The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 12, 2026
Filed:
Sep. 05, 2023
University of Pittsburgh—of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Alexandra Delazio, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Alton E. James, III, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
David M. Brienza, Allison Park, PA (US);
Jonathan L Pearlman, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Paulina M. Villacreces, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
MD Rayhan Afsar, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Todd Hargroder, San Antonio, TX (US);
University of Pittsburgh—Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
A system for assisting a user with navigating a set of stairs includes a pulley system positioned adjacent to the stairs, the pulley system including a first pulley, a second pulley, and an elongated member coupled to and looped around the first pulley and the second pulley. The system further includes a motor coupled to the first pulley, a sensing assembly operatively coupled to the pulley system, the sensing assembly being structured and configured to sense that a force is being applied to or that is about to be applied to the elongated member by the user, and a controller coupled to the motor and the sensing assembly. The controller is structured and configured to, responsive to the sensing assembly sensing the force, turn the motor on to drive the first pulley.