US20120048317A1

US20120048317A1 - Walking stick

Info

Publication number: US20120048317A1
Application number: US13/078,417
Authority: US
Inventors: Bo-Chun Chiang; Jhih-Wun Wu; Wan-Shan TSAI; Yung-Tsan Jou
Original assignee: Chung Yuan Christian University
Current assignee: Chung Yuan Christian University
Priority date: 2010-08-31
Filing date: 2011-04-01
Publication date: 2012-03-01
Also published as: TWM403922U

Abstract

A walking stick includes a handle, a pole connected to the handle and having an accommodation portion, and a support module received in the accommodation portion. The support module is received in the accommodation portion, and includes a connecting portion having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side; a plurality of first support legs with one end pivoted to the first side; a plurality of second support legs with one end pivoted to the second side; and a support member connected to the other end of the second support legs.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a) on Patent Application No. 99216855 filed in Taiwan, R.O.C. on Aug. 31, 2010, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a walking stick, and more particularly to a walking stick with complex functions.
2. Related Art
A walking stick is a good auxiliary tool for a walker. A great variety of walking sticks are designed for the elderly or the physically challenged, and increasingly more functions are added to the walking stick.
A major function of the walking stick is to provide support to a user, alleviate the pressure suffered by the user's legs while walking. Furthermore, the blind may on a walking stick to assist safe navigation of their environment and walk alone safely.
Currently, a conventional walking stick is provided with support, illumination, and alert functions, but deficiencies still exist. According to Taiwan R.O.C. Patent Publication No. 54428, a walking stick rest is disclosed, which combines functions of a walking stick and a rest, to give support and rest to the user while walking. However, since the volume and the mass of the stick are not light and portable, the disclosed stick is not suitable to be used as a walking stick, as shown in FIG. 1. Furthermore, according to a multi-function walking stick disclosed in Taiwan R.O.C. Patent Publication No. M318338, the walking stick is provided with MP3 playing, radio listening, sound recoding, and illumination functions, but the power supply consists of rechargeable batteries, and if the electrical energy of the rechargeable batteries is used up and they cannot be recharged, the functions listed previously cannot be used.
As described above, there is an urgent need for the related industries and the users to develop a walking stick which is light and portable, provided with a rest function, and which does not have power supply problems.

SUMMARY

In view of the above, the present invention is directed to a walking stick, which includes a handle, a pole connected to the handle and having an accommodation portion, and a support module received in the accommodation portion. The support module is received in the accommodation portion, and includes a connecting portion having a first side and a second side opposite to the first end; a plurality of first support legs with one end pivoted to the first side; a plurality of second support legs with one end pivoted to the second side; and a support member connected to the other end of the second support legs.
The walking stick of the present invention has the following advantages. (a) The walking stick has a support module, and the user may separate the support module to rest thereon, and then the user may determine whether to bring the support module received in the accommodation portion of the walking stick as they please. (b) An overall structure of the walking stick is simple and may be easily disassembled, so that the user may easily use and shelter the walking stick. (c) The environmental friendly solar battery is employed to supply power, overcoming the problems of an exhausted electric power and environmental pollution. (d) The walking stick has a replaceable non-slip member, so that even if the non-slip member is worn out, only the non-slip member needs to be replaced, rather than the entire walking stick.
The detailed features and advantages of the present invention will be described in detail in the following embodiments. Those skilled in the arts can easily understand and implement the content of the present invention. Furthermore, the relative objectives and advantages of the present invention are apparent to those skilled in the arts with reference to the content disclosed in the specification, claims, and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below for illustration only, and thus not limitative of the present invention wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic outside view of a walking stick in the prior art;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic outside views of a walking stick according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2C and 2D are schematic outside views of a support module according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 2E and 2F are exploded schematic outside views of the walking stick according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic outside views of the walking stick according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in which a sliding structure is used to reduce a volume of the walking stick;

FIG. 4A is a schematic outside view of a walking stick according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the walking stick has an indicator element;

FIG. 4B is a schematic outside view of the walking stick according to the second embodiment of the present invention, in which the walking stick has a solar battery; and

FIGS. 5A to 5B are schematic outside views of a walking stick according to a third embodiment of the present invention, in which the walking stick has a non-slip member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIGS. 2A and 2B, a walking stick 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention mainly includes a handle 11, a pole 13, and a support module 15.
The handle 11 is provided to be held by a user hand, and the handle 11 may be made from a variety of materials, such as wood, metal or plastic. Moreover, a surface of the handle 11 has a soft cladding 111, which alleviates user discomfort caused by lengthy use friction against the hand. A material of the cladding 111 is preferably cotton, leather or other soft materials. The materials of the handle 11 and the soft cladding 111 are only provided as examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
The pole 13 has a first portion 131, a second portion 133, and an accommodation portion 135. The first portion 131 and second portion 133 are connected, and the first portion 131 is connected to the handle 11. The first portion 131 and the second portion 133 are preferable hollow longitudinal pipes, and the respective hollow longitudinal pipe contains an accommodation portion 135.
The support module 15 is received in the accommodation portion 135, and the support module 15 is provided for the user to rest thereon, and mainly includes a connecting portion 151, a plurality of first support legs 153, a plurality of second support legs 155, and a support member 157, as shown in FIGS. 2C and 2D.
The connecting portion 151 has a first side 15 a and a second side 15 b opposite to the first side 15 a.
The plurality of first support legs 153 has a first end 153 a and a second end 153 b opposite to the first end 153 a, and the first end 153 a is pivoted to the first side 15 a, and the second end 153 b preferably has a protective sheath 1531, to prevent the first support legs 153 from being worn out.
The plurality of second support legs 155 has a third end 155 a and a fourth end 155 b opposite to the third end 155 a, and the third end 155 a is pivoted to the second side 15 b. The first support legs 153 and the second support legs 155 are preferably column shaped, and may be made of light, thin, and firm alloy material; the material is only illustrated for purpose of example, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
The support member 157 is connected to and fixed to the fourth end 155 b of the second support legs 155. A material of the support member 157 is preferably fabric or synthetic fiber etc., but the material is only illustrated for purpose of example, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
The support module 15 is usually received in the accommodation portion 135 of the pole 13, and in use, the support module 15 is taken out from the accommodation portion 135. The first support legs 153 are extended radially in divergence from the first side 15 a and prop against the ground with the second end 153 b. The second support legs 155 are extended radially in divergence from the second side 15 b and drive the support member 157 to stretch and unfold for the user to rest thereon.
In an example of the embodiment, the first portion 131 has a first positioning member 1311, and the second portion has a second positioning member 1331. The second positioning member 1331 is joined with the first positioning member 1311 to position the first portion 131 and the second portion 133. The first positioning member 1311 and second positioning member 1331 preferably have an external screw thread and an internal screw thread, so that the first portion 131 and the second portion 133 may be screw locked to function positioning. As described above, the user may disassemble the first portion 131 and the second portion 133 to remove the support module, as shown in FIGS. 2E and 2F.
In another example of the embodiment, the first portion 131 and the second portion 133 are longitudinal pipes, and a pipe diameter of the first portion 131 is greater than that of the second portion 133. The pole 13 further has a sliding structure 137 disposed between the first portion 131 and the second portion 133. The first portion 131 and the second portion 133 are movable relative to each other through the sliding structure 137, and the second portion 133 may be received in the first portion 131, and the second portion 133 has an urging member 138 at a bottom thereof, for buckling one end of the sliding structure 137. Therefore, the user may receive the second portion 133 in the first portion 131 to reduce the volume of the walking stick 1, so that the user may shelter the walking stick, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
Please refer to FIG. 4A, a walking stick 1 according to a second embodiment of the present invention mainly includes a handle 11, a pole 13, and a support module 15 in the first embodiment, so the details will not be repeated here. However, the walking stick 1 according to this embodiment further has an indicator element 17 and a control element 19.
The indicator element 17 mainly has a light-emitting element 171 and an alert element 173. The light-emitting element 171 is used for generating a light, and preferably includes multicolor light emitting diodes (LEDs), and the indicator element 17 can provide an illumination or indication function when being used at night, for indicating a position of the walking stick for the user. The alert element 173 is used for outputting a sound effect, so that when encountering dangers the user may use the alert element 173 of the walking stick 1 to emit a sound effect to request help, and thus receive help from other people. The functions and the aspects of the indicator element 17 are only illustrated for the purpose of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
The control element 19 controls the indicator element 17 to be turned on or turned off, and the user may use the control element 19 to control the indicator element 17, thereby acquiring the expected functions. The control element 19 may be triggered by an external force or a sound signal. The control element 19 may have a touch element (not shown), which is preferably a button to be pressed to drive the control element 19, thereby further controlling the indicator element 17. Moreover, the above control element 19 may also have a sound command element (not shown), and the sound command element has a sensing unit (not shown), which may sense a sound signal to drive the control element 19, thereby further controlling the indicator element 17.
Furthermore, the first portion 13 has a top portion 131 a adjacent to the handle 11, and the portion 131 a has a plurality of bump portions 132 on its surface. When the user disassembles the first portion 131 and the second portion 133, the user hand holds the bump portions 132 to increase friction between the hand and the first portion 131, so that the user may apply a force to disassemble the walking stick.
In an example of the embodiment, the walking stick 1 further has a power supply module 12, for supplying electric power to the indicator element 17, and the power supply module 12 is preferably a primary battery, a secondary battery, or a self-powered battery.
Moreover, the power supply module 12 is preferably a solar battery, and the solar battery has an electrical storage structure for storing the electric power generated by the solar battery, so that at night, the power supply module 12 may still continuously supply the electric power to the indicator element 17. The solar battery and the electrical storage structure are preferably disposed in the handle 11, as shown in FIG. 4B, in which a position of the power supply module 12 is only illustrated for example and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the solar battery may be an organic thin-film solar battery, a dye sensitized solar battery, or an inorganic solar battery. The category of the solar battery is only illustrated for example and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
Please refer to FIGS. 5A and 5B, a walking stick 1 according to a third embodiment of the present invention is similar to that of the first embodiment and the second embodiment, except that the walking stick 1 according to the third embodiment further has a non-slip member 14.
The non-slip member 14 is sleeved on the bottom of the second portion 133, for rubbing against the ground, and a major function of the walking stick 1 is to assist supporting the user, so the non-slip member 14 is used to prevent slippery of the user caused by the insufficient friction between the walking stick 1 and the ground. Furthermore, the non-slip member 14 according to this embodiment is replaceable. It is a waste if the walking stick 1 is discarded due to the wearing out of the non-slip member 14, so when the non-slip member 14 of the walking stick 1 is worn out after a long term of use it may be replaced by another non-slip member 14, which is not only easy and convenient, but is also economical. Furthermore, the non-slip member 14 preferably has a plurality of bumps 141 to increase the friction coefficient.
According to the above description, the walking stick according to the present invention has the following advantages.
(a) The walking stick has a support module, and the user may separate the support module to rest thereon, and then determine whether to bring the support module received in the accommodation portion of the walking stick as they please.
(b) An overall structure of the walking stick is simple and may be easily disassembled, so that the user may easily use and shelter the walking stick.
(c) The environmental friendly solar battery is employed to supply power, so the problems of an exhausted electric power and environmental pollution are overcome.
(d) The walking stick has a replaceable non-slip member, so that even if the non-slip member is worn out only the non-slip member is replaced without replacing the entire walking stick.
While the present invention has been described by the way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention need not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A walking stick, comprising:

a handle;

a pole, connected to the handle, and comprising an accommodation portion; and

a support module, received in the accommodation portion, and comprising:

a connecting portion, comprising a first side and a second side opposite to the first side;

a plurality of first support legs, pivoted to the first side;

a plurality of second support legs, pivoted to the second side; and

a support member, connected to the other end of the second support legs.

2. The walking stick according to claim 1, wherein a first portion comprises a first positioning member; a second portion comprises a second positioning member, and the second positioning member is joined with the first positioning member to position the first portion and the second portion.

3. The walking stick according to claim 1, further comprising an indicator element, disposed on the handle and comprising:

a light-emitting element, for generating a light; and

an alert element, for outputting a sound effect.

4. The walking stick according to claim 3, wherein the light-emitting element comprises a light emitting diode (LED).

5. The walking stick according to claim 3, further comprising a control element, for controlling the indicator element to be turned on or turned off

6. The walking stick according to claim 3, further comprising a power supply module, for supplying electric power to the indicator element, wherein the power supply module comprises a primary battery, a secondary battery, or a self-powered battery.

7. The walking stick according to claim 6, wherein the power supply module further comprises a solar battery, and the solar battery comprises an electrical storage structure disposed on the handle, for storing electric energy.

8. The walking stick according to claim 7, wherein the solar battery is an organic thin-film solar battery, a dye sensitized solar battery, or an inorganic solar battery.

9. The walking stick according to claim 1, further comprising a non-slip member disposed on the second portion, for rubbing against a ground surface.

10. The walking stick according to claim 1, further comprising a soft cladding, disposed on a surface of the handle.

11. The walking stick according to claim 5, wherein the control element comprises a sensing unit, for sensing a sound signal and then driving the control element.