US 11,834,302 B2
Stairlift
Allen Edward Brook, Waterford, WI (US); Terrence E. O'Brien, Oconomowoc, WI (US); Roy E. McDaniels, Jr., Watertown, WI (US); Scott Martin Hall, Sussex, WI (US); and Eduard Jozef Marie Duijnstee, Ouderkerk aan den IJssel (NL)
Assigned to BRUNO INDEPENDENT LIVING AIDS, INC., Oconomowoc, WI (US)
Appl. No. 17/595,700
Filed by Bruno Independent Living Aids, Inc., Oconomowoc, WI (US)
PCT Filed May 29, 2020, PCT No. PCT/US2020/035092
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 22, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/243410, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 3, 2020.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/886,615, filed on Aug. 14, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/855,158, filed on May 31, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0081256 A1, Mar. 17, 2022
Int. Cl. B66B 9/08 (2006.01)
CPC B66B 9/0815 (2013.01) [B66B 9/0838 (2013.01); B66B 9/0846 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A stairlift comprising:
a rail; and
a carriage including
a frame,
a central drive unit mounted to the frame, the central drive unit including a drive motor and a drive gear coupled to the drive motor for rotation therewith,
a yoke assembly pivotably mounted to the frame, and
a first bogie unit attached to the yoke assembly and a second bogie unit attached to the yoke assembly, wherein each bogie unit includes a bogie socket fixedly mounted to the yoke assembly, a bogie ball pivotable within the bogie socket, the bogie socket having a wall defining a passageway having a partial spherical shape and the bogie ball having an exterior surface having a partial spherical shape, wherein the walls of the bogie socket and the bogie ball maintain contact during operation to hold the bogie ball within the bogie socket while allowing for rotation of the bogie ball in three dimensions relative to the bogie socket and the yoke assembly, and a plurality of bogie ball rollers mounted on the bogie ball which mount the bogie ball on the rail.