Patent ID: 7568555

Claim:
A guide along a staircase, along which a stair lift or a stair walking aid can be guided and along which a carriage of the lift or stair walking aid is displaceable, said guide comprising at least one elongate tube and engaging means for the carriage, wherein the tube comprises a stationary segment and at least one tiltable segment which are connected by means of a tilting mechanism in order to tilt the tiltable segment selectively away from and to a position lying in the line of the stationary segment, and wherein the tilting mechanism is situated in the interior of at least one of the tiltable segment and the stationaly segment, wherein the tilting mechanism comprises a housing with an intermediate part between a first narrowed portion and a second narrowed portion, wherein the first narrowed portion fits into the tiltable segment and the second narrowed portion fits into the stationary segment, wherein an external diameter of the intermediate part is substantially similar to an external diameter of the tiltable segment and the stationary segment, wherein the external diameters of the intermediate part, the tiltable segment, and the stationary segment form an outer surface without unevenness, such that the stair lift or stair walking aid can move along and contact time intermediate part, the tiltable segment and the stationary segment.