ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 26 -- United States Patent no. 12,234,688, issued on Feb. 25.
"Foldaway stepping stool apparatus" was invented by Andrew Pires (Cranford, N.J.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A foldaway stepping stool apparatus includes a backplate attachable to a cabinet and a stepping stool mountable onto the backplate. The stepping stool is configurable into deployed and folded configurations. The stepping stool includes a platform, a pivotable front leg, a pivotable rear leg, a latch, and a bracket coupling the latch and the front leg. The latch operates to lock the stepping stool in the deployed configuration and to secure and free the bracket, enabling movement of the stepping stool...