Abstract:
A crutch basket assembly comprising a crutch, a basket hanging bracket and a basket is disclosed. The basket hanging bracket is comprised of a bracket body and a pair of strikers. The bracket is attached to a crutch. The basket has an open top container, a pair of braces and a pair of latches. The braces are shaped to align the basket with the vertical members of the crutch. The latches are shaped to receive the strikers of the bracket body and to secure the basket to the bracket body. A person ambulating with crutches may easily create a receptacle attached to a crutch for carrying small items hands-free.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     It is an unfortunate fact of life that many people will occasionally require a pair of crutches to ambulate. Typically, when a person suffers a serious lower extremity injury, such as a broken leg or a sprained ankle, the person requires a pair of crutches to ambulate. The period of time during which crutches are required can be lengthy. A person can have a broken leg within a cast for months.  
         [0002]     When a person ambulates with crutches his or her daily routine can be seriously interrupted. The daily routine of most persons involves carrying small handheld items. These items include, by way of example, soda pop, pencils, ink pens, cell phones, snacks, keys and a variety of documents and papers. Ambulation with crutches requires the use of a person&#39;s arms and hands to move and hold the crutches. This makes it difficult to hold handheld items. As a result, a person ambulating with crutches often does not carry desired handheld items, or carries those items with difficulty. An item is more easily dropped and is more difficult to pick up. There is also a risk of further injury because of the additional body movement required to avoid dropping an item, or picking it up after it has dropped.  
         [0003]     What is needed is a device which easily attaches to a crutch, in varying locations, and which provides a container physically attached to the crutch.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0004]     The present invention is directed to a device and an assembly which satisfies these needs. An object of the invention is to provide a bracket and basket which may be easily attached to a crutch in varying locations.  
         [0005]     A typical crutch has two spaced apart opposing vertical members. Each vertical member has a plurality of fastener holes. The fastener holes are intended to provide a series of positions for attaching a crutch handle. The crutch handle uses only one fastener hole on each crutch vertical member. This leaves a plurality of remaining fastener holes which may be used to attach a bracket and basket to the crutch.  
         [0006]     One version of the invention is a crutch basket assembly comprising a crutch, a basket hanging bracket and a basket. The crutch is a typical crutch. It has spaced apart opposing vertical members. Each vertical member has a plurality of fastener holes. The fastener holes are aligned on the vertical members such that a handle may be perpendicularly attached to the vertical members by a fastener inserted through a fastener hole into a threaded opening on the handle.  
         [0007]     The basket hanging bracket has a bracket body sized and shaped to fit across the space between the opposing vertical members of the crutch. Each end of the bracket body is sized and shaped to wrap around a hole in a vertical member of the crutch. Each end of the bracket body has a mounting hole. Each mounting hole is alignable with a vertical member hole. When so aligned a fastener may be inserted through the mounting hole of the bracket and into the vertical member hole, thereby securing the bracket to the crutch.  
         [0008]     A pair of strikers are perpendicularly attached to the bracket. The purpose of the strikers is to receive and engage mounting latch circular openings of a crutch basket, thereby securing the basket to the bracket. Each striker has a flange substantially coplanar to the bracket body. Each flange is attached to the distal end of its respective striker and spaced apart from the bracket body. The bracket is attached to the crutch by a fastener inserted through each bracket mounting hole into a crutch vertical member hole.  
         [0009]     The basket is comprised of an open top container, a pair of braces and a pair of latches. The open top container has a bracket interface wall. The bracket interface wall has an interior side and an exterior side. A portion of the container may be shaped and sized to partially surround and contain a beverage container within the basket. This will permit a person using crutches to carry an open beverage within the basket without having the beverage tip over and spill due to normal crutch movement.  
         [0010]     The braces are attached to the bottom periphery of the exterior side of the bracket interface wall. Each brace has a mating surface which is shaped and sized to fit a vertical member of the crutch. The braces are spaced apart substantially the same distance that the vertical members of the crutch are spaced apart. The braces stabilize the basket on the crutch and absorb shock to the basket.  
         [0011]     The latches are formed within the bracket interface wall. Each latch comprises a slot connected to a circular opening. The circular opening is larger than each striker flange and the slot is smaller than each striker flange. The basket is attached to the crutch by positioning the basket slots between the bracket and the striker flanges. This is accomplished by inserting the flanges into the circular openings of the latches and sliding the basket such that the flanges are locked to the bracket interface wall of the basket by the slots. The basket is aligned with the crutch by fitting the mating surfaces of each brace to a vertical member of the crutch.  
         [0012]     Preferably, a support member is centered between the ends of the bracket body and perpendicularly extends from the longitudinal axis the bracket body. The support member stabilizes the attached basket. It also protects the basket latches from damage by limiting the ability of the basket to rotate about the bracket. Stabilization and basket protection are further enhanced by attaching a resilient spacer, such as foam rubber, to the bracket body and to the bracket support member.  
         [0013]     Preferably, a small parts holder is attached to the bracket on the bracket side opposite to the bracket side facing the basket. The small parts holder provides a container for holding small parts when only the bracket and not the basket are attached to the crutch. It also provides an additional container for holding small parts when the basket is attached to the crutch.  
         [0014]     Another version of the invention is a crutch basket assembly comprising the basket hanging bracket and the basket. Additionally, other versions of the invention include the basket hanging bracket alone and the basket alone. 
     
    
     DRAWINGS  
       [0015]     These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:  
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a crutch basket assembly in use.  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a front elevation view of the crutch basket assembly of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a front elevation view of a basket hanging bracket attached to the crutch shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  is a plan cross-sectional view of the basket hanging bracket of  FIG. 3 .  
         [0020]      FIG. 5  is a back elevation view of the basket hanging bracket of  FIG. 3 .  
         [0021]      FIG. 6  is a back elevation view of the basket attached to the crutch shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0022]      FIG. 7  is a side elevation view of the crutch basket assembly shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0023]      FIG. 8  is a plan cross-sectional view of the crutch basket assembly shown in  FIG. 8 . 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION  
       [0024]     The preferred embodiment of the present invention is a crutch basket assembly  10  comprising a crutch  12 , a basket hanging bracket  18 , and a basket  38 .  
         [0025]     The crutch  12  is a typical common crutch. It should be constructed from aluminum or wood. The crutch  12  has two spaced apart opposing vertical members  14 . Each vertical member  14  contains a plurality of fastener holes  16 . On a typical crutch the fastener holes  16  are positioned to allow a crutch handle to be perpendicularly attached to the vertical members  14 . A typical crutch contains the plurality of fastener holes  16  to permit the adjustable positioning of the crutch handle. After the crutch handle is secured to the vertical members  14  many fastener holes  16  remain unused. One of the objects of the present invention is to provide for the adjustable positioning of the basket hanging bracket  18  along the vertical members  14  of the crutch  12 . This is accomplished by allowing the basket hanging bracket  18  to be secured to any one of the vertical member fastener holes  16  by a fastener  36 .  
         [0026]     The basket hanging bracket  18  is preferably fabricated from aluminum or molded plastic. The basket hanging bracket  18  has a bracket body  19 . The bracket body  19  is sized and shaped to fit across the space between the opposing vertical members  14  of the crutch  12 . Each end  20  of the bracket body  19  is sized and shaped to wrap around a hole  16  in a vertical member  14  of the crutch  12 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . Each end  20  of the bracket body  19  has a mounting hole  24 . Each mounting hole  24  of the bracket body  19  is sized and shaped to be alignable with a vertical member hole  16  such that the basket hanging bracket  18  may be secured to the crutch  12  by a fastener  36  inserted through each bracket mounting hole  24  into a vertical member fastener hole  16 .  
         [0027]     A pair of strikers  32  are perpendicularly attached to the bracket  18 , as shown in  FIG. 4 . Each striker  32  has a flange  34  which is substantially coplanar to the bracket the body  19 . Each flange  34  is spaced apart from the bracket body  20  and attached to the distal end of the striker  32 . Each flange  34  is small enough to receive and protrude through a mounting latch circular opening  60  of a crutch basket  38  and secure the crutch basket  38  to the bracket body  19 . The bracket  18  is attached to the crutch  12  by a fastener  36  inserted through each bracket mounting hole  24  into a crutch vertical member fastener hole  16 . The fastener holes  16  of the crutch may be threaded to receive a fastener  36  and not require a corresponding fastener nut. On the other hand, the fastener holes  16  of the crutch  12  may be so large relative to the diameter of the fastener  36  that a nut is required to secure the fastener  36  and bracket  18  to the crutch  12 .  
         [0028]     Preferably, a support member  26  is centered between the ends  20  of the bracket body  18 . The support member  26  extends perpendicularly from the longitudinal axis of the bracket body  18 . This will provide additional support to a basket  38  attached to the bracket  18  and limit the susceptibility of the basket  38  to damage caused by rotation about the bracket  18  after the basket  38  is attached to the bracket  18 . A resilient spacer  28  is attached to the bracket  18  between the ends  20  of the bracket  18 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . A resilient spacer  28  is also attached to the support member  26  of the bracket  18 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . The preferred material out of which the resilient spacers  28  are constructed is foam rubber. The resilient spacers  28  serve to stabilize a basket  38  mounted to the bracket  18 , to absorb shock to the basket  38  and to facilitate the nondestructive removal of a crutch basket  38  attached to the bracket  18 .  
         [0029]     Optionally, a small parts holder  30  is attached to the bracket body  18 . The small parts holder  30  is attached to the face of the basket hanging bracket  18  which is opposite to the face of the bracket side to which the strikers  34  are attached. Preferably, the small parts holder  30  is secured to the bracket  18  by Velcro  31 . This will facilitate removing and attaching the small parts holder  30  to the bracket  18  whenever desired. A person ambulating on crutches may use an attached small parts holder  30  to easily carry small parts.  
         [0030]     The basket  38  is comprised of an open top container  40 , a pair of braces  52  and a pair of latches  56 . Preferably, the basket  38  is fabricated by plastic molding. The open top container  40  has a bracket interface wall  42 . The bracket interface wall  42  has an interior side  44  and an exterior side  46 . Optionally, a portion  50  of the open top container  40  is sized and shaped to partially surround and contain a beverage container within the basket  38 . The shape is designated by reference numeral  50  in  FIG. 8 . This shaping of the open top container  40  will tend to prevent a beverage container placed within the basket  38  from tipping and spilling caused by crutch movement during ambulation.  
         [0031]     The braces  52  are attached to the bottom periphery of the exterior side  46  of the bracket interface wall  42 . Each brace  52  has a mating surface  54  shaped and sized to fit a vertical member  14  of the crutch  12 . The braces  52  are spaced apart substantially the same distance that the vertical members  14  of the crutch  12  are spaced apart. This stabilizes the basket  38  on the crutch  12  and absorbs shock received by the basket  38 .  
         [0032]     A pair of latches  56  are formed within the bracket interface wall  42 . Each latch  56  is comprised of a slot  58  connected to a circular opening  60 . The circular openings  60  are larger than each striker flange  34 . The slots  58  are smaller than each striker flange  34 . The basket  38  is attached to the crutch  12  by the basket slots  58  being positioned between the bracket  18  and the striker flanges  34  while the basket  38  is aligned with the crutch  12  by fitting the mating surface  54  of each brace  52  to a vertical member  14  of the crutch  12 . This is accomplished by inserting the striker flanges  34  into the circular openings  60  of the latches  56  and then covering the flanges by the bracket interface wall  42  by sliding the basket  38  along the strikers  32 .  
         [0033]     A second version of the invention comprises the crutch basket assembly as described, but without the crutch. Other versions of the invention include the basket hanging bracket  18 , alone and the basket  38  alone.  
         [0034]     This invention is simple to use. A user attaches a basket hanging bracket  18  to a crutch  12  by aligning the bracket mounting holes  24  with a pair of crutch fastener holes  16 . The bracket  18  is secured by threading a fastener  36  through each bracket mounting hole  24  and corresponding vertical member fastener hole  16 . The basket  38  is attached to the bracket  18  by inserting the bracket flanges  34  through the latch circular openings  60  and then sliding the basket  38  along the strikers  32 , thereby locking the basket  38  into place. The Velcro attachable small parts holder  30  may be secured to the bracket  18  by pressing it onto the bracket  18 . It may be removed by pulling it off.