Beginning at NYU in Jan 2013 within the context of a Patents Translation course delivered online, this blog seeks to uncover the patents that rock our daily lives....
The outstanding OMNI invention, winner of the 2023 Presidental Award at the historical Concours Lépine in France, was awarded the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) patent WO2021094092A1, titled Hitching device designed to be fitted on a scooter. The patent was awarded to the French inventors: Robin Lhommeau, Sulivan Richard & Mathieu Izaute, on May 20, 2021. The OMNI team members delivered on a dream to provide wheelchair users with an affordable and fun experience of true wheelchair mobility, using non-specialized products to dramatically lower costs, and to augment the inclusion of wheelchair users in the abled world.
Below, the patent Figure 1a depicts an unhitched system (0), comprising a manual-drive wheelchair (100) and escooter (200), with the detachable OMNI invention connector (2), installed on the wheelchair, via interface attachments (1a) and (1b), held apart by a crossbar (21); and on the escooter (200), a hitching device (40). The OMNI hitching system (0) is designed to dock the wheelchair (100) on the escooter (200), when the crossbar (21) is hitched to the escooter hitching device (40); and to release the wheelchair (100) from the escooter (200), when the crossbar (21) is unhitched from the escooter hitching device (40). When the wheelchair (100) and escooter (200) are docked, the wheelchair (100) becomes motorized. When the wheelchair (100) undocks from the escooter (200), the wheelchair (100) reverts to manual drive.
The patent Figure 1 further depicts at least a front wheel (204), and at least a rear wheel (201), on each side of the escooter (200) platform (202). The rear wheel (201) comprises an integrated motor, as well as power supply means, driving the escooter (200) movement. The front wheel (204), mounted pivotally on the platform (202), is steerable using the handlebar (203). The rear wheel (201) further comprises a brake, that the user operates.
The wheelchair (100) comprises at least three wheels (101, 102 and 103), mounted to rotate and function as a support structure for the chair seat. The at least two rear wheels (101 and 102) are manual drive, and the front wheels (103) of the wheelchair (100) steer the wheelchair.
The hitching system (0), comprising interface attachments (1a and 1b) respectively attach to two tubular wheelchairs parts (102a and 102b). The detachable OMNI invention connector (2), together with its crossbar (21) are designed to attach and detach from the wheelchair (100), without changing the structure of the wheelchair.
The escooter hitching system (40) is also detachable, mounted on the platform (202) or on a support section of the handlebar (203). The escooter hitching system (40) comprises hooks (42 and 42a) secured to levers (44 and 44a), and an abutment (41), forming a receiving space (43) for the crossbar (21), where it is locked in place until released to undock the wheelchair (100) from the escooter (200).
The YouTube video below shows a small OMNI team-in-action, real-world experiment. The experiment consisted in going to meet a colleague at a café, who finally got everyone to leave OMNI headquarters after offering them a free drink. Each OMNI team member used a different means of transportation, competing to see who would be fastest. The competing modes were the following: 1. Wheelchair hitched to escooter 2. Wheelchair using public transportation bus with universal access for wheelchairs, as a backup, after a failed attempt to get a ride with a suited cab 3. Wheelchair using wheelchair-user-adapted personal car 4. Bike 5. Walking/running using underground public transportation. Watch the video to find out who got to the café first!
The OMNI system, connecting wheelchairs to escooters for a fun motorized experience, is the brilliant 2023 winner of the Presidential Award, at France’s famous historical innovation contest, the Concours Lépine (since 1901). The OMNI escooter-wheelchair connection device is an easy and affordable way of hitching manual wheelchairs to escooters, making it possible for wheelchair users to zip around motorized, at up to 20 miles per hour, using equipment from the abled world. Wheelchair visionaries are even eagerly anticipating a Zip-escooter rental system, enabling wheelchair users to rent wheelchair-adapted-escooters, and to pay-as-you-go. An inclusive experience, considering that it takes less than five seconds for the OMNI system to bring wheelchairs and escooters together, with the promise of fun, escooter-enabled, mobility.
In the interim, OMNI also created the OMNITrott’ an adapted escooter (with a lower, angled handlebar) for $1000 Euros (approximately $1000 dollars) to connect to any wheelchair, using the original OMNI connection invention, designedto connect a wheelchair to an escooter. A price tag that is still three to four times less than the price of a motorized wheelchair.
In a nutshell, once the OMNI connector is in place, it takes just one effortless pull to dock the wheelchair to an escooter. The escooter-motorized wheelchair then provides unmatched mobility to wheelchair users, who otherwise face insurmountable obstacles. Obstacles such as steps, uneven or cobblestone pavements, slopes, and just 3% of public transportation retrofitted for universal wheelchair access.
The Youtube video below captures Charlotte Alaux, co-founder of the OMNI system, herself a wheelchair user since the age of four, demonstrating the ease with which the OMNI system connects a wheelchair to an escooter. Alaux estimates that approximately 800,000 wheelchair users in France could benefit from the OMNI solution, and a total of 54 million wheelchair users worldwide. The video also shows parallel footage of wheelchair use. Footage with and without the OMNI system, motorizing a wheelchair using an escooter, to highlight the unsuspected difficulties of wheelchair mobility without motorization.
