Patents Assigned to Transportation Design & Technology, Inc.
  • Patent number: 4479753
    Abstract: A lift is provided characterized by its ability to be simply retrofitted into a van or similar vehicle of virtually any style construction without requiring the modification of the existing structure. The unit comes in a small, neat package which is hinged on a vertical axis to a door post adjacent the hinge of one of the doors. The mounting plate of the unit which mounts the hinge also mounts a slide in its distal end which slides in a track in the door, so that as the door is opened the mounting plate is supported at one end by its hinge and at the other end in the slide. A horizontal carrier slides outwardly on tracks on the mounting plate, so that the unit clears the vehicle structure, and then a vertical carrier descends from the horizontal carrier by virtue of a hydraulic actuator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 19, 1982
    Date of Patent: October 30, 1984
    Assignee: Transportation Design & Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Graham R. Thorley
  • Patent number: 4251179
    Abstract: A hoisting device particularly suitable for lifting handicapped persons with or without wheelchairs, into a vehicle. The lift can be installed into the door well of a public transit bus or of a railroad car. It could also be incorporated into a step structure inside a building. The lift platform is made of four hinged, parallel sections which in the stowed position of the lift fold back to form two steps. The first parallel section which in the uppermost position of the platform meets the vehicle floor, or the upper step landing in a building, rotates along its forward edge to form the back of the upper step in the stowed position. The second section becomes the tread of the upper step while the third section forms the riser between the upper and lower step.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 1979
    Date of Patent: February 17, 1981
    Assignee: Transportation Design & Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Graham R. Thorley
  • Patent number: 4176999
    Abstract: A lift device particularly suitable for lifting handicapped persons with or without wheelchairs, into a vehicle or building. The lift can be incorporated into the doorway of any given vehicle, or into any step structure within a building. The lift, in its stowed position, forms the normal steps. The platform is made of four hinged parallel sections which can be withdrawn and folded into two steps. The second section which forms the upper step riser in the stowed position comprises two telescopically interconnected elements, and can be expanded to provide a wider platform. The fourth section which forms the lower step riser in the stowed position can be rotated to act as an access ramp along the forward edge of the platform and flipped upward to form an angle stop preventing the wheelchair from rolling backward during platform motion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 13, 1978
    Date of Patent: December 4, 1979
    Assignee: Transportation, Design & Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Graham R. Thorley
  • Patent number: 4081091
    Abstract: A lift device particularly suitable for lifting handicapped persons with or without wheelchairs, into a vehicle or building. The lift can be incorporated into the doorway of any given vehicle, or into any step structure within a building. The lift, in its stowed position, forms the normal steps. The platform is made of three hinged parallel sections which can be withdrawn and folded into two steps. A ramp normally hidden under the steps slides forward to allow easy access to the extended platform and a safety flap housed in the ramp flips upward to form an angle stop preventing the wheelchair from rolling backward during platform motion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 17, 1977
    Date of Patent: March 28, 1978
    Assignee: Transportation Design & Technology, Inc.
    Inventor: Graham Roy Thorley