WO2000078264A1

WO2000078264A1 - Wheeled support

Info

Publication number: WO2000078264A1
Application number: PCT/NL2000/000438
Authority: WO
Inventors: Nicolaas Gerardus Konijn; Joannes Stefanus Van 't Schip
Original assignee: Komepro Bergen B.V.
Priority date: 1999-06-23
Filing date: 2000-06-22
Publication date: 2000-12-28
Also published as: NL1012413C2; TW464490B

Abstract

A wheeled support comprising a frame with wheels, forearm supports attached to the frame, and a brake mechanism comprising at least one control member pivotingly fastened to the frame, a brake intermating with a wheel, and a brake cable connecting the control member with the brake. The control member consists of an essentially vertical operating handle positioned substantially in front of a forearm support, whose lower end can be swivelled transversely with respect to the wheeled support's direction of movement about a pivot extending substantially horizontally in the direction of said direction of movement. Possibly the operating handle is provided with and intermating with a locking mechanism for locking the brake mechanism into a braking mechanism.

Description

Wheeled support

The invention relates to a wheeled support comprising a frame with wheels, forearm supports attached to the frame, and a brake mechanism comprising at least one control member pivotingly fastened to the frame, a brake intermating with a wheel, and a brake cable connecting the control member with the brake.

Such a wheeled support is intended to keep people, whose motor functions are diminishing, as mobile as possible. With forearms resting on the forearm supports, a user can employ the wheeled support as movable support . When during standstill it is necessary to guarantee an extremely stable positioning of the wheeled support, the brake mechanism is operated. With the prior art wheeled support the control member pertaining to the brake mechanism comprises a conventional brake handle such as is known with bicycles. Said brake handle is positioned such that the user can operate it while the forearms remain resting on the forearm supports. For users of the wheeled support whose physical abilities are to a certain extent impaired, in particular with elderly, rheumatic persons, operating the conventional brake mechanism with brake handle is problematic. The operation of the brake handle requires making a squeezing movement with the hand or hands, which movement may be very difficult, especially for rheumatic persons (lacking strength, resulting pain) .

The object of the invention is to develop a wheeled support of the above-mentioned kind, whereby said disadvantages are removed in a simple yet effective manner.

To this end the wheeled support according to the invention is characterized in that the control member consists of an essentially vertical operating handle posi- tioned substantially in front of a forearm support, whose lower end can be swivelled transversely with respect to the wheeled support's direction of movement about a pivot extending substantially horizontally in the direction of said direction of movement. In accordance with the invention the control member of the brake mechanism no longer consists of a conventional brake handle (which turns about a pivot extending basically transversely to the wheeled support's direction of movement) , but of the said vertical operating handle. To activate the brake mechanism it is only necessary to rotate the operating handle sideways about its pivot, that is to say at right angles to the wheeled support's movement of direction. The user of the wheeled support resting with his forearms on the forearm supports can make the operating handle rotate simply by moving his arms slightly sideways. There is extremely little strength required to do this and it will pose few problems even for elderly, rheumatic persons. The person using the wheeled support according to the invention will not be required to make a squeezing movement with the hands in order to operate the brake mechanism. Making a squeezing movement with the hands is for such a person often painful or even impossible .

Another problem associated with the conventional brake mechanism according to the prior art that is provided with a brake handle is that in order to sustain the steady braking position of the wheeled support, the brake handle has to be kept squeezed continuously, which obviously causes considerable problems for the intended target group of users (the elderly and rheumatic persons) . In order to accommodate these problems also, the wheeled support is in a preferred embodiment of the invention characterized in that the operating handle is provided with and intermating with a locking mechanism for locking the brake mechanism into a braking position. After the operating handle has been rotated crosswise, the locking mechanism can come into action so that the brake remains activated without the necessity of exerting a continuous force on the operating handle. Thus by operating the operating handle once, the wheeled support is afforded a stable fixed position, leaving the user's hands in principle free for other activities. Although in the foregoing mention is made of locking the brake mechanism, a user of the wheeled support according to the invention can naturally also rotate the control lever crosswise over a small distance, generating a dosed brakeing force without activating the locking mechanism. The user may apply this kind of dosed braking, for example, for steering the wheeled support. After all, if braking is applied only to the right or left wheel, the wheeled support will correspondingly swerve to the right or left, respectively. This greatly facilitates the handling of the wheeled support.

Constructionally, such a locking mechanism may be obtained by providing the operating handle with a locking lip which, when the operating handle is in a particular rotational position, is able under spring activation, to intermate with a locking recess that is part of the frame. When the operating handle is in the the starting position the locking lip is disengaged from the locking recess; after the operating handle has been moved sideways in order to activate the brake, the locking lip enters the looking recess, whereby the locking mechanism is activated and the brake continues to be activated.

Although obviously the possibility exists of directly integrating the locking lip with the operating handle, it is proposed in accordance with another favourable embodiment of the wheeled support according to the invention that the operating handle be connected with the brake cable via a brake lever which also rotates about the pivot, that the operating handle possess a gripper which, when the operating handle is rotated in a direction to activate the brake, engages the brake lever, and the locking lip form part of the brake lever. In this embodiment of the wheeled support according to the invention, the operating handle does not engage the brake cable directly, but does so via the interposition of the brake lever. When the operating handle is rotated sideways from its starting position, the gripper will engage the brake lever, rotating it in the same direction about the pivot, thereby activating the brake cable and consequently the brake. The locking lip will engage the recess, activating the locking mechanism and keeping the brake permanently activated until the locking mechanism is disengaged. After the locking mechanism has been acti- vated, the operating handle may, if desired, be rotated back into its starting position without the brake lever rotating back also.

In this connection the possibility exists that the operating handle is provided with a spring load in or- der to return it to the starting position.

In another embodiment of the wheeled support according to the invention, the same is characterized in that by moving the operating handle forward into the wheeled support's direction of movement and against the spring load, the pivot is to a limited degree vertically movable in relation to the frame such as to disengage the locking lip from the locking recess. Moving the operating handle forward in this manner to deactivate the locking mechanism is a movement that can easily be carried out by the intended target group of users (elderly and rheumatic persons) without causing much discomfort. As a result of vertically moving the pivot, the locking lip (which is either connected directly with the operating handle or with the brake lever) is disengaged from the locking recess subsequent to which the operating handle or brake lever under the influence of the force exerted on it by the brake cable, is able to return to its starting position.

Finally an embodiment of the wheeled support according to the invention is mentioned, wherein near its top end, the operating handle is via a ball bearing connected to the frame by means of a coupling member extending substantially horizontally and parallel to the wheeled support's direction of movement. By using such a coupling member, the operating handle is connected to the frame on the one hand via said pivot and on the other hand, via the ball bearings. This results in a construction which allows said movements for the activation of the brake mechanism to be carried out in a simple and efficient manner. In particular, this makes it possible to effectively guarantee that moving the operating handle forward will result in disengaging the locking lip and the locking recess.

The invention will now be explained in more de- tail with reference to the drawings illustrating an embodiment of the wheeled support according to the invention.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 shows a wheeled support according to the invention in a side view;

Figure 2, shows the same wheeled support in a front view;

Figure 3 shows on a larger scale schematically a portion of the wheeled support depicted in Figure 1, wherein for the sake of better understanding some of the parts have been omitted; and

Figure 4 shows a front view that corresponds with Figure 3 , in which again for the sake of better understanding some of the parts have been omitted. The wheeled support illustrated in Figure 1 and

Figure 2, possesses a frame 1 having two swivelling front wheels 2 and two rear wheels 3. At the upper side of the frame 1 two forearm supports 4 are attached. The wheeled support may also be provided with a seat 5. The wheeled support is further provided with two brake mechanisms 6 which are connected (in a manner not shown) via brake cables 7, (see Figure 2) with conventional brakes that intermate with one or several of the wheels 2, 3. The brake mechanisms 6 comprise two operating handles 8 which, viewed in the wheeled support's direction of movement (in Figure 1 to the right) , are positioned in front of the respective forearm supports 4. For a detailed description of the brake mechanism 6, reference is made to Figures 3 and 4. It should be noted that in these Figures the brake mechanism depicted in Figure 2 at the right side is shown. The operating handle 8 extends essentially vertically and its lower end is able to rotate about a pivot 9 extending substantially horizontally in the direction of the wheeled support's direction of movement. The resulting rotating movement of the operating handle 8 is indicated in Figure 4 by the double arrow 10. In the vertical direction, the movement of the pivot 9 in relation to the frame 1, is limited (for example, by means of a groove (not shown) provided in the frame 1 as indicated by the double arrow 11 in Figure 3, and Figure 4. In the upward direc- tion, the pivot 9 is spring-loaded by means of a spring 12.

Near its top end, the operating handle 8 is also connected to the frame 1 via a ball bearing 14 by means of a coupling bar 13 (shown only in Figure 3) . The rotational movement (in accordance with arrow 10) of the operating handle 8 about the pivot 9 and about the movability mechanism formed by the ball bearing 14 and the coupling bar 13, takes place against the spring action of the spring 15. This spring 15 ensures that the operating handle 8 al- ways wants to return to the starting position shown in

Figure 4.

In addition, there is a brake lever 16 mounted on the pivot 9. The lower end of said brake lever 16 is provided with a flanged portion 17. The brake lever 16 is in principle freely ro- tatable in relation to the operating handle 8. The operating handle 8 is provided with a gripper 18 which, when the operating handle 8 as seen in Figure 4, is rotated to the left, will engage the brake lever 16 and same will also rotate to the left about the pivot 9, for example, into the position shown in Figure 4 as a dotted line. To the frame 1 a bracket 19 is fastened, to which a drop hanger 20 for a cable guide 21 is attached (shown in Figure 4 only) .

As Figure 4 clearly shows, a recess 22 is formed between an upper flanged portion of the bracket 19 and the drop hanger 20 fastened thereto. The function of this recess is as follows. Departing from the starting position of the operating handle 8 as shown in Figure 4, with the brakeing lever 16 in the position indicated by the con- tinuous lines, the operating handle 8 is rotated to the left. This causes the gripper 18 to push the brakeing lever 16 to the left also, until its upper flanged portion 17 reaches the recess 22. As a result of the force exerted by the spring 12, the pivot 9 will move over a short dis- tance vertically upward in the direction of arrow 11, which in turn will also move the brake lever 16 (and accordingly the operating handle 8) upward over a short distance. This causes the flange portion 17 of the brake lever 16 to enter the recess 22. In this position in which the rotation of the brake lever 16 has moved the brake cable 7 for the activation of the brake (not shown) , a reverse rotation of the brake lever 16, in Figure 4 to the right, is not possible due to the fact that the flange portion 17 of the brake lever 16 is arrested against the upper portion of the bracket 19. When the operating handle 8 is released and under the influence of the spring 15 the same returns to its starting position as shown in Figure 4, the brake lever 16 remains in the position indicated by the dotted line in Figure 4, for the activation of the brake.

To unlock the locking mechanism formed by the flange portion 17 of the brake lever 16 intermating with the recess 22, the brake lever 16 has to be moved downward over some distance against the force of the spring 12. To do this it suffices to exert a force in the forward direction (in Figure 3 to the right) on the operating handle 8, which exerts a force in the downward direction on the pivot 9, which force moves said pivot 9 downward over a short distance, taking the brake lever 16 with it. This releases the flange portion 17 from the recess 22 and, due to the force exerted on the brake lever 16 by the brake cable 7, the brake lever 16 is allowed to rotate back to its starting position, indicated in Figure 4 by the continuous lines. The brake is now no longer activated, and the wheeled support can be moved as desired.

The invention is not limited to the above- described embodiment which, within the frame of the inven- tion determined by the appended claims, may be varied in numerous ways .

Claims

1. A wheeled support comprising a frame with wheels, forearm supports attached to the frame, and a brake mechanism comprising at least one control member pivotingly fastened to the frame, a brake intermating with a wheel, and a brake cable connecting the control member with the brake, characterized in that that the control member consists of an essentially vertical operating handle positioned substantially in front of a forearm support, whose lower end can be swivelled transversely with respect to the wheeled support's direction of movement about a pivot extending substantially horizontally in the direction of said direction of movement.

2. A wheeled support according to claim 1, characterized in that the operating handle is provided with and intermating with a locking mechanism for locking the brake mechanism into a braking position.

3. A wheeled support according to claim 2, characterized in that the operating handle is provided with a locking lip which, when the operating handle is in a particular rotational position, is able under spring activation, to intermate with a locking recess that is part of the frame.

4. A wheeled support according to claim 3, characterized in that the operating handle is connected with the brake cable via a brake lever which also rotates about the pivot, the operating handle possesses a gripper which, when the operating handle is rotated in a direction to activate the brake, engages the brake lever, and the locking lip forms part of the brake lever.

5. A wheeled support according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the operating handle is provided with a spring load in order to return it to the starting position.

6. A wheeled support according to claim 3, 4, or 5 characterized in that by moving the operating handle for- ward into the wheeled support's direction of movement and against the spring load, the pivot is to a limited degree vertically movable in relation to the frame such as to disengage the locking lip from the locking recess.

7. A wheeled support according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that near its top end, the operating handle is via a ball bearing connected to the frame by means of a coupling member extending substantially horizontally and parallel to the wheeled support's direction of movement.