Retractable vehicle step

Details Retractable vehicle step Retractable vehicle step

2008-07-15

2008-07-15

Ellis, Christopher P. (Department: 3618)

Land vehicles

Wheeled

Attachment

C280S163000

Reexamination Certificate

active

11182267

ABSTRACT:
A retractable step for use with a vehicle comprises a stepping member having a stepping deck, a first arm, a second arm, a motor and a stop. The first arm has a first end pivotally attached to the vehicle, and a second end pivotally attached to the stepping member. The second arm also has a first end pivotally attached to the vehicle, and a second end pivotally attached to the stepping member. The motor is drivingly connected to the first arm such that a rotation of the motor causes rotation of the first arm about its first end and moves the stepping member from a retracted position to an extended position, or vice versa. The stop is located within the range of motion of the second arm such that the second arm bears against the stop when the stepping member is in the extended position. The first and second arms are situated such that the first arm is loaded in compression and the second arm is loaded in tension when the stepping member is in the extended position and a load is placed upon it. In another embodiment, a retractable vehicle step assist comprises a rigid frame, a forward planar linkage pivotably connected to the frame along a forward upper connection width, and a rearward planar linkage pivotably connected to the frame along a rearward upper connection width. The retractable vehicle step further comprises a rigid step member having a stepping deck. The step member is pivotably connected to the forward planar linkage along a forward lower connection width, and is pivotably connected to the rearward planar linkage along a rearward lower connection width and on a side of the forward planar linkage opposite the stepping deck. The stepping deck is substantially wider than any of the forward upper connection width, the rearward upper connection width, the forward lower connection width, and the rearward lower connection width.

REFERENCES:
patent: 1471972 (1923-10-01), Miller
patent: 2122040 (1938-06-01), Machovec
patent: 2436961 (1948-03-01), Gabriel
patent: 2487921 (1949-11-01), Culver
patent: 2492068 (1949-12-01), Schofield et al.
patent: 2575615 (1951-11-01), Crump
patent: 2764422 (1956-09-01), McDonald
patent: 2925876 (1960-02-01), Wagner
patent: 3039562 (1962-06-01), Wagner
patent: 3095216 (1963-06-01), Browne et al.
patent: 3172499 (1965-03-01), Stairs
patent: 3494634 (1970-02-01), De Paula
patent: 3528574 (1970-09-01), Denner et al.
patent: 3572754 (1971-03-01), Fowler
patent: 3762742 (1973-10-01), Bucklen
patent: 3807757 (1974-04-01), Carpenter et al.
patent: 3833240 (1974-09-01), Weiler
patent: 3865399 (1975-02-01), Way
patent: 3887217 (1975-06-01), Thomas
patent: 3889997 (1975-06-01), Schoneck
patent: 3957284 (1976-05-01), Wright
patent: 3961809 (1976-06-01), Clugston
patent: 3981515 (1976-09-01), Rosborough
patent: 4020920 (1977-05-01), Abbott
patent: 4073502 (1978-02-01), Frank et al.
patent: 4106790 (1978-08-01), Weiler
patent: 4110673 (1978-08-01), Nagy et al.
patent: 4116457 (1978-09-01), Nerem et al.
patent: 4164292 (1979-08-01), Karkau
patent: 4174021 (1979-11-01), Barlock
patent: 4180143 (1979-12-01), Clugston
patent: 4185849 (1980-01-01), Jaeger
patent: 4188889 (1980-02-01), Favrel
patent: 4231583 (1980-11-01), Learn
patent: 4424751 (1984-01-01), Blochlinger
patent: 4440364 (1984-04-01), Cone et al.
patent: 4536004 (1985-08-01), Brynielsson et al.
patent: 4542805 (1985-09-01), Hamlin et al.
patent: 4570962 (1986-02-01), Chavira
patent: 4623160 (1986-11-01), Trudell
patent: D287001 (1986-12-01), Jarvie et al.
patent: 4679810 (1987-07-01), Kimball
patent: 4720116 (1988-01-01), Williams et al.
patent: 4733752 (1988-03-01), Sklar
patent: 4909700 (1990-03-01), Fontecchio et al.
patent: 4982974 (1991-01-01), Guidry
patent: 5005667 (1991-04-01), Anderson
patent: 5005850 (1991-04-01), Baughman
patent: 5039119 (1991-08-01), Baughman
patent: 5085450 (1992-02-01), DeHart, Sr.
patent: 5154125 (1992-10-01), Renner et al.
patent: 5195609 (1993-03-01), Ham et al.
patent: 5199731 (1993-04-01), Martin
patent: 5228707 (1993-07-01), Yoder
patent: 5228761 (1993-07-01), Huebschen et al.
patent: 5238300 (1993-08-01), Slivon et al.
patent: 5257847 (1993-11-01), Yonehara
patent: 5284349 (1994-02-01), Bruns et al.
patent: 5286049 (1994-02-01), Khan
patent: 5342073 (1994-08-01), Poole
patent: 5375864 (1994-12-01), McDaniel
patent: 5423463 (1995-06-01), Weeks
patent: 5439342 (1995-08-01), Hall
patent: 5462302 (1995-10-01), Leitner
patent: 5498012 (1996-03-01), McDaniel et al.
patent: 5501475 (1996-03-01), Bundy
patent: 5505476 (1996-04-01), Maccabee
patent: 5513866 (1996-05-01), Sisson
patent: 5538100 (1996-07-01), Hedley
patent: 5538265 (1996-07-01), Chen et al.
patent: 5538269 (1996-07-01), McDaniel et al.
patent: 5547040 (1996-08-01), Hanser et al.
patent: 5584493 (1996-12-01), Demski et al.
patent: 5601300 (1997-02-01), Fink et al.
patent: 5727840 (1998-03-01), Ochiai et al.
patent: 5779208 (1998-07-01), McGraw
patent: 5842709 (1998-12-01), Maccabee
patent: 5941342 (1999-08-01), Lee
patent: 5957237 (1999-09-01), Tigner
patent: 6042052 (2000-03-01), Smith
patent: 6055780 (2000-05-01), Yamazaki
patent: 6082751 (2000-07-01), Hanes et al.
patent: 6149172 (2000-11-01), Pascoe et al.
patent: 6203040 (2001-03-01), Hutchins
patent: 6213486 (2001-04-01), Kunz et al.
patent: 6270099 (2001-08-01), Farkash
patent: 6325397 (2001-12-01), Pascoe et al.
patent: 6375207 (2002-04-01), Dean et al.
patent: 6412799 (2002-07-01), Schrempf
patent: 6422342 (2002-07-01), Armstrong et al.
patent: 6425572 (2002-07-01), Lehr
patent: 6435534 (2002-08-01), Stone
patent: 6439342 (2002-08-01), Boykin
patent: 6460915 (2002-10-01), Bedi et al.
patent: 6513821 (2003-02-01), Heil
patent: 6533303 (2003-03-01), Watson
patent: 6641158 (2003-11-01), Leitner
patent: 6663125 (2003-12-01), Cheng
patent: 6830257 (2004-12-01), Leitner
patent: 6834875 (2004-12-01), Leitner et al.
patent: 6926295 (2005-08-01), Berkebile et al.
patent: 6938909 (2005-09-01), Leitner
patent: 6942233 (2005-09-01), Leitner et al.
patent: 6948903 (2005-09-01), Ablabutyan et al.
patent: 6955370 (2005-10-01), Fabiano et al.
patent: 6959937 (2005-11-01), Schneider et al.
patent: 6971652 (2005-12-01), Bobbert et al.
patent: 6997469 (2006-02-01), Lanoue et al.
patent: 7000932 (2006-02-01), Heil et al.
patent: 7017927 (2006-03-01), Henderson et al.
patent: 2002/0109446 (2002-08-01), Arnold
patent: 2002/0113400 (2002-08-01), Leitner
patent: 2002/0153201 (2002-10-01), Armstrong et al.
patent: 2003/0090081 (2003-05-01), Schrempf
patent: 2003/0094781 (2003-05-01), Armstrong et al.
patent: 2003/0132595 (2003-07-01), Fabiano et al.
patent: 2004/0084868 (2004-05-01), Leitner et al.
patent: 2005/0087951 (2005-04-01), Leitner et al.
patent: 2005/0151340 (2005-07-01), Leitner
patent: 2005/0173886 (2005-08-01), Leitner
patent: 2005/0179227 (2005-08-01), Leitner
patent: 2082177 (1994-05-01), None
patent: 2370618 (2000-11-01), None
patent: 2332193 (2001-09-01), None
patent: 31 51 621 (1981-12-01), None
patent: G 89 10 933.3 (1989-09-01), None
patent: 89 10 933.3 (1990-11-01), None
patent: 934387 (1963-08-01), None
patent: 63255144 (1983-10-01), None
patent: 4339040 (1992-11-01), None
patent: 04342629 (1992-11-01), None
patent: 05310081 (1993-11-01), None
patent: 4 339041 (1995-11-01), None
patent: 403594 (1974-03-01), None
patent: 403594 (1974-10-01), None
patent: WO 2003/039910 (2003-05-01), None
patent: WO 03/039920 (2004-02-01), None
Camping World Advertisement.
U.S. Appl. No. 09/817,897, filed Mar. 26, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,641,158, issued Nov. 4, 2003.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/689,254, filed Oct. 20, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,830,257, issued Dec. 14, 2004.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/996,125, filed Nov. 23, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,055,839, issued Jun. 6, 2006.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/274,418, filed Oct. 16, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,834,875, issued Dec. 28, 2004.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/993,407, filed Nov. 19, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,007,961, issued Mar. 7, 2006.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/643,708, filed Aug. 19, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,942,233, issued Sep. 13, 2005.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/641,358, filed Aug. 14, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,909, issued Sep. 6, 2005.
U.S. Appl. No. 10/97

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Retractable vehicle step does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Retractable vehicle step, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Retractable vehicle step will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3949043