This application is a national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT/NZ2018/050024 having an international filing date of Mar. 7, 2018 (currently published). International Application No. PCT/NZ2018/050024 cites the priority of New Zealand Patent No. 730007, issued Mar. 23, 2018 (granted).
A preferred form of the invention relates to a seat having a lateral pad support.
It is known for wheelchairs to have lateral pads for supporting the sides of the torso of a human user. It is convenient for the pads to be swung out of the way to enable the user easy access to the chair, and then swung back closer to the body and locked in place. It is an object of a preferred form of the invention to go at least some way towards achieving this. However it should be understood that the invention has more general applicability and that any objects or advantages of the preferred embodiment should not be seen as a limitation on the claims. The object of the invention per se is simply to provide the public with a useful choice.
The term comprising, if and when used in this document in relation to a combination of features, should be interpreted to mean that the combination may be supplemented by additional features, but does not have to be.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a lateral support forming part of a seat, comprising:
Preferably the cam surface of the lever and the complimentary surface of the hinge body are similarly or identically angled.
Preferably the pin extends substantially vertically and the bolt extends substantially horizontally.
Preferably the bolt is spring biased towards the pin.
Preferably the forward support can be swung about a second pin and releasably locked at a desired angle by fixing members (eg screws).
Preferably the forward support comprises a padded plate.
Preferably the hinge body and the forward support can be collective swung by applying a swinging force to the lever when the bolt has been forced from the pin.
Preferably the bracket has upper and lower legs turn back on themselves and extend around upper and lower ends of the pin and are tightened against the pin by way of threaded fixing members (e.g. screws).
Preferably the hinge body has forwardly disposed upper and lower arms that turn back on themselves and extend around upper and lower ends of the second pin and are tightened against the second pin by way of threaded fixing members (eg screws).
Some preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Referring to
The forward end of the hinge body 2 has upper and lower arms 10, 11 supporting a vertically extending pin 12. The pin is locked with respect to the arms 10, 11 by way of screws or horizontal pins (not shown) passing through aligned holes 13. One end 14 of the plate 3 wraps around the pin 12 between the arms 10, 11 and can be tightened against the pin 12 by way of screws (not shown) passing through apertures 15, 16 therein. The angle of the plate 3 can be adjusted by swinging it about the pin 12 and then tightening the screws to lock it there.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The forward end of the lever's bolt 18 is biased towards the locked position by a spring 23 in the bore 20 immediately to the right of the bolt. The spring urges the bolt 18 back into the pin 5 when the lever 17 is turned by hand back to the locked disposition of
Referring to
A particular benefit of the preferred embodiment is that a wheelchair or disability chair user can move swing the lateral support with only one hand, for example the same hand that turns the lever 17 can simultaneously push or pull on the lever to swing the hinge body 2 and the padded plate 3 collectively. This is more convenient than some known lateral supports where a user has to depress a button and hold it down with one hand, while pushing or pulling on the support with another hand to get the support to swing.
While some preferred embodiments have been described by way of example it should be appreciated that modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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730007 | Mar 2017 | NZ | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/NZ2018/050024 | 3/7/2018 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2018/169414 | 9/20/2018 | WO | A |
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Entry |
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Simon Ochsenbein “International Preliminary Report on Patentability—International Patent Application No. PCT/NZ2018/050024” Australian Patent Office; dated Jul. 16, 2019; pp. 1-5. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20200029694 A1 | Jan 2020 | US |