Medical Composite Technology

Everest & Jennings International, Ltd.

Other

A Scott Robertson

Richard T Geiger

Robert W Lishman

Neville Page

A foldable wheelchair has a folding mechanism connecting two side frame assemblies to each other. The side frame assemblies each support a castor frame piece, pivoting shafts of the folding mechanism, drive wheel axles and a seat back tube. The side frame assemblies are made of two halves that are secured together and may be fabricated from compression or injection molded composite plastics. The seat angle is adjusted by pivoting the side frame assemblies around a pivot point located in an upward and forward region of the side frame assembly.

Foldable wheelchair and side frame assembly for foldable wheelchair

Modular wheelchair

A wheelchair frame is defined by a pair of side frame assemblies that are rigidly connected to each other by a seat pan. Each side frame assembly includes a seat mounting member on which the seat pan is mounted, a bottom member connected to the seat mounting member, and a footrest member pivotally connected to the seat mounting member and rigidly connected to the bottom member. A drive wheel mounting assembly can include a generally U-shaped mounting block for being mounted on a bottom member of each side frame assembly, and a drive axle receiving arrangement mounted on each mounting block for receiving a drive wheel axle. The bottom member can be provided with a flat surface upon which the drive axle receiving arrangement is placed. A caster wheel mounting assembly mounted on each bottom member can include a caster wheel mount having two spaced apart forks for receiving a caster wheel, a stem connected to the caster wheel mount, a caster sleeve in which the stem is positioned, and a bearing disposed between the caster sleeve and the stem for allowing rotational movement of the caster sleeve relative to the stem and the caster wheel mount. To adjust the seat pan angle, the rear end of each bottom member can be curved upwardly and provided with a plurality of holes arranged along an arc having a center of curvature that corresponds to the pivot connection between the seat mounting member and the footrest member.

Wheelchair frame

A wheelchair includes a chassis having a pair of side frame assemblies that are rigidly connected to each other by a seat pan. Mounted on each side frame assembly is an interchangeable axle receiving platform for orienting drive wheels at a desired camber angle. One end of a seat member is pivotally attached to a foot member for adjustment of the seating angle. By moving an opposite end of the seat member along a curved portion of a bottom member of each side frame assembly, the seat angle is changed. A one piece caster assembly is disposed forward of the drivewheels on the chassis. Through the one-piece caster assembly, each caster can be simultaneously adjusted to a particular location along the frame.

Method of making a pair of wheelchair side frame assemblies

A wheelchair frame assembly is provided with a foot rest mounting assembly and a caster mounting assembly that are mounted on side frame assemblies. The foot rest mounting assembly includes two foot plate mounting bars connected to respective side frame assemblies for mounting a foot plate. The foot plate mounting bars are positioned such that they angle inwardly towards one another to provide support for the lower portions of the legs and to allow easier movement into tight spaces. A foot plate is mounted to the end of each foot plate mounting bar in a manner that compensates for the obliquely downwardly extending and inwardly tapered nature of the foot plate mounting bar. The caster mounting assembly includes a fork that is provided with a plurality of holes for mounting casters of progressively greater diameter and for providing greater trail for progressively greater diameter casters. The wheelchair frame is also constructed to permit adjustment of the seat pan angle without changing the caster alignment and without altering the position of the drive wheel axles. The wheelchair can be constructed by attaching one of several different rear frame portions to a common side frame assembly in order to vary the cost and the performance characteristics of the wheelchair.

Wheelchair frame assembly and components for use thereon

A chassis is provided having two longitudinal sides, one or more cross-bars between the sides, and two torsion forwardly and downwardly extending arms terminating in sleeves for holding snap-in casters. When attached to the other wheelchair components, the arms create a space therebetween and under the wheelchair seat for storage of optional items. The molded chassis may be tailored to performance specifications and is constructed from composite material, preferably by compression molding using sheet molding compound or by resin transfer molding. Shock and vibration attenuating characteristics are selectable and the chassis sides may be of one or multiple piece construction. Each longitudinal side includes two vertically extending posts for attaching a seat, the posts providing a height, seat pan angle and center of gravity adjustment mechanism for the seating system relative to the chassis. The drive wheels are attached to camber plugs which are secured within recesses in the sides. The camber plugs are interchangeable and include a variety of selected camber angles. In another aspect of the present invention, the cross-bars are of adjustable width thereby permitting the width of the chassis to be adjusted to accommodate users of different sizes, and to accommodate different sized seating systems. In an additional aspect of the invention, the chassis disassembles into two halves, the two halves connected by cross-bars of a preselected length. In one additional aspect, seat mounting rails are attached within an inner surface of the longitudinal sides. The chassis may attach a variety of seating systems, including one piece composite seats.

Molded-composite chassis for a wheelchair

Modular wheelchair frame

A foldable wheelchair having a folding mechanism connecting two side frame assemblies to each other. The side frame assembly supports a castor frame piece, pivoting shafts of the folding mechanism, drive wheel axles and a seat back tube. The side frame assemblies are made of two halves that are secured together and may be fabricated from compression or injection molded composite plastics. The seat angle is adjusted by pivoting the side frame assemblies around a pivot point located in an upward and forward region of the side frame assembly.

Foldable wheelchair and side frame assembly

Wheelchair and wheelchair frame

A multipurpose patient support surface is provided with support surface segments connected to one another in series. The segments are formed of a sandwich laminate including a top and a bottom load bearing skin layer separated by a core material. The segments are connected to one another at transverse edges by a hinge area and are locked in position relative to one another to form substantially planar support surface.

Patient support surface that includes foldable segments made of

A generally hollow or foam filled, light-weight wheelchair chassis is constructed from composite materials preferably by compression molding using sheet molding compound for volume production, or by resin transfer molding for the production of smaller numbers of units. Each chassis side may be formed in one or two side portions Two-portion side construction is preferred for compression, and the portions may be molded as a left segment and a right segment that are joined vertically, or as an upper segment and a lower segment that are joined horizontally. Joining may be by conventional pin and socket devices, lap joints, or tongue and groove joints. Manufacture by resin transfer molding is preferred when each chassis side is to be made in one-piece. Metallic elements may be placed into the molds prior to curing, or bonded to the chassis following curing. Reinforcing ribs may also be integrally formed with the sides, or separately formed and attached by suitable bonding or attachment techniques. The chassis sides may also be manufactured in one piece from composite materials using reinforced reaction injection molding, structured reaction injection molding, hand layup over foam techniques, and hand layup with internal pressure techniques. The manufactured composite chassis preferably has two longitudinal sides, one or more cross-bars between the sides, and two self-supporting torsion arms extending forwardly and downwardly from the chassis sides and terminating in sleeves for holding casters.

Method of construction for a composite wheelchair chassis

Seating unit for a wheelchair

A modular wheelchair that may be rapidly assembled and disassembled includes an adjustable chassis for releasably attaching a wheel module and a seating module having a detachable leg rest module. The one-piece chassis is constructed from composite materials and has hollow or foam filled longitudinal sides and cross-bars connecting the sides, and two cantilevered or trussed forwardly extending arms which connect swivel castors. The sides include mounts for adjustably attaching the seat module at a selectable center of gravity and height. The composite materials of the arms provide shock and vibration protection and further provide a space behind the arms and beneath the seating assembly for storing and attaching optional equipment. The wheel assembly includes drive wheels constructed from composite materials, smaller travel wheels for traversing narrow openings, anti-tip wheels and wheel locks. the wheels may be composite or tensioned disk wheels that may be locked by wheel locks having a spring device for automatically opening or closing the lock. The wheels are removably attached within lateral recesses in the chassis sides by interchangeable wheel axle alignment plugs which receive the wheel axle and plug into the recesses. The interchangeable plugs define a variety of angled axle chambers to provide for pre-selection of camber angles for the wheel. The seating assembly includes a frame having two longitudinal side members and at least one cross-member secured to the sides at the front and rear of the frame, side rails for adjustably mounting to the mounts on the chassis, and a seat with a forwardly pivoting back rest. A leg rest module including a foot rest is adjustably mounted to the seating module and includes a leg rest clamping mechanism for clamping the leg rest at a fixed angular orientation relative to the frame. The leg rest may be rotated substantially 90 degrees in front of the wheelchair and substantially 90 degrees to a retraction position beneath the seat. The leg rest includes independently adjustable right and left foot rest plates to enable the length of each leg to be independently accommodated, and for independently adjusting the user's ankle angle. The leg rest may be removed for double amputees.

Wheelchair

A modular wheelchair that is fully adjustable for a wide range of users in a wide range of uses includes a wheelchair chassis, a wheel assembly and a seat assembly. Drive wheels of the wheel assembly may be adjusted to have a different camber angle without changing the wheel base or the height of the wheelchair chassis. The modular wheelchair may also include a leg rest assembly that is adjustable to provide easy access to the wheelchair. The seat assembly and the leg rest assembly are each foldable so that the wheel chair may be easily stored.

Growing community of inventors

Pasadena, CA, United States of America

A Scott Robertson