Automatically retractable marine ladder
OwnerTrevor Wendell Fregeauinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An automatically retractable marine ladder, and a method of using the ladder. The ladder rotates between a horizontal/resting position, and an angular/in-use position, under at least in part the influence of a force-generating element, such as a pneumatic cylinder, motor, cantilever weight, spring, etc.
Claims18
An automatically retractable marine ladder positioned adjacent a fixed element located in or adjacent to a body of water, comprising:
- a ladder having opposing upper and lower ends ends, a pair of opposing siderails, and a plurality of treads attached to the opposing siderails;
- a frame with opposing legs supporting the ladder, wherein the frame is rigidly attached to the fixed element;
- a support tube with a force generating element, the support tube pivotably attached to at least one of the ladder siderails and rigidly attached to at least one of the opposing legs of the frame, wherein the support element drives rotation of the ladder relative to the frame and to the fixed element;
- wherein the force generating element causes the ladder to be generally horizontally positioned when the ladder is not in use, and wherein the force generating element enables rotation of the ladder to a predetermined angular position when force or body weight is exerted on one or more of the siderails or on one or more of the treads of the ladder, thereby enabling ladder users to step onto the ladder, descend the ladder, and then exit the ladder to water, or to leave the water, pull down on the ladder to move the ladder from the generally horizontal position to the predetermined angular position, ascend the ladder, and then exit the ladder onto the fixed element;
- and
- wherein following the exit of the user from the ladder, the force generating element causes or allows the ladder to automatically rotate from the predetermined angular position to the generally horizontal position.
A method for using an automatically retractable marine ladder having upper and lower ends, a pair of opposing side rails, a plurality of treads, a support element pivotably attached to at least one of the ladder side rails and also to a fixed frame, wherein the fixed frame is rigidly attached to a fixed element located in or adjacent to water, wherein the support element enables the ladder to rotate relative to the fixed frame, and a force generating element attached to the fixed frame and adapted to exert a rotational force on the ladder, while causing the ladder to be located in a generally horizontal position when not in use, comprising the steps of:
- a user mounting the ladder from the fixed element begins to descend the ladder, thereby exert force or body weight on one or more of the ladder siderails or one or more of the ladder treads, causing the ladder to rotate from the generally horizontal position to a predetermined angular position, and allowing the user to exit the ladder into the water;
- once the user has exited the ladder and is in the water, the ladder will automatically rotate back to the generally horizontal position, due to rotational force exerted on the ladder by the force generating element;
- when the user wishes to exit the body of water and re-mount the ladder, the user while in the water pulls down on one or more of the ladder siderails or on one or more of the ladder treads, thereby causing the ladder to move to the predetermined angular position, and enabling the user to ascend the ladder and then exit the ladder to the fixed element;
- and
- following the exit of the user from the ladder, the ladder is once again caused or allowed by the force generating element to automatically rotate back to the generally horizontal position.
A ladder capable of rotating between a generally horizontal position, and a fully rotated position which is substantially rotated away from the generally horizontal position, wherein the ladder has a plurality of steps, including a top step, and wherein the top stop has a top planar portion and a bottom planar portion, and a curvature exists between the top and bottom planar portions, whereby when the ladder is in the fully rotated position, a user foot is capable of being supported by the top planar portion, and when the ladder is in the generally horizontal position, the user foot is capable of being supported by the bottom planar portion.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.