US 9,004,204 B2 · Motorized sled for stair chairs

Abstract

A lightweight motorized and tracked sled for attachment to a variety of stair chairs is described. A power supply or power source provides power to a motor driving a track configured to engage a set of stairs. The motor and track can lift and support the stair chair and a patient thereon up or down one or more flights of stairs. The track driven by the motor has a length sufficient to simultaneously engage the lips or edges of a pair of sequential steps, but may be otherwise limited in length to reduce the weight of the track. To ensure that the sled and attached stair chair are stably supported while ascending or descending stairs, the sled may have rails, skis, or passive tracks having a length sufficient to ensure that the rails, skis, or passive tracks are always over the edge or lip of no fewer than two steps.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A sled for attachment to a stair chair including first and second rear wheels, the sled comprising:

a motorized track configured to engage a staircase;
and
first and second elongate stair-engaging portions spaced outwardly of the motorized track and configured to contact the staircase while the motorized track is engaging the staircase, the first and second elongate stair-engaging portions being pivotably attachable to the stair chair proximate the stair chair rear wheels;
the motorized track being separately attachable to and detachable from the first and second elongate stair-engaging portions when the first and second elongate stair-engaging portions is pivotably attached to the stair chair, wherein the motorized track and the first and second elongate stair-engaging portions are pivotable in unison from a generally upright stowed position to a deployed position for engagement with the staircase.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Motorized sled for stair chairs

Life of this patent

Motorized sled for stair chairs

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20