RU2184518C2 - Collapsible cane for blind people - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: walking facilitating device. SUBSTANCE: cane has collapsible tubular sections, which are made cylindrical at joint ends, flexible member for connecting one section to another, handle located at upper section, which is mounted so as to change cane length, and light-weight supporting cane head. Section and handle neck joint is made open to allow free access from outside to user's finger articulation for performing fine readjustments frequently needed due to changing conditions during walking. Upper section and handle neck are joined with their side surfaces made in the form of tooth racks. By repositioning handle, tooth rack pitch is changed to provide for wide range of fine adjustments of cane length. Upper section and handle neck joint is embraced by skirt equipped at inner side with shoulder abutting against upper end of upper section to retain joint from self- detachment. Flexible member made in the form of flexible cord is adapted for connecting upper section with handle neck. Such construction allows cane members to be prevented from being lost in the process of readjustments during walking and being readily found by touch during assembly and dismantling of cane. Cane may be used for searching of objects difficult for reach by user's hands. EFFECT: simplified construction and convenient use. 3 dwg

Description

 The invention relates to the basic tools of persons with disabilities [1] for examining such items of furniture that cannot be reached by hands, namely tracking reeds, which provide the opportunity to blindly search for passages between obstacles in the path of the blind. The color of the white coating of such an instrument is intended to draw the attention of the surrounding people, including and drivers of transport: those who put a cane of white color across the movement do not see anything, and obviously therefore they will not be able to dodge from under the human stream, and even more so from under the wheels of the vehicle.

 Judging by the press [2], the white color of the coating of such special tools is widely known and even symbolically entered the definition of the movement, called "White Cane Day", which arose in the USA on the initiative of the International Federation of the Blind (IFS), an international non-governmental organization uniting representatives of organizations of the blind . In 1969, the IFS decided to consider October 15 as “White Cane Day”, which was intended to draw the attention of the general public to the problems of the blind.

 The main disadvantage of the known tracking canes is the lack of technical means that make it possible to blindly change (both in the direction of increasing and decreasing) the length of the cane during its operation, which is completely not compensated by the need in practice for their manufacture and staffing in 3 sizes ( short, medium, long), because they are bulky sets either in the form of bent seamless tubes of each cane, or, for example, in the form of a folding cane [3] of the same sizes, representing sets of hollow tubes connected in series with each other by an elastic element.

 Thus, the common drawback of the known canes is the rigid unregulated length of each of the three standard sizes of tracking canes, and their selection for the blind is focused on the average step of any of the individuals, believing that people like robots should walk in the mode of narrow, medium, or only wide step, although in reality each person has all kinds of steps in varying degrees.

 The lack of technical means of constantly adjusting the length of the tracking cane is the same drawback as the supporting canes, which are traditionally selected according to the height of disabled support workers, since it is necessary to move from one place of residence to another on the rise (where a short cane is more convenient) or on the descent of roads (where it is more convenient it is a long cane) that makes cripples carry not one but several canes with them, and the size of the steps of both sighted and blind is always dependent on the pace of walking, and a person is not a car and the pace of walking is variable and we change as soon as the path of the pedestrian becomes dependent on the presence or absence of physical or temporary, and sometimes emotional capabilities, for example, going to work or heading for an emergency meeting, we all strive to take a wide step (at least wider than usual) where, for objective reasons, the value of the "braking distance" changes, increasing with increasing speed. Moreover, the always possible unexpected appearance of obstacles on the road can have fatal consequences for the blind, and therefore in such cases the blind cannot do without a “long” cane. Well, having met fellow travelers and walking with them in the same line, it’s more advisable for a blind man to have an “average” with him, and even doing a “promenade”, when it makes sense to “take time”, people simply seed with their feet, then a walking stick is needed just to feel the way " short, "because long and medium sizes of canes in the latter case become burdensome, causing inconvenience to fatigue of the blind.

Among similar structurally analogous devices [4] are known in medical technology, namely in traumatology and orthopedics, but they are complicated and cluttered with various elements to perform functions other than tracking reeds, which prevents their use as the latter. So, under the same [3] name among the devices that facilitate the walking of patients, the folding cane adopted for the prototype is known [5]. The opposed invention, although it also essentially refers to a group of sticks, cannot be used as a tracking cane because of the unreliability confirmed by the folding cane [5] for lateral loads due to the conical 5-7 ^° connections of the mating ends of the tubular sections It turns out to be flimsy, since the blind, manipulating this tool left and right, up and down in a deliberate desire to detect (for example) free passages between piles of obstacles in the way, exposes the cane mainly across load, and the first impact in the transverse direction of the tip against an obstacle encountered on the way will inevitably lead to a decrease in the landing density of the conical surfaces of the tubular sections relative to each other and with subsequent subsequent axial support of the folding cane [5], the latter will independently fold under the action of the elastic element and at the same time lose rigidity, instantly relaxing the support and thereby condemning the cripple, leaning on a cane, to fall.

 Meanwhile, there is undoubted preference for the cylindrical before the conical execution of the mating ends of precisely those tubular sections of the cane that experience transverse loads during operation, as well as the undoubted feasibility of performing the said mating ends on movable (free) landings.

 The disadvantage of the opposed invention (especially when it becomes apparent in complete darkness when you have to find it and use it only by touch) is the latency from the sense of touch inside the tubular section body - in its womb - and therefore the inability to adjust by touch the mechanism for changing the length of the cane, which has the form of a retainer consisting of a button mounted in a spring with the provided rearrangement in a series of holes available on the cylindrical surface of the upper section for recessing with the entrance through them of this button .

 In addition, the disadvantages of the opposed invention [5] include the complexity of its manufacture, at least because of the forced heat treatment of the springs, and also because of limited technical and, as a result, narrow operational and technical capabilities, since during the period of operation there is a need for not always comfortable sophisticated (minimal in length) adjustments to change the length of the cane, and this vital need is far from completely satisfied due to the rather meager arsenal of a limited number of narrow holes. The narrow operational technical capabilities of the prototype cannot be expanded by the density of the holes, because in this case they will overlap each other, adversely affecting the strength properties of the tubular section, and the latch itself is capricious in operation, creating additional traumatic situations especially for those who are impaired After all, when using a cane, a blind person not only squeezes the handle of the handle with his palm, but also instead of it, the cane firmly grabs the handle neck in the area of the length lock button so that it is more convenient to place this tool across the traffic (in accordance with safety requirements) when Crossing busy intersections blindly. It was then that a random forced squeeze of the latch button is not excluded, and the self-release of the cane in the path is fraught with situations that are traumatic (if not tragic) and not only for the owner of the cane, but also for those around, who until then did not need crutches at all. The disadvantages include the possible jamming of the latch button when it sinks into the belly of the structure when adjusting the length of the cane for all kinds of reasons (due to the accidental rotation of the unlocked handle around the geometric axis of the tubular section or due to roadside debris falling into the radial holes under the latch button if the cane (of course, inadvertently) will fall to the ground, either due to unbroken burrs remaining around the perimeters of the holes due to the manufacturer’s underestimation, etc.).

 But in any case, it’s blind to feel for the button in an effort to determine in which hole it hid flush with the cylindrical surface of the upper tubular section in order to independently remove the button from the jammed state, it is impossible to blindly, because the diameter of those holes is less than the thickness of any of the fingers of an adult.

 The aim of the invention is to remedy these disadvantages by creating a compact touch-sensitive instrument for examining (including in the dark) objects that cannot be reached by hands, by connecting the upper section with the neck of the handle open, allowing unhindered access from the outside to the connection the fingers of a blind owner of a cane for the sake of implementing in a wide range to the touch blindly often arising in the way of the need for fine reconfiguration of the length of the tro ty of the changing conditions of use.

 To do this, the upper section and the neck of the handle are articulated by the lateral surfaces made in the form of gear racks, and the joints of the upper section and the neck of the handle are covered by a skirt equipped with a shoulder inside, abutting against the upper end of the upper section.

 The invention is illustrated by drawings, where in Fig.1 shows a General view of a folding cane for the blind in its working position (longitudinal section), in Fig. Figure 2 shows a fragment of folding a folding cane for the blind in the transport position (the rubber ring that keeps the cane from straightening the sections to their working position is not shown conditionally, since it is used only in the final period when the sections are not folded into one plane, as shown, but in beam), figure 3 shows the pin (in two projections) used to hold not only the elastic element (through the loop) in a taut position, but also the lower end of the elastic cord.

 A folding cane for the blind consists of folding canes for the blind — side surfaces to each other, in the working one — sequentially end to end of the position of the lower tubular sections 1, 2, 3, the ends of which have the shape of cylinders with collars that limit their axial displacement and are made on movable (free) landings to facilitate installation and dismantling. Folding tubular sections in the axial direction are pulled together by a connecting elastic element 4, whose upper end, made in the form of a loop, is suspended under the upper section 5. Above the upper section 5 there is a handle 6 mounted with the possibility of changing the length of the cane by moving the handle 6. The lower end the elastic element 4 is fastened to a support tip 7, which is essentially a plug of the tubular section 1. The support tip 7 is lightweight so as not to be a tool of destruction, and it is made of a non-conductive material iala, so that the cane does not turn out to be a dangerous conductor of electricity when it is quite possible to come into contact with a current-carrying obstacle that arises along the path of the owner of the cane, mostly plastic, and has a streamlined spherical shape, so that, on the one hand, when meeting with a fragile, sometimes tender an obstacle in the way of a blind person not to cause any damage to the met subject, but on the other hand, so that by the sound of a cane hitting him, the blind person would have the opportunity to perform subject cognition by ear Orientation - to determine the shapes, sizes, material of surrounding objects. The shape of the handle 6 is predominantly in the form of a pistol handle and, for the sake of convenience, is also made with a protrusion under the thumb of the user’s cane. Whether he clicks on the front in the direction of travel or presses on the back surface of the above-mentioned protrusion of the handle 6 with the thumb of the brush compressing the handle 6 will immediately raise or immediately drop the tip of the cane when using this tool. In the lower part, the handle 6 is provided with a neck 8, which is covered together with the upper section 5 by a sleeve-shaped skirt 9, provided with a shoulder 10 from the inside for abutment against the upper end of the upper section 5. On the upper part of the neck 8 of the handle there is a flat 11 to a depth under the radial protrusion of the shoulder 10. The lateral surfaces of the upper section 5 and the neck 8 of the handle are made in the form of gear racks with teeth 12, 13, respectively. The upper section 5 and the neck 8 of the handle are articulated by the side surfaces by joining them together so that the teeth of one rail are immersed between the teeth of the other, entering into engagement with them. Moreover, the execution of gear racks 12, 13 with helical gears is preferable to spur gears, especially for blind disabled oporni and those who in the darkness are forced to not only stumble on a cane with furniture, but also who with all their weight have to rely on the same cane, and it is much tougher with helical gearing. At the same time, on the upper section 5, the tops of the teeth of the helical rack 12 are turned upward towards the handle 6, while the vertices of the teeth of the helical rack 13 located on the neck 8 are turned downward towards the tip 7. To prevent the loss of connection elements during forced adjustments of the length of the cane by touch, the lower the end of the neck 8 of the handle and sections 1, 2, 3, 5 (the last through the connecting part shown in FIG. 3) are fastened with an elastic cord 14 of a length previously set based on a calculation sufficient to raise and lower the handles 6 on the entire range of articulation of the upper section 5 to the neck 8 of the handle. Under the upper section 5, in the depths of its womb, there is a longitudinal recess 15, so that it suffices to drown the loops of the elastic element 4 in it. The longitudinal recess 15 is pierced in the longitudinal axis of symmetry of the section by planes through curly grooves 16 having the shape of two (one against the other) keyholes . A pin 17 (the one shown in FIG. 8) is fastened in through curly grooves 16, the middle cylindrical part 18 of which corresponds to the size of the rounded upper part of the curly grooves 16, and the end parts of the pin 17 recessed by flats 19 correspond to the narrow width of the lower parts of the through curly grooves 16. In this case, the lower end of the elastic cord 14 is fixed in the radial hole of the pin 17. In addition, the proposed device has color coatings that carry special information for those around them, as well as purely aesthetic properties. So, at least the lower folding tubular sections 1, 2, 3 have external coatings of white color as a sign of additional information "about blind pedestrians", and for contrast, the handle 6 and the support tip 7 are made with a coating mainly of black color.

 The proposed device operates as follows.

 The folding cane for the blind, folded in the transport position, is released from the rubber ring (not shown). In this case, the lower tubular sections 1, 2, 3, under the action of the elastic element 4, are splashed into the line of the geometric axis of the upper section 5, and then the sections are pulled in by the pins in the entry parts along the sliding fit of their cylindrical surfaces. So, the end of the lower tubular section 1, made in the form of a cylindrical surface, is drawn inside the mating female cylindrical surface of the section 2, and its cylindrical surface of the inlet part is inside the cylindrical surface of the section 3, which in turn rises with its cylindrical surface to the cylindrical inlet part of the upper section 5. In such an assembled position, the folding cane for the blind could be suitable for use, provided that the fixed length of the cane suits its owner for momentary use. Otherwise, first of all, in order to ensure ease of use for adjusting the cane to a different length of the cane, the proposed tool is first, holding the handle 6, with the support tip 7 put ahead of themselves on the conditional border line of the safe zone of pedestrian traffic, which is determined by a value slightly larger than the step, corresponding to the conditions of the upcoming pace of movement of the owner of the cane. Then, the upper section 5 (holding it with one hand) and the neck 8 of the handle are freed from mutual girth by lifting (with the other hand) the skirt 9 before introducing its shoulder 10 onto the flange 11 in the same way as shown in FIG. 2. After that, the connection of the upper section 5 with the neck 8 of the handle is disengaged by removing the teeth 12, 13 from engagement with each other, and after opening them, the neck 8 with the handle 6 is moved along the upper section 5 to a level that is convenient for use, reaching which, close the neck 8 handles with the upper section 5 and, having engaged, the teeth 12 and 13 are squeezed by the lateral faces, fixing their grip, lowering the skirt 9 from the flats 11 until the shoulder 10 rests against the upper end of the upper section 5. In this case, under the weight of the skirt 9, its shoulder 10 rests against the upper end of the upper section 5, which will keep the articulated connection of the upper section 5 with the neck 8 of the handle from self-locking.

 In this form, a folding cane for the blind is ready for use.

 Dismantling it (as well as assembly) is feasible and blindfolded, only in the reverse order. At the same time, the elastic cord 14 holds together the constituent elements of the product, which ensures their successive finding by touch. Well, in order to blindly completely disassemble the proposed device into constituent elements, the loop of the elastic element 4 is preliminarily moved higher - deeper into the longitudinal recess 15 of the upper section 5, and for the sake of this, the pin 17 is groped to the top of the through-shaped grooves 16, grabbing both ends with fingers of one hand with some effort required to overcome the opposition of the forces of the elastic element 4 until the middle cylindrical part 18 of the pin 17 reaches the stop in the upper part of the through curly grooves 16. Then, pressing on that torus pin 17, which is not burdened with an elastic cord 14, and grabbing the cord 14, the pin 17 is removed, freeing the loop of the elastic element 4 from forcing sections 1, 2, 3, 5 to be pulled together. Installation of the device proceeds in the reverse order and also technically provided with the possibility of blind implementation, i.e. exclusively to the touch.

Sources of information
1. The manual "Teaching the blind spatial orientation" I.N. Naumov, 1982, Moscow, VOS Editorial and Publishing Department, Central Printing Office of the Moscow State Pedagogical University of VOS, p.10 "Use of touch in the subject and spatial orientation of the blind."

 2. Articles by Rudolf Kokhnyak "With a white cane" in the monthly magazines VOS "Our Life" for 1997, 1, p. 22; 2, p. 24; 3, p. 26, Printing plant of Chekhov, Moscow region.

 3. Analogs: inventions US 3646949, 03/07/1972; US 3881504, 05/06/1975; SU 957901, 09/15/1982; SU 1503809, 08.30.1989; SU 1738283, 07/07/1992; US 5197502, March 30, 1993; US 5341829, 08/30/1994; US 5445175, 08.29.1995.

 4. Prototype: RF patent reg. 2064789, 08/10/1996, MKI A 61 N 3/00. "Folding cane" of the Scientific and Production Association "Fusion" of the authors Antipov V.P., Elansky V.M., Konstantinova E.A., Makarovets N.A., Pashkova V.P., Semenova V.I.

Claims (1)

 A folding cane for the blind, containing folding tubular sections having the shape of cylinders at the joints, an elastic element connecting the sections to each other, a handle above the upper section mounted with the possibility of changing the length of the cane, and a support tip, characterized in that the upper section and the neck of the handle articulated by the side surfaces made in the form of gear racks, and the joints of the upper section and the neck of the handle are covered by a skirt equipped with a shoulder inside, abutting against the upper end of the upper section.

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