JP7493299B2 - Slope Device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a ramp device used for getting on and off a vehicle using a wheelchair or other device.

2. Description of the Related Art A ramp device that extends from the floor or the like of a vehicle to the outside of the vehicle is used for the purpose of enabling wheelchair users or the like to get on and off of a vehicle.
For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a slope device is known in which a fixing member fixed to the vehicle and a floor member on the base side of the slope device are cut into an uneven shape so that they interlock with each other, and are connected by a pin member.
Although this method provides excellent connection stability, it is costly to process the uneven shape, and it is difficult to remove the members connected by the pin members.

JP 2003-226186 A

The present invention aims to provide a slope device that is low cost and easy to replace parts.

The slope device according to the present invention has a mounting panel that is fixed to the vehicle side and a bracket that connects the base side of the slope, and the bracket has a pivot pin that is pivoted to the side end of the mounting panel and a fixing part that is fixed to the base side of the slope.

In this invention, a pivot pin provided on the bracket is pivoted to the mounting panel side and the fixed portion of the bracket is fixed to the slope side, thereby allowing the mounting panel, which is fixed to the vehicle floor, etc., to be rotatably connected to the base side of the slope using the bracket.
This eliminates the need for cutting out the interlocking uneven shapes between the mounting panel and the slope side panel to communicate with the pin member as in the conventional method, thereby reducing processing costs.
Furthermore, in the past, the mounting panel and the slope side panel were integrated with a pin member, making it difficult to remove or reuse the slope body, but the present invention makes it possible to remove the slope body simply by removing the bracket.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the slope has a slope panel and side rails which respectively hold both side end portions of the slope panel, and the fixing portion of the bracket is fixed to the base side of the side rail.
In this way, it is easier to fix the bracket to the side rail than to a slope panel, and the fixing strength can be easily ensured.
In this case, the fixed portion of the bracket is fixed to the side rail and the pivot pin is axially attached to the mounting panel, so the gap width between adjacent slope panels and the mounting panel is determined by the position and distance between the fixed portion of the bracket and the pivot pin.
This makes it easy to adjust the gap width between the slope panel and the mounting panel, and it is even possible to make it narrower than before, improving the maneuverability of the wheelchair.

In the present invention, the slope has, at its base side end, a connecting panel that connects to the slope panel, and the side rails that hold the side end portions on both sides of the connecting panel, and the fixing portion of the bracket may be inserted into and fixed to an insertion portion provided on the base side of the side rail.
In this way, the fixing portion of the bracket is inserted and fixed into the insertion portion provided on the base side of the side rail, i.e., inside the side rail, so that it is also possible to prevent the bracket from rotating.
In addition, by dividing the base side of the slope into a slope panel and a connecting panel, the above-mentioned insertion portion can be formed simply by making the left and right width dimension (length) of the connecting panel shorter than the width of the slope panel to match the width dimension of the bracket, thereby reducing the amount of processing required on the slope panel.

In the present invention, the bracket may include a bracket body and the pivot pin, the bracket body being an extruded member, and the pivot pin being held by the bracket body.
In this way, the bracket body can be easily manufactured from an extruded material, and strength can be easily ensured by press-fitting the pivot pin, etc.

The slope device of the present invention connects the mounting panel and slope freely rotatably by means of a pivot pin provided on the bracket and fixing the fixed part of the bracket to the slope side, thereby eliminating the need for notching to interlock the mounting panel and slope, thereby reducing processing costs.
In addition, the ramp body can be separated from the vehicle simply by removing the bracket.

1 shows an example of a slope device according to the present invention. An enlarged view of the bracket portion of the slope device is shown. An explanatory diagram of how to connect the slope and the mounting panel is shown. 13 shows another embodiment of the side rail. FIG. 2 shows a partial cross-sectional view of a slope device. An example of the stored state of the slope device is shown. 11 shows another embodiment of the bracket.

An example of a slope device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.
FIG. 1 shows a state in which a slope device 10 is deployed from the floor of a vehicle or the like toward the outside of the vehicle, for example toward the road surface, and FIG. 2 shows an enlarged view of brackets 15 and 16 of this slope device 10.
The mounting panel 13 is provided with fastening holes (not shown) and is attached to a vehicle floor (not shown) with bolts or the like.
Such a mounting panel 13 makes it easy to install and secure the slope device 10 to the vehicle.
The installation structure and fixing structure of the mounting panel 13 to the vehicle may be adapted to suit the vehicle on which the slope device 10 is mounted.
In this embodiment, the slope device 10 is an example in which the slope 11, which is the slope body, and the vehicle exterior slope 12 are connected in sequence so that they can be extended and retracted, but the present invention can be applied as long as the base side of the slope is connected to the center of rotation, and there are no restrictions on the slope deployment structure, such as a sliding type, a folding type, etc.
As shown in FIG. 6, the ramp device 10 stores the exterior ramp 12 on the ramp 11 side and stores it upright inside the vehicle cabin.

As shown in FIG. 1, the slope panel 11 has a connecting panel 14 connected to the base end of the slope panel 11a located on the base side of the slope device 10.
In this embodiment, the connecting panel 14 is connected to the base side end portion in order to reduce the processing costs of the slope panel 11a, etc., but the connecting panel 14 is not necessarily required, and the slope panel 11a may be located at the base side end portion.
The slope panel 11a and the connecting panel 14 have side rails 11b, 11c on both left and right sides thereof, and slide rails 12b, 12c connected to both sides of the slope panel 12a of the exterior slope 12 slide along the side rails 11b, 11c.
The base sides of the side rails 11b, 11c and the side ends of the mounting panel 13 are rotatably connected by brackets 15, 16.

As shown in FIG. 2, the brackets 15 and 16 are each composed of a bracket main body 15A or 16A and a pivot pin 15a or 16a.
As shown in FIG. 3(a), the bracket main body 15A, 16A has holding portions 15b, 16b in which the pivot pins 15a, 16a are held from the left-right direction, for example by press-fitting, and fixing portions 15c, 16c connected to the holding portions 15b, 16b in the front-to-rear direction via connecting portions 15e, 16e, and fixing holes 15d, 16d are provided in the fixing portions 15c, 16c.
The pivot pins 15a, 16a can be pivoted by inserting them into pivot holes 13a, 13b provided at the side ends of the mounting panel 13, and the fixing portions 15c, 16c are inserted into insertion portions 11d, 11e on the base sides of the side rails 11b, 11c and fixed by fixing members 17, 18.
In this case, the structure of the inserting portions 11d, 11e is not limited to that shown in FIG. 3. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the side rails 11b, 11c may be formed with a hollow cross-sectional shape to form the inserting portions 11d, 11e with a hollow shape.
In this way, simply by inserting the fixing portions 15c, 16c on the bracket side into the hollow-shaped insertion portions 11d, 11e, it is possible to position the fixing portions 15c, 16c in the left-right direction, and the left and right side walls of the hollow portion regulate the left-right rotation of the brackets 15, 16.
Furthermore, as shown in Figures 3(b) and 4, by making the left and right width of the connecting panel 14 shorter than that of the slope panel 11a to match the insertion space for the fixing portions 15c and 16c, the amount of processing required for the slope panel 11a and the side rails 11b and 11c can be reduced.
As shown in FIG. 7, brackets 15, 16 in which pivot pins 15a, 16a are integrally formed with bracket main bodies 15A, 16A are also included in the present invention.

The brackets 15, 16 of the present invention connect the base sides of the side rails 11b, 11c to the side ends of the mounting panel 13, so that the left-right width (length) W4 of the mounting panel 13 can be set to match the width W2 of the slope surface, as shown in Figure 3(a), making it easier to get wheelchairs and the like on and off the slope.
Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5, the gap width d between adjacent connecting panels 14 and mounting panels 13 is the width of the connecting portions 15e, 16e that connect the retaining portions 15b, 16b and the fixing portions 15c, 16c of the brackets 15, 16. Therefore, by shortening the connecting portions 15e, 16e, the gap width d between the connecting panels 14 and the mounting panels 13 can be narrowed.
Furthermore, by providing the connecting panel 14 and the connecting portion 16e with an inclined portion having a predetermined inclined surface, it is easier to ensure an effective rotation angle when the slope 11 is stored, and the inclined portion stabilizes the upright storage state as shown in Figure 6.
It is preferable that the inclinations of the inclined portion 14a of the connecting panel 14 and the connecting portions 15e, 16e are the same as shown in Figure 3 (b), and such inclined surfaces of the inclined portion 14a of the connecting panel 14 and the connecting portions 15e, 16e can be easily formed by extrusion molding the connecting panel 14 and the brackets 15, 16.
Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the mounting panel 13 may have a hollow cross-sectional shape having hollow portions 13c and 13d, and the slope panels 11a, 12a, side rails 11b, 11c and connecting panel 14 may also have a hollow cross-sectional shape.
The hollow cross-sectional shape can be easily formed by extrusion molding, and the number of hollow portions may be two or more, or may be three or four.

11 Slope 13 Mounting panel 15 Bracket 16 Bracket 15a, 16a Rotation pin 15c, 16c Fixing portion

Claims (3)

The mounting panel is fixed to the vehicle side, and a pair of brackets are connected to the base side of the slope.
The pair of brackets each have a pivot pin pivotally attached to a side end of the mounting panel and a fixing portion fixed to a base side of the slope,
A slope device characterized in that the fixing portion of the bracket is inserted into and fixed to a hollow-shaped insertion portion provided on the slope side . The slope device according to claim 1, characterized in that the slope has a slope panel and side rails which hold the side end portions on both sides of the slope panel, and the fixing portion of the bracket is located on the base side of the side rail and is inserted and fixed into a hollow-shaped insertion portion extending in the front-to-rear direction. The bracket includes a bracket body and the pivot pin.
3. The slope device according to claim 1, wherein the bracket body is an extruded member, and the pivot pin is held by the bracket body.

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