The invention is in the art of person transport chairs having frame assemblies with tubular members and connectors joined without welds. The person transport chair is a two wheeled hand truck having a seat, back rest, and foot rest for accommodating a person and transporting the person to a selected location.
Conventional wheelchairs have large wheels and caster wheels rotatably mounted on axles and spindles secure to frames. An example of wheelchairs are disclosed by K. S. Rodaway in U.S. Pat. No. 3,857,606 and J. L. Shriver in U.S. Pat. Des. 359,260. The frames of conventional wheelchairs have metal plates and tubular members secured together with welds. The welding of wheelchair frames is labor intensive and an expensive fabrication operation. The components of welded wheelchair frames are not adjustable to allow for different wheelchair sizes and dimensions. Individual wheelchair frames must be welded for different wheelchair designs, sizes, and shapes. Wheelchairs with broken welded frames are not repaired at the user's location. They are shipped to a welding shop or the manufacturer for repairs and part replacements. A replacement wheelchair must be available for the user. Conventional wheelchairs have relatively wide dimensions and external side wheels which restrict movement along narrow doorways and walkways, such as the passenger walkways of commercial aircraft. These wheelchairs are not useable to transport relatively immobile and physically challenged persons to and from seats on a commercial aircraft.
The invention is a two wheeled hand chariot comprising a chair for moving a person to a desired location. The chair is a manually movable wheelchair having a frame assembly supporting a seat, a back rest and a foot rest. The frame assembly has tubular members fastened to connectors which retain the frame assembly as a unitary structure. Removable fasteners secure the connectors to the tubular members. Welds are not used to connect tubular members and plates in the frame assembly. Tubular members and connectors can be individually replaced at the location of the wheelchair with conventional hand tools. Connectors having the same structures are used to assemble different sized wheelchairs. The connectors include support for the seat, back rest and foot rest. The connectors have parallel tubes linearly joined together. Each tube has a longitudinal passage for telescopingly accommodating a tubular member. Fasteners, such as bolt and nut assemblies, secure the connectors to the tubular members. The support associated with the connectors are longitudinal flanges joined to the sides of one of the tubes. The seat, back rest and hand rest are secured with fasteners, such as bolts, to the flanges of adjacent parallel connectors. A pair of wheels are rotatably mounted on a transverse axle extended between and connected to the frame assembly. The frame assembly extends upwardly from the wheels to a pair of transverse handles used by a person to tilt the wheelchair backward and move the wheelchair along a support surface.
A person transport wheelchair 10, shown in
Frame Assembly 11 has a pair of horizontal base tubular members 21 and 22 joined to upwardly and forwardly inclined rear portions or arms 23 and 24. Axle 18 extends between and is connected to the lower sections of arms 23 and 24. Wheels 16 and 17 are rotatably mounted on axle 18 adjacent the insides of arms 23 and 24. The forward ends of members 21 and 22 are secured to tubular connectors 26 and 27 with releasable fasteners 96 and 97, such as bolt and nut assemblies. A U-shaft bumper 28 attached to connectors 26 and 27 with releasable fasteners 86 and 87 extends transversely in front of foot rest 14. Frame assembly 11 has a pair of Z-shaped front arms 29 and 31 attached to foot rest connectors 26 and 27 with fasteners 96 and 97 and seat connectors 32 and 33 with releasable fasteners 44 and 46. A pair of elbow tubes 34 and 36 are attached with releasable fasteners 60 and 61 to seat connectors 32 and 33 and upright back rest connectors 37 and 38. First handle 19 is attached to the upper ends of back rest connectors 37 and 38. An invested U-shaped member or second handle 39 surrounding the upper end of back rest 13 is attached to back rest connectors 37 and 38 with releasable fasteners 41 and 42. Fasteners 41 and 42 are bolts that also attach handle 19 to back rest connectors 37 and 38. A U-shaped member 43 located transversely in front of seat 12 is attached with fasteners 44 and 46 to seat connectors 32 and 33. The frame assembly 11 is described as having tubular members. Rods and bars can be used with the connectors to provide a unitary frame structure.
Foot rest 14, shown in
Seat 12, shown in
Back rest 13 has an upright rectangular panel 62 attached with bolts 63, 64, 65, and 66, shown in
The tubular members of frame 11 are attached with connectors 26, 27, 32, 33, 37 and 38 and bolts cooperating with the tubular members and connectors. Welds are not used to secure tubular members or other parts together. Connectors 26, 27, 32, 33, 37 and 38 have the same structure with different lengths.
As shown in
There has been shown and described an embodiment of the person transport wheelchair of the invention. Changes in the materials, structures and arrangement of the structures of the person transport wheelchair can be made by persons skilled in the art without departing form the invention.
This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 29/141,713 filed May 14, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. Des 474,999 and is a continuation of Ser. No. 29/141,937 filed May 17, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. Des 473,826.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2670216 | Leonard | Feb 1954 | A |
2832397 | Premo | Apr 1958 | A |
2957700 | Beaurline | Oct 1960 | A |
3245715 | Gits | Apr 1966 | A |
3857606 | Rodaway | Dec 1974 | A |
3976155 | Esch | Aug 1976 | A |
4097169 | Kelly | Jun 1978 | A |
4575113 | Boudreau | Mar 1986 | A |
4583758 | Runion et al. | Apr 1986 | A |
4967864 | Boyer et al. | Nov 1990 | A |
4997200 | Earls | Mar 1991 | A |
5141250 | Morgan et al. | Aug 1992 | A |
5267745 | Robertson et al. | Dec 1993 | A |
D359260 | Shriver | Jun 1995 | S |
5542690 | Kozicki | Aug 1996 | A |
5573261 | Miller | Nov 1996 | A |
5697628 | Spear | Dec 1997 | A |
5722676 | Wu | Mar 1998 | A |
6000713 | Lin | Dec 1999 | A |
D430078 | Ellis et al. | Aug 2000 | S |
6220621 | Newton | Apr 2001 | B1 |
D451435 | Schlangen | Dec 2001 | S |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
3826381 | Dec 1989 | DE |
2084009 | Sep 1980 | GB |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 29141713 | May 2001 | US |
Child | 10425187 | US | |
Parent | 29141937 | May 2001 | US |
Child | 29141713 | US |