Background of the invention

Conventional walking or supporting sticks of the type used mainly by elderly and/or handicapped people have a length which after adaptation to the size of 5 the individual user is unchangeable. In various situa¬ tions, for example when visiting restaurants, cinemas, theatres etc. , and when travelling in means of con¬ veyance such as train, plane, bus, taxi etc., this fact causes problems so far that the sticks take up a 10 great deal of storage space. In most cases, there are no special stands in which the sticks can be put so as not to fall down on the floor. Moreover, conventional sticks are heavy, unwieldy and impractical.

Brief description of the inventive idea 15 The present invention aims at obviating the above- mentioned drawbacks and providing a stick which can be smoothly and easily handled and requires a minimum storage space. To this end, the inventive stick is pri¬ marily characterised in that it comprises an upper tele- 20 scopic member which is axially movable relative to a lower telescopic member and lockable in any desired po¬ sition relative thereto by a locking means comprising a bar fixedly attached to one telescopic member and hav¬ ing a plurality of grooves which are spaced apart along 25 said bar and one of which is normally engaged with a locking pin fixedly connected with the other telescopic member, said locking pin being, by turning of the bar, disengageable from said groove so as to allow both changing of the stick length and renewed locking of the ~* 30 telescopic members relative to each other, by engaging into another groove. The stick according to the present invention can be telescoped such that its length in the telescoped state is merely about half of its maximum length, and

by the self-locking locking means mounted in the stick, the length of the stick can be rapidly and easily adapt¬ ed to any individual requirement.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view, partly in section, of the inventive stick in a maximally extended state, FIG. 2 is a view of the stick in the maximally tele¬ scoped state, FIG. 3 shows the lower part of the stick with an acti¬ vated crampon and a mounted ferrule, respec¬ tively, FIG. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the stick, illustrating its interior, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a handle of the stick, along line V-V in Fig. 4, FIG. 6 is a view of a bar included in the locking means of the stick, as seen from the inside, FIG. 7 is a side view of the bar shown in Fig. 6, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view along line VIII-VIII in Fig. 6, FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view along line IX-IX in Fig. 4, showing the locking means in the un¬ locked position, and FIG. 10 is a similar cross-sectiontal view of the lock¬ ing means in the locked position.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the in¬ vention

Fig. 1 shows an outer, upper telescopic member 1 which is connected with an inner, lower telescopic mem¬ ber 2 by a locking means designated 3 in its entirety. The upper end of the upper telescopic member 1 is pro¬ vided with a handle 4, while the lower end of the lower telescopic member 2 conveniently is provided with a crampon 5 (see Fig. 3) which in its inactive state is enclosed by a ferrule.

As will appear in more detail from Figs. 4-10, the locking means 3 comprises a bar 7 which is cupped or arched in cross-section, and the upper end of which is fixedly attached to the handle 4 by means of a screw 8 extending through a bore 8', while the lower end of the bar extends with proper fit through a cy¬ lindrical bushing 9 which is, in turn, fixedly mounted inside the upper end of the telescopic member 2. Adja¬ cent the upper end of the bushing 9, there is mounted a locking pin 10 in the centre of the bushing. The locking pin 10 is fixedly secured in bores in the . walls of the bushing 9, whereas in axial direction it is kept in position in that its ends abut against the inside of the telescopic member 2. A spring, prefer- ably in the form of a coil spring 11, is attached to the pin 10. More precisely, the inner part of the coil spring 11 is attached to the pin 10 (see Fig. 9), while its biased, hook-shaped outer end 12 engages with an even edge 13 of the bar 7. By means of the spring 11, the bar 7 strives to turn together- with the handle 4 and the telescopic member 1, relative to the pin 10, the bushing 9 and thus also the telescopic member 2, as appears from Fig. 10. As a result of this turning motion, the even edge 13 of the bar 7 is moved away from the pin 10, and an edge 14 of the bar, which is formed with a plurality of grooves 15, engages over the pin 10 by one of the grooves 15 and locks the tele¬ scopic members 1 and 2 to prevent mutual axial movement thereof. To accomplish a telescopic movement for adjusting the length of the stick or pushing the lower telescopic member 2 entirely into the upper member 1, the two telescopic members 1 and 2 are turned manually through about 30° relative to each other, such that the groove 15 involved is disengaged from the pin 10. Subsequently, the bar 7 can slide with its even edge 13 towards the pin 10, until the desired length has been set. At

the same time as the manual turning of the telescopic members relative to each other stops, the bar 7 is again brought into engagement with the pin 10 due to the resiliency of the spring 11. If a groove 15 should then not be exactly positioned for engagement with the pin 10, the bar and the pin are brought into engage¬ ment with each other by a short axial displacement of the telescopic members relative to each other, such that the closest groove 15 is engaged with the pin. This is effected automatically by the spring 11.

Inside the forwardly facing end of the handle 4, a magnet can advantageously be arranged, which can be readily brought in direct contact with magnetic materials to obtain a retaining force for holding the stock upright. The magnet can also be used for pick¬ ing up minor magnetic items within the reach of the stick. The upper side of the handle 4 can, as shown in Fig. 5, along its gripping portion advantageously have a flattened saddle-shape to form an efficient and comfortable contact surface to the inside of the hand, while the lower side is conventionally rounded for the fingers. The rearwardly facing end of the handle 4 can advantageously be provided with a simple battery-operated close lighting 17 which is at hand whenever required. The ferrule 6 of the stick can further have a reflector surface coating to make the stick visible in the dark.