Safety walker assembly
OwnerKathleen M. Santuccioinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The disclosure relates to a safety walker assembly to assist handicapped people in walking. The safety walker assembly comprises a pair of side frames joined together by a horizontal bar arrangement to form a lightweight three sided structure. A handle bar grip member is arranged on each side frame, and an actuatable "emergency" alert device is attached to the structure, arranged to be switchable on and off by a user of the safety walker assembly. The alert device is arranged to activate upon tipping of the walker from its normal vertical.
Claims3
A vertically oriented safety walker assembly to assist handicapped people in walking, said safety walker assembly comprising:
- a pair of side frames spaced at a certain distance apart, each having an inverted U shape with a front vertical leg, a rear vertical leg and a connecting portion, a horizontal bar connecting said front legs of said side frames to form a lightweight three-sided structure;
- a strut arrangement secured between said front vertical legs to provide rigidity to said walker assembly;
- a handlebar grip member arranged on each of said side frames;
- and
- an automatically actuatable alert device comprising a battery powered lamp assembly and an audible alarm attached to said horizontal bar, said device also including a tilt actuatable switch to send a signal to said alarm when said walker assembly is tipped from the vertical position to an angled position with respect to a horizontal floor surface, said device is arranged to actuate when said safety walker assembly no longer supports a user.
A method of providing a safety alert signal for an aluminum framed vertically oriented handicapped walker assembly, comprising the steps of:
- providing a pair of side frames spaced at a certain distance apart, each having an inverted U shape with a front vertical leg, a rear vertical leg and a connecting portion, a horizontal bar connecting said front legs of said side frames to form a lightweight three-sided structure and a strut arrangment secured between said front vertical legs to provide rigidity to said walker assemble;
- attaching an electrical lamp with an actuatable switch, to said tubular frame;
- connecting an actuatable tilt sensor of an alarm system, to said tubular frame together with a battery in electrical communication with an alarm to provide an audible and/or visual alarm upon said tubular frame being tipped from a horizontal orientation when said alarm system is actuated;
- attaching an on/off switch to said alarm system so as to permit said system to be de-activated when said walker is not in use;
- and
- arranging said on/off switch to be actuated by a user of said walker assembly to sound and flash an emergency signal when said switch is triggered even when said walker assembly is upright and vertical.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.