US991401A - Ladder. - Google Patents

Description

J, L. WHITE. LADDER.

APPLIOA TION FILED JAN.27, 1911.

991,401. Patenteam awn.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. L; WHITE.

Patented May 2, 1911,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

JESSE L. WHITE, OF EVANSVILLE, INDIANA.

LADDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1911.

Application filed January 27, 1911. Serial No. 605,008.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jnssn L. WHITE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Evansville, in the county of Vanderburg and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ladders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ladders, and more particularly to collapsible and extensible ladders.

The object of this invention is to provlde a ladder which when not in use can be collapsed and wound upon a reel.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved fastening means for connecting the sections of the ladder.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of the construction and arrangement of the several parts, whlch will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section 1. Fig. 2 is a side view of one of the sections partly broken away. Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan of one of the sections. Fig. 5 is a front view. Fig. 6 1s a detail View and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of the sections in which the side and end plates are integral. Fig. 8 is a sectional view of a modification showing only top and bottom plates employed.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

Referring more specifically to the drawin gs, the numeral 1 designates the base, upon which is mounted on either side thereof a pair of uprights 2. Connecting bars 3 for each pair of uprights form supports for a feed-wheel 4 rotatably mounted in bearing 5 at one end of the bars 3. At the other end of said bars is a cog 6 fixed to a shaft 7 mounted in bearings 8. The cog 6 meshes with a large gear 9 carried by the feed wheel and an operating crank handle 10 secured to one end of the shaft 5 affords means for manually rotating the cog 6, which in turn communicates rotary motion to the feed wheel. In connection with the mechanism thus far described, a flexible ladder 11 is employed, which is composed of a series of sections 13, each of which comprises preferably wooden bars 14 having metallic side plates 15 and rear plates 16.

'The side plates have their rear edges dished .edge thereof, a spring latch 18 and a coriresponding keeper former of which comprises a hooked portion 520 and a guide lip 21. which are bowed to correspond to the curva- "ture of the side plates 15 and bars 14, have 19, respectively, the

The rear plates 16 one end thereof bifurcated as at 22 to re- ,ceive the lug 23 of the next adjacent rear plates 16 integrally connected therewith, but

otherwise the plates are constructed the same as in the other views.

Located slightly in advance of the feed wheel 4 are short shafts 29 supporting a guide 30, the latter of which has segmental toothed projections 81, meshing with the pinion 32 on the crank handle 33. It will thus be seen that the guide 30 can be adjusted to direct the ladder upwardly at any desired angle. The outer or free end section of the ladder preferably has a wheel or roller attachment 40 for engaging the wall, of a building, and the inner end may be attached to a drum 34, the fixed shaft 35 of which is rotatably mounted in bearings 36 on supporting frame 37 and has at one end a crank handle 38.

While I have described each section as having a wooden bar between the side plates thereof, these may be dispensed with, without materially affecting the rigidity or strength of the ladder as a whole. I have also found that by cutting away the side bars as shown at, 17, the sections can be wound much more tightly upon the drum 34 and at the same time the structure is lightened without sacrificing strength.

From the foregoing the operation of the device is obvious, but may briefly be stated as follows: The base 1 may be suitably mounted upon wheels to facilitate handling and when moved to desired position the ladder may be unwound from the drum 34 by means of crank handle 38 and forced up through guide 30, the latter of which as before stated being adjusted angularly at will of the operator by means of crank handle 38. As the sections pass through the guide they are forced into alinement and the lips 21 of spring latch 18- guide the latter over the keeper 19 until the hook portion 20 snaps to locked position.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1'. A device of the class described comprising a plurality of sections hinged together eachsection consisting of a pair of side plates and a rear plate therebetween, said side plates having apertured ears on the extremities of the lower edge thereof and spring catches on the extremities of the upper edge, said bottom plate having one end thereof bifurcated and a lug on the opposite end, the lug of one plate fitting in the bifurcated endof the next adjacent plate and a bolt passing through the meeting ends of said bottom plates and through said apertured ears on said side plates.

2. A device of the class described comprising a plurality of sections hinged together, said sections consisting of a side and a bottom plate integrally connected together, apertured ears on said side plate, a pair of perforated lugs formed on one end of said 1 bottom plates, a perforated lug on the other JESSE L. \VHITE.

Vitnesses F. G. GORE, ARTHUR F. FUNKHAUSER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C.

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