Collapsible rolling walker

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9763849-B2
Application number	US-201615095854-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 11, 2016
Priority date	Apr 9, 2015
Publication date	Sep 19, 2017
Grant date	Sep 19, 2017

Abstract

A collapsible rolling walker that readily collapses for storage and/or transportation and that readily deploys for use.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A rolling walker comprising:
a seat assembly;
a first hub and a second hub disposed on opposing sides of the seat assembly, each of the first and second hubs comprising at least three sub-hubs wherein a second and a third one of the three sub-hubs are configured to selectively rotate with respect to a first one of the three sub-hubs;
a first wheel-bearing rear leg that is secured to the first one of the three sub-hubs of the first hub;
a second wheel-bearing rear leg that is secured to the first one of the three sub-hubs of the second hub;
a first handle arm that is secured to the second one of the three sub-hubs of the first hub;
a second handle arm that is secured to the second one of the three sub-hubs of the second hub;
a first wheel-bearing front leg that is secured to the third one of the three sub-hubs of the first hub;
a second wheel-bearing front leg that is secured to the third one of the three sub-hubs of the second hub;
such that the wheel-bearing front legs, the wheel-bearing rear legs, and the handle arms can be selectively rotated with respect to one another between a fully-collapsed state and a fully-deployed state;

wherein the seat assembly includes a latch trigger that controls a first and second latch mechanism disposed respectively and at least partially within the first and second hubs to thereby control when the wheel-bearing front legs and the handle arms can rotate with respect to the wheel-bearing rear legs.

2. The rolling walker of claim 1 wherein the three sub-hubs share a same external shape and size.

3. The rolling walker of claim 2 wherein the external shape comprises a disk.

4. The rolling walker of claim 1 wherein the first and second latch mechanisms each comprise a longitudinal member that extends partially out of a side of the seat assembly.

5. The rolling walker of claim 4 wherein each of the longitudinal members has an inwardly-disposed end that connects to the latch trigger.

6. The rolling walker of claim 5 wherein each of the longitudinal members has a circular cross section.

7. The rolling walker of claim 6 wherein each of the first and second sub-hubs includes an arcuate slot formed therethrough to receive a corresponding one of the longitudinal members.

8. The rolling walker of claim 7 wherein each of the arcuate slots includes a circular-shaped opening that is wider than the corresponding arcuate slot.

9. The rolling walker of claim 8 wherein each of the longitudinal members has a plurality of wider-diameter areas that are sized to fit within the circular-shaped opening but not within the arcuate slot and a plurality of smaller-diameter areas that are sized to fit within the arcuate slots.

10. The rolling walker of claim 9 wherein the longitudinal members are normally biased outwardly and away from the seat assembly.

11. The rolling walker of claim 1 wherein the wheel-bearing front legs, the wheel-bearing rear legs, and the handle arms are positioned substantially parallel to one another when the rolling walker is in the fully-collapsed state.

12. The rolling walker of claim 1 wherein the first and second handle arm each includes a hand-manipulable brake handle.

13. The rolling walker of claim 12 wherein the hand-manipulable brake handle is configured to assert a brake mechanism without latching when moved in a first direction and to assert the brake mechanism while latching when moved in a second, different direction.

14. The rolling walker of claim 13 wherein the second direction is opposite the first direction.

15. The rolling walker of claim 13 wherein the hand-manipulable brake handle is further configured to unlatch when moved from a latched position in the first direction.

16. The rolling walker of claim 13 further comprising a brake cable that connects each of the hand-manipulable brake handles to a corresponding one of the brake mechanisms, wherein at least a majority portion of the brake cable is hidden from view within the rolling walker.

17. A rolling walker comprising:
a seat assembly wherein the seat assembly includes a discrete upper portion;
a first hub and a second hub disposed on opposing sides of the seat assembly, each of the first and second hubs comprising at least three sub-hubs wherein a second and a third one of the three sub-hubs are configured to selectively rotate with respect to a first one of the three sub-hubs;
a first wheel-bearing rear leg that is secured to the first one of the three sub-hubs of the first hub;
a second wheel-bearing rear leg that is secured to the first one of the three sub-hubs of the second hub;
a first handle arm that is secured to the second one of the three sub-hubs of the first hub;
a second handle arm that is secured to the second one of the three sub-hubs of the second hub;
a first wheel-bearing front leg that is secured to the third one of the three sub-hubs of the first hub;
a second wheel-bearing front leg that is secured to the third one of the three sub-hubs of the second hub;

such that the wheel-bearing front legs, the wheel-bearing rear legs, and the handle arms can be selectively rotated with respect to one another between a fully-collapsed state and a fully-deployed state.

18. The rolling walker of claim 17 wherein the discrete upper portion includes a plurality of rods configured to be received by corresponding holes formed in a remaining portion of the seat assembly.

19. The rolling walker of claim 18 wherein the rods have a circumferentially-enlarged portion configured to captivate the rods within the holes formed in the remaining portion of the seat assembly.

Assignees

• Medline Ind Inc
• Medline Ind Inc

Inventors

• Paterson Michael
• Kim Tong Jin
• Mcdaniel Kegan
• Westra Luke

Classifications

• B62B5/06

  Hand moving equipment, e.g. handle bars (for cycles B62K11/14, B62K21/12) · CPC title

• B62B5/002

  Adaptations for moving the carts by wheel chair users or other disabled persons · CPC title

• B62B3/02

  involving parts being adjustable, collapsible, attachable, detachable or convertible · CPC title

• B62B5/085

  Resting seats · CPC title

• B62B2205/00

  Hand-propelled vehicles or sledges being foldable or dismountable when not in use · CPC title