Safety guard for scissor lift

Abstract

An expandable safety guard for a scissor lift is disclosed. The safety guard has a plurality of pivoting plates or blades which expand to create a barrier preventing insertion of objects and body parts between the arms of the scissor lift. A method of preventing pinching at the joints connecting arms of a scissor lift is also disclosed.

The claimed invention is:  
     
         1 . A scissor lift pinch guard, the pinch guard comprising: 
 an expandable fan, the fan including a plurality of blades secured to each other along their edges,    a first mounting surface securing the fan to a first arm of the scissors lift; and    a second mounting surface securing the fan to a second arm of the scissors lift;    wherein the fan is configured and arranged to open and close during the raising and lowering of the scissor lift, the blades preventing the insertion of objects or body parts proximate a point where the first arm and second arm meet.    
     
     
         2 . The scissor lift pinch guard according to  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a hole extending through each blade from a front surface to a back surface; and    a mounting pin, the mounting pin providing an axis on which the plates pivot.    
     
     
         3 . The scissor lift pinch guard according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of blades comprises at least 3 blades.  
     
     
         4 . A scissor lift having an expandable safety guard, the scissor lift comprising: 
 a scissor lift;    an expandable safety guard attached to the scissor lift, the safety guard including a collapsible guard member configured and arranged to expand and contract with the raising and lowering of the scissor lift to form a barrier restricting the insertion of objects and body parts between the arms of the scissor lift.    
     
     
         5 . The scissor lift according to  claim 4 , wherein the collapsible guard member comprises a unitary fan.  
     
     
         6 . The scissor lift according to  claim 4 , wherein the collapsible guard member comprises a flexible sheet having multiple alternating creases.  
     
     
         7 . The scissor lift according to  claim 4 , further comprising: 
 first and second mounting brackets secured to the collapsible guard member and retaining the collapsible guard member to separate arms of the scissor lift.