Wheelchair lift apparatus

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a wheelchair lift apparatus (1) for mounting to a vehicle, e.g., to a bus or a railway car, comprising a platform (2) having a bridge plate (3) pivotally hinged thereon, said platform (2) being retained by at least one carriage (5), said carriage (5) being carried for travel into and out of a housing (50) of the vehicle, said carriage (5) with the platform (2) being connected by two hinge arms (4) disposed on either side of the platform, said carriage (5) comprising at least one drive (6) for connection to the hinge arms (4), said bridge plate being pivotally carried in the platform (2) through a pivot axis (20), a push rod linkage (10), which is positively coupled at one end to the at least one hinge arm (4) and which is connected for rotation of the pivot axis (20) to the pivot axis (20) of the bridge plate (3) at the other end being provided, a limit stop (30) acting onto the pivot axis (20) being provided, said limit stop being spring-loaded for the bridge plate (3) to be swung open by the spring-loaded limit stop when the ramp platform is deployed.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.