Have you ever fallen off a ladder whilst trying to reach across to paint something just outside your reach. Well the walking stepladder can change all that. Simply climb up, slip your feet into the shoe-straps, and then work safely. Need to move down the wall? Just walk normally. When you’ve finished painting, try walking down the road on top of the ladder, for a whole new perspective on life.

Each foot is connected to a shoe strap rather like on a bike pedal. These are connected by a vertical pole to a shoe on the ground. A couple of levers keep this pole vertical. When you are standing still, both shoe straps are on the top platform, and both shoes are on the ground. Lift one foot up, and the bottom shoe moves too, both up and down, and forwards and back. It should be able to allow a couple of inches of sideways movement, to let you shuffle sideways.

I think that you would be able to walk as normal. 3 or 4 castors at the bottom stop the whole thing from falling over (though they do mean that you can’t go up/down stairs, which otherwise I can’t see any problem with doing apart from the obvious trip to A&E when it goes wrong). For the deluxe model, an extra linkage allows you to tilt your foot.

Like a safe version of stilts, and almost useful too!
-- MadnessInMyMethod, Jan 28 2008

Builder's stilts http://www.amazon.c...d=1201563547&sr=1-7
Stilts than which I don't think this would safer. [MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 28 2008]

//Like a safe version of stilts, and almost useful too!// Have you seen builder's stilts? They are pretty safe as stilts go, and I think they'd be easier to use than this.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 28 2008


Maybe, [MB], but this is very half-baked; overly complex, rather silly looking and impractical, while still getting the job done. Keep your builder's stilts, I'd rather have a walking stepladder.
-- globaltourniquet, Jan 28 2008


Hmmm. Point taken. Another dull option would be a library ladder.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jan 28 2008


Thanks for the compliment [GT]. You couldn't go for a walk on the library ladder afterwards.
-- MadnessInMyMethod, Jan 28 2008


This is way better than a stepping walkladder.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jan 29 2008


"Aye, lad, that's when you should be tucked up safe at home in bed - when the clocks strike thirteen, and the stepladders walk..."
-- DrCurry, Jan 29 2008


This reminds me a bit of Wayne & Schuster's "Cinderelton": "Please may I go to the ball? Stepfather? ... Stepbrother? ... Stepbrother? ... Stepladder?"
-- Ned_Ludd, Jan 29 2008


But a battery on it and a remote control...now you have really got something. I envision step ladder races....Wheeee-Hooo!
-- Blisterbob, Jan 29 2008


It would be hard to get the ladder legs onto the pedals of your car. You might need to remove the back seats of your car to allow the drivers seat to slide back far enough. It might even be necessary to mount an extension with a small tractor-style seat onto the back of the car, with the ladder extedning through the cab to the pedals. The weight distribution of a extension seat modified car could be dangerous in VW beetles and other cars with engines in the back, resulting in unintentional wheelies. The extension seat should have a castor wheel on the bottom to deal with this possibility.
-- bungston, Jan 31 2008



random, halfbakery