Field of the invention
[0001] The present invention relates to an armrest adjusting mechanism, and more particularly
to a wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism that allows a wheelchair user to conveniently
adjust and lock the armrest to a suitable position.
Background of the invention
[0002] Most of wheelchairs in the market consist of the armrest fixedly located at both
sides of the wheelchair, so that a user can rest his/her arms on the armrests or use
the armrests as a support to get up from the wheelchair. Since the armrests are mostly
fixed at both sides of the wheelchair, as a result, they are not adjustable in accordance
with the heights or body sizes of the users, neither do they fulfill the specific
needs of the disable users when certain circumstantial conditions arose Therefore,
the conventional wheelchairs with fixed armrests are inconvenient and difficult to
be used by disable people.
[0003] Therefore it is an objective of the present invention to provide an adjusting mechanism
for wheelchair armrests, so that a wheelchair user can adjust and lock the armrests
easily to a suitable position.
Summary of the invention
[0004] A primary object of the present invention is to provide an armrest adjusting mechanism
applicable to wheelchair, in which a wheelchair user can conveniently slide the armrest
forward or backward to a desired position according to the need of the user, and the
armrest of the present invention can be locked easily and fixedly to the desirable
position via a simple control unit.
[0005] The wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of
the present invention comprises a support unit having an upright support, a horizontal
support connected to a top of the upright support, and a plurality of locking units
arranged on at least one side of the horizontal support; an armrest having a slide
channel for engaging with the horizontal support, and a stop hole formed on one side
of the armrest which is created a passage to the slide channel in such that the horizontal
support can be positioned within the slide channel; an outer end of one of the locking
units is located at the stop hole when the stop hole is aligned with the locking unit;
and a control unit is fitted in the stop hole.
[0006] When the wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism is mounted on a wheelchair, a user
can conveniently push and hold the control unit and slide the armrest forward or backward
to a desired position on the horizontal support, and then releases the control unit
to allow the locking unit to engage with the stop hole and thereby lock the armrest
to the adjusted position.
Brief description of the drawings
[0007] The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve
the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed
description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein
[0008] Fig. 1 is a 3-D schematic view with partial cutaway of a wheelchair armrest adjusting
mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
[0009] Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the circled area A in Fig. 1;
[0010] Fig. 3 is a 3-D assembled view of the wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism of the
present invention;
[0011] Fig. 4 is a sectional top view of the wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism in a
locked state along the cutting line B-B' of Fig. 3;
[0012] Fig. 5 is sectional top view of the wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism in a released
state; and
[0013] Fig. 6 is sectional top view of the wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism in a moving
state.
Detailed description of the preferred embodiments
[0014] The present invention provides a wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism that is applicable
to be used on the wheelchair armrest. Fig. 1 shows that the wheelchair armrest adjusting
mechanism of the present invention comprises a support unit 1, an armrest 2, and a
control unit 3.
[0015] The support unit 1 further comprises at least an upright support 11, a horizontal
support 12 connected to an upper end of the upright support 11, and a plurality of
locking units 13 arranged on at least one side of the horizontal support 12. The upright
support 11 is provided with vertical mounting holes 111. The horizontal support 12
is provided along at least one side with a plurality of receiving holes 121, which
are used to position the locking units 13. Every locking unit 13 comprises an elastic
element 131 that is used to engage with a locking pin 132 and the receiving hole 121,
and the locking pin 132 has a bottom portion that is used to press against the elastic
element 131 and has a top portion projected from the receiving hole 121 due to an
elastic force of the elastic element 131.
[0016] The armrest 2 is integrated to a top of the support unit 1. The armrest 2 has a section
defining a slide channel 21 for the horizontal support 12 to be slid within the slide
channel 21. A stop hole 22 is provided at the armrest 2 in such that a passage to
the slide channel 21 is created on one side of the armrest 2, in which the locking
units 13 of the horizontal support 12 can be integrated with the armrest 2. When the
armrest 2 is moved along in a horizontal direction, the stop hole 22 of the horizontal
support 12 can be adjusted and aligned to with a desired position in accordance with
the arrangement of the receiving holes 121 on the horizontal support 12, and once
the desired position of the horizontal support 12 is located, the horizontal support
12 is locked to the armrest 2 via the locking units 13 and the stop hole 22.
[0017] The control unit 3 is fitted in the stop hole 22 on the armrest 2 and is aligned
in accordance with the arrangement of the receiving holes 121 and is locked in place
to the desired positioned with the locking units 13. The control unit 3 comprises
at least a push rod 31, which is located in the stop hole 22 with an inner end pushing
against the locking pin 132 of the locking unit 13. The control unit 3 of the present
invention is designed in such that it is corresponding to the locking unit 13, and
is engaged with the locking unit 13 to shift or lock the support unit 1 along the
armrest 2 in different positions; a push button 32 having an inner side connected
to an outer end of the push rod 31 is provided, and an outer side of the push bottom
32 is protruded from an outer end of the stop hole 22 on the armrest 2; and an elastic
element 33 put around the push rod 31 with two ends separately pressing against inner
bottoms of the stop hole 22 and the push button 32.
[0018] Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are enlarged and sectional top views of the armrest 2 in various
states such as, in a locking state, in a releasing state, and in a moving state respectively.
Please refer to Figs. 4, 5, and 6 along with Fig. 1, the mounting holes 111 on the
upright support 11 and matching fastening elements (not shown) of the present invention
are designed to be utilized easily and are mounted the support unit 1 to each side
of a wheelchair. The armrest 2 is assembled to the horizontal support 12. With the
armrest 2 connected to the horizontal support 12 as shown in Fig. 4, a top portion
of the locking pin 132 of the locking units 13 is elastically pushed by the elastic
force of the elastic element 131 into the stop hole 22 of the armrest 2, and a bottom
portion of the locking pin 132 is located within the receiving hole 121 of the horizontal
support 12. Therefore, the armrest 2 is set to a desired position on the horizontal
support 12. When a user wants to get up from the wheelchair or to do some movements,
the armrest 2 of the wheelchair has to be adjusted to a suitable position before the
user can make any movement, in such instant, the wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism
of the present invention provides the user a convenient way to adjust the position
of the armrest easily by simply pushing the push button 32 of the control unit 3 to
a desired position. Fig. 5 shows that when the push button 32 of the control unit
3 is pushed the elastic element 33 would be compressed by the push rod 31, which is
moved by the push button 32 to push the top part of the push rod 31 in contact with
the top portion of the locking pin 132 in such that the push rod 31 is pushed into
the receiving hole 121 to compress the elastic element 131. As a result, the locking
pin 132 is separated from the stop hole 22 of the armrest 2 and is no longer to lock
the horizontal support 12 in the armrest 2.In other words, the armrest 2 can be freely
slid along the horizontal support 12 to a desired position, the user can easily slide
the armrest 2 either forward or backward to the desired position without much difficulty
as shown in Fig. 6. When the armrest 2 is being slid, the user can release the push
button 32, the locking pin 132 would be pressed against an inner sidewall surface
of the slide channel 21 in order to slide the armrest 2 forward or backward along
the horizontal support 12 until the armrest 2 is moved to the desired position. Then,
the top portion of the locking pin 132 of another locking unit 13 on the horizontal
support 12 is pushed into the stop hole 22 by the elastic force of the elastic element
131 while its bottom portion of the locking pin 132 is located within the receiving
hole 121 of the horizontal support 12. Therefore, the armrest 2 is adjusted to a suitable
position easily, and it can be locked easily and simply to the horizontal support
12 again without much difficulty, as shown in Fig. 4. The wheelchair armrest adjusting
mechanism of the present invention can be utilized easily and provides a most convenient
way for the disable people to use the wheelchairs without much physical effort.
[0019] According to the above arrangements, a wheelchair user can utilize the locking units
and the control unit to adjust the various positions of the armrest by sliding the
armrest forward or backward to a suitable position. Thus, the present invention is
novel, improved, and industrially practical for the utilizations in this field.
[0020] The present invention has been described with a preferred embodiment thereof and
it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiment can
be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that
is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.
1. A wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism, comprising:
a support unit having at least an upright support, a horizontal support connected
to an upper end of the upright support, and a plurality of locking units arranged
to one side of the horizontal support;
an armrest assembled to a top of the support unit and having a slide channel at a
lower side of the armrest in order to engage with the horizontal support of the support
unit; wherein a stop hole is provided at one side of the armrest to create a passage
to the slide channel in order to fit one of the locking units; and
a control unit fitted into the stop hole of the armrest, wherein the control unit
is aligned and pressed against the locking unit positioned within the stop hole.
2. The wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the upright
support is provided with a plurality of vertical mounting holes.
3. The wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein a plurality
of receiving holes is provided at one side of the horizontal support to position the
locking units respectively; each of the locking units comprises an elastic element
fitted in the receiving hole, and a locking pin having a bottom portion and a top
portion, wherein the bottom portion of the locking pin is pressed against the elastic
element and the top portion of locking pin is pushed from the receiving hole due to
an elastic force of the elastic element.
4. The wheelchair armrest adjusting mechanism as claimed in claim 1, wherein the control
unit comprises a push rod located in the stop hole, a push button having an inner
side connected to an outer end of the push rod and an outer side protruded from one
side of the armrest, and an elastic element located around the push rod, in which
one end of the elastic element is pressed against inner bottom of the stop hole and
the other end of the elastic element is pushed against inner bottom of the push button.