Externally mounted track apparatus for a wheel chair
First Claim
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1. Wheelchair apparatus comprising:
- a chassis;
a seat mounted onto said chassis; and
a travel drive associated with said chassis and comprising;
a pair of manually rotatable drive wheels mounted about a rotation axle extending through said chassis at wheel mounting locations therealong, anda pair of castor wheels, said wheels being operative to support said chassis on a travel surface so as to enable wheeled travel of said chassis therealong;
driven tracks mounted externally of the drive wheels and operative to assist travel of said chassis along a travel surface not suitable for traverse by said wheels.
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Abstract
Apparatus for assisting travel across a travel surface not suitable for traverse by a wheelchair having a chassis, a seat mounted onto the chassis, a pair of manually rotatable drive wheels mounted about a rotation axis extending through the chassis, and a pair of castor wheels, wherein the apparatus for assisting travel includes tracked apparatus associated with the manually rotatable drive wheels, and apparatus for decouplably mounting the tracked apparatus onto the chassis, externally of the manually rotatable drive wheels.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. Wheelchair apparatus comprising:
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a chassis; a seat mounted onto said chassis; and a travel drive associated with said chassis and comprising; a pair of manually rotatable drive wheels mounted about a rotation axle extending through said chassis at wheel mounting locations therealong, and a pair of castor wheels, said wheels being operative to support said chassis on a travel surface so as to enable wheeled travel of said chassis therealong; driven tracks mounted externally of the drive wheels and operative to assist travel of said chassis along a travel surface not suitable for traverse by said wheels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. Apparatus for assisting travel across a travel surface not suitable for traverse by a wheelchair having a chassis, a seat mounted onto the chassis, a pair of manually rotatable drive wheels mounted about a rotation axle extending through the chassis, and a pair of castor wheels, said apparatus for assisting travel comprising:
tracks mounted on said rotation axle externally of the manually rotatable drive wheels. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. Wheelchair apparatus comprising:
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a chassis; seating means mounted onto said chassis; and travel means associated with said chassis and comprising; wheeled means including; a pair of manually rotatable drive wheels mounted about a rotation axis extending through said chassis, said wheeled means being operative to support said chassis on a travel surface so as to enable wheeled travel of said chassis therealong; tracked means associated with said wheeled means and operative to assist travel of said chassis along a travel surface not suitable for traverse by said wheeled means; and means for decouplably mounting said tracked means onto said chassis, externally of said wheeled means, and wherein said chassis defines a pair of first mating portions aligned along an axis extending transversely through said chassis, said tracked means comprises a pair of track assemblies each having a second mating portion configured for mating with one of said first mating portions, and said means for decouplably mounting comprises means for permitting mutual locking engagement of said first and second mating portions in response to a resultant force component of at least a predetermined magnitude acting in a first direction along said axis, and for permitting decoupling of said first and second mating portions in response to a resultant force component of at least a predetermined magnitude acting along said axis in a second direction opposite to said first direction, and also including means for sensing the engagement of each said second mating portion with a corresponding first mating portion, and for further sensing the disengagement of second mating portion from said corresponding first mating portion. cm 27. Apparatus for assisting travel across a travel surface not suitable for traverse by a wheelchair having a chassis, a seat mounted onto the chassis, a pair of manually rotatable drive wheels mounted about a rotation axle extending through the chassis, said apparatus for assisting travel comprising; tracked means associated with the manually rotatable drive wheels; and means for decouplably mounting said tracked means onto said chassis externally of the manually rotatable drive wheels, wherein the chassis defines a pair of first mating portions aligned along an axis extending transversely through the chassis, said tracked means comprises a pair of track assemblies each having a second mating portion configured for mating with one of said first mating portions, and said means for decouplably mounting comprises means for permitting mutual locking engagement of said first and second mating portions in response to a resultant force component of at least a predetermined magnitude acting in a first direction along said axis, and for permitting decoupling of said first and second mating portions in response to a resultant force component of at least a predetermined magnitude acting along said axis in a second direction opposite to said first direction, and also including means for sensing the engagement of each said second mating portion with a corresponding first mating portion, and for further sensing the disengagement of second mating portion from said corresponding first mating portion.
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27. Apparatus for assisting travel across a travel surface not suitable for traverse by a wheelchair having a chassis, a seat mounted onto the chassis, a pair of manually rotatable drive wheels mounted about a rotation axle extending through the chassis, said apparatus for assisting travel comprising:
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tracked means associated with the manually rotatable drive wheels; and means for decouplably mounting said tracked means onto said chassis externally of the manually rotatable drive wheels, wherein the chassis defines a pair of first mating portions aligned along an axis extending transversely through the chassis, said tracked means comprises a pair of track assemblies each having a second mating portion configured for mating with one of said first mating portions, and said means for decoupably mounting comprises means for permitting mutual locking engagement of said first and second mating portions in response to a resultant force component of at least a predetermined magnitude acting in a first direction along said axis, and for permitting decoupling of said first and second mating portions in response to a resultant force component of at least a predetermined magnitude acting along said axis in a second direction opposite to said first direction, and also including means for sensing the engagement of each said second mating portion with a corresponding first mating portion, and for further sensing the disengagement of second mating portion from said corresponding first mating portion.
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Specification