Motorized portable systems for aiding persons in ascending or descending stairways.

摘要

A portable system for aiding persons in ascending or descending stairways comprises either a motorized portable upper body support assembly (12) or a motorized vehicle (122) for detachably drivingly engaging elongate tracks (14; 124) associated with different stairways. The detachability of the motorized unit (12; 122) from the track, combined with its portability, enables the user to employ the same portable unit interchangeably with any stairway in any location so long as the stairway is equipped with a mating track, thereby enabling an unlimited number of stairways in private or public buildings to be adapted inexpensively for use by physically impaired persons. The portable motorized unit (12; 122) is readily able to adapt to stairways of different slopes and configurations, and to tracks (14; 124) on either the right-hand or left-hand side of the stairway, so as to maximize the versatility of the portable unit for use with virtually any track-equipped stairway. <IMAGE>