ANTI-PINCH STRUCTURAL SYSTEM FOR POWERED CHAIR AND A METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME

Abstract

A new and improved powered chair is provided with an anti-pinch system which comprises an angular sensor mounted upon the footrest assembly for detecting angular movement of the footrest assembly, from a horizontal mode to a vertical mode, prior to the footrest assembly encountering a seat assembly of the chair, which would indicate that the footrest assembly has encountered a foreign object, whereby the angular sensor can emit a control signal so as to terminate/reverse movement of said footrest support assembly. Anti-pinch sensor strips can also be used in conjunction with the angular sensor.

Claims

1. A powered chair provided with an anti-pinch sensing system, comprising: a base; a housing enclosure comprising at least one arm and a backrest; a seat assembly; an extensible/retractable footrest support assembly; a footrest assembly pivotally mounted upon a distal end of said footrest support assembly and adapted to be disposed in a horizontal mode when said extensible/retractable footrest support assembly is moved between its retracted position and its fully extended position, and to be disposed in a vertical mode as said footrest assembly encounters said seat assembly when said extensible/retractable footrest support assembly moves said footrest assembly to said retracted position; and an angular sensor mounted upon said footrest assembly for detecting angular movement of said footrest assembly, from said horizontal mode to said vertical mode, prior to said footrest assembly encountering said seat assembly, which would indicate that said footrest assembly encountered a foreign object, and for emitting a control signal so as to terminate/reverse movement of said footrest support assembly.

2. The powered chair as set forth in claim 1, wherein: said angular sensor is incorporated within an angular sensor housing fixedly mounted upon a rear surface portion of said footrest assembly.

3. The powered chair as set forth in claim 2, wherein: said footrest assembly is pivotally mounted upon said footrest support assembly around a pivotal axis which passes through said angular sensor housing.

4. A powered chair provided with an anti-pinch sensing system, comprising: a base; a housing enclosure comprising at least one arm and a backrest; a seat assembly; an extensible/retractable footrest support assembly; a footrest assembly pivotally mounted upon a distal end of said footrest support assembly and adapted to be disposed in a horizontal mode when said extensible/retractable footrest support assembly is moved between its retracted position and its fully extended position, and to be disposed in a vertical mode as said footrest assembly encounters said seat assembly when said extensible/retractable footrest support assembly moves said footrest assembly to said retracted position; and a plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips, mounted upon said footrest assembly, for detecting the presence of a foreign object, lodged between said footrest assembly and said seat assembly, as a result of said plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips being pinched/compressed, whereupon said plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips will emit a control signal so as to terminate/reverse movement of said footrest support assembly.

5. The powered chair as set forth in claim 4, wherein: said plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips comprises a first set of anti-pinch sensor strips which are disposed peripherally around a rear surface portion of said footrest assembly.

6. The powered chair as set forth in claim 4, wherein: said plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips comprises a second set of anti-pinch sensor strips which are disposed around peripheral edge portions of said footrest assembly.

7. The powered chair as set forth in claim 4, wherein: said plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips comprises a first set of anti-pinch sensor strips which are disposed peripherally around a rear surface portion of said footrest assembly; and said plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips comprises a second set of anti-pinch sensor strips which are disposed around peripheral edge portions of said footrest assembly.

8. A method of using an anti-pinch sensing system within a powered chair, comprising the steps of: providing a base for said powered chair; providing a housing enclosure, comprising at least one arm and a backrest, for said powered chair; providing a seat assembly for said powered chair; providing an extensible/retractable footrest support assembly for said powered chair; pivotally mounting a footrest assembly upon a distal end of said footrest support assembly such that said footrest assembly is adapted to be disposed in a horizontal mode when said extensible/retractable footrest support assembly is moved between its retracted position and its fully extended position, and to be disposed in a vertical mode as said footrest assembly encounters said seat assembly when said extensible/retractable footrest support assembly moves said footrest assembly to said retracted position; and mounting an angular sensor upon said footrest assembly for detecting angular movement of said footrest assembly, from said horizontal mode to said vertical mode, prior to said footrest assembly encountering said seat assembly, which would indicate that said footrest assembly encountered a foreign object, and for emitting a control signal so as to terminate/reverse movement of said footrest support assembly.

9. A method of using an anti-pinch sensing system within a powered chair, comprising the steps of: providing a base for said powered chair; providing a housing enclosure, comprising at least one arm and a backrest, for said powered chair; providing a seat assembly for said powered chair; providing an extensible/retractable footrest support assembly for said powered chair; pivotally mounting a footrest assembly upon a distal end of said footrest support assembly such that said footrest assembly is adapted to be disposed in a horizontal mode when said extensible/retractable footrest support assembly is moved between its retracted position and its fully extended position, and to be disposed in a vertical mode as said footrest assembly encounters said seat assembly when said extensible/retractable footrest support assembly moves said footrest assembly to said retracted position; and mounting a plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips, upon said footrest assembly, for detecting the presence of a foreign object, lodged between said footrest assembly and said seat assembly, as a result of said plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips being pinched/compressed, whereupon said plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips will emit a control signal so as to terminate/reverse movement of said footrest support assembly.

10. The method as set forth in claim 9, further comprising the step of: mounting a first set of said plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips peripherally around a rear surface portion of said footrest assembly.

11. The method as set forth in claim 9, further comprising the step of: mounting a second set of anti-pinch sensor strips around peripheral edge portions of said footrest assembly.

12. The method as set forth in claim 9, further comprising the step of: mounting a first set of said plurality of anti-pinch sensor strips peripherally around a rear surface portion of said footrest assembly; and mounting a second set of anti-pinch sensor strips around peripheral edge portions of said footrest assembly.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Various other features and attendant advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated from the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a powered chair wherein the footrest assembly is disposed at its retracted position;

[0011] FIG. 2 is a schematic side elevational view of the powered chair illustrated within FIG. 1 wherein the footrest assembly has been moved to its fully extended position;

[0012] FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of the footrest assembly having an angular sensor mechanism fixedly mounted upon the rear surface thereof; and

[0013] FIG. 4 is a schematic side elevational view, similar to FIGS. 1 and 2, showing, however, an object or obstruction interposed between the seat assembly and the footrest assembly as the footrest assembly is being moved from its fully extended position back to its retracted, stowed position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0014] Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1-4, a new and improved powered chair, having a new and improved anti-pinch structural system incorporated therein, and a method for operating the same, is disclosed and is generally indicated by the reference character 100. More particularly, it is seen that the new and improved powered chair 100 comprises a base assembly 102, a housing assembly or enclosure 104 which would include a pair of oppositely disposed arms and a backrest, a footrest assembly 106 that is pivotally connected to a front, distal end portion of a footrest support assembly 108, and a seat assembly 110 which is movably connected to the interior of the housing assembly or enclosure 104 by means of a suitable linkage assembly, not shown, the footrest support assembly 108 being likewise connected to the seat assembly 110 by means of a suitable linkage assembly, also not shown. It is to be understand that a suitable driving assembly, also not shown, is operatively connected to the footrest support assembly 108 so as to in fact extend and retract the same along with the footrest assembly 106. As can be readily appreciated from the drawings, when the footrest assembly 106 is disposed at the fully retracted position, the footrest assembly 106 is disposed in a vertically oriented mode, however, when the footrest assembly 106 is being extended and retracted, the footrest assembly 106 is disposed in a horizontally oriented mode. When the driving assembly, not shown, retracts the footrest support assembly 108, the footrest assembly 106 will be disposed in a horizontally oriented mode, however, when the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, or the rear surface portion of the footrest assembly 106 which is disposed nearest the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, encounters the front surface of the seat assembly 110, the footrest assembly 106 will pivotally move from its horizontal orientation to its vertical orientation as permitted by means of a pivotal connection effectively defined between the footrest assembly 106 and the footrest support assembly 108.

[0015] With specific reference being made to FIG. 3, and in accordance with the unique principles and teachings of the present invention, an angular sensor mechanism is incorporated within an angular sensor housing 112 fixedly mounted upon the rear surface 116 of the footrest assembly 106, and it is seen that the aforenoted pivotal connection 114, defining the pivotal axis for the footrest assembly 106 relative to the footrest support assembly 108, is incorporated within the angular sensor housing 112. The angular sensor mechanism is programmed so as to be active during the entire retraction stroke of the driving assembly, not shown, operatively connected to the footrest support assembly 108, that is, during the movement of the footrest assembly 106 from its fully extended position, as shown in FIG. 2, to the position at which the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, or the rear surface portion of the footrest assembly 106 which is disposed nearest the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, encounters the front surface of the seat assembly 110. Accordingly, with reference being made to FIG. 4, if a foreign object or obstruction 118, such as, for example, a person's limb, such as, for example, a leg, should become interposed between the front surface of the seat assembly 110 and the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, or the rear surface portion of the footrest assembly 106 which is disposed nearest the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, then when the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, or the rear surface portion of the footrest assembly 106 which is disposed nearest the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, encounters the person's limb 118, the movement of the footrest support assembly 108 during the retraction stroke will effectively cause the footrest assembly 106 to move from its horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation. This change in the angular orientation of the footrest assembly 106 is then detected by means of the angular sensor mechanism, however, the angular sensor knows that this is not the normal angular movement of the footrest assembly as when it reaches the end of its normal retraction stroke, whereby the angular sensor mechanism will then emit a control signal which can then be transmitted to a controller, not shown, which controls the actuation of the footrest support assembly driving assembly, not shown, whereby the actuation of the footrest support assembly driving assembly, not shown, will be terminated or reversed such that a serious injury to the person's limb 118 will in fact be avoided.

[0016] With reference continuing to be made to FIG. 3, in addition to the provision of the aforenoted angular sensor mechanism for detecting the presence of any foreign object or obstruction, during the course of the movement of the footrest assembly 106 from its fully extended position to the position at which the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, or the rear surface portion of the footrest assembly 106 which is disposed nearest the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, encounters the front surface of the seat assembly 110, the footrest assembly 106 may be additionally provided with a first set of anti-pinch sensor strips 120 which may be disposed around the peripheral border of the rear face 116 of the footrest assembly 106, as well as a second set of anti-pinch sensor strips 122 which may be disposed around the peripheral side edge portions of the footrest assembly 106. In operation, after the angular sensor mechanism has completed its detection monitoring process as a result of being active during the movement of the footrest assembly 106 from its fully extended position to the position at which the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, or the rear surface portion of the footrest assembly 106 which is disposed nearest the rear edge portion of the footrest assembly 106, encounters the front surface of the seat assembly 110, the operation of the angular sensor mechanism is terminated, and the anti-pinch sensor strips 120,122 are then activated so as to sense the presence of any object or obstruction which may be present or interposed between the footrest assembly 106, which is now disposed immediately adjacent to the front surface of the seat assembly 110, and the front surface of the seat assembly 110. Accordingly, as was the case with the angular sensor mechanism, if the anti-pinch strips 120,122 detect an object or obstruction, as a result of being pinched or compressed between the footrest assembly 106 and the front surface of the seat assembly 100, as the footrest assembly 106 continues to move back to its fully retracted position, the anti-pinch strips 120,122 will emit a control signal which can then be transmitted to a controller, not shown, which controls the actuation of the footrest support assembly driving assembly, not shown, whereby the actuation of the footrest support assembly driving assembly, not shown, will be terminated or reversed such that a serious injury to the person's limb 118 will in fact be avoided.

[0017] Obviously, many variations and modifications of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the present invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.