PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15863413
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-01
Publication Date: 2019-07
Patent Classification: ["135", "074000"]

Abstract:
Disclosed is a hinged cane to assist in user mobility. The cane comprises an upper section and a lower section and a hinged mechanism that connects the upper and lower sections. The hinged mechanism comprises a lower block and an upper block and a hinge coupler pivotally connected to the lower block and to the upper block. This configuration enables the lower section to be moved from a use position over a range of travel into a fully folded position. The cane includes a catch mechanism for releasably securing the upper section to the lower section when in the use position. The cane may include a foot that has a relatively more pliable skirt and a relatively less pliable central nub to assist in maintaining the natural walking motion of the user.

Claim (Index 12):
A hinged cane comprising\n an upper section and a lower section, and a hinge mechanism connecting said upper and lower sections; said upper section having a generally tubular region at least in a lower region of said upper section, and having an operator gripping handle disposed at an upper region of said upper section; an intermediate section that is retractable within said upper section, said intermediate section being provided with a plurality of height adjustment holes, said upper section being provided with a height adjustment catch button engageable individually with said height adjustment holes to permit adjustment of the height of the cane;\n said lower section having a generally tubular region at least in an upper region of said lower section, and having a foot disposed at a lower region of said lower section; \n said hinge mechanism comprising a lower block disposed within said upper region of said lower section and an upper block disposed within said lower region of said upper section, and a hinge coupler, said hinge coupler being pivotally connected to said lower block and also being pivotally connected to said upper block to enable said lower section to be moved into a use position where said lower section is axially aligned relative to said upper section over a range of travel into a folded position; \n said lower block being retractable within said lower section; \n said generally tubular regions of said upper and lower sections having a splined or slotted interior profile for engagement with a corresponding slotted or splined profile of said upper and lower blocks;\n one of said upper and lower blocks being provided with a magnet and the other of said upper and lower blocks being provided with a corresponding magnet or metal to enable magnetic coupling of said upper and lower blocks when said upper section is brought into axial alignment with said lower section; \n said cane including a catch mechanism for releasably securing said upper section to said lower section, said catch mechanism comprising a spring-loaded catch button mounted on said upper block, said catch button engaging a catch opening in said generally tubular region of said lower section; \n whereby a user may secure the lower section to the upper section by moving the lower section into axial alignment with the upper section and to cause said lower block to engage said upper block, and axially translating said lower section relatively towards said upper section to cause retraction of said retractable block relative to said lower section, said catch mechanism engaging when said lower section has been moved into a catch position relative to said upper block.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 4.0
- Percentile: 86.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.15625
- Patent Class: 135.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['14959932', '15802199', '11206452', '11388340', '11434788']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.6864990557372689
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.4563629954586302
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.663485449709405
- Mean Citation Score: 140.875824
- Max Citation Score: 144.03596000000005
- Similarity Product: 105.51464500408652

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 0
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test