Ladder support assembly

Claim 2

A ladder support assembly for use with vehicles comprising: a ladder having a pair of spaced apart generally parallel rails, a plurality of rungs connecting said rails, and a rearwardly facing L-shaped slot in the bottom portion of each of said rails; a bottom part on said rails substantially the width of said rails for gripping the ground whereby said ladder may be supported on the ground in a conventional manner when not supported by said vehicle; a pair of support brackets, each comprising a pair of spaced apart cantilevered sections forming a channel with a support pin across the channel adapted to engage said slots; and at least two flexible tensile support cables, each attached during operation at one end portion to said ladder between the end portions thereof and at the other end portion having means for removably affixing each of said cables to said vehicle body to thereby determine the angle formed by the ladder and the vehicle chassis.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 wherein there is further provided an elongated pin placed laterally through said ladder at the upper portion of said ladder and outcropping on each side portion thereof, and adapted to removably engage said end portions of said cables on the outcropping portions of said pin.

Claim 4

A ladder support assembly kit capable of being used to adapt a conventional vehicle having a bumper and a conventional ladder having a pair of spaced apart generally parallel rails and a plurality of rungs connecting said rails so that said ladder so adapted will be removably supported upwardly by said vehicle so adapted, said kit comprising the combination of: a pair of feet each having a rearwardly facing L-shaped slot in the bottom portion and each adapted to be mounted at the bottom of one of said rails with a plurality of fasteners; each of said pair of feet having a bottom part for gripping the ground substantially the width of said foot whereby the ladder may be supported on the ground in a conventional manner when not supported by said vehicle; a pair of support brackets each comprising a pair of spaced apart cantilevered sections forming a channel with a support pin across said channel adapted to engage said slots in said feet; a plurality of fasteners adapted to attach said brackets to said bumper; a pair of tensile support cables; a plurality of fasteners adapted to removably attach said cables to said vehicle body; and a plurality of fasteners adapted to removably attach said cables to the upper portion of said ladder.

Claim 5

A ladder support assembly kit capable of being used to adapt a conventional vehicle having a bumper and a conventional ladder having a pair of spaced apart generally parallel rails and a plurality of rungs connecting said rails so that said ladder so adapted will be removably supported upwardly by said vehicle so adapted, said kit comprising the combination of: a pair of feet each having a rearwardly facing L-shaped slot in the bottom portion and each adapted to be mounted at the bottom of one of said rails with a plurality of fasteners; each of said pair of feet having a bottom part for gripping the ground substantially the width of said foot whereby the ladder may be supported on the ground in a conventional manner when not supported by said vehicle; a pair of support brackets each comprising a pair of spaced apart cantilevered sections forming a channel with a support pin across said channel adapted to engage said slots in said feet; a plurality of fasteners adapted to attach said brackets to said bumper; a pair of tensile support cables; a plurality of fasteners adapted to removably attach said cables to said vehicle body; and a plurality of fasteners adapted to removably attach said cables to the upper portion of said ladder.

Claim 6

The ladder support assembly kit of claim 3 wherein the plurality of fasteners adapted to removably attach said cables to the upper portion of said ladder comprises an elongated pin adapted to be placed laterally through said ladder at the upper portion of said ladder and outcropping on each side portion thereof, and adapted to removably engage said end portions of said cables on the outcropping portions of said pin.