Adjustable Leg Platform for Stairway Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional portable work platforms are limited in their ability to be used on various uneven surfaces and stairways, often requiring semi-permanent installations, with restricted safety features and weight ratings, making them unsuitable for diverse work conditions.
Innovation Solution
A portable work platform with adjustable leg assemblies, interlocking slats, and additional fasteners, providing stability and safety features, allowing it to be used on stairs or as a standalone platform with adjustable height and grip mechanisms for enhanced stability and weight capacity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional portable work platforms are used on stairways, then they provide a stable work surface, but they are limited to stairways with a singular support and specific rise-and-run parameters
Solution Approach 1:
The leg assemblies are made dynamically adjustable through telescopic mechanisms with multiple selectable locations, allowing the platform to adapt to various stairway rise-and-run parameters. The legs can be extended or retracted to different lengths and locked at selectable positions, enabling the platform to maintain stability across diverse stairway configurations rather than being fixed for a single configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The platform employs adjustable leg assemblies where the length and angle parameters can be changed to match different stairway geometries. The legs include telescopic sections with selectable lock positions that allow adjustment of the leg length parameter, and the pivotable coupling to the top surface allows adjustment of the leg angle parameter, enabling adaptation to various rise-and-run specifications.
2Reliability
If work platforms are designed for ladder-work on stairways, then they provide stability, but they require semi-permanent installations and additional surface components that reduce available work space
Solution Approach 1:
The platform is divided into modular components: a top surface and separate adjustable leg assemblies that can be independently configured. Each leg assembly is a self-contained unit with telescopic sections and locking mechanisms, allowing the platform to be assembled and adjusted without semi-permanent installations. This segmentation enables quick setup and teardown while maintaining stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The leg assemblies feature dynamic adjustment capabilities with telescopic mechanisms that allow the legs to be extended or retracted to various lengths and locked at selectable positions. This dynamic adjustability eliminates the need for semi-permanent installations, as the legs can be quickly configured for different work conditions and easily repositioned or stored when not in use.
3Device complexity
If traditional work platforms are used, then they are simple in design, but they are limited in safety features and weight ratings
Solution Approach 1:
The leg assemblies incorporate dynamic adjustment mechanisms with telescopic sections and selectable locking positions, allowing the platform to adapt its height and configuration. This dynamic capability enhances safety by enabling the platform to be adjusted to appropriate working heights and locked securely at each position, while maintaining a relatively simple overall structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The telescopic leg assemblies use a nested structure where smaller leg sections are inserted within larger sections. This nesting arrangement allows multiple selectable lock positions along the leg length while keeping the collapsed footprint compact. The nested design provides enhanced safety features through multiple locking positions without significantly increasing the overall structural complexity or weight.
Data Source
AI summary
A portable work platform includes a top surface, a stationary plate coupled to the top surface, a pivot plate rotatably coupled to the stationary plate, an upper peg insertable through the stationary plate and the pivot plate for securing the pivot plate at a defined angle, and a plurality of leg assemblies coupled to the pivot plate, wherein rotation of the pivot plate provides rotation to the leg assemblies between an open and a closed state.