Patent ID: 8151380

Claim:
A wheelchair with enhanced toilet access, comprising: a frame having a front and a rear, the frame including a pair of laterally-separated side frame portions; a pair of primary wheels rotatably mounted on the frame; at least one secondary wheel rotatably mounted on the frame; a seat extending between the side frame portions, the seat having a front and a rear, the seat including a stationary portion and a movable portion, the stationary portion having an opening, the movable portion being positionable in the opening, the movable portion having a normal position that closes the opening in the stationary portion and a dropped position that opens the opening in the stationary portion, the movable portion of the seat being pivotably movable between the normal and dropped positions; a seat moving mechanism configured to move the movable portion of the seat with respect to the stationary portion of the seat to thereby move the movable portion between the normal and dropped positions; wherein the seat moving mechanism comprises: a lifting assembly for applying upward pressure on the movable portion of the seat; an actuating handle movably mounted on the frame, the handle being movable between a normal position and a dropped position; a linkage assembly linking the actuating handle to the lifting assembly, the linkage assembly transferring movement of the actuating handle to the lifting assembly; and said linkage assembly further comprises a stop blocks operationally coupled to said linkage assembly, said stop block being positioned such that said actuating handle abuts said stop block to inhibit overextension of said actuating handle.