JP7607334B2 - Folding ladder and bed with folding ladder - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a folding bed ladder suitable for use as a bed ladder for climbing up and down to beds installed at high positions, such as beds in campers, the second or higher levels of a multi-tiered bed, and in particular to a folding ladder that can be used as a protective fence or handrail to prevent people or objects from falling off the bed when folded, and also to a folding ladder bed that can be used for other general purposes.

Conventionally, a ladder for ascending and descending a bunk bed and preventing people or objects from falling off the bed is known from the system described in Patent Document 1, and ladders in which the left and right main posts (frames) can be folded into parallel links are known from the system described in Patent Document 2 and others.

Patent No. 2631176 Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 49-115228

The bed ladder shown in Patent Document 1 has the upper end of one frame bent backwards into an L-shape, and the bent end is rotatably supported on the side of the bed frame. It is used as a ladder when facing up or down, and when it is rotated horizontally and set, it is used as a protective fence (circle) to prevent falls.

However, in this example, the ladder has different lengths on the left and right frames, and one side is bent and protruding, making it specially designed for use with the bed. It would be difficult to repurpose it for other purposes, and since it does not require electrical wiring or storage space when not in use, it is considered to be permanently attached to the bed frame.

Furthermore, in order to support the ladder as a fixed guardrail, a protective circle 2c for attaching the ladder and a sleeve 5 for attaching and detaching the ladder are required, which is a drawback in terms of cost.

On the other hand, the portable ladder described in Patent Document 2 that can be folded into a rod requires less storage space when folded, but even if it is improved and used as in Patent Document 1, the problems with the invention in that document remain, and whether it is used as a protective fence in the folded or unfolded position, it has the disadvantage that it lacks stability as a protective fence because it can freely change between both positions.

The ladder of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is, firstly, a foldable ladder which has a pair of frames which are opposite in the vertical and horizontal directions and which are composed of a wide head portion and a narrow long rod portion extending from the step portion to the other end, connected in the form of parallel links by multiple crosspieces which serve as treads, and which can be folded up into a single rod by overlapping the long rod portions, and which has a feature that it can be converted into a handrail or protective fence by forming a mortise-hole-shaped recess which opens on the side surface at the joint where the head portion meets the end face of the long rod at the step, and which uses a mortise-hole to position and fix the ladder in the front-to-back and left-to-right directions.

Next, the bed with folding ladder is attached to the bed frame of a bed placed at a high position, and is characterized by a mechanism that positions and supports the ladder by fitting a recess downward into a tenon that protrudes upward from a receiving member that laterally receives the ladder in the folded state along the side edge of the bed, allowing it to also be used as a protective fence for the bed.

Secondly, when the ladder is supported laterally along the side edge of the bed, the mechanism is characterized by a receiving surface formed on the base end side of the tenon of the receiving member that simultaneously abuts against the side of the head part of one folded frame and the peripheral end surface of the long rod part of the other frame.

Thirdly, the mechanism is characterized by the fact that the upper overlapping frame is prevented from moving parallel to the lower frame and unfolding by inserting a tenon into the recess, thereby maintaining the folded position of the pair of frames.

The folding ladder for high beds of the present invention, constructed as described above, can be used as a bed climbing ladder or for other general purposes when open, and when stored in the folded state, it can be attached to the side edge of the bed as a fall prevention fence, so no special storage space is required, and as a protective fence, it can be positioned and fixed while stably maintaining the folded position.

In particular, when used as a bed in a camper, it does not require storage space inside the vehicle, and has the advantage that it can be used for other purposes, such as for lifting and lowering luggage on shelves inside the vehicle or on the roof, as a bridge (plank) over uneven ground, or as a luggage rack.

1 is a partial cross-sectional overall front view showing the ladder of the present invention in the folded and unfolded states. FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of FIG. 1 along II-II. This is a front view showing the folded state in which it can be used as a protective fence for a bed, and the unfolded state in which it can be used as a normal climbing ladder (shown in phantom lines). 1A is an enlarged view of the end of the frame in a folded state, and FIG. 13 is an enlarged perspective view showing an example of a receiving member for a protective fence attached to the bed side. FIG.

Figures 1 to 5 show one embodiment of the invention, and Figures 1 and 2 are partial cross-sectional front views of a ladder L in a folded position, with a pair of left and right frames (parent posts) 1,1 stacked on top of each other to form a single rod, and the imaginary lines show the deployed position in which it is unfolded like parallel links.

The frame 1 is made of any material, but in this example it is made of wood and has the same structure and rotational symmetry, and the frames 1, 1 are connected by pins 3 at both ends of multiple (4) cross bars 2 of the same size and shape that make up the rungs, allowing them to rotate. As shown in Figure 1, the cross bars 2 can be used as a ladder by rotating (swinging) them 90° clockwise from their folded up-down position and standing them up.

Each frame 1 is a rod-shaped (prism-shaped) member with a rectangular cross section in the left-right direction, with a wide head 1a at one end, a right-angled step S about half the width of the head 1a remaining in the middle, and a narrow long rod 1b extending from the step S to the other end with a cross section of about half the width. The two frames 1 are folded in a folded position when stacked in opposite directions, top to bottom and left to right, with each long rod 1b fitting into the other step S. At this time, a parallel gap G of a specified distance is formed between the end face of the step S and the end face of the long rod 1b to prevent the end faces and corners from interfering with each other when folding and opening.

In addition, as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the overlapping surfaces of the long rods 1b of each frame 1 are provided with a multi-step storage groove M with a sawtooth bottom, which supports the ends of the cross bars 2 and stores the cross bars 2 in a 1/2 width arrangement in a fallen position where the ends of adjacent cross bars 2 overlap at an angle when folded. Furthermore, on the head 1a side of the step S of each frame 1, a mortise-shaped recess 4 is formed, which is a vertically oriented square groove in side view, and supports one end of the cross bar 2 at the top and bottom ends of the ladder L by inserting it so that it can be erected at a right angle or folded and stored.

As mentioned above, the left and right frames 1 can be folded and unfolded into a parallel link shape by rotating the crossbar 2 90 degrees, but because the recesses 4 are formed at right angles to the horizontal direction, the ladder shape is maintained by restricting the crossbar 2 in the 90° rotated and unfolded position (see Figures 1 and 4). In this unfolded state, the left and right frames 1 are aligned in length to form a rectangle, and their bottom ends are placed on a horizontal floor surface and used as a ladder. When the left and right frames 1 are stacked together, they are folded into a single rod, and when placed horizontally, the recesses 4 open into a mortise-like shape on the bottom side.

Figure 3 shows a state in which the bed frame 8 constituting the bed 7 is supported horizontally on the bed attachment parts 6 at the front and rear ends, which are formed, for example, by the side walls inside the camper van, and the ladder is hung up so that it can be used (shown by phantom lines), and a state in which the folded ladder L is supported parallel to the bed frame 8 in the lateral (horizontal) direction to form a fall protection fence.

In this example, vertical column-shaped support members 9, 11 are detachably attached facing upwards to correspond to the step S and recess 4 of the folded ladder L. In the example shown, the support members 9, 11 are made of natural wood that branches into a Y-shape, and the ladder L is supported horizontally between the two prongs. However, the support members 9, 11 do not necessarily have to be made of naturally shaped forked wood, and they may be made of processed rectangular column-shaped material or made of pipe material.

One of the two forks of the receiving member 9 on the mortise-hole-shaped recess 4 side is provided with a tenon 12 that fits removably from the bottom of the recess 4 by joint processing, and at its lower end side is formed a horizontal receiving surface 13 consisting of a flat surface that receives both the head 1a of one frame 1 at the step S and the underside of the long rod 1b of the other frame 1, creating a mechanism that holds the folded state fixedly in a fixed position when the ladder L is received. Incidentally, the side shape of the recess 4 corresponding to the tenon 12 is a square groove, but in this example, it forms a mortise hole together with the end face of the other long rod 1b, which is one side of the gap G. The recess 4 and tenon 12 are square-shaped wooden insert structures that fit together, but the cross-sectional shape of the recess and protrusion can be circular or other cross-sectional shapes.

Because it is constructed as described above, when ladder L is used as a ladder, it is leaned against bed 7 as shown by the phantom lines in Figure 2. However, when the bed is in use or the ladder is not in use, it can be stored and kept on the side edge of bed 7, which has the advantage of not requiring storage space for the ladder. In addition, when the ladder is used inside or outside the camper, it can be freely carried to the location of use and can be used for purposes other than as a ladder (for example, as a storage stand or a boardwalk in a mountain valley, etc.).

The folding ladder of the present invention has many advantages, particularly in terms of its versatility and storage space, when used as a bed in a camper, but it can also be used for a wide range of purposes, including bunk beds for the home, beds for ships and other commercial use, and as a ladder for general commercial and domestic use.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Frame 1a Head 1b Long rod 2 Cross bar 3 Pin 4 Recess 6 Bed storage section 7 Bed 8 Bed frame 9, 11 Receiving member 12 Tenon 13 Receiving surface L Ladder S Step G Gap M Storage groove

Claims (4)

A folding ladder which can be converted into a handrail or protective fence, having a pair of frames which are opposite in the vertical and horizontal directions and which are composed of a wide head portion and a narrow long rod portion extending from the wide head portion to the other end via a notched step on the side at one of the upper and lower ends, and which are connected in the form of parallel links by multiple crosspieces which serve as treads, and which can be folded by overlapping the long rod portions together.The folding ladder can be converted into a handrail or protective fence, having a mortise-hole-shaped recess which opens on the side at the joint where the head portion meets the end face of the long rod, and which uses a mortise-hole to position and fix the ladder in the front-to-back and left-to-right directions. A bed with a folding ladder equipped with the folding ladder described in claim 1, which is attached to the bed frame of a bed placed at a high position, and which has a receiving member that protrudes upward into a tenon that receives the ladder in the folded state laterally along the side edge of the bed, and which positions and supports the ladder by fitting a recess downward into the tenon , thereby creating a mechanism that can also be used as a protective fence for the bed. A bed with a folding ladder equipped with a folding ladder as described in claim 2, in which, when the ladder is supported laterally along the side edge of the bed, the receiving surface formed on the base end side of the tenon of the receiving member is supported by simultaneously abutting against the side of the head portion of one folded frame and the peripheral end surface of the long rod portion of the other frame. A folding ladder bed equipped with a folding ladder as described in claim 3 , in which a tenon is inserted and fitted into the recess to restrict the upper frame from moving parallel to the lower frame and unfolding, thereby maintaining the folded position of the pair of frames.

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