Self-Leveling Walker With Telescopic Struts and Cable Pulleys
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional walkers are inadequate for providing reliable support on stairs, curbs, and inclines, leading to a risk of balance loss and potential injury.
Innovation Solution
A walker design featuring telescopically movable struts and a pulley-cable system that allows for adjustable leg lengths, with clutches for user control, enabling safe traversal of uneven terrain by maintaining balance and stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional walkers with fixed leg lengths are used, then the structure is simple and stable on level ground, but they cannot provide reliable support on stairs, curbs, and inclines
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the leg lengths adjustable through telescopic struts that can extend and retract. The struts are connected via pulleys and cables, allowing the leg length to be dynamically changed to adapt to different terrains such as stairs, curbs, and inclines, while maintaining structural integrity through the cable-pulley mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The walker legs are segmented into telescopic struts that can be divided into multiple sections. This segmentation allows each leg to be adjusted independently in length, enabling the walker to adapt to uneven surfaces while keeping the overall structure manageable through modular components.
2Adaptability or versatility
If adjustable leg lengths are implemented, then versatility on uneven terrain is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cable-pulley system is designed to be self-adjusting through user input. When the user applies force to extend or retract the struts, the pulleys and cables automatically coordinate the movement, eliminating the need for complex motors or electronic controls. The system serves itself by converting user effort into precise strut adjustment.
Solution Approach 2:
The pulleys and cables act as intermediaries between the user's manual input and the strut adjustment. This intermediary mechanism translates simple user actions into coordinated leg length changes, reducing the complexity that would otherwise be required for direct mechanical adjustment.
3Adaptability or versatility
If telescopic struts with cable-pulley systems are used, then infinite height adjustment is achieved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves infinite height adjustment by changing the parameter of strut length continuously through the telescopic mechanism. The cable-pulley system allows the struts to be extended or retracted to any position within their range, providing continuous parameter adjustment rather than discrete steps, which enhances adaptability while using standard manufacturing techniques.
4Reliability
If manual clutch control is added for cable engagement, then positional stability is improved, but ease of operation decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The clutch mechanism provides tactile feedback to the user when engaging or disengaging the cable. This feedback allows the user to sense when the strut is locked in position, improving positional stability while maintaining ease of operation through intuitive manual control. The clutch engages and disengages smoothly, providing clear sensory cues without requiring complex procedures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The walker provides enhanced safety and versatility by allowing infinite height adjustment and proportional strut movement, ensuring balance on stairs, curbs, and inclines without the need for motors or complex systems.
Implementation Method 1
A front pulley is rotatably mounted within the front leg proximate to an end thereof, and a rear pulley is rotatably mounted within the rear leg proximate to an end thereof. An action cable is positioned within the tube and has a first end attached to the front strut and a second end attached to the rear strut. The action cable engages the front and rear pulleys in a serpentine fashion
Implementation Method 2
a front bearing acting between the front strut and the front leg and a rear bearing acting between the rear strut and the rear leg. The bearings facilitate motion of the struts relatively to the legs. In a specific example embodiment the bearings comprise linear bearings.
Data Source
AI summary
A walker for maintaining balance and stability has extendable and retractable struts positioned within tubular legs for leveling the walker when climbing stairs, a curb or an incline. The struts on each side of the walker are connected to one another via cables which coordinate the motion of the struts so that when the front struts retract within their respective tubular legs the rear struts extend proportionally and vice versa. The cables may be arranged using pulleys mounted within the tubular legs or Bowden cables may be used within each of the tubular legs. User actuated clutches engage the cables to arrest the motion of the struts and temporarily fix them in a desired configuration.