CN110464605B

CN110464605B - Walker

Info

Publication number: CN110464605B
Application number: CN201810440861.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 蔡继鸿
Original assignee: Care & Care Health Products Co ltd
Current assignee: Care & Care Health Products Co ltd
Priority date: 2018-05-10
Filing date: 2018-05-10
Publication date: 2021-06-01
Anticipated expiration: 2038-05-10
Also published as: CN110464605A

Abstract

A walker includes a front frame, two side frames, and two folding devices. The front frame includes two sleeves. Each sleeve has a positioning groove. The positioning grooves extend around the circumference of the corresponding sleeve, and have spaced open and retracted grooves. The side frame is in an inverted U shape and is rotatably arranged on the sleeve of the front frame, and can be changed between an unfolded position and a retracted position. The retracting device is arranged in the side frame, and includes a pressing member partially protruding from the side frame, a retracting bar connecting the pressing member, and a latch transversely fixed on the retracting bar. One end of the bolt penetrates out of the side frame and is movably arranged in the positioning groove of the front frame. The latch is driven by the pressing member to selectively engage with the retracting groove portion or the unfolding groove portion of the positioning groove, so as to position the side frame.

Description

Walking aid

Technical Field

The invention relates to a walking aid, in particular to a foldable walking aid.

Background

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, a conventional walker 1, as described in chinese patent CN2796692Y, comprises an H-shaped front frame 11, two side frames 12 in an inverted U-shape, and two folding devices 13. The front frame 11 comprises two sleeves 111 on opposite sides. One side of each side frame 12 is rotatably disposed in a respective one of the sleeves 111. Each side frame 12 has a grip section 121 to be gripped by a person, and a support rod 122 extending downward from the grip section 121 and inserted into the respective sleeves 111. The folding devices 13 are respectively disposed on the sleeves 111 of the front frame 11 and are respectively connected to the side frames 12.

Each folding device 13 comprises a fixing plate 14, a seat body 15, a bolt 16, a spring 17 and a wrench 18. The fixing pieces 14 are disposed outside the respective sleeves 111 and have a slide groove 141. The slide groove 141 has an arc groove 142 and a circular groove 143. The diameter width of the circular groove 143 is larger than that of the arc-shaped groove 142. The base 15 is mounted on the respective support rods 122 by a fixing rod 101, and has a sleeve hole 151 for the respective support rod 122 to be inserted, and a setting hole 152 penetrating up and down. The plug 16 is installed in the installation hole 152 and sleeved by the spring 17, and has a head 161 having an outer diameter larger than the arc groove 142 and a shaft 162 having an outer diameter smaller than the arc groove 142. The wrenches 18 are pivotally mounted on the respective support rods 122 via a pivot 102, and have an abutting section 181 abutting against the bolt 16, a sleeve section 182 connecting the abutting sections, and a wrenching section 183 extending outwardly from the sleeve section 182. The sleeve section 182 has a sleeve hole 184 for the support rod 122 to be installed, and two pivot holes 185 located on two opposite sides for the pivot 102 to be inserted into. The pulling section 183 of the handle 18 extends below the holding section 121 for pulling by the user. When the pulling section 183 of the pulling handle 18 is pulled upward, the pulling handle 18 will swing around the pivot 102, and the abutting section 181 will move downward and push the bolt 16, so that the head 161 of the bolt 16 leaves the circular groove 143 of the sliding slot 141, and at this time, the shaft 162 of the bolt 16 can move in the arc-shaped groove 142 of the sliding slot 141, and at this time, the side frame 12 can rotate relative to the front frame 11 to be folded.

The wrenching section 183 of the wrench 18 is located below the gripping section 121 of the side frame 12, and although convenient for the user to wrench, it takes up space for the user to hold it, and the wrench 18 will often hit the user's hand when using the walker 1, so there is a need for improvement.

Referring to FIG. 3, another prior art folding device for a walker, as described in US6886575, is generally similar in construction to the aforementioned Chinese patent CN2796692Y, except that the folding device further includes a connecting rod 19. The opposite ends of the connecting rod 19 are connected to the top of the bolt 16 and the center of the handle 18, so that when the handle 18 is pulled, the bolt 16 is driven by the connecting rod 19 to move upward, and then is separated from the circular groove 143 of the fixing plate 14 to unlock. This one structure also has a problem of occupying a space in the hand of the user, and is subject to further improvement.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to provide a walking aid which does not occupy the holding space of a user.

The invention relates to a walking aid, which comprises a front frame, two side frames and two folding devices.

The front frame includes two sleeves. Each sleeve has a positioning slot extending around the circumference of the corresponding sleeve and having an expanding slot portion and a retracting slot portion spaced apart from each other.

The side frame is in an inverted U shape and comprises a front rod section, a rear rod section and an adapter. The front rod section is rotatably arranged on the sleeve of the front frame. The adapter is connected with the front rod section and is provided with an accommodating space. The side frames are changeable between an extended position and a retracted position relative to the front frame. In the deployed position, the rear pole segment is distal from the front frame. In the stowed position, the rear pole segment is adjacent the front frame.

The folding device is arranged in the accommodating space. Each folding device comprises a pressing piece, a folding strip and a bolt. The pressing piece part protrudes out of the side frame to be suitable for being operated by a user. The folding strip is connected with the pressing piece and is positioned on the front rod section of the side frame. The bolt is transversely and fixedly arranged on the folding strip, and one end of the bolt penetrates through the front rod section of the side frame and is movably arranged in the positioning groove of the front frame. The bolt is driven by the pressing piece to be selectively clamped in the folding groove part or the unfolding groove part of the positioning groove so as to position the side frame. When in the unfolding position, the bolt is clamped in the unfolding groove part of the front frame. When in the folding position, the bolt is clamped in the folding groove part of the front frame.

The walking aid also comprises a connecting device, wherein the connecting device comprises a limiting rod penetrating through the side frame, a folding strip of the folding device is provided with a guide groove extending up and down, and the guide groove is inserted by the limiting rod.

The invention relates to a walking aid, wherein a pressing piece of a folding device is provided with a pivoting part positioned at the middle section and a connecting part positioned at the front section, the pivoting part is pivoted with a side frame, and the connecting part is pivoted with a folding strip.

The walking aid also comprises an elastic piece arranged between the folding device and the side frame, wherein the elastic piece constantly provides an elastic offset force to drive the bolt to be clamped in the unfolding groove part or the folding groove part of the front frame.

According to the walking aid, the elastic piece adopts a compression spring, surrounds the folding strip arranged on the folding device, and is fixed at one end of the side frame and abutted against the bolt at the other end.

In the walking aid, the sleeve of the front frame is provided with a concave surface part formed on the top surface, and the concave surface part is sunken to define the positioning groove.

According to the walking aid, the front rod section of the side frame is provided with a sliding groove extending up and down, and the sliding groove is used for the sliding pin of the folding device to be arranged in a sliding manner.

According to the walking aid, the side frame further comprises an adapter arranged on the front rod section, the adapter is provided with an accommodating space and an opening communicated with the accommodating space and the outside, the opening faces upwards, the folding device is arranged in the accommodating space of the adapter, and the pressing piece is partially exposed out of the opening.

The front frame of the walking aid further comprises sleeves, the sleeves are respectively positioned on two opposite sides, the walking aid further comprises side frames and folding devices, front rod sections of the side frames are respectively and rotatably arranged on the sleeves, and the folding devices are respectively arranged on the side frames.

The invention has the beneficial effects that: the folding device is arranged in the accommodating space of the side frame, and does not occupy the space held by the four fingers of a user, so that the hands of the user are prevented from being impacted.

Drawings

Other features and effects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view illustrating a prior art walker;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, partially exploded perspective view illustrating a folding device of the prior walker;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view illustrating another prior art folding device for a walker;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating one embodiment of the walker of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a partially exploded perspective view of the embodiment illustrating a folding device;

fig. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view of the embodiment illustrating the folding device;

FIG. 7 is a partial perspective cross-sectional view illustrating a side frame of the embodiment in an open position; and

fig. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view illustrating the sideframes of the illustrated embodiment in a stowed position.

Detailed Description

Referring to fig. 4, 5 and 6, the walking aid of the present invention comprises a front frame 2, two side frames 3, two folding devices 4, two elastic members 5, and a connecting device 6.

The front frame 2 includes a substantially transversely extending cross bar 21 and two sleeves 22 respectively disposed at opposite ends of the cross bar 21. Each sleeve 22 is substantially vertical and has two concave portions 221 formed on two opposite sides of the top surface, and two positioning grooves 222 defined by the concave portions 221. Each positioning slot 222 extends substantially around the circumference of the corresponding sleeve 22 and has an expanding slot 223 and a contracting slot 224 spaced apart from each other.

The side frames 3 are all in an inverted U shape. Each sideframe 3 includes a front pole section 31, a grab pole section 32, a rear pole section 33, and an adapter 34. The front rod segment 31 is rotatably disposed in the respective sleeve 22 of the front frame 2 and has two slide grooves 311 extending up and down on opposite sides. The grip segment 32 has one end adjacent to the upper end of the front segment 31 and the other end connected to the upper end of the rear segment 33. The adapter 34 is substantially L-shaped, and two different sides are respectively connected to the front rod section 31 and the grip rod section 32. The adaptor 34 has an accommodating space 341 and an opening 342 communicating the accommodating space 341 with the outside. The opening 342 is upwardly facing and extends rearwardly from the bend in the adapter 34 so that it terminates adjacent the grip segment 32.

In this embodiment, each side frame 3 is formed by assembling two pipes to the adapter 34 after machining. One of the tubes is formed with the slide groove 311 on the top side to form the front rod section 31, and the other tube is bent to form a fixed angle, wherein the portion to be held by a user is formed as the grip rod section 32, and the other portion is formed as the rear rod section 33.

The folding devices 4 are respectively disposed in the side frames 3 and respectively disposed in the accommodating spaces 341 of the adapter 34. Each folding device 4 comprises a pressing element 41, a folding bar 42 and a latch 43. The pressing element 41 protrudes partially from the side frame 3 and has a top profile that substantially matches the shape of the opening 342 of the adapter 34. The pressing member 41 has a pressing portion 411 located at the top and partially protruding the opening 342, a pivoting portion 412 located at the bottom middle section, and a connecting portion 413 located at the front section. The pressing portion 411 is adapted to be pressed by a user. The folding bar 42 has a guide slot 421 extending up and down. The guiding slot 421 transversely penetrates from one side of the folding bar 42 to the other side. The bolt 43 is transversely fixed at the bottom of the folding bar 42, and two opposite ends of the bolt respectively penetrate through the front rod section 31 of the side frame 3, and the bolt is movably disposed in the corresponding chute 311 and movably disposed in the corresponding positioning slot 222 of the front frame 2. The pin 43 is driven by the pressing member 41 to selectively engage with the folding groove 224 or the unfolding groove 223 of the positioning groove 222, so as to position the side frame 3.

The elastic members 5 are respectively disposed between the folding device 4 and the side frames 3. Each elastic member 5 constantly provides an elastic biasing force for urging the latch 43 to be engaged with the positioning slot 222 of the front frame 2. In this embodiment, the elastic member 5 is a compression spring and surrounds the folding bar 42 disposed on the folding device 4. One end of the elastic element 5 abuts against the limiting rod 63 and is fixed on the adapter 34 of the side frame 3, and the other end abuts against the bolt 43.

The connecting device 6 includes a pivot 61, a connecting rod 62, and a limiting rod 63. The pivot 61 is pivotally connected to the pivot portion 412 and the adapter 34 of the side frame 3. The connecting rod 62 is pivotally connected to the connecting portion 413 and the top of the folding bar 42. The stopper 63 is provided in the side frame 3 and inserted into the guide groove 421.

The structure of each component of the present embodiment has been described above, and the operation thereof will be described below.

Referring to fig. 4 and 7, each side frame 3 is changeable between an extended position and a retracted position with respect to the front frame 2. For ease of understanding, the following description will be in the orientation of the user. When the left side frame 3 is in the extended position, opposite end portions of the left side pin 43 engage with the extension groove portions 223 of the front frame 2, respectively. At this time, the rear rod section 33 of the side frame 3 is away from the front frame 2 and fixed in position. By unfolding the right side frame 3 in the same manner as described above, the user can use the walker of this embodiment to assist walking.

Referring to fig. 7 and 8, when the side frame 3 is to be folded, the pressing member 41 of the folding device 4 is pressed to rotate about the pivot 61 on the pivot portion 412 thereof, and the folding bar 42 is pulled upward to drive the pins 43 to move, so that the pins 43 are disengaged from the unfolding slots 223 of the front frame 2, and at this time, the pins 43 can move freely in the positioning slots 222, so that the user can rotate the side frame 3 to move the rear rod section 33 toward the front frame 2. When the side frames 3 reach the retracted position, the rear rod segments 33 are adjacent to the front frame 2, and the latch pins 43 are driven to be engaged with the corresponding retracting groove portions 224 of the front frame 2 by the retracting device 4 under the elastic biasing force of the elastic members 5 (see fig. 6). Thus, the side frames 3 are fixed at the retracted position and cannot move. At the moment, the walking aid is folded into a flat shape, so that the walking aid is convenient to store.

When the walker is to be unfolded again, the pushing member 41 of the folding device 4 is pushed again to move the pin 43 and rotate the side frame 3 to the unfolding position, and when the pin 43 is engaged with the unfolding groove 223 by the elastic member 5, the side frame 3 returns to the unfolding position. Therefore, the user can simply press and operate the pressing member 41 to change the side frame 3 between the unfolded position and the folded position.

From the above description, the advantages of the present invention can be summarized as follows:

first, since the folding device 4 is disposed in the accommodating space 341 of the side frame 3 and the pressing member 41 is disposed at a position adjacent to the thumb of the user, the space for holding the four fingers of the user is not occupied, thereby avoiding hitting the hand of the user.

Second, each sleeve 22 has two positioning slots 222 located at two opposite sides for the two opposite ends of the corresponding plug 43 to be respectively disposed, so as to obtain a stable engaging state and improve the stability of engaging and fixing.

Thirdly, the positioning slot 222 is formed by the top surface of the sleeve 22 being recessed downward, but not being located on the side surface of the sleeve 22, so that when the folding device 4 is installed, the pin 43 of the folding device 4 can be directly placed into the positioning slot 222 through the sliding slot 311 of the side frame 3, and the pin 43 does not need to be inserted after the hole of the folding strip 42 for installing the pin 43 is aligned with the positioning slot 222, which makes the assembly easier.

Fourthly, the outer contour of the top of the pressing member 41 is approximately matched with the shape of the opening 342 of the adapter 34, so that external dust can be prevented from entering the accommodating space 341 of the side frame 3, and further the operation of the folding device 4 can be prevented from being influenced.

Fifth, the elastic biasing force of the elastic member 5 drives the latch 43 to engage with the unfolding groove 223 or the folding groove 224 of the front frame 2, so that the latch 43 can be automatically engaged and positioned as long as the side frame 3 reaches the unfolding position or the folding position, and the use is more convenient without requiring a separate operation by a user.

The above description is only an example of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention should not be limited thereby, and the invention is still within the scope of the present invention by simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the claims and the contents of the specification.

Claims

1. A walker, comprising:

the front frame comprises two sleeves, each sleeve is provided with a positioning groove, the positioning grooves extend around the circumference of the corresponding sleeve and are provided with an unfolding groove part and a folding groove part which are spaced;

the side frames are respectively in an inverted U shape, each side frame comprises a front rod section, a rear rod section and a switching seat, the front rod section is rotatably arranged on a sleeve of the front frame, the switching seat is connected with the front rod section and is provided with an accommodating space, the side frames can be changed between an unfolding position and a folding position relative to the front frame, the rear rod section is far away from the front frame when the side frames are in the unfolding position, and the rear rod section is close to the front frame when the side frames are in the folding position;

the method is characterized in that:

the folding device comprises a pressing piece, a folding strip and a bolt, wherein the pressing piece partially protrudes out of the side frame to be suitable for being operated by a user, the folding strip is connected with the pressing piece and is positioned on the front rod section of the side frame, the bolt is transversely and fixedly arranged on the folding strip, one end of the bolt penetrates through the front rod section of the side frame and is movably arranged in the positioning groove of the front frame, the bolt is driven by the pressing piece to be selectively clamped in the folding groove section or the unfolding groove section of the positioning groove to position the side frame, the bolt is clamped in the unfolding groove section of the front frame at the unfolding position, and the bolt is clamped in the folding groove section of the front frame at the folding position.

2. The walker of claim 1 wherein: the walking aid further comprises a connecting device, the connecting device comprises a limiting rod penetrating through the side frame, the folding strips of the folding device are provided with guide grooves extending up and down, and the guide grooves are inserted by the limiting rod.

3. The walker of claim 1 wherein: the pressing piece of the folding device is provided with a pivoting part positioned at the middle section and a connecting part positioned at the front section, the pivoting part is pivoted with the side frame, and the connecting part is pivoted with the folding strip.

4. The walking aid of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein: the walking aid further comprises an elastic piece arranged between the folding device and the side frame, and the elastic piece constantly provides elastic offset force for driving the bolt to be clamped in the positioning groove of the front frame.

5. The walker of claim 4 wherein: the elastic piece adopts a compression spring and surrounds the folding strip arranged on the folding device, one end of the elastic piece is fixed on the side frame, and the other end of the elastic piece abuts against the bolt.

6. The walker of claim 5 wherein: the sleeve of the front frame is provided with a concave surface part formed on the top surface, and the concave surface part is sunken to define the positioning groove.

7. The walker of claim 1 wherein: the front rod section of the side frame is provided with a sliding groove extending up and down, and the sliding groove is used for the sliding pin of the folding device to be arranged in a sliding way.

8. The walker of claim 1 wherein: the side frame further comprises an opening communicated with the accommodating space and the outside, the opening faces upwards, and the pressing piece is partially exposed out of the opening.