GB1578344A - Ladder stand-off - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS RELATING TO A LADDER STAND-OFF (71) We, THE BRITISH ALUMINIUM (COMPANY LIMITED, a Company registered under the laws of Great Britain, of 7 Baker Street, London W1M 1AB, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to a ladder standoff for attachment at or towards the upper end of a ladder and disposed between the ladder and a wall or other surface against which the ladder would otherwise rest.

Such ladder stand-offs are well known and are useful both to enable a person on the ladder to reach projecting parts of a building structure, for example over-hang- ing eaves and also to act as a support for tools and other items.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a ladder standoff comprising adjustable fastening means capable of being removably secured to separate rungs of a ladder, a support bar and a tray extending between the bar and the fastening means, the tray having generally rectangular front and rear walls generally triangular side walls and a base that extends at an obtuse angle to the front wall and an acute angle to the rear wall, so that when the stand-off is secured to a ladder the base may be horizontal when the ladder is at a particular acute angle to a vertical surface and the support bar is in contact with that surface.

The above and other aspects of the invention wil now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows the ladder stand-off in perspective, Fig. 2 is a section on the line II-II of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 shows the blank for forming the tray.

Referring first to Fig. 3, a rectangular blank 1 of sheet aluminium has parts 2 at its corners cut away and is then folded along the lines 3 to provide the tray shown in Fig. 1 and having a base 5, generally rectangular front and rear walls 6 and 7 of different heights and generally triangu- lar side walls 8. All these walls are folded to lie in vertical planes as viewed in Fig. l and having their upper edges in a common plane. Thus, the base 5 extends at an obtuse angle to the front wall 6 and an acute angle to the rear wall 7.

An extruded channel member 9 has its base secured, by means not shown, to the front wall 6 and its ends extend beyond each side of the tray 4 so as to face out- wardly therefrom. A bracing strip 11 hav ing an inwardly turned upper lip 1 la is secured around the upper edges of the side walls and the rear wall of the tray 4 with the lip 1 la engaging over these edges and is also bolted to the outer ends of the chan nel member 9 so that a rigid structure is provided. The member 9 is formed in its base 10 with a slot 9a and an overhanging part 9b, the former receiving the lip lla and the latter extending over the upper edge of the front wall 6.

As shown in Fig. 2 the channel member 9 is formed with inwardly turned lips 12 and a pair of shaped resilient cushions, 13, which may be of rubber are a tight fit within the channel but are adjustable therealong as may be required.

Top and bottom hooks 14 and 15 are provided at the rear wall 7 of the tray, the top hooks 14 being secured both to the rear wall and to the strip 11 and the bot tom hooks 15 being slotted and engaging over bolts 16 provided with wing nuts 17.

The hooks 14/15 are arranged to be en gaged around adjacent rungs of a ladder in known manner and may conveniently be designed so as to fit all ladders conforming to British Standard 2037 for aluminium ladders and British Standard 1129 in tim ber ladders.

It will be appreciated that the present invention provides a particularly rigid lad der stand-off which may be secured firmly to adjacent rungs of a ladder at or near its top and the provision of the sliding rubber cushions 13 facilitates a good grip on a wall or other surface against which the ladder is to be rested. In addition, the angle between the tray base 5 and the longitudinal direction of the ladder ensures that the tray base is horizontal when the ladder is at a particular acute angle to a vertical surface with the support bar in contact with that surface so that, for example, pots of paint can be stood on the tray base without spilling.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. A ladder stand-off comprising adjustable fastening means capable of being removably secured to separate rungs of a ladder a support bar and a tray extending betwen the bar and the fastening means the tray having generally rectangular front and rear walls, generally triangular side walls and a base that extends at an obtuse angle to the front wall and an acute angle to the rear wall, so that when the stand-off is secured to a ladder the base may be horizontal when the ladder is at a particular acute angle to a vertical surface and the support bar is in contact with that surface.

2. A ladder stand-off according to claim 1 including a channel member secured to the front wall to face outwardly therefrom and a pair of resilient cushions slidable along the channel member.

3. A ladder stand-off according to claim 2 in which the channel member extends belond each end of the front wall to be secured to the outwardly turned ends of a bracing strip extending around the side and rear walls of the tray.

4. A ladder stand-off according to any one of the preceding claims comprising relatively adjustable top and bottom hooks at the rear wall to be engaged around and secured to adjacent rungs of a ladder.

5. A ladder stand-off substantially as herein described with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (5)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. top and the provision of the sliding rubber cushions 13 facilitates a good grip on a wall or other surface against which the ladder is to be rested. In addition, the angle between the tray base 5 and the longitudinal direction of the ladder ensures that the tray base is horizontal when the ladder is at a particular acute angle to a vertical surface with the support bar in contact with that surface so that, for example, pots of paint can be stood on the tray base without spilling. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. A ladder stand-off comprising adjustable fastening means capable of being removably secured to separate rungs of a ladder a support bar and a tray extending betwen the bar and the fastening means the tray having generally rectangular front and rear walls, generally triangular side walls and a base that extends at an obtuse angle to the front wall and an acute angle to the rear wall, so that when the stand-off is secured to a ladder the base may be horizontal when the ladder is at a particular acute angle to a vertical surface and the support bar is in contact with that surface.

2. A ladder stand-off according to claim 1 including a channel member secured to the front wall to face outwardly therefrom and a pair of resilient cushions slidable along the channel member.

3. A ladder stand-off according to claim 2 in which the channel member extends belond each end of the front wall to be secured to the outwardly turned ends of a bracing strip extending around the side and rear walls of the tray.

4. A ladder stand-off according to any one of the preceding claims comprising relatively adjustable top and bottom hooks at the rear wall to be engaged around and secured to adjacent rungs of a ladder.

5. A ladder stand-off substantially as herein described with reference to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 of the accompanying drawings.