JP2003190219A - Seat cushion for wheelchair - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a seat cushion for a wheelchair, capable of improving the sitting comfortableness of a seat so that a user does not feel tired even in long-time sitting. <P>SOLUTION: This seat cushion for a wheelchair is mounted on a sheet-like seat stretched between right and left frames of the wheelchair. The seat cushion includes a plate-like cushion material having designated flexibility, and a holding plate which is a plate material formed smaller than the cushion material and fixed to the base of the cushion material and has designated rigidity. The seat cushion for the wheelchair is placed on the seat, and locked on the frames of the wheelchair by the parts projected right and left from the holding plate of the cushion material. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wheelchair seat cushion to be mounted on a seat of a wheelchair for use.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a manual wheelchair has a structure in which the center of a seat can be bent left and right. The seat is made of cloth in consideration of this folding. This seat is supported by the left and right pipes that extend in the same plane as the seat and extends back and forth. When the seat is seated, the seat surface sinks due to the elasticity of the cloth material.

[0003]

However, since the conventional seat is a thin cloth material, it is poor in cushioning property and heat retaining property and is uncomfortable to sit on.

Further, since the seat surface is depressed and it is unstable even when sitting normally, it is easy to get tired because an extra force is applied to keep the waist position. In addition, a cushion may be laid on the seat in order to improve cushioning properties and heat retention properties and improve the sitting comfort. However, since the cushion also has flexibility, it is likely to sink and tire easily.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a seat cushion for wheelchairs which improves the sitting comfort of the seat and prevents fatigue even when sitting for a long time.

[0006]

A seat cushion for a wheelchair according to claim 1 is a plate-shaped cushion material having a predetermined flexibility, and a plate material formed smaller than the cushion material and fixed to the bottom surface of the cushion material. In addition, the wheelchair seat cushion is mounted on the seat, and is retained by the frame of the wheelchair at a portion protruding left and right from the holding plate of the cushion material. And

The wheelchair seat cushion according to claim 2 is
It is characterized in that it is provided with a fixing belt which is installed on the lower surface of the holding plate in the front and rear, and the fixing plate is fixed to the seat by winding the fixing belt around the seat of the wheelchair from the front and rear.

The wheelchair seat cushion according to claim 3 is
The holding plate is provided with a fixing belt that hangs down from the front bottom surface of the holding plate, and the holding plate is fixed to the seat by attaching the fixing belt to the bottom surface of the seat of the wheelchair.

A wheelchair seat cushion according to claim 4 is
The cushion material is made of urethane, and is an integral foam comprising a low-foaming skin layer on the surface and a highly-foaming core layer having cushioning properties.

A wheelchair seat cushion according to claim 5 is
The holding plate is made of rigid urethane foam.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a wheelchair seat cushion according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a right side view thereof. 4 is a front view showing a state of being mounted on the wheelchair, FIG. 5 is a right side view showing a state of being mounted on the wheelchair, and FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a state of being mounted on the wheelchair. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the main part taken along the line VII-VII of FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of an essential part showing another example similar to FIG. 4, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line IX-IX of FIG. Figure 10
FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing another example similar to that of FIG. 9.

1 to 10, a seat cushion 1 is provided.
Is a cushion (cushion) placed on a seat 30 of the wheelchair 20 described later. The seat cushion 1 is a plate-like cushion material 3 having a predetermined flexibility (cushioning property).
And a holding plate 6 which is a plate material having a diameter slightly smaller than that of the cushion material 3 and has a predetermined rigidity.

The cushion member 6 has a size of about 450 mm in width and about 400 mm in length, which is slightly smaller than the size of the seat sheet 30 of a general foldable wheelchair 20,
The thickness is about 25 mm. The cushion material 6 is an integral foam made of urethane, which includes a low-foaming skin layer 3e on the surface and a highly foaming core layer 3d having cushioning properties. In the middle of the cushion material 6 and slightly behind,
An upper surface concave portion 3a is formed to receive a gently dented bottom portion.

The integral foam is formed by placing a raw material having a temperature of about 25 ° C. in a mold heated to about 40 ° C. When the raw material is put into the mold, the foaming agent in the raw material is vaporized by the reaction heat, and the raw material itself becomes a foam due to the vapor pressure and foams and swells to fill the mold. However, when the high-temperature raw material comes into contact with the cavity surface of the mold having a relatively low temperature, the bubbles in the touched portion disappear and a low-foaming skin layer (thickness: about 1.5 mm) is formed. The raw material is divided into a polyol and an isocyanate, and by mixing and stirring these, a chemical reaction takes place to form an integral foam. The polyol is composed of PPG (polypropylene glycol), a foaming agent, silicone, a cross-linking agent, a catalyst and the like.

The holding plate 6 is a plate made of rigid urethane foam having a predetermined rigidity. The size is
The diameter is slightly smaller than the cushion material 3, and the width is about 330 mm,
The length is about 370 mm. The hardness of the holding plate 6 is such that the cushion material 3 contracts when sitting on the seat cushion 1, but the holding plate 6 does not contract. Some distortion is allowed if the holding plate 6 does not visibly distort when sitting. The holding plate 6 also has a concave portion that follows the upper concave portion 6a of the cushion material 6 and is slightly convex in the direction of the bottom surface 6b.

The seat cushion 1 is formed by fixing the holding plate 6 to approximately the center of the bottom surface 3b of the cushion material 3. The holding plate 6 is fixed by connecting the washer 7 applied to the bottom surface 6b of the holding plate 6 and the washer 4 embedded in the cushion material 3 via the screw 8.
It should be noted that the bottom surface 3 of the cushion material 3 is made of an adhesive without using the washer 4 or the like.
The holding plate 6 may be bonded to b.

The wheelchair 20 described in the present embodiment is a wheelchair which has a seat and a backrest made of cloth and can be folded. The wheelchair 20 has standing pipes 21 and 2 that stand upright and leftward.
2 and the lower frames 26 and 27 that extend forward from the lower ends of the standing pipes 21 and 22, bend upward while returning in the direction of the standing pipes 21 and 22, and are connected to approximately the center of the standing pipes 21 and 22. I have it. Further, it extends forward from the standing pipes 21 and 22 above the lower frames 26 and 27, descends with a slight inclination, and
The handrail frames 24 and 25 are provided so as to be in contact with and fixed to the bent ends of the protrusions 7 and project forward. On the upper surfaces of the flat portions of the handrail frames 24, 25, rod-like elbow rests 24a, 25a having cushioning properties are provided. Further, leg supports 37 and 38, which are plate members, are attached to the ends of the handrail frames 24 and 25 substantially horizontally.

Both ends of substantially U-shaped horizontal pipes 28 and 29 are pivotally supported at horizontal portions below the lower frames 26 and 27, respectively. A horizontal pipe 28 and a horizontal pipe 29 project between the lower frame 26 and the lower frame 27 that are arranged in parallel. Further, the centers of both arms of the horizontal pipes 28, 29 are rotatably connected to each other, and are arranged in an X-shape when viewed from the front. The lower frames 26 and 27 are connected by the horizontal pipes 28 and 29. That is, the horizontal pipes 28 and 29 are left and right frames that form the skeleton of the wheelchair 20 integrally with the standing pipes 21 and 22, the handrail frames 24 and 25, the lower frames 26 and 27, and the like.

A seat 30 made of cloth is stretched on the upper sides of the horizontal pipes 28 and 29 to form a seat for the wheelchair 20. A cloth backrest sheet 23 is stretched over the standing pipes 21 and 22 arranged in parallel via the lower frames 26 and 27. Furthermore, handrail frame 2
In the vicinity of the front lower ends of 4, 25, a cloth leg support sheet 39
Is stretched.

Front wheel support shafts 31 and 33 are erected and fixed near the bent ends of the lower frames 26 and 27, and the caster-type front wheels 3 are attached to the lower ends of the front wheel support shafts 31 and 33.
2, 34 are pivotally attached. In addition, the standing pipes 21 and 2
On the outside near the lower end of 2, there is a hand rim 35 for rowing.
Rear wheels 35 and 36 having a and 36a mounted on the outside are rotatably supported.

When the wheelchair 20 is folded, the standing pipes 21 and 22, the lower frames 26 and 27, and the handrail frames 24 and 25 are brought close to each other while rotating the horizontal frames 28 and 29 so as to be folded. As a result, the backrest seat 23, the seat seat 30, and the leg receiving seat 39 are also folded at the central portion, and the wheelchair 20 is folded. Naturally, by separating the standing pipes 21 and 22 from each other, the horizontal frames 28 and 29 are rotated to push the wheelchair 20 into a usable state.

Next, a method of using the wheelchair seat cushion 1 in this embodiment will be described. First, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the wheelchair 20 is opened so that the user can sit on the seat 30. Next, the seat cushion 1 is attached to the seat 3
Place on top of 0. At this time, the locking surface 3c which is a part of the bottom surface 3b of the cushion material 3 protruding from the holding plate 6 is placed on the horizontal frames 28 and 29. Further, the front and rear of the seat cushion 1 are in a positional relationship such that the upper surface recessed portion 3a of the cushion material 3 comes to the backrest seat 23 side.

With the seat cushion 1 placed, the user sits on the seat cushion 1 so that the buttocks rest on the upper surface recess 3a of the cushion member 3. As described above, if the seat seat 30 is seated via the seat cushion 1, the cushion material 3 having appropriate flexibility is provided.
The cushioning and heat retaining properties of the seat can improve the sitting comfort of the seat. Further, since the holding plate 6 having a predetermined rigidity is fixed to the bottom surface 3b of the cushion material 3,
Since the sinking of the cushion material 3 is suppressed by the holding plate 6, the position of the waist is stable and fatigue is less likely to occur.

Further, since the engaging surface 3c of the cushion material 3 is engaged with the horizontal frames 28 and 29, the cushion material 3 is prevented from being displaced and the waist can be seated in a more stable state. .

In addition, the cushion material 3 has a low-foaming skin layer 3e on the surface and a highly foaming core layer 3 having cushioning properties.
By using integral foam consisting of d and
The surface that is the core layer 3e has high waterproofness due to low foaming and is unlikely to be soiled, and the surface of the cushioning material 3 can be kept clean. In addition, since the inner core layer 3d has a cushioning property, the sitting comfort is secured.
In addition, the cushion material 3 which is an integral foam,
Since the skin layer 3e and the core layer 3d are integrally formed, there is no need to perform a process for protecting the surface of the cushion material 3 again, and the number of manufacturing steps can be reduced.

Further, since the holding plate 6 is made of hard urethane foam, the weight can be reduced while maintaining a predetermined rigidity, and the seat cushion 1 can be easily attached to and detached from the seat 30. Is.

In the above description, the case where the seat cushion 1 is simply placed on the seat seat 30 has been described, but as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, the seat cushion 1 may be fixed using the fixing belts 10 and 15. It is possible. For example, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a fixed belt 10 made of cloth is wide on the front side of the cushion material 3 in the left-right direction and hangs downward.
The cushioning material 3 is molded in a state in which is embedded. Near the lower end of the back surface of the fixing belt 10, a surface fastener 10a extending in the left-right direction is bonded. In addition, the front portion of the bottom surface 30b of the seat 30 also has a surface fastener 10b extending in the left-right direction.
Glue. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, with the seat cushion 1 placed on the seat seat 30, the hanging fixing belt 10 is bent toward the bottom surface 30b of the seat seat 30,
The hook-and-loop fasteners 10a and 10b are closely contacted and connected.
When the seat cushion 1 is fixed to the seat seat 30 via the fixing belt 10 in this manner, the seat cushion 1 is prevented from shifting in the front-rear direction, and the waist position can be seated in a more stable state, and fatigue is less likely to occur. In this way, if the structure is such that only the front of the seat cushion 1 is fixed, the seat seat 30 and the backrest seat 23 are integrally formed, and the seat seat 30 is seated on the wheelchair 20 that is open only to the front. The cushion 1 can also be fixed.

Further, in order to more securely fix the seat cushion 1 to the seat 30, as shown in FIG. 10, collar members 11 and 12 shorter than the fixing belt 10 are provided at the front and rear of the bottom surface 3b of the cushion member 3. I will embed it in and hang it. And a surface fastener 1 made of rectangular cloth and extending left and right in the front and rear direction.
The fixing belt 15 provided with the bottom surface 30 of the seat 30
Applying from b, the fasteners 13 are closely attached to each other and the brim 1
1 and 12 are connected. In this way, the seat cushion 1 can be fixed to the seat seat 30 by winding the fixing belt 15 around the seat seat 30 from the front and rear.

[0029]

According to the invention of claim 1, due to the cushioning property and heat retaining property of the cushion material having appropriate flexibility,
The sitting comfort can be improved. Further, since the holding plate having a predetermined rigidity is fixed to the bottom surface of the cushioning material, the cushioning material suppresses the sinking of the cushioning material, so that the waist position is stable and it is less likely to be tired even when sitting for a long time. Further, since the wheelchair cushion is locked to the left and right frames of the wheelchair at the part that protrudes left and right from the holding plate of the cushion material, displacement of the cushion material is suppressed and the waist position sits more stably. It becomes possible.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the fixing belt is installed around the lower surface of the holding plate, and the holding plate can be fixed to the seat by winding the fixing belt around the seat from the front and back. For this reason, the displacement in the front-back direction can be suppressed, and the waist can be seated in a more stable state so that it is less tired.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the fixing belt hangs down from the front bottom surface of the holding plate, and the holding plate can be fixed to the seat by attaching the fixing belt to the bottom surface of the seat. Therefore, the seat can be fixed to the seat of a wheelchair whose seat is open only in the front.

According to the invention of claim 4, the cushion material is formed of an integral foam comprising a low-foaming skin layer on the surface and a highly foaming core layer having a cushioning property. Since the surface of the core layer is low in foaming, it has high waterproofness and is unlikely to be soiled. Therefore, the surface of the cushion material can be kept clean. Further, since the inner core layer has a cushioning property, the sitting comfort is secured. Further, since the integral foam has the skin layer and the core layer formed integrally with each other, it is not necessary to perform a treatment for protecting the surface of the cushion material again, and the number of manufacturing steps can be reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the invention, since the holding plate is made of hard urethane foam, the weight can be reduced while having a predetermined rigidity, and it can be easily attached to and detached from the seat.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an example of a wheelchair seat cushion according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of the same.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a state of being mounted on the wheelchair.

FIG. 5 is a right side view showing a state in which the wheelchair is mounted.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a state in which the wheelchair is mounted.

7 is a cross-sectional view of the main part taken along the line VII-VII of FIG.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view of main parts showing another example similar to FIG.

9 is a sectional view taken along the line IX-IX of FIG.

10 is a cross-sectional view showing another example similar to FIG.

[Explanation of symbols] 1 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Seat cushion 3 ... Cushion material 6 ... Holding plate 10, 15 ... Fixed belt 11, 12 ... Tsuba material 20 ... Wheelchair 28, 29 ... Horizontal frame 30 ... Za

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A seat cushion for a wheelchair, which is mounted on a sheet-shaped seat stretched between left and right frames of a wheelchair,
The wheelchair seat cushion includes a plate-shaped cushioning material having a predetermined flexibility, and a holding material formed to be smaller than the cushioning material and fixed to the bottom surface of the cushioning material and having a predetermined rigidity. Is mounted on the seat, and is locked to the frame by the portion of the cushion material that projects left and right from the holding plate. 2. A holding belt is provided on the lower surface of the holding plate at the front and rear of the holding plate, and the holding plate is fixed to the seat by winding the fixing belt around the seat of the wheelchair from the front and back. The seat cushion for a wheelchair according to claim 1. 3. A holding belt is provided so as to hang from a front bottom surface of the holding plate, and the holding belt is fixed to the seat by attaching the fixing belt to the bottom surface of the seat of the wheelchair. The seat cushion for a wheelchair according to claim 1. 4. The integral foam, wherein the cushion material is made of urethane and is composed of a low-foaming skin layer on the surface and a highly foaming core layer having cushioning properties. The seat cushion for wheelchair according to any one of 3 above. 5. The wheelchair seat cushion according to claim 1, wherein the holding plate is made of rigid urethane foam.