Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6733018
-
Patent Number
6,733,018
-
Date Filed
Thursday, January 24, 200222 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, May 11, 200420 years ago
-
Inventors
-
-
Examiners
- Johnson; Brian L.
- Restifo; Jeffrey J.
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 280 87021
- 280 8703
- 280 87051
- 280 8705
- 135 65
- 135 67
- 135 69
- 135 74
- 135 75
- 135 84
- 135 85
- 005 811 R
- 005 831
- 005 861
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
A stand up walker for supporting body weight in a standing position with a pair of upper lift arms pivotally mounted on a walker frame and having lift spring mounted on the walker frame. In the preferred embodiment a pair of lift springs comprise gas springs for asserting a lifting force to the body by a body seat and harness coupled to the upper lift arms. However, the upper lift arms may be provided with resilient handles that apply the lifting force under the armpits or a combination of lifting forces may be employed.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to walkers employed to assist a person in walking. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel stand up walker having a pair of adjustable upper arms coupled to gas springs and a harness which lifts and supports the body of a person rising from a seated position and supports the body weight while walking.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Walkers with four legs are well known. Such walkers permit a person to support their body through their arms while standing or walking, but offer no real lifting assistance when rising from a seated position or when sitting down.
Prior art walkers have been provided with sets of front wheels. This permits the person to move the walker forward before stepping forward one or two short steps in a shuffle step while leaning on the walker.
Walkers with four sets of wheels are known as rollers and must be provided with a releasably normally-on braking system on at least two of the wheels. If no brakes are provided, any lateral thrust allows the roller walker to move away from the person using the roller walker, thus creating a hazardous situation.
Manual and electric patient lift mechanisms are known for assisting people from a seated or lying position to a wheelchair or some other form of stationary support. Such patient lift mechanisms require one or two operators to position and operate the crane-like mechanism and at least one other to assist the patient.
It would be extremely desirable to provide a novel walker which can be operated by a single person or patient alone and accomplish all of the needed functions of a patient lift mechanism as well as a walker or roller.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel walker that permits a seated person to stand and walk or vice versa with minimum of effort.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a novel walker or roller which permits a patient to adjust the amount body weight to be carried by the walker when in a walking mode.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a rehabilitation walker for persons that cannot carry full body weight on the limbs or joints during rehabilitation.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a rehabilitation walker for persons that ordinarily would be restricted to a wheelchair by having the walker support enough body weight to permit walking with an adjustable and minimal weight on the legs while propelling themselves in the novel walker.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a walker for assisting the walking of amputees especially the elderly and those having a problem adjusting to a new amputation.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide immobilized or wheelchair patients with a novel exercise walker that can be used for gaining leg strength and exercising.
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a rehabilitation walker for persons that have pulmonary disease or heart disease that previously could only walk a few steps without tiring or risking physical harm.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide any handicap person with a foldable or storable walker device that permits assisted walking, assisted standing and assisted seating so that can live a fuller life without depending on help from others.
According to these and other objects of the present invention there is provided a four-legged walker with wheels on each of the legs. The walker is provided with a pair of upper lifting arms coupled to a pair of lifting springs. A body harness, worn by the person using the walker, transfers an adjustable amount of body weight to the upper support arms and thus into the walker support frame so that a person inside of the walker is able to walk with a pre-determined force on the leg joints and limbs.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is an isometric drawing of a prior art folding walker with four vertical legs;
FIG. 2
is an isometric drawing of a preferred embodiment stand up walker of the present invention with four vertical legs and a pair of pivoting support arms;
FIG. 3
is a side view of the stand up walker held in
FIG. 2
showing extension levers for pre-loading the gas springs on the lifting or support arms;
FIG. 4
is a side view of the stand up walker of
FIGS. 2 and 3
showing a person seated on a chair prior to being raised to a stand up position by assistance of the pre-loading gas springs and a body harness;
FIG. 5
is a side view of the stand up walker of
FIGS. 2
to
4
showing a person standing and assisted in a walking position by the novel stand up walker having springs and a body harness;
FIG. 6
is an enlarged detail of the left side upper support arm of the stand up walker showing vertical and horizontal arm adjusters and a hook for attaching the harness;
FIG. 7
is an enlarged detail of a front wheel and bumper outrigger with extension adjustments;
FIG. 8
is an enlarged detail of the rear wheel and bumper outrigger with extension adjustments;
FIG. 9
is an enlarged detail of the preferred embodiment seat and harness which may be used to assist a person in standing up or sitting down as well as to permit walking with an adjustable supporting force and for removing strain on the hip and leg joints;
FIG. 10
is a side view of the seat and harness shown in
FIG. 9
; and
FIG. 11
is a front view of the seat and harness shown in
FIGS. 9 and 10
.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Refer now to
FIG. 1
showing a prior art folding walker
10
having four vertical legs
11
to
14
. A crossbar
15
is provided with two hollow sleeves
16
at each end to accept therein the front legs
11
and
13
. Resilient handles
17
are provided on the connecter or transition pipe of the front and rear legs. Rubber tips
18
are provided on the ends of the four legs to provide both traction and gripping. The sleeves
16
provide means for folding the rear legs
12
and
14
against the crossbar
15
. The walker is preferably made from a strong lightweight tubing material such as aluminum.
Refer now to
FIG. 2
showing an isometric drawing of the preferred embodiment stand up walker of the present invention having two vertical front legs
25
and two vertical rear legs
26
and a pair of pivoting support arms
21
and
22
. The support arms
21
and
22
are shown pivoting at the top of the legs
25
via pivots
23
and
24
. The preloaded gas springs
27
are provided with piston rods
28
shown downwardly extending and connected to the legs
25
by lower connecters
31
and the gas cylinder is shown connected to the support arms
21
and
22
via upper connecters
29
. It will be understood that the connecters
29
are moveable on the support arms so as to adjust the amount of supporting force applied by the gas springs
27
. Further, the gas springs
27
may be reversed in their orientation so that the cylinder is at the lower most position. Further, it will be understood that the lower connecters
31
are preferably adjustable on the legs
25
so as to adjust the height and angle of the arms
21
and
22
.
Front wheels
32
are preferably swiveled for steering and the rear wheels
33
may be fixed. Outriggers
34
and
35
are preferably adjustable in the horizontal direction and extend in and out of the hollow horizontal frame members
37
. The cross member
36
is provided with sleeves similar to that described in FIG.
1
and pivot and pin members are provided to lock the rear legs
26
from moving or folding. Vertically adjustable handles
41
are fixedly mounted on an extension of the legs
25
. The movable handles
38
are mounted at the end of the support arms
21
and
22
and preferably comprise a resilient material. A hook or horn device
39
is provided on the support arms
21
and
22
for rapidly mounting the harness which is connected to the seating structure to be described in more detail hereinafter.
Refer now to
FIG. 2
showing in side view the novel stand up walker shown in
FIG. 2
with the gas springs
27
reversed. The numbers used to indicate the elements in
FIG. 3
are identical to those shown and described in
FIG. 2
, thus do not require additional explanation. The upper connecter
29
A and the lower connecter
31
A are modified to be mounted on the support arms
21
or
22
and the vertical legs
26
, respectively. Further, there is shown a typical well-known brake mechanism
42
which engages the rear wheels
33
to prevent movement of the walker
20
when a horizontal force is applied. A retractable lever
38
A is shown extended from handle
38
.
Refer now to
FIG. 4
showing a side view of the novel stand up walker of
FIGS. 2 and 3
and also showing a person
43
seated on a chair
44
prior to being raised to a stand up position by assistance of the pre-loaded gas springs
27
and the body harness
45
which will be described in more detail hereinafter. The harness straps are shown connected to the hook
39
on the arm
21
. It will be explained that the gas spring
27
pulls on the harness
45
and assists the patient
43
in sitting down or in rising from the chair
44
while holding onto the handles
41
described hereinbefore. The numerals shown in
FIG. 4
that are the same as the numerals used in
FIGS. 2 and 3
are identical and do not require additional explanation.
Refer now to
FIG. 5
showing a side view of the novel stand up walker shown in
FIGS. 2
to
4
and showing a person standing inside the walker being assisted by the harness
45
and gas spring
27
. To show the harness and gas spring in better detail the arm of the person
43
which extends outward and over the arm
22
has been removed. It can be seen that the upper connecter
29
can be moved laterally on the arm
22
to adjust the force on the arm
22
which has a handle
38
which snuggles underneath the arm of the person
43
. The angle or height of the handle
38
is better adjusted by the lower connecter
31
. The numerals used in
FIG. 5
which are the same as those shown in
FIGS. 2
to
4
are identical and operate in the same manner as described hereinbefore.
Refer now to
FIG. 6
showing an enlarged detail drawing of the right side upper arm
21
of the stand up walker showing vertical and horizontal arm adjusters and a hook for rapidly attaching and disconnecting the harness. The vertical front leg
25
supports a crossbar
36
on which is mounted the upper part of leg
25
including a flange support assembly
50
. The flange assembly
50
permits the upper part of leg
25
to be released at locking pin
47
so that the upper portion
26
of rear leg
25
can be folded parallel to crossbar
36
. There is provided an upper arm pin
48
to permit vertical adjustment of the upper portion of leg
25
which includes a handle
41
and a handle adjustment pin
49
. The top of leg
25
has a pivot
23
for receiving pivoting arm
21
. Pivoting arm
21
is shown having an upper connecter
29
with an adjustment pin
51
for adjusting the force on the piston rod
28
. Further, there is shown a pin or hook
39
mounted in or on the pivoting support arm
21
which has at the end an upper adjustable handle
38
. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, handle
38
is made of a resilient material which fits under the arm of the person using the walker. It will be understood that the release pins and adjustment pins shown and described in
FIG. 6
may be flush mounted pins but are shown in their present form for illustration purposes only. The numerals used in
FIG. 6
that are the same as those employed in
FIGS. 2
to
5
show in greater detail the pins and recesses used to permit exact adjustment of height and position of the handles and support arms for a particular patient.
Refer now to
FIG. 7
showing an enlarged detail of a front wheel and bumper outrigger with an extension adjustment. The hollow horizontal frame member
37
receives therein the horizontal portion of the front outrigger
34
having a rubber tip
18
A an a locking pin
52
which locks the front outrigger inside of the hollow horizontal frame member
37
. Wheel
32
is shown mounted on a swivel support
46
which extends into vertical leg
25
. The wheel support may be permanently adjusted so as to provide ground clearance for the tip
18
A but will prevent the walker from assuming an excessive tilt angle which would allow the walker to turn over or tilt while supporting the person using the walker.
Refer now to
FIG. 8
showing an enlarged detail of a rear wheel and bumper outrigger with an extension adjustment. The horizontal frame member
37
is hollow and receives the horizontal portion of rear outrigger
35
also having a tip
18
A and is fixed relative to the frame member
37
by a locking pin
52
. The rear wheels may be swiveled but are preferably mounted on a swivel support
46
which is fixed relative to the rear vertical leg
26
by a pin or member not shown.
Refer now to
FIG. 9
showing an enlarged detail of a preferred embodiment seat and harness
45
which may be used to assist a person in standing up or sitting down as well as providing support to a person needing an adjustable force support for relieving pressure on the hip and leg joints. The harness assembly
45
comprises an outer shell
53
which may be made from a molded plastic and having an inner resilient seat support
54
which comprises the rear seat. The front seat comprises molded shell
53
and resilient member
54
F which are supported and positioned by a metal reinforcing member
55
which is connected to adjustable harness strap
57
which comprises flexible straps
57
and strap adjusters
56
. In the preferred mode of operation the person or patient can easily slip into the harness so that the straps
57
extend upward on either side and may be hooked onto the hook or pin member
39
shown in FIG.
6
. If the patient or person is strong enough they can walk into the walker and pivot the arms
21
and
22
down and hook onto the hook supports on the arms so as to provide support to the body of the patient or person using the walker. If the patient is not capable of hooking the harness
45
to the support arms
21
and
22
from a standing position, the patient may sit on the chair
44
and sequentially bring the arms
21
and
22
down to a horizontal position under the arms; then release the lift support of the pre-loaded gas springs
27
to assume a standing position as shown in FIG.
4
.
Refer now to
FIG. 10
showing a side view in section of the harness
45
and seat
54
shown in FIG.
9
. The bar
55
is on the outside of the shell
53
and supports the front seat
54
and the rear seat
54
F in the manner shown. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the harness straps
57
extend completely under and around the shell
53
and are adjusted by the strap adjusters
56
as shown. It will be noted that the rear seat is designed to extend under the buttocks and provide a seat-like support when an upward force is applied to the harness straps
57
.
Refer now to
FIG. 11
showing a front view of the harness assembly
45
shown in
FIGS. 9 and 10
. The outer shell
53
is contoured to fit between the legs of a male or female patient and provide upward support to the body. The metal reinforcing bar
55
is preferably made of a lightweight metal such as aluminum and prevents the resilient front and rear seat from compressing inward when an upward force is applied to the harness straps
57
.
Having explained a preferred embodiment of the present invention it will be understood that the walker
20
shown as an assembly in
FIG. 2
is provided with numerous adjustments to permit the walker to be adapted to persons of different height and weight. Different gas springs
27
may be employed in a range of support weights to accommodate persons weighing less than 100 pounds to over 300 pounds. The outriggers
34
and
35
may be adjusted so that a person using the walker over different types of terrain may have sufficient ground clearance so that the walker may be rolled without incurring a dragging force. The vertical legs
26
which include a horizontal member are designed to pivot or fold at flange member
50
so that the assembly
20
may be easily transported in the trunk of an automobile. Further, the commercially available gas springs
27
are provided with a locking mechanism (not shown) which permits the support arms
21
and
22
to be set in an extended upward position or locked in a horizontal or downward position as the case may be. The brake mechanism
42
may be a well-known level operated system of the type used on baby strollers.
Having explained a harness
45
of the type shown in
FIGS. 9 through 11
, it will be understood that other types of harnesses may be employed with the present invention. A typical trapeze harness comprises a pair of flexible leg belts connected to a flexible and adjustable waist belt which are provided with swivel connecters that connect to line supports. The swivel and line support of a trapeze harness permits the trapeze harness to completely rotate with the body while being supported by the waist harness. In the present preferred embodiment the harness
45
serves as a seat that provides a vertical lifting force to a patient or person who is walking or is arising from a seated position or is sitting down from a standing position. Thus, it will be understood that persons who previously could only walk short distances with prior art walkers are now provided with the means for walking longer and further than could heretofore be provided by prior art walkers. Further, persons who have had operations on hip and leg joints can start rehabilitation earlier and longer because the seat shown in
FIGS. 9
to
11
is capable of being adjusted so that during rehabilitation the joint members are not injured during initial rehabilitation and the amount of force applied to the joints may be increased as the patient gains strength and muscle tone. Further, if there is no need for releasable force gas springs, any well known spring can be used to apply a lifting force on arms
21
and
22
such as coil or leaf springs properly mounted on the frame of the stand up walker.
Other modifications and changes may be made to the lifting arms and still maintain a lifting mode of operation to the body. In one such modification handles
38
have been shaped and padded to provide a lifting force under the arms of the patient. While such body lift mode restricts circulation of blood to the arms, handles
41
may be used to restore circulation.
Claims
- 1. A stand up full step walker for reducing the amount of movable body weight supported by a user's legs, comprising:a support frame having a stable structured open to a full step of the user, roller means coupled to the bottom of said frame to permit said frame to be rolled, a pair of independently movable upper lift arms coupled to the top of said frame, pivot means for mounting each said lift arm to said frame for independently movement while walking, movable lift spring biasing means mounted between said frame and said upper lift arms, and movable body support means for transferring the weight of the patient in the walker into the independently moveable lift arms and to the movable lift spring biasing means and into said frame while walking.
- 2. A walker as set forth in claim 1 wherein said body support means comprises a body seat and harness, and means for fastening said harness to said upper lift arms.
- 3. A walker as set forth in claim 2 wherein said body seat comprises a rigid front seat and a rear seat which extend under the patient.
- 4. A walker as set forth in claim 1 wherein said body support means comprises upper arm support handles on said upper lift arms.
- 5. A walker as set forth in claim 4 wherein said upper arm support handles comprise a resilient material mounted on the outer end of said upper lift arms and adapted to support and lift the body by a force applied under the arm pits.
- 6. A walker as set forth in claim 1 wherein said lift spring biasing means comprises a gas spring for applying a lifting force to said upper lift arms.
- 7. A walker as set forth in claim 6 wherein said gas spring comprises a predetermined lifting force to said upper lift arms.
- 8. A walker as set forth in claim 7 which further include adjustors on said upper lift arms for adjusting said lifting force.
- 9. A walker as set forth in claim 8 which further includes adjustors on said frame for adjusting the height and position of said upper lift arms.
- 10. A walker as set forth in claim 9 which further includes a release means for releasing the force stored in each of said gas springs.
- 11. A stand up walker for reducing the amount of body weight support by a user's legs, comprising:a support frame having a stable structure, roller means coupled to the bottom of the frame to permit said frame to be rolled, a pair of upper lift arms coupled to the top of said frame, pivot means for mounting said upper lift arms to said frame, lift spring biasing means mounted between said frame and said upper lift arms, body support means for transferring the weight of the patient in the walker into said upper lift arms and to said lift spring biasing means an into said support frame, and said body support means comprises a front seat and a rear seat which extend under the patient and further comprise a molded one-piece outer shell and inner resilient material bonded thereto.
- 12. A walker as set forth in claim 11 which further includes a rigid metal member mounted on the outside of said outer shell for maintaining the open form of said outer shell under force.
- 13. A walker as set forth in claim 12 wherein said harness further includes a plurality of straps connected to said rigid metal member for applying a lifting force to said outer shell.
US Referenced Citations (18)