Patent Publication Number: US-2003230915-A1

Title: Standing support

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] This invention relates to a support for alleviating the strain on the legs of one who must stand for a lengthy period of time.  
       [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art  
       [0004] Several patents have been issued for portable chairs.  
       [0005] U.S. Pat. No. 671,638 applies to a seat that is attached to the top of a cane. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,631,652 covers a seat having a single leg. And U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,842 has a seat midway up a U-shaped structural member. All these seats can be strapped to a user who can move and then place the device on a surface to be used as a traditional seat. They do not function to provide support when the user is moving from place to place.  
       [0006] U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,156 has two units. One unit is strapped to one leg of a user, and the other unit is strapped to the other leg of the user. The device appears much the same as a traditional leg brace; and, according to line 56 in column 1 of the patent, it is used in a “seating position.” 
       [0007] U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,981 appears to be the most similar to the present invention since it seems only to provide auxiliary support to that provided by a user&#39;s legs. It has a seat base, a column the height of which can be adjusted connected to a base, and a seat attached to the top of the column. The seat rotates unless a locking device is activated. The standing work seat of U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,981, however, can only be moved by someone using his or her arms to lift or push the standing work seat and does not function during such movement; and pushing is unlikely since the standing work seat includes a “non-slip base.” 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008] The present invention has a base, a column the height of which can be adjusted connected to the base, and a seat attached to the top of the base. The seat is any type of seat which will allow the user&#39;s legs to remain on the surface on which the Standing Support rests in order to provide additional support for the user. Thus, it is designed to be used while the user is in a substantially standing position. It, however, in a preferred embodiment, is releasably attached to the user and has caster wheels so that it can continue to provide its auxiliary supporting function as the user moves from place to place.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0009]FIG. 1 is a lateral view of the Standing Support.  
     [0010]FIG. 2 is a plan view of the Standing Support.  
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
     [0011] The Standing Support has a base  1  which comprises three or more substantially horizontal legs  2  radiating from a central column  3 . The height of the central column  3  can be adjusted by any means that is well known in the art that also precludes rotation, such as the anti-rotation gas cylinder produced by Stabilus of Gastonia, N.C. In fact, such cylinder, in the preferred embodiment, constitutes the central column  3 . Other non-excusive examples of non-rotating columns with adjustable height that are well known in the art are the traditional type of automobile jack which moves up a column as a lever is moved up and down and a screw to which a seat is attached with a sleeve having an aperture that can be aligned with apertures in the screw for a pin to be inserted to preclude rotation.  
     [0012] Preferably wheels, preferably caster wheels,  4  are attached to a second end  5  of the horizontal legs  2 . The first end  6  of each horizontal leg  2  is attached to the central column  3  preferably near the bottom  7  of the central column  3 . Any seat  8  which allows the feet of a user to remain on the surface on which the base  1  or wheels  4  of the Standing Support rests, with the legs of the user being in a substantially upright position, is attached to the top of the central column  3 . Preferably, though, the seat  8  is a bicycle seat.  
     [0013] A first end  9  of a releasable restraint  10  is attached to the seat  8 . These releasable restraints  10  are secured to the user in any manner that is well known in the art. Non-exclusive examples of such restrains  10  are rigid bars, flexible material with opposing straps being connected with VELCRO or buckles, or straps attached to the seat being attached with VELCRO to a belt worn by the user.  
     [0014] The releasable restraint  10  assures that the Standing Support will move with a user as the user goes from place to place, and the non-rotating aspect of the central column assures that no horizontal leg  2  will be so rotated as to interfere with the feet of a user.  
     [0015] As used herein the term “preferable” or “preferably” means that a specified element or technique is more acceptable than another but not that such specified element or technique is a necessity.