Patent ID: 8057152

Claim:
A wheelchair lifting apparatus attachable to an undercarriage of a vehicle, comprising: a frame positionable directly beneath and attachable to the undercarriage and including an elongated side guide extending along each side of said frame; a carriage carried for horizontal movement between and along the length of said side guides; a lifting platform movably carried within said side guides and connected in end-to-end proximity to said carriage for horizontal movement between a retracted position wherein said lifting platform is substantially beneath the undercarriage within said side guides and an extended position wherein said lifting platform is laterally extended from said frame beyond said side guides alongside the vehicle; a pair of elongated upper and lower control arms pivotally connected at each end thereof in parallel orientation between each side of said lifting platform and a corresponding side of said carriage; an actuator connected between said frame and said carriage for movement of said carriage and said lifting platform within said side guides between the retracted and extended position; a support pivot connected to, and inwardly extending from, each said side guide for supporting each corresponding said lower control arm to maintain said lifting platform in a raised position until said lifting platform is in close proximity to the extended position whereupon support of each of said lower control arms by said support pivots diminishes and said platform is gradually lowered upon continued outward movement of said carriage by said actuator; each of said side guides including a downwardly extending ramp guide formed at a lower portion of an open end thereof to supportively assist said support pivots in facilitating the initial downward movement of said platform.