Abstract: An incline climbing brake for wheelchairs in which each of the large wheels on a wheelchair is provided with a selective ratchet assembly which enables the wheels to rotate in only one direction thereby enabling a wheelchair occupant to safely maneuver a wheelchair in order to roll it up an incline in either a forward or rearward direction. The ratchet assembly includes a ratchet gear non-rotatably secured to the wheelchair at the center of rotation of the wheel by a bracket attached to a frame member of the wheelchair and connected to the axle bolt in a manner to prevent the axle bolt from rotating in relation to the wheelchair frame member. Manually operated direction controlling pawls are engageable with the stationary ratchet wheel. Expandable arms mount the ratchet assembly from the rim of the large wheel of a wheelchair with the ratchet assembly enabling rotation of the wheel in one direction only with the pawls enabling reversal of the one-way direction of rotation of the large wheelchair wheel.

Abstract: A pivotal knee joint associated with an orthopedic leg brace is provided with a ratchet wheel operable to permit adjustable back and forth movement of a knee. Both upper and lower leg brace sections of the leg brace are pivotally attached to the rotatable axis of the ratchet wheel, and a pair of rotatable pawls are provided which are selectively manually operable by a user to effectively control the direction of rotation of the ratchet wheel, as well as to lock the ratchet wheel and the associated leg brace against further rotation or relative pivotal movement. Depending on the positioning of the pawls, various leg muscles may then be exercised and stretched through the relative positioning of the upper and lower leg brace sections, and the knee joint having the double-locking ratchet.