Patent ID: 6357992
Filing Date: 2002-03-19
Classification: A61G,Y10S

Abstract:
A lift apparatus mounted to a vehicle for moving an object between a floor of the vehicle and ground level, the lift apparatus comprising:a lift assembly mounted to the vehicle; a platform operatively connected to said lift assembly, said lift assembly operable to move said platform between the floor of the vehicle and the ground level, said platform being pivotal about a deployment axis between a substantially vertical orientation and a substantially horizontal orientation; and said platform being operatively connected to motorized means, said platform including least two interconnected sections, said motorized means operative for pivoting said sections about a plurality of parallel articulation axes extending generally transversely to said deployment axis, wherein said at least two sections are moveable between a first configuration in which said at least two sections are substantially coplanar and a second configuration in which said at least two sections are folded relative to one another, whereby one said section is pivoted about a first one of said plurality of articulation axes and another said section is pivoted about a second one of said plurality of articulation axes to form a compact configuration.