JP5114097B2 - parallel bars - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a parallel bar used for gait training for restoring gait function.

  When a patient with reduced locomotor function undergoes walking rehabilitation, he / she often trains to walk using a parallel bar, and a general parallel bar is a horizontal extension that extends horizontally to a strut that is erected at intervals. It consists of a structure in which bars are installed. When walking training is performed using such parallel bars, the trainee grasps the horizontal bar so as not to fall, and performs walking training while supporting his / her body. Therefore, it is preferable that the height of the horizontal bar is arranged at a height at which the trainer can easily grasp and support the body.

  Conventionally, in order to adjust the height of a horizontal bar, a parallel bar having an extendable column is provided. The extendable strut is composed of, for example, a hollow tube member erected on the floor, and a rod member that is fitted into the upper end of the tube member and whose upper end is joined to a horizontal bar. By fixing the member to the pipe member with a pin, screw or the like at a predetermined height, the columns can be expanded and contracted to an appropriate height, and the height of the horizontal bar can be adjusted. However, when adjusting the height of the horizontal bar in such a parallel bar, if the struts at both ends supporting the horizontal bar are expanded and contracted one by one, the bar member is inclined in the pipe member, so that it is being expanded and contracted. Thus, the lower end portion of the bar member is caught on the inner peripheral surface of the tube member and cannot be smoothly expanded and contracted.

Therefore, a parallel bar has been proposed that includes a synchronizing mechanism that synchronizes the struts at both ends to expand and contract. For example, the parallel bar described in Patent Literature 1 is arranged in parallel to the horizontal bar and is movable in the axial direction, and is joined to the horizontal bar and the horizontal link member so as to be rotatable. In addition, a synchronization mechanism is provided which is composed of a rotary link member that is rotatably joined to the support column, whereby the horizontal link member reciprocates in the axial direction, thereby maintaining the horizontal bar in a horizontal state. It is set as the structure which raises / lowers as it is.
JP 2005-245684 A

  By the way, when the height of the former parallel bar is adjusted, when the patient or therapist works alone, for example, the height is changed little by little while changing the struts at both ends. It was necessary to adjust and it was complicated. Therefore, it was necessary to work with two people and extend and retract the struts at both ends at the same time, which took time and effort to adjust the height of the horizontal bar.

  Moreover, in the latter conventional parallel bar, a horizontal link member is provided below the horizontal bar between the columns so as to be parallel to the horizontal bar. There was a problem that a therapist for supporting the patient could not pass under the horizontal bar or support the patient more closely, and could not provide flexible assistance.

  In view of such problems, the present invention has an object to provide a parallel bar that can easily adjust the height of a horizontal bar and that can smoothly perform various walking exercises and height adjustment work. And

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes the following means.
The parallel bar according to the present invention is a parallel bar provided with a pair of horizontal bars extending in the horizontal direction and struts erected at intervals in the axial direction of the pair of horizontal bars. An actuator that moves up and down the horizontal bar, and a control unit that synchronizes the plurality of actuators that move up and down the same horizontal bar, and selectively selects any one of the pair of horizontal bars. One of the support columns is provided with an operation unit capable of moving up and down to a height and simultaneously moving a pair of horizontal bars to an arbitrary height .

  Each column is provided with an actuator that moves the horizontal bar up and down, and multiple actuators that move the same horizontal bar up and down are synchronized by the control means and always move up and down at the same height. Go up and down while maintaining the state. Furthermore, since each actuator is provided in each support | pillar and only a horizontal bar exists between support | pillars, it does not become a hindrance to the patient and therapist who perform walking training.

Moreover, since one of the pair of horizontal bars can be selected and moved up and down, each horizontal bar can be adjusted to an arbitrary height separately and can be adapted to various training situations. . On the other hand, since both horizontal bars can be lifted and lowered simultaneously, the height can be adjusted quickly. Moreover, since the operation part which adjusts the height of both horizontal bars is installed in any one support | pillar, and all the operations are possible in the support | pillar, height adjustment can be performed still more easily.

  The parallel bar of the present invention includes a memory function unit that stores the height of the horizontal bar, and the control unit reads the horizontal bar selected by the operation unit from the memory function unit. It is characterized by being raised and lowered to a height.

  One parallel bar is set to an arbitrary height and the height is stored in the memory function unit. When the other parallel bar is moved up and down, the stored height is read from the memory function unit and moved up to that level. This makes it possible to easily align the heights of both parallel bars. Also, once the height is memorized, even after changing the horizontal bar to another height, the memorized height can be read and the height of both parallel bars can be adjusted, so the height can be adjusted easily. As well as the ability to easily reproduce previous training.

  Further, the parallel bar of the present invention is characterized in that the operation unit is provided with a display unit for displaying the height of the horizontal bar from the installation floor. Thereby, the current height can be easily grasped, and the height adjustment of the horizontal bar can be facilitated.

According to the parallel bar of the present invention, the operation unit is concentrated in one place, the horizontal bar is moved up and down while maintaining the horizontal state by the actuator, and only the horizontal bar exists between the columns, so the horizontal bar can be easily used with one hand. Can be adjusted, and since there are no obstacles to various walking exercises and height adjustment work, walking exercises can be performed more smoothly.
Moreover, since one of the pair of horizontal bars can be selected and moved up and down, each horizontal bar can be adjusted to an arbitrary height separately and can be adapted to various training situations. . On the other hand, since both horizontal bars can be lifted and lowered simultaneously, the height can be adjusted quickly.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of a parallel bar according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a parallel bar according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the parallel bar 1 is formed by a pair of elevating handrails 2 a and 2 b facing each other. The elevating handrails 2 a and 2 b include a base plate 3 on a thin plate disposed on the floor S, and a base plate. 3 and a support column 4 erected on 3. In addition, an operation unit 5 including an operation unit 6 for adjusting the height of the liftable handrails 2a and 2b is provided on the left support 4a in FIG. Hereinafter, the longitudinal direction of the liftable handrail 2 is the front-rear direction, and the direction in which the liftable handrails 2a and 2b are opposed to each other is the left-right direction.

  The base plate 3 has a substantially rectangular thin plate shape in plan view, and the two plates are arranged in parallel at intervals in the front-rear direction so that the longitudinal direction thereof is the left-right direction of the parallel bar 1. . Further, of the two base plates 3, the back surface in contact with the floor S of the front side base plate 3 a (right side in FIG. 2) in FIG. 1 is U-shaped in a side sectional view as shown in FIG. 2. A concave groove 8 is provided so as to extend over the entire longitudinal direction of the base plate 3a.

  Two support columns 4 are provided on each base plate 3 with a space in the left-right direction. The support columns 4 have a substantially multi-stage quadrangular column shape extending vertically upward from the upper surface of the base plate 3. 9, the movable support | pillar 11, the actuator 12, and the support part 15 are comprised. The fixed column 9 has a cylindrical shape with a substantially rectangular cross section, and is bolted to the base plate 3 at its lower end. In addition, the movable column 11 is accommodated inside the fixed column 9 so that the entire length in the longitudinal direction is accommodated in the fixed column 9 when the column 4 contracts most. An electric actuator 12 that can be moved up and down is provided inside the movable column 11, and the movable column 11 integrally moves up and down by the movement of the actuator 12. Has been. The actuator 12 is provided with a motor 13 and an encoder 14 which will be described later. Further, the upper end of the actuator 12 is fixed to the movable column 11, and the support 15 is provided at the upper end of the movable column 11. Yes.

  In addition, a linear horizontal bar 16 extending in the front-rear direction is disposed above the two support columns 4 adjacent to each other in the front-rear direction via the support portion 15 while being in a horizontal state. The inside of the horizontal bar 16 is hollowed out to have a hollow shape, and a transmission cable 18 described later is laid here. Further, the horizontal bars 16 a and 16 b are arranged so as to be rotatable in a horizontal plane with respect to the column 4.

The operation unit 5 provided on one of the four support columns 4a (in this embodiment, the left support column in FIG. 1) is covered with a cover 19 at the outer periphery. As shown in FIG. 2, two motor controllers 10 a and 10 b for controlling each actuator 12 are provided inside the cover 19. The motor controller 10a transmits signals to and from the actuators 12a and 12b provided on the columns 4a and 4b of the lifting handrail 2a, and supplies power to the actuators 12a and 12b. Is connected. Similarly, the motor controller 10b, strut 4c of the elevator-type handrail 2b, performs transmission of the actuator 12 c, 12 d and the mutual signal provided to 4d, the transmission actuators 12c, the power to 12d supplies Cables 18c and 18d are connected.

  As shown in FIG. 2, among the transmission cables 18 connected to the motor controllers 10a and 10b, the transmission cable 18a connected to the motor controller 10a circulates in the cover 19 of the operation unit 5, The wiring cover 17a provided on the side surface of the actuator 12a of 4a enters the wiring cover 17a from its lower end, is guided into the actuator 12a above the wiring cover 17a, and is connected to the motor 13 and the encoder 14 of the actuator 12a.

  Of the four transmission cables 18, the transmission cable 18b connected to the motor controller 10a goes around the inside of the cover 19 of the operation unit 5 so as to enter the wiring cover 17a from its lower end and extend upward. And is introduced into the horizontal bar 16a through the support portion 15. The transmission cable 18b is laid in the horizontal bar 16a up to the column 4b adjacent in the front-rear direction of the column 4a, enters the actuator 12b of the column 4b via the support portion 15 at the upper part of the column 4b, and the actuator 12b. The motor 13 and the encoder 14 are connected.

  Of the four transmission cables 18, the two cables 18 c and 18 d connected to the motor controller 10 b reach the base plate 3 a located at the lower portion, and as shown in FIG. 8 is guided to the column 4c facing the column 4a in the left-right direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the transmission cables 18c and 18d circulate in the cover 21 of the support column 4c, enter the wiring cover 17b of the support column 4c from the lower end thereof, and extend upward. Of these two transmission cables 18c and 18d, the transmission cable 18c is introduced into the actuator 12c and connected to the motor 13 and the encoder 14. On the other hand, the transmission cable 18d is introduced into the horizontal bar 16b via the support portion 15 in the same manner as the transmission cable 18b, and enters the actuator 12d of the support column 4d via the support portion 15 above the support column 4d. It is connected to the motor 13 and the encoder 14 of the actuator 12d.

  Further, the transmission cables 18b and 18d are extended by being connected to connectors at the respective support portions 15 in the respective columns 4, and can be attached and detached at this point.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the operation unit 6 and the control means 20 of the first embodiment. The operation unit 6 includes an up switch 22, a down switch 23, a display unit 24, a memory setting unit 25, a memory function unit 26, and a changeover switch 27. As the control means 20, two motor controllers 10a and 10b are provided so as to correspond to the liftable handrails 2a and 2b, and the motor controllers 10a and 10b are connected to the operation unit 6 and are connected to the motor controller. 10a the two struts 4a for elevating the horizontal bars 16a, the actuator 12a of 4b, and 12b, the controller 10b is controlled actuators 12 c, 12 d of the two struts 4 c, 4 d for elevating the horizontal rod 16 b . Further, the motor controllers 10a and 10b are provided with a memory unit (not shown) for storing the position information of the actuator 12, that is, the height information of the horizontal bars 16a and 16b.

  Next, the usage method of the parallel bar 1 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated. First, in order to adjust the height of one of the horizontal bars 16, the liftable handrails 2a and 2b that are moved up and down by the changeover switch 27 are selected. In this embodiment, when the changeover switch 27 shown in FIG. 8 is turned to the left, a signal from the operation unit 6 is sent to the motor controller 10a, and the height of the liftable handrail 2a can be adjusted. It becomes possible.

  When the up switch 22 or the down switch 23 of the operation unit 6 is pressed while the changeover switch 27 is turned to the left, a signal based on this is sent to the motor controller 10a selected by the changeover switch 27. As a result, the motor controller 10a sends drive signals to the motor 13 of the actuator 12a of the support column 4a and the motor 13 of the actuator 12b of the support column 4b, and the motors 13 rotate to move the actuators 12a and 12b up and down.

  Further, the encoders 14 provided in the respective actuators 12a and 12b send position information of the actuators 12a and 12b to the motor controller 10a. The motor controller 10a controls the two actuators 12 to move up and down while maintaining the same height from the position information of the two actuators 12a and 12b. For example, when the positional information sent from the encoders 14 of the two actuators 12a and 12b are different from each other, the motor 14 of one actuator is stopped and the motor 14 of the actuator is driven to make the height positions equal. Make corrections. Thereby, the horizontal bar 16a can be moved up and down while maintaining a horizontal state.

  At this time, the position information of the actuators 12a and 12b, that is, the height information of the horizontal bar 16a is sent from the motor controller 10a to the operation unit 6, and the height of the horizontal bar 16a of the liftable handrail 2a is displayed on the display unit 24. Has been.

  After the horizontal bar 16a of the elevating handrail 2a is raised and lowered to a desired height, the raising / lowering movement of the horizontal bar 16a is also stopped by stopping the operation of the raising switch 22 or the lowering switch 23. Further, for the height adjustment of the horizontal bar 16b of the other lift-type handrail 2b, similarly to the height adjustment of the horizontal bar 16b of the lift-type handrail 2a, the selector switch 27 is turned to the right to By pushing the up switch 22 or the down switch 23, the horizontal bar 16b can be moved up and down to a desired height. At this time, the display unit 24 displays the height of the horizontal bar 16b of the liftable handrail 2b from the installation floor.

  When the horizontal bar 16a is at the lowest position as shown in FIG. 2 and when the columns 4a and 4b are extended to the highest position, the columns 4a and 4b are in the state shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, respectively. It becomes. In particular, in the support column 4a, the transmission cables 18a and 18b also move when extended, but since these are arranged around the cover 19 and have slack, the transmission cables 18a and 18b move up and down. There is no hindrance. Similarly, when the horizontal bar 16b extends from the state shown in FIG. 3 to the highest position, the columns 4c and 4d are in the state shown in FIGS. 8 and 7, respectively. Also in the support column 4c, the transmission cables 18c and 18d are circulated in the cover 21 and have slack, so that they do not hinder the up-and-down movement.

  Further, when walking training is performed using the parallel bars 1, the training is usually performed with the same height of the horizontal bars 16a and 16b. Therefore, the parallel bar 1 according to the present embodiment is provided with a memory function that can easily make the heights of the horizontal bars 16a and 16b the same. Hereinafter, this memory function will be described.

  First, similarly to the above-described case, the raising / lowering handrail 2a is selected by the changeover switch 27, and the horizontal bar 16a is moved up and down to a desired height by using the raising switch 22 or the lowering switch 23. Here, the memory setting unit 25 provided in the operation unit 6 is provided with, for example, a plurality of buttons with serial numbers, and one elevator type handrail 2 a is selected by the changeover switch 27. When any of these buttons is pressed, the memory function unit 26 stores the height information of the horizontal bar 16a sent from the motor controller 10a to the operation unit 6 together with the number of the button.

  In this state, when the selector switch 27 is turned to the right to select the liftable handrail 2b and the same button of the memory setting unit 25 is pressed again, the height information of the horizontal bar 16a stored from the memory function unit 26 is read. The operation unit 6 sends the height information to the motor controller 10b. Based on this, the motor controller 10b drives the actuators 12c and 12d of the support columns 4c and 4d of the liftable handrail 2b to move the horizontal bar 16b up and down to the same height as the horizontal bar 16a of the liftable handrail 2a. . As a result, when the height of one horizontal bar 16a is adjusted, the other horizontal bar 16b can be moved up and down to the same height, so the two horizontal bars 16a and 16b can be easily set to the same height. Can be adjusted.

  This memory function is not limited to the above-described usage, but for example, the height information of the frequently used horizontal bars 16a and 16b may be stored in the memory function unit 26 together with the button number of the memory setting unit 25. The horizontal bars 16a and 16b can be easily moved up and down to a height corresponding to the button by simply pressing the button of the memory setting unit 25. If a plurality of buttons are associated with different heights and stored in the memory function unit 26, one height is selected from stepwise heights, and the horizontal bar 16a, 16b can be moved up and down.

In the parallel bar 1 as described above, an actuator 12 that can be moved up and down is provided on each column 4, and two actuators 12 that move up and down the same horizontal bar 16, that is, both ends of each horizontal bar 16 a and 16 b. Since the actuator 12 in the column is synchronized with the control means and moves up and down at the same height, the horizontal bars 16a and 16b move up and down while maintaining the horizontal state. And since these actuators 12 are provided in each support | pillar 4, and only only a horizontal bar exists between support | pillars, it does not become a hindrance to various walk training and height adjustment work.

  Further, by providing the memory function unit 26, it is possible to easily align the heights of the horizontal bars 16a and 16b, and once the heights are memorized, the horizontal bars 16 are reached to the heights in a simple procedure. The height can be set, so that the height can be easily adjusted.

  Moreover, since the horizontal switch 16a and 16b can adjust each height separately by providing the selection switch 27 in the operation part 6, the variation of walking training can be increased and it can respond to flexible training. It becomes possible. Moreover, since the operation part 6 which adjusts the height of both horizontal bars 16a and 16b is provided in the operation unit 5 installed in any one support | pillar 4, the height of both horizontal bars 16a and 16b is provided in one place. The height can be adjusted, and the height can be further easily adjusted.

  In addition, the display unit 27 can easily grasp the current height of the liftable handrails 2a and 2b selected by the selection switch 27, and can easily adjust the height of the horizontal bar. Since the wiring of the transmission cable 18 is housed in each component of the parallel bar 1, the patient and therapist will not be caught in the transmission cable 18 and can safely walk and support it. be able to.

  Further, the horizontal bars 16a and 16b and the respective support columns 4 are rotatably connected in a horizontal plane, and the transmission cable 18 can be twisted at the contact portion between the horizontal bars 16a and 16b and the support columns 4, The horizontal bars 16a and 16b can be easily rotated with respect to the column 4. Therefore, by moving the base plates 3a and 3b so as to be obliquely parallel to each other and simultaneously rotating both the horizontal bars 16a and 16b with respect to the support column 4, the horizontal bars 16a and 16b and the base plate are seen in plan view. The distance between the horizontal bars 16a and 16b is changed so that the rectangle formed with the sides 3a and 3b is deformed into a parallelogram. As a result, the horizontal widths of the horizontal bars 16a and 16b can be easily changed, so that it is possible to deal with patients of various physiques and increase walking training variations.

  Further, the transmission cables 18b and 18d are extended by being connected to the connectors at the respective support portions 15 of the respective columns 4, and can be attached and detached at this point. Therefore, the transmission cables 18b and 18d are provided. Does not hinder the separation of the support column 4 from the horizontal bars 16a and 16b. Therefore, the column 4 and the horizontal bars 16a and 16b can be easily separated and transported in a compact manner.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of the parallel bar 1 which is this invention was described in detail, unless it deviates from the technical idea of this invention, it is not limited to these, A some design change etc. are possible. For example, as a first modification, the two motor controllers 10a and 10b are provided as described above, and the memory function unit 26 is provided in the operation unit 6, but as shown in FIG. One motor controller 40 that controls one actuator 12 and includes the memory function unit 26 may be provided. As described above, the motor controllers 10a and 10b are provided with a memory unit (not shown) for storing the height information of the horizontal bars 16a and 16b. However, in the first modification, the memory provided in the motor controller 40 is provided. Since the functional unit 26 can also store height information, the two required memories can be combined into one, and a simpler structure can be achieved.

As a second modification, the changeover switch 27 can select not only one lifting / lowering handrail 2a, 2b but also select both to raise / lower both lifting / lowering handrails 2a, 2b simultaneously. It may be configured to be possible. By simultaneously raising and lowering in this way, the height can be adjusted quickly.

It is a perspective view of a parallel bar concerning this embodiment. It is a sectional side view of the raising / lowering type handrail provided with the operation part of the parallel bar of this embodiment. It is a front view of the parallel bar of this embodiment. It is a sectional side view of the raising / lowering type handrail in which the operation part of the parallel bar of this embodiment is not provided. It is a block diagram of the operation part and control means of a parallel bar concerning this embodiment. It is a sectional side view when the support | pillar provided with the operation part extended | stretched. It is a sectional side view when the support | pillar which opposes the support | pillar provided with the operation part expanded. It is side sectional drawing when the support | pillar provided with the actuator connected with the transmission cable laid in the horizontal stick | rod extended | stretched. It is a block diagram of the operation part and control means of a parallel bar of the 1st modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Parallel bar 2a Elevating type handrail 2b Elevating type handrail 3 Base plate 4 Support | pillar 6 Operation part 12 Actuator 16 Horizontal bar 20 Control means 26 Memory function part

Claims (3)

In a parallel bar provided with a pair of horizontal bars extending in the horizontal direction and struts erected at intervals in the axial direction of the horizontal bar,
An actuator that is provided in each of the columns and moves the horizontal bar up and down;
Control means for synchronizing a plurality of the actuators that move up and down the same horizontal bar ,
The operation unit capable of selectively raising and lowering any one of a pair of horizontal bars to an arbitrary height and simultaneously raising and lowering a pair of horizontal bars to an arbitrary height is any one of the support columns. A parallel bar characterized in that it is provided . A memory function unit for storing the height of the horizontal bar is provided, and the horizontal bar selected by the operation unit is moved up and down to a height read from the memory function unit by the control unit. The parallel bar according to claim 1 . The parallel bar according to claim 1 , wherein the operation unit is provided with a display unit that displays a height of the horizontal bar from an installation floor surface.

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