Hoist mechanism
AssigneeAutochair Limited
InventorsMartin Peaker, Tom Cresswell, Pawel Cichy
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hoist mechanism for lifting articles, such as a mobility scooter, into and from an interior of an automobile has a boom arranged to be mounted on the vehicle. A length of webbing depends from the boom and can be attached to the article to be lifted in use. An electric motor is configured to retract the webbing to provide lifting of the article by winding the webbing onto a spool. The boom has a mounting bracket. The spool is mounted to one side of the mounting bracket and the electric motor is mounted on the other side of the mounting bracket. The boom may take the form of a pivoting and swiveling armature. The boom may be releasably latched in a raised condition for use.
Claims20
A hoist mechanism for lifting articles into/from an interior of a vehicle, the hoist mechanism comprising:
- a boom arranged to be mounted on the vehicle;
- a length of webbing depending from the boom and configured to be attached to an article to be lifted in use;
- and
- an electric motor configured to retract the webbing to provide lifting of the article by winding the webbing onto a spool, wherein the boom comprises a first mounting bracket on a first side of the boom and a second mounting bracket mounted on a second, opposing side of the boom, wherein the spool is supported between the first and second mounting brackets, and the electric motor is selectively mountable to each of the first and second mounting brackets, respectively, such that the spool is mounted to one side of the first mounting bracket or the second mounting bracket and the electric motor is mounted on another side of the first mounting bracket or the second mounting bracket,
- wherein the electric motor is supported on the first mounting bracket or the second mounting bracket via a further bracket mounted to the first mounting bracket or the second mounting bracket opposing the electric motor, and
- the further bracket comprises an aperture therein configured to support one or both of the spool and a dry bearing configured to support the spool.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.