Motorized chair base
AssigneeSunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre
InventorsGeoffrey R. Fernie, Gerald T. Griggs
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A base for receiving a seat has a longitudinally extending chassis having a front end, a rear end, a central portion positioned therebetween and opposed sides extending longitudinally between the front and rear ends; at least one drive wheel mounted below the central portion; a plurality of rotatably mounted wheels positioned around the chassis and mounted at a fixed distance below the chassis; and a biasing member associated with the at least one drive wheel to bias the at least one drive wheel to engage the surface on which the base is situated and reduce the weight supported by the rotatably mounted wheels whereby the rotatably mounted wheels support sufficient weight of the base and the unoccupied seat to define a stable platform.
Claims20
A base comprising:
- (a) a longitudinally extending chassis having a front end, a rear end, a central portion positioned there between and opposed sides extending longitudinally between the front and rear ends;
- (b) at least one drive wheel mounted below the central portion;
- (c) a plurality of rotatably mounted wheels positioned around the chassis in front and behind the at least one drive wheel and mounted at a fixed distance below the chassis to engage the surface on which the base is situated;
- and,
- (d) a biasing member associated with the at least one drive wheel to bias the at least one drive wheel to engage the surface on which the base is situated.
A motorized chair comprising:
- (a) a longitudinally extending chassis having a front end, a rear end, a central portion positioned there between, opposed sides extending longitudinally between the front and rear ends and a seat mounted thereon;
- (b) at least one drive wheel mounted below the central portion;
- (c) a plurality of vertically fixed rotably mounted wheels positioned around the chassis in front and behind the at least one drive wheel;
- and,
- (d) a biasing member to maintain contact between the at least one drive wheel and the surface on which the base is situated and, when a person is seated in the seat, the weight of the person is evenly divided between the rotatably mounted wheels.
A wheelchair comprising:
- (a) a longitudinally extending chassis having a front end, a rear end, a central portion positioned there between and opposed sides extending longitudinally between the front and rear ends;
- (b) at least one drive wheel mounted on the central portion to engage the surface on which the wheelchair is positioned;
- and
- (c) a plurality of rotatably mounted wheels positioned around the chassis in front and behind said at least one drive wheel and mounted below the chassis to engage the surface on which the wheelchair is positioned at a fixed distance wherein the at least one drive wheel supports more than 90% of the weight of the wheelchair when the wheelchair is unoccupied.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.