WHEELCHAIR LIFT AND STEP STRUCTURE PARTICULARLY FOR VEHICLE ENTRANCE

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. The fourth section, which forms the tread of the lower step, houses an access ramp along its forward edge and a retractable flap which rotates upward to form an angle stop preventing the wheelchair from rolling back off the platform during motion of the lift.