https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2018/10/01/ford-seeks-patent-for-electric-wheelchair-driver.html Ford seeks patent for electric wheelchair driver seat 2018/10/01 Harrison Miller The Business Journals News Network
Ford ... has submitted a filing to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office detailing designs for a mobile seat that functions as a wheelchair. The patent application describes an electrically powered wheelchair that can be used as a driver’s seat in a motor vehicle. The device would allow a driver, or a passenger in an autonomous car, to exit and return to the vehicle without ever having to step foot on the ground. According to the product designs, the wheelchair would be driven into the vehicle via a ramp and secured like a typical driver’s seat. The seat can rotate 180 degrees, allowing a user to rotate and use driving controls whenever entering or exiting the vehicle. Ford’s patent doesn’t offer many details about how the seat would be driven, only mentioning a controlling device, but the filing sketches and design descriptions provide some insight to how the final product may look and work. It has a frame that forms a seating surface and a backrest, with the energy source arranged in the frame. The drive motor also is arranged in the frame and connected to the energy source, with the seat’s controlling device connected to the drive motor. It comes with head, arm and footrests to increase user comfort. According to the filing, the wheelchair additionally can be driven like a scooter when standing on the footrest and using a handle on the headrest for steering. The patent application also mentioned a version of the seat for children. This isn’t Ford’s first concept for a mobile seat. The company previously filed for a patent seeking a mobile seat with legs that could assist disabled passengers in entering and exiting vehicles. A release date and planned uses weren’t listed in the most-recent filing, and a Ford spokesperson was unavailable for comment at filing time for this report. [© bizjournals.com] For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/archive/ {brucedp.neocities.org} -- Sent from: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/ _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
