Patent ID: 7334776

Claim:
An apparatus for loading an object into a vehicle, said vehicle having a trunk lid, said apparatus comprising: a line; an actuator coupled to said vehicle and adapted for applying a tensile force to said line in response to an actuator command, and disposed and adapted for transmitting at least a portion of said tensile force to said trunk lid; a holding system adapted for holding said trunk lid in an open position against said at least a portion of said tensile force when said trunk lid reaches said open position; an end-effector mechanically coupled to said line and adapted for transmitting said tensile force and an operator force to said object and for generating an operator force measurement; and a controller adapted for generating said actuator command from said operator force measurement wherein said end-effector automatically moves upwardly when said operator is not imposing any downward vertical force on said end-effector and said end-effector moves as a function of said operator force measurement when said operator is imposing a downward vertical force on said end-effector.