A WHEEL CHAIR

Abstract: The present invention relates to a standard wheel chair (1) which comprises at least one construction (herein after called "baller"), said baller (2) consisting of at least one rod (3) being connected to the wheel chair (1) and carrying a frame (8) connected to said rod by connecting means (10); a ball (9) being located within said frame (8).

Description: A WHEEL CHAIR The present invention relates to a wheel chair. There are known many wheel chairs. Most of them are constructed to be used by people who suffer from certain disease and/or are too weak to move by themselves. However, most of these known wheel chairs cannot be used by persons who are handicapped and/or paralyzed on one side of the body, e.g. those who had a Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA) as the result thereof they became hemiplegic, i.e. they are handicapped and/or are paralyzed at their upper and/or lower extremities . The present invention will be illustrated herein with reference to the use by hemiplegic people, however it is not restricted to this use. There are known certain wheel chairs which try to solve the problem of hemiplegic people to move. Such wheel chairs are known, for example, from Japanese Specification No. 9294774, from Israeli Specification No. 36360, and from U.S. Specifications Nos . 4,2754,651 and 5,791,672. However, also these wheel chairs are not convenient to be used by hemiplegic persons . It has thus be desirable to construct a wheel chair which may be used easily by people paralyzed and/or handicapped on one side of the body, in particular by hemiplegic people. Said wheel chair should be relatively easy to construct and should not be too expensive. The present invention thus consists in a standard wheel chair which • comprises at least one construction (hereafter called "bailer") , said bailer consisting of at least one rod being connected to the wheel chair and carrying a frame connected to said rod by connecting means; a ball being located within said frame. In another embodiment of the present invention the bailer consists of two rods. An additional rod may be connected either to the wheel chair or directly to the bailer, which rod carries at it lower end a support for the ill foot, e.g a plate of rubber, plastic, metal or the like. The bailer may be permanently connected at any suitable place to the standard wheel chair or may be removable therefrom. Both possibilities are within the scope of the present invention, i.e. in the later case the bailer may be stored separately and be connected to the wheel when required. The size of the ball in the bailer according to the present invention is not a critical feature of the present invention. This size depends on the use of the wheel chair according to the present invention. The ball may be a ball proper or any other element which may be caused to roll as the result of the pressing of the foot on it. The ball is preferably made from rubber, a suitable rubber derivative, a suitable plastic material, a metal, e.g. aluminum, etc. or any compound of materials . The frame in which the ball is located may be a ring or may have any other suitable form, e.g. may be round, quadratic or the like. Its size is dependent on the size of the ball. The frame holds the ball in such a manner that it may rotate freely In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there are located between the frame and the bailer means, e.g. rollers, small balls, etc. for reducing the friction. The rods may be a rod proper, a bar or the like. The bailer is advantageously connected to the front rod(s) of the wheel chair to which rod(s) the wheels actuating the wheel chair are connected. There may be present more than one bailer. Each bailer may comprise one or more balls. In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the bailer is connected via an axis to the wheel chair on which axis the bailer may rotate and is thus opened. The various connecting means may be any suitable screw, pins, nails, or other locking means, etc. The wheel chair in accordance with the present invention is advantageously actuated in that the non hemiplegic hand rotates the corresponding wheel of the wheel chair and the corresponding non hemiplegic foot causes the ball of the construction to roll. The second foot is advantageously resting on the above support plate. However, the wheel chair in accordance with the present invention may be used by people paralyzed or handicapped in both hands and arms, but both feet are healthy. In this case it is actuated by both feet. The bailer carrying the frame and together therewith the ball may be located in such a manner that it enables the actuation of the wheel chair from one side or from the center thereof. Moreover, the bailer may carry also 2 frames or more and in this case the wheel chair may be actuated from both sides simultaneously. The wheel chair and/or the ball according to the present invention may be actuated in any suitable manner, e.g. mechanically by rotating the wheels of the chair; electrically, etc. The wheel chair according to the present invention may be made from any suitable material. Preferably the parts of the wheel comprising the rods of the construction are being made from those materials from which the standard wheel chairs are made, e.g. from a metal, such as steel or aluminum; or from a suitable plastic material, and any other compound material. The present invention will now be illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings without being limited by same. (Identical parts appearing in several drawing will be marked for sake of clarity by the same numerals) . In said drawings: Fig. 1 shows a front perspective view of a wheel chair according to the present invention; Fig. 2 shows a side perspective view of the wheel chair shown in Fig.l; Fig. 3 shows a side view of the wheel chair shown in Figs. 1 and 2 together with a person; Fig.4 shows a front view of the wheel chair shown in Figs . 1 to 3 together with a person Fig. 5 shows a side view from one side of a bailer being part of the wheel chair shown in Figs. 1 to 4; Fig. 6 shows a front view of the bailer shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 shows a side view from the second side of the bailer being part of the wheel chair shown in Figs. 1 to 4; Fig. 8 shows an upper view of the bailer shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 9 shows a side view from one side of another bailer being part of a wheel chair; and Fig. 10 shows a front view of the bailer shown in Fig. 9. The wheel chair shown in Figs. 1 to 4 comprises standard wheel chair 1. (The separate parts of the standard wheel chair are not referenced unless they are connected to bailer 2.) Bailer 2 is connected to wheel chair 1. The bailer itself is described in detail in Figs. 5 to 8. Bailer 2 comprises rods 3 and 4. Rod 3 is connected to wheel chair 1 via connecting means 5 and rod 4 is connected to support plate 6 via connecting means 7. Frame 8 carrying ball 9 is connected to the lower ends of rods 3 and 4 by connecting means 10. Plate 6 is a support for the ill foot 11. Ill hand 13 rests on support 12. Ball 9 lays on earth 17 within frame 8 and can thus roll freely to all directions. The hemiplegic person can enact only the healthy foot 14 and the healthy hand 15 being located on the same side of the body. In this situation the hemiplegic person will enact with his healthy hand 15 wheel 16. The healthy foot 14 of said person rests on ball 9 and causes it to roll by the friction caused between ball 9 and frame 8. Thus, the wheel chair may move in the required direction. Figs. 9 and 10 show similar view as Figs. 5 and 6 but rod 4 does no longer exist, i.e. bailer 2 is connected to wheel chair 1 (not shown) by rod 3 only.

Claims: Claims 1. A standard wheel chair which comprises at least one construction (herein after called "bailer") , said bailer consisting of at least one rod being connected to the wheel chair and carrying a frame connected to said rod by connecting means; a ball being located within said frame. 2. A wheel chair according to Claim 1, comprising an additional rod be connected to the wheel chair or directly to the bailer, which rod carries at its lower end a support. 3. A wheel chair according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the bailer consists of one rod. 4. A wheel chair according to Claim 1 or 2 wherein the bailer consists of two rods. 5. A wheel chair according to any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the frame is a ring. 6. A wheel chair according to any of Claims 1 to 5, comprising means for reducing the friction between the frame and the bailer. 7. A wheel chair according to any of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the bailer is connected to the front rod(s) of the wheel chair to which rod(s) are connected the wheels actuating the wheel chair. 8. A wheel chair according to any of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the bailer is connection via an axis to the wheel chair on which which axis the bailer rotates and is thus opened. 9. A wheel chair as defined in Claim 1, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings . 10. A bailer to be connected to a standard wheel chair, said bailer consisting of at least one rod to the wheel chair and carrying a frame connected to said rod by connecting means; a ball being located within said frame. 11. A bailer according to Claim 10 , comprising means for reducing the friction between the frame and the bailer.

Inventors: SHALEV MOSHE, SHALEV, MOSHE
Applicants: PORPETOUM MOBILLE LTD, SHALEV MOSHE, PORPETOUM MOBILLE LTD., SHALEV, MOSHE
Application year: 2001
Main classification: A61G5
IPC codes: A61G5