KR20110073014A - Foldable crutches - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A foldable crutch is provided to reduce the volume of the crutch by reducing the length of the leg thereof. CONSTITUTION: A foldable crutch comprises: a pair of support stands(20) in which a support part is formed in the top thereof; a handle part installed between support stands; and a leg which is combined with the lower part of the support stands and is expanded downward. Each support stand includes: a first rod(25) in which a first hinge coupling unit is formed in the top thereof; a second rod(21) which is hinge-coupled with the first hinge coupling unit; and a folding restriction unit.

Description

Folding Crutches {Foldable crutches}

The present invention relates to a folding crutches, and more particularly to a folding crutches that can be folded or unfolded for easy carrying.

In general, crutches are widely used to support the body and maintain the center of the body. These crutches are installed in the armpit support portion to support the armpit on the upper side of the Y-type support, the handle is installed on the lower side of the armpit support, the lower end of the Y-type support is coupled to the height adjustment rod to selectively adjust the height, The lower end of the height adjustment rod is made of a configuration that the support cap of the rubber material is installed.

However, the conventional crutches as described above are usually integrally one piece, and their overall length is very long. You have a lot of problems.

In addition, if the crutches are not used, the length of the long-term storage will be difficult to store.

The present invention has been made to improve the above problems, the object of the present invention is to provide a crutch that is easy to carry by reducing the volume of the crutches by folding or unfolding the crutches.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a crutch that can reduce the length of the leg to further increase user convenience.

Folding crutches of the present invention for achieving the above object is a pair of supports formed with axillary support on the top; A handle part installed between the supports; Legs coupled to the lower portion of the supports extending downward; each support includes a first rod formed with a first hinge coupling portion on the top, and the first hinge coupling to fold or unfold with respect to the first rod A second rod formed at a lower portion of the second hinge coupling portion which is hinged to the portion, and is installed to be movable up and down on the second rod so that the second rod is lowered when the second rod is unfolded with respect to the first rod; It is characterized in that it is provided with a folding restrictor to prevent the rod from folding and to allow the second rod to be folded when raised.

The folding restrictor is provided so that the second rod penetrates up and down, and surrounds the first and second hinge engaging portions from the outside, a lever formed outside the slider to be adjacent to the handle, and the slider And an elastic member installed therein and configured to elastically bias the slider downward when the slider is pulled upward to raise the slider, and a stopper formed on the second rod to limit the lowering of the slider.

It further comprises a height adjustment means for adjusting the height of the support by moving the leg up and down.

The height adjusting means is installed between the two supports and the fixed pipe for accommodating the screw and formed in the upper portion of the leg receiving the upper, the holder is installed in the lower portion of the fixed pipe, and up and down on the leg It is installed to be movable and coupled with the holder, characterized in that it comprises a lifting ring for limiting the rotation of the leg.

The height adjusting means is installed between the two support and the fixed pipe formed through the upper and lower receiving space accommodated therein the leg, the electric motor is installed on the top of the fixed pipe, and connected to the rotating shaft of the electric motor A lead screw inserted into the receiving space and screwed into a screw hole vertically formed on the leg, a battery installed on the support and connected to the electric motor, and installed on the handle part to forward / reverse the electric motor. And an operation unit for manipulating rotation.

And a warming and cooling means for heating and cooling the handle, wherein the warming and cooling means is installed inside the support and is a Peltier element connected to the battery, a heat transfer block coupled to one side of the Peltier element, and the heat transfer block. And a heat sink coupled to the other side of the Peltier element opposite to the one side, and a heat pipe having one side inserted into the heat transfer block and the other side extending into the handle to absorb or release heat.

As described above, according to the present invention, the crutches can be folded or unfolded to reduce the volume of the crutches. Easy to carry

In addition, the crutches can be effectively prevented crutches folding when walking on crutches.

In addition, the present invention not only can control the length of the leg, but also has the mechanism to make the size of the folded crutches smaller by raising the leg as much as possible in the folded state.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail with respect to the folding crutches according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 is a front view of the crutches according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the main portion of Figure 1, Figure 3 and Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of FIG.

1 to 4, the folding crutch 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a pair of supports 20, formed between the support arm 20, the armpit support portion 11 is formed between the support 20 It is provided with a handle portion 15 to be installed, the leg 30 is coupled to the lower portion of the supports 20 extending downward. The support 20 is formed of a material such as wood or aluminum. The armpit support part 11 is provided with a cushion member 13. The handle portion 14 is coupled to the support 20 with bolts 41 and nuts 43.

Legs 30 installed on both lower supports 20 are installed between the supports 20 by bolts 45 and nuts 47. And the lower end of the support 20 is provided with a socket 5 formed with a through hole through which the leg 30 is inserted. The lower end of the leg 30 is provided with a rubber member 35 to mitigate the impact.

The present invention has a technical feature that the support 20 can be folded or unfolded. In detail, the support 20 includes a first rod 25 having a first hinge coupling portion 63 formed thereon, and a first hinge coupling portion 63 so as to be folded or unfolded with respect to the first rod 25. The second hinge coupling portion 61 to be hinged is formed of a second rod 21 formed at the lower portion.

The first hinge coupling portion 63 installed at the upper end of the first rod 25 may be welded or screwed to the first rod 25. In addition, the second hinge coupler 61 installed at the lower end of the second rod 21 may also be welded or screwed to the second rod 21. The first and second hinge coupling parts 63 and 61 are conventional hinge coupling structures, and are hinged to be rotatable by the fixing bolt 65 and the nut 67.

In the present invention, it is provided with a folding limit restricting the folding of the support 20. The folding restraint is installed on the second rod 21 so as to be movable up and down so that the second rod 21 is folded when the second rod 21 is lowered while being unfolded with respect to the first rod 25. The second rod 21 can be folded when raised. This is to prevent the crutches 10 from being unintentionally folded when the user moves on the crutches 10. That is, in order to promote the safety of the user by allowing the crutches 10 to be folded only when the user wants to fold the crutches 10.

As an example of the folding restrictor, the second rod 21 penetrates up and down to surround the first and second hinge coupling parts 63 and 61 from the outside, and the slider 15 is adjacent to the handle 15. A lever 59 formed at an outer side of the slider 51 to be positioned so as to be positioned so that the slider 51 is raised inside the slider 51, and the slider 51 is raised by pulling the lever 59 upward. An elastic member 70 for elastically biasing downward and a stopper 71 formed on the second rod 21 to limit the lowering of the slider 51 is provided.

The slider 51 is configured to separate and engage up and down. That is, the slider 51 consists of an upper cap 53 and a lower cap 55. The upper cap 53 is composed of a disc-shaped panel 53a having an insertion hole in the center thereof, and a cylindrical skirt portion 53b extending downward from the edge of the panel 53a and having an open lower portion. Threads are formed on the lower inner circumferential surface of the skirt portion 53b. The diameter of the insertion hole is larger than the diameter beam of the second rod 21. The inner diameter of the skirt portion 53b is larger than the diameter of the second rod 21. The stopper 71 formed on the outer circumferential surface of the second rod 21 is formed larger than the diameter of the insertion hole and smaller than the inner diameter of the skirt portion 53b. Therefore, the upper cap 53 is prevented from going down further by being caught by the stopper 71.

Lower cap 55 forms a cylindrical structure of the upper and lower open. The inner diameter of the lower cap 55 is formed to a larger diameter than the first rod 25. Threads corresponding to the threads formed on the upper cap 53 are formed on the upper outer circumferential surface of the lower cap 55 so that the upper cap 53 may be screwed with the upper cap 53. And the inner circumferential surface of the lower cap 55 is provided with a support jaw 56 formed in a direction to reduce the inner diameter.

The slider 51 covers the first and second hinge engaging portions 63 and 61 in a state where the upper portion is caught by the stopper 71, that is, the slider is lowered. In the state in which the slider 51 is lowered, the support 20 is not folded.

Any one can be used as long as the elastic member 70 provided inside the slider 51 can apply an elastic force downward to the slider 51 when the slider 51 is raised. In the illustrated example, a spring is used as the elastic member 70. Preferably a compression spring is used. The spring is installed to surround the second rod 21 between the stopper 71 and the support jaw 56. Therefore, one end of the spring is in contact with the bottom of the stopper 71, the other end is in contact with the top of the support jaw 56.

The lever 59 is formed extending from the outer peripheral surface of the slider 51 by a predetermined length. The user can move the slider 51 upward by pulling up the lever 59. In the example shown, the lever 59 is installed to interconnect two sliders 51 provided on both supports 20. The levers 59 may be installed on each of the sliders 51 separately from each other, but preferably, one lever 59 is installed to connect both sliders 51 as shown. The position of the lever 59 is located below the handle 15, and is installed to be adjacent to the handle 15. Specifically, the handle 15 and the lever 59 are preferably disposed within one foot length. When the user moves the crutches 10 while folding the crutches, when the user grasps the lever 59 by spreading the fingers holding the handle 15, the lever 59 is moved upwards and thus is very simple to use.

Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. 5 and 6, the folding crutch of the present invention is further provided with a height adjusting means for adjusting the height of the support 25 by moving the leg 30 up and down.

The height adjusting means is installed between both supports 25 and the fixed pipe 90 for receiving the legs 30 therein, the holder 91 is installed in the lower portion of the fixed pipe 90, and the legs 30 It is installed to be movable up and down and is provided with a lifting ring (93) in combination with the holder 91 to limit the rotation of the leg (30).

The fixed pipe 90 is installed at the bottom of both supports 25. The coupling of the fixed pipe 90 and the support 25 may be coupled by welding. The lower end of both support 25 is provided with a socket 5 through which the fixed pipe 90 passes.

The fixed pipe 90 has a hollow cylindrical structure. The internal space of the fixed pipe 90 has a circular cross section. Threads are formed on the inner circumferential surface of the fixed pipe 90.

The leg 30 is accommodated in the fixed pipe 90. The upper portion of the leg 30 is formed to extend vertically and is provided with a circular screw rod 31 is formed on the outer circumferential surface. The screw rod 31 is screwed with the fixed pipe. Leg 30 has a smaller outer diameter than the screw rod 31 is accommodated in the fixed pipe 90 to move up and down. That is, the outer diameter of the leg 30 is formed smaller than the inner diameter of the fixed pipe (90).

The holder 91 is installed below the fixed pipe 90. Holder 91 is formed with a hole penetrated up and down, the upper portion of the holder 91 is formed with a circular hole, the lower portion of the holder 91 is formed with a square hole. The insertion portion 95 of the lifting ring 93 to be described later is inserted into the lower portion of the holder 91 formed with a square hole.

The upper portion of the holder 91 is coupled to the lower portion of the fixed pipe 90. At this time, a screw thread is formed on the upper inner circumferential surface of the holder 91 in which the circular hole is formed, and is screwed with the screw thread formed at the lower portion of the fixed pipe 90.

Leg 30 is formed in a cylindrical shape, the outer peripheral surface of the leg is formed with a guide groove 32 continuously connected from the top to the bottom. Four guide grooves 32 are formed on the outer circumferential surface thereof. The lifting ring 93 has a through hole formed at the center thereof, and the leg 30 is inserted into the through hole of the lifting ring 93. The through hole is formed slightly larger than the outer diameter of the leg (30). And the inner circumferential surface of the lifting ring 93 is formed with a projection 98 is coupled to the guide groove (32). Therefore, the lifting ring 93 may move up and down along the guide groove 32 while the protrusion 98 is coupled to the guide groove 32.

The lifting ring 93 is formed of a grip portion 97 having a circular shape and an insertion portion 95 formed on an upper portion of the grip portion 97 and having a rectangular shape. The outer shape of the insertion portion 95 has a shape corresponding to the square hole formed in the lower portion of the holder (91). Therefore, the insertion portion 95 is inserted into the lower portion of the holder 91 is coupled detachably. In the state in which the lifting ring 93 is coupled with the holder 91, the rotation of the leg 30 is limited. In order to adjust the length of the leg 30, the lifting ring 93 is separated from the holder 91, and then the leg 30 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise to adjust to a desired length. After the length adjustment is completed, the lifting ring 93 is coupled to the holder 91 again. At this time, the protrusion 98 of the lifting ring is coupled to the guide groove 32, and the insertion portion 95 of the lifting ring is coupled to the holder 91, so that the leg 30 can be prevented from rotating. The height adjusting means of the present invention is a structure for adjusting the length of the leg 30 by rotating the fixed pipe 90 and the screw coupled leg 30 can be precisely adjusted in mm units.

Another height adjustment means of the present invention is shown in Figures 9 and 10. 9 and 10, the leg 30 having the screw rod 31 installed thereon is formed in an octagonal shape. Unlike this, the leg 30 may be formed of a quadrangle or a polygon such as a pentagon or a hexagon.

The holder 92 coupled to the lower portion of the fixed frame 90 has a hole penetrated up and down. A thread is formed on the inner circumferential surface of the holder 92, and a thread is formed on the lower outer circumferential surface of the fixed frame 90. In addition, the lifting ring 99 that can be coupled to and detached from the holder 92 has a through hole having a shape corresponding to that of the leg 30. At this time, the lifting ring 99 is formed so that the through hole of the lifting ring 99 is larger than the outer shape of the leg 30 to move up and down along the leg (30). The outer diameter of the lifting ring 99 is the same as the outer diameter of the fixing frame 90, the thread is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lifting ring (99).

In order to adjust the length of the leg 30, first, the holder 92 is screwed with the fixed frame is rotated so that the lower end of the holder 92 is the same or higher than the lower end of the fixed frame 90. Then, after adjusting the length by rotating the leg 30, the holder 92 is rotated while the lifting ring 99 is raised to contact the lower end of the fixing frame 90, thereby fixing the fixing frame 90 and the lifting ring 99. Screw) Therefore, the rotation of the leg 30 can be prevented.

In the illustrated example, an octagonal leg 30 is shown, and it is preferable that numbers are sequentially engraved from 1 to 8 times on each side of the leg 30. The number allows to easily grasp the rotation speed of the leg 30 at the time of adjusting the length of the leg 30. For example, it can be seen that when the number 1 is rotated in the state where the number 1 is viewed from the front, when the number 1 is positioned at the front again, the leg 30 is rotated once. Thus, by engraving the numbers on each side of the leg can easily adjust the length of both crutches when using two crutches. Unlike the illustrated example, in the case of hexagonal legs, numbers 1 to 6 are engraved on each side.

Another height adjusting means of the present invention is shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 7, the height adjusting means 110 is installed between both supports 125 and a fixed pipe 140 having a receiving space 141 in which the legs 130 are accommodated therein, and a fixed pipe 140. An electric motor 115 installed at an upper portion of the motor, a lead screw 119 connected to the rotary shaft of the electric motor 115 and screwed to the leg 130, and a support 125 installed at the electric motor 115 and It is provided with a battery (not shown) to be connected, and an operation unit (not shown) installed in the handle part for operating the forward / reverse rotation of the electric motor 115.

The electric motor 115 is installed on the base plate 111 coupled by the bolt 117 to the upper end of the fixed pipe 140. A battery (not shown) for supplying driving power for driving the electric motor 115 is installed in the support 125. In this case, the cover 127 for opening and closing the inside of the support 125 in which the battery is installed is coupled to the support 125 by a screw or the like so as to be detachable. The operation part is provided on one side of the handle part and has a lift button and a down button for rotating the electric motor forward / reversely.

In the illustrated example, the support 125 and the fixed frame 140 are made of a rectangular pipe with an empty inside. And the empty space inside the fixed frame 140 is formed in a square cross section. An outer shape of the leg 130 accommodated in the fixed frame 140 and moving up and down is formed in a square shape corresponding to the space inside the fixed frame 140.

The leg 130 is formed with a screw hole 137 vertically from the top to a predetermined depth. The lead screw 119 is inserted into the screw hole 137 and screwed together. When the user operates the lift button of the operation unit, the motor 115 rotates to move the leg 130 upward with respect to the fixed frame 140. And when the user operates the down button of the operation unit while the motor 115 rotates in the opposite direction to move the leg 130 to the lower side relative to the fixed frame 140.

The present invention according to the embodiment described above has the advantage that it is possible not only to adjust the length of the leg 130, but also to quickly adjust the length of the leg by the electric force. In addition, when the leg 130 is raised as much as possible in the state in which the support 125 of the crutches is folded, the size of the folded crutches can be further reduced.

Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 8. In the example shown, the present invention further includes hot and cold means for heating and cooling the handle 150. In this case, the above-described battery is used as a driving power source for operating the hot / cold means.

The hot and cold means is installed in the support 121 and the Peltier element 160 connected by the battery and the wire 161, the heat transfer block 163 coupled to the upper portion of the Peltier element 160, and the heat transfer block 163 The heat sink 165 coupled to the lower portion of the Peltier element and the heat transfer block 163 is inserted into one side and the other side is extended into the handle 150, the heat pipe 170 to absorb or release heat It is provided. The lower portion of the heat sink 170 is mounted on the support protrusion 167 formed to protrude inside the support 121. In addition, a cover 190 that opens and closes the inside of the support 121 is mounted to the support 121 on which the Peltier element 160 is installed by the screw 195. Fluid may be filled in the handle 150. The heat insulating cover 155 is installed on the outer circumferential surface of the handle 150. Although not shown, an operation button for applying power to the Peltier element 160 may be installed on the handle or the support.

When power is applied to the Peltier element 160, one side of the Peltier element 160 emits heat and the other side absorbs heat. For example, when heat is released in the direction of the heat transfer block 163, heat is transferred to the heat pipe 170. The heat applied to one side of the heat pipe 170 heats the heat exchange medium filled in the heat pipe 170 and releases heat to the other side of the heat pipe 170 located inside the handle 150. Therefore, the handle 150 is warm and easy to use in winter.

In addition, when electricity is applied to the Peltier element 160 by reversing the direction of the operation button, the heat is released in the direction in which the heat sink 165 is located, and heat is absorbed in the direction of the heat transfer block 163. . In this case, since the heat pipe 170 absorbs heat from the inside of the handle to release heat from the heat transfer block 163, the handle 150 is cooled.

In the above, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, which are merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent embodiments thereof are possible.

Therefore, the true scope of protection of the present invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

1 is a front view of the crutches according to an embodiment of the present invention,

Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of the main portion of Figure 1,

3 and 4 are cross-sectional views showing the operation of FIG.

5 is a perspective view of the main portion of the crutches according to another embodiment of the present invention,

6 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5,

7 is an exploded perspective view according to another embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a sectional view showing a main part according to another embodiment of the present invention;

9 is a perspective view of the main portion of the crutches according to another embodiment of the present invention,

10 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 9.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: crutches 20: supports

21: The Second Rod 21: The Second Rod

30: leg 50: folding restraint

51: slider 59: lever

Claims (6)

A pair of supports formed on the upper armpit; A handle part installed between the supports; It is coupled to the lower portion of the support and extends downward; includes; Each of the supports may include a first rod having a first hinge coupling portion formed at an upper portion thereof, and a second rod formed at a lower portion of the second hinge coupling portion hinged to the first hinge coupling portion so as to be folded or unfolded with respect to the first rod. The second rod may be installed to be moved up and down on the second rod to prevent the second rod from folding when the second rod is unfolded with respect to the first rod and to be folded when the second rod is raised. Folding crutches characterized in that it has a folding restraint. The slider of claim 1, wherein the folding restraint is formed so that the second rod penetrates up and down and surrounds the first and second hinge coupling parts from outside, and is located outside of the slider so as to be adjacent to the handle. A lever, an elastic member installed inside the slider to pull the lever upwards to raise the slider, and an elastic member to elastically bias the slider downward; and a stopper formed on the second rod to limit the lowering of the slider. Folding crutches characterized in that. The folding crutch according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: height adjusting means for adjusting the height of the support by moving the leg up and down. According to claim 3, The height adjusting means is installed between the two support and the fixed pipe for accommodating the screw rod formed in the upper portion of the leg and accommodates the inside, and the holder is installed in the lower portion of the fixed pipe and And installed on the leg to move up and down and folding crutches, characterized in that it has a lifting ring coupled to the holder to limit the rotation of the leg. According to claim 1, wherein the height adjusting means is installed between the two support and the receiving space in which the leg is accommodated inside the fixed pipe formed through the upper and lower, the electric motor is installed on the top of the fixed pipe, and A lead screw connected to a rotating shaft of the electric motor and inserted into the receiving space and screwed into a screw hole formed perpendicular to the leg, a battery installed on the support and connected to the electric motor, and installed on the handle part Folding crutches characterized in that it comprises an operation unit for operating the electric motor forward / reverse rotation. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising hot and cold means for heating and cooling the handle, The hot and cold means is installed inside the support and the Peltier element connected to the battery, a heat transfer block coupled to one side of the Peltier element, a heat sink coupled to the other side of the Peltier element opposite the heat transfer block, One side is inserted into the heat transfer block and the other side of the folding crutches, characterized in that it has a heat pipe extending into the handle to transfer heat.

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