Land vehicles – Wheeled – Attachment
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-12
2003-12-09
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Attachment
C280S169000, C182S098000, C296S062000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06659485
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a footboard which is a tread for making it easy not only for general well-built adult men but also children, women, elderly people, people with leg or lumbar disabilities to get on and off when the person gets on and off a step portion of an automobile, a staircase of a house, a vestibule, or the like and the footboard can be used in case of necessity by drawing out a footboard main body as the tread from a lower portion or a vicinity of the lower portion of a portion for getting on and off and then by lowering the footboard main body to an intermediate position of a height from the drawn out position to the ground below the footboard.
2. Description of the Related Art
A step portion of an automobile, a staircase of a house, a vestibule, or the like and especially various automobiles and especially many automobiles such as vans and recreational vehicles generally have large vehicle heights. If the vehicle height is large, a floor face of a portion for getting on and off is naturally at a position which is high to some degree. There are models in which a floor face inside a portion for getting on and off of rear seats is formed as a lower step, but such a step formed by making the floor face lower is still high in many cases. There are models in which a floor height is at a midpoint position between a floor height of a general passenger car and a van among recent recreational vehicles and such models do not have the floor face inside the portion for getting on and off formed as the above-described lower step. Therefore, conventionally, it takes much time and it is dangerous to get on and off because it is difficult for children, women, elderly people, and people with leg or lumbar disabilities to get on and off without assistance of those around them.
Conventionally, in such a case at the step portion of the automobile, the staircase of the house, the vestibule, or the like, assistance from those around the person getting on and off is obtained as described above or a box for getting on and off is placed on the ground in front of the step portion and the person gets on and off by placing his/her feet on this box. There are models having side steps on the left and right of a vehicle body among jeep-type models among the automobiles.
However, even if assistance is obtained from those around the person in getting on and off the step portion of the automobile, the staircase of the house, the vestibule, or the like and especially the automobile, a great burden is imposed on the person who provides assistance if the person getting on and off is an adult. Especially when there is only a woman who can provide assistance, a burden on her is greater to aggravate danger in such a manner as to cause a backache, a hernia, a slipped disk, and the like.
The above-described method of placing the box in front of the step portion may be dangerous depending on a position of the box which the person steps on and how to step on the box, because the person may miss his/her footing on the box or the box may change orientation or may move to cause the person to fall down. Moreover, the box may become an obstacle when it is not used. Only a small percentage of the models of the automobiles have the above-described side steps. If such side steps are provided to many vans and recreational vehicles to project sideways, the side steps may injure people or scratch other cars in traveling.
Recently, there are automobiles having a step device which is actuated to advance and recede outward (frontward) from a floor face or below the floor face of a portion for getting on and off on a side of rear seats among the automobiles. However, this type of step device advances and recedes only outward (frontward) and a height of the device cannot be changed. Therefore, above-described difficulty in getting on and off cannot be solved.
The inventor of the present invention conventionally realized that it was difficult to get on and off the step portion of the automobile, the staircase of the house, the vestibule or the like and especially the automobile with the large vehicle height and began development of a novel footboard for the automobile which solves such a problem and which can be easily retrofitted to the automobile. As a result of subsequent earnest study, the inventor of the present invention finally invented the footboard for the step portion as the present invention and completed a prototype.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention completed after the above experiences to provide a footboard. In a case of a step portion of an automobile, a staircase of a house, a vestibule, or the like and especially when a floor face of a portion for getting on and off in a commercially available model having a large vehicle height and called a van or a recreational vehicle is higher than that of a normal passenger car, the footboard is easily mounted to the floor face or a vicinity of the floor face by using bolts and the like. In getting on and off, by only holding a footboard main body with a hand, drawing it out frontward, and pushing it down, it is possible to horizontally position the footboard main body at a height which is about a half of a height from a front portion of the portion for getting on and off to the ground to thereby make it easy for a person to get on the vehicle by placing his/her feet on the footboard main body. Especially, the footboard makes it easy for children, women, elderly people, and people with leg or lumbar disabilities to get on and off by themselves and makes it easy to assist them when there is a person who provides assistance. When the footboard is not used, it is possible to easily accommodate the footboard main body by folding the footboard main body with a hand such that the footboard main body is disposed along the floor face inside the portion for getting on and off or a bottom of a body so as not to become an obstacle. Because main portions of the footboard can be produced by using commercially available members and a structure is simple and excellent in a load-carrying property and durability, the footboard can be used for a long term without anxiety.
To achieve the above objects, there is proposed a footboard according to the invention for making it easy for a person to get on and off a step portion and including: an attachment member for attaching the footboard to a floor face or a vicinity of the floor face of a portion for getting on and off of the step portion; left and right advancing/receding members supported by the attachment member to advance and recede in a back-and-forth direction; left and right lifting/lowering stays respectively mounted to the left and right advancing/receding members; a footboard main body supported horizontally or substantially horizontally by the left and right lifting/lowering stays; and an operating member provided to the footboard main body and formed of a grip or a handle with which advancing/receding and lifting/lowering operations are carried out.
If the footboard of the invention having the above structure (hereafter abbreviated as the footboard of the invention) is mounted to the step portion of the automobile, the staircase of the house, the vestibule, or the like and especially to the floor face of the portion for getting on and off of a van with a large vehicle height or a recreational vehicle with a relatively large vehicle height, by only holding the footboard main body which is a tread of the footboard, drawing it out frontward, and then pushing it down in getting on and off, it is possible to form a step in a position at a height which is about a half of a floor height and which is such a height that a foot just in front of the portion for getting on and off can be easily placed on.
As a result, not only well-built adult men but also children, women, elderly people, and people with leg or lumbar disabilities can easily get and on off by using the footboard main body as the tread.
When the footboard of the invention is m
Avery Bridget
Greigg Ronald E.
Johnson Brian L.
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