JP2003102795A - Walker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent falling of a user during standing and sitting, reduce a burden to the legs, and provide convenient usage even in a narrow place by reducing necessary space in a fore and aft direction for standing and sitting. SOLUTION: A retractable strut 3 is attached on a forwardly inclined line L on a leg body 2 capable of traveling by itself by traveling wheels 1, etc. The user leaning on an armrest part 4 of a strut upper end is made to stand up and sit down by extending and contracting the strut 3 by a built-in hydraulic cylinder. A stopper 5 is provided so as to vertically move on a strut lower end, and by grounding the stopper 5, the whole walker body is turned around the stopper 5 and the stopper 5 is used as a brake.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a walker having a function of assisting a user's walking and assisting standing and sitting.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a walker of this type, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
The one shown in Japanese Patent No. 327485 is known.

In this known walker, a fixed support is set up on a leg provided with running wheels, an arm which is rotated around a horizontal axis by a gas spring is provided at an upper end of the support, and a handle is provided at an upper end of the arm. It is provided so that a user (care recipient) with a handle can be made to stand up by the upward turning force of the arm, and the walking posture can be assisted.

[0004]

However, this known technique has the following drawbacks.

Since the arm rotates upward from the horizontal posture to raise the seated user, the amount of forward movement of the arm is small, especially at the initial stage of rising, so that the user can maintain the center of gravity. There is a risk of being pulled up with it left behind and falling backwards.

On the contrary, when the user sits down from a standing posture, the user's center of gravity moves abruptly and largely rearward, which may cause the user to fall backward in the middle.

Even if the user does not fall, the burden on the user's legs and waist becomes large, and in any case, the role of assisting the care recipient with weak legs and waist cannot be fulfilled.

Since the amount of forward / backward movement due to the rotation of the arm is large, the space in the front / rear direction necessary for the user to stand and sit becomes large. Therefore, it is very difficult to use in a small space (for example, in a toilet).

Therefore, the present invention does not cause the user to fall when standing and sitting, and the burden on the legs and waist is small, and the required space for standing and sitting in the front-rear direction is reduced, which is convenient even in a narrow place. It provides a walker that can be used for.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a leg that is movable by running wheels is provided with a support column that extends and contracts on a straight line inclined forward, and an arm is attached to the upper end of the support column. An arm hanging portion to be hung is provided, and an expansion / contraction device for expanding / contracting the pillar is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the construction of the first aspect, a fixed barrel is attached to the leg body, and a movable barrel is slidably fitted in the fixed barrel in the axial direction so as to be telescopically expandable. A strut is configured and a telescopic device is incorporated in the strut.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the structure of the first or second aspect, a stopper is provided at the lower end of the support column, which is in contact with the floor surface and serves as a fulcrum and brake for the legs, and a lifted position away from the floor surface. And a lock means for fixing the stopper at the grounding position and the rising position.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the structure according to any one of the first to third aspects, a hydraulic cylinder is used as a telescopic device, and a pump is driven by an electric motor having a battery as a drive source to provide the hydraulic cylinder. An electric hydraulic unit for supplying hydraulic pressure is provided.

According to the above construction, since the support column expands and contracts on the straight line of the forward tilt to allow the user to stand and sit,
The center of gravity of the user also moves smoothly along the straight line that tilts forward. Therefore, the user can comfortably stand and sit without falling due to a sudden and large shift of the center of gravity or increasing the burden on the legs and waist.

Further, since the support column expands and contracts in a straight line, the space required for the user to stand and sit in the front-rear direction is smaller than that of the known arm pivot type. Therefore, it can be easily used even in a narrow space such as a toilet.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since the expansion / contraction device for expanding / contracting the support column is incorporated in the support column, the substantial diameter of the support column is increased as in the case where the expansion / contraction device is attached to the outer periphery of the support column. The device does not have any inconvenience such as hitting the user's leg, and a simple, clean and good appearance can be obtained.

According to the third aspect of the invention, since the leg, that is, the entire walker, turns with the stopper as a fulcrum in a state where the stopper is grounded, it is possible to turn quickly and easily with the minimum radius. This makes it easier to change directions while walking or in the bathroom.

Further, since the stopper also functions as a brake for the legs, there is no danger that the walker will slip or run away when walking is stopped or while standing and sitting, which is safe.

According to the structure of claim 4, the pump is rotated by the electric motor to expand and contract the hydraulic cylinder (expanding / contracting device), so that the expansion / contraction operation of the column can be easily performed by the switch provided on the arm hanging portion or the like. In this respect, the burden on the user can be eliminated.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First, the structure and operation common to each embodiment will be described.

This walker basically has a leg 2 movable by a plurality of running wheels (casters) 1 on a straight line L (represented by FIGS. 1 and 2) inclined forward. The strut 3 that expands and contracts with is attached, and a small table-shaped arm hanging portion 4 is attached to the upper end of the strut 3.

Then, as shown in FIGS.
The user sitting on the chair or bed puts his arm on the armrest 4.
By extending the support column 3 in a leaning state, the user is pulled forward and upward to stand up,
(B) In this state, the walking function of the legs 2 using the running wheels 1 ... Helps the user to walk, and (c) The prop 3 is contracted from the extended state to lower the upper body and move the user. Sit down

In this way, since the support column 3 expands and contracts on the straight line L that tilts forward to allow the user to stand and sit, the center of gravity of the user is the same as when standing or sitting while standing. It naturally moves linearly along the straight line L. Therefore, the user can easily stand and sit without falling or placing a heavy burden on the legs or waist.

In addition, the strut 3 expands and contracts on the straight line L, so that the space in the front-rear direction required for the expansion and contraction of the strut 3 and the standing and sitting motion of the user is minimized as compared with the known arm pivot type. Since it can be used, it can be used easily in a narrow space such as in the bathroom or on the side of a bed.

Also, in this walker, a stopper 5 is provided at the lower end of the support column 3 at a grounding position where it comes into contact with the floor surface as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 and from the floor surface as shown in FIGS. It is provided so as to be able to move up and down with respect to a lifted position that is distant from it.

The stopper 5 is made of a material having a large friction coefficient such as rubber, and in a state where the stopper 5 is grounded, the leg body 2, that is, the entire walker, turns around the stopper 5 as a fulcrum (see FIG. 4). Therefore, the walker can be swung quickly and easily with the minimum radius, and it becomes easy to change the direction in a narrow space such as during walking or in a toilet.

Further, since the stopper 5 also plays a role of a brake for stopping the running of the leg body 2, there is no danger of the walker slipping or running out of control when walking is stopped or standing and sitting, which is safe.

The column 3 is expanded and contracted by an expansion and contraction device incorporated inside. An electric hydraulic cylinder is used as the telescopic device in the first embodiment, a manual jack type hydraulic cylinder is used in the second embodiment, and a gas spring is used in the third embodiment.

Each embodiment will be described below, including a specific structure of the column 3 and a structure for moving the stopper 5 up and down.

First Embodiment (Refer to FIGS. 1 to 6) In the column 3, basically, a movable cylinder 7 is axially attached to a fixed cylinder 6 fixed to the leg 2 on a straight line L inclined forward. It is slidably fitted into the column 3 and is telescopically expandable and retractable. A hydraulic cylinder 8 as an expansion / contraction device is installed in the column 3.
(See FIGS. 4 and 5) are provided.

The hydraulic cylinder 8 is incorporated in the support column 3 with the cylinder tube 9 on the lower side and the tip of the upper rod 10 fixed to the upper end of the movable cylinder 7. The pillar 3 expands and contracts.

In this case, the amount of expansion and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder 8 can be arbitrarily selected by controlling an electric motor, which will be described later, whereby the height of the column, that is, the height position of the arm hanging portion 4 can be freely set according to the height of the user. Can be adjusted to.

On the other hand, an intermediate cylinder 11 is provided between the fixed cylinder 6 and the movable cylinder 7.

The intermediate cylinder 11 includes a fixed cylinder 6 and a movable cylinder 7.
The fixed cylinder 6 is slidably fitted in the respective
The lower end of the intermediate tube 11 is fixed to the cylinder tube 8 and the stopper 5 is attached to the lower end of the intermediate cylinder 11 via a stopper arm 12.

With this structure, the intermediate cylinder 11 and the movable cylinder 7 are integrally connected via the hydraulic cylinder 8. When the integrated body is lowered, the stopper 5 is set to the grounding position, and when it is raised, the stopper 5 is set to the raised position. To be done. However, the expansion / contraction operation of the hydraulic cylinder (movable cylinder 7) is not hindered by the intermediate cylinder 11, and the expansion / contraction operation of the support column 3 is performed regardless of the intermediate cylinder 11.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the fixed cylinder 6 and the intermediate cylinder 11 are separated from each other (the intermediate cylinder 1).
A compression coil spring 13 that exerts a spring force in the direction of pushing 1) is provided, and both upper and lower lock pin holes (see FIGS. 4 and 5) 14 and 15 are provided in the intermediate cylinder 11 at intervals vertically. Has been.

On the other hand, a lock arm 17 having a lock pin 16 is mounted on the upper portion of the outer surface of the fixed barrel 6 so as to be rotatable around a horizontal axis.

The lock arm 17 is biased in a direction in which the lock pin 16 is fitted into the lock pin holes 14 and 15 by a torsion spring 18 provided around the rotation center axis thereof, and the intermediate cylinder 11 is compressed by the compression coil spring 13. The lock pin 16 fits into the upper lock pin hole 14 as shown in the figure in the state of being lowered against, and the same pin 16 fits into the lower lock pin hole 15 in the state of rising. Thereby, the intermediate cylinder 1
1 is locked at both the rising position of the stopper 5 and the ground contact position.

The lock arm 17 is provided with a lock lever 19 for facilitating the unlocking operation.
When the lever 19 is pushed up as shown by the phantom lines in FIGS. 4 and 5, the lock arm 17 rotates and the lock pin 1
6 is disengaged from the pin holes 14 and 15.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, U is an electric hydraulic unit mounted on the leg 1, a battery 20, an electric motor 21 using the battery 20 as a power source, and a hydraulic pump rotatably driven by the electric motor 21 (shown in the figure). The hydraulic pressure from the electric unit U is supplied to the hydraulic cylinder 8 so that the cylinder 8 expands and contracts. In FIGS. 1 and 2, reference numeral 22 denotes a hydraulic pipe connecting the hydraulic pump and the cylinder 8, which is schematically shown by a thick line for simplification of the drawings.

The control circuit of the electric motor 21 is shown in FIG.

The battery 20 and the electric motor 21 are connected via the changeover switch 23 and the control relay R, and the operation of the changeover switch 23 causes the electric motor 21 to stop, rotate forward,
It is controlled between three states of reverse rotation.

The change-over switch 23 is provided as a hand switch on the arm hanging portion 4 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 so that the user can operate it, and the cylinder 8 is extended / extended by the electric motor control by the operation of the switch 23. By contracting, the pillar 3 is expanded / contracted on the straight line L inclined forward and tilted to perform the above-mentioned standing / sitting and walking assisting action.

According to the first embodiment, since the hydraulic cylinder 8 for expanding and contracting the support column 3 is incorporated in the support column 3, the substantial diameter dimension of the support column 3 is the same as when the cylinder 8 is attached to the outer periphery of the support column. There is no risk that the cylinder 8 will get bigger and hit the user's legs to hinder standing, sitting or walking, and the appearance will be simple and neat.

Further, since it is the electro-hydraulic type, the user can easily perform the expansion / contraction operation of the support column 3 by using the switch 23 at hand, and the user's burden at this point can be eliminated.

Second Embodiment (Refer to FIGS. 7 to 9) In the following second and third embodiments, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and their duplicate description will be omitted. Only the differences will be described.

In the second embodiment, the same hydraulic cylinder 8 as in the first embodiment is used as the expansion / contraction device, and the hydraulic cylinder 8 is driven by the manual hydraulic jack 24.

First, the hydraulic circuit will be described with reference to FIG.

The hydraulic jack 24 is the jack cylinder 2
A piston 26 in 5 is connected to a pedal 28 via a rod 27, and the hydraulic pressure generated by stepping on the pedal 28 is supplied to the hydraulic cylinder 8 so that the cylinder 8 extends. Reference numeral 29 is a return spring of the pedal 28.

On the other hand, the hydraulic cylinder 8 is connected to the tank T via a mechanical check valve 30, and the check valve 30 is pushed and opened from the outside by a foot or the like to open,
The oil in the hydraulic cylinder 8 escapes to the tank T, and the hydraulic cylinder 8 contracts.

31 is the jack cylinder 25 and the tank 30.
It is a check valve for preventing backflow provided between and.

The above-mentioned hydraulic unit including the hydraulic jack 24, the mechanical check valve 30, the tank T, etc. is mounted on the leg 2 and, for example, a caregiver (the user himself / herself) can use the hydraulic jack 24 (pedal 28) and the mechanical unit. By operating the check valve 29, the column 3 is extended or contracted, and the standing and sitting assisting action similar to that of the first embodiment is performed.

According to the structure of the second embodiment, the structure of the hydraulic unit is simpler, smaller and lighter than the case of using the electric hydraulic unit U of the first embodiment. Therefore, the walker as a whole can be made compact and lightweight, and the cost can be reduced.

Third Embodiment (See FIGS. 10 and 11) In the third embodiment, a well-known gas spring 32 is provided in the column 3 in place of the hydraulic cylinder 8 of the first and second embodiments.

As is well known, when the gas spring 32 operates the on-off valve by the push rod to open the communication passage,
The gas chambers on both sides of the cylinder communicate with each other, and the pressures on both sides are equalized, and thrust is generated in the extension direction in the piston based on the difference in the cross-sectional areas of the gas chambers on both sides (the cross-sectional area of the gas chamber on the rod side is small) To do.

Then, when the communication passage is closed, the piston stops at a position where the gas pressures of the gas chambers on both sides are balanced, and the column 3 is held at the length at that time.

Further, when an external force (reduction operation force) that overcomes the thrust difference based on the difference in the above-mentioned cross-sectional areas is applied in the state where the communication passage is opened, the reduction occurs.

Due to the action of the gas spring 32, the support column 3 expands and contracts, whereby basically the same action as in the first and second embodiments can be obtained.

In FIG. 11, reference numeral 33 denotes an operation lever for operating the push rod, which is attached to the gas spring 32 immediately below the arm hanging portion 4 so that the user can manually operate it.

According to the structure of the third embodiment, the expansion and contraction structure is the simplest, the smallest and the lightest in each embodiment, and the cost is low. Moreover, it is possible to obtain a sufficient standing / sitting assisting action due to the large stroke.

Other Embodiments (1) In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the expansion device (electric or manual jack type hydraulic cylinder 8, gas spring 32) is incorporated into the support column 3, but the support device 3 is omitted and the expansion device itself. May be used as a pillar.

(2) In the above embodiment, the stopper 5 is attached to the lower end of the intermediate cylinder 11 incorporated in the support column 3, and the intermediate cylinder 1
1 is slid to move the stopper 5 up and down between the raised position and the grounded position. However, the intermediate cylinder 11 is not provided, and the stopper 5 is provided at the lower end of the column so as to be vertically slidable and fixed at both positions. A configuration in which the cylinder 6 is locked may be adopted.

(3) The arm hanging portion 4 is not limited to the small table shape exemplified in the above embodiment, but may be formed in the shape of a handrail on which the arm is placed and grasped by the hand. Alternatively, it may be formed of a cushion material so that the arm can be contacted well.

[0064]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the strut is configured to extend and contract on a straight line inclined to the front, the user can stand and sit down. You can easily sit and sit without forcing.

Further, since the support column expands and contracts on a straight line, the space required for the user to stand and sit in the front-back direction is smaller than that of the known arm-rotating type, and the space is small. Therefore, it can be easily used even in a narrow space such as a toilet.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to swivel the walker as a fulcrum with the minimum radius quickly and easily with the stopper grounded. This makes it easier to change directions while walking or in the bathroom.

Further, since the stopper also functions as a brake for the legs, it is safe when walking is stopped or when standing or sitting.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a walker according to a first embodiment of the present invention in a state in which a support column is contracted.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the support column extended.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the walker.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a column in the same walker.

FIG. 5 is a diagram in which a part of FIG. 4 is further enlarged.

FIG. 6 is a control circuit diagram of an electric motor in the walker.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the walker according to the second embodiment of the present invention in a state in which the support column is contracted.

FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged sectional view of the walker.

FIG. 9 is an expansion / contraction hydraulic circuit diagram of a strut in the walker.

FIG. 10 is a side cross-sectional view of a walker according to a third embodiment of the present invention in a state in which a support column is extended.

FIG. 11 is a partial cross-sectional rear view of the walker.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Running Wheel 2 Leg 3 Prop 4 Arm Hook 6 Fixed Cylinder 7 Constituting Prop 7 Mobile Movable 8 Hydraulic Cylinder U as an Extension Device Electric Hydraulic Unit 20 Driving the Cylinder 21 Battery 21 of the Unit 21 Electric Motor 5 Stopper 11 Intermediate cylinder 13 for raising and lowering the stopper 13 Spring 16 Lock pins 14 and 15 for locking the stopper to the raised position and the grounding position 24 Lock pin holes 24 Manual hydraulic jack 30 for extending and driving a hydraulic cylinder as an expansion / contraction device 30 Mechanical check valve 32 for operating gas spring as telescopic device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A leg, which is movable by a traveling wheel, is provided with a support column that expands and contracts on a straight line inclined forward, and an upper end of the support column is provided with an arm hanging portion on which an arm is hooked, and A walker characterized by comprising a telescopic device for telescopically extending the support column. 2. A fixed cylinder is attached to the leg body, and a movable cylinder is slidably fitted in the fixed cylinder so as to be telescopically extendable and retractable. The walker according to claim 1, wherein the device is incorporated. 3. A stopper is provided at the lower end of the support column so as to be able to move up and down between a grounding position which comes into contact with the floor surface and serves as a turning fulcrum and a brake of the leg body, and a rising position which is separated from the floor surface. The walker according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising locking means for fixing the grounding position and the raised position. 4. A hydraulic cylinder is used as the expansion / contraction device, and an electric hydraulic unit is provided to drive a pump by an electric motor using a battery as a drive source to supply hydraulic pressure to the hydraulic cylinder. Items 1 to 3
The walker according to any one of 1.