Wheelchair attachments

US8167317B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignees

• Montefiore Medical Center · US
• The University of Hartford · US

Inventors

• Avital Fast · Glen Cove, US
• Devdas Shetty · Town of West Hartford, US
• Moshe Raz · Pardesiya, IL
• Giora Rothman · Hod HaSharon, IL

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 21, 2010
• Grant date: May 1, 2012
• Expiry date: Jun 21, 2030

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10T74/11
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Attachments for a manual wheelchair are provided for navigating a wheelchair over obstacles and uneven terrain, such as a typical curb on a street. The attachments provide for regulating the movement of the wheelchair as the wheelchair descends the curb and to prevent the wheelchair from flipping over during such movement. The attachments include a front caster wheel slider assembly on each side of the wheelchair, a follower wheel assembly and a track belt damping bar. The front caster wheel slider assembly includes a piston that will quickly push the front caster wheels down after they roll over the top edge of the curb. The follower wheel assembly acts as a sensor that will release the piston in the assembly after the front caster wheels roll over the top edge of the curb. As the back wheels of the wheelchair roll over and down the curb, the track belt damping bar slows the descent of the wheelchair.