Personal transporter

Apparatus for transporting a person comprising a frame movable on supporting wheels connected to the frame, the frame including a pair of generally parallel and generally vertical leg assemblies to which the wheels are connected at lower ends of the leg assemblies and a horizontal beam to which upper ends of the leg assemblies are connected, and a reversible motor driven winch mechanism coupled to the beam for movement along the beam, the winch mechanism being operable to take in and pay out plural flexible load carrying elements, the beam comprising a fixed-length base section and an extension coupled to one end of the beam base section for movement between a collinear relation to the base section and a substantially vertical relation to the base section.

Apparatus for transporting a person comprising a frame movable on supporting wheels connected to the frame, a reversible motor driven winch mechanism supported in the frame in an upper location in the frame, the winch mechanism being operable to take in and pay out at least one flexible load carrying element, the frame including a pair of generally parallel and generally vertical leg assemblies to which the wheels are connected, a horizontal beam to which upper ends of the leg assemblies are connected and to which the winch mechanism is coupled for movement along the beam, the leg assemblies defining respective sides of the frame and extending between ends of the frame, and including braces detachably connectible between lower portions of the leg assemblies across a central space in the frame between the leg assemblies.

Apparatus for transporting a person comprising a frame movable on supporting wheels connected to the frame, a reversible motor driven winch mechansim supported in the frame in an upper location in the frame, the winch mechanism being operable to take in and pay out at least one flexible load carrying element, the frame including a pair of generally parallel and generally vertical leg assemblies to which the wheels are connected, and a horizontal beam to which upper ends of the leg assemblies are connected and to which the winch mechanism is coupled for movement along the beam, the beam being comprised of a horizontal base unit and an extension unit connected to one end of the base unit for movement between a deployed collinear abutting relation to the base unit and a stored position in which the extension hangs from one end of the base unit, one of the leg assemblies being fixed to the other end of the base unit, and the other leg assembly being selectively movable under load along the deployed extension between states of maximum and minimum width of the frame in a direction along the beam.

Apparatus for transporting a person comprising a frame movable on supporting wheels connected to the frame, a reversible motor driven winch mechanism supported in the frame in an upper location in the frame, the winch mechanism being operable to take in and pay out in synchronism at spaced locations in the winch a pair of flexible load carrying elements, the frame including a pair of generally parallel and generally vertical leg assemblies to which the wheels are connected, and a horizontal beam to which upper ends of the leg assemblies are connected and to which the winch mechanism is coupled for movement along the beam, the winch mechanism including a fixed axis idler pulley for each flexible element over which the respective flexible load carrying element extends and from which it passes from the winch, the flexible elements each having a dead end fixed in the winch, and a linearly movable pulley operably associated with the pair of flexible elements between their dead ends and their idler pulleys.

A carrier by which a person can be moved by a hoist to and from a position of supine support of the person on a bed, the hoist affording a pair of transversely spaced and syncronously raisable and lowerable lifting couplings, the carrier comprising a seat portion and a torso portion connected for movement of the seat and torso portions between a substantially coplannar relation and a chair relation between them, lift points on each side of the carrier at the connection between the seat and torso portions and at locations on the seat portion and the torso portion spaced from said connection, and a pair of lifting harnesses engageable between respective ones of the lifting couplings and the lift points on each side of the carrier, each harness being adjustable for varying the effective distance in the harness from a location of engagement of the harness with a coupling to respective locations of the harness with the carrier side lift points, each harness comprising a hub assembly connectible to a lifting coupling and three straps extending from the hub assembly to ends defining the respective locations of engagement of the harness with the carrier side lift points, the hub assembly including means for varying the effective lengths from the hub assembly of at least one of the three straps.

Apparatus for transporting a person comprising a variable-length beam, a pair of leg assemblies movable on ground-engaging wheels for supporting the beam horizontally at a selected elevation, a motor-driven winch supported by the beam and movable under load along the beam between the leg assemblies, one of the leg assemblies being selectively movable separately from a change in the beam length along the beam toward and away from the other leg assembly during load-supporting engagement of the one leg assembly with the beam.

A carrier for supporting a person in a hoist comprising a fabric construction having back and seat portions disposable behind the back and under the buttocks and thighs of a seated person, a reinforced zone of the construction extending under the seat portion and upwardly from opposite sides of the seat portion to a height above the seat portion to about the waist of a person supported by the seat portion, the construction including a pair of side flaps extendible from respective side edges of the back portion around the sides and across the front of a person supported by the seat portion to end margins at which the flaps can be connected together to at least partially enclose the torso of the person, and a support strap associated with each side flap, each support strap being connectible with the corresponding end of the reinforced zone and passing through a guide on the side of the corresponding flap to an upper end which carries a device by which the strap can be connected to the hoist and by which a person in the carrier can be raised and lowered by operation of the hoist.

A winch for lifting and lowering a person positioned in a carrier such as a sling or a seat, the winch comprising a housing from which can extend at horizontally spaced locations of the housing respective ones of a pair of elongate flexible load carrying elements having live ends movable toward and away from the housing in response to operation of the winch, the flexible load carrying elements having dead ends in the housing, a pair of spaced fixed-axis idler pulleys mounted respectively to the housing at said locations and with which corresponding ones of the elements are engageable, a movable pulley with which both elements are operatively engaged between their dead ends and the respective idler pulleys, and linearly-acting motor-powered drive means coupled to the movable pulley operable to move the movable pulley for varying the lengths of the flexible elements between their dead ends and the respective idler pulleys.

The method according to claim 44 including moving a person from the aircraft seat to a location outside the aircraft by effectively reversing the steps described in claim 57 and performing the reversed steps in substantially reverse order.