GB2303871A

GB2303871A - Releasable fixing means

Info

Publication number: GB2303871A
Application number: GB9515669A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Syed Azmat Ali; Brian Vernon Virgo
Original assignee: Sunrise Medical Ltd
Current assignee: Sunrise Medical Ltd
Priority date: 1995-07-31
Filing date: 1995-07-31
Publication date: 1997-03-05
Anticipated expiration: 2015-07-31
Also published as: GB2303871B; GB9515669D0

Abstract

A releasable fastening to releasably secure two parts, comprising a spigot like part 15 secured to or forming part of a first part and a socket 29 secured to, or forming part of, or formed in, a second part, and wherein the second part is provided with a movably mounted projection 33 projecting into the socket and wherein the spigot is provided with a projection receiving formation 17, the arrangement being such that when the spigot is fully located in the socket, the projection is received by the formation and wherein release means 22 are provided on the second part, the release means being moveable to cause the projection to be moved out of the formation to enable release of the first and second parts. The invention is also concerned with a wheelchair provided with a detachable part 14, wherein the wheelchair is provided with the spigot 15 or the socket 29, and the detachable part 14 is provided with the socket 29 or the spigot 15 respectively, to enable simple and secure attachment and detachment of the part from the wheelchair.

Description

Title: Releasable fixing means Description of Invention The present invention relates to releasable fixing means and is primarily but not exclusively concerned with articles which should be capable of fast securement or release and/or fittings for such articles which likewise should be capable of simple and fast securement or release.

The releasable fastening of the present invention also relates to a folding or collapsible wheelchair in which parts have to be readily attachable to detachable, which parts may for example be intended to brace or otherwise stiffen the wheelchair in its in use position.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new or improved releasable fastening.

According to one aspect of the present invention, we provide a releasable fastening means to releasably secure two parts said releasable fastening comprising a spigot-like part secured to or forming part of a first part and a socket secured to or forming part of or formed in a second part and wherein said second part is provided with a movably mounted projection projecting into said socket and wherein said spigot is provided with a projection receiving formation the arrangement being such that when said spigot is fully located in said socket, said projection is received by said formation and wherein release means are provided on said second part said release means being movable to cause said projection to be moved out of said formation to enable release of said first and second parts.

Preferably, said spigot may comprise a substantially cylindrical part and said formation may comprise a flat, a cutout, a through bore, blind bore or an annular groove. Preferably, said spigot part terminates in a rounded or conical end part.

Preferably, said socket comprises the end of a tubular member a through bore, or a blind bore and a cut out is provided in said tubular member or the part provided with said through bore or blind bore, said cut out providing for access of said projection internally of said tubular member or said through bore or blind bore.

Preferably, said release means comprises a manually engageable part secured to said second part and mounted for movement relative to said second part, said release member conveniently canying said projection and wherein movement of said release means relative to said second part is adapted to move said projection in a substantially radial direction relative to the axis of said tubular part or said through bore or blind bore.

Conveniently, said release means is biased into a position in which said projection projects radially inwardly to its maximum extent.

Preferably, the shape of said spigot and the shape of said projection is such that movement of said first part towards said second part to enable the spigot to enter said socket causes movement of said projection out of its projected position to permit of insertion of said spigot into said socket until said projection engages in said projection-receiving formation provided on said spigot.

According to another aspect of the present invention, we provide a wheelchair provided with a detachable part and wherein the wheelchair is provided with said spigot or said socket and said detachable part provided with said socket or said spigot respectively to enable simple and secure attachment and detachment of said part from said wheelchair.

Preferably, said part comprises a bar-like detachable bracing member to the rear of the wheelchair so as to brace or otherwise secure a pair of uprights between which a back rest of the wheelchair is supported. Preferably, said bracing member comprises an elongate part provided with end parts, each end part extending transversely to said elongate part, each end part being secured to a respective upright provided on the wheelchair.

Preferably, said bracing member is made of tubular material, said end parts providing said sockets.

Preferably, the projection and release member are made from a moulded material and are secured to said end parts. Conveniently, said projection and release member are made from a plastics material.

Preferably, said release member has a first engageable part and an extension part, said extension part being displaced from the plane of said engageable part and providing a part for permanent securing to said end part,the arrangement being such that said engageable part is spaced radially from said end part so as to enable said release part to be moved in a direction substantially radially relative to said end part.

Preferably, said release part carries said projection at a position substantially diametrically opposite, relative to said end part, to said manually engageable part. Conveniently, said release part is provided with a substantially oval shaped aperture, through which said end part projects. On one side of the major axis there is situated said manually operable part, on the other side of said major axis, said projection.

The invention will now be described in more detail by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic view of a wheelchair provided with a bracing bar, FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the releasable attachment means whereby the bracing bar may be attached to the back of the wheelchair, FIGURE 3 is a sectional view through the releasable fixing means, shown in Figure 2 with the fixing means in a securing position, FIGURE 4 is a sectional view of the releasable fixing means shown in Figures 2 and 3 with the fixing means in a releasing position.

Referring first to Figure 1, a wheelchair as shown diagrammatically at 10, the wheelchair 10 having a back rest upright support members 11 and 12 between which extends a back rest 13. The wheelchair 10 is foldable and hence a detachable bracing bar generally indicated at 14 is provided. The bracing bar 14 has to be detachable to enable folding or demounting of the wheelchair into separate units.

It is therefore important that the bracing bar 14 can be securely fixed to uprights 11 and 12 and at the same time, the attachment and detachment of the bracing bar 14 to the remainder of the wheelchair 10 should be uncomplicated.

Referring now to Figures 2, 3 and 4, the releasable attachment means is shown in more detail.

The back rest upright support member 12 is provided with a spigot generally indicated at 15. The spigot 15 is secured to the upright member 12 by means of a fastener 31 engaging within a threaded bore provided in the spigot 15.

The spigot 15 comprises a generally cylindrical part 16, an annular groove 17 and a conical nose portion 18.

The bracing bar 14 has an elongate part 18 and end portions 19 and 20. The bracing bar 14 may be made from tubular material, for example steel or aluminium.

Each of the end parts 19 and 20 are provided with a part of the releasable fixing means that cooperates the spigot part 15. The end part 20 provides a socket 29 in the form of an open end of the tubular bracing part 14, the end part 20 being formed with a cut-out 21.

Secured to the end part 20 is an integral engagement/release means in the form of a plastics moulding, generally indicated at 22. The engagement release means 22 has a body part 23, the upper side of which is formed as a manually engageable part 24 from which extends a securement part generally indicated at 25. The securement part has an end part 26 having an upper surface which lies substantially parallel to the upper surface of the manually engageable part 24 but is displaced from the plane of the upper surface of the manually engageable part 24 through the intermediate of an inclined portion 27. This ensures that the manually engageable part 24 is spaced from the upper surface 28 of the end part 20.The engagement/release part 22 is secured to the end part 20 by a fastener such as a rivet 30 passing through a through bore provided in engagement part 26 and engageable with end part 20 of the bracing bar 14.

The body part 23 is provided with a substantially oval opening 32 through which extends the extreme end of end part 20. The body portion 23 also carries a tongue-like projection 33 which extends through cut-out 21 provided in end part 19 so that it projects into the socket 29 formed by the open end 20 of end part 20.

In order to engage the bracing bar 14 to upright member 12, the bracing bar 14 is moved in a direction so that the spigot 15 enters the socket 20, the conical nose portion 18 of spigot 15 engaging with the projection 33 and moving it in a radially outwards direction, thereby moving manually engageable part 24 towards the upper surface 28 of end portion 18, movement continuing until the tongue-like projection 33 engages within the cylindrical groove 17, provided in the projection 15. The presence of this cylindrical groove 17 enables the projection 33 to move radially inwardly, hence firmly securing the spigot 15 within the socket 20 as shown in Figure 3.

It will be appreciated that the other end part 19 is engaged with the upright 11 in a similar manner and in practice, both spigots can enter the socket simultaneously to enable rapid but secure connection of the bracing bar 14 to the uprights 11 and 12.

In order to release the bracing bar 14 from the uprights 11 and 12, the manually engageable part 24 is depressed, moving it towards the upper surface 28 of end part 20, thus moving the projection 33 out of the annular groove 17 provided in spigot 15. This enables the bracing bar 14 to be moved rearwardly away from upright 12 and once again in practice, each end part 19 and 20 of the bracing bar 14 may be released at the same time from their respective upright support members 11 and 12.

Figure 4 is a sectional view illustrating release of the end part 20 from spigot 15.

The releasable fixing means of the present invention provides a fixing that is very simple to operate, merely requiring the bracing bar 14 to be located on the spigots and pushed into position and also provides of firm securement.

The projections, such as the projection 33 locating in the annular groove provided on its respective spigot.

The easily accessible release means in the form of manually operable part 24 ensures that the bracing bar 14 may be rapidly and easily removed from the uprights 11 and 12 merely by applying downwards pressure onto the manually engageable part 24.

It will be appreciated that the end part 19 and upright 11 are provided with an identical two-part releasable fixing means as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4.

Whereas the releasable fixing means of the present invention has been found to be ideal for the releasable fixing of a bracing bar to the back rest supporting uprights 11 and 12 of a wheelchair, it is also envisaged that it may be equally suitable for other detachable parts, for example arm rests, foot rests and any other fitting that needs to be detachably mounted, the releasably fixing means being particularly suitable for use on articles made from or employing tubular fittings.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the following claims, or the accompanying drawings, expressed in their specific forms or in terms of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, as appropriate may, separately or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims

1. A releasable fastening means to releasably secure two parts said releasable fastening comprising a spigot-like part secured to or forming part of a first part and a socket secured to or forming part of or formed in a second part and wherein said second part is provided with a movably mounted projection projecting into said socket and wherein said spigot is provided with a projection receiving formation the arrangement being such that when said spigot is fully located in said socket, said projection is received by said formation and wherein release means are provided on said second part said release means being movable to cause said projection to be moved out of said formation to enable release of said first and second parts.

2. A releasable fastening means as claimed in Claim 1 wherein said spigot comprises a substantially cylindrical part, said formation comprises an annular groove.

3. A releasable fastening means as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein said spigot terminates in a rounded or conical end part.

4. A releasable fastening means as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said socket comprises the end of a tubular member and wherein the wall of the tubular member is provided with a cut-out to provide for access of said projection internally of said tubular member.

5. A releasable fastening means as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said release means comprises manually engageable parts secured to said second part and mounted for movement relative to the second part.

6. A releasable fastening means as claimed in Claim 5 wherein said release means carries said projection.

7. A releasable fastening means as claimed in Claim 6 wherein said release means is formed integrally with said projection.

8. A releasable fastening means wherein said release means is secured to said second part and is movable relative to said second part so as to move said projection in a substantially radial direction relative to the axis of said socket.

9. A releasable fastening means as claimed in Claim 8 wherein said release means is biased into a position in which said projection projects radially inwardly to its maximum extent.

10. A wheelchair provided with a detachable part wherein said wheelchair and said detachable part are provided with a releasable fastening as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.

11. A wheelchair as claimed in Claim 10 wherein said detachable part comprises a bar-like bracing member adapted to be attached to and interconnect a pair of upright members between which a back rest of the wheelchair is supported.

12. A wheelchair as claimed in Claim 11 wherein said bracing member comprises an elongate part provided with end parts, each end part extending transversely to said elongate part, each end part being adapted to be secured by said releasable fastening means to a respective upright provided on the wheel.

13. A wheelchair as claimed in Claim 11 or Claim 12 wherein said bracing member is made of tubular material, said end parts providing said sockets.

14. A wheelchair as claimed in Claim 12 or Claim 13 wherein the projection and release member are made from moulded material and are secured to said end parts.

15. A wheelchair as claimed in Claim 14 wherein said projection and release member are made from a plastics material.

16. A bar-like detachable bracing member adapted to brace a pair of spaced uprights for supporting the back rests of a wheelchair, said bracing member including one part of a two-part releasable fastening means as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 9 and a pair of spigot-like members, one for securing to each of said upright back rest support members.

17. A releasable fastening means substantially as herein before described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

18. A bracing member for bracing and extending between two upright support members for supporting the back rest of a wheelchair substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

19. A releasable fastening means including any novel feature or novel combination of features as disclosed herein and/or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

20. A bracing member to brace and interconnect upright support members for supporting the back rest of a wheelchair including any novel feature or novel combination of features as described herein and/or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.