Claims
- 1. A portable riser section for use with a plurality of other riser sections to make a riser above a floor for supporting a load during stage performances by singing groups and the like, comprising:
- a plurality of riser steps;
- a first support frame having a plurality of wheels;
- a second support frame having means for receiving said plurality of steps at progressively increasing heights above the floor from front to back;
- a leg supporting said second support frame; and
- means for connecting said first and second support frames and said leg to allow movement between transport and operational configurations such that in a transport configuration said leg is folded and said wheels of said first support frame support said second support frame and in an operational configuration said wheels of said first support frame and said leg of said second support frame share support of said load with respect to the floor, said connecting means including a member pivotally connected to said leg and to said first support frame, said leg being pivotally connected to said second support frame.
- 2. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 1 wherein said connecting means includes means for assisting movement between the operational configuration and the transport configuration.
- 3. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 2 wherein said assisting means includes a self-contained pneumatic piston and cylinder assembly.
- 4. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 1 wherein said second support frame includes means for laterally stabilizing said first and second support frames in the operational configuration.
- 5. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 4 wherein said lateral stabilizing means includes a first pair of upright members and a second pair of diagonal members which cross one another and extend between said upright members.
- 6. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 1 including means for locking said second support frame in the operational configuration with respect to the first support frame.
- 7. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 6 wherein said locking means includes a stop member on one of said first and second support frames and an interference member on the other of said first and second support frames, said locking means further including means for biasing said interference member into a locking relationship with said stop member.
- 8. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 1 including a guardrail positioned on said first support frame and extending along the back of the top riser step to serve as a safety support for persons standing on the top step, said guardrail extending substantially the width of the widest of said steps, said portable riser section further including means for securing said guardrail to said first support frame including means for moving in a limited fashion in a direction from back to front to permit said guardrail to avoid interference with an adjacent section.
- 9. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 8 wherein said guardrail includes means for holding said second support frame in the transport configuration with respect to said first support frame.
- 10. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 1 wherein said receiving means includes a plurality of bars supporting each one of said steps, said portable riser section further including for each of said steps means for locking said step to said plurality of bars, said locking means including a retractable pin retractably engaging said step and one of said bars and a bracket member attached to said step, said bracket member having a portion fitting underneath one of said bars.
- 11. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 10 wherein said retractable pin is positioned to pass under one of said bars and said portable riser section further includes means for normally urging said pin into position underneath the one bar and user-actuable means for manually retracting said pin to permit removal of the step from the second support frame, said pin having a main portion and near its tip a reduced thickness portion so that the reduced thickness portion of the pin will pass beneath the bar to prevent the step from coming off even if the step is not placed fully down on the bar so that the main portion of the pin can pass under the bar.
- 12. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 1 wherein said receiving means includes for each step a first pair of substantially parallel bars extending from one side of said second support frame to the opposite side, each of said steps including a second pair of substantially parallel bars attached to an under side of said step, one of said second pair fitting in front of said first pair and the other of said second pair fitting in back of said first pair when said step is received by said receiving means, thereby providing edge support for said step.
- 13. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 1 including means for interlocking an adjacent riser section thereto, said interlocking means including first and second elements which mate together to lock said adjacent sections together, said section including on opposite sides a different one of said first and second elements so that said adjacent section can be locked to either side.
- 14. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 13 wherein said riser steps have narrow, wide and intermediate widths and have tapered or angled sides so that each step is in generally a trapezoidal shape, said steps being mounted to said receiving means in a forward orientation with the wide step at the top, the narrow step at the bottom, and the intermediate step in between, with the tapered sides of all of the steps angling from a wide dimension at the back to a narrow dimension at the front of the riser, or in a reverse orientation with the wide step at the front, the narrow step at the back, the intermediate step in between and the angled sides angling from a wide front to a narrow back of the riser, so that a riser section in reverse orientation can be placed in side-by-side relationship with a riser section in forward orientation, said first and second elements of said interlocking means being identical and having first and second portions which on different ones of said elements mate with one another, said elements including means for switching so that said interlocking means can interlock with the complementary interlocking means of the adjacent riser section regardless of whether it is in said forward or said reverse orientation.
- 15. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 13 wherein said interlocking means includes means for linking said section to said adjacent section, said linking means being attached at one end to said section and having a hook at an opposite end, said interlocking means including a pin on said adjacent section for engaging said hook.
- 16. The portable riser section in accordance with claim 15 wherein said linking means includes a first end member attached to said section and a second end member with an intermediate member therebetween, said intermediate member being attached to said first end member at a first pivot and to said second end member at a second pivot, said intermediate member having a handle for rotating said second pivot from one side of said first pivot to the other to tighten said hook on said pin and to snug said section against said adjacent section.
- 17. A portable riser section for use with a plurality of other riser sections to make a riser above a floor for supporting a load during stage performances by singing groups and the like comprising:
- a plurality of riser steps;
- a first support frame having a plurality of front and back wheels;
- a second support frame having means for receiving said plurality of steps at progressively increasing heights above the floor from front to back, said second support frame having a leg under each of said steps when said steps are received by said receiving means, said second support frame being foldable with respect to said first support frame such that in a transport configuration said first support frame supports said second support frame and in an operational configuration said legs of second support frame and said wheels of said first support frame share support of said load with respect to the floor; and
- means for pivotally attaching said second support frame to said first support frame such that said second support frame can be moved with respect to said first support frame between the operational and transport configurations;
- means for locking in the operational configuration said second support frame with respect to the first support frame; and
- a guardrail holding in the transport configuration said second support frame with respect to said first support frame.
- 18. A method for using a portable riser section with a plurality of other riser sections to make a riser for stage performances by singing groups and the like, said riser section having first and second support frames, said second support frame supporting a plurality of riser steps at progressively increasing heights above the floor from front to back, said second support frame being foldable with respect to said first support frame between a transport configuration and an operational configuration, said first support frame including means for holding said second support frame in the transport configuration and further including means for locking said second support frame in the operational configuration, said method comprising the steps of:
- moving said guardrail so that it no loner holds said second support frame with respect to said first support frame;
- unfolding from the transport configuration to the operational configuration said second support frame with respect to said first support frame and locking the second support frame in the operational configuration;
- after using said riser section for a performance, unlocking with said locking means said second support frame from said first support frames;
- folding from the operational configuration to the transport configuration said second support frame with respect to said first support frame; and
- moving said guardrail so as to hold in the transport configuration said second support frame with respect to said first support frame.
- 19. The method in accordance with claim 18 including after the unfolding step the step of releasing said steps from said receiving means in order to move them from a forward orientation to a reverse orientation, said riser steps having narrow, wide and intermediate widths and tapered or angled sides so that each step is in generally a trapezoidal shape, said steps being mounted in the forward orientation with the wide step at the top, the narrow step at the bottom and the intermediate step in between, with the tapered sides of all the steps angling from a wide dimension at the back to a narrow dimension at the front of the riser, or in the reverse orientation with the wide step at the front, the narrow step at the back, the intermediate step in between and the angled sides angling from a wide front to a narrow back, said method further including then the step of rearranging said steps from one of the forward and reverse orientations to the other and locking said steps in said other orientation.
- 20. The method of using a portable riser section in accordance with claim 18 including after the unfolding step the step of interlocking said riser section with an adjacent riser section.
Parent Case Info
This is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 07/223,756, filed July 27, 1988, now abandoned which in turn is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 080,408, filed on July 31, 1987, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (20)
Continuations (1)
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223756 |
Jul 1988 |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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80408 |
Jul 1987 |
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