1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates in general to ramps used for ascending and descending an object or platform and more particularly to a ramp which is lightweight and foldable for ease in transportation and storage.
2. Description of the Related Art
The loading and unloading of utility off-the-road vehicles, lawn and garden equipment, and other apparatus into trucks or vans has presented a problem for some time. Many alternatives have been proposed for addressing this need. Unfortunately, the proposed solutions usually involve ramps which are permanently or semipermanently attached to the truck or van and hence not portable. These prior art ramps are unnecessarily heavy resulting in reduced gas mileage of the truck or van and difficulty in positioning the ramp for use. Further, many of the prior art ramps are bulky resulting in great difficulty in handling and storing the ramp.
One example of such a prior art ramp is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,209. That ramp utilizes a plurality of pivotable legs to directly support a folding hinge. The legs provide structural support for the ramp without the requirement of a vertical ramp to ground support. However, the legs are rigid and cannot be adjusted to carry varying weight loads. A further example of a prior art ramp is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,115,775. This ramp includes a vertical support member at the hinge. However, the support member is rigid which precludes folding the ramp into a compact state. Additionally, the support rather, it simply connects the two plank members forming the ramp.
Known prior art ramps which are foldable, only hinge in one direction, and therefore the compactness of the ramps is limited. Furthermore, no prior art ramps are known which are adjustable to limited in the size and type of objects which can be ascended with the ramp.
Moreover, none of the known prior art ramps are light enough to be easily transported, hence alternate uses for the ramp are limited.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable, lightweight, and compact ramp for loading or unloading utility vehicles or other objects into or out of a truck, car, van or other vehicle.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a lightweight ramp which is foldable in more than one direction to make the ramp more compact for storage and transportation and to provide adjustability of the lateral dimension of the ramp so as to accomodate varying sizes of objects or platforms which are to be ascended.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a lightweight, compact ramp having a load support system which can be selectively adjusted to accomodate varying loads placed on the ramp.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a lightweight, compact ramp which is easily transported and handled so that the ramp may be used for a multiplicity of purposes.
It is still a further object of the invention to provide a portable, lightweight ramp having an internal load supporting mechanism which does not require contact with the ground to provide support to the ramp.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.