A PERSONAL TRANSPORTER FOR TRANSFERRING A PERSON WITH RESTRICTED MOBILITY TO AND FROM A SEAT IN AN AIRCRAFT AND AN ASSEMBLY OF A PERSONAL TRANSPORTER AND A WHEELCHAIR

Abstract

 A personal transporter (3) for transferring a person with restricted mobility to and from a seat (2) in an aircraft (1) comprises a frame and a lifting device (11) for lifting a person. The frame has a portal-shaped structure including at least two uprights (5, 6) with free lower ends and a horizontally oriented support beam (4) for supporting the lifting device (11) and extending between said uprights (5, 6) at a distance from the free lower ends. The lifting device (11) is movable along the support beam (4).

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a personal transporter for transferring a person with restricted mobility to and from a seat in an aircraft, comprising a frame and a lifting device for lifting a person.

[0002] Personal transporters for lifting and transporting disabled persons from a first position to another position are widely known. Conventional transporters that are used in a medical environment are rather spacious and unsuitable to be used in an aircraft. For example, the headroom above the passenger seats is limited due to the presence of luggage bins.

[0003] In practice a person requiring assistance is transferred into and from an aircraft by means of a narrowly designed wheelchair which can be moved along the aisle of an aircraft and maneuvered into and out of the aircraft easily. Upon boarding, a disabled person sitting on the narrow wheelchair is transferred from the air terminal or the boarding gate to the aircraft and in the aircraft the wheelchair is placed at the aisle next to a designated row of seats. Then the person is manually lifted from the wheelchair and moved to the window seat by two flight attendants. It is internationally agreed to use the window seat in order to avoid hindrance to other passengers who will board later. The manual handling is a rather time consuming activity and may lead to physical injury of flight attendants.

[0004] The international patent application WO 00/27333 is related to a personal transporter by which a person requiring assistance can be moved aboard an aircraft. The known personal transporter is in the form of a vehicle including a frame which forms an open enclosure about a seat of the transporter. The transporter is typically used for transferring a person to and from an aisle seat of an aircraft; the transporter has a cantilever type lift device for bearing a person and needs stabilizers which extend laterally of the transporter in an inclined orientation. This requires space at the legroom near the floor under the chairs, but space at the legroom of an aircraft is limited. Another drawback is that the frame of the vehicle is relatively high which makes maneuvering the transporter through the entrance of certain types of aircrafts difficult.

[0005] The international patent application WO 2008/138138 is related to a wheelchair for use in an aircraft for transferring a person with restricted mobility to a seat of the aircraft located adjacent the wheelchair, i.e. the aisle seat. The wheelchair is provided with a support frame for supporting and transferring a person. The frame can be moved on extension rails in lateral direction of the aisle of an aircraft. This requires space at the legroom near the floor under the seats, which is limited in practice. Furthermore, the frame of the wheelchair is relatively high and makes maneuvering the wheelchair through the entrance of certain types of aircrafts difficult.

[0006] An object of the invention is to provide an improved personal transporter for use in an aircraft.

[0007] This object is accomplished with the personal transporter according to the invention, which is characterized in that the frame has a portal-shaped structure including at least two uprights with free lower ends and a horizontally oriented support beam for supporting the lifting device and extending between the uprights at a distance from the free lower ends, wherein the lifting device is movable along the support beam.

[0008] An advantage of the personal transporter according to the invention is that the uprights can be placed at opposite sides of a row of seats such that the support beam extends above the row of seats in transverse direction of the aisle of an aircraft. Upon boarding, a disabled person can be transferred from the gate into the aircraft by means of a conventional narrow wheelchair which can be moved along the aisle of an aircraft to the designated row of seats. The wheelchair can be placed next to the row of seats and the portal-shaped frame can be disposed such that the support beam extends above the row of seats as well as above the wheelchair. This provides the opportunity to lift the person from the wheelchair and move him/her to the desired seat where he/she can be let down.

[0009] The uprights have free lower ends, which means that the uprights of the portal-shaped structure are not directly coupled to each other at the free lower ends of the uprights. Consequently, the personal transporter can not be hindered by any obstruction in the legroom under the row of seats. Furthermore, a portal-shaped structure is relatively rigid, for example compared to a cantilever support beam, such that the frame can be relatively light. The risk of overturning during movement of a disabled person along the support beam is avoided. The free lower ends of the uprights may be provided with feet which can rest on a bearing surface, for example on the floor of the cabin of an aircraft or on an armrest.

[0010] It is noted that portal-shaped structures as such are known in several technical fields; in order to be suitable for transferring a disabled person to and from a seat in an aircraft, however, particular dimensions are required.

[0011] The frame may be mobile such that is can be placed at any desired row of seats. The free lower ends of the uprights may be provided with wheels or rollers to move the personal transporter with respect to a bearing surface in an aircraft.

[0012] In a preferred embodiment the frame is modular or foldable, since this provides a great flexibility of taking the frame into and out of an aircraft. For example, upon boarding, one flight attendant can already build-up the frame in the aircraft cabin at the desired row of seats whereas another flight attendant can transfer a disabled person to the aircraft by means of a conventional narrow wheelchair, independently from the flight attendant who is building up the portal-shaped structure in the cabin.

[0013] The lifting device may be releasably mountable to the support beam. For example, first the frame may be installed and/or positioned on the desired location and then the lifting device can be mounted to the support beam.

[0014] The lifting device may be provided with a passenger harness for bearing and transferring a disabled person between a wheelchair and a seat in an aircraft. The passenger harness is suspended from the support beam. Transfer harnesses as such are well-known.

[0015] One of the uprights may be inclined in order to follow an inclined side wall of an aircraft cabin. The inclined upright may be placed close to or against the side wall near a window seat.

[0016] At least one of the uprights may be divided into at least two legs which are located behind each other in a direction perpendicular to the support beam. This provides a relatively high ratio between rigidity and weight of the upright, for example compared to a single wide leg.

[0017] The legs may have different lengths. This may be advantageous if it is desired to place one leg onto the floor of the passenger cabin of the aircraft and to place the other leg onto an armrest.

[0018] At least one of the uprights may be mounted to the support beam at a distance from an end of the support beam. This provides the opportunity to reduce the maximum bending moment in the support beam during transporting a person along the support beam.

[0019] In case of a foldable personal transporter in which at least one of the uprights is divided into at least two legs which are located behind each other in a direction perpendicular to the support beam, the legs may be pivotably mounted to the support beam through respective support beam hinges having pivot axes extending upwardly in unfolded condition of the frame, wherein the legs have respective upper portions and lower portions which are pivotable with respect to each other through respective leg hinges having pivot axes extending in transverse direction of the pivot axes of the support beam hinges. This provides the opportunity to fold the legs and the support beam to a compact unit which can be easily transported into and from the cabin of an aircraft. Particularly, if the support beam hinges have pivot axes extending perpendicular to the support beam and vertical, whereas the leg hinges have horizontal pivot axes, the upper portions of the legs can be folded towards the support beam and the lower portions can be folded towards the upper portions of the legs.

[0020] In a preferred embodiment the lifting device comprises a winch drum through which a rotatable drive shaft extends, wherein the drive shaft is rotatably mounted to the frame and the winch drum is locked with respect to the drive shaft in rotational direction thereof and movable with respect to the drive shaft in longitudinal direction thereof, since due to these features the winch drum is rotated together with the drive shaft, whereas it can be displaced in longitudinal direction thereof. The drive shaft itself may function as the support beam; in this case the winch drum is movable along the support beam, i.e. it is movable along the drive shaft. In practice, the drive shaft may be coupled to an electric motor or alternative drive means for rotating the drive shaft including the winch drum. The drive shaft may have a non-circular cross-section in order to lock the winch drum in rotational direction thereof, for example a polygonal cross-section. The winch drum may have a cord or belt or the like, which is wound between flanges of the winch drum and a transfer harness can be fixed to the cord or belt.

[0021] In a practical embodiment the drive shaft is rotatably mounted to the support beam. This means that the support beam supports the drive shaft, for example by means of bearings which are located at opposite end portions of the support beam. The winch drum is movable along the drive shaft between the respective bearings. In practice, the support beam and the drive shaft may extend parallel to each other. The lifting device may be integrated in the support beam.

[0022] The winch drum may be coupled to the support beam such that it is supported by the support beam when moving along the drive shaft. An advantage of this embodiment is that the weight of the winch drum and a person suspending from the winch drum is not only supported by the drive shaft, but also by the support beam.

[0023] The support beam may comprise a rail which supports and guides a carriage which is movable along the rail, wherein the winch drum is supported by a winch drum bearing of the carriage. The carriage may be provided with rollers to minimize friction between the carriage and the rail.

[0024] The invention is also related to an assembly of a personal transporter as described above and a wheelchair for moving along the aisle of an aircraft cabin, wherein the width between the uprights is at least about twice the width of the wheelchair and preferably broader than three times the width of the wheelchair. This provides the opportunity to transfer a person in a wheelchair located at the aisle towards the aisle seat or further up to the window seat. In the latter case the width is about four times the width of the wheelchair in case of a row of three passenger seats.

[0025] The invention will hereafter be elucidated with reference to drawings showing embodiments of the invention by way of example.

Figs. 1-6 are perspective views of a cross-section of an aircraft, showing an embodiment of a personal transporter according to the invention in use.

Figs. 7-11 are perspective views of an alternative embodiment in more detail.

Fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a support beam of an alternative embodiment of a personal transporter according to the invention.

Fig. 13 is a sectional view along the line XIII-XIII in Fig. 12.

[0026] Fig. 1 shows a part of a passenger cabin of an aircraft 1 which has two seat sections in longitudinal direction thereof. An aisle extends between the seat sections. In this case each seat section has rows of three seats 2, but this may be different in other aircrafts. At one row of seats 2 an embodiment of a personal transporter 3 according to the invention is installed.

[0027] The personal transporter 3 is suitable for transferring a person with restricted mobility to and from a seat 2 in the cabin of the aircraft 1. It comprises a frame which has a portal-shaped structure including a horizontal support beam 4 which is supported by four legs: a pair of window legs 5 and a pair of aisle legs 6. The support beam 4 extends through the headroom of the passenger cabin between the pair of window legs 5 and the pair of aisle legs 6. It is noted that the pair of window legs 5 may be a single upright and/or the pair of aisle legs 6 may be a single upright in an alternative embodiment.

[0028] The personal transporter 3 also comprises a lifting device (not shown in Fig. 1) for lifting a person. The lifting device is movable along the support beam 4 so as to transfer the person horizontally between one of the seats 2 and a wheelchair W located at the aisle next to the row of seats 2. The lifting device may be releasably mountable to the frame. It may comprise a battery-powered hoist assembly. For example, it may have a winch drum and drive motor which are suspended from the support beam 3 after installing the personal transporter 3. The support beam 3 may be provided with a rail on which can ride a carriage including a winch mechanism for hoisting and lowering a passenger. Furthermore, the lifting device may be provided with a passenger harness for bearing and transferring a disabled person between the wheelchair W and a seat 2 in the aircraft 1.

[0029] In the embodiment of the personal transporter 3 as shown in Figs. 1-6 it can be seen that upper portions of the window legs 5 are inclined towards the pair of aisle legs 6 in order to follow an inclined side wall of the cabin of the aircraft 1. Furthermore, both the window legs 5 and the aisle legs 6 are located behind each other in a direction perpendicular to the support beam 4 and have different lengths. At a front side of the personal transporter 3, i.e. the side facing to the cockpit of the aircraft 3, the legs are longer than at a rear side thereof. This allows free ends of the legs 5, 6 at the front side to rest on the floor of the cabin and free ends of the legs 5, 6 at the rear side to rest on armrests 7. An advantage of this configuration is that the aisle legs 6 can be positioned next to the aisle such that they do not form an obstruction for the wheelchair W, whereas the support beam 3 spans the aisle.

[0030] Figs. 1-6 show that the width between the pair of window legs 5 and the pair of aisle legs 6 spans the row of three seats 2 and the wheelchair W. If the width of the wheelchair W is assumed to be approximately equal to the width of one seat 2 the distance between the pair of window legs 5 and the pair of aisle legs 6 is about four times the width of the wheelchair in this case. In other words, the distance corresponds to four seats.

[0031] In the situation as shown in Fig. 1 a person in the wheelchair W is placed at the aisle next to the row of seats 2 where the individual should be transported to the window seat. Fig. 2 shows that the person is lifted by the lifting device from the wheelchair W above the armrest 7 of the aisle seat, which usually has a fixed position and cannot be folded up. Figs. 3-5 illustrate that the person is transported horizontally to a position above the seat of the window seat 2 by moving the lifting device along the support beam 4. This can be performed manually or by means of a drive means. Fig. 6 shows that the person is lowered into the seat. Subsequently, the personal transporter 3 can be removed. The wheelchair W can already be moved back to the gate after the person has been lifted in order to be able to start boarding the rest of the passengers quickly. When a person with restricted mobility has to be transported from the window seat 2 to the gate after arrival of the aircraft 1 at its destination the operation is performed in reverse direction.

[0032] Figs. 7-11 show an alternative personal transporter 3 which is foldable. Fig. 7 illustrates an unfolded condition and Fig. 11 illustrates an entirely folded condition. It can be seen that in the entirely folded condition the portal shaped structure is reduced to a beam-shaped unit wherein the support beam 4, the window legs 5 and the aisle legs 6 extend substantially parallel to each other. This makes it easy to transport the personal transporter 3 into and out of the cabin of the aircraft 1, particularly if the lifting device can be releasably mounted and carried separately with the folded frame as shown in Fig. 11.

[0033] In unfolded condition as shown in Fig. 7 it can be seen that each of the legs 5, 6 are pivotably mounted to the support beam 4 by respective support beam hinges 8 which are located at a distance from ends of the support beam 4. As a consequence, a tendency of bending of the support beam 4 is minimized when the person is suspended halfway from the support beam 4. The support beam hinges 8 have pivot axes which extend upwardly in unfolded condition of the frame. Furthermore, the legs 5, 6 are provided with leg hinges 9, which have horizontally oriented pivot axes in unfolded condition of the frame, in this case extending perpendicularly to the vertical pivot axes of the support beam hinges 8. The leg hinges 9 divide the respective legs 5, 6 in respective upper portions 5a, 6a and lower portions 5b, 6b, which are inclined with respect to each other in unfolded condition of the personal transporter 3. The upper portions 5a, 6a and lower portions 5b, 6b are substantially straight. It is noted that in the embodiment as shown in Figs. 7-11 the lengths of the legs 5, 6 are equal and their shapes are similar, but this may be different in an alternative embodiment.

[0034] Fig. 11 illustrates that in the folded condition the upper portions 5a, 6a of the pair of window legs and aisle legs 5, 6 extend substantially parallel to the support beam 4 in a first common plane, whereas the lower portions 5b of the window legs 5 extend substantially parallel to each other in a second common plane below the first plane and the lower portions 6b of the aisle legs 6 extend substantially parallel to each other in a third common plane below the second plane. In this case the lifting device may be a separate apparatus which is mountable to the support beam 4 in unfolded condition of the personal transporter 3.

[0035] The hinges 8, 9 may comprise latched connections which automatically lock upon reaching an operating position. The support beam 4 and the legs 5, 6 may be tubular members, for example metal tubing, preferably thin wall tubing, or may be made of carbon.

[0036] Figs. 12 and 13 show a support beam 4 of an alternative embodiment of a personal transporter 3 in detail. The support beam 4 comprises a housing 10 which accommodates a winch drum 11 and a drive shaft 12 for rotating the winch drum 11. The housing is not shown in Fig. 13. The drive shaft 12 extends through the winch drum 11 and is rotatably mounted to the housing 10 by means of bearings (not shown) at the opposite ends of the housing 10. The drive shaft 12 has a polygonal cross-section about which the winch drum 11 fits, such that the winch drum 11 is locked with respect to the drive shaft 12 in rotational direction thereof and slidable with respect to the drive shaft 12 in longitudinal direction thereof. The winch drum 11 can be moved between the bearings at the opposite ends of the housing 10. The housing 10 is tubular and forms a rigid beam; it covers most components of the lifting device which is advantageous in terms of safety. A lower wall of the housing 10 is provided with a slot through which a hoist belt 13 passes. The hoist belt 13 is wound about the winch drum 11 between flanges thereof and can be moved up and down with respect to the frame upon rotating the drive shaft 12. A transfer harness may be fixed to the hoist belt 13. The drive shaft 12 is driven by an electric motor (not shown), possibly via a transmission, which may be mounted at and end of the housing 10.

[0037] The support beam 4 as shown in Figs. 12 and 13 comprises a rail 14 which is fixed to the upper wall of the housing 10 and which extends parallel to the drive shaft 12. Rollers 15 of a carriage 16 can run over the rail 14 along the drive shaft 12. The carriage 16 is provided with winch drum bearings 17 which support the winch drum 11. In this case the winch drum bearings 17 are partly cylindrical portions of respective brackets 18 of the carriage 16 which are located at either sides of flanges of the winch drum 11. The winch drum 11 comprises cylindrical bearing portions 19 which are also located at either sides of the flanges of the winch drum 11 in longitudinal direction of the drive shaft 12. The cylindrical bearing portions 19 of the winch drum 11 are supported by the winch drum bearings 17.

[0038] When a person is lifted, the drive shaft 12 is rotated such that the winch drum 11 is rotated and the hoist belt 13 is moved upwardly. The lifting force is transferred to the rail 14 of the support beam 4 via the brackets 18 of the carriage 16 and the rollers 15. When the person is lifted to a certain height level, he/she can be moved along the support beam 4 manually in an easy manner since the carriage 16 can ride over the rail 14 by means of the rollers 15. During such a displacement the winch drum 11 including its cylindrical bearing portions 19 slide along the drive shaft 12.

[0039] From the foregoing, it will be clear that the invention provides a personal transporter for transferring a person with restricted mobility to and from a seat in an aircraft in a stable way, whereas the personal transporter is suitable to transport a person further than to a seat directly adjacent to the aisle of an aircraft.

[0040] The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown in the drawings and described hereinbefore, which may be varied in different manners within the scope of the claims and their technical equivalents. For example, it is conceivable that the frame is folded in a different manner to create a compact unit in its folded condition which can be handled easily by flight attendants. Furthermore, the frame may be modular instead of foldable or partly foldable and partly modular, wherein in folded and/or uninstalled condition the frame forms a compact unit.

Claims

1. A personal transporter (3) for transferring a person with restricted mobility to and from a seat (2) in an aircraft (1), comprising a frame and a lifting device (11) for lifting a person, characterized in that the frame has a portal-shaped structure including at least two uprights (5, 6) with free lower ends and a horizontally oriented support beam (4) for supporting the lifting device (11) and extending between said uprights (5, 6) at a distance from the free lower ends, wherein the lifting device (11) is movable along the support beam (4).

2. A personal transporter (3) according to claim 1, wherein the frame is mobile.

3. A personal transporter (3) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the frame is modular or foldable.

4. A personal transporter (3) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the lifting device is releasably mountable to the support beam (4).

5. A personal transporter (3) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the lifting device is provided with a passenger harness for bearing and transferring a disabled person between a wheelchair (W) and a seat (2) in an aircraft (1).

6. A personal transporter (3) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein one of said uprights (5, 6) is inclined in order to follow an inclined side wall of an aircraft cabin.

7. A personal transporter (3) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of said uprights (5, 6) is divided into at least two legs which are located behind each other in a direction perpendicular to the support beam (4).

8. A personal transporter (3) according to claim 7, wherein the legs (5, 6) have different lengths.

9. A personal transporter (3) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one of the uprights (5, 6) is mounted to the support beam (4) at a distance from an end of the support beam (4).

10. A personal transporter (3) according to one of the preceding claims and claim 3 and 7, wherein the legs (5, 6) are pivotably mounted to the support beam (4) through respective support beam hinges (8) having pivot axes extending upwardly in unfolded condition of the frame, and wherein the legs (5, 6) have respective upper portions (5a, 6a) and lower portions (5b, 6b) which are pivotable with respect to each other through respective leg hinges (9) having pivot axes extending in transverse direction of the pivot axes of the support beam hinges (8).

11. A personal transporter (3) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the lifting device comprises a winch drum (11) through which a rotatable drive shaft (12) extends, wherein the drive shaft (12) is rotatably mounted to the frame and the winch drum (11) is locked with respect to the drive shaft (12) in rotational direction thereof and movable with respect to the drive shaft (12) in longitudinal direction thereof.

12. A personal transporter (3) according to claim 11, wherein the drive shaft (12) is rotatably mounted to the support beam (4).

13. A personal transporter (3) according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the winch drum (11) is coupled to the support beam (4) such that it is supported by the support beam (4) when moving along the drive shaft (12).

14. A personal transporter (3) according to claim 13, wherein the support beam (4) comprises a rail (14) which supports and guides a carriage (16) which is movable along the rail (14), wherein the winch drum (11) is supported by a winch drum bearing (17) of the carriage (16).

15. An assembly of a personal transporter (3) according to one of the preceding claims and a wheelchair (W) for moving along the aisle of an aircraft cabin, wherein the width between the uprights (5, 6) is at least about twice the width of the wheelchair (W) and preferably broader than three times the width of the wheelchair (W).

Drawing