JP2005040563A - Stair ascending/descending function and facility for wheelchair - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a stair ascending/descending function and facility for a wheelchair allowing an electric wheelchair to ascend/descend the inclination of stairs by itself. <P>SOLUTION: A traveling drive function of the electric wheelchair is structured to take out deceleration and strong torque to another shaft to transmit them to a gear for climbing. To cope with this, the stair ascending/descending support facility is provided with steps fixedly provided for climbing up along the lower part of a stair sidewall, a wheel guide groove for preventing the climbing gear from coming off the steps, and a handrail-like posture holding guide pipe provided at the sidewall to slightly lift the wheel on one side to pass so as not to touch or collide with the steps. The guide pipe is slidingly gripped by a posture holding arm extended from the rear face of the wheelchair, and the electric wheelchair ascends/descends the inclination of the stairs at low speed but powerfully by the driving rotation (or braking rotation like electromagnetic brake) of the climbing (or descending) gear firmly meshed with the steps. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

Industrial application fields

    The present invention relates to an electric wheelchair.

A wheelchair is essentially a person who sits on a wheelchair and makes it easy to move. However, depending on the condition of the occupant, the wheelchair assists the sick and elderly people who have difficulty walking. It is difficult to walk with a manual wheelchair that assumes lower limbs, but other mental and physical conditions are normal and usually do not require the assistance of others, and most of daily life is equivalent to healthy people It consists of an electric wheelchair for those who want to work on the level.
Manual wheelchairs that are premised on the assistance of others can be propelled by themselves to some extent slowly if the occupants themselves turn the rim of the circumference that is almost equivalent to the wheel equipped inside the wheel with their arm strength, The speed and range of action are known, limited to homes, their surroundings, and hospitals, and usually requires the assistance of an assistant to go far away by train or bus.
On the other hand, people with disabilities who are inconvenient in the lower limbs but who are energetic and motivated in other physical and mental aspects, want to act freely on their own without being taken care of by others. In many cases, an electric wheelchair is fully utilized to act on a wide range. The electric wheelchair is a mini-light vehicle powered by a storage battery, and its shape has been developed as a four-wheel scooter type or a six-wheel type with a central drive wheel with front and rear wheels as auxiliary wheels. Both are low-speed vehicles, and on the road, they are treated as sidewalks on the same rank as pedestrians, and roads on which ordinary cars run are prohibited.
Of course, manual wheelchairs that are supposed to be accompanied by caregivers need to be flat and horizontal passages that are maintained by pavement, etc., even in electric wheelchairs. But it is limited to horizontal movement. Although it is best to move up and down in the structure if there is an elevator, it is provided to some extent in densely populated areas where the number of people has increased, but personnel transportation is intermittent, and the amount of transportation traffic is small. However, it will not spread to the level of staircases everywhere, and will not spread to the level of staircases in the future.
And the development and spread of escalators that are stepped and the steps automatically move up and down are remarkable, and the function of continuously moving up and down many pedestrians at stations etc. is wonderful, but this is the same as pedestrians It is very dangerous for a wheelchair to move up and down like this, and as a rule it is prohibited and cannot be used.
Most recently, an escalator that can be used with a wheelchair has been developed, and the escalator step has been devised so that only a part of the escalator step is temporarily on the same plane via the operation buttons on the escalator side. If the wheelchair is intruded into the surface and the vehicle is transferred, the occupant can safely move up and down with the escalator. However, step modification and lifting operation of this escalator requires an attending operation by a staff member of the station, and a further problem is that ordinary pedestrians are allowed to wait while moving up and down the wheelchair. . Wheelchair users have a great deal of effort to deal with this, and even for those who are in a hurry, the awaited mind is not calm. And replacement and installation to such a high-tech escalator requires expensive capital investment and cannot be easily realized anywhere.
In addition to raising and lowering the stairs of wheelchairs, along with the side walls of the stairs, the wheelchair can be made cargo by both the occupant and the passenger by using a drive chain system installed in the side walls and equipment that can collect power while moving power. Dedicated stair climbing devices have been developed that can be lifted up and down, but these are large vehicles, and the car occupies a large area and is expensive, and avoid competition with ordinary pedestrians using stairs. I can't.
In May 2000, the “Traffic Barrier-Free Act” was enacted and promulgated, and it was enforced in November. “Improving and improving the quality of life” for the disabled and elderly people using wheelchairs as a nation. It became to be promoted. And as mentioned earlier, the development of the electric wheelchair that can move freely on its own is remarkable, and in conjunction with the development of the automobile manufacturer side, people with lower limbs can also drive the car, depending on the will of the disabled The range has been able to expand significantly.
In light of this situation, it can be said that the functions required for the all-purpose electric wheelchair are limited to the following two points.
1. The plane can be moved efficiently with little effort.
2. You can move up and down the stairs freely without the assistance of others.
Let's do it all.
In this, it is considered that the purpose of horizontal movement has been almost achieved, but as a general ability of the wheelchair itself, there is still no hand for the stair climbing everywhere.

Problems to be solved by the invention

  What is called a staircase is an indispensable structure that inevitably arises in human life. For this reason, it is only necessary to provide simple fixed-standard equipment for lift passages such as many staircases that do not have elevators and wheelchair specialized facilities for disabled people who are well-spirited and disabled. Therefore, it is desirable to develop an electric wheelchair with a standard climbing function that can be freely moved up and down at any time by any manufacturer.

Means for solving the problem

A wheelchair has a configuration in which a car is attached to a seating chair like a letter, and exhibits extremely effective performance for a maintained flat run, but is almost powerless for an inclined passage.
However, mankind has a case of overcoming the difficulties and developing a vehicle that runs wonderfully on the slope. It can be seen in the Apt mountain railways in the European Alps. In the Apt railway, a rail is mounted between the rails, with a projection that is formed by linearly extending the knurled gears, and a drive gear that is hooked on the projection and rotates on the underside of the vehicle. It is configured to climb on a steep slope driven by the power of the first, and for climbing the inclined surface of the wheelchair, first, such a ground structure is created according to the national standard, and the climbing function corresponding to this is electrically operated If it is given to a wheelchair, climbing the slope will be solved.
In other words, because the wheelchair and the human body seated on it are lifted along a staircase inclination of about 28 °, there is no need for such a strong facility, and there are many between two stainless steel tubes about the thickness of a human finger. A ladder-shaped “ladder” welded across the horizontal bars can be installed on the concrete of the staircase or the wooden base structure as a fixed facility. After that, in order to prevent this gear from coming off the ladder in the middle, a “groove” is provided to guide and guide the main wheel and the front and rear wheels, and the opposite main wheel avoids collision with the steps of the stairs. In order to allow the opposite wheel to pass in a floating state, a posture holding guide tube for tilting the vehicle body is provided in a handrail shape on the side wall so that it can be grabbed with a gripping arm from a wheelchair. To do.
On the other hand, on the wheelchair side, the shaft power from the storage battery that drives the main wheel when traveling on flat ground is moved to the auxiliary shaft of the gear mechanism (transmission) to improve the rotational force while decelerating and transmit it to the gear that meshes with the ladder , You can climb slowly and powerfully.

Examples showing the structure and operation of the invention

As shown in FIG. 1, the wheelchair of the present invention is similar in appearance to a six-wheeled electric wheelchair, but has a driving structure that can drive climbing a staircase slope in addition to normal plane running. As will be described in detail later, FIG. 3 shows the mechanism.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the stairs ascending / descending state of the wheelchair will be described. A wheel guiding groove for guiding and guiding the right main wheel 3a of the wheelchair to be driven when traveling on a flat ground along the right side wall 2 of the stairs 1 is guided below. 4, while engaging the front right wheel 5a and the right main wheel 3a and engaging the clutch while engaging the ascending drive gear 7 mounted on the lower surface of the wheelchair with the ladder 6, the main wheels 3a, 3b of the wheelchair Is neutral. Thereafter, the posture holding arms 8 mounted in a folded manner on the rear part of the wheelchair are extended by hand, and three pieces are attached to the handrail-like posture holding guide tube 9 fixedly attached above the side wall 2. The tip of the posture holding arm 8 having a small sliding roller is opened and the guide tube 9 is grabbed and the left main wheel 3b on the opposite side which is not in the wheel guide groove is slightly lifted from the step surface of the stairs 1 Then, the angle of the posture holding arm 8 is adjusted so as to secure the gap 26, and further, the left front wheel 3b is folded toward the vehicle body frame 12 as shown in FIG. Then, the in-vehicle computer stores and fixes the vertical angle of the right front wheel 5a, and when the driving force is gently switched to the lifting / lowering gear 7 with the selector while continuing the clutch operation, the wheelchair slowly moves to the surface of the stairs 1 Then, go up ascending direction arrow 10. At that time, the right rear wheel 11a moves downward while tracing the ground 13 on the lower floor, and when the right rear wheel 11a enters the wheel guide groove 4, the computer automatically turns the right front wheel 5a and the right main wheel 3a. The seat seat 14, the backrest 15, and the footrest 16 are fixed so that the right rear wheel 11 a is aligned with the right rear wheel 11, and the information is locked by the posture control device in the wheelchair so that the climbing wheelchair does not fall down. Etc. are kept horizontal. In this way, the wheelchair's vehicle body is always kept horizontal, so that the climbing occupant rotates with the seat seat 19 and the like horizontally and obliquely backward as indicated by the upper rotation arrow 17 in FIG. If you are facing forward, the direction of the long legs that interferes with you can be set to the rear side without any hindrance.
While the wheelchair is climbing, when the upper floor 18 is reached while finely adjusting the clutch operation, when the right front wheel 5a moves downward and recovers to the same height as the right main wheel 3a, the selector automatically Since the vehicle returns to the flat ground traveling state and the left front wheel 5b is also opened forward, the state is shifted to the normal traveling state while gradually releasing and releasing the clutch. Since the climbing is completed when the right rear wheel 11a returns to the upper floor 18 horizontal floor surface, a completion signal or the like may be notified by voice or an end sound.

The wheels on the front and rear of the current 6-wheel luxury electric wheelchair on the market have only functions such as buffering while driving and stable maintenance when overcoming a slight difference in elevation, but all 6 wheels climb to the stairs slope. It is necessary to provide performance as a six-wheeled vehicle for sharing advanced functions for the vehicle.
In the main stairs, for example, the right side wall corner may be used for climbing and the left side wall corner may be used for lowering. Although it is left-hand traffic in Japan, it seems that this is more convenient for gripping the posture-maintaining guide tube 9 with the posture control arm 8 because there are many right-handed people, but either may be used depending on the development process. Karo. In short, it is a matter of familiarity, and the operation knob 20 attached to the tip of the wheel chair's elbow rest 19 is usually on the left side, and it may be psychologically stable if the effective arm side is left open.
Finally, switching of driving force from the main wheels 3a, 3b to the ascending drive gear 7 and reduction of speed are necessary. In the present invention, (1) the main wheel 3a during planar traveling is necessary. The rotational force (torque) of the gear shaft for climbing is increased by decelerating much more than the shaft rotational speed of 3b. (2) The rotation axis must be different from the rotation axis of the main wheel. These two points must be satisfied. Even if it is a wheelchair, it is necessary to change the vehicle speed when traveling on flat ground, and a part of the area is shown in FIG.
Describing based on the conventional transmission (transmission) of an automobile, the rotational driving force generated by the engine (motor) is transmitted to the main shaft through the clutch, but the rotation of the main shaft 21 is transmitted from the main gear to the auxiliary bearing gear. The countershaft 22 is always transmitted to the countershaft 22 and the countershaft rotates constantly. The difference in gear ratio generated between the countershaft and the main shaft is caused by the gear shift on the spline shaft. The rotating gear on the main shaft brings about a smooth change in the rotating action on the main shaft by the gear that swings in the cylinder and the contact action in the conical clutch. The rotation applied to the sub-shaft is converted into a strong rotational force that is decelerated via the planetary gear 23 when the main shaft is in the neutral state, and is taken out while gradually releasing the clutch action. While the rotational force is gently applied to the ascending drive gear 7 meshing with the step 6, the gear 7 is driven at full power to cause strong climbing. Reference numerals 24a and 24b are gears for changing the shaft position, and reference numeral 25 is a lubricating oil box for housing the transmission. At the same time, since the wheelchair is an electric vehicle powered by a storage battery, it requires a large amount of energy called climbing, so it will be necessary to install a storage battery with a larger capacity.
And when descending the staircase slope, it goes in the opposite direction when climbing, and enters the stairs in a posture that sits forward along the side wall on the right side as seen from above, such as friction brake and electromagnetic brake It slowly descends while reliably transmitting the braking action to the gear meshing with the ladder.

The invention's effect

  Regardless of whether there is a lift support system for wheelchairs such as elevators, with the advent of high-performance electric wheelchairs, when there are elevators such as ladders that are inexpensive and maintenance-free for any stairs, It makes it easy to walk around freely, without anybody's help, anywhere. Because it can bring the ability of many talented people who could not participate in work and art just to say that the lower limbs are inconvenient, it not only improves the person's willingness to live, but also contributes greatly to society. The way to be fulfilled will be opened.

The situation of electric wheelchair climbing stairs slope Correspondence state of the electric wheelchair to the lifting equipment attached to the stairs Drive conversion configuration from traveling drive shaft to ascending gear of electric wheelchair

Explanation of symbols

1. Stairs 2. 3. Side wall 3a Right main wheel 3b Left main wheel Wheel guide groove 5a Right front wheel 5b Left front wheel 6 Ladder 7 Ascending drive gear 8. Posture holding arm 9. Posture holding guide tube 10. Ascending direction arrow 11a Right rear wheel 11b Left rear wheel 12. Body frame 13. Lower floor (floor)
14 Seat seat 15. Backrest16. Footrest 17. Upper rotation arrow 18. Upper floor (floor)
19. Elbow rest 20. Operation knob 21. Main shaft 22. Secondary shaft 23. Planetary gear 24a A gear 24b for changing the axial position A gear 24 for changing the axial position 25. Lubricating oil box for storing the transmission 26. Clearance between left main wheel and stair step

Claims (1)

  In an electric wheelchair, the rotational force of the main shaft applied to the main wheels during driving is taken out from the transmission sub-shaft, and the rotation of this sub-shaft is strengthened while decelerating with a planetary gear etc. A stage equipment that can be transmitted to the gear and engaged with the lower side of the side wall of the stairs to climb (or descend), and one side main wheel and one side of the wheelchair to prevent the gear from coming off the stage Since there is a groove to guide and fit the front and rear wheels, it is necessary to climb (or descend) while maintaining a gap so that the other wheel does not collide with the steps of the stairs during the climbing (or descending) process. In order to maintain a slight tilt on the wheelchair body, it has the function of moving up and down the stairs while being supported by the handrail-like posture holding guide tube on the side wall that is grabbed by the gripping arm extended from the body. Prepare An electric wheelchair, wherein the door, fixed installations to support this climb (or descent).

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