GB2340402A - Multi-feature walking aid accessory - Google Patents

Abstract

A Walking Aid Accessory (10) which replaces or becomes the lower tube of any suitable walking aid, the accessory (10) including an accessory tube (11), which slides within the upper tube of the walking aid, with at least one elastic element, preferably a spring (14), positioned externally around the outer circumference of at least part of the accessory tube (11), and two securing components (12,13), one for securing one end of the at least one elastic element such that it is in connection with the upper tube via the securing component 20, and one for attaching the other end of the at least one elastic element (14) to the accessory tube (11), thereby providing resilience and shock absorbing properties to the said walking aid.

Description

2340402 AMTI-FEATURE WALIUNG AID ACCT.SSORY Desedption This in-,,-entien

relate., to an accessory for walking aidssuch as crutches and walking sticks.

Crutches and walking sticks are mobility aids consisting of two tubes, which are displaceable one. inside. the other. A handle is connected to the upper tube and a fer-rule C.

is connected to the lower tube, where it strikes the ground. A mechanism for adjust die height of the walking aid is usually present.

Such walking aids are well Iniown. but sulfer from the problem that, upon striking the ground, a jarring sensation in sent through the hand and wrist which can continue up flirough the rest of the body.. This can lead to injury to joints and other structures or worsen existing. injuries or prevent them from recovering properly.

There have been walking aids that have one or more shock-absorbing elements Inserted in the handle, the tubes or attached to another part of the walking aid, but they all sulfer fi-,-,vtn some of the following problems:- Such shock-absorbing walking aids can be relatively expensive, both to manufacture and to buy, as the,%iiole walking aid may have to be manufactured fl-om the very beginning or they may be very dilfieLlt or complicated to manufacture.

Such shock-absorbing walking aids may not be able to be adjusted to compensate for die dilferent heights of people, which is especiaNy relevant to srnaller persons, egchildren and theelderly.

If the shock-ab-lorbing elements are inserted inside the shaft or handle, the internal bulk caused by said shock- absorb ing elements must accordingly be produced with size constraints.

If the shork-absorbing elements are inserted inside the stick- or crutcli it -v.;111 be extremely difficult to detect their wear? if any? and it will be particularly complicated or impossible to perf= any maintenance or replacement if necessary. It is also pat-ticularly difficult to compensate for any yielding of the shock-absorbing elements.

1.1 Ilie shock-absorbuffig element.,- of such walking aids. may not be transferable from stick or crutch to another of the same type and not transferable fl-om stick to crutch afid vice versa. Ibis could not only result in inconvenience and expense for the user but a vast variety of dilIerent structures will need to be manufactured, which will increase costs further.

Such shock-absor-bing walking aids may not have shock-absotting elements of diffirent tension.- available, so compensation cannot be made for a user's preference, weight, medical condition or other factor. Also, shockabsorbing elements of dige.rent tensions may not be exchangeable within the same unit, so a person will not be able to change the shock-absorbing tension according to difrerent situations.

The relative. movement behicen the relevant tubes of such walking aids may not be able to he limited to take into account diffierent situations, egif a new user is unfwniliar with the.oheek-ib,-zet.biiigiction and needs to be introduced gradually.

Such shock-absorbing walking aids may si ly not be e:We.ct" e enough to fulfil their imp tv func t i o w.

The aim of the present invention is to provide a walkipg aid accessory that replaces the lower tube of any suitable walking aid thereby solving the afbrementioned problems of conventional walking aids and the abovementioned problems of any shock-absorbing L walking aids that may presently be in existence, particularly eliminating the need to design, manufacture or purchase a completely new walking aid.

Within the scope of this aun, an object of the present mvention is to provide a walking aid accessory that replaces the lower tube of any suitable walking aid, thereby giving shock s -ab-,erbttig. properties to any suitable walking aid without the need to design, manufacture or purchase a completely new walking aid.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a walking aid accessory that gives sh - i c properties to the walking aid by cushion' the i s ing impact as the tip strikes. the pround.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a walking aid accessory that allows adjustment in length of the walking aid in order to compensate for diffiering heIgghts, offpeople, which is especially relevant to smaller persons, eg. children and the elderly.

Another ob'ect of the present invention is to provide a walkin l 1 1 g aid accessory -vli-ch has an un-complicated, simple design and struetwe and can therefore be manufactured with conventional equipment.

Another ob - ject of die present invention is to provide a walking aid accessory which can bc nim-iufa.cttweci relatively inexpensively and where the total colt of die, adapted walkin id i itive 1 1 1 11 x g ai i s c onip eti i vith respect to both conventional walk ng aids and iockab-,cTbiti,, walking aids.

Another. object of the tmesent Invention is to provide a walking aid accessory In which any wear of the shock-absorbing elements is clearly visible, coti.-ey sillipliA'tng their maintenance or replacement mid so that any yteldmg of the -,hock-abset.bili(l element or elements can be easily compensated.

Anotlier object of die present invention is to provide a walkiig aid accessory in which,hock-ab.-ort-,,iig eleinentse of difierent tensions are available and in which the shockabsorbing elements are easily transferable from stick or crutch to another of the saine,,pe and h- wijfer:ible from stick to crutch of the same type and vice verSa.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a walking aid accessory where the relative niovenient between the relevant tubes can be linilted if required to take into account dilTerent situati m-s.

Attedier object of die present inventiom is to provide a walking.3td accessory that prolongs the life of the walking aid fomule, which is an important economic factor as well is a safety feature.

Another object of the present Invention is to provide a walking aid accessory that is eflective in carrying out its fmetion.

Accordin 1 M i ssory -.v! A g to die. present invention, there is provided a walking aid accel replaceS or becomec- the lower tube of anysuitable walking aid, the jcees- -c-7 comprising an accessory tube, which slides within the upper tube of the walking, aid. ivith at least one elastic element positioned externally around the outer circuniference of at least pail of t,',.e accessory tube, and two securing components, one for attacilinc, one endef the at least one elastic element to die upper tube of the walking aid, arid one for attaching die other end of the at least one elastic. element to the accessory tube, thereby providing resilience. and shock absorbing properties to die said walking aid.

The elassfic element can be eciiztitiged bi a metallic spring oarthe. cylinehrical helical,,,pe or by a tubular element of any suitable sort or composition or by any other suitable Object- All the components are detachable fl-oni each other as IS the invention itself fl-om the walking aid if required. so re-assembly to another walking aid is eastly performed. Also, the elastic element of a certain tents-ton can easily be replaced with any of a diffierent tension, if required.

Uie shock-absorbing elements can easily be covered if required.

The riaterials and dii.iien-otens may be any according to requirements.

Ue present Invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and vartationss, all of which are within the scope of the inventive concept, the details may firthermore be replaced with other technically equivalent elements.

Further characteristics and advantage., of the present invention will become apparent fl-oni thefollowing detailed description of an embodiment, illustrated only by way of non-limitative example in the acconivairying drawing... wherein-

1 t> Figure 1 is an elevation view of a walking aid accessory according to the present invention.

Figure 2. is a paitially sectional view of a detail of the walking aid accessory of Figure 1 with the walking aid tube in place.

Figure 3 ts, a perspective exploded view of another detail of the accessory of Figure 1, Figure 4 is a partially sectional view of another detail of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an elevation view of an example ef the walking aid accessory in place in the upper section of a walking aid, in this example an elbow crutch.

Figure 6 1-1 a parlially sectional view of a partial view of the, acce,-,, z ory in place in a -valking aid with the elastic element completely relaxed.

Fig-ure 7 is a partfi ally sectional VieW 011fa partial VRIVY Of the in place in a iv.ilking aid with the elastic element fully compressed.

4 Fig,m-e 8 is in elevation v. iew of the accessory in place M an elbow crutch, Illustrating the direction of relative movement between the elbow criAch tube and accessory tube during use.

Figure 9 is an elevation view of another example of the accesson, in place in the upper section of awalking aid, in this case a walkingstick, illustrating the direction of movement between the walking stick tube and accessory tube during use.

A. shown in Figure 1, the accessory 10 comprises a tube 11 being &Rsociated, as will he apparent hereinafter, with two facing external bushes 12 and 13 between which a likewise cylinch-leal helical spring 14 is inter-posed. A removable fastener 15 securel. hush 13 in place at the desired height on tube 11 via any me of a scries of throughholes 16 on tube 11 and through- hole 31 of bush 13. A similar removable fastener 15 secures, as will become apparent hereinafter, tube 11 to the appropriate tube of die walking. aid 26 at the, desired height via one of the throughholes.2.7 on the walking aid and a slot 19, saldslot 18 also allowing the relative movement between tube 11 and the walking aid tube 26.

As shoi-,,ii in Figure 2. die walking aid tube 26 fils via a housing 20 securely in the '71 being suitable to take the 2 to rest on flange 21, said flange upper part of bush 1.

weight of the user via tube 26. Ihe fit between walking aid 26 and bush 12 is tight enough so that se.p,3r-ation of the. two does not occur during normal use, although they may be separated using normal hand strength if required. The upper end of spring 14 fit., via a housin 1 1 g 22 securely in the lower end of bush 12 to rest on flange 23. Said flan 1 suitable to take any cess've force generated upon it by spring 14 ge 23 being - 1 1 1 1 -7 1 b during not-mat use of the walking aid 25. The lower end of spring 14 fits securely in the upper part of bush 13 via housing 24 to rest on flange'28, said flange 28 being suitable to take any conipressive force generated upon it byspring 14 during nornial Use- Bush 13 is secured in place by a removable fastener 15 at the desired height on tube 11 via hole 31 of bash 13 and die appropriate hole 16 on tube 11.

As she-,,%m in Figure 3 fhe-tener 1-5 liar a pin 29 that fits througi hole 31 and hole 16 associated with springy clip 30 that fits- snugly around the lower end of bush 13.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5, similar fastener 15 connectss walking aid tube 26 to accel-soty tube 11 at the appropriate height via hole 27 on walking aid be. d. slot 19 - 1 1 -, 1 tu an on accessory tulye 1 1,wIth spring clip 30 fitting snugly around tube 26. There is a shde-fit betweenslot 18 and pin 2759 of fastener 1-5.

Figure 5 shows the accessory 10 fitted to die lower tube -16 of an elbow crutch 25. The ferrule 17 is usually fitted as standard to walking aids so it is included here mid hereinafter.

The action of the walking aid accessory 10 during ncornial use with elbow crutch 2 5 will now be described with the help of the drawings.

When no weight Us being put through elbow crutch'25 eg.,'Yhen it is lifted off the ground, spring 14 is in a relaxed state, as shown in Figure 6. When the elbow crutch 2-5 shikess the ground, relative movement occurs between accessory tube 11 and elbow crutch tube.16 as the accessory tube 11 is forced inside elbow crutch tube 26 by the force occurritig during the impact. This impact is cushioned by spring 14 as said spring 14 is compressed between the two flanges 23 and 28 of bushes 12 and 13 as in fi--gure 7. Figure 7 shows spring 14 at its most compressed- However, during normal use spring 14 will not usually be compressed to this extent but, should this occur, pin 29 is designed to bottom on the lower end of slot 18 at exactly the same time as s. ing 14 Pri bottoms. Hence there is very little wear of these components-1, even if spring 14 is fully compressed regularly- Air the elbow crutch.75 starts to be lifted off the ground, spring 14gradually relaxes as the compressive force is gradually removed. When elbow crutch 25 is completely - when this occurs, lifted off the I t.

ground, spring 14 is completely relaxed, as in figure 6 pin 29 does not quite reach the upper part of'slot 18, to avoid said pin 29 tapping against it Figm-e 8 shows accessory 10 fitted to an elbow ctiftch 2 5, with arrows 3. 1 indicating the relative movement behveen the elbow crutch tube 26 and the accessory tube 11 dining use.

Figure 9 shows the accessory 10 fitted to a second kind of walking aid, in this example to a walkingstick 33, with arrows 35 indicating the relative movement between the walking stick tube 34 and the accessory tube 11. The accessory 10 works with exactly the same action w with the elbow crutch 25 described above.

The design of the accessory 10 according to this invention results in a smooth, virtually nolse and friction-free action.

6 Fitting the accessory 10 to a walking i aid is very simple; it is just a matter of fitting it at the manufacturer's in place of the usual lower walking aid tube or, with alreadypurchased walkin g ids by removi the lower tube and replaci i with the accessory a] Ing 1 ng' 1 t 101errule 17 being tran,,4ered in the process.

hi this example, all the components of the accessory 10 are separate and can therefore be fitted in anysuitable manner. However, a suggested method of fitting will new be described with reference to elbow crutch 25.

t.

2 2 Firstly, elbow crutch tL mLe 216 is pushed into housing.10 of bush 1.1 to come to rest against flange 21- This should be a ti ilt Next, standard ferrul c 17 pushed onto g ght f die lower end of tube 11 which is also a tight fit The upper end of tube 11 Is then inserted into the lower end of bush 13 and, as this is a slide-fit, bush 13 is then allowed to slide dos%m to the lower end of tt(be 11 to come to rest against the upper part of fer-rule 17.

Next the upper. end of spring 14 is pushed into housing 22 of bush 12' to come to rest against flange '13. This is a tight fit Then the upper end of tube 11 into the tl 5 - 1 lower end of qn-ing 14. The tube 11 then continues up through spring 14 then through bush 12, with a slide-fitting, then up through tube 26 of the elbow ctutch 25- At the desired height, pin 29 of fastener 15 is inserted through the appropriate hole 'L 7 of the elbow crutch tube 26 and the upper part of slot 18 on accessory tube 11, clip 30 of fastener 1-5 fitting snugly over tube 26. Keeping hole 31 on bush 13 lined up with the holess 16 on accessory tube 11, bussh 13 is now moved up tube 11 towards spring 14 until It reaches saidspring 14 whereupon said spring 14 is pushed into hounnt! 24 of bush 13, to come to rest againstflange 28. As the position of the holes 16 has been accurately calculated, hole 31 will now correspond with one of the holes 16 on accessory tube 11. llen pin 29 of f&qtener 15 is now pushed through hole 31 and hole 16 with the springy c 1 ip 3 0 fitting snugly over the lower part of bush 13.

If die user wishes to limit the shock-absorbing action to take into account difFerent situations, then fastenet 15 securing walking aid tube 26 to accessory tube 11 via hole 27 and slot 18 can be removed and placed one. hole 27 down m the crutch tube 26. In this way the pin 29 travels a limited distance down slot 18 before it conies to rest on the bottom of slot 18- The elbow crutch 25 to now ready for use.

7 Depend.111g on the preference. other methods of assembly may be employed. For example, one may attach spring 14 to bushes 1.2 and 13 first, then push lower end of elbow crutch tube 26 into housing 20 of bush 12, then push ferrule 17 onto lower end of tube 11, insert tube 11 through spring 14, bushes 12 and 13 and up through tube 26 to die desired helpAit then secure the accessory 10 with fasteners 15.

To disassemble the acceessory 10, the steps described above are carried out in the reverse slequetirp.

Much the same methods of assembly and disassembly can be employed for any suitable walking aid, The inventer, a Cliartered Physiotherapist, has observed that the present invention has achieved die, intended aim and objjects.

In particular, it should be noted that the accessory provides shockabsofbing properties by simply replacing the lower tube of any suitable walking aid with the acce,,--jory.thet-eby eliminating the need to de. sigmianufactiwe or pm-chase a completely new walking aid.

It Aiculd also be noted that the walking aid remains fully adjustable.

It should also be noted that die provision of the. shock-absorbing mechanism on the outside of the walking aid fully eliminates the problem of bulk inside the body of die walking aid, allowing fleedom. from size emstraints in the manufacture of said shockabs-orbing mechanism.

It should also be noted that the arrangement of the shock-absorbing elements on the outside allows centlInuous observation of their condition mid firffiermore allows one. te perforin maintlenance and replacement thereof simply and quickly if required.

It should also be noted that it is particularly easy to compensate for any yielding of the shock-ab,-:zot-binc, ele ements #,,yet. tinie.

The uncomplicated and siniple construction of the accessory according to die present invention should also be note& it allows the accessory to be manufactured with conventional equipment and the overall costs of the adapted walking, aid to be competitive widi respect to both conventional walking aids and shock-absorbing walking aids- It should also be noted that the shock-abserbing elements are transferable, for example, from stick or eh to another of the same type. and can usually be transferred fl-om stick to crutch and vice versa- It should also be noted that an elastic element of one tension can quickly and easily be substituted for one of a different tension to compensate for difierent situations, for example, the progression of a medical condition where less pressure may be put upon the walking aid as the person recovers.

Itshould also be noted that the elastic element of the accessory according to the present invention can be of any suitable tension, to compensate for a person's preference, weight, medical condition or other factor.

It should also be noted that the relat,.,e. movefna2t between the walking aid tube and the accessory tube may be limited by simply removing the fastener securing the walking aid tube to the accessory tube via the hole on the walking aid and the slot on the accessory tube, and inserting it one hole down on the walking aid tube. In this way the pin on die faste. tier only travels a limited distance before it comes to rest on the bottom of the slot Different situations can therefore be taken into account eg. if a new user is unfamiliar with the shock-abserbing action of the adapted walking aid and needs to begradually introduced to It.

It should also be noted that an added feature of the. accessory according to the present invention is that the usable life. of the ferrule can be greatly lengthened by simply removing the two fasteners and rotating the. accessory tube 180 degrees at intervals. Not only is this an important economic factor but also a safety feature; a more even wear and a longer life of the fermle greatly increases the non-slip properties of the ferrule- It should also be noted that since the dimensions and materials of the accessory according to the present invention can be arky, the accessory can be produced to adapt any suitable walking aid.

9 -'LAM.IS 10 I- A Walking Aid Accessory which replaces or becomes die lower tube of any suitable walking aid, die accessory comprising an accessory tube, which slide-, within die upper tube of the walking. aid, with at lealst one elastic element positioned c-denally.around the outer circumference of at least pail of the accessory tube, and twe securing components, one for attaching one end of the at least one elastic element to the upper tube of the walking aid, and one for attaching the other end of the at least one elastic element to die arce's-ory tulle, thereby providing resilience anti shock absorbing prepertiess to the said walking aid.

A Walk- t-: Aid Accessory, accordin) claim 1 including means f -,tlflF! ing 1 1 g ti- 1 or afflus the leil,t7di of die adapted walking aid.

Claims (1)

1. 3. A Walking Aid Accessory according to either Claim 1 or Claitn 2 wherein

   the degree of rel itive movement between the upper tube of the walking aid and the accessory tubt? can be varied.

   4. A Walking Aid Accessory according to any of the preceding claims wherein the elastic elenient c a cylindrical component 5. A Walking Aid Accessory according to any of the preceding clainiss having a plurarib, of able elastic elements.

   6. A Walking Aid Accessory according to any of the preceding clatmos wherein the constituent pails are detachable from each other.

   7. A Walking Aid Accesseryaccording to any of the preceding claim., wherein the C. j at least one elastic component of clip, sIze is replaceable with one. of a difierent size.

   8. A Walking Aid Accessory according to any of the preceding claims wherein die cons-fituent parts are -,,.?jdiout disinantling..

   9. A Walking Aid Accessory irrording to any of die preceding clailms including a renieve.able. cover for the- at least one elastic element- 10. A Walking Aid Accessery according to any of the preceding claim-, -,, %,herein the ing cempotien element to the accessory tube t attaching the at least one elas i includes, a pin, a dc.t-ible-pinned spring clip, C-clip, or E-clip.

   11. m Walking Aid Accessory according to any of the preceding claims wherein die mean., foradjusting. the length of the adapted walking aid includes a series of holess through the acressory tube.

   11 12. A Walking Aid Accessory substantially as herein described and illustrated wzdi reference. to the accoulpanytAg drawings.