Importance

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Abstract

A conventional wheelchair (11) is powered by the hands and arms of the User. It normally has two large hand/arm driven rear wheels (17) and two small front castor-like wheels (19). The available powered chairs are expensive and complex, and not suitable for use both out on the street and also in inside at home or at work. The present invention furnishes a self-powered steerable mobility unit (21) that can be securely but removably attached in a matter of minutes to a wheelchair to provide superior mobility and yet increased stability and greater ease of use both indoors and out. More specifically, it proposes an arrangement rather like the front end of a bicycle--a powered wheel (22, 23) rotatably supported on a post (24) steerably/twistably mounted within a pillar (26) from which projects an elongate linear strut (121: the 'connecting tube'), with steering handlebars (25) at the top end of the post (24) by which the wheel (22) may be turned from side to side--coupled with strut mounting means (125: the 'docking tube') secured to the wheelchair. The strut mounting means (125) is such as to allow the strut (121) initially to rotate on its axis therewithin, so that the powered wheel assembly (21) can be plugged into place while at an angle, and then rotated--by the User whilst sitting in the chair (11)--into the vertical while at the same time levering the wheelchair's front castor wheels (19) off the ground.

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First Claim