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Described and claimed herein is a manually operable standing wheelchair that is capable of shifting an occupant from a sitting position to a standing position, and of allowing the occupant to move himself or herself in the sitting position, the standing position, or in any position in between. The manually operable standing wheelchair has a lifting mechanism, with a cable, pulley, and ratchet, which the occupant may manually operate to shift from the sitting position to the standing position. The ratchet is manually operable, and the amount of force required for manually operating the ratchet is adjustable. There is also a lever drive system, comprising adjustable lever drive arms with friction pads adapted for allowing the occupant to move in any position. The present invention optionally includes a set of spring loaded anti-tip wheels that deploy when the manual wheelchair begins to shift from the sitting position to the standing position.
A wheel mount may generally be comprised of an axle plate and a camber tube clamp that may be height adjustable with respect to the axle plate. The camber tube clamp can be selectively mountable upright or inverted so as to increase an overall range of height adjustability. The camber tube clamp can be mountable in front of or behind the axle plate so as to increase an overall range of center-of-gravity adjustability. The camber tube clamp and the axle plate may have an interlocking feature that may allow the camber tube clamp to slide vertically along the axle plate to facilitate height adjustment. A seat collar can be positioned at various locations along a wheelchair frame for center-of-gravity adjustment. The axle plate can be detached from and attached to the seat tube collar to allow the axle plate and camber tube clamp to be reverse mounted in order to increase the range of center of gravity adjustment. A wheelchair suspension system according to the invention may be comprised of a swing arm and at least one elastomer. The swing arm may be adapted to support a rear wheelchair wheel and pivot about an axis substantially fixed to a wheelchair frame. The swing arm can be suspended between two of the elastomers, or be operatively connected to one elastomer so that displacement of the swing arm in either direction about the pivot causes the elastomer to compress.
An apparatus mounted in the luggage compartment of a car and holding a collapsed wheelchair parallel to the rear door of the car. The apparatus comprises a base unit; a horizontal motion mechanism (HMM), and a vertical motion mechanism (VMM). The HMM includes a strong frame mounted by one end thereof to the base unit for horizontal rotation, and by the other end thereof to the VMM, a system of levers and one drive. The HMM performs about half-circle horizontal rotation of the strong frame out of the luggage compartment and, simultaneously, about quarter-circle horizontal rotation of the VMM in the opposite direction, whereby the VMM with the wheelchair is positioned outside of the car. By means of a lever mechanism and a second drive, the VMM transports the wheelchair to the front door of the car.
An extension/retraction cylinder stops or starts tilting the platform of the stair-climbing wheelchair carrier based on a detection signal from an inclination sensor provided in the crawler drive unit. When the crawler drive unit is detected to be not tilted, the tilting motion of the platform is stopped at an intermediate angle (e.g. 20.degree.) of a maximum preset angle (e.g. 40.degree.). When the crawler drive unit is detected to be tilted, the platform is tilted up to the maximum preset angle, and as soon as the crawler drive unit is detected not to be tilted after tilting, the platform is driven so as to decrease its inclination angle relative to the crawler drive unit. Thus, a comfortable and usable stair-climbing wheelchair carrier can be provided. |
