Low-gear system for manually propelled wheelchairs and methods of use

摘要

A low-gear drive system functionally coupled to a wheelchair is provided herein.

主权项

1. A low-drive gear wheel apparatus adaptable to a wheelchair comprising:
a wheel; a hub; a plurality of spokes that radially extend from the hub to the wheel; a hand rim associated with the wheel; and a planetary gearing system associated with the wheel; wherein the planetary gearing system comprises an axle adapted to be fixedly attached to a body frame of a wheel based system, an output of the planetary gearing system is coupled to the wheel, an input of the planetary gearing system is coupled to the hand rim; a sun gear; a ring gear; a planet carrier having a body member with an axially inner first surface, an axially outer second surface, a wall thickness between the first and second surface, and a plurality of radially projecting slots extending from a radially inner surface of the planet carrier to a radially outer surface of the planet carrier and further extending from the first surface into the wall thickness of the body member wherein the spokes are received in each slot; and at least one planet gear rotatable coupled to said planet carrier and in constant mesh with the sun gear and the ring gear wherein the sun gear is fixedly attached to the axle of the planet gearing system.