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US 5,291,846 AGranted
Amphibious mobility assist vehicle for mobility impaired persons
OwnerFrederick B. Davis, Jr.inventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerFrederick B. Davis, Jr.inventor
Estimating the term…
An amphibious mobility assist vehicle for mobility impaired persons wherein a main flotation body has a catamaran configuration of twin hulls and constructed of molded thermoplastic material filled with plastic foam material of closed cell construction. A pair of conventional wheelchair-type wheels are detachably connected to the rear portion of the main flotation body on each side of a seat portion thereof, and a pair of hollow, spherical, flotation, caster mounted wheels are connected to the front of each hull. A manually actuated lift mechanism, which is accessible to the occupant of the vehicle, is connected to each spherical wheel so that the spherical wheels can be individually moved from a ground engaging position to an elevated position when the vehicle is floating in a body of water.
An amphibious mobility assist vehicle for mobility impaired persons, comprising a main flotation body, a pair of buoyant wheel assemblies connected to the front of and extending forwardly of the main flotation body for supporting the vehicle on the ground and in the water, a pair of ground engaging wheels detachably connected to the rear of said main flotation body, a seat portion provided in the rear portion of said flotation body and positioned between the rear wheels, and a lift mechanism extending from the vicinity of the seat portion and operatively connected to each of the buoyant wheel assemblies, whereby an occupant of the vehicle can manipulate the lift mechanism, to thereby move the buoyant wheel assemblies from a ground engaging position to an elevated position forwardly of and above the front of the main flotation body when the vehicle is floating in a body of water.
An amphibious mobility assist vehicle for mobility impaired persons, comprising a main flotation body having a catamaran configuration including a pair of twin, spaced, longitudinally extending hulls, a pair of buoyant wheel assemblies, one buoyant wheel assembly connected to the front of one hull, and the other buoyant wheel assembly connected to the front of the other hull, for supporting the vehicle on the ground and in the water, a pair of ground engaging wheels detachably connected to a respective hull at the rear portion of said main flotation body, a seat portion provided in the rear portion of said flotation body and positioned between the rear wheels, and a lift mechanism extending from the vicinity of the seat portion and operatively connected to each of the buoyant wheel assemblies, whereby an occupant of the vehicle can manipulate the lift mechanism, to thereby move the buoyant wheel assemblies from a ground engaging position to an elevated position when the vehicle is floating in a body of water.
An amphibious mobility assist vehicle for mobility impaired persons, comprising a main flotation body, a pair of buoyant wheel assemblies connected to the front of the main flotation body for supporting the vehicle on the ground and in the water, a pair of ground engaging wheels each detachably connected to the rear of said main flotation body by an axle assembly comprising a fixed shaft extending inwardly into the rear portion of the main flotation body, a plate integral with one end of said fixed shaft and abutting an external vertical surface of said main flotation body, a pair of spaced spacer plates abutting the outer face of said plate, a pair of spaced outer plates abutting said spacer plates and securing said spacer plates to the first mentioned plate, a stub shaft, a hub integral with one end of said stub shaft, said hub being slidably mounted into the space between said spacer plates, a said ground engaging rear wheel rotatably mounted on said stub shaft, a seat portion provided in the rear portion of said flotation body and positioned between the rear wheels, and a lift mechanism extending from the vicinity of the seat portion and operatively connected to each of the buoyant wheel assemblies, whereby an occupant of the vehicle can manipulate the lift mechanism, to thereby move the buoyant wheel assemblies from a ground engaging position to an elevated position when the vehicle is floating in a body of water.
An amphibious mobility assist vehicle for mobility impaired persons, comprising a main flotation body, a pair of buoyant wheel assemblies connected to the front of the main flotation body for supporting the vehicle on the ground and in the water, a pair of ground engaging wheels detachably connected to the rear of said main flotation body, a seat portion provided in the rear portion of said flotation body and positioned between the rear wheels, and a lift mechanism extending from the vicinity of the seat portion and operatively connected to each of the buoyant wheel assemblies, said lift mechanism including resiliently biased indexing means for locking said buoyant wheel assemblies in the ground engaging position and in the elevated position, whereby an occupant of the vehicle can manipulate the lift mechanism to thereby move the buoyant wheel assemblies from a ground engaging position to an elevated position when the vehicle is floating in a body of water.
An amphibious mobility assist vehicle for mobility impaired persons, comprising a main flotation body, a pair of buoyant wheel assemblies connected to the front of the main flotation body for supporting the vehicle on the ground and in the water, a pair of ground engaging wheels detachably connected to the rear of said main flotation body, a seat portion provided in the rear portion of said flotation body and positioned between the rear wheels, and a lift mechanism including axis means extending substantially longitudinally of said main flotation body from the vicinity of the seat portion and operatively connected to each of the buoyant wheel assemblies, whereby an occupant of the vehicle can manipulate the lift mechanism, to thereby move the buoyant wheel assemblies about said longitudinally extending axis means from a ground engaging position to an elevated position when the vehicle is floating in a body of water.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.