| Passive child therapy tricycle with adjustable seat -> Monitor Keywords |
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Passive child therapy tricycle with adjustable seatRelated Patent Categories: Exercise Devices, Involving User Translation Or Physical Simulation Thereof, BicylclingPassive child therapy tricycle with adjustable seat description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060035760, Passive child therapy tricycle with adjustable seat. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/664,362. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to the field of physical therapy. In particular, a motorized tricycle, attractive to children, is disclosed which has an adjustable seat to keep the child in place as well as adjustable pedals and a programmable electric motor. [0003] In the field of exercise therapy equipment, it is often necessary to have a motorized bicycle or other device to exercise injured or impaired patients. Certain injuries could result in the paralysis of the arms or legs. Additionally, impairment or paralysis could be the result of a congenital disease. In either case, the patient needs to have the muscles of the arms or legs exercised regularly so that these muscles to not become atrophied. [0004] There are common exercise regimens practiced throughout the health care and rehabilitative industry. However, most of these exercise regimens involve manual movement of the limbs by a nurse practitioner or rehabilitative worker. Some exercise devices provide for an unattractive motorized movement of the muscle groups. Motorized rehabilitative apparatus are usually designed for adults and are not made to attract children by simulating a child's toy tricycle. It is an object of this invention to provide a rehabilitative motorized exercise apparatus that is attractive to children. [0005] One type of child's exercise apparatus is disclosed in the 1989 Patent issued to Mendel, U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,157. The Mendel exercise apparatus discloses an attractive child's tricycle. However, the Mendel device is used to exercise the arms of the child. An electrical stimulation from a battery is provided to the patient who is sitting on a tricycle. Although Mendel does provide electrical stimulation to a paralyzed limb, it would be beneficial to have an attractive child's tricycle that would move both of the patient's legs by a motorized force. The movement of a patient's paralyzed legs by an electric motor exercises the legs and tones the leg muscles. Exercising the legs keeps the leg muscles from becoming atrophied. It is an object of this invention to provide an electrically operated tricycle for exercising a paralyzed child's legs. [0006] Another device found in the prior art is the 2003 US Patent Application filed by Pyle. This Patent Application Publication discloses an exercise device having a power source 16 that drives pedals. The Pyle exercise device is designed to stimulate the legs of disabled children. One drawback of the Pyle device is that it is not similar in appearance to an attractive child's tricycle. Another drawback of the Pyle device is that the seat is rigid and the length between the seat and pedals is fixed. It is an object of this invention to provide an adjustable seat for an exercise tricycle that adjusts to different heights and widths of a child. In particular, it is an object of this invention to provide a seat that will keep a child in place. It is a still further object of this invention to provide length adjustments for a child's legs and width adjustments for a child's feet and hips such that the device is comfortable for a child exercising and is also capable of keeping the child's legs, knees and hips in proper alignment. [0007] Another motorized stationary bike for lower body rehabilitation is disclosed in the 2004 Patent issued to Sze. The Sze Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 6,740,010, describes a motorized stationary bike. The motor is connected to a drive a shaft and the driveshaft is coupled to a worm gear by a coupler. This direct drive of the pedals eliminates lengthy chains or other devices that may become entangled in the patients' limbs. One drawback of the Sze device is that the patient must be capable of riding on a small seat 26. Sze does not provide for an adjustable seat that keeps the child in place. In addition, Sze does not have adjustable pedals to accommodate the growth of a child. It a still further object of this invention to provide an adjustable seat for a child's motorized exercise tricycle which keeps the child in place and keeps the child's body aligned with the mechanism to ensure effective and comfortable use of the exercise device. [0008] It is a prime object of this invention to provide an adjustable seat with a side support to enable a child to exercise while sitting upright with his or her back against the back of the seat and a side support to avoid slumping. It is a further object of this invention to provide a child's exercise tricycle with a seat design that keeps the hips, knees, legs and ankles in alignment during the exercise to avoid injury and enhance the exercise session. It is a still further object of this invention to provide adjustable pedals to fit the width of a child's hips so that the child's legs stay inline with the hips to avoid strain on the ankles, hips or knees. [0009] Other and further objects of this adjustable tricycle will become apparent upon reading the below described specification. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DEVICE [0010] A motorized child's exercise tricycle is presented which is adjustable to allow the exercise tricycle to grow as the child grows. An expandable chassis allows the distance between the seat and the pedals to be adjusted. A special seat is designed that is tapered downwardly and outwardly from the child's body. The adjustable seat, that includes a seatbelt, keeps the child sitting upright with his or back against the back of the seat. The side support of the specially designed back supports the child to avoid slumping. The back support of the seat and the specially designed lower seat keep the child's hips, knees, legs and ankles in alignment. Adjustable pedals are provided in this device to allow the distance between the pedals to be widened to conform to the width of the child's hips so that the hips and legs stay inline. The tricycle also has handlebars that are adjustable up or down. The specially designed seat may also be adjusted up or down to conform the dimensions of the tricycle to the patient's size. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES [0011] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the Passive Child Therapy Tricycle. [0012] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the front end of the tricycle showing the adjustable pedals and electric motor. [0013] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the specially designed seat. [0014] FIG. 4 is a side cross section of the specially designed seat shown in FIG. 3. [0015] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the specially designed seat showing the seatbelt apparatus. [0016] FIG. 6 is a top view of the specially designed seat shown in FIG. 5. [0017] FIG. 7 is an exploded view of the tricycle showing the three main parts when detached. [0018] FIG. 8 is a side view of the adjustable seat support bracket. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT [0019] A Passive Child Therapy Tricycle with a specially designed adjustable seat is best shown in FIG. 1. The tricycle has a front lower frame base 1 in place of the front wheel of a regular tricycle. The child's tricycle also has two rear wheels 2 which are connected by an axle 42. Connected to the rear axle 42 is an adjustable cross bar frame chassis 3. This adjustable frame chassis may be lengthened as described later to adjust the distance between the seat and pedals to the particular patient's size. One major improvement disclosed in this application is the ability of the caregiver to adjust the tricycle for different size patients and to adjust the tricycle as an individual patient grows. [0020] The adjustable chassis 3 consists of an essentially elongated S-shaped piece 4. This S-shaped front piece 4 fits into a female cross bar frame rear piece 5. The female rear piece 5 is attached to the wheel axle 42. A cross bar collar 6 and a tightening handle and pin 7 allow the front male piece and the rear female piece to be lengthened and secured. The tightening handle may be grooved to lock the handle tightly. A plurality of cross bar front piece adjusting holes 8 are used in conjunction with the tightening handle and rod 7 to adjust the length of the tricycle. To adjust the length of the chassis 3, one simply aligns the appropriate holes 8 with the hole in the collar 6, inserts the pin through the corresponding holes and tightens the handle and pin 7. Continue reading about Passive child therapy tricycle with adjustable seat... Full patent description for Passive child therapy tricycle with adjustable seat Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Passive child therapy tricycle with adjustable seat patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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