4) and positioned in vertical or lateral direction relative to the axes of the side portions (3), universal washers (12) being inserted from the leg bodies (4) into the side portions (3) toward the pins (11) so as to be pressed against the brick wall by the pins (11), said universal washers (12) having elliptical holes (13) in cross section through which the side portions (3) penetrate and recess grooves provided at each short axis of the holes (13) for accommodating the pins (11), 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 (17) provided at both ends of the tread, said reflectors (17) being red at right side and green at left side, a wave-like grip portion (18) formed at an inner side surface of the tread (2) in the axial direction thereof, another wave-like grip portion (20) having irregularities (19) on a surface thereof at the lower surface of the tread (2) in the axial direction, belt-like projections (21) provided along outer end of the side portions (3), and blow receiving portions (23) provided at front side of the tread (2) when inserting the foothold (1) into the brick wall.

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

4. Any novel feature of combination of features disclosed herein.