Step stool with moveable handrail

A step stool comprises

• a step frame including front left and right legs, rear left and right legs, several steps mounted for pivotable movement on the legs during folding of the step stool to place the step frame in a collapsed-storage mode and during unfolding of the step stool to place the step frame in an expanded-use mode, a handle retainer including a set of spring-biased, handrail-locking bolts mounted for lateral sliding movement to project a tip of each spring-biased, handrail-locking bolt through at least one of an upper bolt-receiving aperture formed in each of the front left and right legs or a lower bolt-receiving aperture formed in each of the front left and right legs, and a pair of foldable step-support linkages that are coupled to rear ends of at least some of the steps and to the rear left and right legs to control pivoting motion of the steps relative to the front left and right legs during folding and unfolding of the step stool,
• a slidable handrail mounted on the front left and right legs for up-and-down movement between a lowered position and a relatively higher raised position, the slidable handrail including left and right handle-support arms and a handle arranged to interconnect upper ends of the left and right handle-support arms, in the lowered position of the slidable handrail corresponding bolt-receiving apertures formed in each of the left and right handle-support arms is aligned with the lower bolt-receiving aperture formed in each of the front left and right legs, in the relatively higher raised position of the slidable handrail the corresponding bolt-receiving aperture formed in each of the left and right handle-support arms is aligned with the upper bolt-receiving aperture formed in each of the front left and right legs, and
• a handrail-release unit coupled to a lower end of each of the left and right handle-support arms included in the slidable handrail, each handrail-release unit including a hand grip coupled to the lower end of the left and right handle-support arms and a bolt mover that is movable relative to the hand grip by a user to apply a bolt-retracting force to the spring-biased, handrail-locking bolt to cause such bolt to move and exit the corresponding bolt-receiving aperture formed in the left and right handle-support arms to free the slidable handrail for up-and-down movement on the front legs of the step frame,
• wherein each of the left and right handle-support arms of the slidable handrail has a C-shaped cross-section and is a sleeve that is formed to include an interior region sized to receive one of the front legs of the step frame therein to facilitate up-and-down movement of each handle-support arm on its companion leg,
• wherein the left handle-support arm of the slidable handrail includes a first panel, a second panel arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the first panel, and a third panel arranged to interconnect outer edges of the first and second panels to establish the C-shaped cross-section of the left handle-support arm and wherein the first panel of the left handle-support arm is formed to include a left bolt-receiving aperture to cause alignment of the left bolt-receiving aperture with at least one of the lower bolt-receiving aperture formed in the left front leg when the slidable handrail is retained in the lowered position and alternatively with the upper bolt-receiving aperture formed in the left front leg when the slidable handrail is retained in the relatively higher raised position.

A step stool comprises:

• a step frame including front left and right legs, rear left and right legs, several steps mounted for pivotable movement on the legs during folding of the step stool to place the step frame in a collapsed-storage mode and during unfolding of the step stool to place the step frame in an expanded-use mode, a handle retainer including a left handrail-locking bolt and a right handrail-locking bolt mounted for lateral sliding movement to project a tip of each bolt through at least one of an upper bolt-receiving aperture formed in each of the front left and right legs or through a lower bolt-receiving aperture formed in each of the front left and right legs, and a pair of foldable step-support linkages that are coupled to rear ends of at least some of the steps and to the rear left and right legs to control pivoting motion of the steps relative to the front left and right legs during folding and unfolding of the step stool,
• a slidable handrail mounted on the front left and right legs for up-and-down movement between a lowered position and a relatively higher raised position, the slidable handrail including left and right handle-support arms and a handle arranged to interconnect upper ends of the left and right handle-support arms, and
• a handrail-release unit coupled to a lower end of each of the left and right handle-support arms included in the slidable handrail, each handrail-release unit including a bolt releaser that is movable relative to the left and right handle-support arms by a user to apply a bolt-retracting force to the corresponding handrail-locking bolt to cause such bolt to move and exit at least one of the upper bolt-receiving aperture when the handrail is in the relatively higher raised position or the lower bolt-receiving aperture when the handrail is in the lowered position to free the handrail for up-and-down movement on the front legs of the step frame,
• wherein each handrail-release unit has a C-shaped cross-section and is a sleeve that is formed to include an interior region sized to receive one of the front legs of the step frame therein to facilitate up-and-down movement of each handle-support arm on its companion leg,
• wherein the handrail-release unit includes a first panel, a second panel arranged to lie in spaced-apart relation to the first panel, and a third panel arranged to interconnect outer edges of the first and second panels to establish the C-shaped cross-section.