Patent ID: 7647998

Claim:
An apparatus for transporting an individual from place to place when components of said apparatus are disposed in fixed, extended, deployed positions of use, said apparatus comprising: a main frame unit including a first housing having a bottom surface, and a frame member, said frame member having a front end, a rear end, opposed, parallel side surfaces, and upper and lower surfaces; first support means located along said bottom surface of said first housing, said first support means supporting said frame member within the region of said rear end in substantially a horizontal orientation; motion producing means, said motion producing means connected between said rear end of said frame member and said bottom surface of said first housing, said motion producing means capable of imparting movement to said frame member either toward a retracted position of non-use below said bottom surface of said first housing, or toward an extended, deployed position of use; a steering column disposed in a substantially perpendicular attitude, said steering column including a second housing, and a plurality of steering segment units; mounting means for mounting said second housing on said upper surface of said frame member in a location within said front end, substantially equidistant between opposed, parallel side surfaces of said frame member; telescopic mounting means for mounting each steering segment unit of said plurality of steering units on said second housing and moving each said steering segment unit in one or the other of a first direction into a fixed, extended, deployed position of use, and a second, opposite direction, into fixed, retracted, position of non-use; control means for controlling directional movement of said apparatus; second mounting means for mounting said control means on a steering segment unit furthest removed from said second housing when said steering segment units are disposed in said extended, deployed position of use; a seat assembly including a lower seat member, a back support extending upward of said lower seat member, and a pair of arm supports extending forward, away from said back support, toward said front end of said frame member; interconnecting each said lower seat member, said back support, and arm supports of said seat assembly; third mounting means including a pedestal connected between said lower seat member of said seat assembly and said first housing, said third mounting means imparting movement to said pedestal for locating said seat unit in one of the other of said fixed, extended, deployed position of use, and said fixed, retracted, position of non-use; a plurality of wheels supporting said main frame unit; and means for mounting two wheels of said plurality of wheels within said first housing at locations on opposed sides, furthest removed from said front end of said frame member, and a third wheel of said plurality of wheels to said second housing.