US 3,948,535 AGranted

Ski-equipped crutch

AssigneeNippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha

InventorTakafusa Negi

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A ski-equipped crutch comprising a pole member, a pole-ski member detachably secured to the bottom of said pole member, and a holding member secured to the pole member and said pole-ski member to hold these two members so as to allow rotation of these two members relative to each other. Said holding member has an upright guide plate provided with an arcuate edge having spaced notches for selective engagement with a movable ball housed in said pole member and urged toward said arcuate edge by a spring. Said pole member further has a length-adjusting means comprising at least two separate portions one of which is received in the other and also comprising means for fastening these two portions tightly together at a desired position of these two portions selected from given positions. By loosening this fastening means, the pole member can be separated into parts for the convenience of transportation of the crutch. Moreover, the forward end of the pole-ski member has a cutout so that, when the pole-ski member is rotated toward the pole member, these two members are rendered into a rectilinear assembly without interference therebetween, thereby providing a walk-assisting cane structure.

Claims4

Dependent claims

A ski-equipped crutch comprising:

a pole member, a pole-ski member, a holding member fixedly attached to said pole-ski member and rotatably attached to said pole member, said holding member including a guide plate having a smooth guiding free end surface provided with spaced notches, an elastic engaging means for releasably locking said pole member and said holding member into engagement with each other at at least first and second selected positions, in said first position said ski pole member being substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of said pole member and in said second position said ski pole member being substantially aligned with said pole member, said engaging means including a tubular bifurcated lower end portion formed in said pole member, said holding member being received in said bifurcated lower end portion, a ball movably received between said tubular lower end portion of the pole member and said guiding surface of said holding member, and a biasing means received within said tubular lower end portion and acting along the longitudinal direction of said pole member for urging said ball into engagement with said guide surface, said ball moving in and out of said notches and smoothly along said guide surface when a force urging rotation of said pole member with respect to said pole-ski member exceeds the biasing force urging said ball into said notches.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 05/575,701Filed 8 May 1975 · continuation
Priority: JA 47-1209812 Dec 1972
Granted: 6 Apr 1976
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

A63C 11/221
Ski-sticks: telescopic, e.g. for varying the length or for damping shocks
A63C 2201/10
Use of skates, skis, roller-skates, snowboards and courts: for handicapped people
Y10T 403/32336
Including radially spaced detent or latch component: engaging notch or recess in outer periphery of component
A63C
Skates