Patent Application
20190176707
The present invention generally relates to a foldable ladder structure, and more particularly to a foldable ladder design for mounting to an automobile cargo bed to allow a user to enter or exit the cargo bed without occupying additional space.
Automobiles are a convenient transportation. For some passenger/cargo dual-purpose automobile, such as a pickup truck, off-road performance is excellent so that it can be used as a passenger car for carrying passengers and it also has a cargo bed provided on the rear side to carry cargos, making the use thereof extremely wide and convenient. However, the structural arrangement of the body of such an automobile often present an issue that the height of the cargo bed is considered relatively high for most persons. In addition, the cargo bed also has a depth that is relatively deep and long as compared to the regular sedans. Thus, it is sometimes inconvenient in loading and unloading cargo into and from the cargo bed. Particularly, climbing up and down the cargo bed in loading and unloading cargos appears to be a challenge to physical strength and may causes physical tiredness and exhaustion of the user. One way to handle such a problem is to provide a stepping device having a proper height on the ground to ease climbing up and down the cargo bed. The stepping device, however, is a movable device and is sometimes poor in respect of stability and may get undesired movement as sliding on the ground, leading to fall of the user. In addition, such a stepping device, once placed in the cargo bed for being carried with the automobile, would occupy a certain amount of space of the cargo bed, making it imperfect in use and operation.
In view of this, the present invention aims to provide a foldable ladder structure that is directly mountable to a cargo bed of an automobile.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a foldable ladder structure for an automobile cargo bed, which can be directly mounted to and collapsed to store by a sidewall of the cargo bed so as not to occupy cargo storage space of the cargo bed and also to allows efficient expansion upon use to be securely installed between the cargo bed and the ground to allow a user to step thereon for climbing and crawling in order to provide convenience and safety for the user to enter and exit the cargo bed.
To achieve the above objective, the present invention provides a foldable ladder for an automobile cargo bed, generally comprising a mounting base, a pivot axle, a frame, extension/retraction bars, and a ladder assembly, wherein the mounting base is mounted to a stop pillar of a gate board at a tail of a cargo bed the sideboard and is pivotally coupled, with a bottom thereof, to a pivot axle by means of a first pivot joint unit. The pivot axle is pivotally coupled to a pivot joint end of the frame to form a second pivot joint unit. The extension/retraction bars are respectively coupled to two side portions of the frame and are extendable outward from an operation end. Ends of the extension/retraction bars are pivotally coupled to a ladder assembly by means of a third pivot joint unit. The ladder assembly comprises at least one rung for stepping thereon.
As such, the foldable ladder of the present invention can be collapsed, by means of the pivot joint units, to normally positioned against a sideboard between the stop pillar of the gate board and a wheel arch so as not to occupy a space of the cargo bed and can be efficiently turned and extended to expand and position at the rear side of the cargo bed to make the ladder assembly stably support between the cargo bed and the ground for use.
The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Referring to
The mounting base 10 is made in a plate-like structure that is provided with a plurality of fixing holes 11 formed therein for receiving bolts for fixing to and positioning on a stop pillar 63 that is located at one side of a gate board 62 on a tail part of sideboards 61 of an automobile cargo bed 60. In the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings, the mounting base 10 further comprises an L-shaped board 12 arranged at one side of the plate thereof and bent inward for being extended in a recessed area behind the stop pillar 63. The first pivot joint unit 1a is arranged at a bottom of the L-shaped board 12 so that the foldable ladder 1 of the present invention can be installed in a manner of being completely positioned against the sideboard 61 (as shown in
The frame 30 is provided, on the pivot joint side thereof, with a tube 31 that is directly fit over and coupled to the pivot axle 20 to be fixed together by means of a fastener element 22 to form the second pivot joint unit 1b, so that the frame 30 is allowed to rotate, by means of the end of the pivot axle 20 pivotally coupled to the pivot seat 13, in directions toward front and rear sides of a body of the automobile. Further, the extension/retraction bars 40 are directly fit, at the operation side of the frame 30, into interiors of two side bar members 32 of the frame and are provided with a connection bar 41 coupled between the extension ends thereof. The side bar members 32 have outer side surfaces in each of which a recessed groove 42 is formed with a stop plate 43 mounted to a bottom end of the recessed groove 42. A side wall each of the two side bar members 32 of the frame 30 is provided, at an open end thereof, with a stop pin 33 that corresponds to the recessed groove 42 and projects inward to constrain and thus prevent the extension/retraction bars 40 from detaching from the frame 30 upon being pulled outward.
The ladder assembly 50 comprises at least one rung 51 provided between two side bars and is pivotally coupled to the extension/retraction bars 40 of the frame 30 by means of the third pivot joint unit 1c so that the ladder assembly 50 can be positioned flat on the frame 30 through rotation of the third pivot joint unit 1c. To embody the third pivot joint unit 1c, a coupling seat 44 is mounted to an external end of each of the extension/retraction bars 40 of the frame 30. The coupling seat 44 has an end face that forms a slope 45. An end of the slope 45 is provided with a protrusion plate 47 that comprises a pivot joint hole 46. The two side bars of the ladder assembly 50 are each coupled, at a pivot joint end thereof, with clamp blocks 52 that correspond to the protrusion plate 47 and the clamp blocks 52 are provided with an axle hole 53 penetrating through lateral sides thereof and corresponding to the pivot joint hole 46 for pivot coupling with a pivot joint element 54 to form the third pivot joint unit 1c.
Referring to
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It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the claims of the present invention.
