Patent Publication Number: US-7717450-B2

Title: Wheelchair luggage towing device

Description:
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/786,103 Filed Mar. 27, 2006 

   BACKGROUND 
   1. Field of Application 
   It is difficult for disabled persons to carry luggage along with their wheelchair while moving from place to place, be it in airport terminals, in and out of hospitals, nursing homes, etc. Travel is extremely difficult as usually an assistant is required to help move the luggage of the disabled traveller. The luggage of the disabled traveller is handled separately, the traveller cannot move the wheelchair and their luggage together, without the help of another person. This creates dependence on another individual in cases of travel or even simpler day-to-day activities such as going to the hospital, shopping, etc. and thus hinders the disabled individual from carrying out certain activities. Our invention takes out the dependence on another individual so that the disabled wheelchair user can gain a great deal of independence by moving their own luggage along with their wheelchair. This is most convenient at airports where the wheelchair user no longer needs to depend on airport staff to handle their luggage and they can be in charge of it themselves. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Other inventions have put the luggage in a large carrier (U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,029), this makes it inconvenient and difficult to use for a disabled person as the carrier needs to be carried somehow itself before it can carry the luggage. Another invention has put the luggage on the side of the wheelchair (U.S. Pat. No. 4,611,819). This can result in difficulty during turning and throw off the balance of the wheelchair. Also the attachment is very complicated and difficult to use, as is the carrier mentioned before. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  A wheelchair luggage towing device attached to the vertical bars at the back of a wheelchair. 
       FIG. 2  A wheelchair luggage towing device having attaching means, luggage receiving means, and luggage releasing means. 
       FIG. 3  A device for wheelchairs with a horizontal bar locating too high to set the luggage on. An adjustable vertical bar is used to adjust the height of the horizontal bar from the ground on which the luggage is set on. ( a ) Method of connection of the wheelchair, ( b ) device itself. 
       FIG. 4  A device for wheelchairs with short vertical bars at the back of the wheelchair. 
       FIG. 5  A device for towing a luggage. The top horizontal bar is attached onto the already existing vertical bars, the attached vertical bar is adjusted low near the ground, and the wheeled suitcase is attached onto the lower horizontal bar. 
       FIG. 6(   a ) A device for connecting the handle of a luggage to a wheelchair. A horizontal bar is attached between the two vertical bars at the back of the wheelchair. ( b ) Method of connecting the luggage to the wheelchair. 
       FIG. 7  A wheel chair towing device and its components. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   A method and a device for towing a luggage with a wheelchair is described. The method comprises of connecting the luggage to the back of the wheelchair. If the luggage has wheels, it can roll on the ground. If it does not have wheels, it can be put on a luggage towing carriage, and the carriage is then connected to the wheelchair. 
   A wheelchair  1  typically consists of two vertical bars,  2  and  3 , a foldable chair  4  and several horizontal bars at its back to provide stability and support. In order to carry a luggage along with a wheelchair, a horizontal bar  5  is attached (if one does not already exist) to the two vertical bars  2  and  3  at the back of the wheelchair  1  (all wheelchairs have two vertical bars) using rod clamps  6  and  7  or any other attachment means, as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . 
     FIG. 2  shows the present device for wheelchairs which do not have a low lying horizontal bar. This device comprises of a low-lying horizontal bar  8  having rod clamps  9  and  10  or any other attaching means to attach to the vertical bars of a wheelchair. The horizontal bar  8  also has at least two adjustable sockets  11 , and  12  to set the luggage on. A socket is a U shaped piece which receives a bar and its sides are long enough to extend beyond the bar. Therefore, the wheels of a luggage can be set between the sides of the U shaped socket. Any other means to receive a luggage can be used. For instance, a set of clamps can be put on the horizontal bar to clamp a luggage or a luggage carrier to the horizontal bar. A luggage carrier is used for luggage which do not have wheels. Therefore, the wheels of the luggage fit into sockets  11  and  12  on the horizontal bar or they can be locked or held by any other previously disclosed receiving means on the horizontal bar. The horizontal bar also has means for turning the bar, such as knobs  13  and  14  so that it can release the luggage when needed. 
     FIG. 3  illustrates the present device for wheelchairs which only have a high horizontal bar  15 . In this case, the device comprises of an adjustable vertical bar  16 , connected to a horizontal bar  17 . Then, the vertical bar  16  is attached onto the existing horizontal bar  15 , of a wheelchair, using a rod clamp  18  or similar attaching means, as shown in  FIG. 3 . This will ensure that the luggage is pulled at a low enough height from the ground so that wheelchair does not flip backwards.  FIG. 3   b  shows the device and its rod clamp to connect to the horizontal bar  18  and its suckets  19  and  20 . The adjustment of the height of the vertical bar is made by connecting the vertical bar  16  to the horizontal bar  17  through a small connecting rod  40 . The connecting rod  40  has an aperture  41  that the vertical rod  16  goes through and a set screw  42  to fix the height. Any other adjustable means can also be used. 
   Some wheelchairs do not have long enough vertical bars at their back and they may not even have a horizontal bar. The vertical bars in such wheelchairs do not extend low enough to attach a low lying horizontal bar. The present device is designed to be used with wheelchairs with short vertical bars as well. The device, shown in  FIG. 4 , comprises of a first horizontal bar  21  and a second horizontal bar  22  separated by an adjustable vertical bar  23 . The first horizontal bar  21  having two sides  51   a  and  51   b,  which attache onto the wheelchair using two bar clamps  52   a  and  52   b  or similar attaching means. The first horizontal bar  21  attaches onto the existing vertical bars,  24  and  25  of a wheelchair as shown in  FIG. 5 . An adjustable vertical bar  23 , having an upper  53  and a lower  54  ends, attaches to the horizontal bars by adjustable rod clamps  55  and  56 . The vertical bar is adjusted so that the second horizontal bar locates close to the ground. The rod clamps allow moving of the vertical bar with respect to the first and the second horizontal bars. 
   Any rod clamp in which the bar can slide through or similar adjustable attaching means can be used. 
   A luggage  27  attaches onto the second horizontal bar, at the bottom end of the adjustable vertical bar as shown in  FIG. 5 . The second horizontal bar  22  has means to secure a luggage on the bar. Any means, such as two adjustable sockets  61  and  62  (as described earlier) can be used to set the luggage on. The wheels of the luggage fit on the sockets  61  and  62  of the horizontal bar or they can be locked or held by any other previously disclosed receiving means on the horizontal bar. 
   This device allows for greater stability of the wheelchair as the wheels of the suitcase touching the ground, act as a fifth point of contact (four wheels of the wheelchair and the wheels of the suitcase). It is also a very simple connecting means of the luggage to the wheelchair, as well as being convenient for the user. 
   The second horizontal bar  22  also includes an aperture  28  at its center, in which a small vertical rod  29  or a hook can be attached. If suitcase  30  has a handle  31  on its side (closest side to the wheelchair) then the handle can be connected to the wheelchair as shown in  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 7  shows all the components of one embodiment of the present device. Various combination of these components can be used with different types of wheelchairs. 
   Some wheelchairs already have a horizontal bar between the vertical bars at the back, which is low enough to set the luggage on. In this case, the luggage can be directly set and secured onto this existing horizontal bar. If the suitcase does not have wheels, one of the above designs can be used to clamp a wheeled luggage carrier to the wheelchair. 
   Although certain embodiments of the techniques of the present application have been described, the spirit and scope of the application is by no means restricted to what is described above. Persons having ordinary skill in the art will be able to make variations, permutations, and combinations, in view of the above description, all of which are within the scope of the present application. 
   Attaching the Bars onto the Wheelchair 
   The horizontal or vertical or combination bars can be attached onto the wheelchair using any suitable clamping mechanism developed in prior art. 
   Attaching the Luggage onto the Bars 
   If suitcase has a handle on the side closest to the wheelchair, the handle could be clamped onto the wheelchair via appropriate clamping mechanism known to the skilled. Clamp can go through the suitcase handle and be attached to vertical bars or horizontal bar. 
   In another embodiment, clamps could attach onto top wheels of the suitcase (wheels closest to the wheelchair) by any suitable mechanism known to the skilled.