JPH0325178B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field This invention is used to help sick or injured people or old people with weak legs to walk in hospitals, sanatoriums, rehabilitation centers, or at home. This invention relates to a walker used for training.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY Conventionally, this type of walker has, for example, a first
There were things like those shown in Figures 0 and 11.

First, in the one shown in FIG. 10, a frame 3 is created by connecting the upper and lower ends of a plurality of vertical pipes 1 with pipes 2, 2 bent into a U-shape, respectively, and a plurality of casters 4 are attached to the bottom of the frame 3. ... was attached, and a U-shaped elbow rest 5 was provided at the top. When using the walker,
The user places his/her body within the frame 3, supports the body by placing the elbow on the elbow pad 5 located just around the waist, and walks slowly so that the user can move easily on the caster 4.

On the other hand, in the one shown in FIG. 11, pipes 6, 6 bent in an inverted U shape are provided facing each other on the left and right, and their corresponding sides are rotatably connected to each other by a connecting pipe 7 assembled in an H shape. This constituted frame 8. When using the walker, place both hands on the grips 9, 9 on the pipes 6, 6, respectively, support the body with the frame 8, and while walking slowly move the left and right inverted U-shaped pipes 6, 6. It was designed to be able to move by moving forward alternately in the directions indicated by the arrows in the figure.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, the caster 4 as shown in Fig. 10...
Conventional walkers have the advantage of making walking easier, but they also have the problem of being dangerous, especially on slopes, because they can gain momentum and cause the person to fall.
For this reason, although some models are equipped with handbrakes, it is extremely difficult to expect patients with weakened bodies, the elderly, etc., to operate them with great care.

Furthermore, although a conventional walker without casters as shown in Fig. 11 has the advantage that there is no risk of it falling over, it is necessary to move the left and right pipes 6, 6 forward alternately using one's own power. Because it won't happen,
When used as an aid to aid walking, there was a problem in that it was not at all easy for seriously ill people and elderly people with considerably weakened legs and hips.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve such problems with the above-mentioned walker so that walking is comfortable and there is no risk of falling.

Means for Solving the Problems Therefore, the walker according to the present invention is provided with a stopper member 34 at the tip and the first caster 3, as shown in the illustrated embodiment below, for example.
7 is attached via a first elastic member such as a compression coil spring 41, and the stopper member 34 is separated from the first caster 37 in a natural state. When a predetermined load or more is applied, the first sliding member is moved against the first elastic member, and the stopper member 34 is pressed against the first caster 37 to prevent its rotation. A second sliding member 25 having a first foot such as a hind foot 38 for stopping, a second foot such as a front foot 12 to which no caster is attached, and a second caster 19 is connected to a second sliding member 25 such as a compression coil spring 30. It is attached to the tip via a second elastic member, and in a natural state, the first and second casters 37 and 19 are brought into contact with the first leg and placed on the running surface g, and the second caster is placed on the running surface g. The front foot holds the foot in the air and moves the second sliding member 25 against the second elastic member to bring the second foot into contact with the walking surface g when a predetermined load or more is applied. A third leg such as 20 is provided.

Function: During normal walking, the person holds it in their hands and moves with it on the casters 37 while receiving assistance. However, when a load exceeding a predetermined level is applied due to a trip or the like, the elastic member deforms and the foot 38
is retracted, and the stopper member 34 contacts the caster 37 of the leg 38 to stop its rotation.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a walker which is an embodiment of the present invention. The reference numeral 10 in the figure is the lower frame, which is formed into a substantially H-shape by welding or the like to vertical pipes 10b and 10c fixed at right angles to both ends of a horizontal pipe portion 10a. Then, such lower frames 10 are arranged to face each other on the left and right sides, and rubbers 11, 11 are attached to the lower ends of the corresponding vertical pipe parts 10b, 10c, respectively, and these are connected to front legs 12, 12 without casters. do. Then, the base ends of the support pipes 13, 13 are inserted into the vertical pipes 10b, 10b on one side from above, respectively.
Its base end is fixed with screws 14, 14.

A connecting frame 17 is attached to the outside of these support pipes 13, 13 by fitting short frame parts 17a, 17a from above, respectively. The connecting pipe 17 is made into a substantially T-shape by fixing the upper end of the vertical pipe 17c to the lower center of the "dog"-shaped pipe section 17b by welding or the like, and the above-mentioned pipes are attached to both ends of the "dog"-shaped pipe section 17b. Short pipe part 17a, 1
7a are fixed vertically by welding or the like. Then, after fitting the short pipe parts 17a, 17a into the support pipes 13, 13 and abutting them against the upper ends of the vertical pipe parts 10b, 10b, the rings 18, 1 are fitted into the circumferential grooves of the support pipes 13, 13.
8 to prevent the connecting frame 17 from coming off. Thus, at the lower end of the vertical pipe portion 17c of such a connection frame 17, a front leg 20 having a caster 19 is formed.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, an outer pipe 23 is fitted onto the outer end of the vertical pipe portion 17c of the connecting frame 17 and fixed with screws 24, and that portion is covered with a rubber cover 31 as shown in FIG. cover with
A sliding member 25 is housed in the outer pipe 23 from above and is slidable therein, and the lower end of the outer pipe 23 is constricted to prevent the sliding member 25 from slipping out from below. The sliding member 25 has a caster mounting portion 27 fixed to the lower end of the inner pipe portion 26, and the male threaded portion 28a of the caster support member 28 is screwed into the female threaded portion of the mounting portion 27, and the nut 29
to attach the caster 19 to the sliding member 25. A compression coil spring 3 is connected between the upper end of the sliding member 25 and the lower end of the vertical pipe portion 17c.
0, and slide the sliding member 2 inside the outer pipe 23.
5 has the habit of always moving downward.

On the other hand, support pipes 33, 33 shown in FIG. 3 are inserted into the vertical pipe portions 10c, 10c on the other left and right sides of the lower frames 10, 10 shown in FIG. 1, and similarly fixed with screws or the like. Each support pipe 33
As shown in Fig. 3, there is a long groove 3 facing the lower part.
3b, 33b, and a stopper member 34 at the lower end.
to fix. and each such support pipe 3
At the bottom of the caster 3, as shown in Fig.
form the hind leg 38 having 7;

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, an outer pipe 42 is placed over the lower part of each support pipe 33 with a compression coil spring 41 interposed therebetween, and both the left and right outer pipes 4
2, 42 and the aforementioned vertical pipe portions 10c, 10c.
As shown in Figure 1, there is a rubber cover 4 on the connection part with the
Cover 4,44. Then, a screw 43 inserted radially from one side of the outer pipe 42 is screwed into the other side through the long grooves 33b, 33b of the support pipe 33, thereby urging the outer pipe 42 downward and preventing it from coming off. . Each outer pipe 4
2 has a caster 37 attached to its lower end, and a stepped portion 42a is provided therein, and the aforementioned compression coil spring 41 is sandwiched between the stepped portion 42a and the intermediate enlarged diameter portion 33a of the aforementioned support pipe 33. nothing. In this way, the rear legs 38, 38 are formed at the lower portions of the vertical pipe portions 10c, 10c on the other left and right sides of the lower frames 10, 10, respectively.

Now, referring again to FIG. 1, each lower frame 10
An upper frame 46 is attached to each of the vertical pipe portions 10b and 10c by fitting both ends thereof together and spanning the frame to form an inverted U-shape. Then, such upper frames 46 are left and right opposed.

An extensible frame 47 is placed over the front (left side in the figure) back side of the upper portions of the upper frames 46, 46, respectively. The telescopic frame 47 is the fourth
As shown in the figure, the outer cylinder 48 has a plurality of positioning holes 48a in the length direction at positions facing each other, and one ball fitting hole 49a, 49a at positions facing each other. , and an inner cylinder 49 inserted into the outer cylinder 48, and both ends are connected with bolts 5.
0 and 50 and wing nuts 51 and 51, respectively, to the upper frames 46 and 46. As shown in the figure, a positioning member 54 is inserted into the inner cylinder 49, and is formed by positioning balls 53 fixed to the outside of both ends of a plate spring 52 bent into a V shape. However,
The positioning ball 53 is inserted into the aforementioned ball fitting hole 49a,
49a. Then, the positioning ball 53 is further selectively engaged with appropriate opposing positioning holes 48a of the outer cylinder 48, and by changing the engaging positioning holes 48a, 48a, the expansion and contraction The length of the frame 47 can be adjusted.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, handles 55, 55 are attached to the rear (right side in the figure) of the upper portions of the upper frames 46, 46, respectively. The person using the walker must use these handles 55, 55.
Support your body by holding onto the casters 19, 37, 37.
The walker moves along with the walker while being moved by the walker.

The walker shown in FIG. 1 is constructed as described above. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the casters 19, 37, 37 of the front legs 20 and hind legs 38, 38 are placed on the walking surface g such as a floor, corridor, road, etc., in contact with the walking surface g. At this time, in the natural state, the remaining front legs 12, 12 without casters are provided so as to float a distance l from the walking surface g, as shown.
That is, the front legs 20 with casters 19 are formed to be slightly longer than the front legs 12, 12 without casters. For example, by forming the pipe portion 17b in a dogleg shape as in the illustrated embodiment, when the walker is moved forward as shown by the arrow in the figure,
Preferably, the center of the caster 19 is located slightly forward (by m in the illustrated embodiment) of the remaining forefoot 12 without casters. This is so that even if there is a slightly higher step on the walking surface g, such as a threshold, the caster 19 will hit the step before the front foot 12 hits the step, making it easier to get over the step. .

By the way, although not shown, in this example,
The support pipes 13, 13 attached to the vertical pipe parts 10b, 10b on one side, respectively, are also provided with ball fitting holes similar to the ball fitting holes 49a, 49a shown in FIG. Insert a positioning member similar to the positioning member 54 shown in FIG.
Then, the positioning balls of the positioning member are similarly fitted into the ball fitting holes. On the other hand, the upper frames 46, 46 that fit into the support pipes 13, 13 are also provided with positioning holes 46a similar to the positioning holes 48a shown in FIG. 4 in the length direction at positions facing each other. There are three at almost equal intervals (see Figures 1 and 6). Then, the upper frame 46 is attached to the support pipes 13, 13,
46, their positioning holes 4
The above-mentioned positioning balls are selectively fitted into each of the opposing ones of 6a, and the height positions of the upper frames 46, 46 are determined. Now, as shown in FIG. 1, if the positioning balls are fitted into the lower positioning holes 46a, 46a, the positions of the handles 55, 55 will become higher. In this state, press the positioning balls on both sides with your fingers,
When the upper frames 46, 46 are pushed down,
The positioning balls are located in the next intermediate positioning holes 46a, 46.
a, and the handles 55, 55 are at an intermediate height. Further, from this state, when the positioning ball is pushed in and the upper frames 46, 46 are pushed down, the positioning ball is pushed into the upper positioning hole 46.
a, 46a, and the handles 55, 55 are at the lowest height as shown in FIG.
In addition, in the illustrated embodiment, three stages of positioning holes 46a are provided.
... are provided, but it goes without saying that the number of positioning holes 46a is not limited to three stages. Furthermore, when a particularly tall walker or a short walker is required, the upper frames 46, 46 may be replaced with new ones.

Now, when using the walker that has been adjusted to an appropriate height in this way, as mentioned above, use the handle 5.
Hold 5,55 and cast it to 19,37,3
7 and walk using the walker as support. If a load exceeding a predetermined value is applied to the walker due to, for example, stumbling or staggering, the compression coil springs 30, 41
First, as shown in FIG. 7, the stopper member 3 of both support pipes 33,
4 and 34 against the casters 37 and 37 to brake their rotation. Subsequently, the sliding member 25 slides against the compression coil spring 30 to move upward within the outer pipe 23, and as shown in FIG.
2 comes into contact with the walking surface g, making it difficult to move using the casters 19. Therefore, while walking, caster 19,3
Even if the rotation by the walker 7, 37 gains momentum and causes the walker to stagger, if a load exceeding a predetermined value is applied to the walker due to the sway, the functions of the casters 19, 37, 37 are stopped as described above. , there is no risk of it falling over easily like in the conventional case. Furthermore, even when using the walker in a sloping hallway or on a slope in a hospital, the casters 19, 37, and 37 can be stopped by resting your body on the walker, so you can easily prevent yourself from falling over. Never. Moreover, in the illustrated embodiment,
First, the brakes are applied to the rear legs 38, 38, and then the front legs 12, 12 touch the ground, and since the movement of the walker is not immediately stopped, there is no risk of the walker tripping forward. In addition, in FIG. 8, the walker is shown at a large incline in order to emphasize the state in which the front foot 12 is in contact with the ground, but in reality, the front foot 12 is shown at a large incline.
There is no need to shorten 2 and 12.

In the illustrated walker according to this embodiment, the wing nuts 51, 51 are loosened, the positioning balls 53, 53 are pushed in with fingers against the leaf spring 52, and the opening angle of the upper frames 46, 46 is adjusted. The inner cylinder 49 is pushed into the outer cylinder 48 and their positioning balls 53,
53, it can be fitted into the inner positioning holes 48a, 48a and folded as shown in FIG. However, when you finish using it,
Store it in this condition. Therefore, the walker of the illustrated embodiment has the advantage that it can be stored without taking up much space.

By the way, in the embodiments detailed above, the case where the present invention is applied to a cart-type walker has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to such a walker, but can be similarly applied to a stick-shaped walker, and can also be applied to, for example, a crutch that has separate left and right sides.

Effects of the Invention Therefore, according to the present invention, since a sliding member is attached to the tip of the foot via an elastic member and a caster is attached to the tip of the sliding member, the caster does not come into contact with the walking surface in a natural state. This allows the walker to be moved easily. Therefore, it can be easily handled even by seriously ill patients and extremely debilitated elderly people. In addition, if the walker stumbles or stumbles during use, a load is applied to the walker, and the sliding member moves against the elastic member to retract the caster, and a stopper member provided at the tip of the foot is attached to the caster. Since the rotation of the caster is stopped by contacting the wheel, it is possible to eliminate the risk of the bicycle gaining momentum and falling over in such a case.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 9 show a walker which is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the front leg portion with casters, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the hind leg. Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of the telescopic frame part, Figure 5 is a side view of the whole in its natural state, Figure 6 is a perspective view of the whole in its high and low state, Figure 7 is the load. FIG. 8 is a side view of the entire rear leg when a load is applied, and FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the folded state. FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are perspective views each showing a conventional walker. 12...front leg (second leg), 19... caster (second caster), 20... front leg (third leg),
25...Sliding member (second sliding member), 30...
Compression coil spring (second elastic member), 34... stopper member, 37... caster (first caster),
38... Hind leg (first leg), 41... Compression coil spring (first elastic member), 42... Outer pipe (first sliding member), g... Walking surface.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A stopper member is provided at the tip, and a first sliding member having a first caster is attached via a first elastic member, and in a natural state, the stopper member is attached to the first sliding member. The first sliding member is held apart from the caster, and when a predetermined load or more is applied, the first sliding member is moved against the first elastic member, and the stopper member is pressed against the first caster. A first leg that stops rotation, a second leg that does not have a caster attached, and a second sliding member that has a second caster.
is attached to the tip via an elastic member, and in a natural state, the first and second casters are in contact with the first foot and placed on the running surface, and the second foot is held floating, and the second foot is held floating. a third foot that moves the second sliding member against the second elastic member to bring the second foot into contact with the walking surface when a load is applied to the walking surface. vessel.