US3529819A - Training device for aiding infants to walk - Google Patents

Description

J. L. BLANK 3,529,819

T AINING DEVICE FOR AIDING INFANTS TO WALK Sept. 22, 1970 Filed May 6, 1968 mvsu-roa: JOHN LEWIS BLANK BY ATTYS United States Patent 3,529,819 TRAINING DEVICE FOR AIDING INFANTS TO WALK John L. Blank, 402 S. State Road, Upper Darby, Pa. 19082 Filed May 6, 1968, Ser. No. 726,924 Int. Cl. A61h 3/00 U.S. Cl. 272-70 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A training device for use by adults in aiding infants to walk consisting of an elongated body member having an axle supporting wheels at one end so that the device may be actuated along a walking surface, a hand grip member for gripping by the adult to support the device and a hand rail within easy reach of an average sized infant. The body member is connected to the axle in such a manner to allow limited pivotal movement so that it may be selectively positioned at an angle offset from a plane perpendicular to the walking surface.

The present invention relates to a device for use in training infants to walk.

The age at which infants are able to walk by themselves varies considerably and would fall generally in an age range between eight months and two years. In most instances the infant has the necessary body development to walk at a relatively early age and the main drawback or deterrent is in the infant achieving the proper sense of balance.

In order to develop the balance required for an infant to walk, oftentimes the parent walks behind the child supporting the hands of the child with the arms extended above its head. This, of course, is extremely tedious and tiresome to the parent who must stoop over the child and, furthermore, it has been found that in most cases the parent is supporting too much of the weight of the child with the result that the infant is simply being propelled along by the parent and is not developing balance. Additionally, because of the fact that it is tiresome, oftentimes the parent can only endure it for a relatively short period of time and, consequently, these short periods are not sufficient to satisfy the infant or be of a sufficient duration to make substantial progress.

Various walking devices or aids are presently in use. One such device is what might be commonly termed a walker and comprises a frame structure with four depending legs on which are mounted swivel rollers and a seat made of a flexible material suspended from the frame having two leg openings through which the childs legs protrude to engage the walking surface. In these devices the infant sits in the seat portion and simply pushes the device in much the same fashion as in a toy automobile or the like. As a practical matter with this type. of device, a child will learn to walk over a comparatively long period of time, the shortcoming being that again the child cannot develop the proper sense of balance for this type of walking aid. Furthermore, in these walkers there is no control over direction of movement and, consequently, in some cases the infant may bump into an end table or the like, causing an item such as a lamp on the table to fall. This obviously presents a risk of injury to the infant. Moreover, the walkers are extremely uncomfortable when in use and in some instances cause chafing or irritation to the sensitive skin of the infant.

There are still other walking devices which comprise a frame structure including a handle or the like and having at least a three point support on the walking surface. The shortcoming of these devicesis that the infant 3,529,819 Patented Sept. 22, 1970 tends to lean over the device and the device does not require the infant to assume the correct posture or weight distribution and balance for learning to walk.

With the foregoing in mind, an object of the present invention is to provide a device for training infants to walk at a relatively early age and is constructed so that the child almost immediately develops a good sense of balance. Furthermore, the device referred to as a toddlers aid is characterised by novel features of construction and arrangement to achieve the above end and is simple to use by the parent so that it does not become a boring or tiresome task. To this end the walking device of the present invention comprises basically an elongated body member which in the form illustrated is an elongated tubular rod which mounts at one end an axle supporting wheels and has at a convenient height to the child a crossbar attached thereto which the infant can grip and support himself while he is walking. A handle member is provided at the opposite end of the tubular body above the crossbar which may be selectively adjusted for height to accommodate the parent so that the parent does not have to stoop over when the device is in use. In the present instance the tubular body member is pivotally mounted to the axle so that it may be offset to one side or the other of a plane transverse to the axis of the axle or the Walking surface and the crossbar is selectively adjustable so that in the offset position of the tubular body the crossbar may be disposed at a position parallel to the walking surface. By this arrangement the path of the infant is offset from the path of the parent to eliminate the possibility of the parent bumping into the child. Thus, the present invention provides a device for use in training infants to walk with a controlled environment due to adult participation whereby the risk of injury to the child is eliminated.

These and other objects of the present invention and various features and details of the construction and operation thereof are hereinafter more fully set forth with references to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a Walking device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view showing the tubular body member offset to one side;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the device;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view taken on lines 4-4 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are enlarged sectional views taken on lines 5-5 of FIG. 4 and 6-6 of FIG. 1 respectively.

Referring now to the drawing and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, there is illustrated a device for training infants to walk in accordance with the present invention which is generally designated by the numeral 10.

The device comprises a generally elongated body member 12, in the present instance, a tubular rod which may be made of metal or plastic having a handle 14 projecting from one end thereof and mounting a pivotally mounted axle 16 at its opposite end. As illustrated in FIG. 4 the axle 16 mounts a pair of wheels 30- at opposite axial ends thereof which are rotatably supported on the outer terminal ends of the axle by means of conventional frictiongrip washers 32, 32 and speed nuts 34, 34 respectively. The handle 14 as best illustrated includes a stem portion 18 which telescopically engages in the upper end of the tubular body 12 and a hand grip portion 20 angularly offset relative to the stem 18. The handle is adjustable relative to the tubular body 12 and to this end the body is provided with a series of openings 22 which are axially spaced therein. The stem 18 includes a spring biased button 24 engageable in a selected opening in the member 12 to lock the handle in a predetermined desired set position.

In the present instance the tubular body 12 is adapted for selected pivotal positioning relative to the axle and to a plane XX perpendicular to the walking surface. To this end the tubular body is provided at its lower end with axially aligned enlarged elongated openings 40, the major axis of which are greater than the diameter of the axle 16 and a plug 42 of a resilient material such as rubber having an opening 43 therein through which the axle extends is mounted in the lower end of the tubular body 12. The opening 43 for the axle is cylindrical and of a size to snugly fit the axle so that the tubular body normally stands erect in the plane XX as shown by the broken line position of FIG. 4. The plug 42 is retained in position by a pair of cap members 44 secured in abutting relation against opposite axial ends of the plug by deforming or peening of the tubular body as at 46 toform retaining detents. The tubular body 12 is centered relative to the axle by means of a pair of rubber grommets 50'. By this arrangement the tubular body may be disposed at a predetermined angle relative to the transverse plane XX on either side thereof as desired by the parent trainer as explained in more detail hereinafter.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the Walking device has a hand rail 54 which the infant grips on either side of the tubular body 12. The position of the hand rail 54 is selectively adjustable so that it may be disposed at a position horizontal to the walking surface when the tubular body 12 is angularly offset relative to the plane XX. To this end, in the present instance the hand rail 54 is mounted on a ball-like member 59 having a serrated face 60 and a stub shaft 6 2 projecting from the center of the face 60 which has a threaded outer end to mount a wing nut 64 so that the serrated face 60 of the ball member 61 may be tightened against an adjusting clamp 66 having an arcuate contoured face conforming to the tubular body member and a serrated face 70 which meshes with the serrated face of the member 59 to secure the hand rail 54 in a predetermined desired angular position relative to the tubular body 12. It will be noted at 68 that a rectangular extension of the member 66 is received in a complementary slot formed in the tubular body 12 to further insure any relative displacement therebetween.

Considering now the operation of the walking device and assuming that the parent-trainer is right handed, then the parts as illustrated in the drawings are in the correct position, that is, the tubular body 12 is offset to one side of the plane XX so that the parent is walking in a line offset from the walking line of the infant and, therefore, does not stumble into the infant or inadvertently throw him off stride. Also, as indicated before, the height of the handle is adjusted by simply depressing the button 24 and selecting the desired height and re-engaging it in one of the openings 22. Now the infant simply grasps the hand rail 54 on either side of the tubular body and himself pushes the device forwardly, the parent simply exerting a light holding grip to keep the device in the position shown in FIG. 1. It has been found that by this training technique and use of this device, the infant quickly develops the desired and necessary balance for proper walking at a relatively early age. Furthermore, there is very little strain on the adult and, consequently, the parent does not become tired quickly and thus the device can be used for an extended period of time affording the infant the necessary time to practice. Moreover, the device of 5 In the case of a left handed parent, the pivotal connection of the tubular shaft 12 to the axle 16 and the resilient plug 42 permits the tubular body 12 to be very easily pivoted on the opposite side of the plane XX. In this event the bar 54 is angularly adjusted by threading the wing nut 64 outwardly, rotating the ball adjustment member 59 and then retightening the nut so that the serrated faces mesh and lock the bar in a new position parallel to the walking surface.

While the particular embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described herein, it is not intended to limit the invention, and changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A device for use in training infants to walk comprising an elongated body member, an axle mounted at one end of the body member and a handle projecting from the opposite end of said body member, wheels rotatably mounted at opposite ends of the axle to support the device for movement along a walking surface, a hand grip member mounted on the body member at a point spaced upwardly from the lower end thereof and within easy reach of an average sized infant, mounting means for said hand grip member whereby said hand grip member may be pivoted to a selected position and securely fastened in said position, said body member being connected to the axle for limited pivotal movement relative thereto so that it may be selectively positioned at an angle offset from a plane perpendicular to the walking surface.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said mounting means includes a ball-like member supporting said hand grip member, said ball-like member having a serrated face and a stub shaft threaded at its outer end engageable through an opening in said body member and an adjusting clamp formed to engage the body member in a manner preventing relative movement and having a serrated face which meshes with the serrated face of said ball-like member to secure the hand grip member in a predetermined desired position relative to the body member.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means connecting the body member for a limited pivotal movement relative to the axle includes a plug of resilient material mounted in the lower end of the body member having an opening therethrough of a size to snugly fit the axle, said body member having a pair of axially aligned enlarged openings through which the axle projects.

4. A device as claimed in claim 3 including a pair of grommets mounted on said axle for centering the body member relative to the axle.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said handle is selectively adjustable relative to said body member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/ 1920 Bowden 272-70 10/1949 Jackson 28047.24

FOREIGN PATENTS 942,855 11/1963 Great Britain.

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