Dual-track tilt mechanism
AssigneePride Mobility Products Corporation
InventorsCorey Blauch, James Patrick Mulhern
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to a tilt-in-space wheelchair that limits the shift of the center of a gravity of a wheelchair occupant during tilting. The wheelchair comprises a main frame adapted to be supported on a surface by wheels, a seat frame for supporting a occupant, and an arc plate for slidably or rollably supporting the seat frame with respect to the main frame. The arc plate defines a first track and a second track that guide the tilting of the seat frame relative to the frame. The first track and second track may have non-constant curvatures. Further, the first track and second track may be arranged non-concentrically on the arc plate and may have different lengths.
Claims16
A wheelchair comprising:
- a main frame
- a plurality of wheels adapted to support the main frame relative to a supporting surface;
- a seat frame for supporting an occupant;
- and
- an arc plate adapted to support the seat frame relative to the main frame, the arc plate defining a first track and a second track positioned above a substantial portion of the first track, the first and second tracks serve as rolling or sliding surfaces that allow the seat frame to tilt relative to the main frame,
- wherein the first and second tracks 1) have a curvature, and 2) are non-concentric with respect to each other, such that, the first and second tracks define a tilt path that limits shifting of the center of gravity of the occupant when the occupant is supported by the seat frame and the seat frame is tilted along the tilt path.
A wheelchair comprising:
- a main frame;
- a plurality of wheels adapted to support the main frame relative to a supporting surface;
- a seat frame configured to support an occupant;
- and
- an arc plate adapted to support the seat frame relative to the main frame, the arc plate defining a first curved track and a second curved track positioned above a substantial portion of the first curved track, the first and second curved tracks serve as rolling or sliding surfaces that allow the seat frame to tilt relative to the main frame, wherein the first curved track and the second curved track are spaced apart by a varying dimension along their lengths, such that, the first and second curved tracks define a tilt path that limits shifting of the center of gravity of the occupant when the occupant is supported by the seat frame and the seat frame is tilted along the tilt path.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.