JP2002301117A - Wheelchair - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wheelchair which lets upper bodies of users be laid down simply by himself. SOLUTION: A reclining mechanism 23 is provided to recline a back rest member 3 backward a great deal so as to generate no deviation between the back rest member 3 and the head part positions of riding persons when reclining the back rest member.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wheelchair.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, barrier-free infrastructure in roads, transportation, public facilities, and the like has been improved, and easy-to-use wheelchairs and the like have been provided.
The range in which the elderly and the physically handicapped can freely work is rapidly expanding. However, expanding the range of activity means that the occupants will continue to sit in wheelchairs for long periods of time. However, there has been a problem that if the user continues to sit in a wheelchair for a long time, blood pressure may be impaired due to pressure on the back, buttocks, and thighs. Therefore, when a wheelchair is used for a long time, various wheelchairs have been proposed in which a step member of a wheelchair can be raised or a backrest member can be reclined so that a limb can be extended or an upper body can be laid down. . However, when the end of the step member or the backrest member is directly pivoted to the seat frame, the occupant's knee or waist joint is located above the pivot point of the step member or the backrest member when seated. When the backrest member is reclined, the position of the headrest moves below the position of the occupant's head, so that the headrest must be removed or the position of the headrest must be changed. In addition, there is a problem that such work cannot be performed by one person depending on the degree of disability, and the support of another person is required.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a wheelchair in which the head position does not shift when the backrest is reclined.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a wheelchair provided with a reclining mechanism for reclining a backrest member so as not to be displaced from a head position of an occupant. According to the first aspect of the present invention, the wheelchair in which the reclining mechanism is operated by an electric operation control mechanism is the second aspect of the present invention. In the first or second aspect of the present invention, the reclining mechanism includes a seat frame and a backrest member. A substantially L-shaped plate to be pivotally connected, and a top fixed to the backrest member at a position coaxial with the substantially L-shaped plate, one of the lower portions being slidably engaged with a guide groove of the seat frame, and the other of the lower portion being operation-controlled. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wheelchair including a substantially triangular tilt plate connected to a mechanism.

[0005]

Next, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Reference numeral 1 denotes a square frame-shaped frame main body. The frame main body 1 includes a seat frame 1a on which a foldable seat is stretched, a leg frame 1b,
And a lower frame 1c. And the frame body 1
A pair of left and right step members 2 and a backrest member 3 on which a foldable backrest sheet is stretched are attached, and left and right armrests 4 are pivotally mounted so as to be able to pivot up and down so as to open the sides. . The backrest member 3 is attached to the frame body 1 via a reclining mechanism 23 described later. The casters 5 are attached to the leg frame 1b. Reference numeral 6 denotes a main wheel driven by an electric motor 7, and the main wheel 6 is a lower frame 1c.
It is attached via an electric motor 7 to a base plate 6a which is detachably provided on the base plate 6a.

The step member 2 is simultaneously pivoted up and down and expanded and contracted via a pivoting mechanism 8. When the step member 2 is raised, the step member 2 is displaced from the limb length of the occupant so that the knee is not bent. The member 2 is extended. The pivot mechanism 8 is operated by an electric operation control mechanism 9.
The pivot mechanism 8 of the step member 2 will be described more specifically. The pivot mechanism 8 includes a pair of left and right pivot members 10 of the step member 2 pivotally attached to the tip of the seat frame 1a, and the respective pivot members. A stepped guide rod 11 of the step member 2 which is inserted into the rod 10 so as to be extendable and retractable; It consists of: The link between the pushing rod 12 and the operation control mechanism 9 is a pair of left and right inverted L-shaped links 13.
This is performed via the link 16 of the interlocking rod 15 and the interlocking rod 15. Each of the inverted L-shaped links 13 has one end pivotally connected to the base end of the push rod 12 and the other end slidably engaged with a guide groove 14 of the seat frame 1a with a pin. It is a concatenation. The interlocking rod 15 is provided with a link 16 for pivotally connecting the driving rod 9 a of the electric operation control mechanism 9. 14a is a needle bearing attached to a pin engaged with the guide groove 14.

An angle setting mechanism 17 stops the interlocking of the step member 2 and the backrest member 3 to change the stop angle of the step member 2, and the angle setting mechanism 17 includes the step member 2 and the backrest member 3. Are stopped by the same operation control mechanism 9 to stop the interlocking movement of the two, and only the return operation of the backrest member 3 is continued to stop the return operation of the step member 2 on the way.
To adjust the return position (stop angle). The specific structure of the angle setting mechanism 17 includes an outer cylinder 12a of the push rod 12 having a double pipe structure, a guide cylinder 18 pivotally attached to the leg frame 1b and slidingly guiding the outer cylinder 12a,
a stopper 19 fixed so as to be adjustable in position on the inner cylinder 12a, an inner cylinder 12b whose base end is pivotally connected to the inverted L-shaped link 13 and slidably fitted into the outer cylinder 12a, and an outer cylinder 12a and the inverted L-shaped link 13 And a tension spring 20 provided with a space therebetween. The stopper 19 moves the guide cylinder 1 by retreating the outer cylinder 12a.
8 to stop the outer cylinder 12a from retreating. The pulling spring 20 constantly urges the outer cylinder 12a and the inner cylinder 12b in the shortening direction, and the spring force can be adjusted by locking one end to a stopper 20a fixed to the outer cylinder 12a so as to be adjustable. And Reference numeral 21 denotes a step mounting rod provided in parallel with the guide rod 11, and reference numeral 22 denotes a step which is removably mounted on the step mounting rod 21.
22a is a tension spring provided on the step member 2,
The pulling spring 22a is locked at the lower end of the guide rod 11 and the upper end of the pivoting rod 10, and constantly biases the step member 2 in the shortening direction.

The above-mentioned backrest member 3 is simultaneously reclined and expanded and contracted by the reclining mechanism 23, and the reclining greatly moves backward so that the backrest member 3 does not deviate from the head position of the occupant. Is what is done. The reclining mechanism 23 is operated by an electric operation control mechanism 9 that drives the pivot mechanism 8. A specific structure of the reclining mechanism 23 of the backrest member 3 includes a pair of right and left substantially L-shaped plates 24, one end of which is pivotally connected to the middle of the seat frame 1a and the other end of which is pivotally connected to a lower portion of the backrest member 3. The top is fixed to the backrest member 3 coaxially with the L-shaped plate 24, and one of the lower portions is slidably engaged with the guide groove 14 of the seat frame 1a with a pin, and the other lower portion is connected to the operation control mechanism 9. Left and right pair of substantially triangular tilt plates 25
It consists of: The other lower portion of the tilting plate 25 is connected to the inverted L-shaped link 13 with the interlocking rod 15 and to the driving rod 9a of the electric operation control mechanism 9 via the link 16 of the interlocking rod 15. It is assumed. As the pivot point between the substantially L-shaped plate 24 and the backrest member 3 is positioned higher than the seat surface, the amount of movement of the backrest member 3 rearward increases.

Reference numeral 26 denotes a controller for controlling the forward and backward movement of the wheelchair, the vertical pivoting and expansion and contraction of the step member 2, the reclining and expansion and contraction of the backrest member 3, and 27 an auxiliary wheel attached to the base plate 6a. The wheels 27 are for preventing the wheelchair from falling backward when the backrest member 3 is tilted horizontally. 28 is a horizontal rod 27a to which the auxiliary wheels 27 are attached and the lower frame 1
The shock absorber 28 is provided between the wheels b to prevent the lift operation of the caster 5 of the wheelchair from being hindered. 29 is a boss attached to the inverted L-shaped link 13 for attaching the other end of the extension spring 20 and the inner cylinder 12b of the push rod 12, 30 is an attachment portion for attaching the base of the operation control mechanism 9 to be able to pivot, and 31 is an attachment portion. The pivot of the armrest 4.

In the vehicle constructed as above, the occupant sits on a seat stretched on the seat frame 1a of the frame body 1, operates the knob of the controller 26 to move forward and backward, and moves to the destination. Is the same as the conventional one, but when sitting in a wheelchair for a long time and feeling that the buttocks, thighs, etc. may be compressed and blood circulation may be impaired, the occupant turns on the operation switch of the controller 26, The drive rod 9a of the operation control mechanism 9 is retracted from the state shown in FIG.

As the driving rod 9a of the operation control mechanism 9 retreats, the interlocking rod 15 on which the link 16 pivotally connected to the driving rod 9a is also moved forward in FIG. By this forward movement, the tilting plate 25 of the reclining mechanism 23 pivotally attached to the interlocking rod 15 and the reverse L-shaped link 13 are guided by the guide grooves 14 to move forward in FIG. As the lower portion of the tilting plate 25 locked in the guide groove 14 moves forward, the top of the tilting plate 25 tilts rearward, so that the backrest member 3 fixed to the top of the tilting plate 25 The substantially L-shaped plate 24 is tilted rearward about the pivot point on the seat frame 1a side. When the backrest member 3 is reclined, the arc drawn by the pivot point of the substantially L-shaped plate 24 on the backrest member 3 side is larger rearward than when the seat frame 1a has the pivot point of the backrest member 3. Since the headrest moves, the headrest position (not shown) attached to the backrest member 3 moves rearward with reclining, so that the head position of the occupant does not deviate from the headrest position.

In addition, the pivoting mechanism 8 is raised horizontally by sliding the guide rod 11 of the step member 2 and extending along with the operation of the operation control mechanism 9. Will be extended horizontally without being bent. By placing the upper body sideways and extending the limbs in this manner, pressure on the thighs, buttocks, and the like is reduced, so that blood circulation disorders can be resolved. When returning the reclined backrest member 3 and the step member 2 to the original state, the controller 26 presses a switch for performing an operation opposite to the above, and the operation control mechanism 9 is operated.
Is operated in reverse, the pivot mechanism 8 and the reclining mechanism 2
No. 3 performs an operation reverse to the above and automatically returns to the old state.

When the step member 2 is returned from the horizontal state to the original vertical state, the push rod 1 which projects the stopper 19 of the angle adjusting mechanism 17 forward from the guide cylinder 18.
2 and the stopper 19 is fixed by tightening the tightening bolt 19a.
Is stopped when the fixed stopper 19 comes into contact with the guide cylinder 18, so that the step member 2 has the inclination of the stopped position. By changing the angle of the step member 2 in this manner, the occupant can easily obtain the most comfortable posture.

In the preferred embodiment, the backrest member 3 and the step member 2 are linked, but two operation control mechanisms 9 are provided to separate the backrest member 3 and the step member 2 from each other. May be operated. Further, it goes without saying that only the backrest member 3 may be operated assuming that the operation control mechanism 9 is connected only to the reclining mechanism 23. Although the operation control mechanism 9 is operated by electric power, it is needless to say that the operation can be manually operated as the backrest member 3 is urged by a spring.

FIG. 6 shows another pivoting mechanism 8 for pivoting the step member 2 by a manual operation control mechanism 9. Only the configuration different from the pivoting mechanism 8 of the preferred embodiment is described. Explanation will be given, and the same components will be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted. The step member 2 is pivoted horizontally by manually raising it, and after the pivoting, the horizontal state is maintained by the operation control mechanism 9 and the link mechanism 35. One end of the link mechanism 35 is pivotally attached to the seat frame 1a. A first link 35a, a second link 35b having one end pivotally connected to the other end of the first link 35a,
And a third link 35c having one end pivotally connected to the other end of the link 35b and the other end pivotally connected to the guide rod 11. A substantially middle portion of the second link 35b is pivotally attached to a bracket 36 protruding from the pivot rod 10.
Further, the operation control mechanism 9 pivotally attaches the base to a bracket suspended from the seat frame 1a, and pivots the tip of a slidably fixable rod 9a to an intermediate portion of a girder stretched between the left and right guide rods 11. Rod 9a
Can be locked at any position.

[0016]

As is apparent from the above description, the present invention provides a reclining mechanism for reclining the backrest member so that the backrest member does not deviate from the occupant's head position. Since the occupant can be moved, the occupant's head and the headrest position do not change, so that the upper body can be laid down without changing the headrest position or shifting the position of the upper body. If the reclining mechanism is operated by an electric operation control mechanism as described in claim 2, even an occupant with a severe disability can lay his / her upper body side without the help of another person. The reclining mechanism includes: a substantially L-shaped plate for pivotally connecting the seat frame and the backrest member; a top portion fixed to the backrest member at a position coaxial with the substantially L-shaped plate; If it consists of a substantially triangular tilting plate which is slidably engaged with the guide groove of the frame and the other of which is linked to the operation control mechanism, a highly reliable wheelchair with a simple structure can be provided at low cost. It has various advantages such as the following. Therefore, the present invention greatly contributes to the development of the industry as a wheelchair that solves the conventional problems.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view showing a main part of a reclining mechanism used in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway rear view showing a main part of a pivot mechanism used in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view showing a main part of a pivot mechanism used in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a reclining state according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway side view showing a main part of a manual pivoting mechanism used in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a Seat frame 3 Backrest member 9 Operation control mechanism 11 Guide groove 23 Reclining mechanism 24 Substantially L-shaped plate 25 Tilt plate

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A wheelchair provided with a reclining mechanism for reclining a backrest member so as not to be displaced from a head position of an occupant. 2. The wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein the reclining mechanism is operated by an electric operation control mechanism. 3. A reclining mechanism comprising: a substantially L-shaped plate for pivotally connecting a seat frame and a backrest member; a top portion fixed to the backrest member at a position coaxial with the substantially L-shaped plate; 3. The wheelchair according to claim 1, further comprising a substantially triangular tilting plate slidably engaged with the guide groove and having the other lower portion connected to an operation control mechanism.