The present disclosure relates generally to ambulatory devices. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a crutch that is capable of being selectively converted from a crutch to a cane, to a standing table, or to a bench.
For individuals who are disabled or injured in their lower limbs or back, the crutch and the cane are vital and indispensable instruments. So much so that oftentimes these individuals cannot perform their daily tasks, without either a crutch or a cane. Indeed, it is very difficult to stand, get around, or do much of anything with an injured leg, foot, or back. The reduced mobility caused from a disability or injury to these areas can be very frustrating and painful to these individuals, especially when they have to repeatedly get up on their own to retrieve necessary things, such as food and water.
The majority of crutches and canes used today are strictly ambulatory devices in that they are designed solely for walking. Indeed, the majority, if not all, crutches and cranes are devoid of means for doing anything other than providing assistance to a disabled or injured individual in ambulating. This is disadvantageous because when traveling a seat and/or table may not be available and all the individual may have is their crutch or cane. Accordingly, there is a need for a walking device that may selectively convert from a crutch or a cane to a table or bench so as to provide a means to place objects upon or sit as desired by the user.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present disclosure as disclosed hereafter.
In the present disclosure, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which the present disclosure is concerned.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate the present disclosure, no technical aspects are disclaimed and it is contemplated that the claims may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.
An aspect of an example embodiment in the present disclosure is to provide a crutch capable of selectively converting to a cane. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a crutch including an upper section including a crutch pad, a handle, and a pivot joint, and a lower section, wherein the pivot joint enables the upper section to fold downwardly in a position adjacent to the lower section, thereby exposing the handle such that the handle is the upper most part of the crutch.
An aspect of an example embodiment in the present disclosure is to provide a crutch capable of converting to a table. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a picker including a handle and a pair of grabbing arms, a foot, a tabletop panel, and a crutch including an upper section including a crutch pad, a handle, and a pivot joint, and a lower section, wherein the pivot joint enables the upper section to rotate to a perpendicular orientation relative to the lower section and the picker is attachable to the crutch pad in a parallel orientation relative to the lower section so as to serve as a leg that maintains the crutch in an upright position to serve as a table. The picker is attachable to the crutch pad via the handle and the foot is attachable to the pair of grabbing arms to help stabilize the leg and table when in an upright position. The tabletop panel attaches the upper section so as to serve as a tabletop capable of supporting items placed thereon.
An aspect of an example embodiment in the present disclosure is to provide a crutch capable of converting to a bench. Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a cushion and a crutch including an upper section including a crutch pad, a handle, and a first pivot joint, and middle section, and a lower section including a second pivot joint, wherein the first pivot joint enables the upper section to rotate to a perpendicular orientation relative to the middle section and the second pivot joint enables the lower section to pivot to a perpendicular orientation relative to the middle section and parallel with the upper section so as to form a substantially U-shaped bench, in which the upper section defines a first leg of the bench, the lower section defines the second leg of the bench, and the middle section defines the seating area of the bench. The lower section includes an attachment member for removably receiving the cushion so as to provide a comfortable sitting area.
The present disclosure addresses at least one of the foregoing disadvantages. However, it is contemplated that the present disclosure may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore, the claims should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed hereinabove. To the accomplishment of the above, this disclosure may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Attention is called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only. Variations are contemplated as being part of the disclosure.
In the drawings, like elements are depicted by like reference numerals. The drawings are briefly described as follows.
The present disclosure now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show various example embodiments. However, the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the example embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these example embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure is thorough, complete and fully conveys the scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art.
Referring now to
The upper section 22 includes a first end 32 including a crutch pad 34 having a first fastener 35, a second end 36 including a handle 38 having a first end 38A opposite a second end 38B, and a first pair of elongated tubular members 40 extending parallelly relative to each other from the crutch pad 34 to the first locking pivot joint 28. The first end 32 is opposite the second end 36.
The lower section 26 comprises and an elongated tubular member 42 including a first end 44, a second end 46 including a crutch tip 48, and a longitudinal bore 50. The first end 44 is opposite the second end 46. The longitudinal bore 50 extends from the first end 44 to the second end 46. The first end 44 comprises an opening 52 providing access to the longitudinal bore 50. The longitudinal bore 50 is configured to removably receive the seat cushion 20. In embodiments, the lower section can be configured to be adjustable for adjusting the height of the crutch. For example, in embodiments, the lower section 26 may be telescopically configured with respect to the middle section 24 such that the lower section 26 is in telescopic arrangement with the middle section 24 to extend and retract relative thereto. In embodiments, the crutch tip 48 comprises a four-legged tip.
The middle section 24 comprises a second pair of elongated tubular members 54 each including a first end 56 connected to the second end 36 of the upper section 22 at the handle 38 via the first locking pivot joint 28 and a second end 58 connected to the first end 44 of the elongated tubular member 42 via the second locking pivot joint 30. The second pair of elongated tubular members 54 extend parallelly relative to each other from the first locking pivot joint 28 to the second locking pivot joint 30. In embodiments, the second pair of elongated tubular members 54 curve inwardly towards each other at their second ends 58 such that the distance between the second pair of elongated tubular members 54 at the second ends 58 is less than the distance between the second pair of elongated tubular members 54 at the first end 56 of the middle section 24.
The first locking pivot joint 28 comprises a first ratchet joint 28A disposed on the first end 38A of the handle and a second ratchet joint 28B disposed on the second end 38B of the handle 38. The first ratchet joint 28A and the second ratchet joint 28B each including an upper receiving pivot arm 60 affixed to an elongated tubular member of the first pair of elongated tubular members 40, a lower receiving pivot arm 62 affixed to an elongated tubular member of the second pair of elongated tubular members 54, and a spring biased push button 64. When depressed, the spring biased push buttons 64 enable rotation of the upper receiving pivot arms 60 relative to the lower receiving pivot arms 62. When released, the spring biased push buttons 64 lock the upper receiving pivot arms 60 and the lower receiving pivot arms 62 in position.
The first locking pivot joint 28 is pivotable between an unfolded position, partially folded position, and entirely folded position to allow the upper section 22 to pivot relative to the middle section 24. In the unfolded position, the upper receiving pivot arms 60 and the lower receiving pivot arms 62 are coplanar relative to each other and form substantially a 180-degree angle therebetween such that the upper section 22 is positioned upright and coplanar relative to the middle section 24, as shown by
The second locking pivot joint 30 comprises a third ratchet joint 30A and a fourth ratchet joint 30B connected by a tubular receiving member 66 having a first end 68 and a second end 70 opposite the first end 68. The third ratchet joint 30A and the fourth ratchet joint 30B each comprise an upper receiving pivot arm 72 affixed to an elongated tubular member of the second pair of elongated tubular members 54 and a spring biased push button 74. When depressed, the spring biased push buttons 74 enable rotation of the upper receiving pivot arms 72 relative to the lower tubular receiving member 66. When released, the spring biased push buttons 74 lock rotation of the upper receiving pivot arms 72 relative to the lower tubular receiving member 66 in position. The tubular receiving member 66 includes a longitudinal bore (not shown) extending from the first end 68 to the second end 70 of the tubular receiving member 66. The first end 44 of the elongated tubular member 42 of the lower section 26 extends through the longitudinal bore of tubular receiving member 66 and is affixed therein. In embodiments, the elongated tubular member 42 is slidably disposed within the tubular receiving member 66 such that the elongated tubular member 42 is in telescopic arrangement with the tubular receiving member 66. In this way, the elongated tubular member 42 can be extended and retracted relative to the tubular receiving member 66 so as to adjust the height of the crutch 12.
The second locking pivot joint 30 is pivotable between a parallel position and an orthogonal position to allow the lower section 26 to pivot relative to the middle section 24. In the parallel position, the upper receiving pivot arms 72 and the tubular receiving member 66 are coplanar relative to each other and form substantially a 180-degree angle therebetween such that the lower section 26 is positioned coplanar relative to the middle section 24, as shown by
When the first locking pivot joint 28 is in the unfolded position and the second locking pivot joint 30 is in the parallel position the crutch 12 is in an upright crutch configuration, as shown by
The seat cushion 20 comprises a base plate 104 including a cushion 106 and a protruding member 108. The cushion 106 is opposite the protruding member 108. The longitudinal bore 50 of the elongated tubular member 42 of the lower section 26 is configured to removably receive the protruding member 108 when the crutch 12 is in the bench configuration, as shown by
Referring now to
The foot pad 18 includes a pair of apertures 96 for receiving the pair of grabbing arms 86 and a grip-like material to further stabilize the picker 14 in an upright and vertical position by gripping a surface on which the picker 14 is positioned.
Referring now to
The tabletop panel 16 comprises a planar member 16A including top surface 98 and a bottom surface 100 opposite the top surface 98. The bottom surface 100 comprises one or more fasteners 102 configured to attach to the first pair of elongated tubular members 40 of the upper section 22 of the crutch 12 to orient the top surface 98 of the tabletop panel 16 away from the crutch 12 so as to serve as a horizontal tabletop when the crutch 12 is in table configuration, as shown by
Referring back to
In another operation of the ambulatory device kit 10, the crutch 12 is converted to a bench by pivoting the first locking pivot joint 28 such that the upper section 22 is folded in a perpendicular orientation relative to the middle section 24, pivoting the second locking pivot joint 30 such that the elongated tubular member 42 of the lower section 26 is folded in a perpendicular orientation relative to the middle section 24 and the opening 52 of the longitudinal bore 50 of the elongated tubular member 42 is aligned with the middle section 24, and attaching the seat cushion 20 to the lower section 26 by inserting the protruding member 108 into the longitudinal bore 50. In some embodiments, the tabletop panel 16 is attached to the second pair of elongated tubular members 54 of the middle section 24 so as to form a horizontal tabletop surface thereon in addition to the seat cushion. In embodiments, pivoting the first locking pivot joint 28 such that the upper section 22 is folded in a perpendicular orientation relative to the middle section 24 comprises depressing the spring biased push buttons 64 of the first ratchet joint 28A and third ratchet joint 28B simultaneously, folding the upper section 22 toward the lower section 26, and releasing the spring biased push buttons 64 when the upper section 22 is perpendicular relative to the middle section 24. In embodiments, pivoting the second locking pivot joint 30 such that the elongated tubular member 42 is folded in a perpendicular orientation relative to the middle section 24 and the opening 52 of the longitudinal bore 50 is aligned with the middle section 24 comprises depressing the spring biased push button 74 of the third ratchet joint 30A and fourth ratchet joint 30B simultaneously, folding the lower section 26 toward the upper section 22, and releasing the spring biased push buttons 74 when the lower section 26 is perpendicular relative to the middle section 24.
It is understood that when an element is referred hereinabove as being “on” another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may be present therebetween. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on” another element, there are no intervening elements present.
Moreover, any components or materials can be formed from a same, structurally continuous piece or separately fabricated and connected.
It is further understood that, although ordinal terms, such as, “first,” “second,” “third,” are used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Thus, “a first element,” “component,” “region,” “layer” or “section” discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings herein.
Spatially relative terms, such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper” and the like, are used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It is understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device can be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. The term “substantially” is defined as at least 95% of the term being described and/or within a tolerance level known in the art and/or within 5% thereof.
Example embodiments are described herein with reference to cross section illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments. As such, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, are to be expected. Thus, example embodiments described herein should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions as illustrated herein, but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. For example, a region illustrated or described as flat may, typically, have rough and/or nonlinear features. Moreover, sharp angles that are illustrated may be rounded. Thus, the regions illustrated in the figures are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the precise shape of a region and are not intended to limit the scope of the present claims.
In conclusion, herein is presented a convertible walking device kit. The disclosure is illustrated by example in the drawing figures, and throughout the written description. It should be understood that numerous variations are possible, while adhering to the inventive concept. Such variations are contemplated as being a part of the present disclosure.
This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/022,683, filed on May 11, 2020, the contents of which are relied upon and incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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63022683 | May 2020 | US |