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US 4,592,570 AGranted
Ultra light wheelchair
AssigneeEverest & Jennings, Inc.
InventorJoe-Massoud Nassiri
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The ultra light chair is designed for greater stability, higher performance, higher efficiency and overall better appearance than conventional chairs. A seat frame is provided separate from the main frame with seat mountings permitting longitudinal, tilt and height adjustments of the seat on the main frame. Unique wheel mountings permit simple manual removal and attachment of the wheels to the main frame, using only one hand. The same wheel mountings permit adjustment of the camber angle of each wheel relative to a vertical plane so that propelling and maneuvering of the wheelchair can be made easier than in the absence of any camber. The seat back for the chair is designed to fold down over the seat frame so that this feature in combination with easy removal of the wheels provides for compact storage during travel.
Claims22
An ultra light wheelchair including, in combination:
- (a) a main frame;
- (b) a seat frame;
- (c) means for attaching said seat frame to said main frame in a plurality of different longitudinal locations, tilt angles, and heights relative to said main frame;
- (d) a back frame;
- (e) coupling means including pivot means for pivoting the back frame to the rear of said seat frame so that the back frame can be folded down forwardly to overlie the seat frame;
- (f) left and right main wheels;
- (g) means for manually attaching and detaching said main wheels to said main frame;
- and
- (h) caster wheel means attached to said main frame forward of the main wheels whereby the back frame can be folded down over the seat frame and the main wheels detached from the main frame to enable compact storage of the wheelchair components during travel.
6 more elements
An ultra light wheelchair including, in combination:
- (a) a main frame comprised of left and right frame sides, each including;
- (1) an horizontal longitudinally extending upper tube terminating at its front end in a forward and downwardly sloping section,
- (2) an horizontal longitudinally extending lower tube, running generally parallel to and beneath said upper tube, the front end of the lower tube being secured to the end portion of said downwardly sloping section and
- (3) a vertical tube connecting the rear end of said lower tube to the underside of the rear end portion of said upper tube so that the left and right frame sides considered together include two upper tubes, two lower tubes and two vertical tubes;
- said main frame further including first and second longitudinally spaced transverse tubes connected between the upper tubes of the left and right frame sides and a third transverse tube connected between the lower ends of the vertical tubes of the left and right frame sides for holding the left and right frame sides in spaced parallel relationship;
- (b) a foot rest including a generally U-shaped tube having rearward and upwardly extending legs connected to the forward and downwardly sloping sections respectively of the upper tubes of said left and right frame sides;
- (c) a seat frame disposed above said main frame and including left and right longitudinally extending seat frame rails spaced further apart than said left and right frame sides, said frame rails having forward and downwardly sloping front ends straddling the front ends of the upper tubes of said left and right frame sides;
- and a downwardly bowed seat frame tube extending transversely between said rails and connected to the rails at points closer to the rear ends of the rails than the front ends for holding the rails in spaced relationship at said points;
- (d) a back frame including upwardly extending left and right seat back posts and a downwardly bowed back frame tube extending transversely between said posts and connected to the posts at points adjacent to the lower ends of the posts;
- (e) seat attaching and adjustment means including the upper tubes of said left and right frame sides and said left and right rails for attaching the seat frame to the main frame and enabling adjustment of said seat frame relative to said main frame with respect to its longitudinal position, tilt and height;
- (f) coupling means including means for pivoting the lower portions of the back frame posts to the rear end portions of said seat frame rails so that the back frame can be folded down forwardly to overlie the seat frame;
- (g) left and right main wheels;
- (h) manually operable means for attaching and detaching said main wheels to rear end portions of the left and right frame sides of said main frame;
- and
- (i) left and right caster wheels secured to the forward portions of the lower tubes of the left and right frame sides of said main frame respectively whereby the main wheels can be manually removed from the main frame and the back frame folded forwardly over the seat frame to provide a compact configuration of the wheelchair components for storage during travel.
12 more elements
A wheelchair including, in combination:
- (a) a main frame;
- (b) left and right main wheels;
- and
- (c) means for adjusting the camber angle of each of the main wheels individually, said means including, for each wheel:
- (1) a journalling plate having an axle receiving bore for journalling a wheel of the wheelchair, said journalling plate having an extending arm pivoted to the main frame at a given pivot point, and a second arm extending adjacent to another portion of said main frame including a slot of sufficient width to accommodate an arcuate path with the center of curvature of the arcuate path at said pivot point, said other portion of the frame having a diametric hole positioned to register with said slot;
- (2) a bolt member passing through the slot and registering hole, said bolt having an enlarged head for engaging the periphery of the slot;
- (3) a nut overlying the periphery of the exit end of said diametric hole, said nut being threadedly received on the end of said bolt;
- and
- (4) a compression sleeve surrounding the bolt between the nut and the inside periphery of the entrance end of the diametric hole so that the second arm of the journalling plate can be tightly clamped to said other portion of the main frame after adjusting the angle of the axis of the axle receiving bore with respect to the horizontal within the limits of the arcuate path encompassed in the slot to thereby enable the camber angle of the associated main wheel relative to a vertical plane to be adjusted.
6 more elements
An ultra light wheelchair including, in combination:
- a main frame;
- left and right main wheels;
- a separate seat frame;
- attachment means for attaching said seat frame to said main frame in a desired position;
- a back frame,
- said attachment means for attaching the seat frame to the main frame including means for adjusting the longitudinal position, tilt, and height of the seat frame relative to the main frame;
- and
- means pivoting the back frame to the seat frame so that the back frame can be folded down forwardly over the seat frame, whereby the wheels can be manually removed and the back frame folded down to facilitate storing the wheelchair during travel.
5 more elements
A wheelchair comprising:
- a main frame;
- left and right main wheels mounted on said main frame;
- caster wheel means attached to said main frame for supporting said main frame in a position spaced from said main wheels;
- a U-shaped seat frame having approximately parallel left and right seat frame rails each with forward and rearward ends,
- said main frame having approximately parallel left and right rails fixed in positions slightly inboard of said seat frame rails,
- each of said main frame rails having a forward end and a rearward end;
- pivot means selectively adjustable on said main frame rails to mount said forward ends of said seat frame rails rotatably about a selected one of a plurality of forward axes;
- and
- latch means to fix said rearward ends of said left and right seat frame rails relative to said rearward ends of said left and right main frame rails, respectively.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.