Motorized portable system and method for aiding persons in ascending or descending stairways

A method of walking up or down a stairway using a portable upper body support assembly, said method comprising:

• (a) providing an elongate track sloping longitudinally along said stairway, said track having an upper and a lower end;
• (b) providing a portable upper body support assembly, and a motor for driving said support assembly along said track;
• (c) carrying said support assembly to one end of said track and engaging said support assembly with said track at said one end;
• (d) actuating said motor and thereby driving said support assembly along said track while walking along said stairway and supporting the upper body on said support assembly;
• and
• (e) disengaging said support assembly from said track and carrying said support assembly away from said track.

A method of walking up or down a stairway using a portable upper body support assembly, said method comprising:

• (a) providing an elongate track sloping longitudinally along said stairway, said track having an upper and a lower end;
• (b) providing a portable upper body support assembly, and a motor for driving said support assembly along said track;
• (c) carrying said support assembly to one end of said track and engaging said support assembly with said track at said one end;
• (d) actuating said motor and thereby driving said support assembly along said track toward the other end of said track while waling along said stairway and supporting the upper body on said support assembly;
• and
• (e) disengaging said support assembly from said track at the other end of said track and carrying said support assembly away from said other end;
• (f) wherein step (c) further includes carrying said motor to said one end of said track as part of said portable upper body support assembly and detachably engaging said motor drivingly with said track at said one end, and wherein step (e) further includes disengaging said motor from said track at the other end of said track and carrying said motor away from said other end as part of said support assembly.