Folding Walker with Collapsible Leg Assemblies for Compact Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing infant walkers are rigid structures that cannot be easily disassembled or folded for compact storage and transport, limiting their use at remote locations such as daycare centers or parks.
Innovation Solution
A folding walker design with adjustable height and collapsible leg assemblies, allowing the walker to be configured into a compact form for easy transport, featuring various embodiments with four and two X-shaped leg assemblies, and a third embodiment with four vertical legs and a suspended seat, enabling horizontal or vertical collapse for storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the walker uses a rigid structure with fixed legs, then stability and structural strength are improved, but portability and ease of transport deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The walker's leg structure is divided into multiple telescopic segments that can extend and collapse independently. Each leg consists of nested tubular members that can be adjusted to different lengths, allowing the walker to maintain structural strength when extended while collapsing to a compact size for transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The walker employs dynamic telescopic leg assemblies with locking mechanisms that allow the legs to be extended or retracted as needed. The legs can be locked in various positions to provide stability during use or collapsed to minimize transport volume, transforming the structure from static to dynamically adaptable.
2Ease of manufacture
If the walker uses a fixed height design, then manufacturing simplicity is improved, but adaptability to different child heights deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The walker incorporates telescopic leg assemblies with adjustable locking mechanisms that enable the height to be changed according to different children's needs. The legs can be extended or retracted and locked in various positions, providing height adaptability while using standard manufacturing processes for the telescopic components.
Data Source
AI summary
A child's folding walker with caster wheels that is adjustable in height to permit a child to sit and touch the ground and move the walker. The walker has four vertical legs and two collapsible side frames that enabling the walker to collapse into a vertical configuration. Each collapsing side frame includes a folding upper member and a folding lower member. The proximal ends of the folding members are pivotally attached to a vertical leg. Each upper frame member is made of two elongated sections joined by a locking collar that holds distal ends of the elongated sections together in axial alignment. The locking collar is pivotally attached at its opposite ends to the two elongated sections. When the locking collar is forced upward, the two elongated sections are misaligned thereby enabling the legs to move inward. On the front and rear side frames on the walker is a supplemental locking assembly. The suspension seat is provided for supporting a child.