Land vehicles – Wheeled – Nesting vehicles
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-19
2001-11-13
Camby, Richard M. (Department: 3661)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Nesting vehicles
C280S033992, C280S033998
Reexamination Certificate
active
06315306
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to wheelchairs for physically challenged persons, and in particular to wheelchairs for use in institutions such as health care institutions, and large public buildings and facilities such as airport terminals and the like and in particular to such wheelchairs which are capable of nesting one behind the other for storage, and also for moving from place to place, when not actually carrying a person.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The moving of physically challenged persons in public institutions such as hospitals and health care facilities, and also in public buildings such as airport terminals and the like, almost always involves the use of a wheelchair. A great variety of wheelchairs are known, some of which are foldable to reduce storage space, some of which are designed for hand operation by the challenged person, and some of which are motorized and so on.
All of these wheelchairs have their application for a particular purpose. However, the moving of physically challenged persons from place to place in a health care facility or a large public building presents a somewhat different set of problems. In the first place, the distances to be travelled may be considerable, and the challenged person may not be able to operate their own wheelchair along those distances. The corridor and door spaces within such buildings may restrict the width of the wheelchair which can conveniently be used for transporting the challenged person. Consequently, for all of these reasons, wheelchairs operated by hand or electrically powered wheelchairs are generally not suitable for these purposes. In addition, they represent a very considerable cost per unit, and they are also difficult to store when not required.
It must also be borne in mind that in some such facilities particularly such as airport facilities, it may be desirable to move a number of challenged persons from one place to another, and then to transfer them to some other form of support. In this case, the wheelchair then becomes redundant and must be stored. In addition, ideally it should be returned to an area where it can easily be accessed for use with another challenged person.
Wheelchairs such as are used at present for these purposes are generally such that they must be returned one at a time to the location from which they were originally retrieved, and this ties up care personnel, who may have numerous other duties to perform.
In addition, in most of these facilities, the particular route to be taken for transporting the challenged person, may only be known to a care person and may not be known to the challenged person. Consequently self-propelled wheelchairs are of little use in these facilities.
Clearly it is desirable for use in these facilities to provide a wheelchair which can simply be pushed by a care person who can then move the challenged person at a good pace from one place to another.
Ideally such wheelchairs should be capable of being transported empty, in a group by a single care person so that a single care person may transport several chairs after use, from one place back to a central location.
It is also desirable to provide braking, since a challenged person sitting in such a chair has no control over the chair, and unless a care person is actually holding the chair it may roll free. A braking system which is automatic and self-operating is therefore considered essential in this type of chair.
It is also highly desirable to provide such chairs for a facility for nesting one behind the other. In this way a care person can nest a group of chairs together and then can push them as a group from one location to another.
Preferably such chairs should also provide a means for carrying a limited amount of luggage and in the case of health care institutions they should be capable of carrying patient records and like papers.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With a view to providing a wheelchair satisfying the foregoing desirable characteristics, the invention comprises a nest able wheelchair of the type in which a seat portion of one chair can be slid underneath the seat portion of a next adjacent chair, for nesting, and comprising side frame members supporting said seat, said side frame members defining a rear width and a forward width and in which the forward width is less than the rearward width, and a forwardly and downwardly sloping seat surface, rear support frame members extending upwardly and downwardly relative to said side frame members, said rear support frame members having handle means at the upper end for pushing the chair, and lower bracing frames extending from forward extensions of said side frame members to lower portions of said rear support frame members, and similarly defining a rearward width and a forward width, with the forward width being less than the rearward width, forward wheels mounted on the forward ends of said lower bracing frames, and rearward wheels being mounted on rearward portions of said lower bracing frames, and, bar means extending across said lower bracing frames at a predetermined height, ramp means located between said lower bracing frames and being adapted to slide beneath said bar means of a next forward chair, the tapering shape of the side frame members and the bracing frames permitting forward portions of a rearward chair to be inserted beneath the seat and the bar means of a next adjacent forward chair, and engagement of the bar means by the ramp means providing a lifting action, thereby lifting said rear wheels of said forward chair off the floor surface.
A further feature of the invention is the provision of automatic braking means, which are self-engaging with the rear wheels, and a brake release mechanism adjacent to the upper end of the rear frame member, so that it can be grasped by the care person pushing the chair, to release the brakes from the back wheels.
The invention further contemplates the provision of a pair of anti-tipping rollers, mounted on rearward extensions of the lower frames and extending rearwardly of the rear wheels. These rollers enable the chair to be tipped backwards, checking it at a predetermined angle, so as the front wheels can be lifted over an obstacle.
The invention further provides that the contact bar extending between the two lower bracing frames is incorporated in a luggage rack, the luggage rack being located more or less beneath the seat, so that small items of personal hand luggage can be placed thereon, while the care person is pushing the chair.
The invention also provides, where required, a storage rack behind the rear frame members, for containing papers, reports and the like.
Arms are provided which extend forwardly from the rear frame members and can be folded upwardly for easy side entrance and exit from the chair, and foot rests are provided on the lower forward ends of the side frame members.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3015494 (1962-01-01), Fosbrook, Sr.
patent: 3361438 (1968-01-01), Davis
patent: 4084663 (1978-04-01), Haley
patent: 4484755 (1984-11-01), Houston
patent: 4733877 (1988-03-01), Pastien
patent: 4840388 (1989-06-01), Doughty
patent: 4976447 (1990-12-01), Batson
patent: 5288089 (1994-02-01), Bowers et al.
patent: 5370408 (1994-12-01), Eagan
patent: 5417300 (1995-05-01), Shultz
patent: WO 93/01077 (1993-01-01), None
Fernie Geoffrey Roy
May Proctor Weeks
Wilcox Philip Joseph
Bereskin & Parr
Camby Richard M.
CSIA Research Foundation
Mendes da Costa Philip C.
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