Improvements in Appliances for Teaching Children to Walk, Applicable also as Invalid Carriages
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Mar., 1899-Accepted, 6th May, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Appliances for Teaching Children to Walk,
Applicable also as Invalid Carriages;
1, EDUARD REINLI, of Bahnhofstrasse, Murgenthal, Canton Aargad, Switzer-
land, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:―
As is well known children who are just at the age of learning to walk and at
which age their legs are scarcely able to carry their bodies, are very liable to
acquire crooked limbs, inturned feet, curvatures of the spine or, the like, which
have very injurious effects on their later development. Now the present inven-
tion has for object to teach children to walk so to speak by way of playing. This
apparatus will also be useful as an invalids movable bath chair, especially in the
case of old people who find walking extremely trying, and who will find walking
rendered much easier by its use, namely, in sitting in the chair the feet are moved
in such a manner as to imitate, so to speak, the movements of walking.
The present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in one
arrangement which is given by way of example. In these drawings, Figure 1 is
a side elevation of the apparatus. Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line y-y
of Figure 3, and Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the line of Figure 2.
The apparatus as shown comprises two side frames a having each two arms b
and c which extend upwards, and two arms d and e that extend downwards. The
corresponding upper arms are connected together by means of cross bars e,
whilst through the lower arms d there extends an axle g upon which are rotatably
mounted wheels h, h, outside of the side frames. In the ends of the arms a
there are fixed inwardly projecting pins each of which carries a wheel k. These
wheels are provided with a crank pin with which there engages a treadle or
pedal, the other end of which is connected to a rod s that is mounted at its centre
in an oscillatory manner on the axle g, so that by the rotation of the wheels k
the pedals are caused to make a sort of stepping or walking motion. Upon each
pedal there is provided a device for attaching the feet of the child firmly to the
pedals. The object of this attachment will be clear from the following:-
Between the frames a there is also rotatably mounted a bar 7 to which the seat m
is screwed fast, and which latter is movably jointed to the back n. This back
has two laterally projecting parts n which are capable of sliding along the arms c.
A strap o which is designed to serve as a support under the arms of the child'
passes over these parts n¹ and the cross bar e on each side of the apparatus. The
bar can be rotated by means of an endless worm-gear which has the result of
producing a shifting of the seat with the back and the straps. The two limit
positions of these parts can be seen from Figure 2. As will be perceived the
herein described apparatus has the form of an invalid movable or bath chair and
may also in certain cases be employed solely as such. It is set in motion by
pushing against the cross bar f which connects the long rear arms c with each
other. By this means the pedals, as already stated above, will execute a kind

page_text: of stepping or walking motion so that the feet of a child sitting in the said chair
will be compelled to execute the same motion when they are connected to the
pedals by means of the hereinbefore described device. As the child improves in
learning to walk and gets stronger and bigger, the seat can be shifted so that the
child will be brought gradually from a sitting position into a leaning position and
finally into a standing position. The straps which also move upwards will always
serve as a support under the arms of the child.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
(1) An apparatus for teaching children to walk, in the form of a child's wheeled
chair, characterized by two pedals which are driven by wheels on the chair when
the chair is rolled along and which are adapted to execute a sort of stepping or
walking movement so that the feet (which are firmly attached to the pedals) of a
child sitting in the said chair will be compelled to execute the same movement.
(2) A form of construction of the apparatus specified in Claim 1, in which the
seat is movably jointed to a back which is capable of vertical adjustment and
which also carries the supports for the arms, and is connected with an adjusting
device which enables the child, as it improves in learning the movements of
walking, to be brought gradually out of the sitting position into a leaning posi-
tion and finally into a standing position.
Dated this 2nd day of March 1800
ROBERT E. PHILLIPS,
Assoc. M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech. E.,
Chartered Patent Agent, 70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Associate Agent.