Folding Pet Staircase

A foldable staircase for assisting pets in ascending and descending between a substantially horizontally extending lower surface and a substantially horizontal elevated surface disposed at a vertical distance from one another, the foldable staircase comprising:

• a plurality of treads having respective front and rear edges thereof, and also having opposite side surfaces thereof joined by articulating links that are operatively connected to and disposed adjacently outward from the opposite side edges of the treads;
• the plurality of treads including a top tread, a bottom tread, and one or more intermediate treads, with each tread including three attachment points for the articulating links disposed along the opposite side edges;
• the three attachment points on each tread including a front tread attachment point disposed adjacent the front edge of the tread, a rear tread attachment point disposed adjacent the rear edge of the tread, and an intermediate tread attachment point disposed substantially halfway between the front and rear tread attachment points along each of the opposite side edges of the tread;
• each stair tread having a respective underside thereof, with at least portion of the underside of the bottom stair tread being adapted to rest upon the lower surface and at least a portion of the underside of the top tread being adapted to rest upon the elevated surface;
• each stair tread having a respective top surface joined by the respective opposite side edges thereof;
• the opposite side edges of the top and bottom stair treads defining a thickness of the top and bottom stair treads that is substantially smaller than the vertical distance between the elevated and lower surfaces, such that, when the portions of the undersides of the top and bottom stair treads are resting on the elevated and lower surfaces respectively, the top surfaces of the top and bottom stair treads are substantially coplanar with the elevated and lower surfaces respectively and are offset therefrom by substantially only the thickness of the stair treads which is substantially smaller than the vertical distance between the elevated and lower surfaces, whereby the pet perceives the top surfaces of the top and bottom stair treads to be essentially extensions of the elevated and lower surfaces respectively.

A foldable pet staircase, comprising:

• a plurality of treads including a top tread, a bottom tread and one or more intermediate treads, the bottom tread securely placed on a first substantially horizontally flat surface and the top tread securely placed on a second substantially flat surface, the second surface being at a vertically elevated position from the first surface, wherein the top and bottom treads are not physically hooked or attached to the first and second surfaces respectively, wherein a pet travels on the first surface or the second surface toward the bottom tread or the top tread, ascends or descends on the plurality of treads to the other surface, and travels on the other surface;
• the top tread and the bottom tread having a thickness less than about 1″ such that when the top tread and bottom treads are place on the first and second surfaces respectively, the top tread and the bottom tread are substantially coplanar with the first and second surfaces respectively, and are offset therefrom by less than about 1″;
• the plurality of treads having respective front and rear edges thereof, and also having opposite side surfaces thereof joined by articulating links that are operatively connected to and disposed adjacently outward from the opposite side edges of the treads;
• the plurality of treads including attachment points for the articulating links disposed along the opposite side edges;
• and
• each of the plurality of treads includes a multi-piece composite core bonded between a top skin and a bottom skin, wherein composite pieces of the multi-piece composite core are bonded with a filler between the composited pieces, wherein the filler is configured to house a rod for providing the attachment points.