Mid-wheel drive wheelchair with rigid front wheel anti-tip stabilizer
AssigneeInvacare Corporation
InventorsRoland A. Mentessi, John O. Jindra, Jason D. Hunt, James R. Miadock
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A mid-wheel drive wheelchair can have various suspensions for the drive wheel such as a rigid connection to the wheelchair frame or a resilient connection thereto. The wheelchair has at least one anti-tip front wheel stabilizer, which is rigidly, i.e. non-resiliently, connected to the frame and accordingly the wheelchair frame moves up and down with the anti-tip wheel upon encountering a bump, hill, etc. The height of the anti-tip wheel above the travel surface is adjustable and accordingly the wheel can be set to a specific height.
Claims11
A mid-wheel drive wheelchair, comprising:
- a frame,
- a pair of drive wheels rotatably attached to said frame, at least one wheel located rearwardly of said drive wheels and operatively and rotatably attached to said frame,
- at least one rotatable front anti-tip wheel located forward of said drive wheels and located at a height above a drive surface, said front anti-tip wheel rigidly attached to said frame operatively through a strut which prevents said rotatable front anti-tip wheel from moving resiliently during operation of said wheelchair, and
- a link, a forward portion of said link operatively connected to a bottom portion of said strut, and a rearward portion of said link operatively connected to a different portion of said wheel chair frame than said strut connection portion.
A mid-wheel drive wheelchair, comprising:
- a frame,
- a pair of mid-wheels, each wheel independently driven by a motor,
- at least one wheel located rearwardly of said mid-wheel drive wheels,
- at least one rotatable anti-tip front wheel, said anti-tip wheel rigidly attached to said frame, and
- a strut, one end of said strut fixedly attached to said front anti-tip wheel and the other end of said strut fixedly attached to said frame so that said rotatable anti-tip wheel is rigidly attached to said wheelchair and prevented from moving resiliently during operation of said wheelchair, and wherein said strut is connected to a forward portion of a link, wherein said link is connected at a rearward portion thereof to a member extending from said frame, wherein said strut is connected to a side frame member of said frame, and wherein said rotatable front anti-tip wheel is connected to said link forward portion in front of said strut.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.