Patent Publication Number: US-10322047-B2

Title: Secure transfer ramp for car to wheelchair

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application 62/274,507 filed on Jan. 4, 2016. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING 
     Not Applicable 
     STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR A JOINT INVENTOR 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Problem Solved 
     When using a standard transfer board to go from the car to wheelchair (or vice versa) it is possible to slip off the board and the person ends up on the floor board of the car or the ground. This has happened to my wife and is very humiliating for her. Many people buy expensive wheelchair vans to avoid this. The standard transfer board is what the majority of the market offers for lower cost solutions. Most are simple boards with various widths and length. 
     The standard transfer board is supported by the wheelchair seat and the car seat. A 13″ gap exists with the 2013 VOLT and other cars where it is possible to slip off these standard boards, as the person slides across the board to the car seat. Other people in the rehabs have complained about feeling insecure on the standard transfer boards and falling off as they are sliding to the car seat. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     My Transfer Ramp design allows a person to transfer from a car seat to a wheelchair or vice versa. The ramp is composed of a top platform (or seat), an inner leg, an outer leg and contact supports to the car. This design is self-supporting by car floor between the seat and car frame under the door, Car seat lower structure, Outboard door ledge and vertical support column of door frame. The inner leg is supported by the car floor between the car seat and door framing. The outer leg is supported by the outboard door ledge of the car framing under the door. Sometimes referred to as the door sill. The car framing under the door is like a hump in the car frame under the car door with a stepped structure. The outboard door ledge is the outer part of this stepped structure. Other contact blocks are added for additional stability as further explained in the “Detailed Description of the Invention” section. 
     One block contacts the car at the inside surface of the vertical support column of the door frame. This prevents the Transfer ramp from tipping over when the load is on the edge of the Ramp seat. The inner leg contacts the car seat lower structure providing additional contact support that prevents the transfer board from tipping over. The gap between the car seat and wheelchair is minimized to within about 1-2″ between the wheel chair and car seat. When using the standard Transfer board this gap is 13″. There are no extraneous legs to the ground from the transfer ramp that can interfere with positioning wheelchair close to the edge of the transfer ramp. It is only supported from the car structure and does not depend on the wheelchair to support one side of the board as the standard transfer ramp requires. This takes up valuable space that makes it harder for the person to move off the standard transfer board. The car structure does not need to be modified, drilled or seat removed to add brackets. At substantial costs. 
     The person can actually sit on the edge of the board before sliding over to the wheelchair. It is more of a ramp/platform/seat then a transfer board. It is more fixed and less likely to move then a standard transfer board. 
    
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING 
       See the accompanied drawing  FIGS. 1, 2, 3A, 3B and 3C  for a visual representation of the details discussed in “Brief Summary of the Invention” and the “Detailed Description of the Invention sections” 
         FIG. 1  shows a end view cross section of the transfer ramp at the car seat. It shows how the removable transfer ramp is supported securely in the car, along with  FIG. 2 . This end view could also be described as a transverse cross section of the car at the car seat just in front of the transfer ramp. 
         FIG. 2  shows the plan view of the transfer ramp in the car which is next to the car seat. All contact points/surfaces to the car are labeled S 1  thru S 5  in  FIGS. 1 and 2  and further described in the “How this invention works” section 
         FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C  is an orthographic representation of the transfer board structure only.  FIG. 3A  is the side view,  FIG. 3B  the plan view of the transfer board only, which is also shown in  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     My design is self-supporting between the lower structure of the car seat, car structure under the door, floor riser ledge of car structure under the door by the 5 support points or areas shown in the  FIGS. 1  thru  3 . It is only supported from the car side. The design allows a person to transfer from a car seat to a wheelchair or vice versa. The Ramp dimensions may vary with the car dimensions to accomplish this support without any permanent attachments or screws between the car and board. The board is removable for ease of use. The person can actually sit on the edge of the board before sliding over to the wheelchair. It is more of a platform then a transfer board. It is more fixed then a standard transfer board. 
     The Major Components: 
     How the transfer ramp works or the relationship between the components is discussed in the next section. The Transfer Board is comprised of the following component materials. 
     The Version of The Invention Discussed Here Includes the following materials: 
     1. ⅝ in plywood cut into seven panel shapes or parts 
     2. 1×2 wood 
     3. Wood screws #10×¾ in 
     4. Wood Screw #10×2 in 
     5. Wood screw #10×1¼ in 
     The ⅝ Plywood is cut into 7 panel parts or shapes. This includes the top platform  1  ( FIG. 3C ), the inner leg  3  ( FIGS. 3C and 3A ), the outer leg pieces  2 A and  2 B ( FIGS. 3C and 3B ), a forward gusset  6  ( FIGS. 3B and 3C ), a rear gusset  7  ( FIGS. 3B and 3A ). 
     There is a top shelf or platform  1  ( FIG. 3C ) that the person slides over. The inner leg  3  works against the car frame and lower floorboard riser ledge for support. As shown by supports S 1  thru S 5  in the drawing figures. Other parts shapes act as gussets to strengthen the resistance of the board to warping or twisting under load. The 1×2 wood doublers help screw the parts/shapes/panel together. Without these doublers the plywood could split when screwing the panels together. Items  8 A thru  8 F ( FIGS. 3A, 3   b  and  3 C) are all comprised of various lengths of 1×2 wood. These make up the re-enforcing doublers for the six panels of the ramp. They provide a framework to screw the ⅝″ panels together. Screwing into the edges of plywood could split the plywood. These 1×2&#39;s provide rigidity to the ⅝ plywood parts. Horizontal item  8 A ( FIGS. 3B and 3A ) allows the screwing of inner leg  3  to top platform  1 . Horizontal item  8 B allows the screwing top platform  1  to the outer legs  2 A and  2 B. Vertical 1×2 items  8 C and  8 D ( FIGS. 3B and 3A ) allow the screwing of the outer leg  2 A and  2 B to the Forward panel Gusset  6  and the Rear panel gusset  7 . In a similar way the vertical 1×2&#39;s  8 E and  8 F ( FIG. 3A ) allow the inner leg  3  to be reinforced and screwed to the rear panel gusset  7 . 
     The leg panels  2 A and  2 B ( FIG. 3C ) of the outer leg are cut at an angle at the bottom of the legs to match the tapered angle of the ‘floor riser ledge of car structure under door’ as shown in  FIG. 1 . This is a critical design feature that allows this design to work without damaging the car floor riser ledge under the door. Anything smaller than 1.18″ will absolutely not work on a VOLT and many other cars. The load must be spread over a large enough area to reach support stiffeners under the car riser ledge, whose exact location is not always known. This information is difficult to obtain from multiple manufactures but the location can be estimated. 
     How the Invention Works: 
     The transfer ramp is composed of a top platform (or seat), an inner leg, a outer leg and contact supports to that car labeled S 1  thru S 5 . These are shown in  FIGS. 1, 2, 3A, 3B and 3C . This design is self-supporting by the fit between the car floor between the seat and car frame under the door, Car seat lower structure, Outboard door ledge and vertical support column of door frame. The inner leg is supported by the car floor in the 0.75″ gap between the car seat and car structure under door. This is shown as support S 2  or  3  ( FIG. 1 ). This is a critical dimension which allows this design to work. The outer leg  2  ( FIG. 1 ) of the Schrader design is supported by the outboard door ledge which acts as support S 1  ( FIG. 1 ) of the car structure under the door. The outer leg  2  is comprised of two cut pieces of ⅜ plywood shown as  2 A and  2 B ( FIGS. 3C and 3B ). The car framing under the door is like a hump in the car frame under the car door with a stepped structure. The outboard door ledge is the outer part of this stepped structure. Other contact blocks are added for additional stability and to provide resistance against any overturning or tipping moments. This can happen when someone is on the very outboard edge of the top platform as they are moving over to the wheelchair seat. When this happens all vertical weight will be supported by the outer leg when the weight is outboard of the outer leg. One block that resists this moment is located on the inside top surface of the transfer ramp contacts the car at the inboard surface of the vertical support column of the door frame This block acts as support S 4  or  4  ( FIGS. 2, 3A and 3B ). The inner leg contacts the car seat lower structure providing additional contact support that prevents the transfer board from tipping over. This is shown as support contact S 5  or block  5  ( FIGS. 2, 1, 3A and 3B ). The prototype did not require this block  5  to make this contact with the VOLT car, but other cars may need this block  5 . This resistance to overturning moments may need to be done at S 5 A or  5 A ( FIG. 1, 2, 3A or 3B ) on some cars. Although it was not required on the prototype. In summary, the overturning/tipping moments are resisted by supports S 4  and S 5  as can be best seen in  FIG. 1 . 
     Support S 3  ( FIG. 2 ) is also required between the inner side of the inner leg  3  and the side of the ‘car structure under door’ ( FIG. 1 ). This provides additional stability and insures the Ramp will not move in an outboard lateral direction while someone is on the top platform  1 . This support S 3  may require an additional support block (not shown). This block was not required on the prototype as the inner leg  3  has natural contact to the inboard vertical surface of the ‘car structure under the door’ to the inside surface of the Transfer Ramp. 
     The transfer ramp assembly works by providing support point between the board ramp and the car. The panel dimensions are dependent on the car dimensions to accomplish this support without any permanent attachments or screws between the car and board. The board is removable for ease of use. 
     How to Make the Invention: 
     Components can be readily bought at any major hardware store. Assembly is simple as shown in the drawing figures. Additional drawing pages which detail the exact assembly steps are available but not required as part of this document. A chart is also provided in the additional assembly instructions showing how to take measurements for the car the ramp will be made for. The chart also shows how to calculate the required board dimensions from the Car dimensions. 
     All items shown are required. Additional supports can be added, if required. These are shown as supports S 4  and S 5  in the available drawing. 
     The dimensions of the board can be adjusted to fit any number of cars. The prototype board shown in the drawing is for a 2013 or 2015 VOLT. 
     All items shown are required. Additional supports can be added, if required. These are shown as S 4  and S 5  in the available drawing figures. 
     This ramp could be also be made of plastic, metal or carbon fiber. Some design details would be modified or changed to adapt to available materials. It could also be designed to be adjustable for various car. But that is not addressed in this document. 
     How to Use the Invention: 
     Once the board dimensions have been adjusted to fit the particular car model it becomes a snug fit. The operator simply places the board between the seat, floor board riser ledge and door frame. It is then ready to be used. My wife has used this for 3 years. It has improved how secure she feels during transfers.