| 主权项 |
1. A climbing apparatus
configured to rest on a surface, the climbing apparatus comprising: a flip ladder configured to pivot between a straight configuration, a stepladder configuration, and a closed configuration, the flip ladder has a front section and a rear section, the front section having steps connected between a right front rail and a left front rail, the rear section having rungs connected between a right rear rail and a left rear rail, the flip ladder has hinges directly connecting the front section to a rear upper section of said rear section, the flip ladder configured to be locked in the stepladder configuration with the hinges, the flip ladder configured to be locked in the straight configuration with the hinges, the rungs on the rear section being double sided; and a tray defining a tray plane, the tray configured to move between a stowed position and an open position, the tray and the tray plane being nearly parallel with a major plane defined by the rear section when in the stowed position, the tray and tray plane being nearly perpendicular with the major plane of the rear section when in the open position so that the tray and tray plane are substantially parallel with the surface when in the stepladder configuration, wherein the tray is configured to automatically and simultaneously pivot from the open position to the stowed position when the flip ladder is pivoted from the stepladder configuration to the straight configuration so that the tray is in the stowed position while the flip ladder is in the straight configuration and the tray is in the open position while the flip ladder is in the stepladder configuration, wherein the flip ladder has a pivot rod that extends through the tray and pivotally attaches the tray to the rear upper section, the tray being in the stowed position and disposed within the right rear rail and the left rear rail of the rear upper section while the flip ladder is in the straight configuration so as to allow a user to climb or descend the ladder without hindrance from the tray, and the rails of the front and rear sections are configured to rest on the surface when the flip ladder is in the stepladder configuration; and two tray links, through which at a first end of each tray link, respectively, the tray being pivotally attached at respective link pivots, and a second end of each tray link, respectively, being attached to a respective hinge of the hinges; and wherein the closed configuration occurs when a major plane defined by the front section and the major plane of the rear section are parallel and adjacent alongside each other, the stepladder configuration occurs when the major plane of the front section and the major plane of the rear upper section form an upside down V, the straight configuration occurs when the major plane of the rear section is collinear with the major plane of the front section to form a straight alignment, the tray is configured to move freely between the opened and stowed positions when the flip ladder is in the closed configuration, and the tray is configured to move freely between the opened and stowed positions when the flip ladder is in the stepladder configuration. |
