US 12,331,591 B2
Ladder
Jeremy Barker, Morgan, UT (US)
Assigned to MURPHY LADDER LLC
Appl. No. 17/312,429
Filed by MURPHY LADDER LLC, West Haven, UT (US)
PCT Filed Dec. 13, 2019, PCT No. PCT/US2019/066162
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 10, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/123905, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 18, 2020.
Application 17/312,429 is a continuation in part of application No. 16/219,834, filed on Dec. 13, 2018, abandoned.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/865,185, filed on Jun. 22, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0025703 A1, Jan. 27, 2022
Int. Cl. E06C 1/383 (2006.01); E06C 1/14 (2006.01); E06C 7/50 (2006.01)
CPC E06C 1/383 (2013.01) [E06C 1/14 (2013.01); E06C 7/50 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A ladder comprising:
a first ladder section comprising:
a first side rail extending along a first axis and comprising an outer surface and a front surface;
a second side rail extending along a second axis and comprising an outer surface and a front surface, the outer surface of the second side rail facing an opposite direction than the outer surface of the first side rail;
a plurality of non-locking rungs having a first end pivotably coupled to the first side rail and a second end pivotably coupled to the second side rail;
a first handle on the front surface of the first side rail;
a second handle on the front surface of the second side rail;
a locking assembly alterable between: (1) a locked state in which the first ladder section is locked in a load bearing ladder state; and (2) an unlocked state in which the second side rail can be shifted relative to the first side rail to alter the first ladder section between the load bearing ladder state and a rail-to-rail collapsed state;
a user-operated actuator located on the outer surface of the second side rail and operably coupled to the locking assembly, the user-operated actuator configured to alter the locking assembly from the locked state to the unlocked state upon being moved from a first state to a second state; and
wherein in the load bearing ladder state the first and second handles are offset from one another in an axial direction and in the rail-to-rail collapsed state the first and second handles are at least partially aligned with one another in the axial direction.