Vehicle wheelchair lift
AssigneeMobility SVM, LLC
InventorsSteven Lee Kitchin, Kraig James Schlosser
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The present invention provides a compact wheelchair lift mechanism useable within a relatively small vehicle cabin space, such as a pickup truck with an extended cabin. The wheelchair lift includes a lateral actuator and a vertical actuator that cooperate to move a wheelchair support laterally in and out of a vehicle cabin and vertically between the cabin floor and the ground. The vehicle includes a lowered floor for expanding the vertical opening available to the lift, wheelchair, and vehicle occupant. The lift is positioned within the vehicle cabin such that no loss of seating capacity results from the installation of the lift.
Claims15
A wheelchair lift system comprising:
- a vehicle having a vehicle body including a floor, a passenger side and a driver side, an opening formed in at least one of said passenger and driver sides, the vehicle body defining a vehicle cabin accessible by said opening, said cabin having a front seat positioned in a front seat area and a rear seat positioned in a rear seat area contained therein;
- a lateral actuator arm laterally extendable with respect to said vehicle body, said lateral actuator arm moveable between an extended position and a retracted position, said lateral actuator arm disposed underneath the rear seat in the vehicle cabin when said lateral actuator arm is in said retracted position;
- a vertical actuator arm coupled to said lateral actuator arm, said vertical actuator arm moveable between said extended position and said retracted position such that said vertical actuator arm is disposed outside said vehicle cabin in said extended position and inside said vehicle cabin in said retracted position, said vertical actuator arm vertically slidable with respect to said lateral actuator arm between a raised position and a lowered position;
- and
- a wheelchair support coupled to said vertical actuator arm, said wheelchair support positioned inside said vehicle and extending into the front seat area when said lateral actuator arm is in said retracted position and said vertical actuator arm is in said raised position, said wheelchair support positioned outside said vehicle when said lateral actuator arm is in said extended position and said vertical actuator arm is in said lowered position.
A wheelchair lift system comprising:
- a vehicle comprising:
- a vehicle frame;
- and
- a vehicle body including a floor, a passenger side and a driver side, an opening formed in at least one of said passenger and driver sides, the vehicle body defining a vehicle cabin accessible by said opening, said cabin having front and rear seats contained therein;
- a lowered floor on at least one of said passenger side and said driver side of said vehicle body, said lowered floor increasing a vertical clearance as compared to said floor of said vehicle body, said lowered floor offset downwardly as compared to said floor of said vehicle body, said lowered floor establishing a gap between said vehicle body and said vehicle frame such that said vehicle body is raised relative to said vehicle frame to a lifted position relative to an original position of the vehicle body on the vehicle frame, the lifted position spaced a vertical distance from the original position;
- spacers disposed between said vehicle body and said frame, said spacers sized to span said gap;
- and
- a wheelchair lift coupled to said vehicle body, said wheelchair lift having a raised and retracted configuration and a lowered and extended configuration, whereby a wheelchair supported by said wheelchair lift is disposed inside said vehicle cabin when said wheelchair lift is in said raised and retracted configuration, and the wheelchair supported by said wheelchair lift is disposed outside said vehicle cabin when said wheelchair lift is in said lowered and extended configuration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.