CN108938339B

CN108938339B - Foldable walking aid

Info

Publication number: CN108938339B
Application number: CN201710560428.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 佩奇·马斯; 尼加·沙阿; 瓦苏达拉·阿格拉沃尔; 一轩·童
Original assignee: Medline Industries LP
Current assignee: Medline Industries LP
Priority date: 2017-05-19
Filing date: 2017-07-11
Publication date: 2021-05-25
Anticipated expiration: 2037-07-11
Also published as: CN108938339A; CN208770312U

Abstract

A walker is provided that is movable between a compact, folded configuration and an unfolded configuration. The walker includes a pair of side frames each having front and rear legs. The legs are connected at their top by an upper support member. The cross member extends between the front legs of each of the pair of side frames. The cross member has a hinge disposed between the front legs. The cross member may be folded about the hinge and rotated relative to the front leg to move the walker between the unfolded and folded configuration, which allows the frame to be placed in an adjacent and generally aligned orientation when folded. The hinge has a locking mechanism to lock the hinge in the deployed configuration.

Description

Foldable walking aid

Technical Field

The present disclosure is in the field of medical devices, and particularly relates to an auxiliary mobile device. Described herein is a walker, and in particular, a collapsible walker configured between an expanded configuration and a more compact collapsed configuration.

Background

Walkers are auxiliary mobile devices used by persons needing support while standing or walking. Conventional walkers have a pair of side frames, each having a pair of feet, an upper support member and a lower support member. The pair of frames can pivot about the upper and lower support members to move the walker between an expanded configuration and a compact collapsed configuration. In the collapsed configuration, the frames may be offset from one another and, therefore, may not be as compact as desired for shipping and storage. The walker disclosed in U.S. patent No. 3,516,425 has a pair of foldable support members that allow the frames to be placed adjacent, in alignment, as shown in fig. 3 of that patent. However, the pivoting part of the foldable support part is not locked, which may lead to unintentional folding, resulting in serious injury to the user.

Desirably, the walker should be able to prevent inadvertent folding. A walker so constructed is now disclosed.

Drawings

FIGS. 1 and 1A are front perspective views of a prior art walker and a perspective view of the prior art walker in a collapsed position, respectively;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the walker of the present invention in a collapsed configuration and showing the frames arranged adjacently, in alignment;

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the walker of FIG. 2, but in a partially deployed configuration, showing the frames separated by the hinged cross members, and the leg assemblies in a storage position;

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the walker of FIG. 2, but in a fully assembled configuration, showing the frames separated by the hinged cross members, and the leg assembly in a position of use;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a hinge assembly of the hinged cross member of the walker of FIG. 2;

fig. 6A-6D collectively illustrate disassembled components of the hinge assembly of fig. 5.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the hinge assembly of FIG. 5 taken along line VIII-VIII of FIG. 7;

FIGS. 9A-9E are schematic side views of the walker as shown in FIG. 2 moved from an expanded configuration to a compact, folded configuration;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the walker of FIG. 2 showing the placement of the leg assemblies into a storage position; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the walker as shown in FIG. 4, but depicting one of the leg assemblies of the walker in an exploded view.

Detailed Description

A walker is provided that is movable between a compact, folded configuration and an unfolded configuration, the unfolded configuration being the position of the walker for typical use and the folded configuration being generally for transport or storage. The walker is moved through a series of intermediate positions between the deployed and folded positions. For walkers, it is common for the walker to include a pair of side frames, each having front and rear legs. The legs are connected at their top by an upper support member and optionally at their lower or middle part by a lower support member. The cross member extends between the front legs of each of the pair of side frames. The transverse member is rotatably connected relative to the front leg below the upper support member. The cross member has a hinge disposed between the front legs. The cross member may be folded about the hinge and rotated relative to the front leg to move the walker between the unfolded and folded configurations, which may advantageously allow the frame to be placed in a compact, adjacent and generally aligned orientation when folded. The hinge has a locking mechanism to lock the hinge in the deployed configuration. The locking mechanism may be actuated via an unlocking mechanism that may be positioned against one of the side frames, such as a front leg of one of the side frames, to allow a user to easily unlock while limiting inadvertent folding.

A locking mechanism is also provided to prevent rotation of the cross member relative to each of the pair of frames. When combined with a locking mechanism associated with the hinge, a three-stage unlocking process is optionally provided to limit inadvertent folding of the walker. More specifically, the first stage of the unlocking process includes unlocking the cross member relative to the first one of the side frames to rotate the cross member relative to the first one of the side frames. The second stage of the unlocking process includes actuating an unlocking mechanism associated with the hinge of the cross member to allow the cross member to fold about the hinge. Alternatively, rotation of the first side frame relative to the cross member may actuate an unlocking mechanism associated with the hinge. The third phase of the unlocking process is similar to the first phase, but involves the second of the side frames. That is, the cross member is unlocked relative to the second one of the side frames to rotate the cross member relative to the second one of the side frames. The walker may be provided with four leg assemblies as shown, or with a pair of leg assemblies and a pair of wheels or wheel assemblies (not shown) that are removable from the walker. The leg assembly is a telescopic structure that allows the walker to be adjusted in height and collapsed into a compact form for storage.

In one aspect, the cross member includes a first component and a second component connected by a hinge. The first component extends between one of the pair of side frames and the hinge, and the second component extends between the other of the pair of side frames and the hinge. The first assembly is mounted relative to a first sleeve rotatably disposed about the front leg of one of the pair of side frames, and the second assembly is mounted relative to a second sleeve rotatably disposed about the front leg of the other of the pair of side frames.

Preferably, although not necessarily, only a single transverse member is provided. In some aspects, the cross member includes a pair of diagonal braces, wherein a first one of the braces extends from the first sleeve to the first component and a second one of the braces extends from the second sleeve to the second component. The bracket gives the cross member a substantially K-shaped appearance.

In some aspects, the actuator is pivotally mounted relative to one of the pair of side frames. The actuator may be a handle that is pivoted to unlock the cross member for rotation relative to one of the pair of side frames. More specifically, the actuator has a locked position, where one of the pair of side frames is prevented from rotating relative to the cross member, and an unlocked position, where one of the pair of side frames is rotatable relative to the cross member.

In some aspects, the locking mechanism may further comprise a locking pin associated with the hinge. The pin has a locked position preventing rotation about the hinge and an unlocked position allowing rotation about the hinge. The pin may optionally be biased towards the locked position by a spring.

In some aspects, the pivot housing is disposed at least partially above and operably connected relative to the locking pin via a flexible cable. The pivoting housing has a pivot axis relative to the hinge and is pivotable between a first position at which the locking pin is in the locked position and a second position at which the locking pin is in the unlocked position, with movement of the pivoting housing from the first position to the second position causing the flexible cable to pull the locking pin from the locked position to the unlocked position allowing the cross member to fold about the hinge.

In some aspects, the locking mechanism includes an actuator cable extending between the pivoting housing and one of the pair of side frames, the cable having a length that causes rotation of the one of the pair of side frames relative to the cross member from the unfolded toward the folded configuration, the rotation causing the pivoting housing to move from the first position to the second position and subsequently causing the locking pin to move from the locked position to the unlocked position.

The method of moving the walker as described herein from the unfolded configuration to the folded configuration comprises the steps of: the hinge is unlocked by rotating one of the pair of side frames relative to the cross member and away from the other of the pair of side frames, folding the cross member about the hinge, and rotating the other of the pair of side frames relative to the cross member and toward one of the pair of side frames. Each of the side frames may have its own locking mechanism for selectively restricting their rotation relative to the cross member.

For example, the walker as described herein can be provided in a folded, compact configuration during transport or at a point of sale. In this configuration, a pair of side frames are in a generally adjacent, aligned arrangement, rather than being offset. The cross member is folded about the hinge such that the hinge is located between the pair of side frames and between the front and rear legs thereof. This compact configuration is also suitable for storage of the walker.

Referring now to the drawings, the prior art walker 6 shown in figures 1 and 1A is shown in a normal operating configuration in figure 1 and in a relatively more compact storage configuration in figure 1A. Referring to FIGS. 2-4, the walker 10 of the present invention is also movable between a compact, collapsed configuration as shown in FIG. 2 and a normal operating, deployed configuration as shown in FIG. 4. For the walker, and with particular reference to FIG. 3, the walker 10 generally includes a pair of side frames 12, 14, each

side frame

12, 14 having

front legs

16, 20 and

rear legs

18, 22, and upper 24, 26 and lower 28, 30 support members. The

upper support members

24, 26 can include a handle 25 for user comfort, such as a covering of rubber or polymeric material.

The side frames are connected by a cross member structure 32. As shown, the cross-member structure 32 includes first and

second truss structures

33, 35 connected to each other at a hinge 34 at a central portion of the walker, the function of which will be described in more detail below to generally form a K-shaped structure. The truss structure includes

main assemblies

36, 38 and

diagonal braces

40, 42. The provision of the hinge 34 allows the walker 10 to be placed between the expanded and collapsed configurations, which advantageously allows the

frames

12, 14 to be placed in a compact position when collapsed, as shown in FIG. 2. This may result in a more compact folded configuration than the prior art walker 6 shown in figure 1, where the cross members 8 are rigid and the frames 2, 4 are offset relative to each other when folded.

Referring specifically to fig. 4, the

truss structures

33, 35 are generally connected to a pair of

tubular sleeves

44, 46 in which the

front legs

16, 20 of the side frames 12, 14 are disposed. The side frames 12, 14 are rotatable relative to the

tubular sleeves

44, 46. In normal use, the side frame is rotationally locked relative to the tubular sleeve to prevent inadvertent rotation. Each sleeve is provided with a locking mechanism comprising a

paddle handle

47, 48 and a spring-loaded tubular sleeve locking pin (not shown) operatively connected to each paddle handle and engaging a socket (not shown) in the

front leg

16, 20. To fold the walker, the paddle handles are depressed, causing each handle 47, 48 to pivot about a pivot axis. This action retracts the tubular sleeve locking pins from the openings of the

front legs

16, 20 to rotate the side frames relative to the

tubular sleeves

44, 46 and thus relative to the cross-member structure 32.

Similarly, the hinge 34 is normally maintained in a locked condition to limit inadvertent retraction of the walker 10. As shown in fig. 5-8, the hinge 34 includes a first hinge side 60 and a second hinge side 62. Each

side

60, 62 has a pair of plates that rotate relative to each other about a common pivot axis. More specifically, the first hinge side 60 includes a plate having a central aperture 64 and the second hinge side 62 further includes a plate having a central aperture 66, as best shown in FIG. 6A. A hinge pin (not shown) may extend through the

holes

64, 66 to define a pivot axis for the hinge 34. The first hinge side 60 is connected to the first main component 36 and the second hinge side 62 is connected to the second main component 38.

Each of the plates of the first and second hinge sides 60, 62 also includes an offset

hole

70, 68 spaced from the pivot axis. The locking mechanism of the illustrated embodiment includes a locking pin 82 (fig. 6C) that is slidably received within the offset

holes

70, 68 of the hinge 34. When the locking pin 82 is in the retracted position, it disengages the offset hole 68 of the second hinge side 62, allowing the first and second hinge sides 60, 62 to pivot relative to each other about a pivot axis. However, when the locking pin 82 is in the extended position, it extends through the offset hole 70 of the first hinge side 60 and partially through the offset hole 68 of the second hinge side 62, thereby preventing relative rotation about the pivot axis between the first and second hinge sides 60, 62.

As shown in fig. 8, the locking pin 82 is biased toward its extended position by a spring 94. More specifically, as shown in fig. 6C, the locking pin 82 has an enlarged head 86 disposed at one end of the narrower shaft 84. As also shown in fig. 6C, a step 88 is formed at the intersection of the enlarged head 86 and the narrower shaft 84. A spring 94 is disposed about the narrower shaft 84 with one end of the spring 94 abutting the step 88. The other end of the spring 94 abuts a surface of the first hinge side 60 to bias the locking pin 82 towards the extended position.

Movement of the locking pin 82 from an extended position, in which rotation of the first and second hinge sides 60, 62 about the pivot axis is prevented, to a retracted position, in which rotation about the pivot axis is permitted, is a controlled operation of the tilting mechanism. The tilt mechanism includes a pivot housing 76 having a forward facing interior cavity 80 and a rearward facing curved pivot surface 78, as shown in fig. 8. The plate of the first hinge side 60 includes a pivot housing mount 72 having a socket 74 with a surface that mates with a curved pivot surface 78 of a pivot housing 76. A pivot pin cable 81 (fig. 8) extends between a hole 90 in the narrower shaft 84 of the locking pin 82 and the inner surface of the pivot housing mount 72. When assembled, the locking pin 82 is partially disposed within the interior cavity 80 of the pivot housing 76. When the pivot housing 76 is tilted rearward about the curved pivot surface 78, the pivot pin cable 81 pulls the locking pin 82 out of the offset hole 68 of the second hinge side 62, thereby allowing rotation of the first and second hinge sides 60, 62 about the pivot axis. Instead of a pivot pin cable, the cross bar may extend through the holes 90 of the lock pin 82 and into a pair of holes of the pivot housing mount 72, and in particular, the side walls of the pivot housing mount enclose an interior cavity 80 thereof. The locking pin 82 may rotate about the cross-bar and/or the pivot housing 76 may rotate about the cross-bar.

To tilt the pivot housing 76 rearwardly, as shown in fig. 3 and 4, the actuator cable 58 extends between the pivot housing 76 and the front leg of one of the side frames 12 or 14. One end of the actuator cable 58 extends through an angled hole 92 (fig. 7) of the pivot housing 76, which has an enlarged element (not shown) attached at the free end of the actuator cable 58 to prevent it from being pulled out of the angled hole 92. The other end of the actuator cable 58 is secured to the front leg of one of the side frames, such as by extending through an opening thereof or being anchored. The length of the actuator cable 58 is selected to bias the pivot housing 76 rearwardly to a sufficient extent to overcome the biasing force of the spring 94 such that the pivot pin 82 is pulled from within the offset hole 68 of the second hinge side 62, thereby allowing the first and second hinge sides 60, 62 to rotate about the pivot axis. This is achieved by partially winding the actuator cable 58 around the front leg of the first side frame by rotation of the front leg of the first side frame (14 in the illustrated embodiment) within the associated tubular sleeve (6 in the illustrated embodiment). The actuator cable 58 may be attached to either of the first and

second frames

12, 14 so long as it is configured to tilt the pivot housing 76.

To fold the walker from the expanded configuration to the compact, collapsed configuration, a series of pivoting motions are performed as shown schematically in FIG. 9. From the deployed configuration, the side frame 14 to which the actuator cable 58 (not shown in fig. 9A-9E) is attached rotates outwardly about its front leg, away from the second side frame 12, after being unlocked using the associated paddle handle. Continuing with the previously described locking mechanism, movement of the side frame 14 causes the actuator cable 58 to bias the pivot housing 76 rearwardly and then pull the pivot pin 82 out of the offset hole 68 of the second hinge side 62 to allow the first and second hinge sides 60, 62 to rotate about the pivot axis. This allows the cross-member structure 32 to fold about the hinge 34. After unlocking the associated paddle handle, the walker is folded and brought into a position in which the first and second side frames 12, 14 are aligned, as shown in fig. 9E and 2. The steps may be repeated in reverse order to move the walker from the collapsed configuration to the unfolded, expanded configuration. Deployment does not require the various locking mechanisms to be disengaged, as they are already disengaged at this point, but will automatically re-engage in the deployed configuration.

To further provide a more compact structure, the legs 16/18, 20/22 of each

frame

12, 14 optionally include a separate lower leg assembly portion. Referring to fig. 10 and 11, the leg assembly 52 includes telescoping inner and outer

leg assembly portions

54, 56 that can be folded into a compact form and secured to the other components of the walker via clips 58. The inner leg assembly portion 54 includes a narrow upper end 60 sized for insertion into a corresponding leg portion (18 in this example) of a corresponding side frame (12). The inner portion 54 is provided with a spring loaded pin 62 which is inserted into a mounting hole 64 in the leg portion 16. The outer leg assembly portion 56 includes a series of mounting holes 66 to mate with a second spring-loaded pin 68 (second pin 68 is shown in FIG. 10) provided in the inner leg assembly portion 54, which allows the height of the walker to be adjusted. The outer leg assembly portion is provided with a resilient foot 70 or an optional wheel (not shown) for the front leg portion. Conventional spring-loaded pins may be used, or other suitable structures, such as bolts and wing nuts (not shown). The other leg assemblies may be configured substantially similarly.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that a walker is provided that resists inadvertent folding and is foldable into a compact configuration.

The use of singular terms, such as "a", "an", and "the" is intended to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms "comprising," "having," "including," and "containing" are to be construed as open-ended terms. Any description of certain embodiments as "preferred" embodiments, and other illustrations of embodiments, features, or ranges that are preferred or suggested to be preferred, are not to be construed as limiting. The invention should be construed as including what are presently considered to be the non-preferred embodiments as well as the embodiments described herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., "such as") provided herein, is intended to illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention. Any statement herein as to the nature or benefits of the invention or preferred embodiments is not to be construed in a limiting sense. This invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited herein as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The description herein of any document or patent, even if identified as "prior", is not to be taken as an admission that such cited document or patent constitutes prior art against the present invention. No language in the specification should be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Any statement or suggestion herein that certain features form part of the claimed invention should not be construed as limiting unless reflected in the appended claims. The identification of a patent number on any product and the identification of a patent number associated with any service should not be taken as a representation that all of the specific embodiments described herein are incorporated into that product or service.

Claims

1. A walker, comprising:

a pair of side frames, each of said side frames having front and rear legs connected at their tops by an upper support member and at their midpoints by a lower support member;

a cross member extending between the front legs of each of the pair of side frames, the cross member having a hinge disposed between the front legs and being rotatably attached relative to the front legs below the upper support member and above the lower support member, the cross member being foldable about the hinge and rotatable relative to the front legs to move the walker between an unfolded configuration and a folded configuration, whereby in the folded configuration the side frames are closer together than in the unfolded configuration and the hinge is between the front legs and the rear legs, the hinge having a user-actuatable locking mechanism for unlocking the hinge to allow the cross member to fold about the hinge;

a locking pin associated with the hinge; and

a pivoting housing operatively connected relative to the locking pin, the pivoting housing pivotable between a first position in which the locking pin is in a locked position to prevent rotation about the hinge and a second position in which the locking pin is in an unlocked position to allow rotation about the hinge, movement of the pivoting housing from the first position to the second position causing the locking pin to be pulled from the locked position to the unlocked position, thereby allowing the cross-member to fold about the hinge;

wherein the pivot housing is disposed at least partially above the locking pin and is operably connected relative to the locking pin via an actuation cable, the pivot housing having a pivot axis relative to the hinge, movement of the pivot housing from the first position to the second position causing the actuation cable to pull the locking pin from the locked position to the unlocked position.

2. The walker of claim 1 wherein the cross member includes a first component and a second component connected by the hinge, the first component extending between one of the pair of side frames and the hinge and the second component extending between the other of the pair of side frames and the hinge, and wherein the first component is attached relative to a first sleeve rotatably disposed about the front leg of one of the pair of side frames and the second component is attached relative to a second sleeve rotatably disposed about the front leg of the other of the pair of side frames.

3. The walker of claim 2 wherein the cross-member comprises a pair of brackets, a first one of the brackets extending from the first sleeve to the first component and a second one of the brackets extending from the second sleeve to the second component.

4. The walker of any one of claims 1-3 wherein each of the front and rear legs has an extendable leg having a foot at one end and slidably engaged with the front and rear legs at the other end, the foot of each extendable leg being closer to the lower support member in the collapsed configuration than in the expanded configuration.

5. A walking aid according to any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein a handle is provided on each of the upper support members.

6. The walker of any one of claims 1-3 wherein the locking mechanism includes an actuator pivotable relative to one of the pair of side frames.

7. The walker of claim 1 wherein the actuation cable extends between the pivoting shell and one of the pair of side frames, the cable having a length such that rotation of one of the pair of side frames relative to the cross member from the unfolded configuration toward the folded configuration causes the pivoting shell to move from the first position to the second position and the locking pin to move from the locked position to the unlocked position.

8. The walker of claim 7 wherein the locking pin is biased towards its locking position by a spring.

9. A method, comprising:

providing a walker, the walker comprising:

a pair of side frames, each of said side frames having front and rear legs connected at their tops by an upper support member and at their midpoints by a lower support member; and

a cross member extending between the front legs of each of the pair of side frames, the cross member having a hinge disposed between the front legs and being rotatably attached relative to the front legs below the upper support member and above the lower support member, the cross member being foldable about the hinge and rotatable relative to the front legs to move the walker between an unfolded configuration and a folded configuration, whereby in the folded configuration the side frames are closer together than in the unfolded configuration and the hinge is located between the front legs and the rear legs, the hinge having a user-actuatable locking mechanism for unlocking the hinge; and

moving the walker from the unfolded configuration to the folded configuration, the method comprising:

rotating a pivoting housing operatively connected relative to a locking pin associated with the hinge from a first position in which the locking pin is in a locked position to prevent rotation about the hinge and a second position in which the locking pin is in an unlocked position to allow rotation about the hinge, rotation of the pivoting housing from the first position to the second position causing the locking pin to be pulled from the locked position to the unlocked position allowing the cross member to fold about the hinge, wherein the pivoting housing is disposed at least partially above the locking pin and operatively connected relative to the locking pin via an actuation cable, the pivoting housing having a pivot axis relative to the hinge;

unlocking the hinge by rotating one of the pair of side frames relative to the cross member and away from the other of the pair of side frames to move the pivoting housing from the first position to the second position and cause the actuation cable to pull the locking pin from the locked position to the unlocked position;

folding the transverse member about the hinge; and

rotating the other of the pair of side frames relative to the cross member and toward the one of the pair of side frames.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of: unlocking one of the pair of side frames relative to the cross member to allow the one of the pair of side frames to rotate relative to the cross member prior to the step of unlocking the hinge.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the steps of: unlocking the other of the pair of side frames relative to the cross member to allow the other of the pair of side frames to rotate relative to the cross member.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising rotating the side frames such that the side frames are aligned and positioned adjacent to each other.