Claims
- 1. In seating equipment, the combination comprising upholstered cushion means, means to permit rapid assembly and disassembly of said upholstered cushion means from said seating equipment without the use of tools, said seating equipment comprising frame portions cooperable with said upholstered cushion means, said assembly and disassembly means comprising pin means on said upholstered cushion means and tab means formed with openings adapted to receive said pin means, means to mount said tab means on said cooperating frame portions, and manually removable locking means to removable secure said pin means in said openings in said tab means, whereby said assembly and disassembly means comprises quick release holding means between said upholstered cushion means and said cooperating frame portions.
- 2. The combination of claim 1, said upholstered cushion means comprising a seat cushion, said assembly and disassembly means comprising bracket means fixed to the underside of said seat cushion and tab means fixed to the seat portion of said frame portions, said tab means being adapted to slide into and out of said bracket means, and said pin means comprising a single pin fixed to the underside of said seat cushion opposite said bracket means.
- 3. The combination of claim 1, said upholstered cushion means comprising a back rest, said assembly and disassembly means comprising finger means fixed to said back rest in closely spaced relation to the lower end thereof and a bar member fixed to the back portion of said frame portions, said finger means adapted to fit over said bar member, and said pin means being fixed to said back rest in closely spaced relation to the upper end thereof.
- 4. The combination of claim 1, said upholstered cushion means comprising a seat cushion, said assembly and disassembly means comprising pin means and finger means on said seat cushion, said seating equipment frame portions including a bar member cooperable with said finger means, said last mentioned frame portions being formed with openings, said pin means being receivable in said openings, manually removeable locking means to removably secure said pin means in said frame portion openings, and said pin means and said finger means being positioned on said seat cushion on opposite sides of the rear surface thereof.
- 5. The combination of claim 1, said seating equipment comprising a convertible wheelchair/litter.
- 6. The combination of claim 1, said seating equipment comprising a geriatric chair.
- 7. The combination of claim 1, said seating equipment comprising a conventional wheelchair.
- 8. The combination of claim 2, said seating equipment comprising a convertible wheelchair/litter having chair and litter configurations, the combination comprising a seat portion located at a seat height in the chair configuration of said wheelchair/litter and located at a litter height in the litter configuration of said wheelchair/litter, said litter height being above said seat height, linkage means to permit motion of said wheelchair/litter between said chair and litter configurations, automatically operating cushion cylinder means associated with said linkage means and said seat portion, said cushion cylinder means comprising means to automatically cushion the downward motion of said linkage means and of said seat portion from said litter height down to said seat height, and said cushion cylinder means comprising means to automatically cause said cushion cylinder means to have substantially no effect on said linkage means when said linkage means and said seat portion are moved upwardly from said seat height to said litter height.
- 9. The combination of claim 8, said cushion cylinder means comprising a housing, a piston rod, packing means at the ends of said housing to seal working fluid inside said housing to substantially fill said housing, said packing means also sealing around said piston rod to permit motion of said rod through said housing and said working fluid, means to secure one of said housing and said piston rod to a portion of said wheelchair/litter which does not move with said linkage means, means to secure the other of said housing and said piston rod to a portion of said linkage means, said automatically operating means comprising a piston member mounted on said piston rod inside said housing for motion relative to both said housing and said piston rod, means to cause said piston to impede the motion of said working fluid in one direction from one side thereof to the other side thereof when moving said seat portion downwardly from said litter height to said seat height, and means to cause said piston not to impede said flow of working fluid in the opposite direction when moving said seat portion upwardly from seat height to litter height.
- 10. The combination of claim 9, said last mentioned means comprising a cut-out formed in said piston rod, first and second stop means defining the limits of motion of said piston on said rod with respect to said cut-out, and spring means normally urging said piston against one of said stop means, the arrangement of parts being such that said piston blocks the flow of working fluid through said cut-out in said one direction and permits the flow of working fluid through said cut-out in said opposite direction.
- 11. The combination of claim 2, said seating equipment comprising a convertible wheelchair/litter having chair and litter configurations, the combination comprising separate left and right foot rests, said wheelchair/litter comprising a seat portion, means to pivotally mount the upper end of each said foot rest to said seat portion, means to separately adjust the position of each said foot rest about said pivot to said seat portion when said wheelchair/litter is in the chair configuration at a location between and including the extremes of a substantially vertical position and a substantially horizontal position and at any one of a relatively large plurality of positions therebetween, linkage means to control the motion of said wheelchair/litter between its wheelchair and litter configurations, said linkage means comprising means to move said left and right foot rests from any one of their separate adjusted positions about their pivots to said seat portion to the substantially horizontal position when said wheelchair/litter is moved from the chair to the litter configuration.
- 12. The combination of claim 11, and said foot rest adjusting means comprising rachet means so arranged that said foot rests are so moved automatically into their said substantially horizontal positions without any handling by an operator during said motion of said wheelchair/litter from chair to litter configuration.
- 13. The combination of claim 11, said foot rest adjusting means comprising rachet means and said rachet means permitting re-adjustment of the position of each said foot rest from any first adjusted position to any second adjusted position closer to horizontal than said first position without any manipulations of any part of said wheelchair/litter other than simply lifting said foot rest towards horizontal about its pivot to said seat portion.
- 14. The combination of claim 13, each said rachet means comprising an elongated screw threaded member, means to pivotedly mount one end of said screw threaded member at a fixed location on said seat portion, a sleeve member slidably mounted on said screw threaded member, a bracket fixed to both said sleeve member and said foot rest, and a rachet point pivotally mounted on said bracket and engaging said screw threaded member.
- 15. The combination of claim 14, and spring loaded two position over-center locking means on said bracket arranged to in one position hold said pawl engaged with said screw threaded member and in its other position to hold said pawl out of engagement with said screw threaded member.
- 16. The combination of claim 15, and a stop member mounted at the free end of said screw threaded member, said pawl and said stop member being so configured that when said foot rest reaches said substantially horizontal position said stop member will engage said pawl and will move said pawl and said over-center locking means to said other position wherein said pawl is disengaged from said screw threaded member, whereby when said wheelchair/litter is moved back to said chair configuration said foot rests will return to their said substantially vertical positions.
- 17. The combination of claim 12, said linkage means comprising a lift bar so arranged as to engage the undersides of both of said foot rests during said motion of said wheelchair/litter from chair to litter configuration to perform said automatic motion of said foot rests.
Parent Case Info
This is a division of application Ser. No. 673,850 filed Nov. 21, 1984.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
80551 |
Aug 1952 |
NOX |
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
673850 |
Nov 1984 |
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