Wheelchair lift with foldable platform

Abstract

A powered vehicular wheelchair lift with an automatic folding platform assembly for persons who are physically challenged or otherwise have limited mobility. The wheelchair lift is used in conjunction with a vehicle having an opening and a floor. The wheelchair lift includes a mounting assembly mounted to the vehicle floor adjacent to the vehicle opening. A power actuating system includes a pair of hydraulic cylinders mounted on opposite sides of a pair of relative parallelogram linkage structures of the wheelchair lift. The wheelchair lift has a foldable platform assembly which includes two platform plates pivotably connected along their adjacent transverse edges, where the platform assembly moves from a stowed position inside the vehicle to an entry position at the vehicle opening and inversely (i.e., from the entry level position to the stowed position), and moves the platform assembly between the entry level position and a ground level position outside the vehicle and inversely (i.e., from the ground level position to the entry level position). The wheelchair lift further has a pivotable linkage assembly for facilitating the unfolding of the platform assembly as the platform assembly moves from the swing-down deployment motion (from the stowed position to the entry level position) to unfold the two plates into a substantially horizontal position and coplanar to each other at the entry position and between the entry position and the ground position, and also for the folding of the platform assembly as the platform moves during the swing-up stowaway motion (from the entry level position to the stowed position).