Lift seat

Abstract

A pool lift comprises an actuator to lower and raise a seat carrying a user into and out of a pool. The seat is mountable to the actuator for either leftward or rightward movement, enabling use in a variety of pool configurations. The seat further folds when not in use to minimize the footprint of the device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A lift seat for lowering a person into and raising the person out of a pool, comprising:
 a seat adapted for carrying the person; and   a mounting arrangement for enabling mounting of the seat for a left hand side or a right hand side raising/lowering operation.   
     
     
         2 . The lift seat according to  claim 1 , wherein said seat further comprises a foldable sitting portion for enabling folding of the seat to reduce an amount of pool deck space taken up by the lift seat when not in use. 
     
     
         3 . The lift seat according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a seat carrying beam member hingedly mounted to a position at the pool deck for rotation about an axis parallel to the pool deck; and   an extensible member attached to the beam member, for rotating said beam member about said axis by extension/retraction of the extensible member.   
     
     
         4 . The lift seat according to  claim 3 , wherein said mounting arrangement comprises a seat attachment member attached to the seat, rotationally attached to an upper portion of the seat carrying beam member. 
     
     
         5 . The lift seat according to  claim 4 , further comprising a control member operationally engaged with said extensible member for controlling raising and lowering of the seat by retraction and extension of said extensible member. 
     
     
         6 . A lift seat for lowering a person into and raising the person out of a pool, comprising:
 a frame member carrying operational elements of the lift seat; and   a pair of retractable wheels for enabling wheeled movement of the lift seat for movement between an installation site and another location.   
     
     
         7 . The lift seat according to  claim 6 , wherein said retractable wheels comprise:
 a pair of lift arms rotationally attached to said frame member for movement between retracted and extended positions; and   a pair of wheels, ones of said wheels rotationally mounted to a respective lift arm.   
     
     
         8 . The lift seat according to  claim 7 , further comprising at least one mounting pin for locking said lift arms to a retracted position. 
     
     
         9 . The lift seat according to  claim 8 , wherein said mounting pin is further operative for locking said lift arms to an extended position. 
     
     
         10 . The lift seat according to  claim 7 , further comprising at least one mounting pin for locking said lift arms to an extended position. 
     
     
         11 . A method of providing a lift seat for lowering a person into and raising the person out of a pool, comprising:
 Providing a seat adapted for carrying the person; and   providing a mounting arrangement for enabling mounting of the seat for a left hand side or a right hand side raising/lowering operation.   
     
     
         12 . The method seat according to  claim 11 , further comprises providing a foldable sitting portion to said seat for enabling folding of the seat to reduce an amount of pool deck space taken up by the lift seat when not in use. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising:
 providing a seat carrying beam member hingedly mounted to a position at the pool deck for rotation about an axis parallel to the pool deck; and   providing an extensible member attached to the beam member, for rotating said beam member about said axis by extension/retraction of the extensible member.   
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 13 , wherein said providing a mounting arrangement comprises providing a seat attachment member attached to the seat, rotationally attached to an upper portion of the seat carrying beam member. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , further comprising providing a control member operationally engaged with said extensible member for controlling raising and lowering of the seat by retraction and extension of the extensible member.