Power conversion kit for wheelchair

A power conversion kit to motorize a wheelchair of standard design which is provided with a frame which includes a pair of vertically extending rear frame members and a pair of manually driven original right and left rear wheels, each rear wheel being mounted to a respective rear frame member and having an axis of rotation which intersects the rear frame member said conversion kit comprising a pair of matched components for replacement of each of said right rear drive wheel and said left rear drive wheel, each member of said pair of matched components including:

• a. means for mounting a power drive assembly to a frame of a wheelchair of standard design, at the same location, and through the same holes, formerly occupied by hardware used to mount the original rear drive wheels of the wheelchair, said mounting means comprising an essentially "z" shaped bracket having three defined areas or segments, a first (coupling) segment, a second (offsetting) segment and a third (power hub) segment
• the first segment of said bracket being adapted for mechanically coupling the bracket to the respective rear frame member of the wheelchair at the same location on the chair frame formerly occupied by the original rear wheels of said wheelchair,
• the second segment of said bracket being adapted for displacing a power driven rear drive wheel to a new central rotational axis located rearwardly of the rotational axis of the original manually driven wheel which extends through the rear frame member so as to effect a forward shift in the wheelchair's center of balance, and being further adapted for aligning the third segment inboard, in relation to the frame, so as to maintain the wheelchair's original dimensions and to minimize interference of said power hubs with the wheelchair's frame during collapse and folding of the wheelchair, and
• the third segment of said bracket being adapted to provide a stator for a power drive assembly;
• b. a power drive assembly comprising a power driven rear drive wheel, a power hub mechanically coupled to said rear drive wheel at the hub thereof for roller bearing support of the drive wheel about the new central rotational axis, said power hub being further characterized as having a controller activated motor and a spur gear array for power transfer engagement of the motor with the hub of said rear drive wheel;
• and
• c. a controller for operator engagement and selective activation of each of the power hubs of said conversion kit, said controller enabling both directional movement of a motorized wheelchair equipped with said power hubs in response to operator initiated input to said controller, and dynamic braking thereof when the controller is placed in a neutral position by the operator.