Abstract: A step device includes: a plurality of steps arranged so as to be lined up in a railcar width direction and constituting a part of a floor surface; and drive mechanisms configured to cause the steps to move upward and downward at a railcar-width-direction inner side between an upper position at which the plurality of steps become a part of the floor surface and a lower position at which the steps are moved downward to constitute boarding stairs. Each of the drive mechanisms includes a rotating link configured to rotate about one end portion thereof in a vertical plane, connecting links respectively connecting the rotating link to the steps, and an actuator configured to cause the rotating link to rotate. The steps move upward and downward by the rotation of the rotating links via the connecting links.

Abstract: The latest in a series of wheelchair lift improvements is provided, the basic lift structure on which the improvements are made being the type utilizing a step configuration, the individual panels of which, being hinged together, are simply extended into a geometrical plane rather than a step structure. The resulting platform is then elevationally adjusted by the driver to commute the platform, and a wheelchair victim on the platform, between the curb and bus floor level. The improvements include the hydraulic means of deploying the mechanism between step and platform mode, the safety barrier structure which defines an extension of the platform to the curb level when it is dropped from its safety barrier mode, a safety locking mechanism and a stabilizing chain.