US247520A - Automatic step-ladder brace-rod - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

J. N. SAYLOR.

7 AUTOMATIC STEP LADDER BRAQE ROD. No. 247,520. Patented Sept. 27, 1881..

. IO @P) d e V F1615. mmsms= INVENTOQ: v

N. PETERS Photo-Li nnn n nnnnnnnnnnn nnnnnn UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN N. SAYIIOR, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

AUTOMATIC STEP-LADDER BRACE-ROD,

SPEOIFIGATIONTorming part of Letters Patent No. 247,520, dated September 27, 1881. Application filed December 18, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN N.SAYLOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Automatic Step-Ladder, of which the following is a specification My invention relates to improvements in step-ladders which are made to rest against a support or prop, the ladder forming one side of an angle and the prop the other side thereof.

The object of my invention is to make the prop or supporta-utomatic in its action, in taking its proper position in reference to theladder when desired for use, the prop being not only thrown outl'rom the ladder, but also firmly held in the proper position while in use by the means herein described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical elevation of the side of a step-ladder with my invention attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the spring. Fig. 3 is a side view of the same.

Same letters show like parts.

At A, Fig. 1, is shown the ladder, and B is the prop or support by which it is held in position.

G is the coil or elastic part of the spring, of which E is the arm, extending between the ladder A and its support B. At F, Fig. l, is shown a slot cut in the prop B, in which the part I), Fig. 2, moves up and down, as required, the bend c on one side anddon the other side of the prop B retaining the spring-arm in its proper place.

At a, Fig. 1, is shown adevice which,'catch-- ing over the part b of the spring when the lad der and prop are shut together, serves as a hook to resist the elasticity of the coil 0, and thus keeps the whole device conveniently closed.

The side spring may be coiled at the end attached to the ladder in the manner following: After the coils are made a projecting end of wire, lelt for the purpose, starting from the central coil, is brought down at right angles to the shaft of the spring, over all the coils,

. being bent so as to pass over them, and then outside of the coils is again bent inward toward the side of the ladder and firmly driven into the wood. The part passing over the coils,

with the part driven into the ladder, forms a stop for the spring-arm passing toward the support, so that it will come down to ahorizontal position. and no farther.

The operationof my invention is as follows: The ladder and prop being closed together, as above described, when itis wanted for use the hook at is disengaged from the part I) of the spring-arm, which, impelled by the coil 0, drops downward in the slot F to its bottom, at the same time throwing the prop B away from the ladder A. When the part b has reached the bottom of the slot F the arm E is nearly horizontal and the ladder A- and'prop B will be held firmly in position. When it is desired to close the ladder b is passed up the slot F until B and A are again brought near enough to each other to permit the hook at to again engage b. Each side of the step-ladder must be provided with these devices, to insure steadiness in position.

I consider the above the best way of using the automatic spring; but if it should, for any reason, be desirable to do so, the slot F may be omitted, and in lieu thereof the parts 0, b, and d of the spring may clasp around the body of the support and slip up and down upon it, when opening and shutting, and be retained in its position, when in use, by resting upon a slat or round connecting the two parts ofthe support, in which case the end of d may be turned down to limit the outward swing of the prop. The samekindof automatic spring may be used upon library-steps, if desired.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a step-ladder, the spring 0, having the arm E and bends c, b, and d, constructed substantially in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, in a step-ladder, of the slot F in the support with the coil 0, arm E, bends c, b, and (l, and the hooks to, in the manner and for the purposes described.

JOHN N. SAYLOR.

Witnesses D. W. SGRIBNER, 7 WM. W. GRAVES.

Images