Portable Mobility Knee Walker

Invention: Mobility assistance devices are commonly used by elderly users and by users experiencing temporary or long-term impairment of a lower limb. Many commonly available walkers and crutches function primarily by transferring a significant portion of body weight through the hands and arms. Operation of such devices may require sustained loading through the hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders, and upper back, particularly during longer walking sessions, turning, or repeated stops and starts. For users experiencing reduced grip strength, reduced balance, reduced endurance, arthritis, shoulder pain, or other upper-body limitations, an upper-limb-loaded ambulation technique may increase fatigue and may reduce confidence during movement. Devices designed to reduce foot loading, such as knee scooters and wheeled platforms, may support a knee or lower-leg portion of a user; however, stability and controllability may remain challenging in practical environments. Narrow wheelbases, steering mechanisms, and turning behavior may be difficult to manage in confined indoor spaces, including hallways, doorways, and bathrooms. Surface transitions, thresholds, uneven flooring, and lateral movement maneuvers may further increase the risk of tipping or loss of control. In addition, some devices intended to offload an impaired limb still require a user to hop, push, or perform repeated balancing motions using the unimpaired limb, which may be undesirable for elderly users or for users with reduced balance. The disclosed mobility walker addresses these limitations by providing a structural frame supported by six ground-engaging legs, together with upper support assembly and lower-limb support platform positioned in a central region of structural frame. Lower-limb support platform supports a knee or lower-leg portion of a user during ambulation and establishes a load path that transfers a substantial portion of body weight through structural frame to at least one of the six ground-engaging legs. The six-leg arrangement maintains ground contact with a plurality of the ground-engaging legs during forward movement, which promotes stability and allows a user to advance forward without hopping or jumping on a single foot while avoiding substantial weight bearing through the arms and shoulders. Additional configurations described below provide adjustability, folding, rolling and non-rolling ground interfaces, and right-leg/left-leg support configurations to accommodate different users, different environments, and different rehabilitation needs.