Mechanical wheelchair drive and wheelchair having such a mechanical wheelchair drive

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12239586-B2
Application number	US-201917260980-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 16, 2019
Priority date	Jul 16, 2018
Publication date	Mar 4, 2025
Grant date	Mar 4, 2025

Abstract

The invention relates to a mechanical wheelchair drive, comprising a rotatably mounted lever, a handle fastened to the lever, and a force transfer unit for transferring rotational motion of the lever to a wheelchair wheel, wherein the lever has a variable length and is guided along a closed guide of a guide plate, said guide deviating from the circular form, such that the length of the lever changes during the rotational motion.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Mechanical wheelchair drive comprising a rotatably mounted lever, a handle fastened to the lever and a force transfer unit configured to transfer a rotational motion of the lever to a wheelchair wheel, wherein the lever has a variable length and can be guided along a closed guide of a guide plate, which guide deviates from the circular form, so that a length variation of the lever takes place during the rotational motion, wherein the guide corresponds to a droplet-shaped closed curve having a wide end curve region and a narrow end curve region, wherein the end curve regions each have a vertex point and the narrow end curve region of the closed curve in a mounted state of the wheelchair drive points in a direction towards a backrest of a wheelchair in a mounted state of the wheelchair drive, a longitudinal axis running between the vertex points of the wide end curve region and the narrow end curve region is inclined by at least 5° but no more than 30° with respect to the horizontal, and wherein the curve can be described by the following mathematical equations:

X
1

=

A
⁢

cos
⁡
(
θ
)

Y
1

=

B
⁢

sin
⁢

(
θ
)

⁢

sin
n

(

0.5
*
θ

)

(

X

Y

)

=

(

cos
⁡
(
β
)

-

sin
⁡
(
β
)

sin
⁡
(
β
)

cos
⁡
(
β
)

)

⁢

(

X
1

Y
1

)

wherein θ corresponds to an angle, the coordinates X and Y describe the course of the guide in a Cartesian coordinate system, the parameter β is specified between −20° and 30°, the parameters A and B are specified between 0.01 m and 0.25 m and the parameter n is specified between 0.2 and 0.9.

2. The mechanical wheelchair drive according to claim 1 , wherein the lever has a lever part mounted rotatably at a fastening point of the guide plate and an extendable lever part configured to be guided along the guide.

3. The mechanical wheelchair drive according to claim 1 , wherein a horizontal adjusting device is provided for the adjustable fastening of the guide plate and the lever along a horizontal.

4. The mechanical wheelchair drive according to claim 3 , wherein a vertical adjusting device is provided for the adjustable fastening of the guide plate and the lever along a vertical.

5. The mechanical wheelchair drive according to claim 4 , wherein the vertical adjusting device comprises a rail with fastening holes and a carriage with a fixing pin, which carriage can slide along the rail, wherein the fixing pin can be introduced into the fastening holes for fixing the carriage, and wherein the guide plate and the lever are connected indirectly or directly to the carriage.

6. The mechanical wheelchair drive according to claim 3 , wherein the adjusting device comprises a rail with fastening holes and a carriage with a fixing pin, which carriage can slide along the rail, wherein the fixing pin can be introduced into the fastening holes for fixing the carriage, and wherein the guide plate and the lever are connected indirectly or directly to the carriage.

7. The mechanical wheelchair drive according to claim 1 , wherein the force transfer unit is formed by a belt drive.

8. The mechanical wheelchair drive according to claim 7 , wherein the belt drive comprises a belt, a first roller, and a second roller, and wherein the belt is configured to receive a rotational motion of the lever via the first roller and to deliver the rotational motion to the second roller for transfer of the rotational motion to a wheelchair wheel.

9. The mechanical wheelchair drive according to claim 8 , wherein deflecting rol

Assignees

• Univ Wien Tech

Inventors

• Gfoehler Margit
• Kurup Nithin Babu Rajendra
• Puchinger Markus

Classifications

• A61G5/1005

  Wheelchairs having brakes (braking mechanisms; locking devices against movement for hand carts B62B5/04; details of brake actuators on castors B60B33/0078; brakes in general F16D49/00 - F16D65/853) · CPC title

• A61G5/027

  by using auxiliary detachable mechanisms · CPC title

• A61G5/125

  for arms · CPC title

• A61G5/023

  acting directly on hubs or axis · CPC title

• B62M1/14

  operated exclusively by hand power · CPC title