Posture-Correcting Walker with Forearm Guiding Supports
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional walkers often lead to improper walking posture due to incorrect hand and forearm positioning, causing undue stress on the hands and back pain, as users tend to advance the walker too far ahead, and existing solutions either restrict arm movement or fail to ensure proper hand placement.
Innovation Solution
A posture-correcting walker with front and rear legs, horizontal supports, handgrips, and forearm guiding supports that maintain the user's elbows in a guided posture angle, allowing independent use without restraints, while stabilizing segments counteract rearward forces for improved stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If straps are used to brace the user's forearms and hands in fixed positions, then correct hand placement is ensured, but the user cannot independently use the walker
Solution Approach 1:
The walker is divided into functional segments: the frame structure, the forearm guiding supports, and the handgrip assembly. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently while contributing to the overall posture correction system.
Solution Approach 2:
The forearm guiding supports act as intermediary structures between the user's forearms and the handgrips. These supports guide the forearms into the correct position without requiring straps, thereby maintaining independent usability while ensuring proper hand placement.
2Speed
If the walker is advanced too far ahead of the body, then the user gains forward momentum, but undue stress is placed on the hands and back posture deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The forearm guiding supports are positioned and angled to preliminarily establish the correct elbow flexion angle (approximately 90 degrees) before the user completes the walking motion. This preliminary positioning prevents the user from advancing the walker too far ahead, thereby avoiding hand stress and back posture deterioration.
Solution Approach 2:
The angle of the forearm guiding supports is specifically designed to maintain the elbow flexion angle at approximately 90 degrees. This parameter control ensures that the user's hands remain in the correct position relative to the body, preventing excessive forward advancement and the associated harmful effects.
3Ease of operation
If the user's hands are not restrained, then independent use is possible, but correct placement of hands is not assured
Solution Approach 1:
The forearm guiding supports serve as intermediary structures that passively guide the user's forearms and hands into the correct position without requiring active restraint or user awareness. This allows independent use while ensuring accurate hand placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The walker structure itself provides the guidance function through the forearm guiding supports. The supports are designed to automatically guide the user's arms into the correct position through their geometric configuration, eliminating the need for external restraint mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A posture-correcting walker for assisting a user in performing safe ambulation, comprising a frame having a pair of front legs and a pair of rear legs joined together by a pair of horizontal supports, a pair of handgrips positioned on the horizontal supports, and a pair of forearm guiding supports which project upwardly at a rearward angle which are adapted to maintain the user's elbows and forearms at a guided posture angle during ambulation to ensure correct walking posture with the user's legs maintained within the frame. The forearm guiding supports each have a retaining cradle which supports the forearms and restricts rearward and sideways motion. The walker further has a descending segment ahead of each handgrip to ensure correct placement of the hands, as well as a pair of stabilizing segments which cause the rear legs to project rearwardly which stabilize the walker.