Auxiliary step for vehicles

A retractable, pull-out step for a vehicle, comprising, in combination:

• a frame member having:
• a base plate in a first plane;
• said base plate having an inner wall upstanding from the base plate at an inner edge thereof, and a pair of spaced apart side walls upstanding from said base plate, and an outer edge;
• a pair of flange members, one of said pair of flange members connected to each of said side walls and extending outwardly therefrom, said flange members being disposed in a second plane spaced from said first plane of said base plate;
• a pair of guides mounted on said base plate in spaced apart relationship, and said guides extending from regions adjacent said inner wall of said base plate to regions adjacent said outer edge of said base plate;
• at least one of said pair of guides having first walls defining a guide aperture slot therethrough;
• a tread having a tread surface and an outer wall depending from said tread surface, said tread mounted for reciprocating motion on said frame between a retracted locked position wherein said tread overlies said base plate of said frame and a step position extending outwardly from said base plate of said frame;
• a pair of rails, mounted on said tread for movement therewith and one of said pair of rails being disposed in each of said guides for sliding reciprocating movement therein for the movement of said tread between said step position and said locked position;
• a resilient mechanism connected between said inner wall of said frame and said outer wall of said tread for yieldingly urging said tread into said step position thereof and yieldingly resisting movement of said tread from said step position to said retracted position, the resilient mechanism comprising one of a gas spring cylinder, a coil spring, and a leaf spring;
• and
• an indexing mechanism comprising a plurality of telescoping tubes having an outer tube, an intermediate tube slidingly mounted in said outer tube, an inner tube mounted in said intermediate tube, said inner tube having a shoulder at an outer end thereof, and further comprising a ring gear slidably mounted on said inner tube, the indexing mechanism being operatively connected to said frame and said tread for locking said tread in said retracted position thereof and guiding said tread between said retracted position and said step position, said indexing mechanism being movable from a locked condition thereof for limited movement toward said inner wall of said frame to release said tread from said locked position and allow said yieldingly resilient mechanism to move said tread to said step position.