Patent ID: 8104580

Claim:
A locking mechanism for a collapsible ladder comprising a plurality of ladder sections, each ladder section comprising two ladder bars arranged parallel to each other and interconnected at one end by a rung to form a U-shaped ladder section, and where each ladder section, excluding a lowermost ladder section, is telescopically inserted into a lower ladder section to form a collapsible ladder, and where dampers are provided at a lower end of the ladder bars, and where the locking mechanism comprises retaining mechanisms provided on each ladder bar, adjacent an upper end of each ladder bar and a locking hole adjacent the lower end of each ladder bar, and where each retaining mechanism comprises a locking pin being spring biased towards an extended position in order to engage the locking hole provided in the ladder bars of a ladder section positioned thereabove, wherein the locking mechanism further comprises actuators to release the retaining mechanisms, the actuators being arranged on at least one of the ladder sections, and where each of the dampers of the ladder sections are provided with a chamfered surface, the chamfered surface of the dampers being arranged to cooperate with each locking pin of the ladder section to retract the locking pin of the ladder sections from the extended position and locked position to an intermediate position, when an above-positioned ladder section is released and lowered, and where each locking pin is provided with a chamfered end, the chamfered end of each locking pin of the ladder sections enabling each locking pin to be further retracted from the intermediate position to be entirely retracted from the locking hole, and releasing a ladder section positioned below the released above-positioned ladder section, enabling folding or lowering of all the ladder sections positioned below a released ladder section.