Mono-fork for a front caster of a wheelchair

A front caster assembly for use with a caster mount assembly, the front caster assembly comprising:

• a wheel;
• a mono-fork member comprising a collar member and a single tine, the tine comprising an aperture, the collar member having a hollow interior portion defined by an inwardly facing surface, the collar member further comprising an outwardly facing surface opposite the inwardly facing surface;
• an upright pivot pin having an upper portion coupleable to the caster mount assembly, and a lower portion, the hollow interior portion of the collar member being configured to receive the lower portion of the upright pivot pin, the mono-fork member being rotatable as a unit about the upright pivot pin when the lower portion of the upright pivot pin is received inside the hollow interior portion of the collar member;
• a ring-shaped bumper extending about the outwardly facing surface of the collar member of the mono-fork member, the bumper extending outwardly beyond the outwardly facing surface to help protect the mono-fork member in the event of a collision with another object;
• an axle having a first end portion and a second end portion, the second end portion being permanently and non-rotatably coupled inside the aperture of the tine, the wheel being positioned on the axle for rotation thereabout;
• and
• a retaining member coupled to the first end portion of the axle and configured to maintain wheel on the axle as the wheel rotates about the axle.

A wheelchair comprising a right front caster assembly and a left front caster assembly, the left and right front caster assemblies each comprising:

• a mono-fork member having a collar portion and a single tine, the tine comprising a threaded aperture, the collar portion having an outwardly facing surface with an external circumferentially extending groove formed therein;
• a bumper configured to be received inside the groove formed in the outwardly facing surface of the collar portion of the mono-fork member, and when so received, the bumper extending outwardly from the groove beyond the outwardly facing surface of the collar portion;
• an axle having a first end portion and a second end portion, the second end portion comprising outside threads configured to be threaded inside the threaded aperture of the tine, the axle being configured to be supported by a wheel configured to rotate about the axle;
• and
• a retaining member coupled to the first end portion of the axle and configured to maintain a rotating wheel on the axle.

A mono-fork assembly for a front wheel of a wheelchair, the mono-fork assembly comprising:

• a mono-fork member having a single tine and a collar portion aligned with a steering axis, the tine comprising an upper portion opposite a lower portion, the upper portion being connected to the collar portion, the lower portion comprising a plurality of threaded through-holes each having inside threads, the collar ;portion comprising an outwardly facing surface;
• a bumper positioned on the outwardly facing surface of the collar portion, and extending outward be and the outward facing surface to protect the mono-fork member in the event of a collision with another object;
• an axle having a distal end portion and a threaded proximal end portion with outside threads configured to be threaded into the inside threads of a selected one of the plurality of threaded apertures of the tine, the front wheel being positionable on the distal end portion and rotatable thereabout;
• and
• a retaining member positioned on the distal end portion of the axle, the retaining member being configured to retain the front wheel on the distal end portion.