Ambulatory Walker With Pivoting Front Legs for Staircase Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional walkers are unstable and inoperable for assisting users when ascending or descending staircases due to their fixed leg lengths, which cannot accommodate the varying heights of stair treads, resulting in an uneven platform.
Innovation Solution
An ambulatory assistance apparatus with a frame that includes movable front leg members, utilizing a biasing member for height adjustment and a second adaptive movement technique allowing pivotal movement to maintain a level interface on staircases, ensuring stability and balance for users.
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 easy to manufacture, but the walker becomes unstable and inoperable when ascending or descending staircases
Solution Approach 1:
The front leg members are made movable relative to the frame through telescopic mechanisms and pivotal joints, allowing the legs to dynamically adjust their length and angle in response to staircase geometry. This dynamic adaptation enables the walker to maintain stability on both flat surfaces and staircases without requiring completely different devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The front leg members are divided into multiple telescopic segments that can extend and retract independently. This segmentation allows each leg to be adjusted to specific lengths needed for different staircase configurations, providing adaptability while maintaining a compact form when not in use.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the front leg members are made movable for staircase adaptation, then the walker can accommodate varying stair tread heights, but the device complexity increases with additional mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The telescopic and pivotal mechanisms allow the front leg members to dynamically adjust their configuration. The biasing members provide automatic height adjustment through spring force, while pivotal joints enable angular adaptation to match staircase inclines, achieving high adaptability with relatively simple mechanical components.
Solution Approach 2:
The front leg members can change multiple parameters including length (through telescoping), angle (through pivotal joints), and position (through biasing member actuation). These parameter changes allow the legs to be precisely configured for different staircase geometries without requiring complex control systems.
3Stability of the object's composition
If conventional walkers with four equal-length legs are used, then the manufacturing is simple, but the platform becomes unstable on staircases rendering the device inoperable
Solution Approach 1:
The front leg members are made dynamically adjustable through telescopic mechanisms and pivotal joints, allowing them to be configured to match staircase geometries. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the platform to maintain stability on both flat surfaces and staircases, resolving the stability issue without requiring completely different manufacturing approaches.
Solution Approach 2:
Only the front leg members (rather than all four legs) are made adjustable, applying the complexity locally where it is needed for staircase negotiation. The rear legs remain fixed and simple, maintaining ease of manufacture for the majority of the structure while providing enhanced capability where required.
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 apparatus provides a stable and level interface for users when traversing flat surfaces and staircases, enabling safe and stable ascent and descent by adjusting the front leg members to match the staircase tread heights, thereby overcoming the limitations of conventional walkers.
Implementation Method 1
the apparatus includes a biasing member operable to provide movement of a lower portion of the front legs in order to facilitate the positioning thereof to accommodate a staircase
Implementation Method 2
the second technique for moving the front leg members includes moving a lower portion thereof pivotally so as to be perpendicular with the upper portion of the front leg members
Data Source
AI summary
An ambulatory assistance apparatus operable to assist a user traverse a flat surface and further being configured to have adaptive movement techniques to facilitate assisting a user ascend a staircase. The ambulatory assistance apparatus includes a frame having a left support assembly and a right support assembly with cross members intermediate thereto. A front leg assembly is provided and is secured to the lower front portion of the frame. The front leg assembly is movable in a first adaptive movement technique and a second adaptive movement technique. In the first adaptive movement technique the front leg assembly moves in an upward/downward direction. In the second adaptive movement technique the front leg assembly is pivotally movable. A coupling member is present to control in conjunction with a cable the second adaptive movement technique. A biasing member is present to provide the first adaptive movement technique.