EP0592427B1 - A wheel chair with a driving unit, and a driving unit for wheel chairs - Google Patents

A wheel chair with a driving unit, and a driving unit for wheel chairs Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0592427B1
EP0592427B1 EP91915590A EP91915590A EP0592427B1 EP 0592427 B1 EP0592427 B1 EP 0592427B1 EP 91915590 A EP91915590 A EP 91915590A EP 91915590 A EP91915590 A EP 91915590A EP 0592427 B1 EP0592427 B1 EP 0592427B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
wheels
driving
wheel
chassis
chair
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP91915590A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
French (fr)
Other versions
EP0592427A1 (en
Inventor
Knud Raun
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of EP0592427A1 publication Critical patent/EP0592427A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP0592427B1 publication Critical patent/EP0592427B1/en
Anticipated expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Lifetime legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61G—TRANSPORT, PERSONAL CONVEYANCES, OR ACCOMMODATION SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PATIENTS OR DISABLED PERSONS; OPERATING TABLES OR CHAIRS; CHAIRS FOR DENTISTRY; FUNERAL DEVICES
    • A61G5/00—Chairs or personal conveyances specially adapted for patients or disabled persons, e.g. wheelchairs
    • A61G5/04—Chairs or personal conveyances specially adapted for patients or disabled persons, e.g. wheelchairs motor-driven
    • A61G5/041—Chairs or personal conveyances specially adapted for patients or disabled persons, e.g. wheelchairs motor-driven having a specific drive-type
    • A61G5/045—Rear wheel drive
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61G—TRANSPORT, PERSONAL CONVEYANCES, OR ACCOMMODATION SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PATIENTS OR DISABLED PERSONS; OPERATING TABLES OR CHAIRS; CHAIRS FOR DENTISTRY; FUNERAL DEVICES
    • A61G5/00—Chairs or personal conveyances specially adapted for patients or disabled persons, e.g. wheelchairs
    • A61G5/04—Chairs or personal conveyances specially adapted for patients or disabled persons, e.g. wheelchairs motor-driven
    • A61G5/047—Chairs or personal conveyances specially adapted for patients or disabled persons, e.g. wheelchairs motor-driven by a modular detachable drive system
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61G—TRANSPORT, PERSONAL CONVEYANCES, OR ACCOMMODATION SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PATIENTS OR DISABLED PERSONS; OPERATING TABLES OR CHAIRS; CHAIRS FOR DENTISTRY; FUNERAL DEVICES
    • A61G5/00—Chairs or personal conveyances specially adapted for patients or disabled persons, e.g. wheelchairs
    • A61G5/04—Chairs or personal conveyances specially adapted for patients or disabled persons, e.g. wheelchairs motor-driven
    • A61G5/048—Power-assistance activated by pushing on hand rim or on handlebar
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
    • A61G—TRANSPORT, PERSONAL CONVEYANCES, OR ACCOMMODATION SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR PATIENTS OR DISABLED PERSONS; OPERATING TABLES OR CHAIRS; CHAIRS FOR DENTISTRY; FUNERAL DEVICES
    • A61G5/00—Chairs or personal conveyances specially adapted for patients or disabled persons, e.g. wheelchairs
    • A61G5/10—Parts, details or accessories
    • A61G5/1054—Large wheels, e.g. higher than the seat portion

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a wheel chair having an auxiliary driving unit, as specified in the introductory clause of claim 1.
  • wheel chairs are built as selfpropelled units, in which the whole structure is designed for that purpose, e.g. by a direct motor drive on the wheel shafts.
  • a direct motor drive on the wheel shafts.
  • wheel chairs which are only adapted for manual propulsion, either by the wheels being driven by the user, who grips a peripheral portion of the wheels, or by an attendant pushing the wheel chair. It would be desirable add some motor power to the wheel driving even in these chairs, but prior attempts of adding a preferably releasable motor drive have not been successful.
  • auxiliary driving unit comprising a battery carrier tray which is rigidly fixed to the rear part of the chassis rods or tubes.
  • a motor and driving wheel carrying subchassis having at its rear end a motor driven wheel arranged so as to engage the ground approximately midways between the ground engaging areas of the main wheels of the wheel chair.
  • the wheel chair may be driven with the aid of the motor even through horizontal curves, due to the positioning of the driving wheel right between the main wheels of the chair, and the driving wheel will maintain its driving engagement with the ground, despite irregularities therein, due to the driving wheel being arranged on a vertically pivotable subchassis.
  • an auxiliary drive of the type referred to can be arranged in such a manner that it will provide for a lifting action on the front end of the wheel chair and thus on the small front swivel wheels which, by a manual pushing of the chair from an elevated rear position, present the problem that they are caused to be forced downwardly by the pushing momentum about the axis of the main wheels. Due to their small size these front wheels should not be forced too firmly against the ground, as they will exhibit a relatively high rolling resistance on a non-smooth ground, even though they are still operable to act as swivel wheels.
  • the said driving system here also called the wheel leg
  • the said driving system is pivotally connected with the chair chassis at a middle or rearmost area thereof, i.e. the line of connection between the pivot axis and the ground engagement area of the driving wheel or wheels will be rather steep.
  • the counter momentum of the driving force on the wheel will act on the chair chassis in a direction perpendicular to the said connection line, thus resulting in the steep wheel leg seeking to pivot forwardly and downwardly to a still steeper position, forcing the driving wheel into the ground and thus excerting a lifting action on the rear main wheels.
  • the driving system is arranged as specified in the characterizing clause of claim 1, i.e. instead of the wheel leg being held in a steep position of the rear of the chair chassis it is arranged almost horizontally, pivotally connected with the chassis at a low level and adjacent the front end thereof.
  • the invention also comprises the auxiliary driving unit specified in claims 2-5, adapted for mounting on a wheel chair so as to constitute, together therewith, a system as claimed in claim 1.
  • the chassis shown is in a conventional manner designed with a pair of opposed, longitudinal side members 2, each belonging to an upright side frame structure having a foremost vertical pipe 4 for receiving a lower castor 6, upper longitudinal side members 8 and 10, which hold, inter alia, a forwardly and downwardly projecting pipe 12 for holding a foot support member 14, and rear upright pipes 16 and 18, of which the pipe 18 carries a post 20 for a rearwardly projecting driving handle 22.
  • These two side structures are mutually connected by a lower cross connection comprising a seat carrying structure 24 between the side members 2.
  • the carrying wheels 26 of the wheel chair are mounted on bracket plates 28, which project rearwardly from the upright rear pipe 16.
  • the wheel chair can be driven manually by an attendant holding the driving handles 22.
  • such a chair may be completed by mounting underneath the cross structure 24 a driving unit consisting of a chassis having underlying driving wheels 32 and an upper electric motor 34 driven from a battery in a box 36.
  • This chassis has a forwardly projecting rod 38, the front end of which is rigidly connected with a transverse pipe 40 continuing at both ends in respective telescopic members 42 that are securable to the pipe by means of clamp handles 44.
  • the telescopic members 42 rotatably secured to mounting members 48 that are fixed to the side members 2 by means of clamps 48.
  • the entire unit 30 may thus pivot freely up and down about the traverse constituted by the parts 40 and 42, i.e. the wheels 32 may rest against the ground also where the latter is out of level with the areas of engagement between the ground and the wheels 26.
  • the related level difference will not go very high, and since e.g. by lifting the chair up into a car it will be unsuitable if the unit 30 pivots down vertically, the pivotability thereof is caused to be limited with the use of suitable stop means or - as shown - with the use of carrier chains 50 interposed between the rear end of the unit and holding fittings 52 at the rearmost portion of the horizontal pipes 8.
  • a cable 56 extends up to a handle lever 56 on one of the driving handles 22.
  • This connection serves to enable a control of the motor 34 by means of the handle lever 56 by on/off operation or by a more graduated actuation of the motor for driving the wheels 32.
  • a battery charger 58 will belong to the equipment.
  • the unit 30 can be raised from its driving engagement with the ground for making it freely manually drivable, and this can be achieved in a simple manner by the rear end of the unit being connected with a pivot lever cooperating with one of the lower side members 2 and having at its rear end a pedal 60, which is thus operable to cause the rear end of the unit to pivot upwardly into an upper position in which it is releasably locked, in a manner not shown.
  • the pivot point of the said lever may be identical with the suspension point for the lower end of the chain 50, whereby the mounting of the pivot lever will be particularly simple.
  • the reestablishing of ground contact for the driving wheels 32 can be obtainable merely by a lifting of the pedal member 60.
  • the driving wheel or wheels 32 should be located midway between the chair wheels 26, while in the longitudinal direction they should be located in a position such that they engage the ground on the same transverse line as defined by the points of ground engagement of the chair wheels 26, this line being designated 62 in the drawing. Admittedly the drawing is wrong on this point, as the wheels 32 are shown located noticeably in front of this line. If that was the case the result would be that by every turning of the driving wheel chair the wheel or wheels 32 would have to be dragged laterally over the ground, this being avoided when this or these wheels engage the ground on the line 62.
  • the discussed driving unit 30 may be produced as a standard product, which will be well suited for mounting on the major part of the already existing wheel chairs, as the required adaptation will mostly be a question of adapting the length of the telescopic member 40,42.
  • the disclosed driving unit will also be highly well suitable for installation in new wheel chairs that are beforehand desired to be motor driven, as hereby a cheap series produced driving unit 30 can be used in connection with even a conventional chair design.

Landscapes

  • Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
  • General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
  • Public Health (AREA)
  • Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
  • Handcart (AREA)
  • Automatic Cycles, And Cycles In General (AREA)
  • Brushes (AREA)
  • Chair Legs, Seat Parts, And Backrests (AREA)
  • Motorcycle And Bicycle Frame (AREA)
  • Seats For Vehicles (AREA)
  • Auxiliary Devices For And Details Of Packaging Control (AREA)
EP91915590A 1990-08-27 1991-08-27 A wheel chair with a driving unit, and a driving unit for wheel chairs Expired - Lifetime EP0592427B1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DK204590A DK204590D0 (da) 1990-08-27 1990-08-27 Koerestol med drivaggregat, samt drivaggregat til koerestole
DK2045/90 1990-08-27
PCT/DK1991/000250 WO1992003114A1 (en) 1990-08-27 1991-08-27 A wheel chair with a driving unit, and a driving unit for wheel chairs

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0592427A1 EP0592427A1 (en) 1994-04-20
EP0592427B1 true EP0592427B1 (en) 1996-02-28

Family

ID=8109684

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP91915590A Expired - Lifetime EP0592427B1 (en) 1990-08-27 1991-08-27 A wheel chair with a driving unit, and a driving unit for wheel chairs

Country Status (7)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0592427B1 (da)
AT (1) ATE134501T1 (da)
AU (1) AU8435091A (da)
DE (2) DE9116932U1 (da)
DK (2) DK204590D0 (da)
ES (1) ES2087302T3 (da)
WO (1) WO1992003114A1 (da)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19918605C1 (de) * 1999-04-23 2000-03-16 Rehatechnik Heymer Gmbh Rollstuhl mit einer Schiebehilfe
DE19958994C1 (de) * 1999-12-07 2000-08-31 Rehatechnik Heymer Gmbh Rollstuhl
DE10048532C1 (de) * 2000-09-30 2001-08-09 Rehatechnik Heymer Gmbh Rollstuhl
DE19959929C1 (de) * 1999-12-11 2001-08-23 Rehatechnik Heymer Gmbh Rollstuhl

Families Citing this family (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB2274265A (en) * 1993-01-13 1994-07-20 Richard Craddock Hayes Power drive assembly for attachment to a wheelchair.
ITTO20020175U1 (it) * 2002-09-30 2002-12-30 Tec Meca Di Bergamelli Silvio Sistema a ruota motorizzata di spinta per cicli, in particolare per carozzelle per portatori di handicap
DE10300946B3 (de) * 2003-01-13 2004-08-26 Meyra Wilhelm Meyer Gmbh & Co Kg Elektro-Rollstuhl
DK176678B1 (da) 2007-09-07 2009-02-16 Holdingselskabet Mkr Finans Ap Körestol med en hjælpemotor, samt en hjælpemotor til en körestol

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2495573A (en) * 1948-10-13 1950-01-24 Duke Samuel Motor attachment for wheel chairs
NO122221B (da) * 1969-12-15 1971-06-01 K Karlsen
GB1517311A (en) * 1976-03-17 1978-07-12 Shuttleworth E Power assisted wheelchairs
IL77966A (en) * 1986-02-24 1991-03-10 Propel Partnership 1987 Wheelchair drive

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19918605C1 (de) * 1999-04-23 2000-03-16 Rehatechnik Heymer Gmbh Rollstuhl mit einer Schiebehilfe
DE19958994C1 (de) * 1999-12-07 2000-08-31 Rehatechnik Heymer Gmbh Rollstuhl
DE19959929C1 (de) * 1999-12-11 2001-08-23 Rehatechnik Heymer Gmbh Rollstuhl
DE10048532C1 (de) * 2000-09-30 2001-08-09 Rehatechnik Heymer Gmbh Rollstuhl
EP1192923A2 (de) 2000-09-30 2002-04-03 Rehatechnik Heymer GmbH Rollstuhl

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP0592427A1 (en) 1994-04-20
ES2087302T3 (es) 1996-07-16
DK0592427T3 (da) 1996-07-22
WO1992003114A1 (en) 1992-03-05
DE69117540D1 (de) 1996-04-04
ATE134501T1 (de) 1996-03-15
DE69117540T2 (de) 1996-10-02
DK204590D0 (da) 1990-08-27
DE9116932U1 (de) 1994-09-01
AU8435091A (en) 1992-03-17

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