Due to great strides in medicine within the past few decades, there has been a considerable increase in the average life expectancy. Concurrently, there has been a considerable change in the age profile of the general population in advanced countries which have felt the impact of improved drugs and medical procedures. Thus, the population of elderly people in advanced countries is now much higher than it was previously.
With increased medical knowledge, there has also been an increased in the life expectancy of human beings who suffer from disabling diseases or injuries caused by birth trauma. For example, humans afflicted with cerebral palsy now lead longer and more useful lives and the life expectancy of people suffering from muscular dystrophy has also been extended.
The increased number of elderly and disabled people in the population has created a need for walking aids of various types. Such walking aids generally have a rigid frame construction with a plurality of legs which support the walking aid in an upright position. In usage, the walking aid is gripped for support and is lifted slightly or slid over a horizontal surface during the forward movement by the user. After being slid, for example, in a forward direction, the user can then lean on the aid while taking several more steps and the walking aid may then be slid to a new position, etc.
Walking aids are a necessity to many invalids and must accompany them wherever they go. Thus, a walking aid should be capable of being folded to a flat position during shipment or storage. Since the folding or unfolding of a walking aid will frequently have to be accomplished by the invalid himself, without outside assistance, the folding mechanism should be such that it can easily be operated by an elderly or disabled person without the need for fine muscular coordination. For example, on entering an automobile, the invalid will generally back into the automobile while supporting himself with the walking aid. Once seated, the walking aid will then be folded to a collapsed position and lifted into the automobile for carrying. On leaving an automobile, the reverse operation will have to be performed with the invalid first lifting the walking aid to a position outside the automobile, and unfolding the walking aid to an extended or operating position, and lastly, raising himself to an upright position by using the walking aid as a support.
If the mechanism for folding the walking aid to a collapsed position requires fine muscular coordination, the unfortunate user may not be able to get the walking aid into an automobile because he is unable to fold it to a collapsed position. Conversely, if the user is unable to operate the mechanism for unfolding the walking aid, he may be literally a prisoner within his own car and be unable to leave without assistance from an outsider in unfolding the walking aid. Since a walking aid may be folded and unfolded many times depending on the daily activities of the user, it is extremely important that the folding and unfolding mechanism not require fine muscular coordination since this would make the walking aid virtually unusable by many elderly and disabled persons.
As essential characteristic for a walking aid is that it provide a firm support for the user. An elderly or disabled person using the walking aid may have a poor sense of equilibrium and a genuine fear of falling. Given these circumstances, nothing can be more unnerving than a walking aid which feels unstable. Walking aids of the foldable or collapsible type frequently develop a certain feeling of looseness through wear at joints or pivot points resulting from the constant folding and unfolding of the walking aid. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a foldable or collapsible walking aid which does not develop looseness during continued usage and continues to provide stable support for the user.
One form of collapsible or foldable walking aid which has been previously used is the so-called "gate leg walker" in which a pair of gate legs are each pivotally interconnected to a cross brace with the gate legs being rotatable from an open position substantially tranverse to the cross brace to a collapsed position in which the gate legs are folded against the cross brace. Previous gate leg walkers have not been generally satisfactory because they are difficult to operate by an elderly or disabled person lacking fine muscular coordination and they are unsturdy and have a tendency to wobble after continued usage. This contributes to a feeling of insecurity by the user and could, in an extreme case, cause the user to fall and injure himself.
Further, previous gate leg walkers also suffer from the disadvantage that the space provided for the user between the gate legs is not sufficiently open and may, therefore, interfere with the normal usage of the walker. For example, the use of the walker aid as a bathroom assist is extremely important to an elderly or disabled person. However, if the space provided between the legs of the walker is not sufficiently open and unobstructed, it may be impossible to slide the walker over a standard toilet bowl with the walker legs positioned on either side of the bowl. In this instance, the walker will not be usable as a bathroom assist which might make it impossible for the user to perform his normal bodily functions with safety and convenience.