ALEXANDRIA, Va., Jan. 28 -- United States Patent no. 12,534,162, issued on Jan. 27.
"Portable ladder with standoffs" was invented by Michael Paul Burns (Waunakee, Wis.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "The present invention relates to a portable ladder with standoffs. The ladder has several steps, each having a tread, two elbows and two standoffs. The user uses the treads to ascend the ladder. The standoffs have distal ends that contact the boat for stability. A tread cable assembly secures the ladder to the boat and supports the treads in a selected maximum spaced relationship. Two standoff cable assemblies are also provided. Each standoff cable assembly has sections that supports the distal st...