Crutch basket assembly

Abstract

A crutch basket assembly comprising a crutch, a basket hanging bracket and a basket is disclosed. The basket hanging bracket is comprised of a bracket body and a pair of strikers. The bracket is attached to a crutch. The basket has an open top container, a pair of braces and a pair of latches. The braces are shaped to align the basket with the vertical members of the crutch. The latches are shaped to receive the strikers of the bracket body and to secure the basket to the bracket body. A person ambulating with crutches may easily create a receptacle attached to a crutch for carrying small items hands-free.

1 . A basket hanging bracket for use on a crutch having spaced apart opposing vertical members, wherein each vertical member of the crutch has one or more fastener holes, the basket hanging bracket comprising: 
 (a) a bracket body sized and shaped to fit across the space between the opposing vertical members, each end of the bracket body being sized and shaped to wrap around a hole in a vertical member and having a mounting hole alignable with said vertical member hole for securing the basket hanging bracket to each vertical member; and    (b) a pair of strikers perpendicularly attached to the bracket, each said striker having a flange substantially coplanar to the bracket body, each said flange being spaced apart from the bracket body and attached to the distal end of said striker, for receiving mounting latch circular openings of a crutch basket and securing the crutch basket to the bracket body.    
   
   
       2 . The basket hanging bracket of  claim 1  further comprising a support member centered between the ends of the bracket body and perpendicularly extending from the longitudinal axis of the bracket body.  
   
   
       3 . The basket hanging bracket of  claim 1 , further comprising a resilient spacer attached to the bracket body for stabilizing a crutch basket attached to the bracket and facilitating the nondestructive removal of a crutch basket attached to the bracket.  
   
   
       4 . The basket hanging bracket of  claim 2 , further comprising a resilient spacer attached to the bracket body for stabilizing a crutch basket attached to the bracket and facilitating the nondestructive removal of a crutch basket attached to the bracket.  
   
   
       5 . The basket hanging bracket of  claim 2 , further comprising a resilient spacer attached to the support member for stabilizing a crutch basket attached to the bracket and facilitating the nondestructive removal of a crutch basket attached to the bracket.  
   
   
       6 . The basket hanging bracket of  claim 1 , further comprising a small parts holder attached to the bracket body.  
   
   
       7 . The basket hanging bracket of  claim 2 , further comprising a small parts holder attached to the bracket body.  
   
   
       8 . The basket hanging bracket of  claim 3 , further comprising a small parts holder attached to the bracket body.  
   
   
       9 . The basket hanging bracket of  claim 4 , further comprising a small parts holder attached to the bracket body.  
   
   
       10 . A basket for use on a crutch having spaced apart opposing vertical members, wherein each vertical member of the crutch has one or more fastener holes, the basket comprising: 
 (a) an open top container having a bracket interface wall, said bracket interface wall having an interior side and an exterior side;    (b) a pair of braces attached to the bottom periphery of the exterior side of the bracket interface wall, each said brace having a mating surface shaped and sized to fit a vertical member of the crutch, the braces being spaced apart substantially the same distance that the vertical members of the crutch are spaced apart, for stabilizing the basket on the crutch and absorbing shock to the basket; and    (c) a pair of latches formed within the bracket interface wall, each said latch comprising a slot connected to a circular opening, wherein the circular opening is larger than each striker flange and the slot is smaller than each striker flange.    
   
   
       11 . The basket for use on a crutch of  claim 10 , wherein a portion of the container is shaped and sized to partially surround and contain a beverage container within the basket.  
   
   
       12 . A crutch basket assembly comprising: 
 (a) a crutch having spaced apart opposing vertical members, wherein each vertical member of the crutch has one or more fastener holes;    (b) a basket hanging bracket comprising: 
 (i) a bracket body sized and shaped to fit across the space between the opposing vertical members, each end of the bracket body being sized and shaped to wrap around a hole in a vertical member and having a mounting hole alignable with said vertical member hole for securing the basket hanging bracket to each vertical member; and  
 (ii) a pair of strikers perpendicularly attached to the bracket, each said striker having a flange substantially coplanar to the bracket body, each said flange being spaced apart from the bracket body and attached to the distal end of said striker, for receiving mounting latch circular openings of a crutch basket and securing the crutch basket to the bracket body, wherein the bracket is attached to the crutch by a fastener inserted through each bracket mounting hole into a crutch vertical member hole; and  
   (c) a basket comprising: 
 (i) an open top container having a bracket interface wall, said bracket interface wall having an interior side and an exterior side;  
 (ii) a pair of braces attached to the bottom periphery of the exterior side of the bracket interface wall, each said brace having a mating surface shaped and sized to fit a vertical member of the crutch, the braces being spaced apart substantially the same distance that the vertical members of the crutch are spaced apart, for stabilizing the basket on the crutch and absorbing shock to the basket; and  
 (iii) a pair of latches formed within the bracket interface wall, each said latch comprising a slot connected to a circular opening, wherein the circular opening is larger than each striker flange and the slot is smaller than each striker flange, the basket being attached to the crutch by the basket slots being positioned between the bracket and the striker flanges and the basket being aligned with the crutch by fitting the mating surface of each brace to a vertical member of the crutch.  
   
   
   
       13 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 12 , further comprising a support member centered between the ends of the bracket body and perpendicularly extending from the longitudinal axis of the bracket body.  
   
   
       14 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 12 , further comprising a resilient spacer attached to the bracket body for stabilizing the crutch basket attached to the bracket and facilitating the nondestructive removal of the crutch basket attached to the bracket.  
   
   
       15 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 13 , further comprising a resilient spacer attached to the bracket body for stabilizing the crutch basket attached to the bracket and facilitating the nondestructive removal of the crutch basket attached to the bracket.  
   
   
       16 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 13 , further comprising a resilient spacer attached to the support member for stabilizing the crutch basket attached to the bracket and facilitating the nondestructive removal of the crutch basket attached to the bracket.  
   
   
       17 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 12 , further comprising a small parts holder attached to the bracket body.  
   
   
       18 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 12 , wherein a portion of the container is shaped and sized to partially surround and contain a beverage container within the basket.  
   
   
       19 . A crutch basket assembly for use on a crutch having spaced apart opposing vertical members, wherein each vertical member of the crutch has one or more fastener holes, the crutch basket assembly comprising: 
 (a) a basket hanging bracket comprising: 
 (i) a bracket body sized and shaped to fit across the space between the opposing vertical members, each end of the bracket body being sized and shaped to wrap around a hole in a vertical member and having a mounting hole alignable with said vertical member hole for securing the basket hanging bracket to each vertical member; and  
 (ii) a pair of strikers perpendicularly attached to the bracket, each said striker having a flange substantially coplanar to the bracket body, each said flange being spaced apart from the bracket body and attached to the distal end of said striker, for receiving mounting latch circular openings of a crutch basket and securing the crutch basket to the bracket body; and  
   (b) a basket for attaching to the bracket comprising: 
 (i) an open top container having a bracket interface wall, said bracket interface wall having an interior side and an exterior side;  
 (ii) a pair of braces attached to the bottom periphery of the exterior side of the bracket interface wall, each said brace having a mating surface shaped and sized to fit a vertical member of the crutch, the braces being spaced apart substantially the same distance that the vertical members of the crutch are spaced apart, for stabilizing the basket on the crutch and absorbing shock to the basket; and  
 (iii) a pair of latches formed within the bracket interface wall, each said latch comprising a slot connected to a circular opening, wherein the circular opening is larger than each striker flange and the slot is smaller than each striker flange.  
   
   
   
       20 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 19 , further comprising a support member centered between the ends of the bracket body and perpendicularly extending from the longitudinal axis of the bracket body.  
   
   
       21 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 19 , further comprising a resilient spacer attached to the bracket body for stabilizing the crutch basket attached to the bracket and facilitating the nondestructive removal of the crutch basket attached to the bracket.  
   
   
       22 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 20 , further comprising a resilient spacer attached to the bracket body for stabilizing the crutch basket attached to the bracket and facilitating the nondestructive removal of the crutch basket attached to the bracket.  
   
   
       23 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 20 , further comprising a resilient spacer attached to the support member for stabilizing the crutch basket attached to the bracket and facilitating the nondestructive removal of the crutch basket attached to the bracket.  
   
   
       24 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 19 , further comprising a small parts holder attached to the bracket body.  
   
   
       25 . The crutch basket assembly of  claim 19 , wherein a portion of the container is shaped and sized to partially surround and contain a beverage container within the basket.