Motor vehicles – Power – Electric
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-25
2004-02-03
Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)
Motor vehicles
Power
Electric
C180S316000, C180S330000, C180S907000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06684969
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field Of The Invention
This invention relates to personal mobility vehicles and more particularly to an improved footrest and/or an improved footrest system for a personal mobility vehicle and an improved electrical switching device for a personal mobility vehicle for switching between a front wheel drive operation and a rear wheel drive operation.
2. Description of the related Art
The aging population has provided a substantial increase in the use of personal mobility vehicles. Personal mobility vehicles provide persons with partial or total walking disabilities with an increased range and greater flexibility in locomotion. The increased use of personal mobility vehicles has required the development of more technically superior features that enable the personal mobility vehicle to be used in various locations and terrain. Personal mobility vehicles may be classified as either scooters or powered wheel chairs.
Scooter personal mobility vehicles have a pair of powered rear wheels and a steerable front wheel configured in the general appearance of a miniature golf cart. The track of the powered rear wheels of the personal mobility vehicle is generally narrower than a conventional wheelchair.
Power wheelchair personal mobility vehicles have a pair of powered wheels and a pair of idler wheels. In many cases, the pair of idler wheels take the form of caster wheels. The power wheelchairs were designed to be more maneuverable than a conventional wheelchair. Typically, power wheelchairs have a smaller width and a shorter overall length than a convention wheelchair.
The powered wheels of a power wheelchair are individually powered for steering the power wheelchair. The individual powered wheels provide a tight turning radius for the power wheelchair. The power wheelchair can either be a front wheel drive or a rear wheel drive power wheelchair. A front wheel drive power wheelchair is generally more maneuverable than a rear wheel drive powered wheel chair. In addition, the front wheel drive power wheelchair has more traction and accommodates larger obstacles such as larger curbs and larger bumps than a rear wheel drive power wheelchair. In contrast, the rear wheel drive powered wheel chair has better high speed stability than a front wheel drive power wheelchair. Accordingly, the front wheel drive power wheelchair is generally more suitable for indoor use whereas the rear wheel drive power wheelchair is generally more suitable for outdoor use.
Some in the prior art have provided a power wheelchair than can be converted between a front wheel drive and a rear wheel drive power wheelchair. The power wheelchair could be converted into a front wheel drive for indoor use and could be converted into a rear wheel drive for outdoor use. The following U.S. Patents are representative of front wheel drive and rear wheel drive power wheelchairs.
In order to operate either as a front wheel drive wheelchair or rear wheel drive wheelchair, the electrical control must be modified to accommodate for the different forward and reverse direction of the electric motors when the rear wheel drive powered wheelchair is transformed into a front wheel drive wheelchair. The following U.S. Patents disclose an apparatus for switching the power supply for accommodating either a front or rear wheel drive powered wheelchair.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,586,273 to Steven discloses a hospital chair having wheels and electric motors for driving the wheels by electric switches for supplying operating current to the motors. A manually operable lever having a neutral or inoperative position is carried by the chair and operable by movement away from its neutral position to close the switches to operate the motors. Mechanical brakes are normally applied to the motors by spring pressure. An electrical means independent from the motor circuit is provided to release the brakes. A lever is operable during its initial movement to actuate the last named electrical means to release the brakes before the motors are started.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,949 to Anderson discloses a universal, adjustable-height powered wheelchair for the severely disabled, such as a quadriplegic driver. The wheelchair has a powered elevating mechanism capable of raising the seat and occupant from a height of 6 inches to 26 inches above the ground. It is capable of climbing a 12-inch high curb and may be used while driving any standard-sized two-door sedan.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,503 to Mackintosh discloses a wheelchair assembly including an occupant seat having a central shaft for mounting the seat on an undercarriage for universal tilting movement, for vertical movement along the shaft axis and for rotation about such axis. The undercarriage has a plurality of ground engaging wheels driven together by a driving mechanism which includes a drive motor and steered together by a steering mechanism which includes a steering motor. The steering motor may be operatively connected with both the seat and the wheels for turning them together by operation of a control assembly, or the steering motor may be operatively connected with only the seat or with only the wheels for independent operation. Otherwise, the steering mechanism may couple the seat with the wheels while the steering motor is disconnected so that wheel steering may be operated by a manual turning of the seat. An analyzer assembly compares the direction of travel chosen by the seat occupant to the actual orientation of the wheels and then directs the steering motor to align the wheels to the direction chosen, without turning the chair. The seat is automatically tilted toward a direction opposite that to which, it tends to lean when the wheelchair moves up an incline or down a decline.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,341,278 to Meyer discloses an electrically driven wheelchair having steerable rear wheels controllable by means of a joystick control operating an electromechanical steering mechanism including a control circuit. The electrical control circuit includes a voltage divider which receives a voltage determined according to the travelling speed of the wheelchair to enable the turning circle of the steering mechanism to be adjusted in relation to the travelling speed, so that at high speeds a large turning circle only is available while at low speeds a small turning circle is allowed, thereby minimizing the possibility of tipping the wheelchair over by turning too sharply at high speed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,766 to Basedow discloses, wheel-chairs having large diameter drive wheels and small diameter steerable wheels. Wheel-chairs for indoor operation have drive wheels as their rear wheels, while wheel-chairs for outdoor operation have their drive wheels as front wheels. In the wheel chair according to the invention, the seat assembly is mounted for rotation about a vertical axis by means of a supporting column above the chassis, such that, depending on the purpose of use of the wheel-chair, the large drive wheels are selectively disposed in the front or rear position with respect to the seating direction. In this way, the wheel chair may be used both indoors and outdoors in an optimum manner. Additional positioning alternatives of the seat assembly relative to the chassis, open to the user new possibilities of utilization. By an automatic switchover of the control or steering lever in accordance with the position of the seat assembly, optimum operation of the wheel chair is obtained.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,645 to Korber discloses an electric wheelchair comprising drive wheels on one axle group, and swivel wheels on a second axle group, with the swivel wheels being either freely pivotable or positively steerable by an engageable steering drive. The positive steering system may have either a purely electric configuration in the form of a pair of electric steering drives, or an electro-mechanical configuration in the form of a common steering drive and a mechanical steering mechanism with electro-mechanical disengagement of the positive steering system. Switch-over from pivoting to steering operation is monito
Flowers Michael J.
Hanker, Jr. Edward J.
Hoskin Mark J.
Madonia Louis A.
Wilder Jan
Electric Mobility Corporation
Frijouf Rust & Pyle P.A.
Johnson Brian L.
Swenson Brian L
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