Patent ID: 6779960
Filing Date: 2004-08-24
Classification: A61G,B60P,Y10S

Abstract:
A lifting device for attachment to a luggage compartment located substantially below a cabin access door to a passenger load deck of a hi-line vehicle, wherein said lifting device comprises:an elongate chassis incorporating first and second spaced apart rails, said rails arranged facing opposite each other so as to enclose first and second ends of a first rectangle; and a carriage arranged in parallel along a length of said chassis and positioned between said first and said second rails, the whole of said carriage being movable along a length of said chassis rails and said carriage being extendible out of and retractable onto said chassis; and a frame assembly comprising an outer frame operable to raise and lower relative to said carriage and an inner frame operable to raise and lower relative to said outer frame, said frame assembly being configured such that during operation said frame assembly operates to raise and lower a load platform above and below a level of said carriage; and in a stowed position a main plane of said load platform remains substantially upright and parallel to said inner and outer frames, said load platform being aligned with the direction of movement of said carriage along said chassis; and wherein said carriage comprises a beam; and wherein said outer frame comprises a substantially rectilinear shape including first and second upright members and lower and upper cross members respectively, the outer frame assembly being positioned between first and second post members and arranged to slide substantially vertically between a lower position in which a lower part of said outer frame is at a level of said beam member, and a raised position, in which said outer frame extends to a position above said beam member, said first and second uprights moving parallel to said first and second post members, engaging with an interior surface of said first and second post members and being slidably retained therebetween.