Patent Application
20140346316
Not Applicable.
Not Applicable.
The present disclosure relates generally to body support devices, and more particularly, to a body support device for supporting the weight of an upper torso area of a user.
Construction workers, maintenance personnel, landscape maintenance personnel and gardeners have to frequently bend over for accessing horizontal surfaces. For example, in the construction and maintenance fields, the workers have to access the horizontal surface such as a concrete floor or a wooden floor for preparing the surface for attaching the surfacing materials like wood, stone, mineral and clay. The position that one must attain in these construction and maintenance fields is particularly difficult and harmful to one's back.
In the agricultural fields, certain produces like strawberries are commonly picked by field workers using their hands. Therefore, the workers are forced to continuously work in a stooping position for picking these produces and will get suffered from severe back pain. Similarly, the field workers of garden weeding are forced to work close to the ground in the kneeling or stooping position. In order to get rid of these difficulties, the weight of a person working in the kneeling or in the stooping position should be supported.
One such prior art, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,784 issued to Walter on Jul. 10, 1984 provides a body support for use in berry picking, garden weeding and the like for supporting the weight of a person's upper torso when in a kneeling or stooping position. However, it is difficult to use this body support because there is no means for attaching the body support device with the worker. Further, this device lacks a means for supporting the worker without grasping the device whenever a movement from one position to another is needed. Moreover, this body support has complex construction and is very expensive.
U.S. Pat. Application No. 20070007400 entitled to James on Jan. 11, 2007 describes a leaning device for supporting part of a user's front-upper-body. The device has a resting-pad that is supported by a support mechanism. In use, the user stands alongside and leans on and over the resting-pad when leaning over a bed, for example. But this leaning device is only applicable to medical personnel, such as nurses or doctors and does not provide support to agricultural and garden workers.
Therefore, there is a need for a body support device that would be used in construction and maintenance work, garden weeding and the like. Such a needed device would support the weight of a person working in a kneeling or in a stooping position.
Further, such a needed device would reduce the stress on the working person's back without requiring manually grasping the device whenever it is necessary to move from one location to another. Such a needed device would be comfortable to the user and would have simple construction. Moreover, such a needed device would be inexpensive and height adjustable.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
In summary, this invention is a body support device adaptable to support the weight of an upper torso area of a user. The body support device comprises a padded support member having a front surface and a rear surface. A plurality of connecting rods is attached to the padded support member. The padded support member is fastened to the upper torso area utilizing a plurality of padded securing straps. The padded support member may be contoured to provide comfortable support for either male or female users. The body support device further comprises an elongated extendable member that is pivotally connected to the front surface. The elongated extendable member includes a plurality of first apertures, a plurality of second apertures and a plurality of third apertures. The elongated extendable member is adaptable to orient in a plurality of directions thereby enabling the user to position in a plurality of different postures. A height adjustable foot member is connected to the elongated extendable member. The foot member is designed to distribute weight of the upper torso area of the user on a surface onto which the foot member is positioned. The foot member telescopically moves along the length of the elongated extendable member to position the user in the plurality of postures. A tightening member having a plurality of engaging slots is connected to the elongated extendable member.
A plate member is located at the front surface and includes a plurality of plate apertures. The plate member is engaged with the tightening member by inserting at least one of the plurality of plate apertures into the tightening member. Upon engaging the at least one of the plurality of plate apertures with the tightening member, the pin member is inserted into at least one of the plurality of engaging slots to engage the plate member with the tightening member thereby locking the elongated extendable member with the plate member. Locking of the elongated extendable member firmly fixes the foot member on the surface and prevents slipping. The front surface further includes an anchoring means and a locking member for holding the plate member and the when the elongated extendable member respectively when the body support device is not in use.
Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to provide a body support device attachable to a user for use in construction and maintenance work, garden weeding and the like for supporting the weight of a person's upper torso when in a kneeling position and in a stooping position.
Another particular object of the present invention is to provide a body support device for reducing the stress on a person's back portion without requiring manually grasping the device whenever it is necessary to move from one location to another.
Another particular object of the present invention is to provide an elongated extendable member designed to orient in a plurality of directions that helps the user to position in a plurality of different postures.
Another object is to provide a body support device that is comfortable and easy to use.
A further object is to provide a body support device that is inexpensive and simple in construction.
Yet another object is to provide a body support device that is height adjustable.
A still further object is to provide a body support device having a foot member that is usable on various hard and soft surfaces.
These and other advantages and features of the present invention are described with specificity so as to make the present invention understandable to one of ordinary skill in the art.
In order to enhance their clarity and improve understanding of these various elements and embodiments of the invention, elements in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. Furthermore, elements that are known to be common and well understood to those in the industry are not depicted in order to provide a clear view of the various embodiments of the invention, thus the drawings are generalized in form in the interest of clarity and conciseness.
The following describes example embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. This invention, however, may be embodied in many different ways, and the description provided herein should not be construed as limiting in any way. Among other things, the following invention may be embodied as methods or devices. The following detailed descriptions should not be taken in a limiting sense.
In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one. In this document, the term “or” is used to refer to a nonexclusive “or,” such that “A or B” includes “A but not B,” “B but not A,” and “A and B,” unless otherwise indicated. Furthermore, all publications, patents, and patent documents referred to in this document are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety, as though individually incorporated by reference. In the event of inconsistent usages between this document and those documents so incorporated by reference, the usage in the incorporated reference(s) should be considered supplementary to that of this document; for irreconcilable inconsistencies, the usage in this document controls.
Referring to
The body support device 10 further comprises a plurality of padded securing straps 28 for fastening the padded support member 12 with the upper torso area 24. At least one of the plurality of padded securing straps 28 is connected to the plurality of connecting rods 26. An elongated extendable member 30 is pivotally connected to the front surface 14 utilizing a first connecting member 34. The elongated extendable member 30 includes a plurality of first apertures 36, a plurality of second apertures 38 (
Referring to
The height adjustable foot member 42 distributes the weight of the upper torso area 24 on a surface 44 onto which the foot member 42 is positioned. The height adjustable foot member 42 telescopically moves along the length of the elongated extendable member to position the user 22 in the plurality of postures. Depending upon the convenience of the user 22, length of the foot member 42 is extended or retracted. As shown in
Referring to
When the body support device 10 is not in use, the plate member 54 and the elongated extendable member 30 are locked. With reference to
Referring to
The invention may be embodied in other forms without departure from the spirit and essential characteristics thereof. The embodiments described therefore are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. Although the present invention has been described in terms of certain preferred embodiments, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art are also within the scope of the invention.
