Patent Publication Number: US-6655708-B2

Title: Wheelchair with safety bumpers

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Users of wheelchairs have encountered difficulties in connection with the passing through doorways, particularly with self-closing doors which frequently do not tend to give enough time to allow wheelchair users ingress and egress. In order for a wheelchair user to negotiate self-closing doors, a series of steps are required. First, the user approaches the door. Second, the user opens the door. Third, the user enters the doorway. Fourth, the user proceeds through the doorway. Fifth, the user enters the room. Lastly, the door closes behind the user. Self-closing doors were designed to assist in climate control and to prevent the need for the users to close the door behind them. In proceeding through these six steps, particular difficulties are generally encountered by a user having to open the door and then having to wheel the chair through the open doorway. This tends to take longer during ingress and egress than would for a walking individual. Particular concern is that the wheelchair could be moved through the doorway quickly enough before the chair comes into contact with the door. Some users have found it necessary to hold the door with one arm and wheel with the other. When a wheelchair user does come into contact with the door, the door would hit the wheel of the chair or the hands of the user or the footrest or the knee of the user. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of this invention is to provide a wheelchair with at least one safety bumper to protect the user, particularly while moving through a doorway. 
     In accordance with this invention a safety bumper is mounted to the wheelchair outwardly of at least one of the wheels. The bumper extends partially forwardly of the wheel and has an outer surface which functions as a cam. In use, for example, the outer surface of the bumper would contact the door and maintain the door open as the user passes through the doorway. The provision of the safety bumper outwardly of the wheel also creates a barrier to protect the user&#39;s hand against a self-opening door closing on the user and/or prevents the door from contacting the wheel or footrest. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a wheelchair incorporating a set of safety bumpers in accordance with this invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the wheelchair shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the wheelchair shown in FIGS. 1-2; 
     FIG. 4 is an enlarged top plan view of the safety bumper shown on the wheelchair on FIGS. 1-3; 
     FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the safety bumper shown in FIG. 4; 
     FIGS. 6-7 are views similar to FIGS. 4-5, respectively, of a modified form of this invention; and 
     FIGS. 8-10 are top plan views showing use of the wheelchair and safety bumpers in the practice of this invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION 
     FIGS. 1-3 show, in phantom, a conventional wheelchair  10 . The chair  10  includes a seat  12  and a pair of wheels  14 , 14 . FIGS. 1-3 also show footrests  16 , 16 . In use, a user would sit on the seat  12  and would move the wheelchair  10  by placing the user&#39;s hands on one or both wheels  14 , 14  and rotating the wheels in either a forward or rearward direction. In accordance with this invention a safety bumper  18  is mounted on each side of the wheelchair  10  by securement to the chair frame  20 . 
     In general, safety bumper  18  could be considered as including an outer bumper assembly having a first bumper member  22  and a second bumper member  24 . Preferably, first bumper member  22  is made of hollow tubular form so that the second bumper member  24  could be telescoped into first bumper member  22 . As best seen in FIGS. 1 and 4 the first bumper member  22  includes a first portion  26  which is disposed generally parallel to the wheelchair frame  20 . A second portion  28  is bent inwardly in a direction toward the footrests  16 . The outer surface of the bumper assembly may be considered as a cam surface as later described. By providing a second bumper member  24  telescoped into second portion  28  of first bumper member  22  it is possible to vary the overall length of the outer bumper assembly. Any suitable manner of length adjustment could be used. For example, second bumper member  24  could be provided with a spring biased pin  30  which would selectively snap into one of a plurality of holes  32  in second portion  28  of first member  22 . A protective cap  34 , 34  is mounted on each end of the outer bumper assembly to minimize any damage that might otherwise be caused such as scratching or chipping when the outer bumper assembly is contacted by, for example, a door. 
     As also shown particularly in FIG. 4 a connecting member  36  is provided for securing the outer bumper assembly to the wheelchair. In the form of the invention shown in FIGS. 4-5 connecting member  36  is generally in the form of a T-shaped connector having a hollow passageway or sleeve  38  through which first bumper member  22  extends. The extension  40  of connecting member  36  may also be tubular and may be provided with a series of holes  42  for receiving a tubular mounting member  44  which is secured to the lower frame rail  20 . Mounting member  44  would also have a spring button or detent  46  that would snap into one of the holes  42 . This provides lateral adjustability for the location of the outer bumper assembly. Mounting member  44  could be secured to lower frame rail  20  in any suitable manner such as by a clamp  50 . 
     FIGS. 6-7 show a preferred alternative manner of securing the connecting member  36  to the first bumper member. As shown therein the connecting member is welded directly to first bumper member  22 A of safety bumper  18 A. As a result, there are no projections outwardly of the first bumper member, thus eliminating the possibility of any such protuberances or extensions scratching a door or other surface. This differs from the embodiment of FIGS. 4-5 where the sleeve  38  extends outwardly of the first bumper member which might cause some damage to doors or other objects that the bumper may contact. While welding is the preferred manner of securement of connecting member  36  to bumper member  22  other types of securement may be used. In the preferred practice of the invention, however, whatever type of securement is used should be such that the outer surface of first bumper member  22  is flat or free of obstructions other than, for example, the protective cap  34 . 
     The invention could also be practiced where any surface of the safety bumper, which is likely to contact a door or other object, is coated with a protective material such as foam or TEFLON®. 
     Preferably, a safety bumper  18  is provided on each side of the wheelchair. The invention, however may be broadly practiced where only a single safety bumper is used on only one side of the wheelchair. The invention may also be practiced where the safety bumper is mounted at a location other than the lower frame rail, depending upon the wheelchair structure. What is important is that the safety bumper has an outer surface located outwardly of its respective wheel so that if there is contact by a door or other object the contact will be against a safety bumper rather than against the user or the wheel. Preferably the outer cam surface is bent or non-planar such as being angled from 35° to 45° with respect to the longitudinal axis of the wheelchair or with respect to the first bumper member portion  26  where the bumper portion  26  is straight and parallel to the lower frame rail  20 . It is to be understood, however, that the invention could be practiced where the outer surface is a curve which is of constant diameter or of changing diameter or where the bend is of an angle other than 30°-45°. 
     The clamp  50  shown in FIG. 4 could be secured in any suitable manner such as by one or more fasteners  52  where the clamp is made in the form of two arcuate plates so that the fastener or screw or bolt would press the plates against each other to tightly mount the plates on lower frame rail  20 . 
     Once attached the safety bumper  18  has no moving parts and the user does not need to touch the bumper again. The bumper  18  is preferably made out of steel conduit and is welded together for durability. Although the device might be made from steel, because of its tubular form it is not particularly heavy and thus does not pose a weight durable burden. Other light weight materials, such as aluminum or plastics, may be used. The plastic or rubber end caps  34 , 34  prevent damage to doors or other objects. 
     The safety bumper  18  may be painted black or of any other color so that it does not particularly stand out and thus could be painted to match or complement the color of the wheelchair. Preferably, the shape of bumper  18  gives the impression that it is a part of the wheelchair and not an attachment. It has been found that the safety bumper could project laterally outwardly of the wheel  14  by approximately 1 inch. Thus, the safety bumper does not greatly impact the wheelbase of the chair thereby allowing ingress and egress through doorways. 
     By incorporating a safety bumper on one or preferably both sides of the wheelchair, the user need not worry about quickly entering the doorway because the bumper protects the wheelchair user from the impact of the closing door. The door can thereby come into contact with the bumper, but because the bumper extends laterally beyond or outwardly of the wheel the user does not have to worry about the door impacting the hands, legs, arms or wheel. The user only needs to place the bumper against the door and wheel forwardly. The action of the bumper pushing against the door will turn the wheelchair into the doorway. Thus, the door which previously caused a problem can itself be used as an aid for entry. 
     FIGS. 8-10 show various steps in the sequence of using a wheelchair  10  with the safety bumpers  18  for entering a room through a doorway. As shown in FIG. 8 the user&#39;s hand  54  would grasp the doorknob  56  of a door  58 . The user would then move the door to an open position as shown in FIG.  9 . The door  58  would initially be contacted by the outer surface of the bent portion of the outer bumper assembly, namely, the second bumper member  24  and bent portion  28 , as shown in FIG.  9 . Once the door is in contact with the safety bumper it is not necessary for the user&#39;s hand to contact any part of the door and the user could then wheel through the doorway as shown in FIG.  9 . As the user moves through the doorway the wheelchair would be turned to enter the completely open doorway as shown in FIG.  10 . In that position the door  58  is in contact with the first bumper member  22  and its straight portion  26  which holds the door open until the wheelchair had sufficiently passed into the next room. 
     As illustrated in FIGS. 1-2 and  8 - 10  the bumper  18  preferably extends at least as far and preferably slightly in front of the footrests  16 . The opposite end of the bumper is illustrated in FIGS.  1  and  8 - 10  as terminating outwardly of the wheel  14  forwardly of the center axis  60 . See FIG.  2 . If desired, however, the bumper  18  could be of longer length to be disposed to at least the end of or slightly completely beyond the entire wheel  14 . 
     Various changes could be made to the basic bumper structure described above. For example, a quick release attachment could be added to make collapsing of the wheelchair for storing purposes easier. Thus, bumpers  18 ,  18  could be quickly removed and the wheelchair  10  then could be collapsed. Because custom wheelchairs do not always have horizontal framerails a locking clamp  50  capable of rotating 360° could be utilized as part of the mounting member for attaching the bumper to the rail. Otherwise, any suitable type of fastening could be used. 
     The invention could be practiced by incorporating a quick release attachment for bumper  18  such as by clamp  50 . This would permit the bumper to be readily removed and facilitate collapsing of the wheelchair for storing purposes. This would also be in line with practices of some users who remove the wheels at various times since the bumper could be readily removed which would thereby permit easy removal of the wheels. By utilizing telescopic parts such as the second bumper member  24  telescoping into and out of first bumper member  22  and by having first bumper member  22  telescoped into the sleeve portion  38  of connecting member  36  it is possible to adjust the location and size of the bumper  18  in accordance with desires when a user is eating or sitting at a desk or table. The length and transverse adjustability also permits a generally standard type bumper to be custom attached to a particular wheelchair. 
     The bumper  18  addresses four human factor issues: (1) safety, (2) comfort, (3) efficiency and (4) ease of use. (1) There is added safety because the wheelchair user no longer has to worry about the door closing on the hands, knees, wheel or footrest. The user can simply open the door and if the door closes on the wheelchair the bumper  18  prevents contact with the body or the moving parts of the wheelchair. (2) There is comfort because the bumper prevents the need for hurrying through a doorway. The user can proceed at the user&#39;s own pace. (3) There is efficiency because the user no longer has to hold the door while attempting to wheel through the doorway. The user can use both hands for wheeling purposes which speeds up the ingress/egress process. (4) There is ease of use because the bumper  18  attaches to the chair  10  and once attached the user need not touch it again. 
     The bumper can be permanently affixed or can be detachably mounted to be easily removed when needed. The bumper becomes an extension of the wheelchair for assist purposes. Other advantages include the bumper preventing damage to moving parts that arise from impact thereby reducing replacement costs. Once the bumper is replaced it not only prevents the wheels  14 ,  14  from side impact, but also from frontal impact. Because of the lightweight nature and compactness of the bumper the addition of the bumper does not create a burden by the added weight and by extending, for example, only an inch on each side of the wheelchair. No problem is created of making the wheelchair too wide to impede passing through a doorway. In fact, it should be possible for two such wheelchairs to pass each other in hallways without hitting each other.