US 5,174,590 A · Compliant walker

Abstract

A compliant walker for humans having limited use of their legs and lower back includes an upright wheeled frame which at least partially surrounds an upright user wearing a partial body harness which is attached to the frame by means of cable compliant apparatus consisting of sets of cable segments and angle bracket members connected between opposite side members of the frame and adjacent side portions of the harness. The type of partial body harness utilized takes two forms, the first being a torso harness which encircles the waist or rib cage of the user, while the second type of harness is a hip harness which fits around the hips and buttocks. The frame itself lends itself to several embodiments, one of which completely surrounds the user, while the other consists of a frame open at the front end including a pair of upright side members which attach to the cable support apparatus and which is vertically adjustable to accommodate the user's height.

Claims23

Dependent claims

A compliant walker for aiding persons having limited use of their lower extremities, comprising:

a wheeled frame including upright support means;
body harness means;
cable compliance means connected between said body harness means and said upright support means for flexibly holding and supporting a person in a substantially upright position while said person sags in said frame when taking weight off said lower extremities;
said cable compliance means includes a plurality of cable segments and angle brackets arranged in sets of parallel cable segments, said cable segments being coupled at one end to a respective angle bracket and at the other end selectively to said harness or said upright support means.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Compliant walker

Life of this patent

Compliant walker

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims23