GB2381554A

GB2381554A - Ladder stabiliser

Info

Publication number: GB2381554A
Application number: GB0125869A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Jesse Harradine; Simon Baskerville
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-10-26
Filing date: 2001-10-26
Publication date: 2003-05-07
Also published as: GB0125869D0

Abstract

A ladder stabiliser comprises a sleeve 1a for location over the lower portion of the stile 5 of a ladder. The sleeve 1a is moveable in relation to the ladder in order to extend the length of the stile 5 and is provided with locking means 6 to lock the sleeve 1a in a position to provide the desired extension of the stile 5. The sleeve 1a may have a pivotable rubber or plastics foot which has a surface area which is greater than the cross-sectional area of the sleeve and/or a spike for engaging ground underneath.

Description

LADDER STABILISER The present invention relates to a ladder stabiliser.

In normal usage a ladder is leant against a wall or other support to provide a ladder configuration which is sufficiently stable to allow the user to climb the ladder without the ladder moving or falling. The ladder will remain stable as a user climbs the ladder, provided that the centre of gravity of the user remains between the feet of the ladder. In order to ensure that this is the case the ladder should be substantially vertical as seen from the point of view of the user prior to climbing the ladder.

In the majority of cases the feet of the ladder rest upon level ground, and the ladder will naturally have a substantially vertical orientation as seen from the point of view of the user. When the ground is not level, it is not possible to arrange the ladder in a substantially vertical configuration, and the ladder will be unstable. In order to avoid this instability it is common to push an object, typically a tile or brick, under one foot of the ladder to compensate for the slope of the ground. This is potentially dangerous because the object may not be the correct size to compensate for the slope of the ground. Furthermore, the object may not have a flat surface to support the ladder, and the object may in some circumstances slip out from underneath the foot of the ladder.

It is known to fix stabiliser legs to a ladder in order to provide length adjustment for the legs of the ladder. Stabiliser legs of this type are secured to the ladder by drilling holes in the ladder and fixing the legs to the ladder with bolts which pass through the ladder. Drilling holes in the correct positions to correspond with holes in the stabiliser legs is difficult, and poorly aligned holes may lead to instability in the connection between the stabiliser legs and the ladder. Users may be disinclined to use using the stabilisers because they do not wish to drill holes into their ladders, and indeed they may not own or have access to a suitable drill.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a ladder stabiliser which overcomes or substantially mitigates to above disadvantage.

According to the invention there is provided a ladder stabiliser comprising a sleeve for location over a lower portion of a leg of a ladder, the sleeve being moveable in relation to the ladder leg to extend the length of the ladder leg, the sleeve being provided with locking means for locking the sleeve in a required position thereby providing a desired extension of the ladder leg.

The term'sleeve'is not intended to mean that the stabiliser must extend fully around the circumference of the ladder leg, and is intended to include any configuration of stabiliser which may be located over the ladder leg and locked in a required position.

Preferably, the locking means comprises openings in the sleeve aligned to receive a rod which passes through the sleeve, thereby preventing the ladder leg from moving further into the sleeve.

Preferably, the locking mechanism comprises a series of aligned openings spaced at least partway along the sleeve.

Preferably, the sleeve is provided with a slot which passes around rungs of the ladder.

Preferably, the length of the slot is such that at least one rung of the ladder will be retained within the slot when the sleeve is positioned to provide a maximum extension of the ladder leg.

Preferably, the sleeve is provided with one or more threaded openings for receiving tightening bolts which may be screwed into the openings and against the ladder to secure the sleeve against the ladder.

Preferably, the sleeve is provided with a foot having a lowermost surface area which is greater than the cross-sectional area of the sleeve.

Preferably, the lowermost surface of the foot is formed from rubber or plastics.

Preferably, the foot is pivotally attached to the sleeve so that it may rotate and, in use, engage ground which is sloping in relation to the orientation of the sleeve.

Preferably, the sleeve is provided with a spike for engaging ground underneath the sleeve when the sleeve is in use.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the ladder stabiliser as fitted to a ladder; Figure 2 is a side view of the ladder stabiliser fitted to the ladder; Figure 3 is a front view of the ladder stabiliser in use with the ladder resting on flat ground; Figure 4 is a front view of the ladder stabiliser in use with the ladder resting on sloping ground; and Figure 5 is side and front views of feet which may comprise part of the ladder stabiliser.

Referring to figure 1, the ladder adjuster comprises a sleeve 1 having a rectangular cross-section of 7 cm by 3.3 cm. The rectangular cross-section is chosen to be sufficiently large to allow the sleeve to slide onto a leg of a ladder, without introducing significant play between the sleeve and the ladder, and may be different for different sizes of ladders. The sleeve is approximately 70 cm long, the length of the sleeve being selected such that the sleeve will reach to the bottom of the third rung of the ladder when it is located on a ladder leg. The sleeve is formed from aluminium approximately 3 mm thick.

A slot 2 is cut into the sleeve 1, the slot being approximately 56 cm in length and 3.8 cm across. The slot 2 is configured to allow the sleeve to slide onto the ladder leg and around the first and second rungs of the ladder. When the sleeve 1 is slid fully onto the ladder leg, the lowermost end of the slot 2 will bear against the first rung of the ladder.

A series of holes 3 are spaced apart along the sleeve 1. Corresponding holes are aligned on the opposite side of the sleeve (not visible in figure 1). The holes 3 are approximately 9 mm in diameter. The lowermost hole is drilled 20 mm from the bottom of the sleeve, and subsequent holes are spaced 18 mm apart (measuring between the centres of the holes). The holes 3 are arranged to receive a high tensile steel pin (not shown in figure 1) which extends across the sleeve 1 and is secured in position by a spring clip (not shown in figure 1). The spring clip is of the type generally referred to as a spring'R'clip.

Referring to figure 2, the sleeve 1 is provided with two further holes 4 a first of which is located close to the top of the sleeve, and a second of which is located slightly above the middle of the sleeve. The holes 4 receive bolts (not shown), each of which is held in place by a captive nut fitted to an inner surface of the sleeve.

In use, a ladder 5 may be used with or without sleeves 1 when the ladder is placed on level ground. Referring to figure 3, when the ground is level the sleeves I are pushed fully onto the ladder 5, the high tensile steel pin 6 passing through the lowermost holes 3 in the sleeves 1. The ladder 5 bears against each sleeve 1 at two locations. The first location is the underside of the lowermost rung of the ladder 5, which presses onto the lowermost end of the slot 2 of the sleeve 1 (see figure 1). The second location is the steel pin 6 located in the lowermost hole 3 in the sleeve 1, which bears against the foot of the ladder leg.

Bolts 7 are screwed into holes 4 in the sleeves 1 and tightened against the ladder 5 thereby fixing the sleeves 1 to the ladder. This prevents the sleeves 1 from sliding off the ladder 5 when the ladder is lifted.

Referring to figure 4, when the ladder 5 is to be used on sloping ground, one of the sleeves la is pushed only partway onto a leg of the ladder, thereby extending that leg. A user of the ladder adjusts the orientation of the ladder until it is vertical from the perspective of the user, and then pushes the steel pin 6 through the pair of aligned holes 3 which is located immediately below the foot of the ladder 5. The pin 6 is secured in place using a spring clip (not shown), and the bolts 7 are screwed against the ladder 5 to firmly hold the sleeve 1 in position. The ladder 5 is thereby held in a stable vertical orientation.

The series of holes 3 provided in each sleeve extends upwards by a distance which corresponds roughly to the separation between ladder rungs. This ensures that at least one, and preferably two, ladder rungs remain within the slot 2 of the sleeve 1 when the sleeve 1 is configured to provide the maximum ladder leg extension.

Retaining one or two ladder rungs within the slot 2 ensures that the sleeve 1 is held onto the ladder 5 in a stable configuration.

Figure 5 shows various arrangements of foot which may be fixed to the lowennost end of the sleeve 1. In each case, the foot is attached to the sleeve by !' passing a high tensile steel pin 6 through the lowermost pair of holes 3 provided in the foot and a corresponding pair of holes provided in the sleeve 1. The pin 6 is secured using a spring clip (not shown).

Referring to figure 5a and 5b, the foot may comprise a metal spike 8 mounted on a box shaped aluminium housing 9 which is dimensioned to receive the sleeve 1.

The housing 9 is constrained from rotating about the pin 6 by the close fit of the housing to the sleeve 1.

Figures 5c and 5d show a foot comprising a series of metal points 10 that extend from a box shaped aluminium housing 11 which is dimensioned to receive the sleeve 1. The housing 11 is constrained from rotating about the pin 6 by the close fit of the housing to the sleeve 1.

Figures Se and Sf show a foot comprising a rubber lowermost surface 12 bonded to a box shaped aluminium housing 13 which is dimensioned to receive the sleeve 1. Any suitable rubber or other plastics may be used. The rubber 12 is provided with gaps which improve the grip of the foot against the ground.

Figure 5g and 5h show a foot which has a rubber or other suitable plastics lower surface 14. The housing onto which the rubber is provided comprises a pair of plates 15 arranged such that the foot can pivot about the pin 6. This may be used when the ground is particularly uneven, and will provide an improved grip of the foot against the ground.

Although a lowermost part of the sleeve shown in figures 1 to 4 extends fully around the circumference of the ladder leg, it will be appreciated that it is not necessary that this is the case. Any configuration of sleeve which is capable of holding the ladder leg in a stable configuration may be used.

Claims

1. A ladder stabiliser comprising a sleeve for location over a lower portion of a leg of a ladder, the sleeve being moveable in relation to the ladder leg to extend the length of the ladder leg, the sleeve being provided with locking means for locking the sleeve in a required position thereby providing a desired extension of the ladder leg.

2. A ladder stabiliser according to claim 1, wherein the locking means comprises openings in the sleeve aligned to receive a rod which passes through the sleeve, thereby preventing the ladder leg from moving further into the sleeve.

3. A ladder stabiliser according to claim 2, wherein the locking mechanism comprises a series of aligned openings spaced at least partway along the sleeve.

4. A ladder stabiliser according to any preceding claim, wherein the sleeve is provided with a slot which passes around rungs of the ladder.

5. A ladder stabiliser according to claim 4, wherein the length of the slot is such that at least one rung of the ladder will be retained within the slot when the sleeve is positioned to provide a maximum extension of the ladder leg.

6. A ladder stabiliser according to any preceding claim, wherein the sleeve is provided with one or more threaded openings for receiving tightening bolts which may be screwed into the openings and against the ladder to secure the sleeve against the ladder.

7. A ladder stabiliser according to any preceding claim, wherein the sleeve is provided with a foot having a lowermost surface area which is greater than the crosssectional area of the sleeve.

8. A ladder stabiliser according to any preceding claim, wherein the lowermost surface of the foot is formed from rubber or plastics.

9. A ladder stabiliser according to any preceding claim, wherein the foot is pivotally attached to the sleeve so that it may rotate and, in use, engage ground which is sloping in relation to the orientation of the sleeve.

10. A ladder stabiliser according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the sleeve is provided with a spike for engaging ground underneath the sleeve when the sleeve is in use.

11. A ladder stabiliser substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying figures.