In-vehicle lift mechanism

Abstract

The invention provides a vertical lift mechanism (10) for a bunk bed within a recreational vehicle. The mechanism includes a lateral support assembly (14) that travels up and down in an upright frame assembly (34). The lifting force is provided by a drive unit (12) mounted to the support assembly (14) that winds and unwinds a flexible member (18) through a guide arrangement (68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82) mounted to the support assembly (14). The flexible member (18) is preferably an assembly of cables, more preferably four primary cables (52, 54, 56, 58) each having one end attached to the ceiling of the vehicle and their opposite ends coupled together and linked to a leader cable (50) which is wound about the drive spindle (44). The primary cables (52, 54, 56, 58) travel around the guides (68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82), which can be an arrangement of single and double sheaves or pulleys, to translate the winding force to vertical forces that raise or lower the support assembly (14).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.