US3054638A - Wheel chair - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 1962 A. E. F. JOHNSON ET AL 3,054,638

WHEEL. CHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 16, 1961 jmzjer'ci 's ax/sfizy e 502962? 8433610 75C263 frag 5 p 1952 A. E.- F. JOHNSON ETAL 3,054,638

WHEEL CHAIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 16, 1961 United States Patent Ofifice 3,554,638 Fatented Sept. 18, 1362 Ohio Filed Jan. 16, 1961, Ser. No. 82,333 8 Claims. (Cl. 297-42) This invention relates to a wheel chair, and more specifically, to a chair particularly suited for use in hospitals and nursing homes as a patient admittance chair.

An object of the present invention is to provide an admittance chair of simple and sturdy construction which is capable of being folded into a compact state when not in use. Another object is to provide a collapsible wheel chair having a luggage rack capable of supporting a patients luggage, the rack being positioned and arranged to support even large pieces of luggage without danger that such luggage may drop from the rack as the chair is moved about by an attendant. A further object is to provide a sturdy folding admittance chair having a luggage rack which may be collapsed to occupy a minimal amount of space when the chair is folded.

Other objects will appear from the specification and drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating a chair embodying the present invention while it is in use as a luggage-carrying patients admittance chair;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the chair;

FIGURE 3 is a rear elevational view of the chair with the luggage rack thereof in lowered condition;

FIGURE 4 is a rear elevational view showing the chair in collapsed or folded condition;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged broken vertical sectional view taken along line 55 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 6 is a still further enlarged vertical cross sectional view taken along line 66 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary exploded view showing the wheel and rack mounting structure of the chair.

vIn the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates a collapsible admittance chair having a pair of side frames 11 and a linkage assembly 12 disposed therebetween. Eeach side frame is of tubular construction, consisting essentially of a main tubular portion 13 and an armrest tube 14. As shown most clearly in FIGURE 2, the main portion 13 is formed from a single tube which is bent to provide upper horizontal section 15, front leg rest-supporting section 16, bottom horizontal runner section 17, upstanding back rest section 18, and handle section 19. Near its lower end, and intermediate the upper and lower horizontal sections 15 and 17, the rear back rest section 18 turns rearwardly and downwardly and then curves forwardly to merge with the bottom runner. This sloping portion 20, and the rear portion of the bottom runner disposed directly therebelow, firmly supports the wheel and rack mounting member 21 as Will be more fully described hereinafter.

The linkage assembly 12 comprises two pair of pivotally connected links 22 which are secured at their upper ends to parallel seat-supporting tubes 23 which in turn carry a foldable fabric seat 24 extending therebetween. The lower ends of the links are connected to hinge members 25 which are pivotally mounted upon the bottom runners of the side frames. Preferably, the hinge members and the bottom runners are detachably as well as pivotally connected to each other in the manner disclosed in Mize Patent No. 2,914,111, issued November 24, 1959.

The armrest tube 14 may be secured to its side frame by rivets or by any other suitable connecting means. At the front of the chair, connected to the respective side frames 11, are a pair of footrest units 26. Each of the footrest units includes a footrest plate 27 swingable between raised and lower positions about the axis of a forwardly-extending bar 28 aflixed to the lower end of footrest tube 29. Tube 29 may be secured to the front section 16 of its side frame by welding or by any other means.

The front pivot wheel assemblies 30 are connected to the forward portions of the bottom runners 17 directly behind the depending lower portions of footrest tubes 29. Rear wheels 31, which are only slightly larger than the front wheels and which are substantially smaller than the drive wheels of a conventional wheel cair, are rotatably carried by the mounting members 21, as shown most clearly in FIGURES 2, 5 and 6.

Each mounting member 21 may be formed from a plurality of metal plates welded or otherwise afiixed to each other to form a unitary mounting structure. Referring FIGURE 7, it will be observed that the mounting member 21 comprises an outer plate 32, an intermediate plate 33 and an inner plate 34. The lower portions of the intermediate and outer plates are spaced apart and are apertured at 35 to receive the axle 36 of a rear wheel 31. Those portions of the intermediate and outer plates extending over the top of the wheel are provided with a threaded opening 37 for receiving the threaded shank of a vertically extending brake screw 38. As shown most clearly in FIGURE 6, the brake screw has an enlarged upper end or knob to facilitate the manual rotation of the screw into a lowered braking position or into a raised releasing position.

Inner plate 34 and outer plate 32 have spaced upper portions 39 and 40 which define an open-topped channel receiving the downwardly and rearwardly inclined portion 20 of the frames rear tubular section 18. It will be noted that the rear edge 41 of the channels base engages the under surface of the downwardly and rearwardly sloping tube 20 and that the tube may be firmly clamped between the upstanding upper portions of the plates by means of bolts 42 and 43 extending through selected aligned openings 44 of a group of openings provided by the upstanding plates.

The lower portion of the inner plate 34 extends inwardly and then downwardly to provide a downwardly opening channel receiving the horizontal runner 17 of the frame. In FIGURE 7 it will be seen that the inner plates lower portion is apertured at 45 to receive a bolt 46 which extents downwardly through an opening in the frames horizontal runner 17.

A luggage rack 47 is provided by the chair behind the upstanding rear tubes 18 of the frame for supporting luggage in the manner represented in FIGURE 1. The rack comprises a pair of tubes 48 each provided adjacent one end thereof with a horizontal opening 49 (FIGURE 7). This opening pivotally receives one of the bolts 42 which extends through the aligned apertures 44 of the upstanding plates 39 and 40. Upward pivotal movement of each tube is limited by the upstanding rear tube 18 of each side frame, as indicated in broken lines in FIGURE 2, while the extent of downward pivotal movement is limited by bolt 43 which extends through another pair of aligned apertures 44 in the upstanding plates 39 and 44 If desired, a resilient sleeve 51) (FIGURE 7) may extend about that portion of bolt 43 disposed between the upper portions of the upstanding plates to cushion the tubes of the rack as they approach the lower limits of their range of pivotal movement. proximately degrees between a rearwardly extending horizontal position and an upwardly projecting raised position.

This range, as represented in FIGURE 2, is apace gees Between the parallel tubes 48 of the luggage rack extends a sheet 51 of fabric or other foldable and substantially non-stretchable material. As shown in FIG- URE 7, the fabric sheet is folded about tubes 48 and may be removed therefrom by sliding the sheet off of the tubes free ends. To prevent unintentional sliding movement of the sheet and to reduce the possibilities that damage might be cause to articles against which the chair is brought into contact, the free ends of the luggage rack tubes are equipped with resilient caps 52 (FIGURE 5).

The chair is provided with a fabric back 53 which extends between the upstanding back tubes 18 of the side frames. When the chair is collapsed by urging the side frames together, the foldable back sheet 53 buckles, as indicated in FIGURE 4. A similar buckling of the fabric sheet 51 of the luggage rack occurs and, when the pivotally mounted tubes of the rack are in raised condition, the fabric sheet of that rack and the back sheet of the chair fold or nest together. Thus, the luggage rack does not interfere with the collapsing and expanding of the chair and does not appreciably increase the amount of space required for storage of the chair when that chair is collapsed.

It is believed apparent that the wheel chair of the present invention is particularly suited for use as an admittance chair. A patients luggage may be supported by the lowered luggage rack in the manner indicated in FIGURE 1. Forward tipping movement of suitcase 54 is prevented by the upstanding rear tubes 18 of the side frames While rearward tipping movement of the case is prevented by the attendant directly behind the chair. If desired, a suitable strap or tie band (not shown) may extend between the rear tubes 18 of the chair so that it may be stretched or tied about a piece of luggage to prevent it from shifting in position upon the rack as the chair is moved. However, for the reasons already indicated, such a strap is unnecessary because of the location of the rack and the normal position of an attendant when the chair is being moved.

The rack is rigidly mounted by the paired mounting members 21 despite the fact that each of those members has only a single bolt 46 extending through the tubular frame of the chair. Referring to FIGURE 5, it will be seen that weight imposed upon the rearwardly extending luggage rack might otherwise tend to pivot each mounting member rearwardly about its bolt connection 46 if it were not for the engagement between the rear edge 41 of the mounting member and the under surface of the side frames downwardly and rearwardly sloping tubular portion 20. The tight clamping of the inclined tubular portion between the upstanding plate portions 39 and 40, as well as the bolt connection 46, also contributes to the rigid interconnection of parts.

While in the foregoing specification we have disclosed an embodiment of the invention in considerable detail for purposes of illustration it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many of these details may be varied considerably without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A wheel chair comprising a tubular frame equipped with a pair of laterally spaced rear tubular members each having a downwardly and rearwardly inclined portion merging at its lower end with a forwardly directed horizontal portion thereof, a pair of rack-mounting members each abutting the sloping underside of one of said inclined portions and being secured to the horizontal portion therebelow, and a luggage rack comprising a pair of laterally-spaced tubes and a foldable sheet extending therebetween, said tubes each being pivotally connected adjacent one end thereof and above said inclined portion to one of said rack-mounting members and being swingable between a substantially vertical raised position and a substantially horizontal lowered position, and 7 2,914,111

A means provided by said rack-mounting members to limit the extent of downwardly pivotal movement of said tubes when the same are in lowered positions.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said chair is equipped with front and rear wheels, said rack-mounting members rotatably supporting the rear wheels of said chair.

3. The structure of claim 2 in which said rack when lowered projects rearwardly behind said rear Wheels and the frame of said chair.

4. A collapsible patients admittance chair comprising a pair of tubular side frames linked together for lateral movement between expanded and collapsed positions, said side frame each having a substantially vertical tubular back member, a foldable back rest sheet extending between the back members of said side frames, a pair of rack-mounting members provided by said side frames adjacent the lower ends of said back members, and a luggage rack comprising a pair of tubes having a foldable luggage rack sheet extending therebetween, said tubes each being pivotally connected adjacent one end thereof to one of said rack-mounting members and being swingable between a substantially vertical raised position and a substantially horizontal and rearwardly-projecting lowered position, said foldable luggage rack and back rest sheets being adapted to fold together in nested relation when said chair is collapsed with said luggage rack tubes in raised positions.

5. The structure of claim 4 in which means are provided by said rack-mounting members to limit the extent of downward pivotal movement of said tubes when the same are in lowered positions.

6. A patients admittance chair comprising a pair of laterally-spaced tubular side frames each having an upstanding rear section and a horizontal bottom section joined together by a downwardly and rearwardly inclined lower portion of said rear section, a pair of rackmounting members each secured to one of said side frames, each of said rack-mounting members including a pair of laterally-spaced plates clamping opposite sides of the inclined lower portion of one of said side frames and being secured to said bottom section therebelow, and a luggage rack comprising a pair of laterally-spaced tubes and a foldable sheet extending therebetween, said tubes each being pivotally connected adjacent one end thereof to a rack-mounting member and being swingable between a raised position and a rearwardly-projecting lowered position.

7. The structure of claim 6 in which said chair is provided with front and rear wheels, said tubes of said luggage rack projecting rearwardly behind said side frames and said wheels when said tubes are in lowered positions, said rack-mounting members rotatably mounting the rear wheels of said chair.

8. The structure of claim 6 in which means are provided by said rack-mounting members for limiting the extent of downward movement of said tubes when the same are in lowered positions, one of said plates of each rack-mounting member having a horizontal rear edge disposed beneath said inclined portion of said rear tubular section and in contact therewith, said one plate also having a horizontal portion in contact with the top of said horizontal bottom section, whereby, said rack mounting member is locked against movement with respect to said side frame in response to downward forces applied to said rack when the same is in lowered position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,661,791 Laufer Dec. 8, 1953 2,901,261 Olvey Aug. 25, 19 9. Mize Nov. 24, 1959

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