WO2003086264A1

WO2003086264A1 - Wheeled walker with braking means

Info

Publication number: WO2003086264A1
Application number: PCT/IB2002/001346
Authority: WO
Inventors: Olivier Mage; Jianhui Liu
Original assignee: Geritecs Sàrl
Priority date: 2002-04-15
Filing date: 2002-04-15
Publication date: 2003-10-23
Also published as: AU2002253470A1

Abstract

A wheeled walker, comprising: a frame, at least three wheels mounted on the frame; said wheeled walker further comprises: a hand-controlled braking system; the braking system has at least one control handle connected to at least two braking units, each braking unit has at least one contact point to the ground, situated close to one wheel; the wheel is lifted from the ground when the adjacent braking unit is activated by the control handle via a cable connecting them, and the wheel is in contact with the ground when the braking unit is released.

Description

WHEELED WALKERS UNDERLINING

"STOP/GO MODEL"

BACKGROUND

During the last decades, people's health condition has improved, and expectation of life is longer. This has lead the institutions to develop further the infrastructures permitting to look after elder and handicapped people. This important market is continuously expanding, thus motivating people to look for solutions to help patients keep their independence, and stay in their own environment, while guaranteeing a relatively high quality of life.

Mobility aids can restore independence to elder people and generally to people with functional limitations. Ambulatory aids reduce the risk of dangerous injuries and may offer economical alternatives to institutionalisation and costly personal assistance. New walkers' technologies enhance quality of life for people with functional limitations, mobility or transfer difficulty. For example, walkers are used to improve life of patients who have seen their mobility reduced. They may be used inside or outside, at home or in hospitals. They can also have wheels, be foldable and easy to carry.

We have noticed that there are two types of walkers in the market

• Those with no wheels, not easy to operate by weak people. They must be lifted every time a leg moves forward (see Fig. 1). This type of device can only be proposed to those indoor users.

• Those with wheels and brakes (underlining the so called "GO/STOP MODEL", activated when clenching the handles (see Fig. 2). When the user is not feeling well, he needs to use his two hands to activate the brakes simultaneously in order to stop the Walker. If he were not successful in doing so, the walker might continually take him forward, making him to lose control of his balance and fall. Since grasp weakness is often see in ageing people with mobility limitation, this type of wheeled device is actually not a good solution for them. Another type of wheeled walker is following the "STOP/GO MODEL", users have to press down or release the brake handwheels first and separately before using the device (see Fig. 3). When needed, they have to stop first, free one or two of their hands, low down the upper part of their body, then release the brake handwheels. This manipulation is not practical for an elder person with mobility problems and may be useless when an urgent stop is required.

We have thus created a new walker taking these aspects into account.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides solutions to meet the essential demands of ageing and handicapped people who are searching for reliable and "user- friendly" mobility aid devices. According to the invention, users will apply only partially their body's weight to press down the brake handles (in the case of using the walker illustrated in Fig. 4) deactivating the "STOP/GO" braking unit so that the device can be used as a mobility aid walker. The distinguished advantage of applying partially body's weight to the brake handles is that by doing so, the user's body gravity centre axis is forced to be close to the device's gravity centre axis, resulting in a stabilised movement when the user pushes the device ahead. In any case, when the two axis are getting away from each other, the "STOP/ GO" unit will be activated leading to progressively braking effect. In the model equipping one conventional brake handle hosting two "STOP/ GO" braking units, the brake units are deactivated by clenching the brake handle and pressing the handle positioning button (illustrated in Fig. 5 and Fig. 7). When needed, a single clench on the brake handle will prompt the positioning button back to its unlocking position and the two braking units will be activated simultaneously. The advantage of this model is that the braking handle can be adapted to the right or left hand according to the user's convenience. The security factor of the wheeled walkers is highly increased in our invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a prospective view illustrating a walker without wheels in accordance with existing prior art.

Fig. 2 is a prospective view illustrating a wheeled walker in accordance with existing prior art underlining the "GO/STOP MODEL".

Fig. 3 is a prospective view illustrating a wheeled walker in accordance with existing prior art underlining the "STOP/ GO MODEL"

Fig.4 is a prospective view illustrating a wheeled walker in accordance with an embodiment of the invention (modell).

Fig. 5 is a prospective view illustrating a wheeled walker in accordance with an embodiment of the invention(model 2).

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a "STOP/ GO" braking unit in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 7 is a prospective view illustrating a brake handle positioning unit in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. DESCRIPTION

The new device is a foldable three wheeled walker mounted with a special hand controlled braking system. It is different from the existing wheeled walkers in the following aspects:

1. The so called "STOP/ GO" braking unit is now hand controllable .

2. The braking handles are operated by using partially the body weight.

3. In alternative model of the invention, the conventional brake handle is equipped with a positioning device.

4. The two braking units are connected with only one conventional brake handle mentioned above in 3 and the brake handle can be adapted to the right or left hand according to the user's convenience.

In the existing device (illustrated in Fig. 2), two brake handles (A) are mounted to the frame. Each of them is connected to one brake lever (B) which is getting in touch with the wheel when the brake handles (A) are pressed. User has to press the two handles at the same time in order to achieve a balanced and stabilised braking effect, otherwise the device may turn around the braked wheel causing a loss of control of the device. User might fall down together with the device just because the two brake handles are not simultaneously pressed. Shortness of synchronized activity is often seen in elder people, so the existing device (as in Fig. 2) is not a suitable solution for those who need a mobility aid device and at the same time in whom synchronisation is becoming a daily troublesome. The second problem of the existing device (as in Fig. 2) is that when user requires a sustained brakes, he or she has to clench the brake handles all the time needed. This is of special difficulty for elder people in whom grasp weakness is often accompanied with mobility limitation. In Fig. 3, user has to press down the brake handwheels (A) — by doing so, the rubber ferrules (B) of the two braking units drag on the ground or the floor to achieve brakes (that is to say in "STOP' state) and then walk into the frame. Before going ahead, they have to low down their upper part of body in order to release the brake handwheels (the rubber ferrules will leave the ground or the floor and the device is in its "GO" state) and so do when they want to make brakes during their walking. For elder people with mobility limitation, the inconvenience of this manipulation is obvious. Especially, it is almost impossible to complete a successful manipulation when the user requires an urgent stop.

The invention is based on the existing wheeled walkers mentioned above, but evidently improved and modified in the aspects of security, stability and user-friendly utility. The first model of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 4. It can be seen that frames (E) are connected by two mouldings (J ; K) and a locking unit (L) which made the frames foldable. Two rear wheels (F) are fixed on the frames and one front wheel and front castor assembly (I) are mounted on the bottom moulding (J). The brake handles (A) are well formed onto the hand grips (B) and are connected to two "STOP/ GO" braking units via cables (M). The hand stem (C) is connected to the frame by the use of a clamp (D) which can also be used for adjusting the height of the device. When the brake handles (A) are released , the rubber ferrules (G) are contacting the ground and the device is in its "STOP" state. When the brake handles (A) are pressed down by using partial body weight, the rubber ferrules (G) are lifted from the ground and the device is ready to "GO". The braking effect follows the distance change between the body gravity centre axis and the gravity centre axis of the walker, which is of special importance for elder people whose mobility is reduced.

An alternative embodiment of model 1 is illustrated in Fig. 5 (model 2) wherein the modification is one conventional brake handle (A) hosting two "STOP/ GO" braking units via cables (M). This brake handle is equipped with a positioning device (N). When the brake handle is not clenched, the rubber ferrules (G) are contacting the ground and the device is in its "STOF' state. When the user is ready to go, he should clench the brake handle (A) first and then press the positioning button (N). The device is in its "GO" state. The user's hand is now free from clenching the handle since the positioning button blocks the brake handle in its clenched position. When required, the user just need to clench once the brake handle (A) shortly, which will prompt the positioning button (N) back to its unlocking position and the brake handle be released. The two braking units will be activated at the same time and achieving a stable brake. The brake handle can be adapted to the right or left hand according to the user's convenience. This model could be interesting for those with limited mobility but still having an active life, and those who suffer from "hemi-disorders" like hemiamyosthenia, hemiasynergia, hemihypotonia, hemiataxia, etc.

The "STOP/GO" braking unit (illustrated in Fig. 6) is a hand controlled braking system which is based on the concept of resistance braking. This unit comprises a tube which is part of the frame, a spring (A), a cylinder (B), a replaceable rubber ferrule (C) and a brake course adjustment device (D) connected to the cylinder. The brake handle controls the movement of the cylinder via the cable (E). In "STOP' state, the spring (A) pushes the cylinder

(B) toward the ground, therefore resulting in the adjacent wheel (F) being lifted from the ground surface. When the brake handle is pressed (in model 1) or clenched (in model 2) the cylinder (B) will move up causing the rubber ferrule

(C) to be detached from the ground, therefore allowing the adjacent wheel to be in contact with the ground. The device now is in its "GO" state.

The conventional brake handle equipped with a positioning device is illustrated in Fig. 7. When the brake handle (A) is clenched, the positioning button (B) can be pressed into its locking position. The brake handle will state in its clenched position, resulting in a sustained deactivation of the "STOP/ GO" braking units. A single clenching of the brake handle once more will prompt the spring (C) to push the positioning button back to its unlocking position, therefore the " STOP/GO" braking units will be reactivated.

The difference between the invention and the existing walkers is marked by the hand controlled "STOP/ GO" braking unit, and the use of body weight as an operator. The use of one brake handle hosting two braking units is also a remarkable modification to the wheeled walkers, since it assures a simultaneous operation of the two braking units and a better stability to the device.

From the above description, it will be evident that there are a number of changes, adaptations and modifications of the present invention. It is intended that all kind of variations not departing from the spirit of the invention be considered as within the scope thereof as limited by the claims appended thereto.

Claims

I Claim:

1. A wheeled walker, comprising: a frame, at lease three wheels mounted on the frame; said wheeled walker further comprises: a hand-controlled braking system; the braking system has at least one control handle connected to at least two braking units; each braking unit has at least one contact point to the ground, situated close to one wheel; the wheel is lifted from the ground when the adjacent braking unit is activated by the control handle via a cable connecting them, and the wheel is in contact with the ground when the braking unit is released.

2. The wheeled walker in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the braking unit comprises a tube and a movable cylinder in the tube, a spring mounted in the tube pushes the cylinder towards the ground when the braking unit is activated, therefore lifting the adjacent wheel; the cable connecting the braking unit and the control handle pulls the cylinder away from the ground when the braking unit is released, therefore allowing the adjacent wheel to be in contact with the ground.

3. The wheeled walker in accordance with claims 1-2, wherein the braking units are activated when the control handles connected to them are at "released" position, while said braking units are released when the control handles are at "pressed" position.

4. The wheeled walker in accordance with claims 1-3, wherein the braking system has two control handles, each control handle is connected to one braking unit via a cable.

5. The wheeled walker in accordance with claims 1-3, wherein the braking system has only one control handle, connected to two braking units via two cables.

6. The wheeled walker in accordance with claim 5, wherein the control handle has a positioning device, whereby the control handle can be hold at the "pressed" or "released" position, for subsequently activating or releasing the braking units.

7. The wheeled walker in accordance with claims 1-6, wherein it has three wheels, two braking units are fixed near the two rear wheels, and the front wheel is pivotally mounted on the frame in order to change the moving direction of the walker.

8. The wheeled walker in accordance with claims 1-6, wherein it has four wheels, two braking units are fixed near the two rear wheels, and the two front wheels are pivotally mounted on the frame in order to change the moving direction of the walker.

9. The wheeled walker in accordance with claims 1-6, wherein it has four wheels, four braking units are fixed near four wheels respectively, and the two front wheels are pivotally mounted on the frame in order to change the moving direction of the walker.

10. The wheeled walker in accordance with claims 1-9, wherein the frame is foldable.