Wheelchair footrest

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wheelchair footrest 1, comprising a continuous foot support 10 or two separate foot supports 10 for supporting the feet of a user; and at least one lighting means 20; wherein said lighting means 20 is fixedly arranged on at least one of said foot supports 10 to illuminate at least a floor area 40 on a front side 102 of said wheelchair 100; and the lighting means 20 comprises an LED strip which is fixedly arranged on the underside 12 of the at least one foot support 10, and wherein the LED strip has a length BL which extends over at least 50% of the width B of the at least one foot support 10. The present invention relates also to a wheelchair 100 comprising a corresponding wheelchair footrest 1.

Claims

1. A wheelchair footrest (1), comprising: a. at least one foot support (10) for supporting the feet of a user; and b. at least one lighting means (20); c. the lighting means (20) is fixedly arranged on at least one of said at least one foot support (10) to illuminate at least a floor area (40) on a front side (102) of said wheelchair (100); d. the lighting means (20) comprising a Light Emitting Diode (LED) strip which is rigidly attached to the underside (12) of the at least one foot support (10), the LED strip having a length (BL) which extends over at least 50% of the width (B) of the at least one foot support (10); e. wherein the lighting means (20) further comprises optics (52) which direct light which would be emitting upwardly from the LED strip (20) downwardly onto the floor area (40).

2. The wheelchair footrest according to claim 1, wherein the lighting means (20) comprises LED lighting means (22).

3. The wheelchair footrest according to claim 2, where the LED strip (20) comprises white LED lamps (22) and/or RGB LED lamps (22).

4. The wheelchair footrest according to claim 1, wherein the lighting means (20) is shockproof and/or waterproof.

5. The wheelchair footrest according to claim 1, wherein the lighting means (20) further comprises a diffuser sheet (24).

6. The wheelchair footrest according to claim 1, further comprising a power supply (50) with an accumulator.

7. The wheelchair footrest according to claim 6, wherein the power supply (50) is arranged to be located on the underside of the wheelchair seat (106).

8. The wheelchair footrest according to claim 6, wherein the lighting means (20) being electrically connected to the power supply (50) via sliding contacts (54) arranged in or on the frame (30, 34) of the wheelchair (100).

9. The wheelchair footrest according to claim 6, further comprising a wiring (26) between the lighting means (20) and the power supply (50), wherein the wiring (26) being at least partially installed within the wheelchair frame (30, 34, 36).

10. The wheelchair footrest according to claim 1, further comprising an electric switch (28) installed at the end of a tubular frame part (36).

11. The wheelchair footrest according to claim 1, further comprising an electronic controller for controlling the lighting means (20), wherein the controller being controllable by means of an app on a smartphone or on a smartwatch or by means of a remote control.

12. A manual wheelchair, with a wheelchair footrest (1) according to claim 1.

13. The manual wheelchair according to claim 12, further comprising at least one further LED light strip (70) that emits a red light and is arranged such that it emits light from the back side (104) of the manual wheelchair (100) to the rear.

Description

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) In the following, the preferred embodiments of the present invention are described by means of the attached figures. It shows:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view from the front of an embodiment of the wheelchair footrest;

(3) FIG. 2 is a frontal view of the embodiment of the wheelchair footrest of FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a view from below of the embodiment of the wheelchair footrest of FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of a wheelchair footrest showing details of the LED strip;

(6) FIG. 5 is a perspective side view of a part of an embodiment of a wheelchair; and

(7) FIG. 6 is a rear view of the embodiment of the wheelchair of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(8) In the following, preferred embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the attached figures.

(9) FIG. 1 shows a partial view of the front side 102 of a wheelchair 100 with a wheelchair footrest 1. This partial view shows two vertical frame parts 34 which are connected at their lower ends by a horizontal frame part 30. The horizontal frame part 30 can be moved in relation to the two vertical frame parts 34. This allows the height of the horizontal frame section 30 to be adjusted in relation to the floor area or the wheelchair seat 106 and thus to be adapted to the size of the wheelchair user.

(10) In the embodiment of the wheelchair footrest 1 shown in FIGS. 1-3, an essentially rectangular foot support 10 is firmly attached to the horizontal frame part 30. The foot support 10 is firmly connected to the horizontal frame part 30 on its underside 12 with common fasteners such as screws or clamps. The foot support 10 preferably consists of a resistant material such as hard plastic, wood, carbon or metal and is shock- and/or waterproof.

(11) Furthermore, on the underside 12 of the foot support 10 there is permanently attached a lighting means 20 in the form of an LED strip 20. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the lighting means 20 preferably extends along the width B of the foot support 10 and has highly luminous LED lamps 22, which are grouped together as an elongated LED strip 20. When switched on, the lighting means 20 illuminates a floor area 40 on the front 102 of the wheelchair 100 (see FIG. 1). The light is preferably white light in order to achieve a bright illumination of the floor area 40. LED lamps 22 can be both white LED lamps and RGB LED lamps. Depending on requirements, a very bright white light or a colored light of any color can be emitted from the LED strip 20.

(12) The lighting means 20 is recessed from the front edge of the foot support 10 to protect the lighting means 20 from damage from the front and/or top by means of the foot support 10. The lighting means 20 is firmly attached to the underside 12 of the foot support 10, preferably by gluing, screwing or another method of fastening.

(13) The lighting means 20 also has a solid housing, in particular out of aluminum, in which the individual LED lamps 22 are encapsulated to be shockproof and waterproof. The height of the lighting means 20 in one version corresponds at most to the diameter of the horizontal frame part 30. As a result, the lighting means 20 does not protrude downwards beyond the horizontal frame part 30 and is thus also protected against possible damage from below, e.g. in the event of unintentional contact with the ground. Preferably, the housing of the lighting means 20 comprises an extruded aluminum profile which is open towards the front.

(14) The individual LED lamps 22 are preferably arranged side by side along the width BL of the lighting means 20. In one version, for example, 20-40 LED lamps 22 are arranged in one lighting means 20.

(15) In addition, the lighting means 20 may have a diffuser sheet 24 on the front side 102, as schematically shown in FIG. 4. The diffuser sheet 24 is a thin matt plastic foil and scatters the light L of the individual LED lamps 22. The diffuser sheet 24 thus enables a uniform illumination of the floor area 40 on the front side 102 of the wheelchair 100. In place of or in addition to the diffuser sheet 24, optics 52 can also be used to direct the light that would be emitted upwards from the LED strip 20 downwards onto the road, as shown in FIG. 4. This prevents glare to other road users and illuminates the road better. The optics 52 can also consist of a milky colored plastic to combine the advantages of a diffuser sheet 24 with the directional effect of the optics 52. The optics 52 preferably consist of an injection-molded profile made of transparent plastic, preferably PMMA, which is attached to the front side of the aluminum profile of the lighting means 20 to direct the light beams of the LED lamps 22 forwards and downwards.

(16) In addition, lighting means 20 is connected via a cable connection 26 to a power supply 50 at wheelchair 100, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The cable connection 26 can run at least partially within the frame 30, 34 of the wheelchair 100. Thus, the cable connection 26 is protected against damage by the frame 30, 34. In one embodiment, there is a cable opening 32 in the horizontal frame part 30, which allows the cable connection 26 to be easily routed into the frame 30, 34. The cable connection can be loose or guided inside the frame 30, 34 of the wheelchair 100. The length of the cable connection 26 is sufficient to ensure a secure power supply for each position of the height-adjustable horizontal frame section 30.

(17) In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the lighting means is only illustratively integrated into the foot support 10 of the wheelchair footrest 1 so that it can radiate light L forward. Also in this embodiment, a number of LED lamps 22 are preferably used, which are arranged in a long extending row in the foot support 10. Preferably, an LED strip 20 with aluminum housing as described above can also be installed or injection molded into the foot support 10.

(18) In another embodiment (not shown) there is a cable connection 26 from the lighting means 20 to a sliding contact 54 on or in the frame 30, 34 of the wheelchair 100. The sliding contact 54 enables an electrical connection between the height-adjustable horizontal frame part 30 and at least one of the two vertical frame parts 34. From the sliding contact 54 there is then a cable connection 26 to the power supply 50.

(19) The cable connection 26 leads generally from the lighting means 20 to a power supply 50 at the wheelchair 100 to supply the lighting means 20 with electricity. The power supply 50 is in one embodiment an accumulator, which is detachably connected to the wheelchair 100 and can be detached from the wheelchair 100 especially for charging. In another embodiment, the power supply 50 can also be provided by means of a permanently installed accumulator. The permanently installed accumulator is charged by connecting a charging cable from an external power source to it.

(20) The power supply 50 is preferably located on the underside of the wheelchair seat 106. This protects the power supply 50 from weather influences such as rain or direct sunlight. The power supply 50 can be detachably attached to the wheelchair 100 in one version, e.g. by clipping and/or screwing. In addition, the cable connection 26 is detachable, e.g. via screw connections, and connected to the power supply 50 in order to make it easy to replace the cable connection 26 and/or the power supply 50.

(21) FIG. 5 shows a perspective partial view of the front side 102 of the wheelchair 100 at the height of the wheelchair seat 106. A switch 28 for activating or deactivating the lighting means 20 is attached to the front side of a frame part 36 of the wheelchair 100 and replaces a plastic plug. Switch 28 can be actuated, for example, by turning or pressing it.

(22) By mounting the switch 28 at the height of the wheelchair seat 106, the switch 28 is easy and good to reach for the wheelchair user. A rapid switching-on/switching-off of the lighting means 20 as required is possible for the wheelchair user in an ergonomic way.

(23) For mounting the switch 28, a plastic plug (not shown), usually used as a closure for frame part 36, is removed from the front of frame part 36. One end piece of the switch 28 has approximately the inner diameter of the frame part 36 and can thus be fixed in the frame part 36 by pressing it in. The cable connection 26 from the switch to the illuminant 20 as well as the power supply 50 runs inside the frame part 36.

(24) In one embodiment, the wheelchair 100 has a further LED light strip 70 on its back side 104. This further LED light strip 70 preferably emits red light and serves for the recognition of the wheelchair 100. The red lighting is chosen to make it recognizable that it is the back side 104 of the wheelchair 100. For better visibility, the additional LED strip 70 is arranged at the height of the wheelchair seat 106 and emits red light directly to the rear. LED light strip 70 can also be equipped with a diffuser foil 24 to diffuse the light.

(25) The LED light strip 70 is fixed between the frame parts of the wheelchair 100 and is also connected to the power supply 50 by wiring.

(26) In the shown embodiment, the wheelchair footrest 1 has a continuous foot support 10 on which the wheelchair user can place both feet. This invention can, however, also be applied to wheelchair footrests 1, which have two separate foot supports 10, one for each foot. Such foot supports 10 can also be designed to be foldable.

(27) Although certain illustrative embodiments and methods have been disclosed herein, it will be apparent from the foregoing disclosure to those skilled in the art that variations and modifications of such embodiments and methods may be made without departing from the invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention should be limited only to the extent required by the appended claims and the rules and principles of applicable law. Additionally, as used herein, references to direction such as “up” or “down” as well as recited materials or methods of attachment are intended to be exemplary and are not considered as limiting the invention and, unless otherwise specifically defined, the terms “generally,” “substantially,” or “approximately” when used with mathematical concepts or measurements mean within 10 degrees of angle or within 10 percent of the measurement, whichever is greater. As used herein, a step of “providing” a structural element recited in a method claim means and includes obtaining, fabricating, purchasing, acquiring or otherwise gaining access to the structural element for performing the steps of the method. As used herein, the claim terms are to be given their broadest reasonable meaning unless a clear disavowal of that meaning appears in the record in substantially the following form (“As used herein the term ______ is defined to mean ______”)

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

(28) 1 wheelchair footrest 10 foot support 12 underside of the foot support 20 lighting means/LED strip 22 LED lamp 24 diffuser foil 26 cable connection 28 switch 30 horizontal frame part 32 cable opening 34 vertical frame part 36 frame section with switch 40 illuminated floor area 50 power supply 70 LED light strip on the rear side 100 wheelchair 102 front of the wheelchair 104 fear of the wheelchair 106 wheelchair seat B width of footrest BL width of the lighting means L light