RU2739468C1 - Therapeutic walker for treating and rehabilitation of locomotor apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: medicine.

SUBSTANCE: invention refers to medicine, namely to therapeutic walkers for treatment and rehabilitation of locomotor apparatus. Go-carts include a frame consisting of a lower element, a vertical post and height adjustable seat mounted on it, wheels, wheel yokes equipped with bearings, bushings and fasteners. Lower element is connected with bearing element equipped with rear wheels. Vertical rack containing steering wheel connects top and bottom elements. Mating element equipped with an adjustable for departure and an angle support for chest connects the upper and bearing elements. Shank of upper element comprises rotary stopper with retainer, hinge, fixture and seatpost pipe with adjustable seat. Walkers are configured to approach the patient to the seat between the rear wheels.

EFFECT: providing a maximum number of settings of therapeutic walker for individual user characteristics.

10 cl, 5 dwg

Description

The invention relates to medicine and can be used for the treatment and rehabilitation of patients suffering from pathologies leading to partial immobilization, impaired ability to keep balance, for patients with muscle atrophy, contractures, cardiovascular diseases, complete or partial absence of one of the lower extremities, cerebral palsy , back bifida, as well as those suffering from disproportionate weight in relation to height, other diseases. The presented therapeutic walker is a means of movement, driven by the muscular force of the patient's legs.

For people with disabilities, movement is extremely important, it maintains the tone of the body, makes it possible to train or restore the performance of the vestibular apparatus, helps to restore the motor functions of the legs, and strengthen the bone skeleton and muscles. Blood flow improves, the muscular system of the legs, abdomen and back is strengthened, the respiratory function of the body improves, a general improvement in the physical development and vital activity of a person is observed.

Various types of walkers are known. In US Pat. No. 5,642,748, the patient must stand on his own legs. He has no way to sit. In the patent US 7547027 there is a seat, but the patient can only rest while sitting, and he will have to move with his back forward, which does not make sense. US 9623926 essentially presents a 3 wheel balance bike. But it has low lateral stability, especially when sitting on the patient's seat, it is possible for him to fall, there is no chest support, which is very important for increasing the patient's safety when he is in the saddle of the walker, there are no safety belts against falling back, the rear wheel will greatly interfere when pushing off the ground with feet, for example, in patients with cerebral palsy and / or with leg spasticity.

The construction is closest to the proposed technical solution,

described in US patent 4890853. However, it also has a number of significant drawbacks, the main of which are the inability of the patient to independently move face forward due to the muscular strength of the patient's legs, there is no possibility of adjusting the pressure of the patient's legs on the ground, the height adjustment of the seat is extremely inconvenient, there is no adjustment of the longitudinal in the direction of travel of the seat position of the device.

The proposed design is based on the fact that the patient should be able to move forward by pushing the legs off the ground, and the saddle, which takes the main weight of the rider, should be located as close as possible to the center of gravity of the rectangle formed by the points of contact of the wheels of the therapeutic walker with the ground. A very important aspect is the moment the patient enters the walker seat. The design of the walkers themselves should allow changing its geometry in order to select the optimal position of the patient on the walker, be able to adjust the pressure of his musculoskeletal system on the ground, have the maximum number of settings and adjustments that allow not only to expand the audience of users, but also to maximize their safety of use therapeutic walkers.

The technical problem to be solved was the need to create therapeutic walkers that provide the ability to move people with disabilities for treatment, rehabilitation of the vestibular apparatus, the musculoskeletal system, with diseases such as cerebral palsy, spinal bifida, autism, others, as well as strengthening the skeleton and muscles, improving work of the cardiovascular system, respiratory functions, vital functions of the body by creating an active load, while guaranteeing the safety of users-patients. The offered therapeutic walker can be used both indoors and outdoors.

The technical result of the invention is to provide the maximum number of settings for the therapeutic walker for the individual characteristics of the user.

The essence of the invention is expressed in a set of essential features, in which therapeutic walkers, set in motion by pushing the patient away from the ground, including a frame consisting of a lower element, a vertical post and a saddle, adjustable in height, mounted on it, wheels, front wheel forks equipped with bearings, bushings , fasteners and mounted on the lower element, in which the therapeutic walker consists of a lower element connected to a support element equipped with rear wheels, from a vertical rack containing a handlebar and connecting the upper and lower elements, from a docking element equipped with a breast support and connecting the upper and the support elements, from the upper element, from the shank of the upper element containing a rotary stop with a stopper, a hinge, fasteners, a sub-seat tube with an adjustable saddle, while the walker is made with the ability to approach the patient to the saddle between the rear wheels.

In particular cases of its implementation or use, the therapeutic walker may contain: a breast support, additionally equipped with a user support belt adjustable in length and equipped with elastic elements, an anatomically shaped breast support and additionally equipped with soft pads, telescopic docking and supporting elements, a support tube equipped with adjustable for reach, height, horizontal and angular position support for the back, split vertical stand, upper, lower, docking and supporting elements, chest support, equipped with devices for adjusting the reach and angular position, wheels additionally equipped with brakes, the docking element additionally equipped with a booster rigidity, and the vertical post, upper, docking, lower and supporting elements are additionally equipped with connecting devices.

The causal relationship of the above features with the technical result of the invention is expressed in the fact that the proposed therapeutic walkers allow you to obtain such walkers that:

- have a large number of adjustments that allow it to be adjusted to the individual characteristics of the patient

- can be used by people with disabilities of various forms

- create active physical activity on the human body

- allow the patient to approach (or be brought up) to him from behind and sit in the saddle, and accordingly there is no need to lift the patient, which is especially, in particular, important for people suffering from disproportionate weight in relation to height or simply large.

- has a low dynamic mass and low weight

- has a conveniently adjustable chest support

- equipped with a patient support belt, adjustable in length and equipped with elastic elements

- has a conveniently adjustable back support, which can have an anatomical shape, and is equipped with soft pads, adjustable in length and equipped with elastic elements for the patient's fixation strap.

- allows you to easily adjust the saddle height and horizontal.

- has high controllability

- convenient and suitable for use on asphalt and country roads.

The essence of the utility model is illustrated by drawings:

in fig. 1 and FIG. 3 shows the construction of a therapeutic walker

in fig. 2 shows the structure of the upper element and its tail.

in fig. 4 - options for connecting devices are presented

in fig. 5 - a variant of the backrest is shown

Disabled therapeutic walker FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 contain a lower element 1, on which are mounted 360-degree swivel forks of the front wheels 4 and front wheels 3, fixed with fasteners 6, lugs 21 of the brake cable 20. The lower element is connected to the vertical element 2, on which the lugs of the brake cable 21 are mounted, the steering wheel 8 containing the brake handle 19, to which one of the ends of the brake cable is attached. The vertical element 2 is connected to the upper element 5. The upper element 5 is connected by the shank fastener 31 to the shank 30 itself, equipped with a pivot stop 22, an adjusting screw 24, a movable stopper 23, a hinge 26, a counterpart of the stop 25, a clamp of a sub-seat pipe 27, a sub-seat pipe 29 with mounted thereon a saddle 11. The principle of operation is described below in FIG. 2. The selected vertical position of the seat tube 29 is fixed by the fastener 28 of FIG. 2 mounted on the seat tube clamp 27 of FIG. 1. The horizontal position of the saddle 11 on the seat tube is fixed using a standard bicycle saddle clamp. The upper element is articulated with the docking element 10 and the stiffening reinforcement 15. The docking element 10 is equipped with a chest rest stop 14, which fixes the position of the chest rest shank with a hinge 13 that allows adjustment of the reach and angular position of the chest rest 12, which is indicated by arrows on fig. 1. The stopper of the chest support is available in other standard solutions. The chest support is equipped with a length-adjustable patient support strap 32 of FIG. 3. The docking element 10 is articulated with the support element 7. On the support element 7 are mounted rear wheels 9, secured by fasteners 6, a brake 16 with an articulated brake fastener 17, due to which the brake 16 is equipped with rotational movements, as shown in FIG. 1 arrow. Attached to the brake is the second end of the brake cable 20 and the release spring 18 connected to the lower element 1. This design of the brake is one of its examples. It is possible to install drum or disc brakes of the bicycle type, or other designs behind the rear wheels. The brake lever 19, for example, can have two operating positions: the braking mode and the parking brake.

The zones "P" of FIG. 1, In these areas are located the connecting devices shown below in FIG. 4. It is understood that the zones can change their position depending on the design of the product.

FIG. 2 shows the upper element 5, which is connected by the shank fastener 31 to the shank 30 itself, equipped with a rotary stop 22, an adjusting screw 24, a movable stopper 23, a hinge 26, a counterpart of the stop 25, a clamp of a support pipe 27, a support pipe 29 with a saddle mounted on it 11. Lifting up the movable stop 23, release the rotary stop 22 and rotate it around the axis of the shank 30 and remove the adjusting screw 24 from contact with the counterpart of the stop 25. View A-A Fig. 2., floor. A - details of pos. 24 and 25 are in contact, Pol. B - not in contact. Due to this, the shank of the upper tube, together with the seat tube and the seat, go down and take a position close to perpendicular to the ground. Performing the operation in the reverse order, the saddle returns to its previous position. The adjusting screw 24 can adjust the alignment of the axes of the upper element 5 and the shank 30, which allows additional adjustment of the saddle 11. This mechanism is created in order to be able to bring a patient with various physical limitations to the therapeutic walker, not to force the latter, for example, raise a leg to sit in the saddle, and bring the saddle itself under the patient from the bottom up. In cases where the patient is able to move without support on the saddle, it is advisable to dismantle a part of the upper element by unscrewing the shank fasteners 31 and removing parts of the structure that may interfere with the patient's movement on their own legs without using additional supports.

FIG. 4 shows various examples of the design of connecting devices and telescopic elements. For example, in FIG. 4 P1 shows a widely used connecting device made in the form of a button 33 and a spring of a button 34. An example of telescopic use of this device are crutches, walking sticks. FIG. 4 P2 shows an example of a device made in the form of inserts 36 and 37, which are inserted into parts, for example, of the lower element 1 and fixed with fasteners 28. Connection / disassembly is achieved by unscrewing the fasteners of the connecting device 35. Another example is shown in FIG. 4 P3. The connecting device is made in the form of a connecting sleeve 38 equipped with fasteners 28. The zones shown in FIG. 1 and marked with the letter "P" are shown as an example, and it is advisable to use them in the case of a collapsible version of a therapeutic walker for people with disabilities, which may be required for a more convenient way of transporting and storing them. This will not change the functionality of the walker.

All shown in FIG. The 4 connectors are simple and reliable. It is possible to use other well-known solutions made in the form of various dovetail connectors, clamps, pin connections, collapsible hinges, with and without stoppers, etc.

FIG. 5 shows a backrest. The shank of the backrest 45 is inserted into the seat tube 29. The position selected in the horizontal direction is fixed with the fastener through the fastener hole 40, which can be threaded, and the fastener itself enters the groove 39. The position of the backrest support 42 is adjusted in the vertical direction thanks to the clamp backrest posts 41 equipped with fasteners 28. The angular position of the backrest 44 is adjusted by a hinge with a stop post 43. Such hinges are widely known, for example, as the stem of a bicycle. The back can have an anatomical shape, be equipped with soft pads, as well as adjustable in length and equipped with elastic elements, the patient's strap.

The therapeutic walker has been tested and generated a lot of interest in the medical community.

Claims (10)

1. Therapeutic walkers for the treatment and rehabilitation of the musculoskeletal system, set in motion by pushing the patient off the ground with their feet, including a frame consisting of a lower element, a vertical stand and a saddle, adjustable in height, wheels, wheel forks equipped with bearings installed on it, bushings, fasteners mounted on the lower element, characterized in that the therapeutic walker consists of a lower element connected to a supporting element equipped with rear wheels, from a vertical rack containing a rudder and connecting the upper and lower elements, from a docking element equipped with an adjustable reach and a corner of the support for the chest and connecting the upper and the supporting elements, from the upper element, from the shank of the upper element containing a rotary stop with a stopper, a hinge, fasteners, a seat tube with an adjustable saddle, while the walkers themselves are made with the possibility of approaching the patient to the saddle between the rear wheels. 2. Therapeutic walker according to claim 1, characterized in that the breast support is additionally equipped with a wearer's support belt, adjustable in length and equipped with elastic elements. 3. Therapeutic walker according to claim 1, characterized in that the breast support has an anatomical shape and is additionally provided with soft pads. 4. Therapeutic walker according to claim 1, characterized in that the supporting and docking elements are telescopic. 5. Therapeutic walker according to claim 1, characterized in that the seat tube is equipped with a back support adjustable for reach, height, horizontal and angular position. 6. Therapeutic walker according to claim 1, characterized in that the vertical stand, the upper, lower, docking and supporting elements are made composite. 7. Therapeutic walker according to claim 1, characterized in that the chest support is equipped with devices for adjusting the reach and angular position. 8. Therapeutic walker according to claim 1, characterized in that the wheels are additionally equipped with brakes. 9. Therapeutic walker according to claim 1, characterized in that the docking element is equipped with a stiffener. 10. Therapeutic walker according to claim 1, characterized in that the vertical stand, docking, supporting and lower elements are additionally equipped with connecting devices.

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