A frictional performance of the tips attached to the bottom of assistive products for walking is a key concern ensuring user safety. Friction between the tips and the walking surface is an extraordinarily important factor by which a user can confirm his/her motion.
The tips are used on many different assistive products for walking, including canes, walking sticks, crutches, walking frames, rollators and walking tables and are produced in many different sizes and made of many different materials depending on the assistive products for walking to which they are applied. Tips with a variety of bottom shapes for a particular kind of assistive product for walking are also available on the market.
In the friction test method found in this part of ISO 24415, tips of original shape are used. In real situations, not only pure frictional characteristics but also the shape and pattern of the bottom surface against the walking surface can affect the locomotive performance.
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This part of ISO 24415 specifies a test with which the frictional force is measured on tip products themselves in order to ensure that the tips with necessarily frictional characteristics are used and it helps to exclude the tips with unacceptably poor frictional characteristics.
Scope
This part of ISO 24415 specifies requirements and test methods for the friction between the tips for assistive products for walking and the walking surface. This part of ISO 24415 is not applicable to tips manufactured for special purposes. The requirements and test method are based on a usage of tips for ordinary gait on the dry and flat walking surface.
EXAMPLE 1
Examples of assistive products for walking are walking sticks, elbow crutches, forearm crutches, auxillary crutches, walking frames, rollators and walking tables.
EXAMPLE 2
An example of special purposes is ice and/or snow.