GB2057896A - Walking aids - Google Patents

Abstract

The aid comprises side membera (10, 12) and a frame (16, 18) having three horizontal bars (20, 22, 24) extending therebetween, downward movement of any of which will produce braking of the aid. The bars (20, 22, 24) act on vertically slidable rods (30) and a braking pad or shoe (32) is situated at the lower end of each rod. A spring (48) urges the rod upwardly so that the aid is normally free to be moved backwards or forwards. Downward movement of one of the bars acts on the rod (30) through a collar (40, 42) and, against the spring (48), urges the shoe (32) into braking engagement with the floor. Means are provided for inhibiting the braking produced by downward movement of some of the bars, and for locking the wheels or castors so that they point in one direction only. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in and relating to walking aids Field of invention This invention concerns walking aids, such as frames and baby-walkers, all of which include wheels or the like and one or more bars or rails by which the device can be gripped for support. Such devices have proved to be helpful in teaching small children and assisting invalids and the elderly, to walk.

Background to the invention Walking frames for the infirm and elderly are now well known. These devices commonly comprise a two or three-sided frame with at least one horizontal cross-bar, usually provided with grips at opposite ends by which the frame can be held on to by an invalid or elderly person to assist them in balancing. By lifting first one side and then the other and "walking" the frame forward, so the person can gain good support whilst walking forward.

Such frames do not include wheels, and indeed usually have rubber or plastics feet to prevent the frame from being pushed forward other than by lifting it corner by corner, and "walking" it forward.

Children's walking aids have usually been combined with a toy, usually a shallow trolley on four wheels having an upstanding inverted U-shaped frame at one end serving as a handle. The child is encouraged to pull itself up using the handle and then whilst continuing to hold onto the handle, to walk forward using the handle and trolley to keep its balance.

Typically the trolley has been used for storing toys such as building blocks.

A special purpose walking frame for children is also known which comprises a generally rectangular frame mounted on four upright legs at the four corners with a wheel at the foot of each of the legs. For the very small child a harness is suspended within the rectangular frame, in which the child is suspended so that the child's feet just touch the ground. For the larger child the harness can be dispensed with.

By incorporating wheels into such walking aids, so the device offers virtually no resistance to movement and simply provides an aid to balance. However this has two disadvantages.

(1) The child does not have a stationary object with which to pull itself up by since as soon as it grabs the frame of the conventional trolley or the edge of the walking frame, the device will tend to move away from the child.

This means that the child cannot pull itself up to begin a walking exercise without help.

(2) If fixed wheels are provided, as on a conventional trolley, the child can only walk forwards or backwards and has to learn to twist the trolley to point in other directions.

Where castor type wheels are used, as is usually the case in the special purpose walking frames, the small child just learning to walk finds that it can move sideways and backwards as well as forwards by simply pushing with its feet or using a kicking action, neither of which teach the child to walk forwards.

Object of the invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a walking aid which does not suffer from the two aforementioned disadvantages and which, according to size can be used by old and young alike.

The invention According to one aspect of the present invention in a walking aid which comprises a frame having a bar which is gripped for support and wheels or the like to enable the aid to be easily pushed, braking means is provided which is automatically operated so as to arrest movement of the aid, in the event that a downward force is exerted or the bar as when a child attempts to pull itself up using the bar (or if a child falls forwards or backwards).

The braking means may act on some or all of the wheels or may comprise a movable foot which can be pushed down into contact with the ground or floor, to anchor the device.

Where two or more bars are provided, the braking may be effected by only some of the bars, for example an upper one of two bars.

According to another aspect of the invention in a walking aid which includes wheels to facilitate movement of the device, the wheels are mounted so as to be freely movable to point in different directions and adjustable means is provided to allow the wheels to be locked so as to point in one direction only, or to be freely movable, as desired.

The adjustable means may act independently on each of the wheel mountings or a single master control may be used to lock all the wheels simultaneously.

Preferably both aspects of the invention are incorporated into a single walking aid.

The invention may be applied , I any walk- ing aid which may be a trolley with a handle or a specially designed walking frame.

The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side view of a baby-walker constructed as one embodiment of the invention, Figure 2 is a side view of part of the babywalker shown in Fig. 1 to an enlarged scale, Figure 3 is a side view of another embodi ment of the invention using castors instead of fixed wheels, Figure 4 is a side view of part of the embodiment of Fig. 3 to an enlarged scale showing the locking mechanism for locking the castors in the straight-ahead position, and Figure 5 is a similar view to that of Fig. 4 with the locking mechanism in the unlocked position.

Detailed description of drawings The baby-walker shown in Figs. 1 and 2, comprises a horizontal frame having two parallel side members 10 and 12 bridged by a central transverse strut 14. From the junction of the strut and the two side members 10 and 1 2 extend two vertical members 1 6 and 18 between which extend three bars 20, 22 and 24.

The ends of each of the bars are slidable in slots of which one pair is designated by reference numerals 26 and 28, these two slots receiving the ends of the upper bar 20.

The bars are joined by means of two vertical rods of which only one can be seen in Fig.

1 which is identified by reference numeral 30.

A similar rod mounted in exactly the same way is mounted at the other ends of the bars 22 and 24.

The rod 30 passes through holes in the ends of the bars 20, 22 and 24 and terminates at its lowermost end in a rubber stop 32. The rod is guided by means of guide rings 34, 36 and 38 which themselves are secured to the upright 1 8 and adjustable stop members are mounted on the rod 30 designated by reference numerals 40, 42 and 44.

These comprise collars which are held in place on the rod by means of grub screws or the like and are positioned along the length of the rod so that when the rod is pushed in an upward direction the stop members 40, 42 etc. engage the undersides of the bars 20, 22 and 24 and push these to the upper ends of their slots 28 etc.

Each of the rods 30 is urged in an upward direction by means of a spring which acts between the lowest support ring 38 and a collar 46 adjustably secured on the rod 30.

The spring is designated by reference numeral 48.

The rod 30 can be pushed in a downward direction by pushing or pulling in a downward direction on any one of the bars 20, 22, 24 and in doing so pushes the rubber foot 32 at the end of the rod into engagement with the ground.

Wheels as at 50 and 52 are provided at all four corners of the horizontal frame made up of the members 10, 1 2 and 14.

Normally the walker is free to be pushed along the ground by pushing on the upright frame in a generally horizontal direction. However as soon as any downward force is exerted on any one of the horizontal bars 20, 22, 24 the rubber feet 32 are urged into contact with the floor and arrest any forward movement of the walker. Since a toddler will instinctively pull itself up by gripping first of all the lowermost bar 24 and then the intermediate bar 22 and finally the bar 20, the walker will be braked effectively whilst the toddler is pulling itself up but as soon as the toddler is upright and in a position to walk forward to spring 48 on each of the rods 30 will force these in an upward direction and remove the braking action produced by the interengagement of the rubber foot 32 with the floor.

Figs. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate an alternative embodiment in which the wheels 50, 52 etc.

are replaced by castors 54 and 56 with similar castors at the opposite end of the other horizontal member 10. In all other respects the unit is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate how the castors can be locked in a straight-ahead position or allowed to rotate freely to provide for universal movement. To this end Figs. 4 and 5 are drawn to an enlarged scale.

The means for locking the castor comprises a rotatable block 58 with its axis of pivoting designated by dotted line 60. With the block rotated as in Fig. 4, the end of the block 58 engages one end of the castor housing 62 and prevents the latter from rotating about its axis designated by another dotted line 64.

Twisting the block 58 so that it is now clear of the castor frame 62 allows the castor to rotate freely about the axis 64.

Although not shown, the bars 20 and 22 can of course be rendered non-braking by lowering the adjustable stops 40 and 42 as required so that even when the bars 20 and 22 drop to their lowest position in the slots such as 28 in which they are engaged, the bars do not engage the stop members on the rods. In this way one or more of the bars can be left as the braking bar with the others nonbraking.

Although as shown in the drawings 3 bars have been provided, it is to be understood that any number of bars (e.g. 2 or 4) may be used.

As an alternative to the collars 46, pins may be provided for insertion through holes in the walls of the slots 28 etc. to prevent downward movement of one or other (or all) of the bars 20, 22, 24.

The principle embodied in the baby-walker illustrated in the drawings can be applied to a toddle-truck in which the horizontal frame is replaced by a brick trolley or the like with fixed wheels or castors. The upright frame then comprises a handle at one end of the trolley with the series of horizontal bars and braking mechanism acting at one end of the trolley instead of in the middle of the frame.

It will also be appreciated that the principle embodied in the illustrated embodiment can be applied to a larger model for use by the old and disabled. As applied to a device for use by oider people, the number of bars can be reduced since it is assumed that the older or infirm person may well approach the device either from a wheel-chair or from a standing position so that the only need is to allow the device to be braked to gain or regain balance during use of the device.

Claims (14)

1. A walking aid comprising a frame having a bar which is gripped for support and wheels or the like to enable the aid to be easily pushed wherein braking means is provided which is automatically operated so as to arrest movement of the aid in the event that a downward force is exerted on the bar.

2. A walking aid as claimed in claim 1 in which the braking means acts on some or all of the wheels.

3. A walking aid as claimed in claim 1 in which the braking means comprises a movable foot which can be pushed down into contact with the ground or floor to anchor the aid.

4. A walking aid as claimed in claim 3 in which two such movable feet are provided one on each side of the aid.

5. A walking aid as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4 wherein the aid includes a plurality of bars any one of which can be gripped for support and the braking is effected by downward movement of at ieast one of the bars.

6. A walking aid as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5 in which the braking is effected by downward movement of any one of the bars.

7. A walking aid as claimed in claim 1 in which the wheels are mounted so as to be freely movable to point in different directions.

8. A walking aid as claimed in claim 7 in which the wheels are in the form of castors.

9. A walking aid as claimed in claim 7 or 8 further comprising means for locking the wheels or castors so that they point in one direction only.

10. A walking aid as claimed in claim 9 in which the means for locking the wheels or castors acts independently on each of the wheel mountings or castor mountings.

11. A walking aid as claimed in claim 9 in which the means for locking the wheels or castors comprises a single master control for locking all the wheels or castors simultaneously.

1 2. A walking aid comprising a frame, wheels to facilitate movement of the device, mountings for the wheels to enable the latter to be freely movable to point in different directions and adjustable means to allow the wheels to be locked so as to point in one direction only or to be freely movable as desired.

1 3. A walking aid constructed arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

14. A walking aid constructed arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figs. 3 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.