Loading platform alignment system and loading/unloading method thereof
AssigneeFerno-Washington, Inc.
InventorEnrico CARLETTI
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and an alignment system which auto-levels and/or auto-centers a loading platform (104) to load and unload a wheeled stretcher (106) to and from an emergency transport vehicle (100) are disclosed. A controller (114) of the alignment system receives a command to extend the loading platform from the emergency vehicle and extends the loading platform under power from the emergency transport vehicle. The controller recognizes an approaching wheeled stretcher, and aligns automatically the loading platform with a leading edge of the approaching wheeled stretcher to compensate automatically for any alignment issues between the loading platform and loading wheels (130) of the wheeled stretcher.
Claims15
A method of loading a wheeled stretcher onto a loading platform provided in an emergency transport vehicle, said method comprising:
- receiving by a controller of an alignment system a command to extend a loading platform of the alignment system from the emergency vehicle and extending the loading platform from the emergency transport vehicle under power from the emergency transport vehicle;
- recognizing via the controller of the alignment system an approaching wheeled stretcher;
- and
- aligning automatically the loading platform with a leading edge of the approaching wheeled stretcher via controller of the alignment system auto-leveling and/or auto-centering the loading platform, under power from the emergency transport vehicle, to the leading edge of the approaching wheeled stretcher.
An alignment system for loading a wheeled stretcher into an emergency transport vehicle, said alignment system comprising:
- a loading platform movable under power and providable within the emergency transport vehicle;
- a memory with program instructions;
- a controller communicatively coupled to the memory, wherein the loading platform is movable under the control of the controller, and wherein the program instructions when read from memory and executed by the controller cause the controller to extend the loading platform and automatically align height and/or orientation of the loading platform with one or more targets provided on the wheeled stretcher.
A non-transitory computer readable medium with program instructions that when read and executed by a processor causes the processor to extend a loading platform and align height and/or orientation of the loading platform, via actuators, with a target provided on a wheeled stretcher.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.