Patent ID: 7487788

Claim:
A handle assembly for an adjustable crutch having two upper tubes each of which slides inside one of two lower tubes to adjust the height of the crutch, the handle assembly comprising: (a) a body, wherein the body comprises: a generally cylindrical palm grip around which a user wraps a palm of his hand to grip the body; a generally vertical front post a generally vertical rear post; a web which a web of the hand of the user contacts when the user grips the body; and a thumb rest upon which the user positions a thumb to more securely grip the body of the handle assembly, and wherein the body further comprises a gripping contour surface, wherein a plane tangent to the gripping contour surface forms a gripping angle with an imaginary line that is parallel to a center line of either one of the lower tubes, and wherein the gripping angle has a value between seventy and seventy-five degrees to reduce rolling and twisting motions of the user's hand and wrist while gripping the handle assembly; (b) a lever attached to the outside of the body; and (c) two locking pins positioned inside the body, wherein each locking pin is mechanically coupled to the lever, wherein each locking pin is normally positioned through tube holes formed in the upper tubes and through tube openings defined in the lower tubes to prevent the sliding of the upper tubes inside the lower tubes, and wherein the depression of the lever causes the locking pins to retract from the tube holes and the tube openings such that a user may slide the upper tube inside the lower tube.