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An apparatus for loading a wheelchair or similar object into a vehicle. When in a stored position, the apparatus and wheelchair are fully contained within said vehicle. A first embodiment illustrates use of the apparatus in a rear compartment of a station wagon, van or similar vehicle in which a pai

An apparatus for loading a wheelchair or similar object into a vehicle. When in a stored position, the apparatus and wheelchair are fully contained within said vehicle. A first embodiment illustrates use of the apparatus in a rear compartment of a station wagon, van or similar vehicle in which a pair of motor-driven drive links and a pair of drag links are utilized to lift and rotate a chair rack and wheelchair mounted thereon into said vehicle rear compartment. The drive and drag links connect the rack to a carriage which may then be rolled from a rearwardmost to a forwardmost position for final storage of the apparatus and chair in the vehicle. Latching means is provided to latch the carriage in either its forwardmost or rearwardmost positions. A remote control switch and limit switches are used to control power to the electric motor. A second embodiment of the apparatus is designed for use in the trunk of a typical passenger automobile. In this configuration, the chassis has an upper section defining tracks in which a carriage may roll and a lower section attached to the lower surface of the vehicle trunk. Collapsible support means is provided between the upper and lower sections such that the upper section may be lowered toward the lower section during a loading cycle. Crank and lever means are utilized so that, as the chair is lifted and rotated into the rear compartment, the carriage will be rolled from its rearwardmost to its forwardmost position concurrently with the lowering of the upper section. A latch is provided to prevent undesired movement of the carriage when in its rearwardmost loading or unloading position.

대표청구항 ▼

Apparatus for loading a wheelchair or other object into a rear compartment of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising: a chassis adapted for attachment to a lower surface of said rear compartment, and having a forward portion and a rearward portion, and defining a plurality of spaced guide tracks; a ca

Apparatus for loading a wheelchair or other object into a rear compartment of a vehicle, said apparatus comprising: a chassis adapted for attachment to a lower surface of said rear compartment, and having a forward portion and a rearward portion, and defining a plurality of spaced guide tracks; a carriage comprising roller means including at least one roller in guided, rolling contact with a guide track of said chassis, such that said carriage may be rolled between forwardmost and rearwardmost positions in relation to said chassis; a rack to hold the wheelchair or other object; and rotatable linkage means pivotally connecting said rack to said carriage, whereby, as said linkage means is rotated in a substantially continuous forward pivotal motion during a loading cycle, said rack and the wheelchair or other object held thereon are raised from a substantially vertically oriented loading position at the rear of the vehicle in which said rack is adjacent a ground surface rearward of said vehicle to facilitate placement of the wheelchair or other object thereonto, forwardly pivoted through approximately 90°, passing through a point of maximum elevation, and lowered to a substantially horizontal storage position in which said rack is adjacent and substantially parallel to said carriage and chassis in said compartment, said cycle being reversible for unloading; wherein said carriage passes through said rearwardmost position during said loading and unloading cycles, and when said rack and said chair or other object are in said storage position, said carriage, said rack and said chair, can be concurrently rolled to said forwardmost position for transport by said vehicle.