Patents by Inventor Graham R. Thorley

Graham R. Thorley has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4556128
    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 drive for 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 stablizing chain.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1982
    Date of Patent: December 3, 1985
    Assignee: Lift-U-Inc.
    Inventors: Graham R. Thorley, Donald B. Sullivan
  • 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: 4466771
    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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 29, 1981
    Date of Patent: August 21, 1984
    Inventors: Graham R. Thorley, Donald B. Sullivan
  • Patent number: 4441850
    Abstract: An auxiliary step is provided principly for use with the type of wheelchair lift that mounts to buses and other passenger vehicles wherein the risers and horizontal panels of a step structure are extended horizontally to define a platform which can be raised up and down between the levels of the sidewalk and the floor of the passenger vehicle to permit the boarding and deboarding of passengers in wheelchairs. The lift structure for which the instant invention is primarily to be used defines two steps between the floor level of the vehicle and the sidewalk or passenger platform, and the instant invention defines a third auxiliary step which can be deployed above the highest step of the platform lift.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 1982
    Date of Patent: April 10, 1984
    Assignee: Transporation 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: 4027807
    Abstract: A lift device particularly suitable for lifting handicapped persons with or without wheel chairs 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 various step elements are moveable and can cooperate to form a platform which can be lowered or raised to any position between the upper and lower level of the 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 wheel chair from rolling backward during platform motion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 1975
    Date of Patent: June 7, 1977
    Assignee: Transportation Design & Technology
    Inventor: Graham R. Thorley
  • Patent number: RE33595
    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 drive for 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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 1987
    Date of Patent: May 28, 1991
    Assignee: Hogan Mfg., Inc.
    Inventors: Donald B. Sullivan, Graham R. Thorley