Motorized walker/wheelchair and method

A walker/wheelchair combination comprising,

• a pair of opposed A-frames formed from a driven leg and a rolling leg which are pivotally secured at a vertex;
• a bridge beam having a central pivot pivotally secured at a mid-position in each A-frame for folding to permit the driven leg and the rolling leg to come closer to each other;
• a motor and driven wheel having a driving axis at the bottom of each driven leg, each driven leg each footrest pivotally secured to an interior side of the driven leg opposite the driven wheel such that each said footrest is pivotally secured from a pivot axis that is perpendicular to said drive axis of each of said driven wheel and positioned at or below a horizontal plane of said drive axis, wherein each footrest is positioned along an inner side of each driven leg in an inoperable state and pivoted downward toward the opposing footrest between the driven legs to an operational state which is at or below a height of the drive axis of the driven wheels;
• a caster wheel at the bottom of each rolling leg;
• said caster wheels and driven wheels having substantially the same diameter;
• a seat support between a pair of opposed A-frames;
• a seat secured to said seat support mean pivotally at one edge of the seat;
• a leg spreader crossing between the two A-frames above the caster wheels;
• control means including a gear box between the motor and the driven wheel;
• brake means for the motor wheel;
• and
• means for folding the bridge beam including a tie member secured under the seat and connected to the central pivot of the bridge beam to thereby shorten the distance between the caster wheel and the driven wheel on each of the respective legs when the seat is pivoted for folding the walker wheelchair;
• whereby the driven wheel can be driven in one direction or the other, or put in an idle mode for pushing, and optionally the brake employed to secure one wheel against rotation while the other rotates, thereby sharply turning the walker/wheelchair on the wheel to which the brake has been applied.

A method for operating a combination walker/wheelchair, which walker/wheelchair is made of a pair of opposed essentially parallel A-frame members, one leg of said A-frame being a driven leg with a motor at the lower portion, the other leg being a rolling leg with a caster element at the lower portion, a handle at the upper portion of each rolling leg, said legs being spread each from the other by means of a bridge beam which folds upwardly, a foldable seat pivoted along one edge for providing a seated or walker configuration, the parallel A-frame members having a pair of caster wheels and a pair of driven wheels secured at the end portion of their respective caster legs and driven legs, in which said wheels have substantially the same diameter, the steps comprising,

• spacing the casters with a space therebetween narrower than the space between the driven wheels;
• positioning a pair of footrests at the lower portion of each driven leg, each footrest is pivotally secured to an interior side of each driven leg opposite the driven wheel such that each said footrest is pivotally secured from a pivot axis that is perpendicular to a drive axis of each of said driven wheel and positioned at or below a horizontal plane of said drive axis, wherein each footrest is positioned along said interior side of each driven leg in an inoperable state and pivoted downward toward the opposing footrest between the driven legs to an operational state which is at or below a height of the drive axis of said driven wheels;
• so that in the seated position a patient may rest his foot on the footrest, whereas in the walker configuration, the patient may optionally stand on the footrest and use the footrest as a driven walker for going from place to place;
• control means including a gear box between the motor and the driven wheel;
• a clutch separating the motor from the driven wheel;
• and
• brake means for the motor wheel;
• locating the brake and motor control means for each wheel on each handle;
• whereby the motor wheel can be driven in one direction or the other, or put in an idle mode for pushing, and optionally the brake employed to secure one wheel against rotation while the other rotates, thereby sharply turning the unit on the wheel to which the brake has been applied and permitting the patient to use such controls whether seated, walking, or standing.