Safety Walker Pivoting Strap Mechanism for Unassisted Fall Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing safety walkers for the elderly and those recuperating from injuries or surgery often require complex harness arrangements that need assistance to operate, are difficult to secure, and limit unassisted mobility, as they require twisting, bending, or complete enclosures that are hard to manage.
Innovation Solution
A safety walker with a pivoting safety strap mechanism that can be easily configured between the user's legs, allowing for easy entry and secure positioning without assistance, featuring a strap actuator that raises the safety strap to prevent falls while allowing unobstructed movement, and incorporating a wheel lock mechanism for added stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If complex harness arrangements are used to prevent falls, then safety is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates and assistance is required
Solution Approach 1:
The safety system is segmented into simple modular components: a strap that passes through the user's legs and a single pivoting actuator mechanism. This segmentation eliminates the need for complex multi-point harness arrangements while maintaining fall prevention capability and allowing independent operation by the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The pivoting strap mechanism is designed to be operated by the user themselves without assistance. The user simply pivots the actuator to raise the strap to the desired height, and the strap automatically secures through the legs. This self-service capability eliminates the need for caregiver assistance in securing the restraint system.
2Reliability
If harnesses require twisting and bending to secure, then restraint security is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates for users with limited mobility
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of requiring the user to actively twist and bend to secure the harness around their body, the strap is inverted to pass passively through the legs. The securing action is inverted from active user manipulation to passive positioning, where the user simply needs to pivot the actuator to raise the strap, eliminating complex twisting and bending motions.
3Reliability
If complete enclosures with doors or gates are used, then safety is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates and unassisted mobility is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The enclosure structure with doors and gates is completely extracted from the design. Only the essential fall prevention function remains, implemented through a simple strap that passes through the legs. This extraction eliminates the operational complexity of opening and closing enclosures while maintaining the core safety function, allowing users to move freely without managing complex closure mechanisms.
4Reliability
If safety straps are raised to secure position, then fall prevention is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to required user effort
Solution Approach 1:
The strap actuator is designed as a dynamic pivoting mechanism rather than a fixed rigid structure. The pivoting action allows the strap to be raised smoothly to the required height with minimal user effort, and the dynamic nature of the mechanism allows for easy adjustment and release if needed, reducing the overall user effort required while maintaining secure fall prevention.
Data Source
AI summary
A safety walker provides a strap that actuates to allow a person to enter into the safety walker and then raise the strap between their legs. The strap prevents ground level falls. The safety strap is actuated by a strap actuator that may pivot about a pivot attached to the movable support frame. The strap actuator may be locked into a secure position with the strap in an elevated position by a latch. The strap actuator may be coupled to a handle actuator by one or more linkages, or the strap actuator and handle actuator may be a one-piece rigid member that rotates about a single pivot on the moveable frame. A coupling member may extend between a left and right strap actuator proximal to the back end of the strap actuators and the safety strap may be attached to the coupling member.