EP1363578A1

EP1363578A1 - Arrangement to be mounted on a rollator and a rollator with such an arrangement

Info

Publication number: EP1363578A1
Application number: EP02710768A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Johan Andersen; Ralf Henry Harbo Sorensen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-02-07
Filing date: 2002-02-07
Publication date: 2003-11-26
Also published as: DK200100039U3; WO2002062285A8; WO2002062285A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an arrangemnt to be mounted on a rollator and a rollator with such an arrangemnt for use by walking impaired persons and, more particularly, for use by such persons when they have to traverse an obstacle on the rolling surface. The arrangement comprises one or more wheels arranged such that the wheel's axis is in front of the axis of the front wheels of the rollator, said one or more wheels is/are arranged on means which can be pivoted about an axis, said axis being connected to the rollator, said pivotable means are further connected via a lever or cable system to an activating device which can be activated by the user, whereby the wheel can be moved between an up position and a down position.

Description

ARRANGEMENT TO BE MOUNTED ON A ROLLATOR AND A ROLLATOR WITH SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT

The present invention relates to an arrangement to be mounted on a rollator and a rol- lator with such an arrangement for use by walking impaired persons and, more particularly, for use by such persons when they have to traverse an obstacle on the rolling surface.

Typically, these obstacles are thresholds and doorways, elevated manhole covers in the sidewalk, pavement slaps which are out of level, kerbstones and so forth. The walking impaired encounters these kinds of obstacles everywhere where the environment is not purpose built for walking impaired people or where special implements have not been made available for traversing such obstacles. These obstacles can be found at home, at the houses of friends, on every street, shopping areas, parking lots, everywhere normal people want or need to go.

When encountering for example a threshold with a normal rollator, the walking impaired person will have to push the rollator across the threshold. During this pushing the centre of the gravity will move from the centre of the rollator to the front in order to force the wheels across the threshold. Because of this forward movement of the centre of gravity the risk exists that the user together with the rollator will tumble over the threshold due to the elevated pressure on the front wheels.

Alternatively, once the pressure applied by the user to the front wheels is released, due to the fact that the front wheels have passed the threshold, this sudden forward movement and release of resistance will cause the rollator to move very fast forwards, which movement the walking impaired will not be able to follow and, consequently, will stumble.

In this application emphasis is on thresholds, but the invention is not limited to use against thresholds, but to all sorts of obstacles which can be encountered. The focus on thresholds is based on the fact that most normal houses have thresholds between rooms and it is a very costly affair to have these thresholds removed as well as the floor repaired where the threshold was. Alternatively, ramps can be fitted to traverse the threshold, but these ramps present other problems and are costly to have purpose made for each individual size of threshold.

Furthermore, stumbling to most normal people is an inconvenience which can be dealt with, but for elderly people which by far is the bigger user group of rollators a fall can have disastrous consequences since their bone structure often is very fragile. Falls can, therefore, cause broken pelvises, broken bones etc. which will cause extended rehabilitation as well as, in some instances, cause irreparable damages.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide means by which it will be possible for walking impaired persons using a rollator to safely and without hassle pass objects such as thresholds, differences in elevations, small steps, uneven pavement, slaps, and so forth, without the risk of stumbling or falling.

This problem is solved with an arrangement to be mounted on a rollator as stated above, which is characterised in that the arrangement comprises one or more wheels arranged such that the wheel's axis is in front of the axis of the front wheels of the rollator, said one or more wheels is/are arranged on means which can be pivoted about an axis, said axis being connected to the rollator, said pivotable means are further connected via a lever or cable system to an activating device which can be activated by the user, whereby the wheel can be moved between an up position and a down posi- tion.

By arranging an extra wheel in front of the foremost wheels of the rollator and by providing means for activating this wheel between an up and a down position it is possible to lessen the pressure arising when the user encounters an obstacle. This is done by activating the activating device such that the extra wheel moves from its up position to a down position once the front wheels of the rollator has encountered an obstacle. The extra wheel will in its down position be placed on the obstacle to be traversed, whereby when the user applies further pressure to the rollator the extra wheel will be activated such that it will be possible to traverse the obstacle in a controlled manner without the problems mentioned above.

As many walking impaired users are depending on support from the rollator with both their hands, their hands need to be firmly around the grips of the rollator and, optionally, in touch with the brake systems. In order to control the forward movement the invention is advantageously provided with activating means which can be activated by the legs of the user. By having this kind of arrangement it is not necessary for the user to let go of the rollator as such, but the user is assured the usual and normal stability and help from the rollator, even when passing an obstacle such as a threshold.

Consequently, in a further advantageous embodiment the activating device is arranged below the handles of the rollator for activation by the legs of the user.

Tn a still further advantageous embodiment of the invention the pivotable means are influenced by a spring urging the wheels towards the up position. This spring is provided in order to assure that when the rollator is for normal use, i.e. when there are no obstacles in the path of the user, the arrangement including the wheel is lifted off the surface and does not interfere with the normal use. Once the user forces the activating device forwards and thereby causes the wheel to get into contact with an obstacle, the user will have to overcome the spring force in order to put the wheel down. This is not an extra burden on the user, even though many users are fairly weak, in that a slight pushing of the rollator as such is needed in order to traverse the obstacle anyway and this pushing action can, conveniently, be derived from the pushing of the activating device. Furthermore, the spring should only apply a force which assures that the wheel of the arrangement will be lifted from the surface.

In another embodiment the activating device can be equipped with a sort of brake so that when the activating device is in its position whereby the wheel has contacted the obstacle a braking arrangement will maintain the activating device in this position and thereby also overcome the force of the spring. In some applications of the invention where the terrain where the rollator is to be used does not have uniform obstacles as for example thresholds or small steps, but instead has branches or rocks as can be found in wooded areas, the obstacle engaging wheel can instead be replaced by a track laying device with an endless belt. In this embodiment of the invention two wheels are arranged with an endless belt surrounding the two wheels such that the two wheels are connected to the pivotable means whereby by manipulation of the activating device the track laying structure can be brought into engagement with the obstacle on the path.

The arrangement according to the invention can be fitted to already existing rollators in that suitable fixing means, for example clamps and bolts, can be attached to the ends of the connecting members, whereby the pivotable means can be releaseably fastened to the rollator. Furthermore, an extendible member can be fitted between the connection to the rollator and the pivotable means, whereby it is possible to adjust the obstacle engaging means to the obstacles which are likely to be encountered during the use of the rollator. Furthermore, a spring member or other resilient means can be fitted between the obstacle engaging means, i.e. the wheel or the track laying device and the rollator, such that small unevennesses in the obstacles to be traversed can be countered by the spring means. As an example of spring means for this purpose a gas telescopic spring member can be installed.

A rollator with already installed arrangement according to the invention is also foreseen within the scope of this invention in that such an arrangement can be provided as a standard feature on all rollators.

Although the arrangement according to the invention so far has been described with reference to a rollator, it is within the scope of the invention that the same arrangement, i.e. the activating means, the pivotable means, the axis as well as the wheel or wheels, can be mounted on other devices which help the working impaired to get around. Among these other implements are especially walking arrangements which do not have wheels, but which are lifted for each step that the walking impaired makes. Due to the fragility and weakness of many elderly users of these devices, it is not possible for them to lift the support structure very high of the ground, whereby it becomes difficult for them to traverse thresholds, kerbstones and the like. For these purposes an arrangement according to the invention can be mounted on these kinds of devices. In general, the arrangement according to the invention can be mounted on any walking aid for walking impaired persons.

Description of the drawing

Fig. 1 shows a common rollator; fig. 2 shows a detailed view of the arrangement according to the invention; fig. 3 shows the arrangement of fig. 2 in a frontal view; fig. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the arrangement.

In fig. 1 is shown a typical rollator without an arrangement according to the invention.

The rollator consists of a frame 12. On the top end section of the frame is arranged two handle bars 10 as well as optionally one or two hand brakes 20. The rear wheels 9 are usually fixed to the frame in such a manner that they will not be able to pivot about an substantially vertical axis. The front wheels 9 are arranged such that they can pivot about a vertical axis whereby the user of the rollator can make turns and manoeuvre the rollator in the direction he or she wants to move. Some rollators are equipped with a seat 19 arranged such that the user if getting tired he or she can rest by sitting on the rollator itself. In other rollators the rear wheels are arranged to be pivotable about an axis where the front wheels are fixed. Within the scope of this invention it has no in- fluence on the invention as such whether the front wheels or the rear wheels are made to be the steering wheels of the rollator.

The invention is schematically shown in fig. 2. In this example the wheels 9 are arranged on the frame 1 such that the rear wheels are fixed, i.e. they cannot swivel about a vertical axis, but can only turn about a horizontal axis. The front wheels are arranged with a swivel arrangement such that they can be pivoted around a vertical axis, whereby the user can manoeuvre the rollator 1 in any desired direction. When the user encounters an obstacle 100, for example a threshold, unevenness in the pavement, small step or the like, the front wheel 9 will be braked by this obstacle. By pressing a knee or leg against the activating device 7 the lever 6 will turn about the axis 13. This movement is transferred by the lever 5 to the pivotable means 3 which will pivot about an axis 4. By this movement of the pivotable means 3 around the axis 4 the wheel 2 will be brought into contact with the obstacle 100 to be traversed. The pressure applied by the user to the rollator and especially to the front wheels in the situation where the front wheel is blocked by an obstacle 100 is thereby transferred to the wheel 2, whereby the passage of the obstacle 100 becomes very easy.

In fig. 3 the invention is shown as seen from the front of the rollator. Wheels 9 are arranged on swivel arrangements 14 mounted in the front end of the rollator. The arrangement according to the invention is in this embodiment arranged as an integral unit of a rollator, but the invention is also suitable for being mounted afterwards and separately on existing rollators in that the cross bar 15 between the two rollator legs 16 can easily and securely be fastened afterwards to any known rollator. The wheel 2 is attached to the pivotable means 3 which can pivot about an axis 4. The axis 4 is fastened to the pivotable means 3. In this example the pivotable means 3 are shaped as a boomerang where the axis 4 extends perpendicular to the plane of said boomerang. This arrangement is further attached by the member 17 to the cross bar 15. In some embodiments the member 17 can be extendible, for example arranged as a telescope unit, whereby the distance between the wheel 2 and the surface can be adjusted such that activation by the activating device 7 will cause the wheel to get into contact and thereby ease the passage of obstacles. A spring member 8 is arranged such that it will urge the pivotable means 3 and thereby the wheel into its up position.

In fig. 4 is illustrated an alternative embodiment of the invention where the obstacle engaging wheels 2 are in the shape of an endless belt structure comparing to a track laying device. The lever and/or cable means as well as the activating device is not shown. The wheels 2,2' are arranged on a pivotable member 3 which can pivot about an axis 4. A belt is arranged around the two wheels 2,2' in such a way as to make up a track laying unit. The belt can advantageously be made from rubber, glass fibre rein- forced rubber or any similar material suitable for this purpose. A force transferring member 18 is arranged between the two wheels for supporting the surface underneath the belt when the track laying unit has to traverse an obstacle. This embodiment is especially versatile and can with great advantage be used where the obstacles do not have uniform cross-sections as thresholds, but are of more variable shapes such as rocks, logs and the like encountered outside the home.

Although the activating device 7 and the levers 6,5 are here shown as rigid members it is within the scope of the invention to replace this arrangement with a spring influ- enced cable system, whereby when the activating member is activated by the leg or knee of the user this will cause the cable to be activated in such a manner that the pivotable member 3 is pivoted, whereby the wheel 2 is brought into contact with the obstacle 100 to be traversed.

Also the activation of the wheel 2 can be performed by arranging an electrical motor around the axis 4 and appropriate electrical connection means (not shown) to an activation device in the shape of an electrical switch on the handles (10).

As can be seen from the drawings it is important that the axis about which the wheel turns is slightly in front of the horizontal turning axis of the front wheels on the rollator in order for the wheels 2 to be able to encounter the obstacles 100 before the wheels 9, whereby the arrangement according to the invention can help traverse obstacles encountered by the users of the rollator.

Claims

1. Arrangement to be mounted on a rollator (l)characterised in that the arrangement comprises one or more wheels (2) arranged such that the wheel's axis is in front of the axis of the front wheels of the rollator, said one or more wheels is/are arranged on means (3) which can be pivoted about an axis (4), said axis being connected to the rollator (1), said pivotable means (3) are further connected via a lever or cable system (5,6) to an activating device (7) which can be activated by the user, whereby the wheel (2) can be moved between an up position and a down position.

2. Arrangement according to claim 1 characterised in that the activating device (7) is arranged below the handles (10) of the rollator (1) for activation by the legs of the user.

3. Arrangement according to claims lor2characterised in that the pivotable means (3) are influenced by a spring (8) urging the wheel (2) towards the up position.

4. Arrangement according to claim 1 characterised in that two wheels (2,2') are arranged with an endless belt (11) surrounding the two wheels (2,2') and that these wheels are connected to the pivotable means (3).

5. Arrangement according to any of the proceeding claims characterised in that the axis (4) and the activating device (7) are releaseably connected to the rollator

6. Rollator comprising an arrangement having one or more wheels (2) arranged on pivotable means (3) which can be pivoted about an axis (4) connected to the rollator (1), said means (3) are further connected via a lever or cable system (5,6) to an activating device (7) arranged on the rollator (1) such that it can be activated by a user's leg, whereby the wheel (2,2') can be moved between an up position and a down position.