The present invention relates to a walk assisting apparatus that integrates a walker and a walk assistant and particularly to a child walk assisting apparatus that is firmly structured and can be assembled and detached easily to serve as a walker or a walk assistant for children.
Small children during the growing stage do not yet learn to control the leg forces skillfully, hence often fall down due to unstable gravity center. To prevent the small children from hazards during the period of learning to walk various ancillary products have been developed and marketed. In general, walk assisting means for children can be divided into a walker that encircles a child with a seat built on it and a walk assistant which can be gripped and pushed by the child for moving. The walker has a chassis with wheels mounted thereon and a seat for seating a child that also allows the child to extend the legs to touch ground surface so that the child can learn to walk and practice to use the strength of the legs. The walker encircles the child to avoid impact or falling down, and is suitable for a novice small child of little age. The walk assistant also has a chassis with wheels mounted thereon, and a handgrip at the upper side that can be gripped by the child's hands to provide a support force and move the walk assistant around, and can train the child to control balance during walking, hence is suitable to the child who has certain walking capability.
The conventional walker equipped with a seat and hand-push walking assistant are formed with two individual and independent structures. Hence consumers have to purchase two different types of walk assisting products for the child at different walk learning stages. This not only takes more household space, also requires more expenses, hence is not economic effective. To remedy this problem Taiwan patent No. M342812 discloses a walker that also can serve as a walk assistant. It includes a detachable seat and a support frame which has an open end wedgeable in a rear end of a body frame. The support frame can be grasped by the hands of a child to function as a walk assistant. The chassis of such a walker has one side open. As a result the structure of the body is inadequate in strength at the rear side that could cause deformation, malfunction, or even hazard to the child during moving. Moreover, when the conventional walk assistant is in use the child has to move the entire set of the walk assistant. The size is bulky, and also is not suitable to be used in a small room. All this shows that there is still room for improvement.
The primary object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior technique of combining the walker and the walk assistant of insufficient structural strength and too bulky in size when used as the walk assistant.
To achieve the foregoing object the present invention provides a walk assisting apparatus integrating a walker and a walk assistant that includes a first body, an elevated bracket connected to the first body, a second body connected to the elevated bracket in a detachable manner, and a handgrip connected to the second body in a detachable manner. The first body includes a plurality of first wheels and a first frame connected to the first wheels and formed in an annular fashion. The elevated bracket includes two bracing arms and a loading tray to bridge the bracing arms. Each bracing arm has one end remote from the loading tray with a confining sleeve located thereon. The loading tray has one end remote from the confining sleeve with a latch slot formed thereon. The second body includes a plurality of second wheels, a second frame connected to the second wheels and leaning on the loading tray and the bracing arms, and two wedge holes formed on the second frame. The second frame includes a latch element latchable on the latch slot and two confining blocks that can be coupled respectively with the confining sleeve. The handgrip includes a handgrip bar and two latch tenons connected to two ends of the handgrip bar corresponding to the wedge holes.
In one aspect the second body includes a housing space to accommodate a child. The walk assisting apparatus further includes a seat in the housing space.
In another aspect the seat includes an inverse hook corresponding to the loading tray and two latch boards located at two sides of the seat. The second frame includes an inclined slot corresponding to the inverse hook and two latch blocks corresponding to the latch boards.
In yet another aspect each latch block has a sloped surface and each latch board has a latch hole latchable by the latch block.
In yet another aspect the walk assisting apparatus further includes an ornamental tray which has a plurality of ornaments movable with the first wheels and the second wheels of the walk assistant.
In yet another aspect the latch element includes a spring which is connected to the second frame and extended in normal conditions, a handle connected to the spring and a locking block connected to the handle and pressed by the spring to lean on the latch slot.
In yet another aspect each latch tenon includes an eccentric anchor rib.
Thus, the invention, compared with the prior technique, provides many advantages, notably:
1. The invention can be detached and assembled easily to serve as a walker or a walk assistant to suit children at different walk learning stages. Compared with the prior technique of having to buy two different walk assisting apparatus, the present invention can save space and expenses. Moreover, the second body can be removed from the elevated bracket, and the handgrip can be gripped by a child. Compared with the prior technique of having one open side at the chassis, the present invention is firmer, and safer than the conventional dual-purpose walk assisting apparatus when in use.
2. The second body can be detached to couple with the handgrip to serve as the walk assistant without the child to move the entire set of the walk assisting apparatus, hence can train the child to walk and play around even in a smaller room.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Please referring to
More specifically, the first body 10 includes a plurality of first wheels 11 and a first frame 12 connected to the first wheels 11 and formed in an annular fashion. The first frame 12 is formed in a full annular shape to become a structure with greater strength to provide sufficient support power and safety for the children when in use. The elevated bracket 20 includes two bracing arms 21 and a loading tray 22 to bridge the bracing arms 21. Each bracing arm 21 has one end remote from the loading tray 22 with a confining sleeve 211 located thereon. The loading tray 22 has one end remote from the confining sleeve 211 with a latch slot 221 formed thereon. The elevated bracket 20 is foldable to facilitate storing and save storage space. The second body 30 includes a plurality of second wheels 31, a second frame 32 connected to the second wheels 31 and leaning on the loading tray 22 and the bracing arms 21, and two wedge holes 33 formed on the second frame 32.
Also referring to
The second body 30 includes a housing space 50 to accommodate the child so that the child can be held in the housing space 50 to maneuver the walker to move. In this embodiment the walk assisting apparatus 100a is preferably to include a seat 60 in the housing space 50 to support the child before the child is not yet skillful in using the legs to exert the forces so that the child can extend the legs to the ground surface to slide the first wheels 11 in moving. Please referring to
Please referring to
More specifically, the handgrip 40 includes a handgrip bar 41 and two latch tenons 42 connected to two ends of the handgrip bar 41 corresponding to the wedge holes 33. In one embodiment each latch tenon 42 includes an eccentric anchor rib 43, and each wedge hole 33 is formed in an asymmetrical shape corresponding to the latch tenon 42 and the anchor rib 43 so that the latch tenon 42 and the wedge hole 33 can be coupled only in a specific direction to provide fool-proof function.
In addition, please referring to
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Number | Date | Country |
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M342812 | Oct 2008 | TW |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20170007490 A1 | Jan 2017 | US |