JP3551372B2 - wheelchair - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a wheelchair structure in which a rider can travel by turning a drive wheel by hand, an attendant pushing and turning from behind, or by turning a drive wheel by a motor. It is to make.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a wheelchair for assisting the movement of persons who are difficult to walk on their own, such as sick persons, injured persons, and persons with disabilities in the lower limbs, in order to ensure their straightness, basically do not shake from side to side in the direction of travel Generally equipped with a large-diameter driving wheel attached to the vehicle body and a small-diameter driven wheel (mainly a caster) attached to the vehicle body so as to be able to turn 360 degrees horizontally to change the traveling direction. Is.
[0003]
On the other hand, such a wheelchair is assumed to be used in any place where the normal daily life of a person who is difficult to walk on their own is carried out as described above. There may be a need to change direction. Specifically, the interior passage with walls standing on both sides turns a corner of 90 degrees, enters and exits indoors through the entrance / exit provided on the side wall of the indoor passage, or sits on the toilet seat of a Western-style toilet. Alternatively, a 180 degree turn in the toilet room to leave the toilet seat.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In this case, if there is a certain space, turn around a 90 degree corner by turning around to draw an arc, or gradually changing the direction while moving the wheelchair forward and backward, However, it is usually difficult for the above-described indoor passages and toilet rooms to have a space for changing the direction by such turning and switching. .
[0005]
For this reason, an attendant needs to move the wheelchair to change the direction, or a person riding in the wheelchair applies a force to the driving wheel in a direction different from the radial direction to change the direction of the driving wheel. Therefore, the burden on the attendant and the person on the wheelchair is large, and the person who takes care of others to use the stool was also mentally painful.
[0006]
In addition, when entering the room, it may be necessary to enter the room through the indoor passage in the reverse direction. In this case, the floor of the room is higher than the indoor passage, so the indoor passage and the room In some cases, it is difficult to enter the room because there is a difference in level with the floor or a sill that the lower surface of the door is in contact with and prevents this sill.
[0007]
Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to bend at a corner of a narrow indoor passage, enter a narrow room from the indoor passage, or easily change direction in a narrow room by the operation of one passenger in a wheelchair. The purpose is to provide a wheelchair with excellent convenience.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
However, the present invention includes a vehicle body provided with a seating portion on which a person is seated, a drive wheel for causing the vehicle body to travel in the front-rear direction, and a driven wheel that is smaller in diameter than the drive wheel and moves according to the drive wheel. The wheelchair includes a contact member that contacts the surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate , and an expansion / contraction means that expands and contracts the distance between the contact member and the vehicle body, and the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate. A first mechanism for grounding the driving wheel from a surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate, and a second mechanism for turning the vehicle body around the first mechanism. A direction changing device , wherein the contact member of the first mechanism is attached to the expansion / contraction means so as to incline in the left-right direction of the traveling direction of the vehicle body with respect to the surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate, One drive when grounded to the surface The is brought into contact with the surface, and the other driving wheel is characterized in that as floats from the surface (claim 1). The expansion / contraction means of the first mechanism does not exceed a surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate when the expansion / contraction means contracts with respect to the contact member, and the expansion / contraction means expands when the expansion / contraction means extend. The driving wheel and the driven wheel are positioned so as to exceed the surface where they rotate. Further, as the expansion / contraction means, a link mechanism constructed by installing a connecting member between the vehicle body and the contact member and pivotally supporting the connection member on the vehicle body and the contact member is used. (Claim 3). On the other hand, the second mechanism has a structure in which the contact member is constituted by an upper rotating disk and a lower rotating disk, and the upper rotating disk and the lower rotating disk are relatively rotated ( Claim 4).
[0009]
According to such a configuration, the contact member is normally disposed so as not to exceed the surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate, and to the point where the wall is located in front of the corner of the indoor passage. After the vehicle enters the room, the link mechanism is operated so that the contact member exceeds the surface where the drive wheel and the driven wheel rotate, so that the drive wheel and the driven wheel After the wheelchair is lifted and supported by the contact member, the rotating upper plate and the rotating lower plate of the contact member are turned relative to each other to change the direction of travel, and when the desired position is changed, the link mechanism is restored. By returning the contact member to a position that does not exceed the surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel roll, and returning the driving wheel and the driven wheel to the grounded state, the corner of the indoor passage, the entrance from the entrance to the room, and Opposite to the direction of entry in the room That redirecting the side, it is possible to perform without an arcuate pivoting movement or cut conversion work.
[0010]
That is, if the area of the circle having a radius from the wheelchair's rotation axis to the wheelchair's tip is secured, the direction is changed to 90 degrees left and right and 180 degrees opposite to the traveling direction. Therefore, even if the indoor passage or the room is narrow, it will not hinder the direction change of the wheelchair.
[0011]
In addition, even if one of the driving wheels is in contact with the surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate, the state remains in contact without floating from the surface. The wheelchair can be turned by rotating the vehicle body around the contact member from the resistance with the surface.
[0012]
And this invention arrange | positions the said driven wheel to the back side with respect to the advancing direction rather than the said driving wheel, and this driven wheel is an external direction from the outside to the surface where the said driving wheel and a driven wheel rotate. It is characterized in that it is provided on the vehicle body via a variable portion that can be changed by operation (claim 5 ).
[0013]
According to such a configuration, for example, the toilet is a Western-style toilet, and the width on the left and right sides is narrow with respect to the entrance direction of the toilet. If it is impossible to turn the vehicle at a fixed position when it hits a wall or a fixture such as a toilet bowl, it will enter the toilet room in a retracted state. Even if there is a step higher than the floor of the floor, or there is a sill where the lower surface of the door touches between the toilet room and the indoor passage, the driven wheel after the drive wheel is displaced upward via the variable part, Because you can get over this step or threshold, it will not be an obstacle to entering the toilet room.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0015]
1 to 9, an example of a wheelchair 1 according to the present invention is shown. The wheelchair 1 includes at least a vehicle body 2, a pair of drive wheels 8, and a pair of driven wheels 11 and 15 positioned in the forward and backward directions with respect to the drive wheels 8, as particularly shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. I have.
[0016]
Among these, the vehicle body 2 includes, in this embodiment, a seat portion 3 on which a passenger is seated, and a side portion 5 that is disposed on the left and right sides of the seat portion 3 along the traveling direction and has a handrail portion 4 at the upper end. The lower portion 7 having a footrest portion 6 disposed below the seat portion 3 and projecting forward from the seat portion 3 in the traveling direction.
[0017]
On the other hand, the drive wheel 8 is for rotating the wheelchair 1 in the front-rear direction by rolling on the surface 9 such as the ground surface or the floor surface of the house shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 5 or FIG. 9. In order to maintain the straightness of the wheelchair 1, the wheelchair 1 is pivotally supported on the side portion 5 of the vehicle body 2 via the rotary shaft 10 so as not to be moved to the left and right sides of the vehicle body 2. Further, the driving wheel 8 has a diameter larger than the diameter of the driven wheels 11 and 15, and by wearing rubber tires 8A, the cushioning property at the time of running is improved and the surface 9 is not damaged when used indoors. I have to. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a part of the bottom of the vehicle body 2 is cut out by the length of the diameter of the drive wheel 8 and the thickness of the tire 8A to form a cutout groove 18, and this cutout groove is formed. The drive wheel 8 is accommodated in 18. This reduces the size of the wheelchair and reduces the risk that the drive wheel 8 will collide with the installed object or the corner of the wall even if it is used in places where there are various relatively narrow objects such as general houses. can do. Although it is a means for rotating the drive wheel 8, it may be a human-powered type in which the drive wheel 8 is directly rotated by hand, and although not shown, the rotational force from the motor is transmitted to the rotary shaft 10. It is good also as a self-propelled type which has an adjustment part which adjusts this rotation number and rotation direction transmitted.
[0018]
The driven wheels 11 and 15 rotate as the driving wheel 8 rotates, and the driven wheel 11 is a foot of the vehicle body 2 that is on the front side in the traveling direction with respect to the driving wheel 8 in the lower portion 6. In order to change the traveling direction of the wheelchair 1, a caster that can turn 360 degrees is used in this embodiment. The driven wheel 15 is disposed on the rear side in the traveling direction with respect to the drive wheel 8.
[0019]
And this wheelchair 1 concerning this invention is provided with the direction change apparatus 20 shown in FIG.1, FIG.4, FIG.5, FIG.6, FIG.7 and FIG.9 as an apparatus for changing the advancing direction in a fixed position. Yes.
[0020]
This direction changing device 20 has a link mechanism 27 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 in particular as a mechanism for expanding and contracting a distance between a contact member 30 described later and the bottom surface of the lower portion 7 of the vehicle body 2. The link mechanism 27 is provided with an opening 21 that opens toward the surface 9 with respect to the lower part 6, and extends along the traveling direction of the wheelchair 1 at the side edge of the opening 21 and has a L-shaped fixing part 22. , 22 are erected, and at the standing portion of each fixed portion 22, an elongated plate-like support portion 23 extending to the surface 9 side from the front side edge of the opening 21 in the moving direction, and the surface from the rear side edge of the opening 21 in the moving direction An elongated plate-like support portion 24 extending to the 9 side is rotatably attached via a pin 25, and the end opposite to the fixing portion 21 of the support portions 23 and 24 is attached to the contact member 30 via a pin 26. And is configured to be pivotably attached. However, the mechanism is not limited to the link mechanism 27 as long as the distance between a contact member 30 described later and the bottom surface of the lower portion 7 of the vehicle body 2 is expanded and contracted. The space between the lower part 7 and the contact member 30 may be expanded and contracted by interposing between the contact member 30 and changing the expansion / contraction body manually or by a motor.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 7, the length of the support members 23 and 24 along the longitudinal direction is such that at least the pins 25 and 26 of the support members 23 and 24 are positioned vertically in the vertical direction (support portion). 23 and 24 stand upright with respect to the surface 9), the contact member 30 has a dimension that is located beyond the lower end of the drive wheel 8 toward the surface 9. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the upper end of the support member 23 is used as a mechanism for transmitting the rotational force for swinging the support members 23 and 24 back and forth in the traveling direction. Is made higher than the support member 24, and a plate 28 is installed between the support members 23, 23 on the opposite side of the support member 23, 23 from the contact member 30, and extends in a direction substantially perpendicular to the support member 23. A lever 29 is provided on the plate 28.
[0022]
The contact member 30 superimposes a disk-shaped upper rotating disk 31 and a disk-shaped lower rotating disk 32 vertically on a shaft body 33, and the side surface of the lower rotating disk of the upper rotating disk 31 and the lower rotating disk 32. By interposing a thrust bearing 34 between the side surface of the upper rotating disk, the upper rotating disk 31 and the lower rotating disk 32 are relatively rotated. The bottom surface of the lower rotating disk 32 is horizontal so that the surface 9 can come into contact with the surface 9 without rattling, and the lower rotating disk 32 rotates in the same direction as the upper rotating disk 31 rotates. In order to avoid this, a protrusion 35 is formed as means for amplifying the friction with the surface 9. The support members 23 and 24 are rotatably attached to the upper rotating disk 31 of the contact member 30.
[0023]
According to the above configuration, in the normal state, as shown in FIG. 5, the operation lever 29 is lifted upward with respect to the horizontal direction to incline the support members 25 and 26 forward in the advancing direction. The contact member 30 is kept away from the surface 9 (the contact member 30 does not exceed the surface 9). Thereby, since the driving wheel 8 and the driven wheels 11 and 15 are grounded to the surface 9 as shown in FIG. 4, the wheelchair 1 can be run.
[0024]
On the other hand, for example, when turning a corner of a narrow indoor passage having an angle of 90 degrees, when entering the room from the entrance, and further when changing at a fixed position in the room, at the point at the turn, at the entrance After entering the point or the room that has been approached, the unit operation lever 29 is lowered downward from a state of being directed upward with respect to the horizontal direction shown in FIG. 5 to a state of being along the horizontal direction as shown in FIG. As a result, the support members 23 and 24 swing rearward in the traveling direction, and the contact member 30 contacts and presses the surface 9, so that the driving wheel 8 and the driven wheels 11 and 15, as shown in FIG. 5. Is lifted from the surface 9 (a state where the contact member 30 exceeds the surface 9), the wheelchair body 2 is supported by the surface 9 by the contact member 30.
[0025]
Next, when there is a side wall or a fixed object within reach, the rotational force is applied to the upper rotating disk 32 by pushing the side wall or pulling the body to the fixed object side by holding the fixed object. If there is no side wall or fixed object within reach, the body is moved to the side of one drive wheel 8 and the vehicle body 2 is tilted, so that the drive wheel 8 is moved to the surface 9. After being grounded, the driving wheel 8 is rotated in that state, thereby applying a rotational force to the upper rotating disk 32.
[0026]
Then, after rotating the upper turntable 32 to a desired direction, for example, 90 degrees left and right or 180 degrees opposite, the operation lever 29 is shown in the horizontal direction shown in FIG. Lift to a position above the horizontal direction shown in FIG. As a result, the support members 25 and 26 swing forward in the traveling direction, the contact member 30 moves away from the surface 9, and the driving wheel 8 and the driven wheels 11 and 15 are grounded to the surface 9 as shown in FIG. Thus, the wheelchair is ready to run again.
[0027]
However, according to the configuration of the direction changing device 20 of the wheelchair 1, if there is a circular space with a radius from the center of the support member 30 to the end of the vehicle body 2 during the direction change, the support member 30 is centered. It is possible to freely change the traveling direction of the wheelchair 1 by 360 degrees. For this reason, there is no need to change the direction little by little while moving the wheelchair 1 back and forth, and the attendant does not need to lift the wheelchair 1 to change the direction. Because it is not easy to bend alone at the entrance of the room or to change the direction in the toilet, it is impossible for someone who has boarded a wheelchair to get a flight without helping someone else. You can be free from pain.
[0028]
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the wheelchair 1 includes a plate 37 in which the driven wheel 15 is connected to the lower portion 7 via a variable portion 36 that can be vertically changed by an external operation. You may make it attach to. That is, the variable portions 36 and 36 are connected to perform the same operation by the rod 37 and are rotated by a link mechanism (not shown), thereby moving the driven wheel 15 attached to the plate 37 up and down with respect to the surface 9. .
[0029]
According to such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 8, for example, the toilet bowl 40 of the toilet 41 is a Western-style toilet, and the width on the left and right sides of the toilet 41 is narrower. When it is impossible to turn the vehicle body 2 at a fixed position around the contact member 30 as an axis, it will enter the toilet 40 in the form of retreating in advance when the vehicle body 2 hits an installation such as a wall surface or the toilet 40, etc. In this case, even if the floor of the toilet 40 is higher than the floor of the indoor passage, or there is a sill where the lower surface of the door is in contact with the entrance of the toilet 40, the driven wheel 15 does not hit the step or the sill. The wheelchair occupant is thus able to climb over the step or threshold alone.
[0030]
In addition, the wheelchair 1 does not have a portion that serves as a backrest, while an arc-shaped cutout 43 is formed so that the rear side of the seating portion 3 matches the front portion of the western-style toilet 40. The height of the upper surface is the same as the height of the toilet seat of the western toilet 40. Thus, as shown in FIG. 8, the passenger in the wheelchair retreats in the toilet 41 until the notch 43 comes into contact with the front side surface of the toilet bowl 40, and then the passenger also takes a two-dot chain line from the solid line portion in FIG. 8. It can move to the part and reach the position where the toilet 40 can be used. In this respect as well, it is possible to relieve the person who has boarded the wheelchair from the pain of being able to carry out the flight without helping others.
[0031]
FIG. 9 shows another embodiment of the wheelchair 1. In the wheelchair 1, the contact member 30 has a link mechanism in which the driving wheel and the driven wheel are inclined in the left-right direction with respect to the vehicle body 2. 27 is attached. With such a configuration, when the operation lever 29 is raised above the horizontal direction and the abutting member 30 is abutted against the surface 9, the vehicle body 2 of the wheelchair 1 is tilted to one side in the left-right direction, Since one drive wheel 8 floats from the surface 9 and the other drive wheel 8 is in contact with the surface 9, the wheelchair 1 is brought into contact with the surface 9 by rotating the drive wheel 8 on the side in contact with the surface 9. It is possible to turn within a slight radius around 30. In addition, such a configuration has the advantage that the passenger does not need to move the center of gravity in order to ground the drive wheel 8.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the wheelchair according to the present invention can freely change the traveling direction of the wheelchair at a fixed position by 360 degrees, so that the operation of turning a 90-degree corner of the narrow indoor passage, the narrow indoor passage The operation for entering the room from the inside and the direction changing to the opposite side 180 degrees in the narrow room can be done with simple procedures, and the direction can be gradually changed while the wheelchair is moved back and forth. Since it is not necessary for a person to lift the wheelchair and change the direction, convenience is improved as compared with a conventional wheelchair.
[0033]
Furthermore, even if one of the driving wheels is in contact with the surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate, the state remains in contact with the surface without being lifted. The wheelchair can be turned by rotating the vehicle body around the contact member from the resistance with the surface.
[0034]
Especially in a wheelchair according to claim 5, for example toilet a Western-style toilet, moreover on the relationship between the width of the left and right side is narrow with respect to the entering direction of the toilet installation of the pivoting the vehicle body and a wall surface or the toilet or the like When it is impossible to enter the toilet room, the toilet floor is entered in advance, but in this case the toilet floor is higher than the floor of the indoor passage, or there is a door between the toilet room and the indoor passage. Even if there is a sill where the lower surface touches, the driven wheel can get over this step or sill, so that such a backward movement can be easily performed, and convenience is further improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall configuration of a wheelchair according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing the overall configuration of the wheelchair described above.
FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing the overall configuration of the wheelchair described above.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the direction changing device used for the wheelchair of the above in a state where the driving wheel is grounded on the surface.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the direction changing device used for the wheelchair of the above in a state where the driving wheel is grounded on the surface.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of a main part showing a state of the link mechanism when the wheelchair is running.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a main part showing a state of the link mechanism when the direction of the wheelchair is changed.
[Fig. 8] Fig. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing how a wheelchair passenger moves in a toilet using a Western-style toilet.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a direction changing device in which an abutting member is attached to the vehicle body so as to be inclined to the left and right in the traveling direction.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wheelchair 2 Car body 3 Seating part 8 Drive wheel 9 surface (surface on which a drive wheel and a driven wheel rotate)
15 Follower wheel 20 Direction change device 22 Fixing part 23 Support member (connection member)
24 Support member (connection member)
25 pin 26 pin 27 link mechanism 30 contact member 31 upper rotating disk 32 lower rotating disk 36 variable part 37 plate

Claims (5)

In a wheelchair comprising a vehicle body provided with a seating portion on which a person is seated, a drive wheel for traveling the vehicle body in the front-rear direction, and a driven wheel having a diameter smaller than that of the drive wheel and moving according to the drive wheel,
A contact member that contacts the surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate , and expansion / contraction means that expands and contracts the distance between the contact member and the vehicle body, and contacts the surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate. And a direction changing device comprising: a first mechanism that floats the driving wheel from a surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate; and a second mechanism that turns the vehicle body around the first mechanism. Prepared ,
The contact member of the first mechanism is attached to the expansion / contraction means inclined in the left-right direction of the traveling direction of the vehicle body with respect to the surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate, and is grounded on the surface. A wheelchair characterized in that one driving wheel is brought into contact with the surface and the other driving wheel is floated from the surface . The expansion / contraction means of the first mechanism does not exceed a surface on which the drive wheel and the driven wheel rotate when the expansion / contraction means contracts with respect to the contact member, and the drive wheel when the expansion / contraction means extend. The wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein the wheel and the driven wheel are positioned beyond the surface on which the wheel rotates. As the expansion / contraction means, a link mechanism constructed by installing a connecting member between the vehicle body and the contact member and pivotally supporting the connection member on the vehicle body and the contact member is used. The wheelchair according to claim 2. 2. The second mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the contact member is composed of an upper rotating disk and a lower rotating disk, and the upper rotating disk and the lower rotating disk are relatively rotated. Wheelchair as described in The driven wheel is disposed rearward of the driving wheel with respect to the traveling direction, and the driven wheel can be changed by an external operation in the vertical direction with respect to the surface on which the driving wheel and the driven wheel rotate. The wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein the wheelchair is provided on the vehicle body via a portion.

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