Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
CA 02549770 2006-04-25
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A MIJ, _ , YIM/D
~ndustry Induetri
Canade Canada 2006~04125
115- 06
a0 III~~I~I
1075235
;IPO OPiC
FRAMEWORK FOLDABLE AS STEPLADDER OR CHAIR
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of Invention
The present invention relates to ladders and more particularly to a framework
which can be either folded as a stepladder or a chair or detached and stored
in an
enclosure or bag for decreasing a storage space.
Related Art
Conventionally, all ladders have a fixed length except extension fadders_ As
such,
such ladders are not suitable for carrying by, for example, an automobile.
Further, no
documents about assembling a detachable stepladder as a chair so far as the
present
inventor is aware. Thus, continuing improvements in the expioitation of
detachable
stepladder are constantly being sought.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a detachable
ladder
comprising a iower frame including two substantially trapezoidal legs, a first
board
interconnected tops of the legs, and one or more crosspieces interconnected
the iegs;
and an upper frame including two side units each including a substantially
trapezoidal
upper element having Its forward end pivotably secured to a top front end of
the leg,
and a lower support extended downward from the upper element, a second board
interconnected bottoms of the upper elements, a third board interconnected
tops of
the upper elements, and one or more fourth boards interconnected intermediate
portions of the upper elements; whereby pivoting the upper frame about the
lower
frame until the tops of the upper elements rest upon a supporting ground wiii
convert
the ladder into a chair.
In a first aspect of the present invention there is further provided an anti-
slip shae
fonned on each of the tops of the upper elements and front and rear ends of a
bottom
of each leg.
In a second aspect of the present invention there is further provided a
receptacle
vertically extended from the anti-slip shoe on the top of each upper element.
In a third aspect of the present invention there is further provided a U-
shaped bar
adapted to have portions of its both ends inserted into the reoeptacies.
In a fourth aspect of the present invention there is further provided a
footrest
interconnected the legs and opposing the one or more crosspieces.
In a fifth aspect of the present invention each of the side unit further
comprises a
substantially inverted T shaped member secured to the bottom of the upper
element
and the support such that the substantially inverted 7 shaped members are
adapted
to form as armrests in response to forming the chair.
In a sixth aspect of the present invention there is further provided a pad
having its
front end pivotably secured to a rear end of the first board such that the pad
is
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adapted to rest on the first and second boards as a seat by pivoting in
response to
forming the chair.
In a seventh aspect of the present invention there is further provided a pad
having
its rear and pivotably secured to a joining point of the upper element and the
support
such that the pad is adapted to rest on the first and 'second boards as a seat
by
pivoting in response to forming the chair.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention
will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a preferred embodiment of detachable
framework according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the framework assembled as a stepladder;
FlG. 3 is a side elevation depicting a folding of the stepladder in FIG. 2 to
a chair
shown in phantom;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the chair in FIG 3;
FiG. 5 is a side elevation depicting a folding of the stepladder in FIG. 2 to
a chair
shown in phantom;
FIG. 6 is a side elevation of the chair in FIG. 5 with both backrest and
armrest
removed and a seat added in a first configuration;
FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 showing a second configuration thereof; and
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the detached stepladder stored in an
enclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a detachable framework in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a lower frame 10 including two
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substantially trapezoidal leg units 11 each including an.inclined bar 111, a
bottom bar
12, two first anti-slip shoes 16 on a bottom of the bottom bar 12, and a post
15
interconnected a top portion of the inclined bar 111 and the bottom bar 12 in
which a
plurality of through holes are formed in the bars 111 and 12 and the post 15
by drilling;
a rectangular first board 13, and two crosspieces 14 in which a plurality of
through
holes are formed in the bars 111 and 12, the post 15, the first board 13, and
the
crosspieces 14 by drilling such that the first board 13 can be fastened on
tops of the
leg units 11, and the crosspieces 14 can be fastened between the inclined bars
111 by
fasteners as known in the art.
The framework further comprises a foot rest 50 interconnected the posts 15;
and
an upper frame 20 including two side units 21 each including an inclined bar
211, a top
bar 25 formed with the inclined bar 211, a second anti-slip shoe 27 on an end
of the
top bar 25, a receptacle 26 vertically extended from the second anti-slip shoe
27, and
a slightly arcuate bar 22 having its top formed with the top bar 25 and an
extension
interconnected its intermediate point and a bottom end of the inclined bar
211; a
rectangular second board 23, and a plurality of rectangular third boards 24 in
which a
plurality of through holes are formed in the side units 21 and the boards 23
and 24 by
drilling such that the second board 23 can be fastened on the first board 13
under the
extensions of the arcuate bars 22, and the third boards 24 can be fastened
between
the inclined bars 211 and the arcuate bars 22 by fasteners as known in the
art.
The framework. further comprises two links 30 each having both ends pivotably
secured to a top of the inclined bar 111 and a bottom of the inclined bar 211.
A
U-shaped frame element 40 has its both ends into the receptacles 26 as a
guard. A
stepladder is formed as shown in FIG. 2.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, an operation of folding the stepladder into a
chair will
be described in detailed below. First, remove the U-shaped frame element 40.
Next,
pivot the upper frame 20 about the links 30 about 180 degrees until the second
CA 02549770 2006-04-25
anti-slip shoes 27 rest upon a supporting ground (i.e., from the position
indicated by
arrow P1 to the position indicated by arrow P2). A cloth put on the engaged U-
shaped
frame element 40 and a portion of the arcuate bars 211 is served as a backrest
of the
formed chair.
5 Referring to FIG. 5, two armrests 28 are formed with the chair by two frame
elements attached to both sides of the stepladder after the pivotal operation
described
in FIGS. 3 and 4.
Referring to FiG. 6 in conjunction with FIG. 4, a first configuration of
mounting a
pad as a seat of the chair formed in FIG. 4 is illustrated. As shown, a
rectangular pad
80 dimensioned to the size of the combined the first board 13 and the second
board
23 is provided. The pad 80 has one end pivotably secured to two front corners
of the
first board 13 and comprises two projections 81 at its two corners distal the
pivots
thereof. Aiso, two holes 29 are formed on two rear comers of the second board
23.
The holes 29 are adapted to snugly receive the projections 81 after pivoting
the pad
80 about 270 degrees about the pivots thereof. At this position, the pad 80 is
served
as a seat.
Referring to FIG 7 In conjunction with FIG 4, a second configuration of
mounting
a pad as a seat of the chair formed in FIG 4 is illustrated. As shown, a
rectangular pad
80 dimensioned -to the size of the combined the first board 13 and the seaond
board
23 is provided. The pad 80 has one end pivatably secured to two rear corners
of the
second board 23 and comprises two projections 81 at its two comers distal the
pivots
thereof. Also, two holes 17 are formed on two front corners of the first board
13. The
holes 17 are adapted to snugly receive the projections 81 after pivoting the
pad 80
about 90 degrees about the pivots thereof. At this position, the pad 80 is
served as a
seat.
Referring to FIG. 8, the stepladder or chair may be detached and stored in an
enclosure 90 or a bag for saving occupying space when the stepladder or chair
is
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expected to be of no use for a relatively long period of time or for
transport:
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific
embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by
those
skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the
invention set forth in
the claims.
