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US 5,476,429 AGranted
Treadmill for use with a wheelchair
AssigneePacker Engineering, Inc.
InventorsClifford C. Bigelow, Jerome V. Eck, Terry N. Layton
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AssigneePacker Engineering, Inc.
InventorsClifford C. Bigelow, Jerome V. Eck, Terry N. Layton
Estimating the term…
An exercise device for the occupant of a wheelchair acting as a treadmill which may be used for cardiac stress testing, cardiac or stroke rehabilitation, fitness training, aerobic training or educational/physical games, with the device including a generally inclined ramp having parallel sides, a forward entrance portion, a movable dolly mounted on rails on the sides of the ramp, the dolly having a pair of laterally movable caster capture plates with openings to receive the front casters of a wheelchair and angular rods cooperating with the wheelchair drive wheels acting to adjust the lateral spacing of said plates, locking means for the dolly to retain it in its forward position, separate locking means for locking the dolly in its rearward position when a wheelchair has been moved onto the ramp into operative position, a pair of enlarged openings adjacent the rear edge of the ramp, and a pair of longitudinally movable rollers beneath the ramp and movable between a rear retracted position allowing the wheelchair drive wheels to be partially received in the openings and a forward position under the drive wheels to engage and lift the drive wheels so that the user can manually rotate the wheelchair drive wheels to rotate the rollers and provide signals to a control apparatus for the desired type of training, testing or rehabilitation.
An exercise device for a manually operated wheelchair having a pair of rear drive wheels, comprising a ramp with an inclined base extending between a rear edge and an entrance portion for reception of an occupant occupied wheelchair, a pair of openings adjacent the rear edge of the ramp for partially receiving a respective drive wheel of said wheelchair, a separate and independent roller located in each opening, each roller acting to provide contact and support with a respective drive wheel, each of said rollers being movable between a retracted inoperative position and an operative position raising one of said drive wheels at least partially out of its respective opening.
An exercise device for a manually operated wheelchair having a pair of rear drive wheels and a pair of front casters, a caster capture system to lock a wheelchair in position on the ramp, said ramp having a generally sloping surface between a rear edge and a forward entrance end, a dolly movable on the ramp between front and rear positions and including means engagable with the wheelchair when the dolly is in the forward position for guiding the wheelchair along the inclined portion when the dolly moves to the rear position.
An exercise device for manually operated wheelchairs and their occupants comprising a ramp adapted to receive an occupant in a wheelchair having front casters and rear drive wheels, said ramp including a generally flat sloping base, a pair of generally parallel sides and a rear edge, an inclined forward end on said ramp communicating between said ramp base and a supporting surface therefor, a dolly on said ramp longitudinally movable between front and rear positions and having elongated openings receiving said front casters therein, means locking said dolly at its forward position adjacent said inclined forward end of said ramp, means for locking said dolly in its rearward position, a pair of enlarged openings adapted to partially receive said rear drive wheels when said dolly is in its rearward position, and a pair of enlarged rollers beneath said ramp, each roller movable between a retracted position and an operative position within said enlarged opening to engage and support said rear wheels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.