US1924213A - Stepladder - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 29, 1933. I

STEPLADDER W. P; NEWMAN Filed Oct. 17, 1929 I I I: I I I; l a ll II ll ,ll' l J LLJ wawwmm Patented Aug. 29,. 1933 STEPLADDER,

a ,William NewmanfBucyriispQhio a A I Applicationoctober 17, 1929. Serial No. 400231;;

,1 Claim. (oi. 228-:31),

} This invention relates to improvements instep ladders. v

It is well known tousers of step ladders of the conventional type, that it is very dangerous to use such step ladders at difierent places and for are all linked together, so that -the .personwho,

spreads the ladder'for use can impart simul-' taneous outward movement to all of the parts movement for collapsing the links for folding compact form for storage or the like. v V e A further object of the invention is to provide means for holding the link bar connections at one end below their connections to the stepladder and auxiliary parts thereof, when'the ladder and auxiliary parts are setup and spread for use,

'; Another object of thepresent invention is to provide means forlinking all movable parts of the ladder together by a simple, durable, and eflicient mechanism. which links, all the movable brace supports and the movable parts of the ladder to provide means for imparting movement to all simultaneously, when any movable .part of the ladder is manipulated for the purpose of spreading it for use or folding it for any purpose.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for speedily, conveniently and simultaneously folding the parts of theladder together for storage or spreading the parts of the ladder for use, without assembling anyoftheparts of the ladder by the use of tools.

I attain these and other objectsby the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in whichr Figure 1 is a side elevation of a step ladder, showing my invention applied thereto, and in position for use. v 1 a V Figure 2 is a front elevation of a step ladder.

when the step ladder is in use, and the invention or controlling means of the parts in dotted lines when the controlling means is in its folded position. 1

Figure 3 is a plan view of the invention or conpreparatory to using the ladder and inward showing my invention applied thereto,'in full lines,

trolling means, showing thelink barsv pivotally attached to movable parts of the ladder for ifn; parting movement thereto taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 1. V

.In the drawing, thestep member of": a' con ventional type of step ladder'is indicated side, members land 2 and the steps 3.

Rear braces4'and4' are pivotally attached to the step member bybrackets 5, pivoted onpins Bifurcated or ear portions '7 are provided on the; sides of brackets15, andlateral brace supports 8 they are pivotally connected theretoby" pins v9 which provide means forhswinging; the lateral brace supports toward and away from the sides .of the ladder. v v

a 'It will be noted that when the lateral brace supports are positioned in theposition shownin Figure 2, that the ladder'ispreventedfrom having a tendency to fall in lateral directions or to tremare'inser'ted between the bifurcated portionsand w ble, shivenor walk, as is incident to the use of w a conventional type of step ladder. The stepladder stands firmly on all supports or legs, andits liability tovibrate and trer'rible, or walk, and

it's lackfof equilibrium arecounte'r'act'ed when in use. bythe lateral brace supports attachedto swing toward and from the sides of the ladder, No invention is claimed for the abovefdescribed parts except in combination as I theyare well known inxthe prior art. I f I 'It has been found that in order to get the, said beneficial results with convenience and efiiciency to the user of the step ladder, that a means'for' controlling the movable parts of the step ladder i, simultaneously, from any movable part of the step ladderfmust be employed to movethe parts in unison for use for folding or spreading same when not in use. The controlling means for performing these results is constructed to operatein combination with the step ladder partsand lateral brace supports. The controlling means is constructed and applied to the parts of a conventional step ladder as follows:

Linkbrace bars loand 11 are provided and one of their ends are bent at 12 and 13 and pivotally attached to the side members 1 and 2 of the step ladder, by pins 14 and 15. Their opposite ends are bent at 16 and 17 and are adapted to contact with each other' and are held in place by portionsof angular members 19 and 20. They of a pin 21. 'In opposed relation, thereto, similar braces 22'and 23 are provided and pivotally attachcd to the bracemembers 4 of the step lad der, by pins 24 and 25 and pivotally held in place are pivotally held in place through the medium by portions of the angular members 26and 27 by a pin 28.

It will beobserved. that the said construction provides means for spreading the step member and rear brace'members' l, or folding them together as desired by the operator.

- To the other portions of angular members 19,

V 20, 26 and 27, straight link brace bar members 29 and 30 are pivotally attached by pins 31 and 32.

The opposite ends 01' the bars 29 and'30 are pivot-.

ally attached, by pins 33 and 34, to the lateral brace supports 8.

It will be noted that the link brace bars are attached to all movable parts of the step ladder and lateral brace supports thereof, so that, if one 7 their opposite ends are b ent to aline 'for pivotal 3 movement an'd'are attachedto pre-determine'd movableparts andbraces of the step ladder.

Attention isdirected to 'Fig. 2 of the drawing.

It will be noted that in this figure, the position 'of the controlling means as indicated by reference numeral 35 in full] lines which is" the position of the ladder andits auxiliary lateral brace supports assume,'when' the step ladder is used. The folded positio'nbf the controlling means is indicated by reference numeral 36 as indicated in dotted lines, when not; in use, The folded position of the lateral braces are also indicated indotted lines in said figure.

When it is desired to use the step ladder, move ment is imparted to any movable part .of the stepladder' by pressure which is exerted thereon, and all of the movable members are then moved together simultaneously to the fullline ofpositl-on as indicated in 35 of Fig. 2. When it is desired to fold the step ladder for any purpose, the operation is reversed and a controlling meansas hereindescribed, is moved to the dotted line position as shown in 36inFig. 2;

It will be noted as shown in,Fig.f1,.that the connections of the link brace bars depend below their'connections brains to the movable" parts'of the step ladder, orin otherwords depend below the horizontal center thereof, to prevent same fromimoving upward. They are prevented frommoving downward bya stop as, indicated in"37 whichprovidesa support forthe bars 10 and 11,

and which'hold same in position rfor use. This stop is in theform of an L-shape'd bracket having the upright portion secured to an upright of I the step member of the ladder, and the outstanding portion or horizontal leg underlying the link 11 of the connection to receive and limit downward movement of the link to maintain the center bracket below the center, allas clearly shown Fig. 2. If desired, a shelf can be secured to the step ladder, as indicated in 38,;and pivoted to the braces 4 in the usualjmanner I'lhe shelf,,

however, is unnecessary unless desired for some specific reason. I

The construction and operation of the controlling means for parts of the step ladder and safe, efficient and speedy means for simultaneouslyfoldin'g the movable parts of the step ladder and auxiliary partstogether for storage or the like, or for spreading same for use when desired. -Operation of .the step ladder and its auxiliary. parts can be performed from any posiauxiliary parts as described, provide a convenient,

angled sections arranged'to present spaced bars extending toward the respective parts of the ladder, 2. pair of links pivotally connected'between each set of, spaced barsprojecting toward the step member and bracing members, the links of i each pair diverging beyond the center member'and being pivotallyconnected terminally to the uprights of the step member and bracing member respectively, a single link, pivotally connected between the bars' of the center member and projecting toward and connected to the lateral braces,- and an L-shaped stop member having the upright thereof connected to one of the uprights of the stepmember and the lateral portionthereof in position'to underlieand receive one ofthe links connected to, the step member to limit downward .movement of. such link andvthereby position all links at a downward inclination when" the parts of the step ladder are in operative position to thus arrange the center bracket below the pivotal connection of the/links with theladder partsr 1 WILLIAM P. NEWMAN.

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