Patent Application
20140042727
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wheel chairs, and more specifically to a reconfigurable wheel chair designed to assist physically challenged people to use toilets without moving off wheel chairs. The reconfigurable wheel chair of the present invention comprises a split seat including a central retractable part that can be moved down to the base of a wheel chair, and a surrounding sliding part that can be moved over a toilet seat.
2. Description of Related Art
The prior art provides a number of designs of wheel chairs capable of being wheeled over a toilet, while the occupant remains in the wheel chair. More specifically, by way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,086,550 to Hartig discloses a wheel chair having a main seat member which is stationary and is provided with a central opening and having an auxiliary seat member pivotally mounted on the underside to close said opening. U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,368 to Matthews discloses wheel chairs having toilet seat incorporated therein, the toilet seat having an opening adapted to be closed by a padded panel, which may be moved between a position closing said opening and a position clearing said opening by a person seated in the wheel chair. U.S. Pat. No. 3,062,582 to Baldwin discloses wheel chairs wherein a selected portion of the seats of the wheel chairs is permitted to be displaced for affording access to a toilet bowl received there beneath. U.S. Pat. No. 3,719,390 to Haney discloses a wheel chair with an auxiliary frame, which includes a pair of vertically oriented legs and a lifting-bar suspended between the legs so that the user can draw himself to an erect position in order to gain access to the toilet bowl. U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,482 to Wegner discloses collapsible wheel chairs that are capable of being wheeled over a toilet and permit users to use toilet without having to be moved from wheel chairs. U.S. Pat. No. 4,514,867 to Jensen discloses a wheel chair with displaceable seat panel which includes a pivoted central panel that can be pivoted downward so that the wheel chair can be wheeled over a toilet for use without transfer of the user from the wheel chair. U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,901 to Patel discloses wheel chair with a waste elimination opening provided in the seat and a cover for covering said opening when it is not needed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,918 to Jensen discloses a collapsible wheel chair with displaceable seat panels. The seat frame includes at least one seat section, which may each be independently raised or lower on one end thereof.
Some of the aforementioned inventions suffer from the inconvenience that the cover for the opening or the movable seat panel may be placed in the way of users' legs. Some of them may not suitable for users who are not competent to manually open and close the opening for waste elimination. For example, an elderly person or a user suffering partial paralysis may be unable to bend or twist to an extent necessary to manipulate structure supported beneath their seats.
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for a wheel chair, which may be easily moved over a toilet seat by a physically weak user. Moreover, opening on the wheel chair seat to eliminate waste over the toilet can be easily operated by mechanical force. The movable seat panel or cover of the opening should stay out of the user's legs for comfort.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a reconfigurable wheel chair that enables the user to use toilet without moving off the wheel chair so that any loss of balance and accidents can be avoided and prevented.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a reconfigurable wheel chair that enables users who are not competent to manually open and close the opening for waste elimination and, for elders or partially paralyzed users who cannot bend or twist to manipulate the structure of the wheel chair.
Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a reconfigurable wheel chair of which the movable seat panel or cover of the opening should stay out of the user's legs for comfort.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a reconfigurable wheel chair which can be used in any toilets including home or outside. The dimensions are adjusted according to the ANSI A117.7 standard set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a reconfigurable wheel chair, which has several variations compared to the typical wheel chair. The wheel chair of the present invention has a split seat which includes a retractable part and a sliding part. The retractable part is oval in shape located at the center of the split seat. The rest of the seat surrounding the retractable part is the sliding part. The sliding part rests on rails and is free to move over the toilet seat when enabled.
The sliding-part seat can be moved forward and back using many mechanisms like the linear actuators, motor screw mechanism etc. The selection is made based on the cost of built and other factors. The motor screw mechanism is built in the preferred embodiment.
The motor screw mechanism consists of a motor and a long screw attached to it. The motor screw mechanism is useful to convert the rotational motion of the motor-screw into linear motion. There is a pillow block mounted on this motor screw mechanism as housing. The seat is attached to the pillow block. The seat can be moved forward or backward depending on the direction of rotation of the motor. Two rails are used to support the seat. For users' comfort, the motor-screw mechanism is assembled such that there is no obstruction to the user's legs when the seat moves onto the toilet seat. Linear actuator is built in another embodiment. Linear actuators are straight forward and known to people of ordinary skills in the art.
In one embodiment, the retractable part has a joint mechanism that can retract the seat to the base of the chair, not obstructing the legs of the user.
The wheel chair may further include a roller. Once the retractable-part is moved down, the roller at the back of the wheel chair can move down to provide additional support as the seat starts moving back.
The wheel chair may further comprise sensors. Once the user enters the restroom, sensors could be used to align the chair to the toilet seat automatically. The sensors are mounted onto the wheel chair. Two of the many possible mechanisms are described below.
Once the wheel chair is aligned, the retractable part of the seat moves down. The roller at the back of the seat can be used for additional support. This roller moves down onto the toilet seat. The motor is activated now, that moves the sliding part of the seat into position, on the toilet seat.
The reconfigurable wheel chair of the present invention is designed to be used in any toilets including home or outside. The dimensions are adjusted according to the ANSI A117.7 standard set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The reconfigurable wheel chair according to the present invention may further comprise microchips that can control the joint mechanism to withdraw the retractable-part seat, the motor screw mechanism to move sliding-part seat forward or backward, the roller to move down onto the toilet seat, and the sensors for tracking and alignment between wheel chair and toilet seat. The wheel chair of the present invention may be controlled by wire or wireless remote control. The aforementioned mechanisms may be manually operable, for example, the joint mechanism and roller may be controlled by handles or a levers; the motor screw mechanism may be controlled by a rotating knob or a button.
The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order. More detailed description is provided in order so that the present contribution to the art may be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.
Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals.
Referring to
The split seat 10 has a front end 11, a rear end 12, a right side 13, a left side 14, a top 18, and a bottom 19. The right side 13 and left side 14 extend between the front end 11 and rear end 12. The back support member 30 is connected to the rear end 12 of the split seat 10 in a generally perpendicular relation. The hand supports 40 are placed at the left and right side of the back member 30. The chair base member 20 is made up of metallic frame and is installed below the split seat 10 for providing support to wheel chair seat 10, back member 30, and weight of users.
The split seat 10 is rigid and can be upholstered and cushioned for comfort. The split seat 10 includes a retractable-part seat 15 which is oval in shape extending backwards from the central front end 11. The remaining portion of the split seat 10 surrounding the retractable-part seat 15 is called sliding-part seat 16. The sliding-part seat 16 is connected to the back member 30 while the retractable-part seat 15 is not. As disclosed in
The sliding-part seat 16 can be moved forward and backward on the rails 17 using many mechanisms including motor screw mechanism, linear actuators, and other mechanisms known in the art. Linear actuator is an actuator that creates linear motion. Many linear actuators are driven by a non-linear motion. Mechanical linear actuators typically operated by conversion of rotary motion into linear motion. The selection is made based on the cost of built and other factors.
The motor screw mechanism 80 is built in the preferred embodiment as shown in
Referring to
As illustrated in
The reconfigurable wheel chair 1 of the present invention may further include sensors 70 (not shown in Figures). Once the user enters the restroom, sensors 70 could be used to align the chair 1 to the toilet seat 2 automatically. The sensors 70 are mounted onto the wheel chair 1. Two of the many possible mechanisms are described below:
Once the wheel chair 1 is aligned with the toilet seat, the retractable-part seat 15 starts to move down; the motor screw mechanism 80 being activated starts to drive the sliding-part seat 16 to move backward on the rails 17 into position over the toilet seat 2; the roller 90 being moved downward onto the toilet seat locks and secures the wheel chair and provides additional support to the wheel chair and weight of the user. The final position is shown in
This chair can be used in any toilets including home or outside. The dimensions are adjusted according to the ANSI A117.7 standard set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The reconfigurable wheel chair 1 according to the present invention may further comprise microchips that can control the joint mechanism 21 to withdraw the retractable-part seat 15, the motor screw mechanism 80 to move the sliding-part seat 16 forward or backward, the roller 90 to unfold and move down onto the toilet seat 2, and the sensors 70 for tracking and alignment between the wheel chair 1 and the toilet seat 2. The wheel chair 1 of the present invention may be controlled by wire or wireless remote control. The aforementioned mechanisms may be manually operable, for example, the joint mechanism 21 may be controlled by handles or levers; the motor screw mechanism of linear actuator may be controlled by a rotating knob or button.
While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.
