Patent ID: 6053693
Filing Date: 2000-04-25
Classification: A61G,Y10S

Abstract:
A collapsible, powered platform for transportation of an object between a floor of a first structure at a first level and a floor of a second structure at a second level, comprising:(a) a multi-section platform having a folded configuration and an unfolded configuration, a stowed position and a deployed position, and a raised position at the first level and a lowered position at the second level;(b) a powered drive means mounted on the first structure and operatively connected to the multi-section platform for moving the platform through multiple movement phases including platform unfolding and folding movement phases in which the platform is moved from the folded configuration to the unfolded configuration and from the unfolded configuration to the folded configuration, respectively, platform deploy and stow movement phases in which the platform is moved from the stowed position to the deployed position and from the deployed position to the stowed position, respectively, and platform down and up movement phases in which the platform is moved vertically from the raised position to the lowered position and from the lowered position to the raised position, respectively; and(c) a platform maneuvering system including a control system for controlling all of the movement phases in step (b), said control system includes a manually actuated switch, wherein the manually actuated switch includes a down sequence position and a neutral position, and wherein the manually actuated switch and the control system are operatively constructed such that the platform unfolding movement phase, the platform deploy movement phase and the platform down movement phase are each controlled by the manually actuated switch as a result of separate actuations of the manually actuated switch to the down sequence position wherein the platform stops upon completion of each of said movement phases and a subsequent said movement phase commences upon actuation of the switch.