GB2128560A - Vehicle for disabled person - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle for disabled persons comprises a body, and a set of wheels on which the vehicle runs. Associated with the or each wheel (9), at least at the front of the vehicle, is an endless track (19) where point of action is above the point of action of the wheel (9), the arrangement of the track (19) being such as to engage an obstacle in front of the vehicle (9) so as to raise the wheel (9), where the obstacle is of a height to be driven over but is not or not easily mountable by the wheel in ordinary circumstances. The rear of the vehicle may be lowered to the ground to facilitate entry by a disabled person in a wheelchair. During such lowering, a floor part (40) is pivoted, and door parts (55, 56) open. A bogie (Figures 3 and 4) is connected to the vehicle body by a spherical pivot and rollers. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Vehicle for disabled persons This invention relates to vehicles for disabled persons.

Disabled persons often have mobility problems and, in fact, unless separate mobility is provided, they are unable to move around and perform such ordinary tasks as going down to the local shop, meeting friends or attending any sort of social gathering. This problem becomes severely psychological in these circumstances since the disabled person becomes very lonely and is forced to live the life of a recluse. Push-chairs are only usable to certain extent since they require the assistance of further able bodied persons in order to make use of them. Alternatively, where the disabled person has the use of, for example both arms, there are wheelchairs in which he can propel himself by hand but, the effort requried to manipulate a wheelchair of this type is considerable and prohibits journeys of any length.

It is of course impossible for the more severely disabled, who do not have the strength of arm to operate them.

In an attempt to overcome this problem there have been on the market for some time motorised wheelchairs which, operating on the basis of an electrical battery can be used where the ground is relatively flat or at least has no sharp curbs or the like.

Curbs form a considerable problem for any wheeled vehicle but this is particularly true of a vehicle whose wheels, particularly the front wheels, are of small diameter and in many cases the only possible method of getting an electrically driven wheelchair up a curb is to bounce-it, which provides the occupant with an incredibly unstable feeling and is therefore highly undesirable.

The present invention seeks to provide a vehicle for disabled persons which to a large extent overcomes the problems present in the above described existing forms of driven carriage and yet is of relatively simple construction and can therefore be produced economically.

According to the invention, a vehicle for disabled persons comprises a vehicle body or framework equipped with wheels and having in addition, at least at the front thereof an endless track whose point of action is above the point of action of the wheel with which it is associated but which is arranged to contact an obstacle in front of the wheel where such obstacle is of a height which is to be driven over but which is not mountable by the wheel under ordinary circumstances.

Preferably the vehicle has four wheels, at least the two front wheels and preferably also the two rear wheels being provided with the additional tracks. Each track and the wheel associated therewith may suitably be driven by the same drive so that the tracks rotate with the wheels, the tracks then coming into use automatically when an obstruction over which the vehicle is to be driven is encountered. However, separate drives could be provided and this could be workable by the driver. Alternatively the drives could be controlled by "curb sensors".

The tracks suitably are arranged to have their lowermost point directly beneath the axis of the wheel and to rise up therefrom in both directions.

In one form of the invention, the front wheels are mounted on a bogie, each of the two front wheels carrying its own drive motor, and steering of the bogie and thus of the vehicle, is carried out by varying the drive to the individual motors.

The steering motors are suitable electronically controlled so that the operators steering controls may be custom designed to fit in with the disability of the user.

Suitably the vehicle may be equipped to take a wheelchair in its driving position and to this end, the rear of the vehicle may be openable so that the driver can enter in a manually propelled wheelchair from the rear.

In order to assist the occupant of the wheelchair in getting in and out of the vehicle, the floor of the vehicle may be provided with a lifting and lowering mechanism whereby the floor can be lowered to a position closely adjacent the ground so as to avoid difficulties in getting in and out of the vehicle.

The vehicle may be made in a relatively rudimentary form consisting of an appropriate framework drives, controls and floor or in more advanced versions can be provided with suitable forms of weather protection for use when out in the weather.

The invention will now be described-in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of carriage in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a view of the operating parts of the vehicle shown in Figure 1, to illustrate the arrangements for driving the vehicle.

Figure 3 is a side view of a front bogie construction; Figure 4 is a plan view of the front bogie construction of Fig 3, and Figures 5 and 6 show schematically the method of lowering and raising the floor to assist the disabled person in getting in and out of the vehicle in his or her wheelchair.

Referring to the drawings the vehicle is a four wheeled vehicle having a monocoque construction 1 carrying two raisable or lowerable wheel units at the rear and a bogie 5 carrying the driving equipment pivotted to the monocoque unit 1 at 6.

(Figs 3 and 4). One form of steering control in the form of a joystick handle 7 is shown in Figure 2, which handle 7 is connected to an electronic control box 8 for control of the front end of the vehicle. Incorporated in the control are means for turning the vehicle and means for increasing or decreasing its speed. Each of the driven front wheels 9 has its own individual electric motor 10 which is connected to the control box 8 through a motor switch box 13. This motor switch box 13 contains switching, under the control of the control box 8, which provides switching between the motors 10 and accumulators 11. Between the accumulators 11, is an hydraulic or pneumatic pump 34 for control of jacks 44 as will be described.As can be seen the motors 10 which are of relatively high speed, are connected through reduction gearing 12 to a shaft 14 carrying a toothed wheel 1 5 and the associated wheel 9 of the vehicle. As can be seen, the wheels of the vehicle are formed in two parts, having a wheel part 1 6 and 1 7 on each side of the associated toothed wheel. The outer wheel parts 1 7 are omitted at the nearside of the vehicle in Figure 2 for clarity. The toothed wheel 1 5 drive on endless track 19 running around three idler rollers 20, 21, 22 and a fourth roller 23 which is adjustable to provide tensioning of the track 1 9.The two rollers 21 , 23 adjacent the toothed wheel 1 5 increase the area of the track which is in contact with the toothed wheel 1 5. As can be seen the track 1 9 and wheels 9 are driven at the same time.

The rear of the vehicle is provided with a similar construction of track 1 9 and wheel 9 but in this case not driven, the rear wheels and track being allowed to run free. Alternatively one or two motors could be used for driving the rear wheels if desired.

As can be seen from figures 3 and 4, the two front wheels 9 are mounted on a bogie 4 comprising a rectangular frame 34 pivoted to the monocoque unit 1 by a spherical pivot 35 which allows tilting of the bogie 4 as well as pivoting about a vertical axis. Control of the tilting of the bogie is achieved by means of two fixed rollers 36 at front and rear and two sprung rollers 37 at the sides, all of which run on a track 38 provided on the undarneath surface of the monocoque unit 1.

This arrangement allows tilting of the bogie 4 relative to the monocoque unit 1 only from side LO side about an axis passing through the pivot axis and lying fore and aft of the bogie. This tilting action takes place against the spring action of the spring rollers 37.

In an alternate form, the bogie 4 could be mounted without a tilting ability, the wheels 9 being spring mounted onto the bogie 4.

Figure 1 shows the completed vehicle which has a liftable and lowerable floor (see Figures 5 and 6), as will be described hereafter. The form of vehicle shown is provided with a roof 25, front windscreen 26 and side windows 27. It is also provided with lights 28 and a buffer strip 29. Also shown in Figure 1 is a trailer 30 mounted on a pair of wheels/tracks and designed to carry articles for the occupant of the carriage which would otherwise clutter up the access to the vehicle itself. The trailer could also carry spare batteries or a mobile battery recharger, e.g. a petrol or other generator.

Figures 5 and 6 show schematically the operation of the lowerable floor 40 which can be achieved for ease of access to and exit from the vehicle. This floor is shown in Figure 5 in its raised position and in Figure 6 it is shown in its lowered position.

The floor 40 is attached to the vehicle body at its rear end by a pivot 41 and at the front end is carried by a chain 42. The rear wheel track mechanism 9, 19 is mounted on an arm 32, pivoted at its front end at 43 and towards the rear end is connected to an hydraulic or pneumatic jack 44 pivoted at the unit 1 at 45. The chain 42 is connected at one end to the floor 40, as mentioned, and, at the other end, to arm 32 adjacent the point of action of the jack 44. In the drive position of the vehicle, the jack 44 is extended so that the wheel/track drive structure 9, 19 is located downwardly about its pivot in relation to the remainder of the vehicle. Since the wheel 9 is resting on the ground, this means that the vehicle is raised relative to the road surface and is in a position to enable driving of the vehicle.

At the same time, the front end of the floor 40 which is attached to the end of the chain 42 is also raised since the other end of the chain is connected, having passed round two rollers 49, to the arm 32.

When the floor 40 is in the raised position, it is retained by a latch bar 50, actuated by a linkage (not shown) by the floor itself. The latch bar 50 is retained in the "floor up" position by spring urged latches (not shown) which can be disengaged, e.g.

electrically, when the floor 40 is to be lowered.

The floor 40 carries a rack 51 which cooperates with a stationary pinion wheel 52 attached to a pair of chain pulleys 53 and 54. The pulley 53, rotated by the rack and pinion, operates to lower the bottom half 54 of the rear door, while at the same time the pulley 54 opens as the top half 56 of the rear door. As can be seen particularly from Figure 6, the lower half 55 acts as a ramp for access to the vehicie. The upper part 56 is pivoted at 57 to the roof of the vehicle and is actuated by a stay arm 60 pivoted at one end to the door part 56 and at the other end runs in a channel 61 under the control of a chain 62 driven by the pulley 54.

To transfer the floor 40 into the lower position, once the vehicle has stopped the latches of the latch bar 50 are unlocked and the jack 44 is collapsed. In the course of this, the position of the wheel/track arrangement 9,19 is moved upwards relative to the vehicle (or alternatively the vehicle is lowered relative to the wheel track arrangements) so that the rear end of the vehicle is lowered substantially to the ground. At the same time the chain 42 becomes loosened allowing the front end of the floor 40 to drop so that it maintains a substantially parallel relationship throughout its travel. Also at this time, the upper and lower parts 55 and 56 of the rear door open.

The use of the carriage will now be described: With the vehicle with its lift arrangement as shown in Figure 5, the vehicle is lowered using an exterior control, suitably key operated (not shown). The disabled person desiring to use the vehicle, will have wheeled himself out to the vehicle in his wheelchair and will push, or be pushed, in his wheelchair up the ramp 55 and onto the floor 40 which is in its lowered position.

Having arrived at the front of the floor portion, the disabled person will activate catches (not shown) which will lock his wheelchair into the appropriate position so as to anchor the chair firmly in position on the floor 40. The disabled person then actuates the control which operates the jack 44 and this will raise the floor 40 and the rear end of the vehicle into the driving position. The rear door parts 55 and 56 will also be closed automatically.

Once in the raised position, the driver can then actuate the controls so as to move the vehicle at a desired speed and will steer the vehicle by the use of the joystick 7. Steering of the vehicle is carried out, as previously mentioned, by controlling the speed of the two motors 10 which drive the front wheels 9. In order to provide as small a turning circle as possible, in maximum lock, one of the motors 10 will be running in a forward direction and the other in a reversed direction, thus turning the bogie 4 about its pivot 6 without moving the vehicle either forwards or backwards. Likewise it is possible to drive the vehicle both forwards and backwards and the necessary combination of drives for the motors will be decided by the electronic circuitry 8 linked to the device mechanism.

As the carriage moves down the road, suitably on the pavement, it is to be assumed that the driver wishes to dismount a curb so as to cross the road. The driver will turn the steering control 7 to steer the vehicel to the edge of the curb. The front wheels 9 will pass over the edge of the curb and would, in normal circumstances drop to the road below. In the present circumstances however, as soon as the wheel 9 has lowered itself slightly over the edge of the curb, the curb will come into contact with the rear part of the driving track 1 9 and thus will cause the vehicle to run on its track down the edge of the curb and so lower the front wheels 9 safely into the roadway.It is to be noted that the angle of the vehicle is totally immaterial since there is no signigificant swing action of the frame as a whole and that, as a result of the steering arrangements, the wheels 9 and tracks 19 of the front of the vehicle will engage the edge of the curb at the same time. The electronics circuitry may be so arranged that sensors, provided in association with the wheels 9 and/or tracks 1 9 will turn the bogie to ensure that both of the wheels/tracks engage the edge of the curb at the same moment if they would not otherwise do so. The rear wheels 9 will follow a similar course of action and thus the rear end of the vehicle will also be lowered gently into the roadway.

Having traversed the road, the major problem which the present vehicle overcomes is reached.

Here the front wheels 9 will approach the curb but, prior to their engagement with the curb, the front inclined section of the track 1 9 will meet and engage the curb and will, as a result, start to lift the front of the vehicle up to the top of the curb.

Once the top of the curb is reached, the wheels 9 will engage the edge of the curb and will smoothly take over the drive from track 1 9, providing a gentle transition of the drive back to the wheels.

Having arrived at his destination, the driver stops the vehicle. He then actuates the latch bar latches to release the latch bar. Then he actuates the floor lift mechanism. The jack 44 will be collapsed thus pivoting the rear wheels 9 about their pivot 43 and lowering the rear end of the vehicle substantially to the ground. At the same time the chain 42 will be loosened and will drop the floor front end substantially to the ground in parallel with the rear end of the vehicle. At the same time the upper and lower parts of the rear door will open. Having achieved this position the driver can then disconnect himself from the vehicle floor and wheel himself, in his wheelchair out of the back of the vehicle and proceed to wherever he wishes to go.

It will be observed that in the course of this description, there has been no description of any actual braking system. It will be appreciated that since there is a positive mechanical connection between the wheels and the drive motors and since this goes through a substantial reduction gearing, no movement of sthe wheel is possible without movement of the drive motor. Due to the ratios in the reduction gearing, it is totally impossible for the wheel to drive the drive motor so that in order to come to a stop, all that is necessary is to cut back on the speed control which will bring the vehicle to a halt.

However, the possibility is envisaged of providing emergency or parking brakes. These would normally be manually operated but could be automatically applied in the event of a breakdown.

In various sophisticated versions of the arrangement, the bumper 29 around the outside of the vehicle, particularly at the front and the back, will sense any engagement of the vehicle with a solid object and automatically stop the vehicle. In this way protection is achieved for a driver who may become ill or unable to control the vehicle for any reason.

in order to cope with a vehicle of which the driver is ill or unable to operate, a duplicate set of controls could be provided for operation from outside the vehicle. Pull out foot pads etc could be provided to enable the outside operator to travel in the vehicle.

Where a trailer arrangement 30 is provided at the rear of the vehicle for carrying goods or the possessions of the driver, this may be detachable appropriately by the driver or by some automatic means so as to clear the rear of the vehicle for entrance and exit or arrangements can be provided for entrance to and exit from the sides of the vehicle. As an alternative the trailer could be turned at right angles to the vehicle by a jackknifing operation so as to clear the rear of the vehicle. Sensors could be provided to stop the vehicle once the current relationship between the vehicle and trailer are reached.

It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the above described embodiment without departing from the scope of the invention.

For example, any form of control of the electronic circuit can be provided and this might take the form of ball control, foot control, whistle control or other suitable arrangements so that the vehicle can be customised to fit the disability of the person who wishes to drive it. The arrangement for raising and lowering the floor might use a different mechanism and might, for example be operated as a parallel linkage. Instead of the two door parts opening in opposite directions, the upper part could be made to slide into the lower part. Any suitable form of connection may be used for connecting the wheel chair into the vehicle once it is desired to drive and these may be arranged to be operated by the driver or by an automatic mechanism, for example when the floor is about to be raised. Guide channels may be provided in the floor to assist in wheel chair location.

The models provided could well range from an open arrangement like an invalid carriage to a totally weatherproofed version so as to be in a nature of a small invalid car. As mentioned, it is only essential for the front wheels and tracks to be driven, the rear wheels and tracks being idlers.

However, as also mentioned, one or more drive motors can be provided for the rear wheels also. It is also possible to provide steering at the rear but this is generally not considered to be desirable since this can produce some problems in the steering operation for the driver.

In a version of the vehicle for the less disabled, the vehicle could be provided with a seat which could be swivelled to assist entrace and exit. To this end, a side opening door could be provided.

With this form of vehicle, the rear end lift mechanism would not be required.

From the above it will be seen that the invention can in its specific embodiment provide a carriage for disabled persons which will enable them to go considerable distances in relative terms and which will cope with obstacles such as curbs without discomfort to the driver and will enable the driver to mount and dismount from the vehicle without any assistance from other persons thus making him much more independent.

Claims (14)

1. A vehicle for disabled persons comprising a body, framework or other support for the disable person, a set of wheels on which the vehicle runs and in addition to the wheels and at least at the front of the vehicle, on endless track where point of action is above the point of action of the wheels with which it is associated but is arranged to contact an obstacle in front of the wheel before the wheel arrives at the obstacle where such an obstacle is of a height which is to be driven over but which is not or not easily mountable by the wheel in ordinary circumstances.

2. A vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the vehicle has four wheels, the front two wheels each being associated with an endless track.

3. A vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein the two rear wheels are each associated with an endless track.

4. A vehicle as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the wheels and track(s) are driven by the same drive so that the tracks and wheels move together.

5. A vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the tracks have their lowest point beneath the wheel axis and are inclined upwardly therefrom in both directions.

6. A vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the front wheels are mounted on a bogie, each wheel having its own drive motor, the arrangement being such that steering of the bogie and thus of the vehicle can be carried out by varying the drive to the individual drive motors.

7. A vehicle as claimed in claim 6, wherein the steering/driving motors are electronicaliy controlled by a control unit to which various different control elements may be connected to enable the vehicle to be customised to the disability of a particular driver.

8. A vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein a lift mechanism is provided for lifting and lowering the vehicle floor between a lower position adjacent the ground for access and an upper position clear of the ground for drive of the vehicle.

9. A vehicle as claimed in claim 8, wherein the vehicle has rear access doors and an operating mechanism associated with the lift mechanism such that on raising the floor the doors are closed and on lowering the floor the doors are opened.

1 0. A vehicle as claimed in claim 9, wherein the rear doors are hinged horizontally, the upper door or door part being raised to open it while the lower door or door part is lowered to open it.

11. A vehicle as claimed in claim 10, wherein the lower door or door part forms an access ramp in the lowered position.

12. A vehicle as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 11 wherein the entire rear end of the vehicle is raised and lowered with the vehicle floor.

1 3. A vehicle as claimed in claim 12, wherein the lift mechanism for the floor is so arranged that the floor stays parallel to the ground during lifting and lowering thereof.

14. A vehicle for disabled persons substantially as described herein with reference to the drawings.