US3363721A

US3363721A - Ladder construction

Info

Publication number: US3363721A
Application number: US533536A
Authority: US
Inventors: Petix Giuseppe
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1966-03-11
Filing date: 1966-03-11
Publication date: 1968-01-16
Anticipated expiration: 1985-01-16

Description

Jan. 16, 1968 G. PETIX 3,363,721

LADDER CONSTRUCTION Filed March 11, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet l G. F'ETIX Jan. 16, 1968 LADDER CONS TRUCTION z W; a

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 11, 1966 United States Patent Ofiice 3,363,721 Patented Jan. 16, 1968 3,363,721 LADDER CONSTRUCTION Giuseppe Petix, 16728 Woodingham Drive, Detroit, Mich. 48221 Filed Mar. 11, 1966, Ser. No. 533,536 9 Claims. (Cl. 182-22) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ladder having two sections which can be connected for use either as a step ladder or as an extension ladder.

The present invention relates to ladder constructions.

It is desirable that a ladder be versatile and capable of many uses. The ladder construction of the present invention is so capable. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel ladder construction.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a ladder construction which can be used either as a step ladder or as an extension ladder.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a ladder construction which can be used either as a step ladder, an extension ladder or two separate ladders.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description and "the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a ladder construction embodying the features of the present invention and shown as an extension ladder;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view to enlarged scale of the ladder of FIGURE 1 taken substantially along the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view similar to that of FIG- URE 2, showing the ladder in a different operative position;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view the line 4-4 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the ladder construction of FIGURE 1 shown in condition for use as a step ladder; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary view to increased scale of a portion of the ladder in FIGURE 5 taken generally in the direction of the arrow 6.

Looking now to FIGURES 1 through 4, the ladder construction of the present invention is generally indicated by the numeral 16 and includes a base ladder section 12 and an extension ladder section 14. The base ladder section 12 is comprised of a pair of side members 16 and 18 having a plurality of steps 20 located therebetween. Outwardly flanged

portions

22 and 24 are secured to the bottom ends of the side members 16 and 18, respectively, to define feet which, because of their outward extension lend stabilizing support to ladder 10. The side members 16 and 18 are generally of a U-shaped channel construction with the outer flanges 42 and 44, respectively, having lower cutaway portions 26 and 28, respectively, which serve a purpose to be presently seen. Note that the plurality of steps 20 are provided with generally flat stepping surfaces and are of a generally inverted U-shaped construction.

The extension section 14 has

side members

30 and 32 which are formed of a generally U-shaped channel section and are provided with a plurality of rungs 34 located therebetween. The

side members

30 and 32 are provided with

members

36 and 38, respectively, having outwardly extending

flanges

46 and 48, respectively. The

members

36 and 38 are located at the lower extremities of the

side members

30 and 32 and the

flanges

46 and 48 are of a length slightly less than the length of the taken substantially along cutaway portions 26 and 28 in the side members 16 and 18. The front surfaces 40 of the steps 20 are spaced inwardly from the forward flanges 42 and 44 of the side members 16 and 18, respectively, to define thereby a space suflicient in width to receive the

flanges

46 and 48 of the flanged

members

36 and 38, respectively, and hence to define thereby a guide or channel for the

flanges

46 and 48. Note that the

flanges

46 and 48 and the cutaway portions 26 and 28 are substantially equal in length and extend a distance generally equal to the height of two steps 20. Thus when the ladder construction 10 is used as an extension ladder, with the

flanges

46 and 48 located in the channels (defined by the flanges 42 and 44 and the front portions 40 of the steps 20), the base ladder section 12 and the extension ladder section 14 while being slidable relatively to each other are otherwise securely held together.

In order to maintain the extension section 14 at a particular height catch and release means are provided and include a lever, catch arm 50 which is pivotally connected to the side member 32 by means of a pivot pin 52. A portion of the rear flange of the side member 32 is cut away, to define a slot 53 through which the bottom leg portion 54 of the generally L-shaped catch arm 50 can swing. A generally hairpin type spring 56 is secured to the side member 32 and engages the pivot arm 50 to urge the lower portion 5'4 normally through the slot 53. It can be seen then from the drawing of FIGURE 2, that in moving the extension section 14 in an upward direction (as indicated by the arrow marked up) the leg portion 54 will engage the bottom of the various steps 20 in the base section 12 whereby the pivot arm 50 will be pivoted out of the way. Upon passing that step 20, the spring 56 will'cause the leg portion 54 again to move beyond the slot 53. Upon moving the extension section 14 in a d0wnward direction, the leg portion 54 will engage the upper surface of the next step 20 and further downward movement of the extension section 14 will be prevented. In this way, the extension section 14 can be set at the desired height in increments equal to the distance between the steps 20.

In order to failitate the lowering of the extension section 14, the catch and release means include a release arm 58 which is pivotally secured by a pin 60 held by a support plate 61 in the side member 32 at a point below the pivot pin 52 for the catch arm 50. The release arm 58 has a leg portion 62 which normally extends beyond the rear flange of the side member 32. The lower pivot arm 58 is balanced to have the portion 62 normally extend beyond the rear flange of side member 32 without the aid of a spring. In moving the extension section 14 upwardly, the leg portion 62 of the release arm 58 will engage the lower portion of the: steps 20 and will be pivoted downwardly to a position indicated by the phantom line indicated by the numeral 58a. Thus the release arm 58 will not effect the upward movement of extension section 14 and, as will be seen, as long as it is disposed on the opposite side of one of the steps 20 from catch arm 50 it will not affect the catching action of catch arm 50 with that one of the steps 26. The catch arm 50 and the release arm 58 are spaced such that their leg portions 54 and 62, respectively, can both be located between one pair of steps 20 at the same time. With the arms 50 and 58 in such a location as the extension section 14 is moved downwardly, the leg portion 62 will be pivoted upwardly by engagement with the top of the steps 20 and will in turn engage a release pin 64 located at the outer end of the leg portion 54 of the catch arm 50 to pivot the catch arm 50 inwardly in the manner as shown in FIGURE 3. In this position the catch arm 50 will be unable to engage the steps 20 and hence with this orientation the extension section 14 can be freely moved downwardly.

While only one pair of pivot arms 50 and 58 located on side member 32 have been shown and described in detail it is to be understood that a similar set of pivot arms are located in a similar manner on the side member 30.

In FIGURE 1 a pulley member 64 is shown secured to the upper one of the steps 20 and hence by means of a rope 66 tied to one of the rungs 34 on the extension section 14, the raising and lowering of the extension section 14 can be facilitated by manipulation of rope 66.

As previously noted, the extension section 14 and base section 12 of ladder 10, can be utilized as a step ladder as shown in FIGURE 5. Identical hook members 68 and 71 are secured to the upper ends of the outer surfaces of the

side members

30 and 32 of the extension section 14. The hook member 68 is provided with a generally arcuate pivot portion 70 and a generally curved stop portion 72. For use as a step ladder as shown in FIGURE 5, the hook member 68 is located over the stud portion 74 of a headed pivot member 76 with the pivot portion '7 in engagement with the stud portion 74. With the

ladder sections

12 and 14, apart as shown in FIGURE 5, the stop portion '72 engages a stop pin '78. Both the stop pin 78 and the headed stud 76 are located at the upper end and on the inside of the side member 16. A similar construction is provided in the opposite side member 18 for cooperation with the hook member 71. In order to utilize the ladder construction 10 as a step ladder, it is merely necessary to move the extension section 14 downwardly until the

flanged portions

46 and 48 are located within the removed portions 26 and 28', in this position the hook members 68 and 71 are in engagement with their pivot members, such as pivot member 76, and the lower ends of the extension section 14 and the base section 12 can then be pivoted apart until the stop portion 72 engages the stop pin 7 8. Note that in this position the hook members can be removed from their pivot members and the

ladder sections

12 and 14 can be separated and used independently of each other.

Considering again the ladder 10 as a step ladder as shown in FIGURE 5, in addition to the connection provided by the hooks 68 and 71, the extension section 14 and base section 12 are further held from pivoting outwardly by means of strap assemblies 80 and 82 which also lock the

sections

12 and 14 apart. The strap assemblies 80 and 82 are secured to the side members 16 and 18, respectively. Since the strap assemblies 80 and 82 are identical, only the strap assembly 80 will be described. Strap assembly 80 includes an inner strap member 84 which is pivotally secured to the side member 16 by means of a pivot pin I 86. An outer strap member 88 is pivoted to the outer end of the strap member 84 by means of a pivot pin 90. The outer end of the strap member 84 is provided with a curved flange 92 which overengages the inner end of the strap member 88 and prevents the pivot pin 90 from moving downwardly beyond the position as shown in FIG- URE 5. The outer end of the strap member 88 is provided with a hook portion 94 (see FIGURE 1), which can be engaged over a headed stud 96 which is secured in the side member 30 of the extension section 14. A flanged catch 98 is slidably secured to the outer end of strap member 88 and can be moved to a position to overengage the hook 94 and also the head of the headed pin 96 in the manner as shown in FIGURE whereby the open portion of the hook 94 is closed and the strap member 88 is fixedly held to the head of the headed pin 96. The strap assembly 82 is of the same construction as assembly 80 and functions in a similar manner with a headed pin 100 located in the side member 32 of the extension section 14. The strap assemblies 80 and 82 are held to the side members 16 and 18, respectively, when they are not being used by brackets, such as retaining bracket 114.

A flat platform member 108 is pivotally secured to the uppermost rung 102 of the extension section 14 by means of a pair of

pivot straps

104 and 106.

Straps

106 and 104 are formed to receive the uppermost rung member 102 whereby the platform member 108 can be pivoted down to overlay the top one of the steps 20. In order to hold the platform member 108, when it is not being used, in an upright position as shown in FIGURE 1, a retention strap member 107 is secured to the platform 108 and engages the top rung 102 and is provided with an aperture 110 to receive a pin 112 which is secured to the rung 102. In an upright position as shown in FIGURES l and 6, the pin 112 engages the aperture 110 and maintains the platform member 108 in its upright position; the retention bracket 107 is resilient enough such that the aperture 110 can be sprung from the retention pin 112 when the platform 108 is moved downwardly towards the position as shown in FIGURE 5. To further stabilize the platform member 108 in its upright position, it is normally in engagement with the outer flanges of the

side members

30 and 32; the inner flanges of

side members

30 and 32 are cut away to permit downward pivoting of platform 108.

Thus it can be seen that the ladder construction 10 can be used as an extension ladder, as shown in FIGURE 1, or that the extension section 14 and the base section 12 can be separated and two separate ladders can be provided, or that the

ladder sections

12 and 14 can be hooked together at their upper ends, pivoted apart and used as a step ladder as shown in FIGURE 5. There also has been shown many unique and novel features incident to the operation of the ladder 10 in these various forms.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. A ladder construction comprising: a pair of ladder sections, each of said sections having a pair of side members and a plurality of step members located therebetween, channel means on one of said sections for defining a channel extending along the length of said one of said sections, slide means on the other of said sections being selectively engageable with said channel for permitting relative sliding motion between said members while holding said sections together, and catch and release means on said sections automatically operative when said slide means is engaged in said channel and having one condi tion for holding said sections from sliding relatively to each other in one direction at selected positions and having a second condition for permitting sliding of said section through said selected position in said one direction, said catch and release means comprising a pair of pivot arms pivotally secured to said section, split pivot means located on said pair of sections for pivotally connecting said sections for pivotal movement about a selected axis when said slide means is disengaged from said channel, said split pivot means including a hook member on a first of said sections and a pivot pin on the second of said sections, said hook member having a groove portion for removably engaging said pivot pin for pivotal movement thereon and stop means on said first and second sections including a surface on said hook member for stopping said sections from further pivoting away from each other after said sections have been pivoted away from each other to a fixed preselected apart position.

2. The ladder of claim 1 with said stopping means further including a stop pin on the second of said sec tions for engaging said surface on said hook member for stopping said sections from further pivoting away from each other.

3. The ladder of claim 2 with said pivot arms located on one of said sections and each of said pivot arms having an actuating arm portion engageable with said step members of the other of said sections for actuating said pivot arms.

4. The ladder of claim 3 with said arm portions normally vertically spaced apart a distance less than the distance between adjacent ones of said step members on said other of said sections.

5. The ladder of claim 4 with said channel means defining a channel on each of said side members of said one of said sections, said each of said side members having a flange portion spaced from and extending partially over said step members on said one of said sections to define thereby said channel.

6. The ladder of claim 5 with said flange portion terminating a preselected distance from the bottom of said one of said sections and with said slide means comprising an engaging flange located on the bottom of said other of said sections and being of length less than said preselected distance.

7. The ladder of claim 6 with said catch and release means including first pivot means for supporting the upper one of said pivot arms for pivotal movement from a stop position to a retracted position and further including spring means for urging said upper one to said stop position at which said arm portion of said upper one is engageable with said stop member of said other of said sections and with said upper one being pivoted to said retracted position as said arm portion of said upper one engages said step member of said other section as said one of said section is moved upwardly relatively thereto and with said arm portion of said upper one when in said stop position being engageable with said step member of said other of said sections when said one of said sections is moved downwardly.

8. The ladder of claim 7 with said upper one of said pivot arms stopping said one of said sections in its downward movement at one of said step members of said other of said sections when said one of said step IIlfiIH- bers is located between said arm portions of said pivot arms.

9. The ladder of claim 8 with said catch and release means including second pivot means for supporting the lower one of said pivot arms to pivot freely with said arm portion of said lower one normally extending to be engageable with said step member of said other of said sections, said pivot means supporting said lower one at a position in which said arm portion of said lower one will be pivoted downwardly by said step member of said other of said sections as said one of said sections is moved upwardly and will be pivoted upwardly into engagement with said arm portion of said upper one as said one of said sections is moved downwardly with said lower one pivoting said upper one to its retracted position whereby said upper one can be moved past said step member of said other of said sections.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 477,393 6/ 1892 Weston 182-211 1,05 0,273 1/1913 Hattenback et all 182-22 1,515,010 11/1924 Cardarelli 18222 1,996,133 4/1935 White 182-22 2,277,392 3 /1942 Dahlberg 1822 1 1 FOREIGN PATENTS: 595,705 4/ 1960 Canada.

REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner.