Patent ID: 8186930

Claim:
Apparatus for moving a non-collapsible wheelchair into and out of a vehicle, said apparatus including: an anchorage configured to be secured to the floor of a vehicle and to provide a pivotal mounting for said apparatus; a first portion and a second portion; the first portion being configured to move in a substantially horizontal plane; the first portion including a main support member which is pivoted at one end to the anchorage and which carries the second portion at the other end; the second portion being configured to move in a substantially vertical plane; the second portion carrying means for securing a wheelchair thereto; first moving means for moving the first portion relative to the anchorage; second moving means for moving the second portion; wherein the apparatus is dimensioned and configured such that a wheelchair secured to the second portion is movable between a fully stored position in a luggage compartment of a vehicle and a ready-for-use position in which a wheelchair is at a specified position relative to the vehicle, alongside one of the vehicle's side doors, using only said first and second moving means; wherein said means for securing a wheelchair include means for releasably engaging the wheelchair rear axle, and wherein said means for securing a wheelchair are such that in the fully stored position, the wheelchair rear axle is substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and each rear wheel of the wheelchair lies in a substantially vertical plane.