Ladder improvements

A loft ladder having pivotal slide coupling means for mounting it to a loft opening and counterbalance mechanism with a resiliently biased pivoted arm, wherein a handrail of said loft ladder is supported on said ladder on a section thereof by spacers allowing said handrail to be carried at a lateral distance from the stile greater then the lateral space occupied by the counterbalance mechanism whereby to allow both the counterbalance mechanism and the handrail to be fitted to the same side of the loft ladder if desired.

An extended ladder comprising at least two ladder parts constituted by two stiles interconnected by rungs, the parts being relatively movable between a fully extended position and a collapsed position, and at least one releasable catch for retaining said ladder parts in at least one relative position selected from said fully extended position and at least one partly extended position, wherein there are provided two movable catch members mounted on respective stiles of one of said ladder parts, and interconnection means linking said movable catch members such that displacement of one member is transmitted to the other whereby to release the two ladder parts for relative movement or to connect them together in a selected relative position.

A loft ladder of the type having counterbalancing means including a resiliently biased pivotal arm and being adapted to be pivotally and slidably mounted to a loft opening for movement between a stowed position and a lowered position, said pivotal arm having a free end connected to the loft ladder by a link member pivotally connected at one end to said pivotal arm and at the other end to said loft ladder, whereby to allow said loft ladder to turn abut its pivotal connection to said loft opening over at least a limited extent when the loft ladder is in said lowered position, said link member comprising two link elements positioned one on either side of said pivotal arm, said link elements being joined together by pivotal connectors, said pivotal connectors also connecting link elements to said pivotal arm and to said loft ladder.

A loft ladder of the type having counterbalancing means including a resiliently biased pivotal arm and being adapted to be pivotally and slidably mounted to a loft opening for movement between a stowed position and a lowered position, said pivotal arm having a free end connected to the loft ladder by a link member pivotally connected at one end to said pivotal arm and at the other end to said loft ladder, whereby to allow said loft ladder to turn about its pivotal connection to said loft opening over at least a limited extent when the loft ladder is in said lowered position, said counterbalancing means occupying space laterally of said loft ladder and said loft ladder having a handrail supported thereon at a lateral distance from a stile thereof which is greater than said lateral space occupied by the counterbalancing means whereby to allow both said counterbalancing means and said handrail to be fitted to the same side of said loft ladder.