IP-2024-000057 - [2025] EWHC 1687 (IPEC)

This is the hoist as shown in Figure 1 of the Patent

A pivot post 10 is mounted on one side of a car boot. A lifting arm 14 is pivotally connected at 16 to a bracket 18 at the lower end of the pivot post. An actuator 20 controls the inclination of the lifting arm and is pivotally connected to a bracket 28 at the upper end of the major length 15 of the lifting arm.

An upper end section 32 of the lifting arm projects at an angle to the major length 15. An extension element 34 projects from the upper end section. A cross beam 50 hangs from the end of the extension element having clamps 60 at either end. The clamps are used to support a wheelchair or scooter which can be lifted by the hoist from the exterior of the vehicle and placed into the boot and vice versa.

To achieve a change in the height of the clamp, a lowermost section 13 of the lifting arm can be extended downwards – as shown, there is a telescopic extension 13 out of and down from the major length of the lifting arm. Since the lifting arm is at an angle, this will also extend the horizontal reach of the lifting arm and the clamp at its end. The upper end section 32 can be raised to be positioned close to the roof lining of the vehicle 11.

To allow movement of the lowermost section 13 relative to the major length 15 of the lifting arm, there must be corresponding variation in the position of bracket 28 along the length of major length 15, i.e. the bracket slides up and down in accordance with the movement of the lowermost section 13 in and out of the major length.

The overall length of the lifting arm can also be adjusted by variation in the position of the extension element 34 relative to the upper end section 32 of the lifting arm. In the form shown in Figure 1, this is another telescopic adjustment, the extension element moving in and out of the upper end section.

The pivotal motion of the lifting arm relative to the pivot post allows radial motion of the hoist as a whole. Otherwise, the positioning of the cross-beam and thereby the manoeuvring of the wheelchair or scooter is achieved by varying the length and height of the hoist. This is done using three adjustments, all of which may be motor driven:

Figure 2 of the Patent illustrates the hoist in a raised position. It is here annotated to show the sites of the three adjustments just referred to, which together allow positioning of the clamps at the end of the arm and thereby the positioning of the wheelchair or scooter, both vertically and horizontally: