Wheeled attachment for a chair
OwnerHenry J. Ostrowinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A generally rectangularly shaped support frame provided with ground-engaging wheels upon which almost any type and size of conventional chair may be readily mounted so as to provide mobile means for transporting non-ambulatory persons; certain of the ground engaging wheels are capable of being rotated manually by the person using the converted wheel chair in order to propel the chair in two embodiments of the invention, electrically in a third embodiment and selectively manually or electrically or both manually or electrically in a fourth embodiment thereof; a retractible foot rest is also incorporated in the support frame.
Claims17
A wheeled attachment for converting a chair having leg means into mobile means for transporting non-ambulatory persons, comprising, a generally rectangularly shaped chair support frame lying generally in a horizontal plane having a pair of transversely spaced and parallel, longitudinally extending side sill members, a transversely extending front sill member and a transversely extending rear sill member longitudinally spaced and parallel with respect to said front sill member, one end of each side sill member being rigidly connected to a respective end of said front sill member and its opposite end rigidly connected to a respective end of said rear sill member;
- means for individually adjusting the length of each of said front, rear, and side sill members;
- ground-engaging wheel means at each corner of said chair support frame for supporting said chair support frame in a generally horizontal plane, the rotational axes of said wheel means being vertically spaced above said generally horizontal plane of said chair support frame chair leg supporting and securing means at each corner of said chair support frame, each of said chair leg supporting and securing means being operatively connectible to a respective leg means of a chair and including a generally flat mounting plate for supporting a respective one of the chair leg means, socket means carried by said mounting plate for receiving said respective one of said chair leg means, means for detachably securing said respective one of said chair leg means in said socket means, and means for adjustably securing said mounting plate to a respective one of said front and rear sill members at any one of a plurality of positions along the length thereof independently of said means for individually adjusting the length of each of said front, rear, and side sill members, said mounting plate being substantially horizontally disposed when in use and longitudinally spaced intermediate said wheel means at the two forwardmost corners and said wheel means at the two rearwardmost corners of said chair support frame in all of its adjusted positions.
A wheeled attachment for converting a chair having leg means into mobile means for transporting nonambulatory persons, comprising, a generally rectangularly shaped chair support frame having a pair of transversely spaced and parallel, longitudinally extending side sill members, a transversely extending rear sill member longitudinally spaced and parallel with respect to said front sill member, one end of each side sill member being rigidly connected to a respective end of said front sill member and its opposite end rigidly connected to a respective end of said rear sill member;
- chair leg supporting and securing means at each corner of said chair support frame, each of said chair leg supporting and securing means being operatively connectible to a respective leg means of a chair, each of said chair leg supporting and securing means at each corner of said chair support frame including a generally flat mounting plate for supporting a respective one of the chair leg means, socket means carried by said mounting plate for receiving said respective one of said chair leg means, means for detachably securing said respective one of said chair leg means in said socket means, and means for adjustably securing said mounting plate to a respective one of said front and rear sill members at any one of a plurality of positions along the length thereof, said mounting plate being substantially horizontally disposed when in use;
- means for individually adjusting the length of each of said front, rear, and side sill members;
- ground-engaging wheel means at each corner of said chair support frame for supporting said chair support frame in a generally horizontal plane, the rotational axes of said wheel means being vertically spaced above said generally horizontal plane of said generally horizontal plane of said chair support frame, each of said ground-engaging wheel means at each of the two forwardmost corners of said chair support frame including a bracket integrally formed with a respective one of said side sill members and extending longitudinally forwardly therefrom, said brackets being substantially Z-shaped in side elevation so as to provide a pair of substantially horizontally disposed, vertically spaced and parallel legs, a first one of said bracket legs lying substantially in said horizontal plane of said chair support frame and a second one of said bracket legs being vertically spaced above said horizontal plane, and a swivel-type caster carried by said second one of said bracket legs, said caster being capable of pivoting 360.degree. about a substantially vertical axis;
- and drive means for individually and selectively rotating each of said wheel means at each of the two rearwardmost corners of said chair support frame in forward and reverse directions, each of said means including a transversely outwardly projecting stub shaft at each of the two rearwardmost corners of said chair support frame, a ground-engaging rear wheel rotatably supported on said stub shaft, and each of said drive means for rotating each rear wheel including electrically driven power means and power transmission means operatively interconnecting said electrically driven power means and a respective one of said rear wheels, each of said electrical power means including, a reversible electric motor-speed reducer unit mounted on said rear sill member at a respective end thereof, and said power transmission means including a driven gear fixed to the interiorly facing side of a respective one of said rear wheels, and a drive pinion gear in meshing engagement with said driven gear, said drive pinion gear being drivingly connected to the output shaft of said electric motor-speed reducer unit.
A wheeled attachment for converting a chair having leg means into mobile means for transporting non-ambulatory persons, comprising, a generally rectangularly shaped chair support frame having a pair of transversely spaced and parallel, longitudinally extending side sill members, a transversely extending front sill member and a transversely extending rear sill member longitudinally spaced and parallel with respect to said front sill member, one end of each side sill member being rigidly connected to a respective end of said front sill member and its opposite end rigidly connected to a respective end of said rear sill member;
- chair leg supporting and securing means at each corner of said chair support frame, each of said chair leg supporting and securing means being operatively connectible to a respective leg means of a chair, each of said chair leg supporting and securing means at each corner of said chair support frame including a generally flat mounting plate for supporting a respective one of the chair leg means, socket means carried by said mounting plate for said said respective one of said chair leg means, means for detachably securing said respective one of said chair leg means in said socket means, and means for adjustably securing said mounting plate to a respective one of said front and rear sill members at any one of a plurality of positions along the length thereof, said mounting plate being substantially horizontally disposed when in use;
- means for individually adjusting the length of each of said front, rear, and side sill members;
- and ground-engaging wheel means at each corner of said chair support frame for supporting said chair support frame in a generally horizontal plane, the rotational axes of said wheel means being vertically spaced above said generally horizontal plane of said chair support frame, each of said ground-engaging wheel means at each of the two forwardmost corners of said chair support frame includes a bracket integrally formed with a respective one of said side sill members and extending longitudinally forwardly therefrom, said brackets being substantially Z-shaped in side elevation so as to provide a pair of substantially horizontally disposed, vertically spaced and parallel legs, a first one of said bracket legs lying substantially in said horizontal plane of said chair support frame and a second one of said bracket legs being vertically spaced above said horizontal plane, and a swivel-type caster carried by said second one of said bracket legs, said caster being capable of pivoting 360.degree. about a substantially vertical axis;
- and drive means for individually and selectively rotating each of said wheel means at each of the two rearwardmost corners of said chair support frame in forward and reverse directions, each of said drive means including a transversely outwardly projecting stub shaft at each of the two rearwardmost corners of said chair support frame, a ground-engaging rear wheel rotatably supported on said stub shaft, and each of said drive means for rotating each rear wheel including a manually-operable mechanism, each of said drive means for rotating each rear wheel including manually operable power means and power transmission means operatively interconnecting said manually operable power means and a respective one of said rear wheels, said power transmission means including a rotatable driven member fixed to the interiorly facing side of a respective one of said rear wheels, a rotatable drive member spaced from said driven member, and endless power transmitting means trained around and drivingly interconnecting said drive and driven members, said manually operable power means including a manually rotatable hand wheel operatively connected to said drive member whereby said hand wheel and drive member are rotatable in unison, means for supporting said hand wheel and drive member for rotation about a transversely extending, substantially horizontal axis, and hand grip means carried by said hand wheel to facilitate rotation of the same.
A wheeled attachment for converting a chair having leg means into mobile means for transporting non-ambulatory persons, comprising, a generally rectangularly shaped chair support frame having a pair of transversely spaced and parallel, longitudinally extending side sill members, a transversely extending front sill member and a transversely extending rear sill member longitudinally spaced and parallel with respect to said front sill member, one end of each side sill member being rigidly connected to a respective end of said front sill member and its opposite end rigidly connected to a respective end of said rear sill member;
- chair leg supporting and securing means at each corner of said chair support frame, each of said chair leg supporting and securing means being operatively connectible to a respective leg means of a chair, each of said chair leg supporting and securing means at each corner of said chair support frame including a generally flat mounting plate for supporting a respective one of the chair leg means, socket means carried by said mounting plate for receiving said respective one of said chair leg means, means for detachably securing said respective one of said chair leg means in said socket means, and means for adjustably securing said mounting plate to a respective one of said front and rear sill members at any one of a plurality of positions along the length thereof, said mounting plate being substantially horizontally disposed when in use;
- ground-engaging wheel means at each corner of said chair support frame in a generally horizontal plane, the rotational axes of said wheel means being vertically spaced above said generally horizontal plane of said chair support frame, each of said ground-engaging wheel means at each of the two forwardmost corners of said chair support frame includes a bracket integrally formed with a respective one of said side sill members and extending longitudinally forwardly therefrom, said brackets being substantially Z-shaped in side elevation so as to provide a pair of substantially horizontally disposed, vertically spaced and parallel legs, a first one of said bracket legs lying substantially in said horizontal plane of said chair support frame and a second one of said bracket legs being vertically spaced above said horizontal plane, and a swivel-type caster carried by said second one of said bracket legs, said caster being capable of pivoting 360.degree. about a substantially vertical axis;
- means for individually adjusting the length of each of said front, rear, and side sill members;
- and a generally rectangularly shaped and horizontally disposed foot rest, means for supporting said foot rest on said chair support frame for longitudinal sliding movement between a retracted position wherein the forwardmost edge of said foot rest is closely adjacent said front sill member and an extended position wherein said forwardmost edge of said foot rest is longitudinally spaced forwardly of said front sill member, and manually operable means for moving said foot rest between its retracted and extended positions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.