Occupant transfer apparatus for vehicle

An occupant transfer apparatus for a vehicle, comprising:

• a guide rail arranged substantially along an up-down direction between a seat and a door, the door being located sideward of the seat,
• a slide unit which is raisable and lowerable along the guide rail,
• a transfer board on which an occupant sits during transfer of the occupant, the transfer board being foldably supported by the slide unit;
• and
• an elongated elastic member for generating elastic force can be adjusted to be slightly smaller than a weight of the occupant, the elongated elastic member capable of being compressed by lowering of the transfer board due to the weight of the occupant, so that the transfer board supports part of the weight of the occupant by the elastic force of the elongated elastic member that has been compressed by the weight of the occupant, wherein
• the slide unit has a sidewall portion and a slider is provided at the sidewall portion,
• the slider is slidably engaged with the guide rail,
• the elongated elastic member connects a floor panel and the slide unit,
• an upper end portion and a lower end portion of the elongated elastic member are fixed to the slide unit and the floor panel, respectively,
• the transfer board is movable between an upper, raised position and a lowered position, and a lock mechanism is provided for locking the transfer board at the lowered position when the occupant is getting in the vehicle, and locking the transfer board at the raised position when the occupant is getting out of the vehicle, and
• wherein an attachment angle of the elongated elastic member with respect to the floor panel is adjustable by changing a position of at least one of a fixing part fixing the upper end portion to the slide unit and a fixing part fixing the lower end portion to the floor panel, thereby making adjustable the elastic force of the elongated elastic member, that supports part of the weight of the occupant, in response to the weight of the occupant.