U.S. patent number 3,674,310 [Application Number 05/075,985] was granted by the patent office on 1972-07-04 for head rest attachment for wheel chairs.
Invention is credited to Anthony Montagano.
United States Patent |
3,674,310 |
Montagano |
July 4, 1972 |
HEAD REST ATTACHMENT FOR WHEEL CHAIRS
Abstract
The attachment is composed of a tubular frame which includes two
laterally spaced upstanding legs having a bridging portion or
member joining their upper ends. A cushion is secured to said legs
with its upper edge spaced below the bridging member whence the
latter serves as a hand grip. The lower ends of the legs have
mutually parallel extensions from the same side of the frame as
that on which the cushion is mounted. Such extensions are
insertible into the tubular handles of the chair. When the headrest
is in use the frame extends upward from the common plan e of the
chair handles. When not in use, the frame is mounted upside down in
the same manner.
Inventors: |
Montagano; Anthony
(Pleasantville, NY) |
Family
ID: |
22129191 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/075,985 |
Filed: |
September 28, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
280/250.1;
297/397; 297/DIG.4; 297/403 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61G
5/12 (20130101); A47C 7/38 (20130101); A61G
5/1054 (20161101); A61G 5/121 (20161101); Y10S
297/04 (20130101); A61G 5/104 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47C
7/36 (20060101); A47C 7/38 (20060101); A61G
5/12 (20060101); A61G 5/00 (20060101); A47c
007/38 () |
Field of
Search: |
;297/397,391,403,394,DIG.4,444,443,451,352,45,44,183
;280/289,47.36,47.37,47.4,30 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
154,874 |
|
Nov 1938 |
|
OE |
|
852,718 |
|
Oct 1960 |
|
GB |
|
Primary Examiner: Zugel; Francis K.
Claims
What is claimed is as follows:
1. An attachment for a wheel chair having rearwardly extending
mutually parallel tubular handles adapted to be grasped by a person
pushing the chair, comprising a headrest assembly including a pair
of upwardly extending spaced legs converging toward each other, a
bridging member connecting the upper ends of said legs to form an
inverted substantially V-shaped frame, said bridging member being a
single hand grip for said wheel chair, a cushion secured to said
legs on one side of said frame and spaced below said bridging
member, the lower ends of said legs having mutually parallel
tubular extensions extending from said one side of said frame and
being laterally spaced from each other the same distance as the
distance between said handles, said handles and said extensions
having complementary diameters to permit slideable interengagement
of each of said handles and one of said extensions, said attachment
being selectively adapted to be mounted on said chair with said
legs extending upward from said handles or with said legs extending
downward from said handles.
2. An attachment according to claim 1, having releasable means for
interlocking said extensions and said handles when interengaged as
aforesaid.
3. An attachment according to claim 2, said releasable means
comprising two pins, each of the interengaged extensions and
handles having a set of mutually aligned holes therethrough, each
of said pins being insertible in one of the sets of mutually
aligned holes.
4. An attachment according to claim 3, having chains connecting
said pins to said frame.
5. An attachment according to claim 1, said frame having a board
interposed between said cushion and said legs.
6. An attachment according to claim 5, said board having a hole
extending at least part way thereinto on the side thereof facing
said cushion, said hole being positioned substantially intermediate
the width and height of said board.
7. An attachment according to claim 1, said bridging member being
arcuate and bulging upward with respect to said cushion.
8. An attachment according to claim 1, said extensions having a
smaller external diameter than the internal diameter of said
handles.
9. A combination of an attachment for a wheel chair having
rearwardly extending mutually parallel tubular handles adapted to
be grasped by a person pushing the chair and means for maintaining
the wheel chair in a tilted position comprising a headrest assembly
including a pair of upwardly extending spaced legs converging
toward each other, a bridging member connecting the upper ends of
said legs to form an inverted substantially V-shaped frame, said
bridging member being a single hand grip for said wheel chair, a
cushion secured to said legs on one side of said frame and spaced
below said bridging member, the lower ends of said legs having
mutually parallel tubular extensions extending from said one side
of said frame and being laterally spaced from each other the same
distance as the distance between said handles, said handles and
said extensions having complementary diameters to permit slideable
interengagement of each of said handles and one of said extensions,
said attachment being selectively adapted to be mounted on said
chair with said legs extending upward from said handles or with
said legs extending downward from said handles, and a rigid
retaining member mounted on a fixed support whereby said hand grip
bridging member may be releasably engaged by said retaining member
in order to maintain said wheel chair in said tilted position.
10. The combination as claimed in claim 9 wherein said rigid
retaining member is a hook.
Description
Wheel chairs in common use have no provision for the patient to
rest his head while seated therein, which is a handicap to many.
Wheel chair frames are commonly of tubular construction, with
hollow handles, open at their ends, to be grasped by a person
pushing the chair. Such handles usually have rubber or plastic
coverings slipped over them. The instant attachment is preferably
so made that it is adapted to have its frame extensions inserted
into the chair handles after removing the said coverings, although
the said extensions might also be made of sufficiently large
diameter to slip over the chair handles. In either case releasable
means is preferably provided to lock the interengaged extensions
and handles together.
Referring briefly to the accompanying drawings,
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a wheel chair with the instant
attachment mounted in place to serve as a head rest and shows at
the right, in phantom, the instant attachment per se, to illustrate
how the latter is secured to the chair handles.
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary enlarged rear elevational view of the wheel
chair frame with the attachment mounted thereon to serve as a head
rest.
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view, with parts broken away and partly in
section, as seen along the arrows 3--3 of FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a side view of the chair of FIG. 1 but showing the chair
tilted backward, and in section a room wall or the like stationary
support having a hook attached thereto, which engages the hand grip
of the attachment to maintain the chair in the tilted position.
FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the
wheel chair with the instant attachment mounted in inverted
position when not in use as a head rest.
Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates a
wheel chair frame which is commonly formed of hollow tubing and
includes substantially upright portions 11. The tubular handles 12
of the chair are mutually parallel and lie in a common
substantially horizontal plane above the plane of the arm rests
13.
The head rest attachment is shown composed of an approximately
V-shaped frame 14 having the diverging legs 20 of equal length, but
instead of having the legs meet at an apex a substitute therefor is
provided in the form of a bridging portion or member 15 which is
preferably arcuate, as shown. The member 15 serves as a hand grip
and is therefore preferably covered by a rubber or plastic sleeve
16.
A board or the like 17, having a cushion 18 secured in any desired
manner to its face, is attached as by means of bolts or screws 21
to one side of the frame 14. The lower ends of the legs 20 have
extensions 19 unitary therewith of equal length and extending from
the same one side of the frame 14. Preferably the entire frame 14
is made of tubing having an external diameter such that the
extensions 19 register slidably within the hollow handles 12.
FIG. 1 illustrates clearly how the attachment is mounted on the
chair, by sliding the extensions 19 into the chair handles 12.
Frictional interengagement of these parts may suffice to maintain
the attachment in place, but preferably releasable means is
provided for locking the parts together. One such means is
illustrated in the form of vertically aligned holes through both
the handles 12 and the extensions 19, with a pin 22 inserted from
above in each set of such aligned holes. In order to have the pins
always on hand, each pin is on the end of a chain or the like 23
attached to its adjacent leg 20.
With the instant attachment mounted as illustrated in FIG. 1, it is
apparent that the patient may rest his head against the cushion
while in seated position. FIG. 4 shows the chair of FIG. 1 in
tilted position, whence the weight of the patient is more widely
distributed against the chair back and the cushion 18 as well as
against the seat.
In order to augment the softening effect of the cushion 18, the
following added structure has been provided: The board has a hole
or opening 24 extending either wholly therethrough, as shown, or
only part way thereinto, not shown, and positioned intermediate the
width and height thereof. Thus, with the patient's head bearing
against the cushion 18, which would be most often against the
portion of the cushion directly forward of the hole 24 in the
board, the cushion will be deformed inwardly into the hole thereby
forming a depression 25, FIG. 3, in the face of the cushion and
permitting the rear portion of the cushion to bulge partly in to
the hole, as shown at 26.
FIG. 4 shows the chair of FIG. 1 as it may be left in tilted
position by engaging the hand grip 15 about a hook or the like 27
anchored in a wall or equivalent fixed support 28. Such a rest
position of the chair with the head rest attachment in place is
advantageous for a number of purposes. For example, when the
patient requires dental treatment he may be maintained in the
comfortable tilted position for a relatively prolonged period of
time, rather than having to be lifted out of the wheel chair into a
dentist's chair and then back again into the wheel chair. Another
advantage is that the patient may relax in the tilted chair with
his weight distributed as mentioned above rather than having all
his weight bear down upon the chair seat. For in the latter case
the patient's buttocks are subject to suffer from "bed sores." In
actual use of the instant tilted chair with the head rest in
position, a patient with a severe and painful case of bed sores was
soon relieved of them.
Still another practical advantage of the wheel chair with the head
rest in position, is that the chair may be tilted and maintained in
the tilted position by the by the person pushing or pulling the
chair, with his hand grasping the grip 15. It has been found in
practice that the chair can thus be pushed much more easily over a
rough terrain as well as pulled up or let down a flight of
stairs.
When the wheel chair is to be used without the head rest in
position, the latter may readily be removed from its position in
FIG. 1 by first disengaging the pins 22 and then sliding the
extensions 19 out of the chair handles 12. The attachment when so
removed may be carried by the chair by merely turning it upside
down and again inserting the extensions 19 into the chair handles,
as illustrated in FIG. 5, with the pins 22 against inserted into
the aligned holes in the handles and extensions. Thus the head rest
will at all times be at hand for immediate installation when
desired.
Like the frames of most if not all wheel chairs, the frame 14 of
the head rest is most desirably and economically made of hollow
tubing. Instead of having the extensions 19 of smaller diameter
than that of the chair handles 12, it is obvious that the reverse
may serve equally well. That is, the extensions 19 may have such
diameter that they slide over the chair handles. Further, the frame
14 may obviously have other than an approximate V-shape, so long as
it possesses the features of the extensions 19, the cushion 18 and
a hand grip equivalent to the grip 15 spaced upward from the
cushion.
The hand grip 15 need not necessarily be arcuate, as shown, for it
may also be linear and parallel with the top edge of the cushion.
It is preferably arcuate, however, for a more secure and safer
engagement with the hook 27, FIG. 1, as the chair is then less
subject to sidewise slippage.
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