US253925A - Geobge king - Google Patents

Description

G. KING.

STEP LADDER.

.(No Model.)

Patented Feb. 21.1882.

UNITED STATES I PATENT Orrrcn.

GEORGE KING, OF FREDERICK, MARYLAND.

STEP-LADD ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 253,925, dated February 21, 1882.

' Application filed November 2,1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE KING, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Frederick,in

the county of Frederick and State of Maryland, have invented a new and useful Im provement in Step-Ladders; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and ex.- act description thereof, reference being bad to the annexed drawings and letters of reference marked thereon, forming a part of this my specification of said invention, in which draw- 1ngs- Figure 1 is a perspective rear view of my improved step-ladder, the same being shown with its hinged swinging support folded down upon the body portion of the ladder. Fig. 2 is a broken detail vertical section in the line y y of Fig. 7 showing adjacent and connected upper parts of atop portion of the ladder, on the right-hand side thereof, when viewed from the rear, as in Fig; 1. Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the metal bracket to which the several parts indicated in Fig. 2 are connected. Fig. 5 is an inverted plan view of the left-hand bracket shown in Fig. 1 when looking at the ladder from the rear, as represented in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the lock-bar employed to hold the ladder upright in a fixed position when thrown open for use, and Fig.7 is a broken detail vertical section in the line 1 y of Fig. 2. p

The main object of my invention is the pro ductionof a step-ladder which shall have those bracing portions upon which the greatest strain falls in the act of use thoroughly protected from displacement at the upper ends; and it consists in certain constructions and combinations of parts, hereinafter described and spe-.

solid and partly in dotted lines. The lower ends of these braces are coincident with the lower ends of the side pieces, A. A, and thus will stand upon the same foundation as theside pieces when the step-ladder is in position for use, while their upper ends extend up into a socket, b, provided therefor in the metal brackets L L.

E E are brace-bars, stayed by cross-pieces 0 6 as shown,and with their upper ends seated in a socket, I), (see Figs. 3 and 5,) of the metal brackets L L, when said brackets are adjusted in position, as signified in Figs. 1, 2, and 7. The construction of the bracket L is clearly shown by Figs. 3 and 4, in which figures f indicates a main plate extending the whole length of the bracket, f a plate at right angles to the plate f, as shown, and F a semicircular cap-bearing, which projects at right angles from the plate f, and is divided by a' plate an open socket, b and b, to receive the upper ends of the brace-bars B and E, as shown in Fig. 1. Screw-holes s are made in the plate f to allow the bracket to be screwed in position to the side pieces, A A, while the plate f has beveled slots 8, through which screws can be passed to confine such plate to the under side of the stand-boarda, as shown. As shown in the figures, the bracket L is a right-hand bracket, and L aleft-hand bracketthat is to say, the bracket L (shownin inverted plan view in Fig. 5) has the cap-bearing F and plate f on one side of its platef, while in Figs. 3 and 4 the cap-bearing F and plate f are upon the other side of the plate f. The brackets LL are cast of asingle piece of metal, and serve as cap-bearings or abutments for the upper ends of the brace-bars E and B,while one side of each upper end of said bars laterally embraces the division-plate) of the brackets, as indicated in Fig. 2, said plate thus assisting to confine the upper ends of the bars B in place, and imparting steadiness of action to the bars E as they swing forward and back upon the confining-bolt M while the step-ladder is in use.

The side pieces, A A, have latch-bars 1? secured to their outer sides, as indicatedin Fig. 1, by bolts passed through a perforation, g, (shown in Fig.6,) in their rear ends, and upon which bolts they are made to freely articulate. One of these latch-bars is shown in Fig. 6, its rear end being curved, as at c c 0, along a portion of its length, as shown, while the remainder of its length to a point, as, near its forward end is straightand of the same width, butfrom the pointw to its forward-terminating end the width of the bar is reduced,as shown, and with one-half of such reduced portion turned up at rightangles with the main body of the bar, thus forming a catch, as at d, and a shoulder, as at w, so that when the bar P is in position, as shown in Fig. 1, and the step-ladder is then thrown open for use, the bar P will, during such act, be drawn along through the hasp P, on the inside of the bar E, until finally a portion of therear side ofthe hasp will'engage withthe shoulder a) of the bar P, while a portion of the front side of the hasp will engage with the catch d,- and thus lock the step-ladder in its open position, ready for use. When it is'desired to close up the ladder from its locked open position the bar 1? is raised until its shoulder 00 becomes disengaged from the hasp P, whereupon thesupportingbars E'may he closed down, as in Fig. 1, and during this act the bar P will be projected along through the hasp 1? until it reaches its position, as shown in said figure, out of the way, and with its main body portion hanging down between the bar E and sidepiece A, which position it is enabled to assume by reason of its rearward bent portion a c c.

Having thus described my improved stepladder, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Slates,

1. A bracket for step-ladders, cast entire in one'piece, with bearing-plates f and f and a cap or shoulder bearing, F, provided with a partition-plate, f substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. Swingingbraces E and bracesB, in combination with brackets L L, provided with separate sockets, b b ,'to receive theupper ends of said braces, substantiallyusand for the purpose described.

GEOEGE KING.

Witnesses ROBERT SToKY, DoRsEYH. SMITH.

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