Abstract:
A power lift system and method are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the power lift system and method may be realized as a power lift and transfer system. The power lift and transfer system may move, stow, and carry a mobility device for a user with a disability. The power lift and transfer system may further transport the mobility device in and out of a vehicle from a position adjacent to a user or on top of the vehicle to passenger or driver areas of the vehicle.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This patent application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/344,488, filed Aug. 5, 2010, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for lifting and transferring wheeled mobility devices for persons with disabilities and persons with disabilities into and out of vehicles and, more particularly, to a power lift system and method for assisting persons in lifting and transferring a wheeled mobility device when entering and exiting a vehicle, as well as a conveyor and support system for facilitating persons with disabilities into and out of a vehicle. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0003]    Users with disabilities who wish to travel using a wheelchair or other wheeled mobility device, but who do not have a vehicle which allows for easy stowage of the mobility device, often encounter problems. For example, vehicles such as minivans and full-sized vans with large cargo doors, pickup trucks with large access cabs or cargo boxes, and SUV&#39;s benefit from large and logical wheelchair storage areas, several of which are located conveniently close to the seating area which individuals with disabilities may need to access. Preferably, with such vehicles, there is a minimum of distance between where a wheelchair may be stowed and the destination of the individual inside the vehicle. For reasons of fuel economy, personal choice, and/or comfort, many wheelchair or mobility-impaired persons who are unable to, or for whom it is unsafe to, walk to the rear of a vehicle from a passenger or driver&#39;s door, will desire access to vehicles with severe space constraints. These persons may nevertheless wish to store either a power or manual wheelchair or other personal mobility aid such as a walker with the vehicle. In vehicles with severe space constraints, this may mean that the only logical place to store a mobility device is in an area adjacent to the seat in which the user plans to sit. Although some lifts exist which allow a user to store a mobility device in an area adjacent to the seat in which the user plans to sit, such as the area inside the mid position sliding door of a van or the area to the rear of the front seats of an extended-cab pickup truck, the majority of those lifts have two drawbacks. First, they do not allow for stowage of the mobility device in a 90-degree rotated position (the majority of wheeled personal mobility devices are longer than they are tall, thus causing the overall footprint of mobility device plus device to be more significant), and the mechanism is generally behind the wheelchair, which protrudes into the area of the adjacent seat, most often causing the loss of seating capacity of one person or more. In addition, the fact that alternative devices require a larger drive mechanism, typically a telescopic or parallel-arm arrangement moving atop a sliding track, contrasts sharply with the more advantageous configuration of the apparatus disclosed herein, which has a single drive mechanism featuring a belt drive (recognized to be the drive mechanism with the greatest differential between extended and retracted positions thus the most compact in the stowed/retracted position), located underneath the mobility device when in the stowed position. Alternative devices which offer the smallest footprint such as the Speedy Lift from Adapt Solutions have the disadvantage of having a docking device which requires the wheelchair to be stowed in the unfolded position, which typically requires the wheelchair width dimensions to be less than the available door opening width. The duckbill/blade style docking device of the apparatus disclosed herein has no such restriction due to its location on a single side of the wheelchair. Some lifts such as the Braun Chairtopper do exist which allow both for stowage of a wheelchair on a rooftop and delivery of same to a driver&#39;s or passenger&#39;s door. However, many users have reservations about such technology as rooftop devices often compromise appearance, fuel economy, handling, and stability of the vehicle. 
         [0004]    In view of the foregoing, it may be understood that there may be significant problems and shortcomings associated with current mobility assistance systems. 
       SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE 
       [0005]    A power lift system and method are disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the power lift system and method may be realized as a power lift and transfer system. The power lift and transfer system may move, stow, and carry a mobility device for a user with a disability. The power lift and transfer system may further transport the mobility device in and out of a vehicle from a position adjacent to a user or on top of the vehicle to passenger or driver areas of the vehicle. 
         [0006]    The present disclosure will now be described in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof as shown in the accompanying drawings. While the present disclosure is described below with reference to exemplary embodiments, it should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Those of ordinary skill in the art having access to the teachings herein will recognize additional implementations, modifications, and embodiments, as well as other fields of use, which are within the scope of the present disclosure as described herein, and with respect to which the present disclosure may be of significant utility. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    In order to facilitate a fuller understanding of the present disclosure, reference is now made to the accompanying drawings, in which like elements are referenced with like numerals. These drawings should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure, but are intended to be exemplary only. 
           [0008]      FIG. 1   a  is a side view of a power lift in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure with a wheelchair in a fully stowed position inside a vehicle utilizing a duckbill/blade docking device, the blade portion of which is as detailed in  FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b.    
           [0009]      FIG. 1   b  is a side view of a power lift in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure with a wheelchair lifted and in a partially stowed position. 
           [0010]      FIG. 1   c  is a side view of a power lift in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure with a wheelchair lifted and in a fully deployed position. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a top view of a power lift in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure without a wheelchair, in a fully stowed position inside a vehicle showing a duckbill portion of a duckbill/blade docking device, a blade portion of which is as detailed in  FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b . 
           [0012]      FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b  are a detail view of a duckbill/blade docking device referred to in  FIGS. 1   a  and  2  in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a top view of a power lift in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure with a wheelchair, in a fully deployed position, installed in a typical vehicle application. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
       [0014]    During typical operation of power lift system  100 , during the attachment and stowage process, wheelchair  18  is attached to duckbill docking device  12  via blade  11 . Although wheelchair  18  is depicted as a manually-operated wheelchair, it may be any personal mobility device designed to assist a person with a disability. Duckbill docking device  12  firmly locks and engages blade  11  via locking pin  16 , which is firmly attached to duckbill docking device  12 . The end of duckbill docking device  12  is flared for the purpose of facilitating and guiding entry of docking blade  11  from a variety of potential entry angles. A side of docking blade  11  that points toward duckbill docking device  12  is also beveled and curved for the purpose of facilitating and guiding entry of docking blade  11  from a variety of potential entry angles. Similarly, locking pin  16  is beveled on the surface that faces the flared opening of duckbill docking device  12  such that when inward pressure from the leading edge of docking blade  11  is applied, locking pin  16  is pushed aside until the blade is fully entered into and secured in duckbill docking device  12  and locking pin  16  enters the hole in docking blade  11  as shown in  FIG. 3   a . Since the end of the pin that faces away from the flared opening is flat and not beveled, the docking blade  11  and thus the wheelchair  18  are both securely fastened once the locking pin  16  engages in the docking blade&#39;s hole until released by the release lever  14 . 
         [0015]    Duckbill docking device  12  is firmly attached to intermediary support arm  8  via two adjustment plates  19 . Adjustment plates  19  are secured to one another via bolts  10 , which may be inserted in a number of holes or slots in one another so as to provide a variety of rotational positions which permit docking blade  11  to freely enter duckbill docking device when the power lift system  100  is in a fully deployed position. 
         [0016]    Although not explicitly shown, an additional set of adjustment plates  19  may be added in a position rotated 90 degrees about a substantially vertical axis (as adjustment plates  19  are oriented in  FIG. 1   c ) to allow adjustment of duckbill docking device  12  in multiple axes. 
         [0017]    The adjustment plate  19  located farthest from duckbill docking device  12  is firmly attached to intermediary support arm  8 . Latch release lever  14  pivots about pivot point  12  and is connected to latch  16  in such a manner that pulling or pushing latch release lever  14  releases latch  16 , allowing engagement or disengagement of docking blade  11  from duckbill docking device  12 . 
         [0018]    Intermediary support arm  8  is pivotally attached to linkage arms  4  and  5  through pivot points  6  and  7 , respectively. Depending on the physical constraints of a vehicle configuration and space constraints, pivot point  7  may be allowed to slide through slot  15  such that at key points in the stowage process, the distance between pivot point  7  and pivot point  20  may decrease, driven by either gravity as the mechanism and wheelchair rises and gravity pulls on the wheelchair, forcing pivot point  7  closer to pivot point  20 , or by an electrically, hydraulically, or other powered drive mechanism which controls the distance between these two points. 
         [0019]    Linkage arms  4  and  5  are pivotally attached to mounting support  2  through pivot points  21  and  20 , respectively. Linkage arms  4  and  5  are of substantially dissimilar lengths for the purpose of creating rotation as the wheelchair  18  is stowed inside a vehicle such that the wheelchair  18 , when stowed, is in a 90-degree rotated position from its original position when in contact with the ground outside the vehicle. 
         [0020]    Mounting support  2  also is firmly attached to drive motor spool assembly  1 , which comprises a drive motor and spool suitable for pulling or releasing drive belt  3 . Drive motor spool assembly  1  may be electric, hydraulic, or any other means of actuation. Thus, when drive motor spool assembly  1  is activated, it pulls intermediary support arm  6 , creating a simultaneous lifting and rotational motion suitable for lifting and rotating wheelchair  18  in to a stowed position inside the vehicle. 
         [0021]    In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, to stow wheelchair  18  when the mechanism is initially in the stowed position, a user may activate drive motor spool assembly  1 , which ejects the mechanism outward and downward until the duckbill docking device  12  is vertically aligned with docking blade  11 , mounted on wheelchair  18 . The user may then maneuver the wheelchair  18  to direct docking blade  11  at duckbill docking device  12 , which then moves wheelchair  18  rearward. Once docking blade  11  has fully entered duckbill docking device  12 , the locking pin  16  may engage in the hole of docking blade  11 . The user may then activate drive motor spool assembly  1 , which may pull on belt  3  to pull the mechanism inward and upward, causing wheelchair  18  to enter the vehicle and rotate approximately 90 degrees. 
         [0022]    To deploy wheelchair  18 , the user may activate drive motor spool assembly  1  in the opposite direction, which may eject the mechanism outward and downward until wheelchair  18  touches the ground outside the vehicle. Once the wheelchair  18  has reached the ground outside, the user may then operate release lever  14  in such a direction as to disengage locking pin  16 , then pushes wheelchair  18  outward to release it. 
         [0023]    The present disclosure is not to be limited in scope by the specific embodiments described herein. Indeed, other various embodiments of and modifications to the present disclosure, in addition to those described herein, will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Thus, such other embodiments and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure. Further, although the present disclosure has been described herein in the context of a particular implementation in a particular environment for a particular purpose, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that its usefulness is not limited thereto and that the present disclosure may be beneficially implemented in any number of environments for any number of purposes. Accordingly, the claims set forth below should be construed in view of the full breadth and spirit of the present disclosure as described herein.