Walking aid
OwnerThomas E. Breyleyinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A walker which comprises a pair of interconnecting side frames. Each of the side frames includes a pair of upright legs and a hand grip bar connecting upper end portions of the legs. A caster is adapted to support each leg. A spring is mounted in association with each caster to urge the leg associated therewith to a raised position in which the lower end of the associated leg is spaced above a surface on which the casters run. The springs yield when weight is applied to the bars to cause the lower ends of the legs to engage the supporting surface to lock the walker in position.
Claims5
A walking aid device which comprises horizontal hand rails and vertical support members connected by lateral stabilizing means to form a rigid frame, there being an open space between the hand rails for a patient with hands on the hand rails and feet supported by a supporting surface, the lower extremity of the vertical support members incorporating rubber feet that can contact the supporting surface in a rigid and non-sliding fashion, said walking aid device incorporating casters which travel on the supporting surface in quadraped manner that are pivotally mounted to the frame, longitudinal stabilizing tubes horizontally disposed near the lower ends of said vertical support members, said longitudinal stabilizing tubes extending outwardly past the confines of the vertical members to form caster mounting means in such a manner as to place caster wheel bearing points outside the columnar load path of the vertical support members and spring means between the casters and said frame, so that the frame is carried on the casters when vertical load is absent, said spring means being relatively weak insofar as the springs will carry slightly more than the frame's structural weight so that the patient can load the frame to bring the rubber feet into periodic contact with the floor providing a firm means of support when the frame is loaded by the patient, the rubber feet engaging the supporting surface to prevent advance of the device when the frame is loaded.
A walker which comprises a pair of side frames, means interconnecting the side frames to form an enclosure, each of the side frames including a pair of upright legs, a hand grip bar connecting upper end portions of the legs, there being an open space between the hand grip bars for a patient with hands on the hand grip bars and feet supported on a supporting surface, an elongated caster support frame linking the upright legs spaced below the hand grip bar and caster supports attached to opposite end portions of the caster support frame, the caster support frames being outboard of the vertical members and extending forwardly and rearwardly beyond the vertical members, the caster supports being mounted on the caster support frames forwardly and rearwardly of the vertical members, a caster mounted on each caster support, and a spring mounted in each caster support supported by the associated caster and urging the associated end portion of the caster support frame to a raised position in which the lower ends of the associated legs are spaced above the supporting surface on which the casters run, the springs yielding when weight is applied to the bars to permit the lower ends of the legs to engage the supporting surface, the legs engaging the supporting surface to prevent advance of the device when the support frame is in a lowered position.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.