Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
FIEID OF ~ rNvENTIoN
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rrhe present i~vention relat~s to a lift assembly for aidLng
wheel-chair patients to get into and out of a van or the like.
DF~CRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
A lift assembly of this type comprises a platform laterally
supported by an armature and carried from a vertical stored position
inside the vehicle to a horizontal position exteriorly of the vehicle
level with the vehicle floor and to a grDund position.
rrh~ us~r ~leels hlmsel~' o~o the plat~orm and actuates means
to displace the platform from -the vehicle level to the gr~und or inversely.
This type of knGwn lift assembly ~see U.S. Patent 3,651,965
dated May 28, 1972 to Clever Industries) is stored in the vehicle but
uses a relatively large percentage of the floor area and, moreover, the
platform ~, when in stored position, obstructs the door opening, thus
preventing a non-invalid person to use it. Also, the hydraulic systems
used to raise or lower the platform are generally bulky and complex.
OBJECTS OF TEH INVENTION
It is th2refore a first object of the invention to provide
a lift assembly mounted in a vehicle and foldable into a compact position
within the latter.
Another object of the invention is to provide a lift assembly
arranged to leave a passage to a non-invalid person through the door
opening when folded within the vehicle.
A~othor object of the invention is to provide a lift assembly
operable by only one power actuator actuating both ,supporting armatures;
such an arrangernent reduces the cost and overall dimensions of the
assembly.
SU~YARY O~ E INV~I'ION
In accordance with the invention, the lift assembly is stored
~0 i~ the vehicle jus-t inwardly of the door opening of 2 vehicle, such as a
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van or the like.
The lift assembly i9 arranged to be foldable ln a compact posi-
tion to leave the maximum room inslde the vehlcle and the platform is
rotatable to open a passage through the door openlng ~or a non-invalld
per60n .
The lift assembly comprises a platform whlch is made of a frame
supporting two lndependent Yections dLYplaceable between a coplanar
posltion and a transverse position. The platform is rotatable between
an upstanding stored positlon inslde the vehlcle and an outslde lnter-
medlate poYitiOn level and parallel wlth the vehlcle floor and moveable
from that posltion to the ground and inversely. A palr of armAture~,
swlngable in parallel paths on each side of the platform connect the
platform to the vehicle.
B~IEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
- Flgure l is a slde vlew showing the lift assembly in an inter-
mediary poYition with the platform at the level of the vehicle floor;
Flgure 2 1Y a front vlew of the llft aYsembly ln the same
poYltion aY in Flgure l;
Flgure 3 1Y Y Yide view of the lift aYsembly ~hown ln stored
poYition illustratlng its compactness;
Figure 4 is a front view showing the lift assembly 1~ a atored
position as ln Figure 3;
Figure 5 is a side view of the lift assembly with the plat-
form in ground poYition;
Figure 6 iY a front view of the lift assembly lllustrating
the rotation o' the platform sections just prior to the stored position;
Fi~ure 7 1Y a fragmentary perspective view showlng the
relatlon between a platform Yection, its supportlng frame snd the arma-
ture, also the mechanlYm u~ed to rotate the platform Yection;
Fl~ure 8 i8 a top plan view of the platform assembly;
Figure 9 i9 a fragmentary side vlew showing a front guard ln
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its lowered position; and
Figure 10 is a sectional view of a front yuard taken
sn line 10-10 of Figure 8.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIO~
With reference to the drawinss, the lift assembly
is secured at the doorway of a vehicle, such as a van or the
like, and comprises an anchoring plate 3 secured to the
vehicle floor C and partially engaging in the cavity forming
the floor board cavity 4, a transverse shaft 6 having a
length comparable to the length of the anchoring plate 3, is
rotatably supported in front of the latter alongside the
section engaging in the floorboard cavity 4 by means of
three brackets 7, 8, 9, (Figs. 1, 2) respectively positioned
at each extremities of the bar 6 and at an intermediate
position near the double acting hydraulic cylinder il which
is connected to the transverse shaft 6 by means of two
parallel radial arms 10 secured to shaft 6.
The radial arms 10 are pivotally connected to the
hydraulic cylinder piston rod 2 at a first extremity and
welded to the transverse shaft 6 at the other extremity.
The hydraulic cylinder 11 is pivotally supported
at its upper extremity by two bracket plates 12 upstanding
from and secured to anchoring plate 3. In the present
embodiment, the hydraulic cylinder 11 is located on the
left side of the lift assembly and is used in conjunction with
a fluid pump and tank (not shown) which can be installed
anywhere in the vehicle.
A platform 13 is pivotally connected to the
vehicle 1 by a pair of spaced armatures 14 and 15 which are
identical and each pivotally mounted to the anchoring plate
3 through arma-ture brackets 16. Each of said armatures
defines wi-th bracket 16 a deformable parallelogram. Each
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armature is formed of two parallel links 17 and 18 and of a
vertical link 19. The parallel links 17 and 18 are
pivotally secured at one extremi-ty to the armature bracket
16 and to the vertical link 19 at the other extremity. The
lower parallel links 18 on both armatures 14 and 15 are
connected to the transverse shaft 6 by means of an articulated
linkage 20 (Figs. 1 and 5) to displace the platform 13 under
the action of hydraulic cylinder 11~
Because of the use of a transverse shaft 6, only
one hydraulic cylinder is needed to operate the lift
assembly; it is an advantaye of the invention to use one
cylinder because of the reduction in cost and size of the
assembly.
The platform 13 comprises a flat and rigid surface
made of two separate sections 21 and 22 (Figs. 6 and 8) having
a combined area sufficient to support a wheel chair A (Figs.
1, 5) and a frame section 23 supporting the two sections 21
and 22. The frame section 23 comprises a transverse member 43
mounted in rotative relationship by pivot pins 31 in between
the lower extremities of the vertical links 19 (Figs. 7, 8),
and two parallel longitudinally extending members 41 and 42
extending transversely from the extremities of the member 43.
The platform 13 is normally in a plane parallel to
the ground when the lift assembly is in useJbut for storage
it is raised to a vertical position to reduce the storage
size and it is shifted within the vehicle 1 to allow closing
of the vehicle door B (see Fig. 3). In conven-tional lifts,
the door opening is blocked by the raised platform while in
the present invention the platform comprises two sections 21
and 22 separable in the middle to leave a passage through the
door for a non-invalid person; it is therefore another
advan-tage oL the present invention.
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The frame 23 is moveable in between a vertical
plane and a horizontal plane by means of a pair of articul-
ated linkages 24 having each two links 25, 26 (see Fig. 1, 5
and 7) pivotally secured together and installed in between
the vertical links 19 and the parallel members 41 and 42 on
each side of the lift assembly.
The upper members 25 are ended by a curved section
27. When the platform 13, during its upward movement, has
reached its intermediate position level with the vehicle
floor C, the curved sections 27 abut on a short rod 28 located
on the underside of the lower parallel links 18 causing the
rotation of the members 25 around the axis 29 and the dis-
placement of the lower links 26 which pull on the frame sec-
tions 23 to pivot the platform 13 upwardly.
The pla-tform sections 21 and 22 are each formed of
a rectangular frame 44 which supports a rigid mesh 45. The
frames 44 are pivoted to the parallel member 41 or 42 at 50
and to the transverse member 43 at 51 (see Fig. 8).
The frames 44, when coplanar, are also supported
by the member 43 by means of a plate 52 secured to each frame
44 and abutting on the top surface of the member 43.
The parallel members 41 and 42 are respectively
supported by a pair of tie rods 46 to maintain the platform
in a horizontal position.
The tie rods 46 are also respectively forcing the
platform sections 21 and 22 from a position where they lie
in the same ~lane to a transverse position as seen in Fig. 7.
The tie rods 46 each comprise a first rod 47, a second rod
48 and a socket and ball joint 30 securing the first and the
second rod together in order to allow an angular movement
and a rotation of the second rod 48. The ball and socket
joint 30 rotates about the axis of the first rod ~7.
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The first rod 47 is pivotally connected to the
vertical link 19 for movement only in a plane parallel to
the plane joining the two vertical links 19 and the second
rod 48 is secured tG the rectanyular frame 44 and extends
underneath and is normal to member 41, the tie rods 46 force
the platform sections 21 and 22 to a transverse position
when the lift assembly is moving for storage and the plat-
form 13 is pivoting to an upstanding position; because the
tie rods 46 are not flexible, the platform sections 21 and 22
have to pivot.
It is an advantage of the invention because it will
be possible for a non-invalid person to use the door opening
when the lift assembly is in stored position.
Barriers are installed around the platform 13 as a
security measure to prevent the user from falling (see Figs.
1, 5, 8, 9 and 10).
Lateral barriers 36 upwardly extend from and are
fixed to the parallel members 41 and 42 and front barriers
32 are pivotally secured to the front edge of the frames 44
and each comprises a protection plate 33, a pair of guiding
plates 49 pivotally secured at 49' on either sides of the
frame 44 and supporting the plate 33. A rod 34 having its
extremities slidably secured in slots 53 of the guide plates
49, forms a loop pivotally supported by the frame 44. A
striking plate 35 is fixed to the center of the loop formed
by rod 34.
Each protection plate 33 is biased to an upward
position by means of a tension spring 54 which is secured at
its ends to the frame 44 and to a small pin 55 transversely
mounted on the rod 34.
When protection plate 33 is in upward position,
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striking plate 35 protrudes from the underside of frame 44 as
shown in dotted lines in Fig. 10. When the platform 13 is
lowered to ground level, striking plate 35 abuts the ground
and pivots protection plate 33 to lowered ground engaging
position, shown in full lines in Figs. 9 and 10, to permit
passage of the wheel chair A.
A ramp 39 (see Figs. 1 and 5) is used to hridge the
gap between the platform 13 and the vehicle floor C when the
platform 13 is horizontal and level with the vehicle floor
and is also used as a barrier when the lift assembly is mov-
ing from the intermediate position level with the vehicle
floor C to the ground or inversely.
The ramp 39 is pivotally secured at 39' to the
transverse member 43 and extends inside the vehicle a suffi-
cient distance to allow the platform 13 to be lowered to the
ground level with the ramp 39 still resting on the door open-
ing sill or floor board cavity 4 so that it will slide back
inside the vehicle when the platform 13 is raised.
When the lift assembly is moved out from its stored
position, means are needed to help the frame section 23
rotate from an upstanding position to a horizontal position.
These means are installed on the armature 15 (see
Figs. 1, 2 and 4) and comprise a tension spring 37 secured
at one extremity to a suppor-t 38 extending from the curved
section 27 of the upper link 25 and at the other extremity
to a hook 56 secured to the lower section of the vertical
member 19.
The spring 37 forces -the articulated linkage 24 to
rotate the platform 13 downwardly.
In a preferred embodiment, a control box ~0 is
secured to an arm 40' (see Figs. 1 and 3), which is pivotally
secured to one of the two vertical links 19 being moveable
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between operative and stored position. Box 40 carries con-
trol buttons electrically connected to an electrical circuit
for the control of a hydraulic circuit (not shown), including
a hydraulic pump and the hydraulic cylinder 11. Control bo~
40 permits the user to operate the lif-t assembly alone.
As shown in Fig. 3, when the lift assembly is in
stored position, it completely clears the conventional sliding
do~r B oi the vehicle.
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