Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ROLLING WALKER
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present invention relates to a rolling walker,
and more particularly to a rolling walker which can be can
be temporarily converted to a transportation chair.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Rolling walkers or wheeled walkers are widely used
by elderly people and/or other people experiencing
difficulty walking without a walking aid. A rolling walker
typically has a frame mounted on four rollers or wheels and
a pair of rearwardly extending hand grips to be gripped by
the user for support while walking. Rolling walkers permit
the user to be positioned behind the hand grips and to push
and roll the walker forward over the ground. Rolling
walkers usually include a seating surface to allow the user
to rest in a sitting position with the user's feet
typically resting on the ground, which requires the user to
turn around and sit down in a rearward-facing direction,
opposite to the direction of travel. Such a sitting
position of the rolling walker cannot be used to
temporarily transport the user when the assistance of a
care-giver is required because there is very little space
between the user and the care giver when the user is seated
in the rearward facing position between the hand grips.
Furthermore, the conventional rolling walker does not have
dedicated feet support elements which are required to
support the user's feet when seated for transportation.
[0003] Therefore, there is a need for a rolling walker
which provides the functionality of assisting people in
walking and is temporarily convertible to a wheeled
transportation chair.
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SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0004] One object of the present invention is to provide a
rolling walker which is temporarily convertible to a
wheeled transportation chair.
[0005] In accordance with one aspect of the present
invention, a walker device for assisting an individual with
mobility comprises a frame structure including two front
legs in a substantially parallel relationship, each having
an upper end and a lower end thereof, two rear legs in a
substantially parallel relationship, each having an upper
end and a lower end thereof, the rear legs being connected
at the upper end thereof to the respective front legs.
Means are provided for rolling the walker device along a
support surface. A seat is attached to the frame structure
and extends between the front legs and between the rear
legs. A detachable backrest is adapted to be selectively
attached to the front legs in a front position or to the
rear legs in a rear position.
[0006] In accordance with another aspect of the present
invention, a walker device for assisting an individual with
mobility and convertible to a transportation chair
comprises a frame structure supported on rotatable wheels,
including two front legs in a substantially parallel
relationship, each having an upper end and a lower end
thereof, two rear legs in a substantially parallel
relationship, each having an upper end and a lower end, the
rear legs being connected at the upper end thereof to the
respective front legs. A seat attached to the frame
structure extends between the front legs and between the
rear legs. A backrest is attached to the frame structure
and is adapted to be selectively disposed in a front
position for a rearward seating condition or in a rear
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position for a forward seating condition. A footrest
assembly is attached to the frame structure and is adapted
to pivot about parallel first and second pivoting axes,
between a folded position and an unfolded position.
[0007] Other aspects and features of the present invention
will be better understood with reference to the preferred
embodiments described hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Reference will now be made to the accompanying
drawings, showing by way of illustration the preferred
embodiments thereof, in which:
[0009] Figure 1 is an isometric view of a walker device
for assisting an individual with mobility according to one
embodiment of the present invention;
[0010] Figure 2 is an isometric view of the walker device
of Figure 1, converted to a wheeled transportation chair;
[0011] Figure 3 is a partial isometric view of a footrest
assembly attached to a frame structure of the walker device
of Figure 1, showing in an partially exploded view, the
folded position of the footrest assembly;
[0012] Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of the footrest
assembly taken along line 4-4 in Figure 3;
[0013] Figure 5 is a partially isometric view of the foot
assembly of the walker device converted to a wheeled
transportation chair, as illustrated in Figure 2, showing
in a partially exploded view, the unfolded position of the
footrest assembly;
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[0014] Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of the footrest
assembly taken along line 6-6 in Figure 5;
[0015] Figure 7 is a partial front view of a hinge device
used in the footrest assembly shown in Figure 3; and
[0016] Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge
device taken along line 8-8 in Figure 7, showing means
incorporated to the hinge device for restricting the
pivoting motion of the footrest assembly.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a walker device
generally indicated by numeral 10 which is normally used as
a rolling walker for assisting an individual with mobility,
as shown in Figure 1, can be temporarily converted into a
wheeled transportation chair, as shown in Figure 2. The
walker device 10 generally includes a frame structure 12
which has two sides symmetric about a central vertical
plane (not shown). For clarity and convenience of
illustration, components which are identical on the
respective sides of the walker device will be indicated
only on one of the sides.
[0018] The frame structure 12 includes two front legs 14
disposed in a substantially parallel relationship on the
respective sides, each having an upper end 16 and a lower
end 18 thereof. The front legs 14 are preferably made of
metal tubes and are disposed in a slanted orientation with
the lower end 18 thereof preferably slightly bent in a
vertical direction.
[0019] The frame structure 12 further includes two rear
legs 20 in a substantially parallel relationship, each have
an upper end 22 and a lower end 24 thereof. The rear
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legs 20 are connected at the upper end 22, preferably
through a hinge device (not indicated), to the upper end 16
of the respective front legs 14. The rear legs 20 are also
preferably made of metal tubes.
[0020] An interconnecting frame, preferably a folding
frame assembly, is provided with two foldable rods 26 which
are pivotably fastened to the front legs 14 and the rear
legs 20 at the respective sides of the frame structure 12.
The foldable rods 26 are provided about a bracing rod 28
which extends transversely across the frame structure 12
and is pivotably connected to the respective foldable
rods 26. Therefore, the frame structure 12 preferably
presents an A-shaped configuration in a side view thereof.
However, due to the foldability, the frame structure 12 can
be collapsed into a packing condition for storage and/or
transportation.
[0021] Rollers, castors and/or small wheels 30 are
rotatably mounted to the lower ends 18, 24 of the
respective front a rear legs 14, 20 for rolling the walker
device 10 along a support surface, for example, a ground
surface. The two small wheels 30 attached to the front
legs 18 are preferably pivotably fastened to the vertical
lower ends 18 such that the two small front wheels 30 are
capable of a 360 rotation, which is well known in the
industry and will not be further described herein.
[0022] The frame structure 12 is reinforced by cross
members 32, 34 and 36 preferably made of metal tubes, which
extend transversly across the frame structure 12 to
interconnect the two sides of the frame structure. In
particular, cross member 32 is connected at opposed ends
thereof, for example by fasteners (not shown) directly to
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the lower ends 18 of the respective front legs 14, and
extends therebetween. The cross member 34, preferably in a
U-shape, is attached to the respect front legs 14 at a
middle section thereof by a pair of brackets 38. The
brackets 38 which can be made of a small section of tube or
can be formed as a sleeve, for example, are attached to the
front legs 18, for example by welding, and define a hole
(not shown) extending through the respective brackets 38.
The two ends of the U-shaped cross member 34 are inserted
into the respective brackets 38 from a lower end thereof,
and are affixed to the brackets 38 by fasteners (not
indicated). It should be noted that the ends of the U-
shaped cross member 34 are received only half way into the
mounting hole of the brackets 38, and therefore the upper
portion of the mounting hole in the respective brackets 38
are still available for receiving a tubular connection
member therein.
[0023] The cross member 36, preferably in a U-shape, is
connected to the rear legs 20 by a pair of brackets 40 in a
manner similar to the connection of the cross member 34 to
the front legs 14, and therefore the description thereof
will not be repeated herein.
[0024] A seat 42 is provided with the frame structure 12
to extend between the front legs 14 and between the rear
legs 20, and is supported on the cross members 34, 36. It
is preferably to pivotably attach the seat 42 to one of the
cross members 34, 36 (such as to the front cross member 34)
and detachably rest the seat 42 on the other (such as the
rear cross member 36) such that the seat 32 can be pivoted
about one of the cross members 34, 36 to allow the rear
legs 20 to pivot towards the front legs 14 when the frame
structure 12 must be collapsed. The cross members 34, 36
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are disposed at substantially a same height relative to the
support surface such that the seat 42 is disposed in a
substantially horizontal orientation. A cloth bag 43 is
optionally provided under the seat, for example by being
tied to the respective cross members 34, 36
[0025] A pair of hand grips 44 are provided to the frame
structure 12. Each of the hand grips 44 is preferably made
of a metal tube which can be slidably received in the upper
end 16 of the tubular front legs 14 such that the height of
the hand grips 44 can be adjusted relative to the support
surface in accordance with the user's requirements. The
hand grips 44 can be locked in a desired position by a
variety of locking means (not indicated) which are well
known in the industry and will not therefore be described
herein. Each of the hand grips 44 includes an upper end
which is bent at an angle relative to the slanted
orientation of the front legs 14 in order to form a grip
portion 46 to which a lever assembly 48 is attached to
activate a brake 50 mounted to the lower end 24 of the
respective rear legs 20 through a cable (not indicated ).
The lever assembly 48 and the bracket 50 are conventional
and will not be further described in detail.
[0026] A backrest 52 is detachably and selectively mounted
to the frame structure 12 in a front position, as shown in
Figure 1, or in a rear position as shown in Figure 2. The
backrest 52 is preferably made of a metal tube having a
upper portion 54 extending between two arms 56 which are
configured so as to position the upper portion 54 to
comfortably support the back of a user seated on the
seat 42 when the back rest 52 is attached to the frame
structure 12, either in the front position or the in the
rear position, depending on the way the user is to be
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seated. The upper portion 54 is preferably wrapped with a
cushion material.
[0027] In particular, when the backrest 52 is disposed in
the front position as shown in Figure 1, the ends of the
arms 56 of the backrest 52 are received in the upper
portion of the mounting hole defined in the respective
brackets 38. Fasteners are optional to further secure the
backrest 52 in position. In contrast to the attachment of
the cross member 34 to the brackets 38 which do not require
frequent detachment, the attachment of backrest 52 to the
brackets 38 requires both reliability and convenience for
detachment. Therefore, it is preferred that enough length
of the attached ends of the arms 56 is received within the
respective brackets 38 to ensure secure attachment of
backrest 52 to brackets 38, without the need for additional
fastening means.
[0028] The backrest 52 can be conveniently detached from
the brackets 38 and, in a similar way, can be attached to
the respective brackets 40 on the rear legs 20 to permit a
rear seating position as shown in Figure 2. When the
backrest 52 is disposed in the rear position, the upper
portion 54 of the backrest 52 may extend between the grip
portions 46 of the hand grips 44 and the lever
assemblies 48, depending on the adjusted position of the
hand grips 44. Therefore, the upper portion 54 of the
backrest 52 should be sized appropriately and the arms 56
should be configured accordingly to avoid interference
between the upper portion 54 of the backrest 52 and the
hand grips 44 and lever assemblies 48.
[0029] Further referring to Figures 1-7, a foldable
footrest assembly 58 is attached to the frame structure 12
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and is adapted to pivot about first and second pivoting
axes 60, 62 (see Figure 2) which are parallel to each other
and extend transversely across the frame structure 12,
between a folded position as shown in Figure 1 and an
unfolded position as shown in Figure 2. The footrest
assembly 58 is preferably made of inetaltubular materials.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,
the footrest assembly 58 includes a pair of arms 64, each
having first and second ends 66, 68 thereof. Each of the
arms 64 is pivotably mounted at the first end 66 thereof to
one of the front legs 14, preferably by means of a hinge
device 70, and is adapted to pivot about the first pivoting
axis 60. A foot rest bar 72, preferably configured in a U
shape, is pivotably connected at each end to the second
end 68 of the corresponding one of the arms 64, preferably
by means of a hinge device 74, and is adapted to pivot
about the second pivoting axis 62.
[0030] The arms 64 are bent at a location near the first
end 66 thereof at an angle substantially similar to the
angle between the vertical lower end 18 and the slanted
major portion of the front leg 14. In the folded position,
as shown in Figures 1 and 3-4, the arms 64 of the footrest
assembly 58 are pivoted about the first pivoting axis 60
such that the arms 64 extend upwardly in an orientation
similar to that of the slanted front legs 14. The U-shaped
footrest bar 72 is suspended downwardly from the second
end 68 of the upwardly extending arms 64, preferably
pivoting slightly towards the cloth bag 43 and is
releasably attached to the cloth bag 43 for example by a
strap fastener 76. Therefore, when the footrest
assembly 58 is disposed in this folded position, the
footrest assembly 58 is somewhat hidden within the frame
structure 12.
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[0031] When the footrest assembly 58 is disposed in an
unfolded position as shown in Figures 2 and 5-6, the
arms 64 extend forwardly from the frame structure 12 with
the U-shaped footrest bar 72 suspended downwardly from the
second end 68 of the forwardly extending arms 64. The
footrest bar 52 is positioned above and spaced apart from
the ground surface to allow the walker device 10 to move
along the ground surface without interference. The hinge
device 70 which pivotably connects the first end 66 of the
arm 64 to one of the front legs 14, is preferably attached
to the front leg 14 at a location slightly above the cross
member 32 such that a section of the arm 64 near the first
end 66 thereof rests on the cross member 32 when the
arms 64 extend forwardly in a substantially horizontal
direction, as more clearly shown in Figure 6. In such a
configuration, a load from a user's feet to the footrest
bar 72, is transferred to the frame structure 12 through
both the cross member 32 and the hinge devices 74. As
shown in Figures 3 and 5, the cross member 32 preferably
has two end sections (not indicated) reinforced with sleeve
sections therearound to support the respective arms 64
resting thereon. The U-shaped footrest bar preferably
includes a section of sleeves (not indicated) loosely
therearound to provide a comfortable rest element for the
user's feet. The hinge devices 70 and 74 are similar and
preferably include means for restricting the pivoting
motion of the footrest assembly 58. (0032] In accordance with one embodiment
of the present
invention, the hinge device 70 (as well as the hinge
device 74) is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8. The hinge
device 70 includes a pair of hinge elements 701 and 702
affixed to the respective lower end 18 of one front leg 14
and the second end 66 of one arm 64 and rotatable relative
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to each other about a bolt 703 which extends through
central holes defined in the hinge elements 701, 702 to be
secured to the front leg 14. Each of the hinge
elements 701, 702 has a flat end surface 704, 705 with an
axial protruding member 706, 707. Each of the protruding
members 706, 707 takes up a circumferential section of the
flat end surfaces 704 or 705 to allow the hinge
elements 701, 702 to rotate or pivot within an angular
range to a point at which the two protruding
members 706, 707 meet together at either side thereof. In
this embodiment, each of the protruding members 706, 707
takes up a circumferential section of about 1/3 of the
respective flat end surface 704 or 705 such that the
pivotable angular range indicated by' A in Figure 8 is
limited to about 120 .
[0033] It should be noted that any desirable pivoting
range can be obtained by choosing the circumferential
dimensions of the protruding members 706 and 707. It
should also be noted that in order to have the footrest
assembly 58 pivotable between the desired orientations (the
folded and unfolded positions as shown in the respective
Figures 1 and 2) the circumferential position of the
respective protruding members 706, 707 should be properly
determined when the hinge devices are affixed to the
corresponding connecting members such as front legs 18 and
arms 64, or arms 64 and the U-shaped footrest bar 72.
[0034] In operation, the frame structure 12 is fully
extended from its collapsed storage condition to form a
stable A-shaped configuration which can be pushed and
rolled on the ground or other support surfaces. When the
walker device 10 is used as a roller walker for assisting
an individual while walking, the backrest 52 is placed in
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the front position and the footrest assembly 58 is disposed
in the folded position and is secured to the cloth bag 43,
as shown in Figure 1. Optionally, the backrest 52 can be
removed from the frame structure 12 entirely, if desired.
The user grips the grip portions 46 of the hand grips 44
and pushes the walker device 10 on the support surface
while therebehind. When the user wishes to rest, the user
can press the lever assemblies to brake the rear wheels 30.
The lever assemblies 48 preferably has the function to lock
the braking condition. After the rear wheels 30 are locked
in the braked condition, the user can turn around and sit
on the seat 42 facing rearwardly. The user can lean
against the backrest 52 which is placed in the front
position.
[0035] When the walker device 10 is temporarily used as a
wheeled transportation chair, the backrest 52 is detached
from the brackets 38 and the arms 56 thereof are then
inserted into the brackets 40 on the rear legs 20, thereby
forming the rear position of the backrest 52. The upper
portion 54 of the backrest 52 extends between the two hand
grips 44 behind the seat 42, as illustrated in Figure 2.
The strap fastener 76 on the cloth bag 43 is released to
allow the footrest assembly 58 to be pivoted about the
respective pivoting axes 60, 62 from the folded position
(shown in Figure 1) to the unfolded position (see
Figure 2). In the unfolded position, the U-shaped footrest
bar 72 is suspended downwardly from the forwardly extending
arms 64, and is spaced apart from the support surface. The
footrest assembly 58 is prevented from'pivoting far enough
to cause contact between the U-shaped footrest bar and the
ground surface, by the axial protruding members 706, 707 of
the hinge device 70 and/or by the cross member 32 which
prevents the further pivoting motion of the arms 64 about
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the pivoting axis 60. The user can then be seated on the
seat 42 facing forwardly, with his/her feet resting on the
U-shaped footrest bar 72, and the walker device 10 which is
now temporarily converted to a wheeled transportation chair
can be pushed and rolled on the ground or other support
surfaces by a caregiver who walks behind the walker
device 10.
[0036] The above description is meant to be exemplary only
and one skilled in the art will recognize that changes may
be made to the embodiments described without departure from
the scope of the invention disclosed. For example, the
present invention can be applicable to a walker device
having a frame structure different from the described frame
structure, such as one which is not collapsible, and/or not
presenting a general A-shaped configuration. The hand
grips, brake system and wheels may be configured
differently from those of the described embodiments and the
cloth bag is optional. Still other modifications which
fall within the scope of the present invention will be
apparent to those skilled in the art in light of a review
of this disclosure, and such modifications are intended to
fall within the appended claims.
