WHEELCHAIR WITH DYNAMIC OCCUPANT-TILT FEATURE

Abstract

A wheelchair having a tiltable occupant-support assembly, a powered drive system for adjusting the degree of tilt, and a control system for varying the degree of tilt in a programmatic automated fashion. The wheelchair is programmed or programmable to vary the degree of tilt, and therefore the wheelchair’s occupant, automatedly. The wheelchair may provide pre-set ranges of seating angles and durations of time at each angle of tilt. The wheelchair thereby allows for reliable off-loading of the occupant’s weight from pressure points, to avoid pressure ulcers, and does so programmatically so as to reduce the burden on healthcare staff and professionals while also ensuring adherence with prescribed tilting schedules.

Description

Claims

1-22. (canceled)

23. A wheelchair comprising: a base;a plurality of wheels mounted on said base and adapted to support said base relative to a support surface;a seat for receiving a wheelchair occupant;a support assembly supporting said seat on said base and allowing for movement of at least a portion of said seat, relative to said base, between an upright seat position, a fully-tilted seat position and a plurality of intermediate seat positions between said upright seat position and said fully-tilted seat position;a drive assembly operable to drive said support assembly to selectively adjust a position of said at least a portion of said seat relative to said base;a power source for powering said drive assembly; anda control unit operable to cause said power source to power said drive assembly to vary the position of said seat relative to said base over time automatedly, in a predefined programmatic fashion.

24. The wheelchair of claim 23, wherein said wheelchair is a tilt-in-space style wheelchair.

25. The wheelchair of claim 23, wherein said seat comprises a seat portion and a backrest portion.

26. The wheelchair of claim 25, wherein said back portion is fixed in position relative to said seat portion.

27. The wheelchair of claim 26, wherein said wheelchair is a tilt-in-space style wheelchair.

28. The wheelchair of claim 23, wherein said support assembly comprises a pair of arcuate sled members supported on a corresponding pair of arcuate rail members supported on said base.

29. The wheelchair of claim 23, wherein said power source comprises a battery mounted on said wheelchair.

30. The wheelchair of claim 29, wherein said drive assembly comprises: a battery-powered hydraulic pump operatively coupled to said power source and supported on said base; anda hydraulic cylinder comprising a hydraulic piston, an end of said hydraulic cylinder being joined to one of said base and said support assembly, and a respective end of said hydraulic piston being joined to another of said base and said support assembly, said hydraulic cylinder being operatively connected to said hydraulic pump to selective cause extension and retraction of said piston relative to said cylinder.

31. The wheelchair of claim 30, wherein each of said hydraulic cylinder end and said hydraulic piston end are joined to a respective one of said support assembly and said base by a respective mount and pivot pin.

32. The wheelchair of claim 29, wherein said drive assembly comprises a battery-powered linear actuator joined at its ends to said base and said support assembly.

33. The wheelchair of claim 29, wherein said drive assembly comprises: a toothed rack mounted to one of said base and said support assembly;a drive gear having teeth complementary to and positioned to register with teeth of said toothed rack; andan electric motor operatively connected to said power source and mechanically coupled to said drive gear.

34. The wheelchair of claim 33, wherein said drive gear is mounted on a drive shaft of said electric motor.

35. The wheelchair of claim 33, wherein said drive gear is mechanically coupled to said drive gear by a gear train driven by a drive shaft of said electric motor.

36. The wheelchair of claim 23, wherein said control unit is computerized and is programmed to receive user inputs for asynchronous control of a position of said seat relative to said base.

37. The wheelchair of claim 23, wherein said control unit is pre-configured with a plurality of seat-tiling programs, and is configured to provide an interface allowing a user to select at least one of said plurality of seat-tiling programs.

38. The wheelchair of claim 23, wherein said control unit is pre-configured with a plurality of seat-tiling programs configurable according to user input, and is configured to provide an interface allowing a user to provide user input to configured at least one of said plurality of seat-tiling programs.

39. The wheelchair of claim 23, wherein said control unit is configured to provide an interface allowing a user to provide user input for parameters of a seat-tiling routine.

40. The wheelchair of claim 39, wherein said control unit is configured to provide an interface allowing a user to provide user input as at least one of a seat angle and a duration of time at said seat angle.

41. The wheelchair of claim 23, wherein said control unit is mounted to said wheelchair.

42. The wheelchair of claim 23, wherein said control unit comprises a remote control unit that is not mounted to said wheelchair, but that is in data communication with a portion of said control unit mounted to said wheelchair.

43. A wheelchair comprising: a base;a plurality of wheels mounted on said base and adapted to support said base relative to a support surface;a seat for receiving a wheelchair occupant;a support assembly supporting said seat on said base and allowing for movement of at least a portion of said seat, relative to said base, between an upright seat position, a fully-tilted seat position and a plurality of intermediate seat positions between said upright seat position and said fully-tilted seat position;a drive assembly operable to drive said support assembly to selectively adjust a position of said at least a portion of said seat relative to said base;a power source for powering said drive assembly; anda control unit operable to cause said power source to power said drive assembly to vary the position of said seat relative to said base over time automatedly, in programmatic fashion, according to a seat-tilting program stored in a memory of said control unit, said program specifying a duration of time for dwelling at each of a plurality of positions of said at least a portion of said seat relative to said base.

44. A wheelchair comprising: a base;a plurality of wheels mounted on said base and adapted to support said base relative to a support surface;a seat for receiving a wheelchair occupant;a support assembly supporting said seat on said base and allowing for movement of at least a portion of said seat, relative to said base, between an upright seat position, a fully-tilted seat position and a plurality of intermediate seat positions between said upright seat position and said fully-tilted seat position;a drive assembly operable to drive said support assembly to selectively adjust a position of said at least a portion of said seat relative to said base;a power source for powering said drive assembly; anda control unit operable to cause said power source to power said drive assembly to vary the position of said seat relative to said base over time automatedly, in programmatic fashion, to cause said portion of said seat to dwell in a first position for a first duration of time, and then to dwell in a second position for a second duration of time.