A folding staircase for use in a door opening having a threshold. The folding staircase has a pair of stringers that have an upper end and a lower end that is adapted for contacting a ground surface. The stringers are spanned by at least one tread. A hinge is connected to a floor near the door opening and a threshold plate pivotally connected thereto is movable between a use position and a stowed position. The staircase may be provided with a lifting mechanism that biases the staircase and threshold plate toward their stowed positions. The lifting device provides a variable force that provides more rotational force when the staircase would require a user to bear more of its weight and less force when less of the weight of the staircase would be borne by a user.

A retractable staircase having a first side stringer and a second substantially parallel side stringer connected to a plurality of steps. The first side stringer is fixedly attached to a wall and the second side stringer is pivotally movable about the first side stringer between an extended position, where the steps lie substantially horizontally between the stringers, and a retracted position where the steps lie substantially vertically between the stringers. The retractable staircase also includes a collapsible handrail and a gate that are interconnected with the side stringers and the pivoting steps so that when one of them is moved, the other two move substantially simultaneously.

A system is provided for safe access to a roof through an opening in a roof of a structure having a fixed ladder leading upward to the opening. The system includes a mechanism to drive a set of pushrods to raise a hatch covering the opening. The system may include a section of ladder secured to the underside of the hatch. The system may have an extendable ladder driven by the drive mechanism to slide along the fixed ladder and extend through the opening in the roof when the hatch is raised. The system may include a safety pole driven by the drive mechanism to extend through the opening in the roof when the hatch is raised. The system allows someone who needs to access the roof for inspection or maintenance to safely open the hatch, climb up through the opening in the roof, and safely step onto the roof.

An adjustable stair ramp includes a pair of risers, a series of treads, and an adjustable support leg. Cross members extend between the two risers. Each cross member has a pivotal brace with a top edge. The adjustable support leg has a main leg portion pivotally coupled to the risers. The main leg portion has an upper portion and a lower portion pivotally coupled to the upper portion. Each tread has bottom surface with a first receiving groove and a second receiving groove configured to receive the top edge of the respective brace. Each tread is pivotally coupled to the risers for pivotal movement between a high step position, a low step position, and a ramp position. The stair ramp is reconfigurable for use as a high stair, a low stair, a high ramp, and a low ramp through the positioning of the support leg and the treads.

A system is provided for safe access to a roof through an opening in a roof of a structure having a fixed ladder leading upward to the opening. The system includes a mechanism to drive a set of pushrods to raise a hatch covering the opening. The system may include a section of ladder secured to the underside of the hatch. The system may have an extendable ladder driven by the drive mechanism to slide along the fixed ladder and extend through the opening in the roof when the hatch is raised. The system may include a safety pole driven by the drive mechanism to extend through the opening in the roof when the hatch is raised. The system allows someone who needs to access the roof for inspection or maintenance to safely open the hatch, climb up through the opening in the roof, and safely step onto the roof.

Disclosed herein are attic stair assemblies, in which each attic stair assembly may include: a frame that may include: a first wall; and a second wall; a stair coupled to the frame closer to the first wall than the second wall; a floorboard disposed above the stair; a port extending through the frame and the floorboard; and a support frame removably coupled to the floorboard that may include: a first leg having a first leg upper end, wherein the first leg may be closer to the first wall than the second wall; and a second leg having a second leg upper end, wherein the second leg may be shorter than the first leg and may be closer to the first wall than the second wall; and a rail portion extending from the first leg upper end to the second leg upper end at a first acute angle to the floorboard.

A folding staircase for use in a door opening having a threshold. The folding staircase has a pair of stringers that have an upper end and a lower end that is adapted for contacting a ground surface. The stringers are spanned by at least one tread. A hinge is connected to a floor near the door opening and a threshold plate pivotally connected thereto is movable between a use position and a stowed position. The staircase may be provided with a lifting mechanism that biases the staircase and threshold plate toward their stowed positions. The lifting device provides a variable force that provides more rotational force when the staircase would require a user to bear more of its weight and less force when less of the weight of the staircase would be borne by a user.

A system includes an input/output (I/O) interface, a processor coupled to the I/O interface, and a memory accessible to the processor. The I/O interface may be configured to receive data from one or more sensors and to provide control signals to one or more actuators. The memory may store instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to receive sensor signals from the one or more sensors and send actuator signals to the one or more actuators to control movement of a plurality of discrete stair lifts of a staircase based on the received sensor signals.

An improved folding stair comprising a sequence of steps (101), each rotably mounted to a structure (102) via axes (103) located and oriented to facilitate rotation between deployed and stowed states, such that the steps exhibit tread overhang (109) in their deployed state. The step width (105) exceeds the step rise (107). In other embodiments the axes are to one side of the steps. In other embodiments the angle of rotation between deployed and stowed states exceeds the arccosine of step-above thickness (104) over step rise. In other embodiments the movement from deployed to stowed state moves the steps from the traversal path. In other embodiments the axes are either skew to the deployed tread, or to the traversal path, or to both. Other embodiments include a means of coordinating the steps' folding motion.

A step unit including a vertical frame and a plurality of linkages pivotally attached at different heights to the vertical frame by one end of each of the linkages, to provide lateral rotation to the linkages. A leg frame, with at least one leg, is pivotally attached to the opposite end of each linkage whereby laterally translating the leg frame simultaneously pivots the linkages from a first, vertical position to at least one second, horizontal position.