JP2002127807A - Equipment for fixing wheelchair and auxiliary frame - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate fastening and releasing of a wheelchair to and from the floor of a vehicle, eliminate necessity of fastening with great force, enable a user of the wheelchair to do the fastening and releasing work himself, and prevent displacement of the wheelchair mounted on the vehicle while the vehicle is running. SOLUTION: Equipment for fixing a wheelchair to a floor comprises a guide rail fixed to either one of the floor or the lower part of the wheelchair, extending long in a direction of the forward and backward movement of the wheelchair and opened at one end, a guide pin provided for the other one of the floor and the lower part of the wheelchair and relatively movable by being guided by the guide rail, a locking mechanism for fastening the wheelchair to the floor at a position it is put, as well as engaging the guide pin with the guide rail, and a lock release operation element arranged near the wheelchair locked to the locking mechanism. It is preferable to provide the locking mechanism and the lock release operation element on the floor, and the guide pin, which is easily formed, on the wheelchair. The striker-type lock mechanism is preferable.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wheelchair fixing device for fixing a wheelchair to a floor of a vehicle or the like, and an auxiliary frame that can be fixed to a lower portion of a frame of the wheelchair.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In some cases, a user of a wheelchair rides on a vehicle together with the wheelchair while sitting on the wheelchair and moves. For example, there are a micro bus and a small car which can be boarded while being in a wheelchair. There is also known a small vehicle in which a user of a wheelchair can ride on a wheelchair and drive by himself.

In such a vehicle, it is necessary to fix the wheelchair firmly to the floor while the vehicle is running. Conventionally, as such a fixing device, a wheelchair has a belt,
Some are fixed with wires or levers.

[0004]

As described above, the conventional wheelchair fixing device has a problem that it takes time to fix and release the wheelchair because the wheelchair is fixed by the belt, the wire or the lever. For example, you have to put a belt or wire on the wheel or frame of a wheelchair and tighten it strongly,
Also, it is necessary to strongly press the lever sandwiching the wheels and the frame against them.

[0005] In addition, such work requires a considerable amount of force, and it is almost impossible for a person sitting in a wheelchair to perform such work in most cases. For this reason, an assistant was required, and it was almost impossible for a wheelchair user to move on his own at his own discretion. If the wheelchair is fixed with a belt, wire, or lever, the wheelchair is likely to be displaced due to vibrations while the vehicle is running, and the wheelchair user must maintain a stable posture when driving the vehicle by himself. It is difficult to continue driving.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the work is simple when fixing or releasing a wheelchair to the floor of a vehicle or the like, and there is no need to tighten with a large force. In addition, it is possible to provide a wheelchair fixing device that allows a user of a wheelchair to fix and release the wheelchair by himself, and when the wheelchair is mounted on a vehicle, the position of the wheelchair is not likely to be displaced while the vehicle is running. The first purpose is to do so.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide an auxiliary frame which can be modified into a wheelchair in which the above-mentioned fixing device can be used simply by fixing it to a frame of a normal wheelchair.

[0008]

A first object of the present invention is to provide a device for fixing a wheelchair to a floor, the device being fixed to one of the floor and the lower part of the wheelchair, one end of which is long in the direction of movement of the wheelchair. A guide rail, a guide pin provided on one of the floor and the lower part of the wheelchair and guided relative to the guide rail, and a wheelchair at a position where the wheelchair is advanced while the guide pin is engaged with the guide rail. The wheelchair fixing device is provided with: a lock mechanism for fixing the wheelchair to the floor; and a lock release operator disposed near the wheelchair that locks the wheelchair to the lock mechanism.

Since the guide rail is structurally heavy, it is provided on the floor side of a vehicle or the like, a guide pin which can be formed lightly on the wheelchair side, and a lock mechanism and an unlocking operator are provided on the floor side or the vehicle side. If so, an increase in weight on the wheelchair side can be suppressed to a minimum. Here, the floor may be a floor in a building or a floor of a moving body such as a vehicle. In this case, vehicles are typically small cars, buses,
Although it is a train, here, the concept includes a ship, a boat, and the like.

The lock mechanism is preferably of the striker type. The striker type is widely used for an automobile door lock. That is, a striker member is fixed to the wheelchair side, and a fork-shaped latch that engages and rotates when the wheelchair enters the fixed position on the vehicle side, and a detent that holds the latch at the lock position It is desirable to provide a lever. This type of locking mechanism can automatically lock the wheelchair by moving the wheelchair forward, and can release the lock only by rotating the detent lever. Therefore, the operation of locking and releasing is extremely easy.

If the unlocking operator is provided with a release preventing mechanism for preventing the lock mechanism from being unlocked at least while the vehicle is running, the lock of the wheelchair will not be inadvertently released during running. As such a mechanism, a mechanism using an electromagnetic solenoid is possible.

It is desirable that the vehicle is provided with a getting-on / off assist device for assisting getting on / off of the wheelchair. Such a device may be a lift for moving a wheelchair up and down, or a slope plate (inclined plate) extending from the vehicle to the ground. Further, in a small vehicle, the vehicle body or the floor may be lowered (neil-down) such that the vehicle body or the floor is lowered or the wheelchair entry / exit side is lowered.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the guide pin and the striker member according to the second aspect of the present invention can be fixed to a lower portion of a frame of a wheelchair. And an auxiliary frame.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a miniature electric vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of a wheelchair fixing device extracted therefrom, and FIG. 3 is a guide member. And FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a wheelchair and an auxiliary frame, and FIG.
Is an enlarged perspective view of the auxiliary frame, and FIG. 6 is a plan view (A), a side view (B), and a front view (C) of the auxiliary frame. FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of a striker type locking mechanism.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a miniature electric vehicle for a wheelchair. This car 10 has two steering front wheels 1
2, 12, two driving rear wheels 14, 14, and both rear wheels 1
A substantially horizontal floor 16 opens rearward between the four and fourteen. A wheelchair 44 to be described later can get on and off the floor 16 from behind. That is, the floor 16 is surrounded on three sides by walls standing up and down from the left, right, and front.

The front wheels 12, 12 are held by a swing axle type suspension device so as to be vertically movable with respect to the frame. The front wheels 12, 12 are steered by a servomotor (not shown). That is, a stay 18 protruding above the floor 16 is fixed to the front wall of the floor 16, and the front wheels 12, 12 can be steered by tilting the joystick 20 held on the stay 18 left and right.

The rear wheels 14, 14 are held at the rear ends of the trailing arms 22, 22, which extend rearward from the left and right rear ends of the floor 16. The trailing ends of the trailing arms 22 are elastically supported by a cylindrical cushion unit 24 (only one is shown). Here, the upper end of the cushion unit 24 can be moved up and down along a column 26 rising from the pivot of the trailing arm 22.

That is, a slider 28 that moves up and down by a motor-driven feed screw is held on the column 26, and the upper end of the cushion unit 24 is supported by the slider 28 and moves up and down together with the slider 28. Therefore, when the slider 28 rises, the rear wheel 14 rises, and accordingly, the floor 16
Descends. As a result, as described later, a neal-down type getting-on / off assist device that assists getting on / off of the wheelchair 44 by vertically moving the rear portion of the vehicle body is obtained.

A slope plate 30 is attached to the rear edge of the floor 16 so as to be rotatable up and down with its front edge as a hinge. The slope plate 30 is linked with the slider 28 by a wire 32. That is, the wire 32 is connected to the slope plate 30 via the guide pulley 34 provided at a position higher than the connection position on the slider 28 side and the guide 36 provided on the support 26. As a result, when the slider 28 rises, the rear wheel 14 rises and the slope plate 30
Descends and approaches the road surface. When the trailing edge of the slope plate 30 contacts the road surface, the wire 32 is loosened.

Electric motors 38 (only one is shown) are accommodated in the left and right walls of the floor 16, and each motor 38 drives a rear wheel 14 behind it by a chain 40. Batteries 40 are housed in the left and right walls and the front wall, respectively, and these batteries 40 serve as power sources for the motor 38 and the like.
The battery 40 is a rechargeable secondary battery such as a lead battery or a nickel-cadmium battery. The controller 42 is accommodated in the left wall.

Next, the wheelchair 44 will be described. This wheelchair 4
4 is an electric type, which has a battery and a drive motor,
It is omitted in FIGS. The wheelchair 44 includes a pipe frame 46 forming a chair with armrests, a pair of left and right drive wheels 48, and a pair of left and right caster wheels 50. The left and right drive wheels 48 are driven by different motors.

The controller 52 is located near the right armrest.
A joystick 54 is mounted on the upper surface of the controller 52. By tilting the joystick 54 forward, the output of the motor increases and the traveling speed increases. By tilting the joystick 54 left and right, the joystick 54 can turn left and right due to the speed difference between the left and right motors. By tilting the joystick 54 backward, the motor can be decelerated by regenerative braking or power generation braking.

An auxiliary frame 56 is attached to the frame 46 of the wheelchair 44 from below. As shown in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6, the auxiliary frame 56 has a pipe structure and has a long shape in the front and rear directions, and the upper four corners are fixed to the lower surface of the frame 46 of the wheelchair 44. That is, four brackets 58 are fixed to the lower portion of the frame 46, and four corners of the auxiliary frame 56 are bolted to these brackets 58.

The wheelchair 44 is provided below the auxiliary frame 56.
Two guide pins 60, 6 along the center line in the front-rear direction
0 is fixed to the front and rear. These guide pins 60 project vertically downward, and a roller 62 having a larger diameter than the guide pin 60 is attached to the lower end thereof so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis. The roller 62 is located at a height that does not contact the ground (road surface) when the wheelchair 44 is running.

On the other hand, the floor 16 of the micro electric vehicle 10
The guide rails 64 (64a, 64a,
64b) are attached. This guide rail 64
Is fixed to the floor 16 and the slope plate 30 so as to pass back and forth around the center in the width direction of the floor 16 and the slope plate 30. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the guide rail 64 has a substantially box-shaped cross section, and a slit 66 is formed in the upper surface thereof in the longitudinal direction. The slit 66 is wider than the diameter of the guide pin 60, and the inner width below the slit 66 is larger than the diameter of the guide roller 64.

Although the guide rail 64 is shown as a single guide rail in FIGS. 2 and 3, it is actually used as shown in FIG.
And is divided into: The rear end of the guide rail 64 expands right and left near the rear edge of the slope plate 30 to facilitate the entry of the guide pin 60. That is, when the wheelchair 44 gets on the slope plate 30 from behind, the guide pins 60 are aligned with the expanded portions of the guide rails 64, and move forward while guiding the two guide pins 60 through the slits 66 of the guide rails 64. At this time, since the guide roller 64 is in rolling contact with the inner surface of the guide rail 64, the movement of the wheelchair 44 is performed smoothly. The guide roller 64 is a guide pin 60
Of the wheelchair 44 from the guide rail 64 and the wheelchair 44 from the floor 16.

A pair of left and right lock mechanisms 68 are fixed to the floor 16 in front of the guide rail 64. The lock mechanism 68 is of a striker type,
Is advanced to near the end of the guide rail 64, the auxiliary frame 56 is automatically locked by the lock mechanism 68. That is, a vertical pipe provided at the lower front end of the auxiliary frame 56 is a pair of left and right striker members 70,
70, and the striker members 70, 70 are locked by the lock mechanism 68.

As shown in FIG. 7, the lock mechanism 68
A substantially fork-shaped latch 74 which rotates around the shaft 8;
And a detent lever 78 that rotates about the center 6.
The latch 74 is provided with a return behavior in the counterclockwise direction in FIG.
Is provided with a return behavior in the clockwise direction by the torsion spring 82. The detent lever 78 is connected to an unlocking operator 86 by a Bowden wire 84. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the unlocking operator 86 is provided on the right standing wall of the floor 16 and can be operated by the user while sitting on the wheelchair 44.

When the wheelchair 44 gets on the slope plate 30 and the floor 16 from behind, the guide pin 60 is guided by the slit 66 of the guide rail 64 to move forward. When the two guide pins 60 are engaged with the slit 66, the wheelchair
Is correctly positioned, and the guide rollers 6
4 prevents the wheelchair 44 from lifting off the floor 16.
When the striker member 70 moves forward, the striker member 70 is locked by the lock mechanism 68.

That is, the lock mechanism 68 waits in the state shown in FIG.
Enters the fork-shaped groove of the latch 74 of the lock mechanism 68, the latch 74 rotates clockwise in FIG. 7 against the torsion spring 80. When the engaging portion 74A of the latch 74 passes through the lock claw 78A of the detent lever 78,
The detent lever 78 is returned clockwise by the torsion spring 82, and the lock claw 78A is engaged with the engagement portion 74A of the latch 74. As a result, a locked state shown in FIG.

When the unlocking operation element 86 is pulled up, the wire 84 is pulled, and the detent lever 78 rotates counterclockwise. As a result, the locking claw 78A of the detent lever 78 is disengaged from the engaging portion 74A of the latch 74, and the latch 78 is rotated counterclockwise by the torsion spring 80, and returns to the state shown in FIG.

The user of the wheelchair 44 is
When getting on, the rear wheel 14 is raised to lower the neal. The neal-down may be performed by a user on the wheelchair 44 operating the switch from outside the electric vehicle 10 to raise the slider 28. For example, the instruction can be made by wireless operation or by a switch provided on the outer surface of the vehicle body. Since the slope plate 30 is lowered to the road surface by this neel-down, the wheelchair 44 can easily get on the slope plate 30. Since the wheelchair 44 is electrically operated, the assistance of an assistant is not required, and the user of the wheelchair 44 can easily get on alone.

When the wheelchair 44 moves forward while being guided by the guide rail 64, the striker member 7 of the auxiliary frame 56 is moved.
0 is locked while rotating the latch 74 of the lock mechanism 68, and the state shown in FIG. At this time, the joystick 20 of the electric vehicle 10 is located in front of the user, and the unlocking operator 86 is located within a range that can be reached by the user.

In this state, the user of the wheelchair 44 performs a switch operation to perform a neal up operation. That is, the slider 28
Is lowered. The rear wheel 14 descends as the slider 28 descends, and the floor 16 relatively rises from the road surface. At this time, since the slider 28 pulls the wire 32, the slope plate 30 connected to the other end of the wire 32 is pulled up. The angle of the slope plate 30 at this time is a rearward rising angle at which the rear edge is at a position higher than the floor 16. In this state, it is desirable that the slope plate 30 presses the wheel 48 of the wheelchair 44 from behind. This is because vibration of the wheelchair 44 can be more reliably prevented.

The user can operate the joystick 20 while sitting on the wheelchair 44 to run the electric vehicle 10. That is, the traveling speed can be increased by tilting the joystick 20 toward the front (rearward), and the front wheel 12 can be steered left and right by tilting the joystick 20 left and right. By tilting the joystick 20 slightly forward, regeneration control or power generation braking by the traveling motor 38 is performed, and by further tilting forward, the braking force of the mechanical brake of the front wheel 12 can be increased. Here, it is assumed that the braking force of the front wheel 12 can be continuously increased or decreased by a torque motor.

When the user gets off the electric vehicle 10, the user raises the slider 28 to neatly lower the vehicle body and lowers the slope plate 30 to the road surface. Then, the lock mechanism 68 may be released by operating the lock release operation element 86, and the wheelchair 44 may be retracted. Note that the unlocking operator 86
It is preferable to take measures to prevent the lock mechanism 68 from being inadvertently released while the electric vehicle 10 is running.

For example, a release prevention mechanism for disabling the lock release operation element 86 by an electromagnetic solenoid or the like during traveling is provided. Further, when the wheelchair 44 is boarded, the unlocking operator 86 may be hidden under the armrest of the user.

For example, as shown by an imaginary line in FIG. 2, an armrest 88 covering the unlocking operator 86 is provided on the electric vehicle 10 side, and this armrest is used as a release prevention mechanism. This armrest 8
8 allows the unlocking operation element 86 to be operated in a state opened upward, and is not operated in a closed state,
Unlocking can be prevented. If the joystick 20 of the electric vehicle 10 is arranged in front of the armrest 88,
During running, the user needs to put his elbow on this armrest 88 in order to operate the joystick 88. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent the operation of the lock release operation element 86 during traveling.

[0039]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a guide rail is provided on one of the floor and the wheelchair, and a guide pin is provided on the other, and the wheelchair is made to enter while engaging the guide rail and the guide pin. A lock mechanism for locking the wheelchair to the floor at a position where the wheelchair has been unlocked, and an unlocking operator for releasing the wheelchair. In particular, the unlocking operator is arranged at a position where the user can reach the vehicle while the wheelchair is in the vehicle. Therefore, the wheelchair is positioned in the left-right direction by the guide rail and the guide pin, and the lock mechanism only has to limit the forward and backward movement of the wheelchair. For this reason, the fixing work of the wheelchair is easy, a large tightening force is unnecessary, and the user of the wheelchair can get on alone and fix and release the wheelchair. Since the wheelchair is firmly fixed to the left, right, front and rear by the action of the guide rail, the guide pin and the lock mechanism, the movement of the wheelchair during traveling can be reliably prevented even when the wheelchair is mounted on a moving vehicle such as an automobile.

Since the guide rail is heavier than the guide pin, it is desirable to provide the guide rail and the lock mechanism on the vehicle side and to provide the guide pin on the wheelchair side, so that the wheelchair can be reduced in weight (claim 2). The lock mechanism is preferably a striker type (claim 3). This is because the striker type has a simple structure, and the wheelchair can be locked and released with one touch (one action).

If the lock release operator is provided with a release prevention mechanism for restricting the operation at least while the vehicle is running, careless release of the lock can be prevented. . The vehicle may be provided with a getting-on / off assistance device to facilitate getting on / off the wheelchair. Such a getting-on / off assisting device may be an elevating lift, but a vehicle height adjusting device or a neal-down device that raises or lowers the entire vehicle body so as to lower the wheelchair's doorway can be used.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an auxiliary frame which can be modified into a wheelchair which can use the fixing device of any one of the first to fifth aspects simply by fixing it to the frame of the wheelchair.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the wheelchair fixing device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view (A) and a side view (B) of a guide member and a lock mechanism.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a wheelchair and an auxiliary frame.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of an auxiliary frame.

FIG. 6 is a plan view (A), a side view (B), and a front view (C) of the auxiliary frame.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of striker-type unlocking;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 micro electric vehicle for wheelchair 16 floor 30 slope plate 44 wheelchair 46 wheelchair frame 56 auxiliary frame 60 guide pin 62 guide roller 64 guide rail 68 lock mechanism 70 striker member 72 latch 78 day tent lever 86 unlocking operation element 88 release prevention Armrest as mechanism

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A device for fixing a wheelchair to a floor, comprising: a guide rail fixed to one of the floor and the lower part of the wheelchair, one end of which is open in a direction in which the wheelchair moves forward and backward, and one of the floor and the lower part of the wheelchair. A guide pin provided on the other side and relatively movable by being guided by the guide rail; a lock mechanism for fixing the wheelchair to the floor at a position where the wheelchair is advanced while engaging the guide pin with the guide rail; A wheelchair fixing device, comprising: a lock release operation member disposed near the wheelchair locked by the lock mechanism. 2. The guide rail is provided on a floor of a vehicle,
The guide pin is provided at a lower part of a wheelchair, and the lock mechanism and the unlocking operation element are provided at a vehicle side.
Wheelchair fixing device. 3. A lock mechanism comprising: a fork-like latch which rotates against a return spring by a wheelchair-side striker member being engaged as the wheelchair enters a fixed position; 3. The wheelchair fixing device according to claim 2, wherein the device is of a striker type including a detent lever for holding a latch at a lock position. 4. The wheelchair fixing device according to claim 2, wherein the lock release operation member is provided with a release prevention mechanism for preventing release of the lock mechanism at least during running of the vehicle. 5. The wheelchair fixing device according to claim 2, wherein the vehicle is provided with a getting-on / off assist device for assisting getting on / off of the wheelchair. 6. An auxiliary frame which can be fixed to a lower part of a frame of a wheelchair, wherein the guide pin according to claim 2 and the striker member according to claim 3 are provided integrally.