Portable riser
AssigneeWenger Corporation
InventorsJerry A. Wenger, Harvey M. Urch, David R. Boeddeker
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A portable riser having a plurality of steps which have a travel position in superimposed relation with structure for rolling the riser along the floor, hinge means interconnecting the steps whereby they may be folded out of superimposed relation, a pair of sliders pivotally associated with each step and which are hinged to sliders of an adjacent step by said hinge means whereby lifting of one step causes erection of the riser to an erected position, and latch means automatically operable to prevent movement of the steps beyond erected position and to lock the riser in erected position for use.
Claims21
A portable riser having a plurality of steps of increasing elevation rearwardly of the riser, a pair of floor-engaging sliders hinged to the underside of each step for pivotal movement about parallel axes transverse to the length of a step whereby said steps may be moved from a travel position adjacent and parallel to said sliders to an erected position normal to said sliders, hinge means interconnecting sliders of adjacent steps for pivotal movement about axes lengthwise of the height of said sliders whereby said steps may fold relative to each other when said sliders are in said travel position, said hinge means including first hinges interconnecting the uppermost step and an intermediate step for movement between a superimposed facing relation when in a travel position and a side-by-side position and second hinge means connecting said intermediate step and lowermost step for movement between a superimposed back-to-back relation in a travel position and a side-by-side position, and automatically engageable latch means interconnecting a step and one of said associated pair of sliders to hold said riser in erected position.
A portable riser having a plurality of steps of increasing elevation rearwardly of the riser, a pair of floor-engaging sliders for each step and each slider being of a U-shape with an intermediate part resting on the floor and a pair of upstanding legs pivotally connected at their upper ends to the underside of a step, a first pair of hinges interconnecting the sliders of an uppermost step and an intermediate step with hinge leaves of a width equal to the thickness of a step and positioned to permit the last-mentioned steps to be in superimposed facing relation when in a travel position, a second pair of hinges interconnecting said intermediate step and a lower step with hinge leaves of a lesser width than said first pair of hinges and positioned to permit the last-mentioned steps to be in a superimposed back-to-back relation in a travel position, caster means on one of the sliders of the uppermost step whereby the superimposed steps may be transported, and erection of the riser is obtained by unfolding said steps out of superimposed relation while the casters are on the floor followed by lifting of the steps relative to the sliders to place the sliders in support position beneath the steps, and automatically operable means interconnecting a step and an associated slider to limit lifting movement of the steps and hold the riser in erected position.
A portable riser movable between erected and travel positions without turnover and having a plurality of steps of increasing elevation rearwardly of the riser, a pair of floor-engaging sliders hinged to the underside of each step for pivotal movement about parallel axes transverse to the length of a step whereby said steps may be moved from a travel position adjacent and parallel to said sliders to an erected position normal to said sliders, hinge means interconnecting sliders of adjacent steps for pivotal movement about axes lengthwise of the height of said sliders whereby said steps may fold relative to each other when said sliders are in said travel position, said uppermost step having its pair of sliders resting on the floor in both travel and erected positions, said hinge means including first hinges interconnecting the sliders of the uppermost step and of the intermediate step and having all the hinge leaves with an exposed width at least equal to the thickness of a step whereby the uppermost and intermediate steps are movable between a superimposed facing relation when in a travel position and a side-by-side position, the sliders of the last-mentioned steps having the thickness of two steps therebetween when in said travel position, second hinge means connecting said intermediate step and lowermost step for movement between a superimposed back-to-back relation in a travel position and a side-by-side position, and automatically engageable latch means interconnecting a step and one of said associated pair of sliders to hold said riser in erected position and moved to latch position as the riser is erected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.