What is a stepladder-transformer?
Industry offers a large number of design options. They can take the form of side or corner stairs. Lightweight, made on hinged joints from aluminum profiles, such devices in the folded position take up little space and are always at hand.
However, the ladder of the ladder-transformers, made by the hands of the skilled owner of the house, will always differ in individuality, especially since there are many existing options. Most of them can be used in at least two ways: as a conventional one-way corner stand and as a long( about three to four meters) straight ladder. Usually this height is enough for work inside and outside the house.
There are models that are easy to make in a home workshop. In the working position, they provide a comfortable stable platform at a height of 0.6 m, folded occupy a volume of 0.8 × 0.4 × 0.1 m. The material is lacquered wood. Such a solid design, quite appropriate in the office, will help to get to the upper shelves of the personal library. Somewhat modified, it will also become a fairly comfortable folding chair.
How to make stairs of a ladder-transformers?
To make one more model of folding structures, you need a pair of two-meter and one-and-a-half-meter pipes with a diameter of three centimeters( steel or duralumin, rectangular), with a wall thickness of at least two millimeters. For the steps it will take about three meters of the same pipe, from which nine cross-pieces of thirty-three centimeters are cut.
Thus, all you need is 10 meters of this pipe. The assembly of the entire structure is performed by welding( except for hinged joints) or on a bolt tie. If the second option is applied, twenty-two M8 × 70 bolts with appropriate nuts and washers are needed, if there is a possibility to weld the elements, two are enough.
For bolted joints through the entire length of two- and one-and-a-half-meter lengths of pipe at a distance of 0.3 m from the ends( called legs), through holes are drilled through six inches( six on a long one and three on a short one, respectively) for fastening bolts. The elements of the steps are drilled with a pair of similar holes at a distance of fifteen millimeters from the edges.
For the hinged connection of the parts, a pair of strap strips of steel strip length 180, width 30 and thickness 3 mm is made. On the strips, at the distance of fifteen millimeters from the ends, the same holes are drilled, after which they are bent symmetrically in the shape of the supporting tube.
Out of the same strip, closed ring oval couplings are made. Their ends can be tightly riveted or welded. Clamps tightly attached to the two-meter segments at the level of the fifth step from the leg. At the opposite ends of one and a half meter pipes, through holes are drilled fifteen millimeters from the edge.
On these sides are put on couplings, the ends are inserted into the yokes and fixed with bolts. Then assembly of cross-pieces is carried out: on the legs it is necessary to fix the nozzles from the dielectric material( plastic covers, rubber tips).To ensure that the structure does not part in the position of the angular post, the hinges for fixing the removable rigid hook of 0.6 cm thick wire, 60 cm long are installed on the second crossbars.
To transform the two-meter corner stand into a three-meter ladder, the hook is removed and the supporting one-and-a-half meter turns intohinges up. Hardness of fastening is given by couplings, put on the ends of two-meter lengths. The design load capacity of this option( with high-quality performance of the connections) can reach one hundred kilograms. When folded, the dimensions of the ladder are 2 × 0.33 × 0.06 m.
Hinged transformer-stepladder - operating rules
This design is fully functional and works no worse than the standard stepladder aluminum transformer. This option is easily subjected to changes and modifications. For example, it is possible to reduce the number of steps or the manner and form of their attachment to the carrier and auxiliary rack. It all depends on the flight of author's thoughts.
For most domestic work, the described design, as well as the majority of commercially available options, is quite enough. If only the highest articulated stepladder-transformer can help, only special attention should be paid to their safety. In this case, the price-quality ratio should take into account and provide a higher level, and it does not make sense to save on this.
General precautions remain, requiring before starting work to check the stability of the base and the top support of the entire structure. For information, safety during work at an altitude of more than 1.3 m should be provided by a safety belt, and the installation site is observed and controlled by the second worker.
It is prohibited to install such a device on the steps of the marches and work at the level of the ladder less than a meter from its upper edge. With such a ladder it is forbidden to work with all kinds of electric and pneumatic tools, welding equipment, with power networks. This should be especially remembered when using the ladders alone.