Smart ladder
OwnerSuresh Chandrainventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ladder with a tip warning system. The ladder is configured to be carried by at least one human user, and includes a plurality of legs with rungs disposed between the legs, and a tip warning system. The tip warning system includes weight sensors, a controller cooperative with measurements taken by the weight sensors, and a warning alarm made up of one or both of audio and visual components. The alarm components may be either hardwire connected to the rest of the system or wirelessly using a transmitter and a receiver for conveying a signal corresponding to an operational status of the ladder. Imbalance conditions, such as due to the weight of a climber approaching beyond the footprint of the ladder, generate an imbalance signal that activates the tip warning system to provide notorious indicia of such condition to the user.
Claims22
A ladder configured to be carried by at least one human user, said ladder comprising:
- a plurality of legs, each defined by a first end and a second end;
- a plurality of rungs disposed between said legs;
- and
- a tip warning system comprising:
- a plurality of weight sensors, each cooperative with a corresponding one of said plurality of legs or rungs;
- a controller configured to determine a measure of imbalance in said ladder based on input from said plurality of weight sensors;
- at least one of an audio alarm or a visual alarm;
- a transmitter configured to send a wireless signal corresponding to said measure of imbalance;
- and
- a receiver electrically coupled to said at least one alarm, said receiver in wireless signal communication with said transmitter.
A method of using a ladder, said method comprising:
- configuring a ladder to comprise a plurality of legs, a plurality of rungs disposed between said legs and a tip warning system, said tip warning system comprising:
- a plurality of weight sensors, each cooperative with a corresponding one of said plurality of legs or rungs;
- a controller configured to determine a measure of imbalance in said ladder based on input from said plurality of weight sensors;
- at least one of an audio alarm or a visual alarm;
- a transmitter configured to send a wireless signal corresponding to said measure of imbalance;
- and
- a receiver electrically coupled to said at least one alarm, said receiver in wireless signal communication with said transmitter;
- placing said tip warning system in an operational condition;
- placing said ladder against a ladder engaging surface;
- climbing said ladder such that indicia is provided to said climber thereof to indicate at least one of an operational status or a ladder safety category, said ladder safety category comprising at least a first ladder safety category indicative of no imminent tipping and a second ladder safety category indicative of a possible tipping condition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.