US3524456A

US3524456A - Walking aid

Info

Publication number: US3524456A
Application number: US800570A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leroy Dixon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1969-02-19
Filing date: 1969-02-19
Publication date: 1970-08-18
Anticipated expiration: 1987-08-18

Description

United States Patent 1,802,323 4/1931 Aulmann 135/45 2,189,429 2/1940 Lundquist 135/49 2,785,731 3/1957 Welsh 135/45(A)UX 2,889,842 6/1959 Mc Cauley 135/45 3,421,529 1/1969 Vestal 135/45(A)UX FOREIGN PATENTS 675,275 7/1952 Great Britain 135/49 Primary Examiner Peter M. Caun Allomey- Peter L. Tailer ABSTRACT: A walking aid in the form of a single handheld support member has a horizontal handle from the ends of which two diverging shafts extend downward to front and rear inverted transverse T" shaped feet having inner and outer ends. The shafts have a single brace extending between their lower portions and the shafts bend laterally inward so that the handle is disposed above the inner ends of the feet.

Patented Aug. 18, 1970 INVENTOR LEROY DIXON ATTORNEY WALKING AID BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Injured, crippled, arthritic, and many other persons who vide sufficiently sure and positive support while helping a user 1 to walk. This invention provides a superior walking aid.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hand-held walking aid has a substantially horizontal handle from the ends of which two diverging shafts extend l5 clamp the feet to the shafts. The lower portions of the shafts are joined by a a single horizontal brace. The shafts are bent toward a user so that the handle is disposed at least over the inner ends of the T" shaped feet. With this particular simple construction, the walking aid of my invention will stand alone on a floor to enable a user to completely free his hands for other purposes. The walking aid is light, safe, rugged, provides exceptionally good support, and is not costly to manufacture. When walking, this walking aid may pivot or rock on the front and rear feet which provide a wide and good support even when so used in motion. Many other advantages and features of invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE I is a front view of a walking aid according to my invention shown being used by a person drawn in phantom lines;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of a walking aid for use by a tall person;

FIGURE 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of a broken away shank of a foot of my walking aid;

FIGURE 5 is a side view of the handle of the walking aid with the shafts broken away; and

FIGURE 6 is a side view of a walking aid for a shorter per- Son.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The hand held walking aid of my invention, as shown in FIGURES 1, s, and 6, has a handle 10 which is preferably m tegrally formed by molding it in one piece from a suitable plastic. Handle 10 is disposed substantially horizontally and may have the finger grips ll formed on its underside. The

ends

12 and 13 of handle 10 curve smoothly downward to have the upper ends of the

tubular shafts

14 and 15 cemented,

molded in place, or otherwise fixed therein.

A single substantially horizontal brace 16 extends between the lower portions of the shafts l4 and 15. Brace 16 may be tubular and fixed in place by means of an internal tie-rod (not shown) having the

nuts

17 and 18 screwed on its ends. Brace 16 may also be welded or otherwise secured.

Feet

19 and 20 are formed of a suitable high impact plastic as inverted T" shapes each of which has an upward extending shank 21 which is hollow to slidably receive the lower ends of the shafts l4 and 15. Each shank 21 has threads 22 formed on it and containsslits 23 as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. A compression collar 25 screwed down over threads 22 clamps a

shaft

14 or 15 in a shank 21. Each

foot

19 or 20 has a lower cylindrical transverse member 26 having inner and

outer ends

27 and 28. These

ends

27 and 28 are preferably covered by short lengths of rubber tubing to form the

non-skid collars

29 and 30. The

collars

29 and 30 should fit the

ends

27 and 28 tightly so the will not work loose or freely rotate. However, as the collars 2 and 30 wear flat from contact with the ground,

0 they may be rotated with pliers or the like to provide unworn downward facing non-skid surfaces.

A most important feature of this invention is shown in FIGURE 1. The

shafts

14 and 15 are bent inward just above brace 16 to incline inward toward a user so that, when

feet

19 and 20 are on a level surface, handle 10 is disposed at least over or beyond the tips of inner ends 27. This tends to prevent the foot of a user from contacting the inner tips 27 and it provides an exceptionally good lateral buttressing support. This construction also allows this walking aid to be self-standing, despite its compact form, as its center of gravity is located well inside the inner tips 27. The wide linear ground contact of the feet 20 tends to span irregularities to provide solid support on all types of surfaces.

Most users of walking aids tend to pitch forward. This may be corrected with this invention by lowering and extending the front foot 19 on shaft 14 to incline the entire walking aid rearwardly as shown in FIGURE 6. If foot 19 has shaft 14 pulled upward in it, these elements may be locked in any desired position by tightening collar 25. If desired, short lengths of tubing can be placed under raised ends of

shafts

14 and 15 to prevent their being forced down in the shanks 21.

The compression collars 2S and the shanks 21 allow for a height adjustment of the walking aid; however, as shown in FIGURE 2, a walking aid may be made with longer shafts 14' and 15' for taller people in suitable increments of height.

While this invention has been described and shown in the best form known to me, it will nevertheless be understood that this is purely exemplary and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Iclaim:

1. A walking aid in the form of a single hand-held support member comprising, in combination, a substantially horizontal handle, diverging shafts extending downward from said handle, a brace extending between lower portions of said shafts, and laterally extending inverted T shaped feet at the bottom of said shafts, said feet having inner and outer ends, said shafts being inclined inward toward a user so that said handle is disposed at least over the inner ends of said feet.

2. The combination according to Claim 1 wherein said shafts extend vertically upward from said feet and bend inward above said brace to incline toward a user.

3. The combination according to Claim 1 wherein said T" shaped feet have upwardly extending shanks, means securing said shafts in said shanks, and a lower transverse cylindrical member at the bottom of said shanks forming said inner and outer ends of said feet.

4. The combination according to Claim 3 wherein said shanks contain splits and wherein said means securing said shafts within said shanks is a compression collar screwed about the upper end of each of said shanks to adjustably secure a shaft within each of said shanks.

5. The combination according to Claim 3 with the addition of tubular non-skid collars of resilient, high friction material forced over the inner and outer ends of said feet.