| 摘要 |
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. The auxiliary step is more or less independent of the platform lift mechanism, except that it will alternatively deploy between a step mode wherein it defines a third step, and a vertical barrier mode in which it blocks the open space above the upper step of the platform lift structure when the latter is deployed as a lift, with the net effect of modifying the existing platform lift to accommodate passenger vehicles, such as trains and trolleys, in which the vehicle floor is sufficiently high above the sidewalk or boarding platform that three steps, rather than two, are required. |
