Patent ID: 8308406

Claim:
A wheelchair restraint assembly for securing a wheelchair to a stationary object to prevent movement of the wheelchair away from the stationary object, the wheelchair having a frame, a seat, and wheels, the device comprising: a latch mounted on one of the wheelchair and the object; a bar on the other of the wheelchair and the object; the latch having a pair of arms. with at least one arm being moveable between open and closed positions relative to the other arm; the latch having biasing means to normally bias the latch to the closed position; the arms automatically and temporarily moving to the open position when engaging the bar, whereby the bar is received into the latch; and then the arms automatically moving to the closed position to retain the bar within the latch, and thereby secure the wheelchair to the object so that a person can transfer between the wheel chair and the object without the wheelchair moving away from the object; and the latch or the bar on the wheelchair being on a front portion of the chair and reachable by a person sitting in the wheelchair so that the seated person can manually open the latch for release of the bar to allow the wheelchair to move away from the object.