US2364048A - Stepladder - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 5, 1944. 1. s. BARKEY S TEPLADDER Filed May 21, 1943 Patented Dec. 5, 1944 srnrmnnnn Isaac S. iBarkeyi Stou fiville, Ontario, Canada flipplicartionMay 21, 1943, Serial No. l481944 solims. (01. 228-31) bers3. The lugs 1'2 are spacedapart and in metween these and secured to the unders'ide f the The principal objects of this invention are to provide a step ladder with lateral braces which may be extended to either side "thereof or to both sides simultaneously so as to prevent "the ladder from tipping sideways and causing serious injury to the person using the same.

A further object is to provide a simple, strong and durable construction of inter-connected and will efiectively retain the ladder legs and braces in their extended position andwill "readily fold so as to return all parts to their normal position simultaneously.

r The principal feature of the invention consists in the novelconstruction of a ladder wherein both front and rear legs of the ladder are piv- 'otally connected to a top, and outwardly extensible braces are hinged to the underside Ofifllfi top member, the front and back members being connected intermediate of their height bylinks top plate rotor the ladder are hinges 3,

The hinges-l3 have secured thereto the laiterally extending brace legs 44 which swing outwardly on the saidhi-nges midway between the legs 1 and '9. The members land 9 are connected intermediate of their height by links I and llli braces which will be inexpensive to manufacture pivotally connected to a cross bar, and the Flaterally extensible braces are connected to sail'i cross bar by jointed links, permitting ent movement of said braces.

In the accompanying drawing: j 1 Figure 1 is a perspective view of a step ladder constructed in accordance with this invention shown in its fully extended position. Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view through the ladder shown in Figure .1 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical mid-sectional elevational view showing the lateral brace members partly foldedinwardly. v Figure 4 is a slightly enlarged perspective detail of the hinged dlipport connections forthe upper ends of thetlegs and top of theladder.

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional detailof is portion of the leg-bracing members.

In the construction'herein illustrated the front leg 1, which is provided with steps 2,, is piyota'llyl connected at its upper end to a pair ofi'sheetmetall members 3 which are formed with parallel side portions 4 and 5 spaced apart the thickness of the side rails '6 of the member I. ,These members I are joined at one end by a connecting bar I.

The side bars 8 of the rear leg member; 9 of the ladder extend between the plates" 4 and 5 of the members 3 and are pivotally secured therein. The legs I and 9 are thus pivotally mounted in the sheet metal members 3 and these are rigidly secured to the underside of the top plate 10 of the ladder by suitable screws extending through flanges H on the inside of each of themembers 3, and flange lugs I2 on the outside of themem- "independtaken on the gu s portions 22separatethereirom andsecured by pivotally connected respectively to the front leg Iandthe rearlegB. v i

The inward ends at these link members are pivotally connected .to the laterally turned lu ends l1 ofa pair of flatbars "which alre -secured together and extend transversely of the ladder. The 'portionof thepaiired bars a adj-acent to the lugs 1'1 are parallel'lyspa'cedapart and short'lin-ks l 9 are pivotally secured within the jaw thus formed. l g 'Pivotally secured to the outerends of the "links l9 are links and the outer ends of the links Ell extend into slots 2| in the brace members M and are pivotally Connected thereto bypivot pins "22 extending transversely through "the brace mem bers. l l

The side menibers a-rethus connected by'a tog g-le arrangement of links 1'9 and 20 to the toggled links W5 and 46 connected through the doubled:

cross bar it], and whenthe legs I and 9 are swung inwardly on their pivots in their pivot supports in the bracket members 3 carried by the top plate orste'p of the ladder, the links 15 and-l6 swing upwardly and the toggle links -l9 and 2 are drawn inwardly in the manner illustrated in Fig-- ure3. r

It will of course be understood that the brace legs l4 must be of greater length than the iegs l and 9, and these "legs "I 4 have the lower end hinges "23 onthe inside. y

Lugs 24 projectinwardlyfrom the hinged end portions 12 and a rod is connected to each of the lugs 24 at one end and extendsupwa rdly and is connectedto "the gle links 1'9 fand zfl. I

It will thus be seen that as the ladder is closed up and the links 15 and 13B swing upwardly they carry thejtoggleglinks l9 and .20 upwardly, and

this upward movemennpulling on the 105 175. breaks the 'hinged joint 23 connecting the end members 22 of thebrace members and swings them inwardly, so that the side brace members will swing clear of the floor.

When the ladder is being opened out and the :1 legs I and 9 are spread apart, the links I5 and 16 are swung downwardly and the downward pivot joining each of the tog-.

movement pushes the toggle links l9 and 20 outwardly and downwardly, thereby swinging the members 22 into the outward position, as illustrated in Figure 1, so that the endswill rest upon the floor.

The action of the different parts thus occurs simultaneously and the side brace members are automatically swung outward. If however it is.

side of the ladder where.the ladder is. set up close to a wall and either side may be moved outwardly selectively, or, as previously described,

theopening of the ladder automatically throws both of the brace members outwardly so that the structure is braced equally on both sides and it will be effectively. supported from tipping side-.

I ways in-either direction. Consequently a person using the ladder may do so without fear of being upset.

A ladder constructed as described requires no special manipulation to set the side braces in position. Merely by opening it out, by spreading the front and back legs apart the side braces move outwardly automatically. So also in folding the ladder the side braces fold inwardly automatically, but if it be desired to move either of the side braces inwardly in order to bring the ladder close up against a wall, it is very simply accomplished in the manner described.

- The parts of the structure are very simple to manufacture and assemble and a simple, strong ladder is produced.

What I claim as my invention is: I V l. A step ladder comprisin a top, front and back legs pivotally mounted on the underside of said top, paired links connected to said front and back legs intermediate of their height, a cross bar arranged between and. pivotally connected to the inward ends of said paired links,

jointed links connected'to the ends of said cross bar and extendin outwardly, braces pivotally secured to the underside of said laddertop and extending angularly downward and outwardly and having extensible lower ends, means pivotally connecting said jointed links to said braces intermediate of their length, and operable means connecting said jointed links and extensible ends. 2. A ladder comprising, a top, two pair of flanged spaced-apart members secured to the underside of said top in parallel arrangement, front and rear legs pivotally mounted between the.

parallelly spaced-apart flanged members secured to said top, brace members hinged to said top intermediate of the length of said flanged'members and extending downwardly and outwardly therefrom and having extensible ends, toggle links connecting the front and rear leg members intermediate of their height, and jointed links connected to the aforesaid toggle links and extending laterally and pivotally connected to said brace members intermediate of their height and means connecting said extensible ends with said jointed links to move said ends outwardly simultaneously with the outward swinging of said brace members.

3. A step ladder comprising, a top, front and rear legs pivotally connected to the underside of said top, braces pivotally connected to the underside of said top intermediately between said front and rear legsand adapted to swing laterally outward, said braces having hinged extremities adapted to swing inwardly and to form rigid braces when swung outwardly to engage and rest outwardly, means pivotally connecting the inl upon the floor, toggle links connecting the front and rear leg members, toggle links connecting the aforesaid toggle links with said braces, and

rods pivotally connected to the hinged extensions of saidbraces and to the toggle links secured to said brace members adapted to swing the hinged extensions inwardly upon the inward swinging of the side braces.

4. A step ladder comprising, a top, front and rear legs pivotally mounted on the underside of said top, links pivotally connected to each of the side members of the front and rear legs intermediate of their length and extending inwardly toward each other, a pair of flat bars secured together and having out-turned lug ends pivotallyconnected one to each of said links, the ends of said bars adjacent to said links being spaced apart, links extending in between spaced-apart portions of said paired bars and extending therefrom in right-angular relation to the links connected to the front and rear legs, short links pivotally connected to the links pivoted inthe ends of said cross bar, braces pivotally secured to the underside of saidtop intermediately between said front and rear legs and having slots in their inward sides intermediate of their length to receive the outward ends of the laterally extending links, means pivotally connecting the ends of said links extending into said s'lots,

hinged extensions on the ends of said braces adapted to swing inwardly, and rods connecting said hinged extensions with the jointed laterally A brace members intermediate of their length and extending inwardly therefrom to permit said brace members being separately operated,"a pair of bars rigidly securedtogether having their end portions spaced apart to receive the inner ends of said toggle links and their extremities turned ner ends of said toggle links between the spaced apart ends of said bars,- and link members pivotally connected one to each of the out-turned extremities and pivotally connected to the front and rear leg members intermediate of their length, whereby the legs and braces are con-' nected by toggle link mechanism which operates to raise orlower as the legs are swung inwardly or outwardly.

ISAAC S. BARKEY.

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