FIELD OF INVENTION
[001] This invention relates to passenger transporting vehicles which have the provision to carry on board passengers with reduced mobility, especially wheelchair borne passengers. More specifically relates to the mechanism which assists in boarding & disembarking of wheelchair borne passenger without requiring any effort from the passenger.
PRIOR ART AND PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED
[002] Passenger comfort has been of utmost importance in buses, and this is something which is becoming true in most of the parts of the world. Passenger comfort is just not limited to the duration of travel, but also it is always of delight to customer when the ingress and egress in to the bus is made more convenient than today. The technology is getting affordable and the careful integration of the same would yield in the benefits.
[003] With the increase in patronage for public transportation, there has been an enormous focus in development of city buses. A lot of work is carried on to make the city buses more passenger friendly, even for passengers with reduced mobility.
[004] While there are a lot of wheelchair types available in market ranging from a normal/basic version to an advanced one with automated features and self propelled. The latter ones are so prevalent in the developed countries. The developing countries still tend to have the conventional wheelchair, which often needs assistance in getting the wheelchair borne passenger in to and out of the bus.
[005] In order to facilitate the entry of wheelchair borne passengers, city buses are provided with retractable ramps at the entry doors. These ramps extended from the bus & stretch out till the kerb, thereby establishing a bridge between the kerb & the floor of the bus. This enables the boarding & disembarking of a passenger in wheelchair.

[006] Though the presently used ramps bridges the gap between the kerb & the bus, the wheelchair passenger would still require assistance especially while boarding as the floor height of the bus is usually slightly higher than the kerb & causes a gradient.
[007] Powered wheelchairs though available, are very expensive & hence conventional wheelchairs i.e. manually driven are predominantly used. Hence it becomes imperative to have some external assistance for a passenger in wheelchair whilst climbing up the ramp.
[008] At present external assistance is usually manual i.e. the wheelchair with the passenger is pushed up the ramp by another person. This is not a enduring option as the wheelchair borne passenger has to rely on someone always. An ideal case would be to have the desired assistance being delivered by the bus itself.
[009] Considering the earlier said, there is a need design a system which would enable boarding & disembarking of a wheelchair borne passenger without any manual assistance and also to be an integral part of the bus.
OBJECT OF INVENTION
[010] The principle object of the invention is to provide a mechanism integrated with the bus which assists in boarding & disembarking of wheelchair borne passenger. [011] Apart from boarding & disembarking, yet another object of the invention is to position the wheelchair borne passenger in the intended space inside the saloon of the bus.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[012] The present invention, which achieves the objectives as quoted above relates to a wheelchair ramp assembly having a conveyor integrated with it. Unlike the conventional

wheelchair ramps where in external effort is required to push the passenger up the ramp, the designed ramp with the help of the conveyor does the job of pushing the wheelchair borne passenger up automatically without any external effort.
[013] Next in line with the ramp is another conveyor assembly, installed in the gangway of the saloon. The conveyor on the ramp pushes the wheelchair borne passenger from the kerb into the conveyor on the gangway.
[014] Immediately after the gangway conveyor, a circular turn table is positioned. The gangway conveyor moves the wheelchair borne passenger from the ramp to the turn table. The turn table is positioned exactly on the opposite side of the door which is demarked & reserved usually for a wheelchair borne passenger. The turn table after receiving the passenger rotates about its axis & thereby positioning the wheelchair borne passenger in the longitudinal direction.
[015] The conveyors & the turn tables are bidirectional. The same process is followed in the reverse order in order to disembark the wheelchair borne passenger from the bus.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Fig.l shows the complete structure of a bus integrated with wheelchair assist mechanism.
Fig. 2 shows the top view of the bus integrated with wheelchair assist mechanism.
Fig. 3 shows the turntable, wheelchair and the gangway conveyor fitted in the bus according the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 4 shows the stopper and connection between the ram, ramp conveyor and the ramp conveyor gear in detail according the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 5 shows the various positions of the ramp conveyor according the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[016] Disclosed herein is the construction with which the subject invention is obtained. This invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, throughout which, like reference numerals indicate corresponding parts in the various figures. The scope of the present invention is explained with a bus as an embodiment.
[017] A telescopic arrangement can be used to extend and retract the ramp conveyor (3). The telescopic arrangement used in the embodiment of the present invention is a pneumatic cylinder (1) with a ram (2). Ramp conveyor (3) is a conveyor integrated above a rigid ramp. The connection in between the ram (2) and the ramp conveyor (3) is achieved by means of a ramp conveyor gear (4) and a connecting link (5). The ramp conveyor gear (4) is integrated with the ramp conveyor (3). Both the ram (2) and the ramp conveyor gear (4) are provided with an access to fix the connecting link (5). The connecting link (5) is connected in between the ramp conveyor gear (4) and the ram (2). Due to this linkage, the ramp conveyor (3) moves in accordance with ram (2) of the pneumatic cylinder (1). If the ram (2) of the pneumatic cylinder (1) moves forward, the ramp conveyor (3) also moves forward and vice versa.
[018] A stopper (6) is installed near to the door (7). An engaging gear (8) driven by ramp conveyor motor (9) (not shown) is fixed slightly above to the stopper (6). When the pneumatic cylinder (1) is actuated initially, the ram (2) pushes the ramp conveyor (3) in the forward direction. The ram (2) pushes the ramp conveyor (3) till the shaft of the ramp conveyor gear (4) touches the stopper (6). When the ram (2) pushes the ramp conveyor (3) after it has reached the stopper (6), the connecting link (5) rotates about the axis of the ramp conveyor gear (4). Till reaching the stopper (6), the ramp conveyor (3) and the ram (2) will be in the same axis. On further extension of the ram (2), the ramp conveyor (3) pivots around

the axis of the ramp conveyor gear (4) due to the connecting link (5) and eventually the ramp conveyor (3) lands on the ground. As a result, the engaging gear (8) meshes with the ramp conveyor gear (4).
[019] A ramp conveyor push button (10) is placed near the door (7). When any wheelchair borne passenger (11) or any other person presses the ramp conveyor push button (10), the ramp conveyor push button (10) sends signal to the driver. At the instant the driver receives the signal from the wheelchair borne passenger (11); the driver actuates the pneumatic cylinder (1) and the ramp conveyor motor (9). The ramp conveyor motor (9) rotates the engaging gear (8). The engaging gear (8) in turn rotates the ramp conveyor gear (4). And, the ramp conveyor gear (4) in turn rotates the ramp conveyor (3). Now the wheelchair borne passenger (11) will board inside the bus through this ramp conveyor (3).
[020] The wheelchair borne passenger (11) boarded inside the bus by means of the ramp conveyor (3) will get landed on the gangway conveyor (12). The gangway conveyor (12) is installed in the entrance of the door (7) and before the turn table (13). The gangway conveyor (12) is driven by means of a gangway conveyor motor (14). The gangway conveyor motor (14) will start working along with the ramp conveyor motor (9). The speed of rotation of both the gangway conveyor (12) and the ramp conveyor (3) is one and the same in this embodiment of the present invention.
[021] When the wheelchair borne passenger (11) reaches the gangway conveyor (12), the wheelchair borne passenger (11) will be guided to the turn table (13) by means of this gangway conveyor (12). As the speed is maintained constant in both the ramp conveyor (3) and the gangway conveyor (12), the wheelchair borne passenger (11) would not feel any jerk during the movement from the ramp conveyor (3) to the gangway conveyor (12). Moreover the wheelchair borne passenger (11) does not want to wait for the gangway conveyor (12) to

start because it starts along with the ramp conveyor (3). In this embodiment of the present invention, the speed of the gangway conveyor (12) and the ramp conveyor (3) is predetermined to rotate at a speed of 3-5 Km/h.
[022] The gangway conveyor (12) moves the wheelchair borne passenger (11) to the turn table (13). The turn table (13) is also exactly positioned over the area marked for wheelchair borne passengers (11). The wheelchair borne passenger (11) who has reached the turn table (13) will remain in the transverse direction with respect to the bus. To have a comfortable ride it is usually recommended to have the passenger seated in the longitudinal direction either facing the front side or rear side of the bus. Therefore, to align the wheelchair borne passenger in the longitudinal direction it is required to rotate the turn table (13) to 90 degrees either in anti clock wise direction or in clockwise direction. In this embodiment of the present invention, the wheelchair borne passenger is rotated to 90 degrees in anticlockwise direction.
[023] The turn table (13) arrangement comprises a first pulley (13a), second pulley (13b), turn table belt drive (13c), turn table motor (13d), first push button (13e) and second push button (13f). The first pulley (13a) is exactly positioned to the bottom of the turn table (13). The first pulley (13a) is connected to the turn table (13) by basic conventional means. The second pulley (13b) is positioned away from the turn table (13). Both the first pulley (13a) and the second pulley (13b) are connected to each other by the turn table belt drive (13c). The second pulley (13b) is powered by means of the turn table motor (13d).
[024] The first push button (13e) and second push button (13f) are placed near the turn table (13). If the wheelchair borne passenger (11) presses the first push button (13e) for the first time, the turn table (13) along with the wheelchair borne passenger (11) will get rotated to 90 degree in the anti clockwise direction to get aligned in the longitudinal direction of the bus.

[025] If the wheel chair borne passenger (11) presses the first push button (13e) for the second time, the turn table (13) along with the wheelchair passenger (11) will get rotated again to 90 degrees in anticlockwise direction for disembarking. It is designed that before pressing the first push button (13e), the second push button (13f) will not get actuated. So, if the wheelchair borne passenger (11) presses the second push button (13f) at the first instance, it will not work.
[026] If the wheelchair borne passenger (11) changes his mind and if he needs to continue his journey after pressing first push button (13e) for the second time, he can press the second push button (13f) to align again in the longitudinal direction of the bus. On pressing the second push button (13f), the turn table (13) along with wheelchair borne passenger (11) turns to 90 degrees in clockwise direction thereby aligning the wheelchair borne passenger (11) in the longitudinal direction of the bus.
[027] The driver will be provided with two switches, boarding switch (15) and disembarking switch (16), for assisting the wheelchair borne passenger (11) in boarding and disembarking. When the driver presses the boarding switch (15), the ramp conveyor (3) and the gangway conveyor (12) rotates in the forward direction so as to board the wheelchair borne passenger (11). When the driver presses the disembarking switch (16) the ramp conveyor (3) and the gangway conveyor (12) rotates in the reverse direction so as to disembark the wheelchair borne passenger (11).
[028] After boarding and disembarking the driver shall close the door. Before closing the door the ramp conveyer should be retracted and the gangway conveyor should be stopped. So, before closing the door the driver will actuate the pneumatic cylinder (1) in the reverse direction. When the pneumatic cylinder (1) is actuated in the reverse direction, a circuit

connection will initially switch off the ramp conveyor motor (9) and the gang conveyor motor (14). The ramp conveyor (3) and the gang conveyor (12) will stop slowly within 2-3 second after receiving signal from the circuit connection. After the ramp conveyor (3) and the gangway conveyor (12) stops rotating, the pneumatic cylinder (1) retracts the ram (2) which in turn retracts the ramp conveyor (3).
[029] According to the embodiment of the present invention only one passenger can either board or disembark at a time. However it should be noted that by widening the door of the bus or any passenger transporting vehicle a similar arrangement can be implemented so that more than one passenger can board and disembark at a time.
[030] The foregoing description is a specific embodiment of the present invention. It should be appreciated that this embodiment is described for purpose of illustration only, and that numerous alterations and modifications may be practiced by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended that all such modifications and alterations be included insofar as they come within the scope of the invention as claimed or the equivalents thereof.

We claim:
1. A wheelchair assist mechanism comprises
a ramp conveyor (3), for carrying a wheelchair borne passenger (11) from outside of a passenger transporting vehicle to a gangway conveyor (12), said ramp conveyor secured to a telescopic arrangement;
the gangway conveyor (12), for carrying the wheelchair borne passenger (11) from the ramp conveyor (3) to a turn table (13), positioned immediately after the ramp conveyor (3);
the turn table (13), for aligning the wheelchair borne passenger (11), positioned immediately after the gangway conveyor (12).
2. The wheelchair assist mechanism according to claim 1, wherein
the telescopic arrangement is a pneumatic cylinder (1) with a ram (2).
3. The wheelchair assist mechanism according to claim 1, wherein
the ramp conveyor (3) is secured to the ram (2) by a ramp conveyor gear (4) and a connecting link (5).
4. The wheelchair assist mechanism according to claim 1, wherein
the ramp conveyor (3) rotates around the axis of the ramp conveyor gear (4), due to the connection link (5), on extension of a shaft of the ramp conveyor gear (4) beyond a stopper (6).

5. The wheelchair assist mechanism according to claim 4, wherein
the ramp conveyor gear (4) and an engaging gear (8) meshes as a result of the rotation of the ramp conveyor (3) around the axis of the ramp conveyor gear (4).
6. The wheelchair assist mechanism according to claim 1, wherein
the turn table (13) comprises a first pulley (13a), a second pulley (13b), a turn table belt drive (13c), a turn table motor (13d), a first push button (13e) and a second push button (13f).
7. The wheelchair assist mechanism according to claim 6, wherein
the first pulley (13a) and the second pulley (13b) are connected by the turn table belt drive (13c), said second pulley (13b) is driven by the turn table motor (13d).
8. The wheelchair assist mechanism according to claim 6, wherein
the turn table (13) is capable of rotating in both the clockwise and counter clockwise directions.
9. The wheelchair assist mechanism according to claim 1, wherein
the ramp conveyor (3) and the gangway conveyor (12) carries the wheelchair borne passenger (11) in forward direction when a driver presses a boarding switch (15) and in rearward direction when the driver presses a disembarking switch (16).

10. The wheelchair assist mechanism according to claim 6, wherein
the first push button (13e) and the second push button (13f) are positioned near to the turn table (13).