FOOTPLATE STRUCTURE OF WHEELCHAIR
A footplate structure of a wheelchair is provided. The wheelchair includes a support frame unit, a rear wheel assembly mounted on the support frame unit, a front wheel assembly mounted to the support frame unit, a seat unit arranged at a central portion of the support frame unit, a footplate unit arranged at a front end of the support frame unit, and a footplate control unit operable to control the footplate unit. With the footplate control unit set beside the footplate unit, the footplate control unit may control a footplate of the footplate unit to be in an upright position or a horizontal position so as to improve operation performance of the wheelchair.
The present invention relates to a footplate structure of a wheelchair, and more particularly to a footplate structure of the wheelchair that facilitates controllability of a footplate unit of the wheelchair.
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Since the wheelchair 1 is often used in medical facility, contamination commonly occurs on the footplates 16. The user or an attendant, when attempting to use a hand to pull and rotate the footplates 16, is subject to potential risk of contamination. Further, if no attendant is present to assist the user to pull and rotate the footplates 16, the user, who is a disabled person, may be hard to rotate the footplates 16.
Thus, it is a challenge of the manufacturers of wheelchair to provide a footplate structure of a wheelchair, which makes rotation of footplates easy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe primary objective of the present invention is to provide a footplate structure of a wheelchair, which overcomes the drawbacks of poor controllability of a footplate of a prior art wheelchair.
Thus, a primary technical solution of the present invention presented in claim 1 is to provide a footplate structure of a wheelchair, wherein the wheelchair comprises a support frame unit, a rear wheel assembly mounted to the support frame unit, a front wheel assembly mounted to the support frame unit, a seat unit arranged at a central portion of the support frame unit, a footplate unit mounted to a front end of the support frame unit, and a footplate control unit that is operable to control the footplate unit.
The efficacy that the present invention may achieved with the technical solution presented in claim 1 is that with a footplate control unit set beside a footplate unit, a footplate control unit is operable to control a footplate of the footplate unit to be set at an upright position or a horizontal position so as to improve the operation performance of the wheelchair.
The foregoing objectives and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
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The primary efficacy of the present invention is that a footplate control unit 8 is provided beside the footplate unit 7 so that the footplate control unit 8 may control the footplate 72 of the footplate unit 7 to be set at an upright position or a horizontal position thereby improving operation performance of the wheelchair 2.
The second efficacy of the present invention is that the support frame unit 3 comprises side frame sections 31 that are arranged to be one at the left side, while the other at the right side, wherein the side frame sections 31 each comprise a front vertical tube 311 mounted to a front end thereof; the side frame sections 31 each support a rear wheel assembly 4 in a rotatable manner at a rear side thereof; the front vertical tube 311 supports, in a rotatable manner, the front wheel assembly 5 thereon; and the footplate unit 7 is coupled to the front vertical tubes 311, whereby assembly of the footplate unit 7 is made easy.
The third efficacy of the present invention is that the footplate unit 7 comprises connection frame sections 71 and a footplate 72 rotatably mounted to each of the connection frame sections 71. The footplates 72 are arranged in pair, with one being at the left side and the other at the right side, and rotatably mounted to a lower end of the connection frame section 71. The footplates 72 each comprise a foot support section 721, a pivot joint section 722 arranged at one side of the foot support section 721, and a rotatable coupling section 723 arranged at one end of the footplate 72. The footplate 72 is rotatably supported by a pivot pin 724 on a pivot hole 714 formed in a lower end of the connection frame section 71. The connection frame section 71 comprises, projecting toward outer side of the wheelchair 2, a first coupling section 712 and a second coupling section 713 formed thereon, wherein the first coupling section 712 and the second coupling section 713 are provided for securely mounting the footplate control unit 8 so as to facilitate the assembly of the footplate control unit 8.
The fourth efficacy of the present invention is that the first coupling section 712 is a U-shaped coupling seat and the second coupling section 713 is a cylindrical coupling seat for facilitating the assembly of the footplate control unit 8.
The fifth efficacy of the present invention is that the footplate control unit 8 comprises a control handle 81, a first bar 82 that receives the control handle 81 to extend therein, a first resisting member 83 that receives the first bar 82 to extend therethrough, a second resisting member 84 that receives the first bar 82 to extend therein, a second bar 85 that is received and coupled in the first bar 82, and a rotatable coupling member 86 mounted to an end of the second bar 85, and as such, the assembly and controllability of the footplate control unit 8 are enhanced.
The sixth efficacy of the present invention is that the first resisting member 83 is made of a rubber material or a plastic material and the first resisting member 83 possesses high frictional resistance; and the second resisting member 84 is a hollow cylindrical member made of a rubber material or a plastic material and the second resisting member 84 possesses high frictional resistance, so as to enhance the assembly and controllability of the footplate control unit 8.
The seventh efficacy of the present invention is that the first bar 82 is a hollow tubular bar so that the first bar 82 may receive the second bar 85 to extend therein and the first bar 82 is provided, on a side thereof, with a tension regulation screw 821, so that the tension regulation screw 821 may selectively fix the second bar 85 at a position inside the first bar 82 to thereby improve the controllability of the footplate control unit 8.
The eighth efficacy of the present invention is that the first bar 82 is provided, in a side thereof, with a plurality of positioning holes 822, and the first resisting member 83 is provided with a mounting hole 833, wherein the mounting hole 833 receives a positioning bead 831 and a spring 832 mounted therein such that the spring 832 biases the positioning bead 831 to have the positioning bead 831 selectively fit into the positioning holes 822 of the first bar 82, whereby an effect of positioning and fixing the first bar 82 in the first resisting member 83 may be achieved, while an effect of positioning and fixing of the footplate control unit 8 may be achieved with the first bar 82 set in the first resisting member 83 so as to provide an effect of positioning the footplate 72 of the footplate unit 7.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the claims of the present invention.
Claims
1. A footplate structure of a wheelchair, wherein the wheelchair comprises a support frame unit, rear wheel assemblies mounted to the support frame unit, front wheel assemblies mounted to the support frame unit, a seat unit mounted at a central portion of the support frame unit, a footplate unit arranged at a front end of the support frame unit, and a footplate control unit operable to control the footplate unit;
- wherein the footplate control unit comprises a control handle, a first bar that receive the control handle to extend therein and couple thereto, a first resisting member that receives the first bar to extend therethrough, a second resisting member that receives the first bar to extend therein, a second bar that is received and coupled in the first bar, and a rotatable coupling member mounted to an end of the second bar.
2. The footplate structure of the wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein the support frame unit comprises a pair of side frame sections respectively arranged at a left side and a right side, the side frame sections each having a front end that comprises a front vertical tube mounted thereto, the side frame sections having rear sides to which the rear wheel assemblies are respectively and rotatably mounted, the front vertical tubes respectively receiving the front wheel assemblies to be rotatably mounted thereto, the footplate unit being coupled to the front vertical tubes.
3. The footplate structure of the wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein the footplate unit comprises a connection frame section and footplates rotatably mounted to the connection frame section, the footplates being arranged in pair, with one at a left side and the other at a right side of the wheelchair, and rotatably mounted to a lower end of the connection frame section, the footplates each comprising a foot support section, a pivot joint section arranged at one side of the foot support section, and a rotatable coupling section arranged at one end of the footplate, the footplate being rotatably supported by a pivot pin on a pivot hole formed in a lower end of the connection frame section, the connection frame section comprising a first coupling section and a second coupling section mounted thereto and projecting therefrom toward an outer side of the wheelchair, the first coupling section and the second coupling section being provided for securely mounting the footplate control unit.
4. The footplate structure of the wheelchair according to claim 3, wherein the first coupling section comprises a U-shaped coupling seat and the second coupling section comprises a cylindrical coupling seat.
5. (canceled)
6. The footplate structure of the wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein the first resisting member is formed of a rubber material or a plastic material and the first resisting member comprises exhibits high frictional resistance; and the second resisting member comprises a hollow cylinder made of a rubber material or a plastic material and the second resisting member comprises exhibits high frictional resistance.
7. The footplate structure of the wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein the first bar comprises a hollow tubular bar and the first bar receives the second bar to extend therein and the first bar is provided, on a side thereof, with a tension regulation screw, so that the tension regulation screw selectively fixes the second bar at a position inside the first bar.
8. The footplate structure of the wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein the first bar comprises a plurality of positioning holes formed in a side thereof and the first resisting member comprises a mounting hole formed therein, wherein the mounting hole receives a positioning bead and a spring mounted therein such that the spring biases the positioning bead to have the positioning bead selectively fit into the positioning holes of the first bar.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 4, 2017
Publication Date: Jul 5, 2018
Inventor: YI-TSO CHEN (Kaohsiung)
Application Number: 15/397,750