AUTOMATIC DISPLACEMENT AND HOMING SYSTEM FOR A RAIL MOUNTED PATIENT LIFT

摘要

An automatic displacement and homing system for a rail mounted patient lift is displaceably secured to a ceiling-mounted rail. A carriage is displaceable along the rail and supports a motorized drive for displacing it. A sling hook is secured to a retractable cable and vertically displaceable from the carriage by a lift motor. A control circuit is provided for receiving command signals from a hand-operated controller. A load detector is provided to detect if a load is present on the sling hook and to retract the sling hook if in a down position with no load thereon when receiving a command signal from the control circuit to freely move the carriage in a forward direction on the rail from a homing position. The control circuit has a programmable memory with a homing function to automatically return the carriage when receiving a homing signal. The freely moving carriage is arrested at a desired position along the rail and this is done preferably by a detector circuit which is associated with the control circuit and capable of detecting detectable elements positioned along the rail or pre-programmed positions.