Swinging ladder seat

R. C. ROSE

SWINGING LADDER SEAT

Aug. 13, 1957

Filed Nov. 1, 1955

2,802,702

Sheets-Sheet 1

<img file="US2802702A_D0001.tif" />

Aug. 13, 1957

Filed Nov. 1, 1955

R. C. ROSE

SWINGING LADDER SEAT

2,802,702

Sheets-Sheet 2

<img file="US2802702A_D0002.tif" />

&lt;? eOS£,

INVENTOR.

BY

2,802,702

Patented Aug. 13, 1957

United States Patent Office

2,802,702

SWINGING LADDER SEAT

Ray C. Rose, Ottumwa, Iowa

Application November 1,1955, Serial No. 544,277

Claims. (Cl. 304—31.5)

In maintenance or repair operations performed upon a telephone switchboard of the type installed in telephone exchanges, ladders are employed, said ladders being movable between closely spaced, adjacent switchboard structures of substantial height. Ladder seats are provided, on which the worker may rest while engaged in the performance of his duties. In some instances, work will be done on the structure at one side of the ladder, and in other instances, on the structure at the opposite side.

It has been found that in many instances, the seat is improperly located, not only for maximum comfort during long repair or maintenance operations, but also for reducing to a minimum the danger of injury either to the repairman or to the switches of the switchboard installation.

In view of the above, it is proposed, in carrying out the present invention, to provide a horizontally swinging or indexing ladder seat mountable upon selected rungs or treads of the ladder, and traversing an arc sufficient to dispose the seat either to the left or right, according to the particular side of the ladder at which the work is being done.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a seat for ladders wherein the swingable adjustment of the seat assembly can be effected swiftly and easily, with the seat assembly being locked without difficulty in each position to which it is horizontally adjusted.

Yet another object is to form an indexing ladder seat as described that can be used on a conventional switchboard repairman’s ladder without modification or redesign of said ladder in any way.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a ladder and of a seat formed according to the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of said per se;

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the ladder seat; and Figure 4 is a side elevational view thereof.

’ Designated generally at 10 is a ladder of the type mounted to be moved along the center of an aisle between x adjacent banks of a switchboard installation. The ladder » includes the usual inclined side rails 12, between which are connected treads or rungs 14. The seat 16 constituting the present invention includes a rung-engaging, stationary, support frame having inclined side frame members 18 integrally formed at their upper ends with horizontally extended arms 20 terminating at their free ends in depending hooks 21 engageable over a rung 14 of the ladder.

The swinging portion of the seat includes a seat member 22 formed from a wide piece of wooden material or the like, said seat member being tapered at its outer end and including an upwardly projected abutment or stop 26. At its inner end, the seat member supports and is fixedly secured to a container 24 for tools, parts, etc.

The inner end portion of the seat member 22 is piv2 otally connected by a pin or axle 23 to a support plate 25 constituting a part of the support frame. Plate 25 is fixedly connected at its opposite ends to and is supported upon the horizontal arm portions 21 of side frame mem5 bers 18.

Adjacent the arms 20, the plate 25 is formed with relatively short, arcuate slots 27, receiving pins 29 depending from the seat member 22. Thus, the seat member is mounted upon the support frame for swinging movement 10 in a horizontal plane, about the axis of pin 23.

Brace or leg means is provided for the seat member, and comprises an elongated, flat bar bent to include a ver- tical outer brace portion 28 bolted at its upper end to the underside of seat member 22 adjacent the outer extremity 15 of the seat member. At its lower end, brace portion 28 merges into a horizontally, inwardly extending bottom brace portion 30 in turn merging at its inner end into a relatively short brace portion 32 inclined from the vertical correspondingly to the inclination of side frame members ²⁰ 18. Portion 32, at its upper end, merges into a relatively long, oppositely inclined inner brace portion 34 bolted at its upper end to the underside of said member 22.

The bracing frame defined by the several portions 28, 30, 32, 34 is disposed in a vertical plane intersecting the -° horizontal plane of the seat member 22 medially between the opposite side edges of the seat member. Providing additional brace means for the seat member is a transversely disposed, V-shaped brace bar 36 the ends of which are bolted to the underside of seat member 22 sub’ stantially medially between opposite ends of the seat member. The apex portion of the brace bar 36 has a laterally projecting, inclined ear secured to the midlength part of brace portion 34.

Fixedly connected at its opposite ends to and extend⁸ ing between the lower ends of side frame members 18 is a wide, flat brace plate or cross bar 37, and secured to the ' front face of the cross bar is an arcuate indexing rail 38 having a closed slot 40 arranged transversely of the support frame. In back of the slot, the cross bar 37 has a ^υ relatively shallow recess 41 faced toward rail 38, and extending into said recess is a head formed upon a bolt that extends loosely through slot 40. The head of the bolt bears against the rear surface of rail 38, and threaded 45 on the bolt shank is a knurled nut 42 bearing against the front surface of the rail 38. On loosening of the nut, the vertically disposed brace frame, and hence the seat member, is adapted to be shifted horizontally along the length of slot 40 to effect a swingable adjustment or indexing of 5θ the seat assembly, after which the nut is turned home to lock the frame to the indexing rail 38.

By reason of the construction illustrated and described, the seat is swingable through an arc of approximately 30° about a vertical axis defined by pin 23, and is swiftly 55 lockable in each position to which it is adjusted. This will permit a worker to support himself in a fully or partially seated position upon member 22, and for example, if the worker is performing operations on the installation at the left of the ladder shown in Figure 1, said member 22 can 60 be adjusted as shown in Figure 1 to the right, to its maximum extent. This affords the worker a maximum amount of room, and further eliminates or at least materially reduces the possibility of injury to himself or damage to the installation. When the work is being performed at the 65 opposite side of the ladder, the seat would of course be adjusted to the left in Figure 1.

An important characteristic of the invention resides in the fact that although the seat assembly has a horizontal portion and a depending portion, each portion has a 70 positive connection to the stationary support frame. The support frame engages two rungs of the ladder as shown in Figure 2, the upper rung supporting the arms 20 of

3,802,702 members 18 and the cross bar 37 bearing against the edge of the lower rung. Although this connection to the support frame at two widely spaced locations exists, a guided swinging of the entire seat assembly is achieved through the provision of the slotted rail 38 and through the further provision of the diametrically opposed slots 27. A strong, braced support for the seat assembly thus results, capable of standing heavy use and of supporting a substantial amount of weight with full stability in every position to which the seat member is laterally adjusted.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above, since it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being considered that the invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope of the appended claims.