Lifting Step Assembly With Deployable Side Step for Cabin Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing lifting step assemblies for industrial vehicles, such as trucks, are impractical and hazardous due to large spacing between steps, especially for short users, and often positioned too far from the seat, making ingress and egress uncomfortable and unsafe.
Innovation Solution
A lifting step assembly with a first step member that translates vertically and a second step member that deploys transversely when the first step approaches a predetermined threshold, allowing users to face the cabin door directly and reducing the risk of falling, using a single electric motor and clutch mechanism for both functions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a mobile lifting step is used to reduce spacing between steps, then ease of operation is improved, but the step position becomes too far forward from the seat, reducing practicality
Solution Approach 1:
The lifting step assembly is divided into two independent step members: a first step member for vertical lifting and a second step member for lateral deployment. This segmentation allows each step member to perform its specific function independently, enabling the first step to provide vertical support while the second step extends laterally to position the user closer to the cabin door, thereby resolving the contradiction between ease of access and practicality.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution introduces a lateral deployment dimension by adding the second step member that can extend perpendicular to the vertical lifting direction. This dimensional change allows the step assembly to simultaneously achieve vertical height adjustment (first step member) and lateral position adjustment (second step member), enabling users to access the cabin from a more practical position while maintaining improved ease of operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a second step member is added to improve access position, then practicality is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The deployment mechanism for the second step member is integrated with the existing lifting mechanism of the first step member. The same motor and control system that drives vertical lifting also controls lateral deployment through a coupled mechanism. This merging approach allows the system to achieve enhanced practicality through the second step member while avoiding the need for separate independent systems, thereby minimizing the increase in device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The lifting mechanism is designed with multi-functionality to perform both vertical lifting (first step member) and lateral deployment (second step member). By making the mechanism universal, the system can accomplish multiple functions using the same core components, reducing overall complexity despite the addition of the second step member for improved practicality.
Data Source
AI summary
A lifting step assembly for helping a user entering a cabin of an industrial vehicle, the lifting step assembly comprising a first step member configured for selectively moving along a first translation direction between a first position and a second position, so that the user can be lifted from the first position to the second position, a second step member configured for being moved between a retracted position and a deployed position wherein the second step member projects out of the first step member, and a deployment mechanism configured for moving the second step member from the retracted position to the deployed position when the distance between the first step member and the second position becomes lower than a predetermined threshold.