Land vehicles – Wheeled – Occupant propelled type
Patent
1991-11-05
1993-11-16
Focarino, Margaret A.
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Occupant propelled type
2803041, 280650, 305 7, B62M 114
Patent
active
052616843
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a wheelchair, of the type comprising two large carrying wheels mounted on either side of a central frame, one portion of which supports a seat and another portion of which constitutes a footrest provided with steering wheels.
Wheelchairs of this type most often have a collapsible structure so that they can be stowed away in confined spaces, in particular in the boot of an automobile.
By reason of the way in which they collapse, generally like a pantograph, presently known wheelchairs nonetheless take up considerable room once collapsed which, added to the fact that certain parts still project, makes it particularly inconvenient to transport them by hand.
The present invention aims to overcome this drawback and, for this purpose, provides a wheelchair of the type specified in the introduction and which is characterized in that each of its carrying wheels is formed of a rim which, bearing the tyre, directly constitutes the outer ring of a peripheral rolling bearing, the large diameter inner ring of which, free of any hub, axle, shaft or spoke, bears the frame fixed to it by releasable fixing means.
One thus obtains a wheelchair all the elements of which can be dismounted, among which the carrying wheels, completely hollow internally, can, by being superposed, delimit a housing capable of receiving all or part of the other constituent elements of the chair, thus appreciably reducing the overall dimensions of the dismounted chair. To minimize these overall dimensions, a certain number of complementary arrangements have, moreover, been provided.
Thus, according to an additional characteristic of the invention, the seat of the wheelchair and the part of the frame that supports it form an assembly which is separate from the footrest and has a collapsible structure designed and dimensioned in such a way that, once separated from the wheels and collapsed, said assembly forms a packet the volume of which is quite entirely contained in that delimited by two superposed carrying wheels.
Furthermore, the footrest, which is independent of the rest of the frame, has the shape of a closed hoop projecting forwardly of the carrying wheels and maintained at its rear between them by releasable means for fixing to their respective inner rings, this hoop advantageously having, in all directions, external dimensions which are at the most equal to those of the space delimited by the two superposed carrying wheels as well as an internal length and width preferably greater than the corresponding dimensions of the packet constituted by the seat and its support, dismounted and folded.
Complementarily, each of the steering wheels of the chair is preferably supported by a pivoting prop mounted on a respective lateral wing of the hoop by an articulation having its axis perpendicular to the pivoting axis of the prop, and comprising a retractable member for immobilization in extended position.
Thanks to these arrangements, it is indeed possible, after completely dismounting the chair, to stow away the constituent elements of the central portion of the latter inside the two large superposed carrying wheels to thus form a package the outside dimensions of which are confined to those of the latter and which can consequently be transported as a flat hand luggage taking up little space.
To facilitate the dismounting of the wheelchair, it is further provided, according to one characteristic of the invention, that the means for fixing the footrest hoop to the inner rings of the carrying wheels be constituted at each end of the rear wing of the said hoop by a lock bolt, provided with a notch, which slides into a striking plate with an internal spring catch, integral with the internal ring of the corresponding carrying wheel, and that, on each side of the seat supporting part of the frame, the means for fixing it to the respective inner ring include two groups, distant from one another along the periphery of the latter, of two assembly elements capable of snap fastening into one another, one of these elements being
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Boehler Anne Marie
Focarino Margaret A.
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