US3672722A - Invalid chair having adjustable headrest seat and footrest - Google Patents

Abstract

AN INVALID CHAIR HAS A PAIR OF FIXED LATERAL FRAME MEMBERS WHICH SUPPORT A PAIR OF UPRIGHT TUBULAR MEMBERS AND A FOOTREST ASSEMBLY ANGULARLY ADJUSTABLE UP AND DOWN THE TUBULAR MEMBERS. THE FRAME MEMBERS ALSO SUPPORT A SEAT WHICH IS ADJUSTABLE POSITIONABLE BETWEEN THE FRAME MEMBERS. A BACKREST IS SECURED BETWEEN THE FRAME MEMBERS AND ADJUSTABLY SUPPORTS A HEADREST.

Description

June 27, 1972 Q MURCQTT 3,672,722

INVAILD CHAIR HAVING ADJUSTABLE HEADREST, SEAT, AND FOOTREST Filed May 1,' 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. C HA RL ES E. MURCOTT FIG. 2 W

ATTORNEY June 27, 1972 c, MURCQTT 3,672,722

INVAILD CHAIR HAVING ADJUSTABLE HEADREST, SEAT, AND FOOTREST Filed May 1, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 6

CHA RL ES QYWSE'OTT ATTORNEY -United States Patent 01 lice 3,672,722 Patented June 27, 1972 3,672,722 INVALID CHAIR HAVING ADJUSTABLE HEADREST, SEAT, AND FOOTREST Charles E. Murcott, Huntington, N.Y., assignor to Lumex Inc., Bay Shore, N.Y. Filed May 1, 1970, Ser. No. 33,550 Int. Cl. A97c 7/50 US. Cl. 297-437 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to improvements in invalid chairs and, more particularly, concerns an invalid chair having an adjustable headrest, adjustable seat and adjustable footrest.

The invention involves improvements over those disclosed in my prior U.S. Pats. 3,325,215 and 3,123,397,

as well as other invalid chairs heretofore known. A principal difliculty encountered with prior invalid chairs is that the several parts do not have a sufiiciently wide range of adjustment to accommodate severely handicapped invalids, particularly those suffering from cerebral palsy and other debilitating infirmities of like severity. When such persons are fed or undergoing treatment, they must assume sitting postures which are sometimes rather unusual and awkward. Sometimes one foot is higher than the other. Frequently adjustments must be made in the footrest, backrest and seat. Conventional invalid chairs are poorly adapted for making these adjustments and, thus, in many cases patients are not comfortably supported.

The present invention is directed at overcoming the above and other difiiculties and disadvantages of prior invalid chairs and, at the same time, providing an improved invalid chair having a wider range of adjustments than conventional invalid chairs.

According to the invention, the invalid chair has a footrest assembly which is pivotally engaged with tubular arms. These arms are secured to sleeves which in turn are adjustable on vertical posts at the front of the chair. By this arrangement, the footrest can be angularly or vertically disposed at will. Furthermore, the pivotal mounting enables the footrest to be raised and lowered by angular movements which can be done while an invalid is seated in the chair.

According to another feature of the invention, an adjustable and removable headrest is provided supported by stationary backrest. Furthermore, the chair has an inclined adjustable seat.

These and other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an invalid chair embodying the invention;

'FIG. 2 is a plan view partially in section showing the adjustable footrest, taken along line 2 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial rear elevational view showing the adjustable headrest;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view with portions broken away, showing the adjustable seat construction;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 2, through a footrest support, a platform of the footrest being omitted;

FIG. 6 is a further enlarged cross sectional view taken along the line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional "view through the footrest taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the footrest taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the platform of the footrest shown in an inverted position.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 an invalid chair generally designated by reference numeral 10, having a rigid frame 12 formed by a pair of vertically curved tubular members 16, slightly inclined arm portions 18, front leg portions 20 and rear leg portions 22. The member 16, arms 18, legs 20 and 22 are an integral part of frame 12. However, if desired they may be manufactured as individual parts and rigidly secured together. Rotatably secured to the bottom ends of the respective front and rear legs 20 and 22 are front and rear wheels 24, 25, and in the preferred embodiment, the wheels 25 may be universally mounted for rotation in a horizontal plane as well. Additionally, the rear wheels may have braking means attached thereto. Two pair of horizontal upper tubular brace bars 26, 28, and one pair of lower brace bars 30 are rigidly joined to the front and rear legs 20, 22. An adjustable table 32,

which is carried by a pair of members 34, 36 is adapted to be stored along side the chair opposite the side illustrated in FIG. 1 and is more completely described in my Pat. No. 3,123,397.

According to the invention, there is provided a pair of vertical stationary tubular posts 40 secured by bolts 42, 44 to the inner sides of the front legs 20. The tubular posts 40 extend downwardly and are inclined upwardly as illustrated in FIG. 1. Each of the posts 40 has a plurality of axially spaced holes 46 as most clearly shown in FIG. 5. Slidably disposed on each of the tubular posts 40 is a sleeve member 48 which integrally supports a footrest support 50. Each of the sleeve members 48 is respectively held in place by a spring loaded pin 52 which may be engaged selectively in one of the holes 46 (see FIG. 5 and FIG. 6). Each of the footrest supports 50 includes a tubular arm 54 extending axially upward from the sleeve member 48. The tubular arms 54 are inclined axially upwardly and forwardly as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5. These arms are adapted to be engaged in an arcuate finger 56 of a bracket 58 secured by a screw 59 to the underside of a footrest platform generally designated by reference numeral 60. (See FIGS. 7, 8 and 9.) The brackets 58 frictionally engage the tubular arms 54 so that the footrest 60 may be turned angularly thereon when the pins 52 are disengaged from the holes 46 in one of the posts 40. This motion is indicated by dotted lines in FIG. 7. The internal diameter of each of the sleeve members 48 is larger than the external diameter of the tubular posts 411) to provide spaces S therebetween as shown most clearly in FIG. 6. By this arrangement, the footrest 60 may be worked angularly up or down the axially upright tubular posts 40. The foot rest 60 may be held in an angular position with respect to the floor F transversely of the chair if this is necessary for the comfort of the patient occupying the chair. The angular up and down adjustment of the footrest 60 enables the adjustment to be made while the chair is occupied by a patient which is a great convenience. That is, a nurse is now free to use one hand to hold the chest of a patient and thereby prevent the patient from falling forward while using her other free hand to adjust the footrest. In the preferred embodiment, the footrest 60 may be provided with a resilient rubber traction tread 62, a metal edge molding 63 covering an inner wood core 64 and the bottom of the core may be covered with a plastic sheet 66. A pair of tubular foot members 61 are adjustably inserted in the bottom ends of the posts 40 and are each held in place by a resiliently loaded pin 67 (see FIG.

The foot members 61 carry a cup-shaped bumper 65 at their respective outer free ends. The foot members extend close to floor F at the front of the chair and restrict the amount of forward tilt of the chair if a patient stands on the footrest 60.

A seat, generally designated by reference numeral 70, as clearly shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, has a wooden base 72, covered with a padding 74. Two rectangular vertically disposed metal plates 78, 80 are secured to lateral side walls 76 and top wall 77 of the base 72 by a plurality of screws 73. The plate 78 has a plurality of holes 82 which are adapted to receive a spring loaded pin 84 which in turn is slidably engaged in a lateral guide bar 86 extending between the front and rear legs of the chair at one side of seat 70. Another guide bar 88 is located at the other side of the seat 70. The plates 78 and 80 are slidable along the inner sides of bars 86, 88, which are tilted somewhat downwardly as illustrated in FIG. 1 to permit easier digestion of food by certain types of invalid patients, i.e. spastic children, etc. The seat moves with the guide plates 78, 80 and may be positioned along the bars 86, 88 by the pin 84. A pair of stop bars 90, 92 are positioned traversely between the bars 86, 88 respectively and are secured at opposite ends thereto. A bracket 94 is also secured at opposite ends of the seat 70 and the underside thereof. The bracket 94 moves with the seat 70 between bars 90, 92 and is stopped at either end by bar 90 or 92. This limits the range of movement of the seat between bars 90, 92 and prevents the seat from being raised.

The chair has a vertical backrest 96 which is padded and secured to the tubular rear legs 22. These tubular legs are open at the top and receive tubular arms 93 of a removable U-shaped handle 95. A padded rectangular headrest 97 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 is secured to an inverted U-shaped tubular member 98. A pair of legs 9'9 of the member 98 extend below the headrest and are adjustably inserted in respective tubular support members 100 welded to a pair of cross bars 102 which are secured by screws 104 to the rear of the backrest 96. A spring loaded pin 103 on one of the support members 100 engages selectively in one of a plurality of holes 106 located in one of legs 99 for holding the headrest in position above the backrest.

By the arrangement described, the chair can be adjusted at the head, feet and seat of the patient for utmost comfort to suit any one or more of a multitude of physical disabilities. In addition the shape and particularly the large size of the footrest 60 permit it to be used for patients of a great many different statures. Thus as clearly illustrated in FIG. 1 a portion of the footrest extends under the seat and this condition will exist even if the seat is in the rear most position and the footrest is in the lowest position, i.e., bracket 94 against the stop bar 90, and the stop pin 52 is in the lowest hole 46, whereby a patient regardless of size may comfortably rest his feet on the platform 60.

It should be understood that the foregoing disclosure relates to only a preferred embodiment of the invention and that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications of the examples of the invention herein chosen for the purposes of the disclosure, which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a chair assembly of the type wherein a pair of 4 lateral frame members secures thereinbetween a stationary backrest, a substantially horizontal seat and a footrest assembly, the improvement which comprises a pair of tubular posts secured to said frame members in an axially upright position;

a footrest carried by said tubular posts and arranged for angular adjustment up and down along said posts,

said footrest comprising a sleeve member loosely fitted around each of said tubular posts;

a tubular arm extending outwardly from each of said sleeve members;

a Hat footrest platform; and

a pair of bracket means secured to said platform at its underside, one of said pair of bracket means partially encircling and frictionally gripping one of said tubular arms whereby each of said bracket means is turnable angularly on said tubular arms; and

means for holding said footrest platform on said tubular posts in any selected position along said posts.

2. A chair assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for holding said footrest platform on said tubular posts comprises a first spring loaded pin carried by each one of said sleeve members on said tubular posts, each of said tubular posts having a plurality of spaced holes to selectively receive and engage one of said spring loaded pins.

3. A chair assembly as defined in claim 2 further comprising a bent foot member adjustably inserted in the bottom end of each of said tubular posts; and

a second spring loaded pin carried by each of said bent foot members and selectively engaged in one of said holes in one of said tubular posts.

4. A chair assembly as defined in claim 1 further comprising a substantially horizontal side bar secured to each of said frame members, said seat being movably mounted on said side bars;

a guide member means carried by said seat between said side bars;

means engageable with said guide member means to hold said seat in place on said side bars;

and stop means for limiting forward and rearward movement of said seat on said side bars.

5. A chair assembly as defined in claim 1 further comprising a headrest adjustably carried by said backrest and located above said backrest.

6. A chair assembly as defined in claim 5, further comprising a pair of upright parallel tubular members secured to said backrest; and

an inverted U-shaped tubular support rigidly secured externally to said headrest and having depending legs adjustably inserted in said tubular members on said backrest.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,675,057 4/1954 Glass 297429 3,123,397 3/1964 Murcott 297 1,877,769 9/ 1932 Knapp 248-420 3,429,615 2/ 1969 Belk 297410 3,482,873 12/1969 'Pivacek 297429 3,362,738 1/1968 Dygert et a1. 108-446 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner G. MOORE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 297410

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