Rollator walker

Abstract

A rollator walker with a travel carriage, a frame, and a support for a person's leg, the inclination of which, with respect to a horizontal plane in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the support, can be adjusted. The support is mounted on a supporting part, which is firmly connected to the frame via a joint with a first axle which is horizontal and transverse with respect to the longitudinal axis of the support, and via a supporting element which is at a distance from the first axle in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the support. The supporting element is connected to the supporting part via a manually adjustable mechanical positioning element, by which the vertical position of the supporting element can be changed with respect to the supporting part. As a result, the inclination of the support is adjustable without loss of stability, and the support is held securely in any set inclination position.

Claims

1. A walker for facilitating movement of a user, the walker comprising: a carriage; a frame; a supporting part connected to the frame; a support for a limb of the user having a longitudinal axis and swivel-mounted on the supporting part by a first joint having a first axle arranged transverse to the longitudinal axis of the support, the support having an adjustable inclination with respect to a horizontal plane lying in the longitudinal axis of the support; a supporting element configured for supporting the support arranged at a distance from the first axle in a direction of the longitudinal axis of the support; and a mechanical-positioning element connecting the supporting element to the supporting part, the mechanical-positioning element configured for manual adjustment; wherein a vertical position of the supporting element with respect to the supporting part is adjustable using the mechanical-positioning element to thereby adjust inclination of the support for the limb of the user within the horizontal plane.

2. The walker according to claim 1, further comprising a second joint having a second axle connecting the supporting element to the support, the second axle parallel to the first axle and rotatably mounted on the support.

3. The walker according to claim 2, further comprising a third joint having a third axle connected to the second axle, the third axle parallel to the first and second axles and mounted on the supporting part in a fixed position below the second axle.

4. The walker according to claim 1, wherein the mechanical-positioning element is a self-locking actuator.

5. The walker according to claim 3, further comprising a threaded rod connecting the second axle and the third axle and configured such that rotation of the threaded rod on its longitudinal axis changes a distance between the second axle and the third axle.

6. The walker according to claim 5, wherein the second axle has a first radial bore, the third axle has a second radial bore with a thread on an interior surface, and the threaded rod is rotatably mounted on the second axle in the first radial bore and engages the third axle with the thread on the interior surface of the second radial bore.

7. The walker according to claim 5, wherein the threaded rod extends through the third axle such that a portion of an end section of the threaded rod protrudes therefrom.

8. The walker according to claim 7, further comprising a knob arranged at the end section of the threaded rod protruding from the third axle, the knob configured for manual rotation of the threaded rod.

9. The walker according to claim 5, wherein the threaded rod further comprises an offset configured for contacting the second axle, an end section extending into or through a bore in the second axle, and securing elements configured for securing the threaded rod against release from the bore.

10. The walker according to claim 3, wherein the mechanical-positioning element comprises a rod bent into a form of a segment of a circle.

11. The walker according to claim 10, wherein the rod is configured to engage a radial bore in the second axle or a radial bore in the third axle.

12. The walker according to claim 11, wherein the rod further comprises an end section connected to the second axle by a joint and is configured such that shifting of the rod through the radial bore in the third axle produces a change in a distance between the second axle and the third axle.

13. The walker according to claim 10, further comprising a fixing element configured for fixing the rod in position with respect to the third axle.

14. The walker according to claim 1, wherein the supporting part is detachably connected to the frame.

15. The walker according to claim 1, wherein an adjustment range of an angle of inclination of the longitudinal axis of the support with respect to the horizontal plane is between 10 and +25.

16. The walker according to claim 1, wherein the support for the limb of the user comprises a shell and a pad, the pad detachably fastened with a fastening element to a top side of the shell.

17. The walker according to claim 16, wherein the fastening element is a hook-and-loop fastener.

18. A walker for facilitating movement of a user, the walker comprising: a carriage standing on a surface; a frame; a supporting part connected to the frame; a support for a limb of the user swivel-mounted on the supporting part by a first joint having a first axle parallel to the surface the carriage is standing on and transverse to a longitudinal axis of the support, the support having an inclination adjustable along the longitudinal axis with respect to the surface the carriage is standing on; a supporting element configured for supporting the support arranged at a distance from the first axle in a direction of the longitudinal axis of the support; a second joint having a second axle connecting the supporting element to the support, the second axle parallel to the first axle and rotatably mounted on the support; a third joint having a third axle connected to the second axle, the third axle parallel to the first and second axles and mounted on the supporting part in a fixed position below the second axle; and a mechanical-positioning element connecting the supporting element to the supporting part, the mechanical-positioning element configured for manual adjustment; wherein a vertical position of the supporting element with respect to the supporting part is adjustable using the mechanical-positioning element to thereby adjust inclination of the support for the limb of the user.

19. A walker for facilitating movement of a user, the walker comprising: a carriage; a frame; a supporting part connected to the frame; a support for a limb of the user swivel-mounted on the supporting part by a first joint having a first axle arranged transverse to a longitudinal axis of the support, the support having an inclination adjustable within a horizontal plane of the longitudinal axis of the support; a supporting element configured for supporting the support arranged at a distance from the first axle in a direction of the longitudinal axis of the support; and a mechanical-positioning element connecting the supporting element to the supporting part, the mechanical-positioning element configured for manual adjustment; wherein a vertical position of the supporting element with respect to the supporting part is adjustable using the mechanical-positioning element to thereby adjust inclination of the support for the limb of the user within the horizontal plane in an adjustment range between 10 and +25.

20. The walker according to claim 19, wherein the adjustment range is between 3 and +15.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Below, an embodiment example of the invention is described with reference to the drawings. The drawings show

(2) FIG. 1 a side view of a walker according to the invention,

(3) FIG. 2 a perspective view of a part of the walker of FIG. 1 with an inclination adjustment mechanism for the support,

(4) FIG. 3 a longitudinal sectional view of the part of a walker of FIG. 2 in the maximally inclined position,

(5) FIG. 4 a side view of the part of a walker of FIG. 2 in an approximately horizontal position, and

(6) FIG. 5 an exploded view of the part of a walker according to FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(7) A walker according to the invention, as can be seen in a side view in FIG. 1, includes, as main components, a travel carriage 22 that can be steered by means of a steering rod 23, a frame 24, and a support 1 for the leg or thigh of a patient whose mobility is to be facilitated by means of the walker.

(8) The support 1, shown enlarged in FIG. 2, is arranged at the upper end of a tube 2, which, starting from the frame 24 of the walker, extends upwards with a slight inclination with respect to the vertical direction. The intended direction of travel of the rollator walker is indicated by the arrow 3 in FIG. 2. The support 1 has substantially the approximate form in cross section of a semicircular channel with a longitudinal axis 4 and with open longitudinal ends, and is provided with a pad 5 on its upper side. The inclination of the support 1 is adjustable in its longitudinal direction, which corresponds to the direction of travel 3, i.e., the angle of the longitudinal axis 4 with respect to the horizontal plane can be varied within a predetermined range. An embodiment of this inclination adjustment of the support 1 according to the invention is explained below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5.

(9) The support 1 consists of a longitudinal shell 6 and a mounting adapter 7 extending along its bottom side, and is firmly connected to the shell 6 or is designed so as to form a single piece with said shell. In particular, the shell 6, together with the mounting adapter 7, can be produced as a single-piece injection-molded part made of plastic. The mounting adapter 7 is movably connected to a supporting part 8, which is firmly connected to the tube 2 and which can also be an injection-molded part. A first joint is formed by a first axle 9 in the form of a bolt that is inserted into bores of the mounting adapter 7 and of the supporting part 8 that are aligned with one another and secured there. The axle 9 rests horizontally and transversely with respect to the longitudinal axis 4 of the support 1. A second joint is formed by a second axle 10 in the form of an additional bolt inserted into two aligned bores of the mounting adapter 7. The first axle 9 and the second axle 10 are located parallel to one another and successively in the direction of the longitudinal axis 4 of the support 1 at a distance which represents a significant portion (in the depicted embodiment example, approximately one third) of the length of the shell 6.

(10) The second axle 10 is connected by means of a rod 12 to a third axle 11 in the form of an additional bolt, which is inserted into two aligned bores of the supporting part 8. The third axle 11 is located on the supporting part 8 perpendicularly beneath the second axle 10 and is parallel to said second axle, and thus also to the first axle 9. The rod 12 passes through the two axles 10 and 11, in each case in a radial direction. For the connection to the third axle 11, the rod 12 has threads 13, which are screwed through a radial threaded bore 14 in the axle 11, as can be seen in the exploded view of FIG. 5. The viewing direction of this figure is different from the viewing direction of FIG. 2, as can be seen from the arrow 3, which indicates the direction of travel of the walker. For the connection to the second axle 10, the rod 12 has an offset 15, on which the second axle 10 rests. At an end section of the rod 12, which extends through a radial bore 16 in the second axle 10, an annular groove 17 is provided, into which a securing ring 18 engages, which secures the end section of the rod 12 in the bore 16. The end section of the rod 12 is rotatably mounted in the bore 16.

(11) The third axle 11 is held in its longitudinal direction on the supporting part 8 in that it has a cutout 19 for the passage of the rod 12 through the third axle 11. The cutout 19 limits the movability of the rod 12 with respect to the supporting part 8 in the longitudinal direction of the third axle 11, and thus also firmly secures the third axle 11 in its longitudinal direction by means of a positive fit connection to the supporting part 8. Similarly, the mounting adapter 7 of the support 1 has a cutout, not visible in the figures, open at the bottom, into which the rod 12 protrudes through the second axle 10. This cutout limits the movability of the rod 12 with respect to the mounting adapter 7 in the longitudinal direction of the second axle 10, and thereby also firmly applies the second axle 10 in its longitudinal direction by means of a positive fit connection against the mounting adapter 7. The fixation of the first axle 9 in its longitudinal direction on the supporting part 8 occurs by means of screws 20, which are screwed axially into the two ends of the axle 9 and which, in each case, form a positive fit connection to the supporting part 8.

(12) The rod 12 creates a movable connection between the second axle 10 and the third axle 11, in that, via the threaded connection of the rod 12 to the third axle 11, by means of a rotation of the rod 12 about its longitudinal axis, the distance between the second axle 10 and the third axle 11 can be varied. For this purpose, at the end of the rod 12, beneath the third axle 11, a twist knob 21 is arranged, which enables a manual rotation of the rod 12 about its longitudinal axis. Due to the fixed positions of the first axle 9 and of the third axle 11 on the supporting part 8, a change in the distance between the second axle 10 and the third axle 11 produces, due to a rotation of the rod 12, a movement of the second axle 10 about the first axle 9 over a circular-path. This means, at the same time, a rotation of the entire support 1 about the first axle 9, as a result of which the angle of the longitudinal axis 4 of the support 1 with respect to the horizontal plane changes.

(13) By a rotation on the twist knob 21, the user can adjust the rollator walker, the components of which are the elements described here, that is, the inclination of the support 1 in the direction of travel 3. In the process, the threaded connection between the rod 12 and the third axle 11 enables a stepless setting of a desired inclination with high precision and little effort. Due to the self-locking of the threaded connection and the arrangement of the twist knob 21 beneath the support 1, which practically rules out an inadvertent adjustment, no securing element for fixing a set inclination is needed. However, it would nonetheless be possible to provide, on the rod 12, a securing element, for example, in the form of a lock nut, possibly implemented as a knurled nut, which can be clamped against the second axle 11.

(14) The first axle 9, in principle, need only be rotatably mounted with respect to the mounting adapter 7 or with respect to the supporting part 8, but not necessarily with respect to both, although the latter option is preferable from the standpoint of mounting technique. Furthermore, the rod 12 need not necessarily occupy an approximately vertical position. Instead, the mounting position of the second axle 10 can also be arranged on a section of the mounting adapter 7, which extends vertically slightly farther downward, and which, as a result, can therefore be offset vertically downward with respect to the first axle 9, and the mounting position of the third axle 11 could be offset on the supporting part 8 with respect to the second axle 10 in the horizontal direction, so that the rod 12 in FIGS. 3 and 4 would have a more pronounced inclined position from the bottom left to the top right. The function according to the invention would also be ensured with an arrangement wherein the change in the angle of inclination of the support 1 per turn of the rod 12 would in this case be smaller than in the depicted embodiment example.

(15) The positioning element can also include, instead of a rod 12 provided with threads 13, a threadless rod, which, however, would then have to be bent into the form of a segment of a circle and which passes through the third axle 11, for example, through a radial bore 14 in the third axle 11. The end of the threadless rod that is bent into the form of a segment of a circle can either be fastened or attached by means of a joint to the bottom side of the mounting adapter 7. At the other end of the rod, a hold button is advantageously arranged, by means of which the position of the rod with respect to the third axle 11 can be set by shifting the rod. When the rod is shifted with respect to the third axle 11, the inclination of the support is changed, as in the above embodiment example of the invention. The selected position of the rod with respect to the supporting part 8 can be established by fixing means or fixing bolts or cotter pins.

(16) For the detachable fastening of the pad 5 to the shell 6, several hook-and-loop fastener strips 25 are provided, of which, as shown in FIG. 5, one extends on the shell 6 in the center in the direction of the longitudinal axis 4, and, in each case, one extends perpendicularly thereto on the front and on the rear section of the shell. Mating parts are located on corresponding sites of the bottom side of the pad 5. The hook-and-loop fastener strips 25 are firmly connected to the shell or to the pad 5 or, for example, by gluing. Alternatively to the hook-and-loop fastener strips, other types of detachable connections, such as snap fasteners, snap-fits or magnetic strips as well as combinations of different types of detachable connections, can also be provided.