Patent ID: 8267222

Claim:
A compact scissors lift, comprising: a chassis having an elongated body; a pair of follower wheels disposed at one end of the body and a pair of steering wheels disposed at the opposite end of the body, the wheels defining a wheelbase; a lifting linkset assembly disposed substantially within the body, the linkset assembly having space for the steering wheels, wherein the linkset assembly has a stepped rectangular shape including a plurality of stacked linksets, each of the linksets includes: (i) a wide width section, a stepped portion, and a small width section, the difference between the widths of the sections providing space for the steering wheel wheels; (ii) an outer lift support frame including a wide width section defining spaced parallel outer support arms and a stepped portion to spaced parallel inner support arms at the small width section; (iii) an inner lifting frame including a wide width section defining spaced parallel outer lifting arms and a stepped portion to spaced parallel inner lifting arms at the small width section, wherein the inner lifting frame is complementary nested inside the outer lift support frame, both frames being of substantially equal length and pivotable with respect to each other about a common pivot located proximate to the stepped portions; and (iv) pivot extensions at opposite ends of both outer support frame and inner lifting frame, the pivot extensions permitting stacked pivoting between linksets or lifting of the platform; a platform operatively disposed on top of the linkset assembly; a hydraulic actuator pivotally disposed within the linkset assembly, the actuator selectively raising and lowering the platform; a steering system operatively connected to the steering wheels in front of the linkset assembly; and a deployable safety guard mechanism attached to at least one side of the chassis body.