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US 12,042,447 B2Granted
Wheelchair with dynamic occupant-tilt feature
AssigneeChristiana Care Health System, Inc.
InventorCatharine E. Kelly
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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.
Claims18
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, said seat comprising a seat portion and a backrest portion joined to said seat portion in a fixed position relative to said seat portion;
- a support assembly supporting said seat on said base and allowing for movement 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;
- and
- a control unit operable to cause said power source to power said drive assembly to dynamically vary a tilt position of said seat relative to said base over time automatedly, in a predefined programmatic fashion, to implement an occupant tilting routine for avoiding pressure ulcer formation on the wheelchair's occupant according to user input provided asynchronously with tilting of said seat.
5 more elements
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, said power source comprising a battery supported on said base;
- and
- a 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;
- wherein said drive assembly comprises:
- a battery-powered hydraulic pump operatively coupled to said power source and supported on said base;
- and
- a 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.
9 more elements
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, said power source comprising a battery supported on said base;
- and
- a 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;
- 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;
- and
- an electric motor operatively connected to said power source and mechanically coupled to said drive gear.
10 more elements
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;
- and
- a 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.
5 more elements
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;
- and
- a 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.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.