JP2005318935A - Folding wheelchair - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a folding wheelchair which is used by a handicapped child with a trouble in walking, an infant, a handicapped person, and an aged person, or the like, ensures the stability of a posture by adjusting a seat angle and a backrest angle separately or simultaneously, increases rigidity while retaining operability such as of folding performance or the like, and is highly safety. <P>SOLUTION: A lower end of a lower back bearing ring 29 is connected to oscillate by a fourth shaft 30. The fourth shaft 30 is provided on a flange protruded on a rear part cross beam 19. The ring 29 constitutes a link of a parallelogram link mechanism. A front part vehicle body part 3 in the front part, a rear part vehicle body part 4 in the rear part, an upper back bearing ring 26, and the ring 29 constitute the links of the parallelogram link mechanism for folding, and a first shaft 16, a second shaft 25, a third shaft 28, and the fourth shaft 30 constitute the joints as understood from the explanation above. The parallelogram link mechanism constitutes the folding mechanism for the wheelchair. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a wheelchair that can be folded compactly for storage, transportation and the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a folding wheelchair used by disabled children, infants, disabled people, elderly people and the like who have difficulty walking.

  Disabled children who have difficulty walking, etc. move in a wheelchair, but there are many people who are difficult to stabilize their posture while running in a wheelchair or when stopped, so wheelchairs such as disabled children are stable in the seat Is more required. The method of stabilizing this posture is almost determined by the angle and shape of the seat and the angle and shape of the backrest. As for the shape of the seat of the folding chair made of a pipe for stabilizing the posture, the present applicant has proposed (Patent Document 1), but this folding chair is not for a wheelchair.

In general, a folding wheelchair cannot change the angle of the backrest. Many wheelchairs equipped with a folding function for handicapped children cannot change the angle of the seat and the angle of the backrest (see, for example, Patent Document 2). On the other hand, many baby carriages and the like that have been conventionally folded and easily carried have been proposed (for example, see Patent Document 3). These conventionally proposed ones consist of a link mechanism using a large number of links and nodes, and can be made compact because of the structure in which the link mechanism is folded in the front-rear direction and the left-right (width) direction of the baby carriage. Although there is an advantage, there is a problem that mechanical rigidity is weakened. If the rigidity is lowered, the baby carriage has a safety problem.
In particular, when a wheelchair travels forward, an impact is applied to the wheelchair when it hits an uneven surface or a step on the road surface. The wheelchair folding mechanism needs to have a structure that is difficult to operate due to this impact load. If this rigidity is lowered, it also means that the wheelchair has a safety problem. In general, many of these wheelchairs that emphasize folding performance cannot change the angle of the seat and the angle of the backrest.

  On the other hand, although it is not limited to the use for children with disabilities and baby carriages, it is different from children with disabilities, infants, toddlers, elderly people, etc., but they are operated by caregivers (guardians). is there. Comfort is required for passengers, caregivers are required to have good operability when traveling, etc., and good storability such as folding when moving in a car or the like. The wheelchair must be secured for both sides at the same time. For this purpose, laws and regulations have established various guidelines for the purpose of safety and quality of baby carriages and baby safety. However, since the folding mechanism and the method of fixing the handle differ depending on the manufacturer, it has been reported that there is a problem due to misuse.

  Even if it is not misused, it has been reported that, for example, a baby carriage with a foldable or movable pusher may loosen its stopper due to vibration during traveling. It is necessary to hang the bracket securely for safety. In other words, these metal fittings are also necessary metal fittings because of the folding structure. If the metal fittings are forgotten to be fixed, the rigidity of the baby carriage is lowered and the safety is lowered.

In consideration of the above, a user (passenger) is required to have safety and comfort such as rigidity of a wheelchair, and a caregiver who operates the vehicle is required to have good operability such as a folding type.
JP2003-125858A JP 2003-210529 A JP 2004-058986 A

The present invention has been made based on the technical background as described above, and achieves the following object.
An object of the present invention is to provide a folding wheelchair that can adjust the angle of the seat and the angle of the backrest individually or simultaneously to ensure the stability of the posture.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a foldable wheelchair capable of increasing rigidity while maintaining operability such as foldability.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a folding wheelchair with high safety.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following means.
The foldable wheelchair of the present invention 1 is a hand-held foldable wheelchair provided with a plurality of wheels on a frame constituting the main body,
The frame is
A front vehicle body portion (3) constituting a front frame of the foldable wheelchair and a first shaft (16) slidably connected at a lower position of the front vehicle body portion (3), the foldable wheelchair A rear vehicle body portion (4) constituting a front frame, and an upper back bearing ring (26) having an upper end coupled by a second shaft (25) so as to be swingable at an upper position of the front vehicle body portion (3); The upper end is connected to the lower end of the upper back support ring (26) by a third shaft (28) so as to be swingable, and the lower end is swingable by a fourth shaft (30) provided on the rear body part (4). Comprising a link of a four-bar linkage mechanism for folding composed of a lower back bearing ring (29) connected to
It consists of an upper frame (10) on which a backrest (12) for supporting the back of the occupant and a seat (13) for supporting the butt of the occupant are mounted at an upper position of the front body (3). It is characterized by that.

The folding wheelchair of the present invention 2 is the present invention 1,
The upper frame (10) is swingably provided at the upper position by a swing shaft (11),
Upper frame positioning means for adjusting the swing angle of the upper frame (10) by adjusting the distance between the upper frame (10) and the rear body part (4) and positioning and fixing it. 50).

The foldable wheelchair of the present invention 3 is the present invention 1 or 2,
The backrest (12) is swingably provided at the upper position by a swing shaft (49),
Positioning means for backrest (55) for adjusting the distance between the backrest portion (12) and the upper frame (10) and positioning and fixing the swinging angle of the backrest portion (12). It is characterized by having.

The foldable wheelchair of the present invention 4 is the present invention 1 or 2,
The four-bar linkage mechanism includes a stopper (27) for restricting the swing of the third shaft (28) and a lock mechanism (35) for locking.

The foldable wheelchair of the fifth aspect of the present invention is the first to fourth aspects of the present invention,
The upper frame (10) includes a legrest (14) that mainly supports the lower leg of the occupant and a footrest (15) that supports the foot of the occupant.

  The effect of the folding wheelchair of the present invention is that the angle of the seat and the angle of the backrest can be adjusted individually or simultaneously to ensure the stability of the posture, and the rigidity can be increased while maintaining the operability such as the folding property and the safety. High quality can be made.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view showing an embodiment in which the folding wheelchair of the present invention is developed for a handicapped child. The lower part of the folding wheelchair 1 is composed of a chassis 2 made of pipe. The chassis 2 is a part that becomes a vehicle body forming the main body of the wheelchair. The chassis 2 has a substantially rectangular shape when viewed from above, and includes a front body part 3 at the front and a rear body part 4 at the rear. As will be described later, the front vehicle body portion 3 and the rear vehicle body portion 4 constitute a four-bar linkage mechanism for folding.

  A front cross girder 5 made of a U-shaped pipe is arranged at the foremost part of the front body part 3, and the wheel fixing shaft 6 is oriented in the vertical direction (direction in use) at both ends thereof. It is fixedly arranged integrally by welding. Front wheels 7 with casters are provided at the lower ends of the wheel fixing shafts 6 on both sides. One end (lower end) of the oblique shaft 8 is fixed to the rear portions of the wheel fixing shafts 6 on both sides by welding. The oblique shaft 8 is a pipe having a substantially U-shape, and both ends thereof are fixed to the wheel fixing shaft 6 by welding. The oblique axis 8 is a frame that is arranged in a vertical oblique direction when in use. The front body part 3 includes a front cross beam 5, a wheel fixing shaft 6, and an oblique shaft 8, and constitutes one link of a four-bar linkage mechanism. An upper frame 10 on which a backrest 12, a seat portion 13 and the like, which will be described later, is mounted is swingably mounted on a swing shaft 11 on an upper end portion 9 of an upper extension portion of the oblique shaft 8.

  Below the rear part of the wheel fixing shaft 6, the front end of the rear body part 4 formed of a pipe is connected by a first shaft 16 so as to be swingable. The rear body part 4 is fixed to the front part of a vertical frame 17 made of two pipes on the left and right (both sides in the width direction) by welding both ends of an intermediate cross beam 18 that is a pipe, and is also a rear part that is a pipe at the rear part. Both ends of the cross beam 19 are fixed by welding. Further, a reinforcing pipe 20 bent in an arc shape is fixed and reinforced at the rear end portion of the vertical frame 17 by welding. The rear wheels 21 are rotatably supported on the vertical frames 17 on both sides via axles. The reinforcing pipe 20 has enhanced mechanical strength so that it can withstand the load of the rear wheel 21. After all, the rear vehicle body 4 is composed of two vertical frames 17, one intermediate cross beam 18, one rear cross beam 19, and two reinforcing pipes 20, and is roughly a rectangular pipe. It is a frame made. The rear body part 21 constitutes one link of a four-bar linkage mechanism.

  2 is a three-dimensional view seen from the back of the three-dimensional view of FIG. A second shaft 25 is disposed on the lower surface of the lower portion of the swing shaft 11 of the oblique shaft 8 on both sides. An upper end of an upper back support ring 26 made of a square member having a rectangular cross section is connected to the second shaft 25 so as to be swingable. A stopper 27 is integrally formed at the lower end of the upper back support ring 26. A third shaft 28 is disposed at the lower end of the upper back support ring 26, and the upper end of the lower back support ring 29 is swingably connected to the third shaft 28. The upper back bearing ring 26 and the lower back bearing ring 29 each constitute one link of the four-bar linkage mechanism.

  The lower back support ring 29 is formed by arranging two plate materials in parallel, and the upper back support ring 26 is interposed therebetween. The stopper 27 integral with the upper back bearing ring 26 is in contact with one side surface of one lower back bearing ring 29 and functions as a stopper. That is, the upper back support ring 26 and the lower back support ring 29 swing around the third shaft 28, but the swinging in one direction is stopped by the stopper 27. The knot link mechanism becomes a rigid body and becomes a structure. However, since the four-bar linkage mechanism moves in the folding direction, it includes a lock mechanism 35 described later.

  A lower end portion of the lower back support ring 29 is slidably connected by a fourth shaft 30. The fourth shaft 30 is provided on a flange provided so as to protrude from the rear cross beam 19. As understood from the above description, the front body part 3 at the front, the rear body part 4 at the rear, the upper back bearing ring 26, and the lower back bearing ring 29 are links of a four-bar linkage mechanism for folding. The first shaft 16, the second shaft 25, the third shaft 28, and the fourth shaft 30 constitute the node. This four-bar linkage mechanism constitutes a folding mechanism.

Folding handle 33 and lock mechanism 35
The above four-link mechanism constitutes a folding mechanism, and the folding and locking mechanism 35 is as follows. One end of a connecting lever 32 is fixed with a bolt 31 on the side surface of the substantially middle portion of the upper back bearing rings 26 on both sides. The other end of the connecting lever 32 is integrally fixed to the side surface of the folding handle 33 by welding. Accordingly, in the state shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, when the folding handle 33 is grasped by hand and lifted, the upper back support ring 26 is swung about its middle part, and the front body part 3 and the lower part The back support ring 29 swings around the first shaft 16, the second shaft 25, the third shaft 28, and the fourth shaft 30 and is folded.

  Next, the lock mechanism will be described. When some force is applied to the four-bar linkage, a force is applied in the folding direction, and it is necessary to prevent this during use. The lock mechanism 35 prevents this. One end of a flange 36 is fixed to both sides of the folding handle 33 by welding. The flange 36 is provided with a lock pin 37. The lock pin 37 has a spring (not shown) inside and is biased in a protruding direction. The lock pin 37 protrudes from the through hole of the lower back support ring 29 in use.

  The lock pins 37 on both sides are connected to each other by a wire 38 via an annular hook. When the wire 38 is pulled, the lock pins 37 on both sides are pulled against the spring and are released from the through holes of the lower back support ring 29 to be unlocked. Normally, the release is performed simultaneously with the release of the folding by holding the folding handle 33 and the wire 38 by hand.

As described above Teiruteingu (swinging of the entire seat) mechanism of the upper frame 10, the upper end 9 of the diagonal axis 8, the upper frame 10 is mounted swingably in the upper frame swing axis 11. The upper frame 10 includes a backrest portion 12 that supports the back, a seat portion 13 that supports the buttocks and thighs, a legrest 14 that supports the crus, a foot, a footrest 15 that supports shoes, and the like. Therefore, when the upper frame 10 is swung by the swing shaft 11, the backrest portion 12, the seat portion 13, and the legrest 14 can be swung simultaneously.

  A flange 41 extending downward is welded to the left and right vertical frames 40 that support the seat portion 13 of the upper frame 10, and the swing shaft 11 is provided on the flange 41. Between the vertical frames 40 on both the left and right sides, a seat rear cross beam 42 made of a pipe is bent and bent downward, and both ends thereof are connected by welding. Similarly, a front cross beam 43 for a seat made of a pipe is bent and bent downward at the front portion and bridged, and both ends thereof are fixed by welding (see FIG. 1). Therefore, generally speaking, the frame of the seat portion 13 is rectangular. A desired sheet is made of these frames with a cloth belt, foamed urethane, or the like.

  The upper end of the legrest 14 is swingably connected to the front ends of the left and right vertical frames 40 of the seat portion 13 via a swing shaft 44. The frame 45 of the legrest 14 is a pipe having a U-shape. The frame 45 is attached with a support portion having a desired shape so that the lower leg portion can be softly supported by foamed urethane, cloth, or the like. A footrest 15 made of a plate material is disposed at the lower end of the frame 45. The tip of the rod 51 of the upper frame stepless positioning device 50 is slidably connected to the shaft 52 at the intermediate portion of the seat rear cross beam 42 of the seat portion 13. The upper frame stepless positioning device 50 is a mechanism for tailing (swinging the entire seat) of the upper frame 10 and can be set and fixed at an arbitrary angular position.

  The rod 51 is inserted into the lock mechanism 53. The rod 51 can arbitrarily adjust the insertion length into the lock mechanism 53. In the lock mechanism 53, a pair of right-handed and left-handed coil springs are wound around the rod 51 with tightening, and one end of the coil spring is connected to a lever (not shown) for unlocking operation and the other end. Is attached to a groove (not shown) of a bearing fixed to the cylinder. These mechanisms are known and will not be described in detail. This lever is connected to an inner cable contained in the cable. This inner cable extends to the handle 60 and can be released by operating a lever (not shown) attached to the handle 60.

The locking mechanism 53 may be any mechanism as long as it is a positioning and fixing mechanism regardless of stepless type, such as a method of inserting and fixing a pin and a method of inserting and fixing a pin to a rack-like tooth. good. The lower end of the lock mechanism 53 is swingably provided on a swing shaft 54 provided on the rear cross beam 19 of the rear vehicle body portion 4. FIG. 3 is an operation diagram illustrating the swinging state of the upper frame 10. When the upper frame 10 is swung backward by the upper frame stepless lock device 50, it is swung to the position indicated by the dotted line.
That is, the seat portion 13 and the backrest portion 12 can be swung around the upper frame rocking shaft 11 at an arbitrary angle by adjusting the length of the rod 51. This has an advantage that an arbitrary angle can be selected so as to match the body of the handicapped child or according to the situation such as traveling and resting.

Reclining mechanism of the backrest portion 12 On the left and right vertical frames 40, a lower end of an inverted U-shaped U-shaped frame 51 that is a frame of the backrest portion 12 is slidably connected by a backrest swing shaft 49. The U-shaped frame 51 has a desired shape formed of a belt, cloth, polyurethane, plywood, or the like, and is formed so as to comfortably support the back of the wheelchair passenger. Both ends of a U-shaped swing support pipe 52 are integrally fixed to the rear portion of the U-shaped frame 51 by welding. The tip of the rod 56 of the backless continuously variable locking device 55 is connected to the intermediate portion of the swing support pipe 52 by a shaft 57 so as to be swingable. The backless stepless locking device 55 has the same mechanism as the upper frame stepless locking device 50 described above, and the rod 56 can be arbitrarily adjusted in insertion length.

  The lower end of the locking mechanism 58 of the backless stepless locking device 55 is swingably provided on a swing shaft 59 provided on the seat rear cross beam 42 of the seat portion 13. The lock mechanism 58 can be released by manually turning a handle provided on the lock mechanism 58. FIG. 4 is an operation diagram showing the swinging state of the backrest 12. When the backrest 12 is swung rearward by the backless stepless locking device 55, only the backrest 12 is swung at the position indicated by the dotted line. That is, the backrest portion 12 can swing only the angle between the seat portion 13 and the backrest portion 12 about the backrest swinging shaft 49 at an arbitrary angle by adjusting the length of the rod 56. . This has an advantage that an arbitrary angle can be selected so as to match the body of the handicapped child or according to the situation such as traveling and resting.

A handle 60 for operating the wheelchair is provided on the U-shaped frame 51 of the other storage mechanism backrest 12. The handle 60 is for operating a wheelchair, and is fixed to one end thereof by an angle fixing means 61. The angle fixing means 61 adjusts the handle 60 to an arbitrary angular position at one end of the handle fixing pipe 62 extending from the U-shaped frame 51 around the angle fixing means 61. This angle is a mechanism in which serrations carved in the radial direction mesh with each other and are fixed with bolts.
The angle of the handle 60 can be adjusted according to the height, preference, etc. of the user (passenger). In front of the U-shaped frame 51 of the backrest 12, an elbow rest 63 is swingably provided by a swing shaft 64. The elbow rest 63 is housed by being swung around the rocking shaft 64 at the time of being obstructed or housed.

(Operation of Embodiment 1)
When the front wheel 7 hits a step or the like during forward travel of the folding wheelchair 1, the impact applied to the front wheel 7 is mainly applied to the front body part 3 and the rear body part 4, but in this embodiment, the folding structure is applied to that part do not have. That is, the impact force of the front wheel 7 acts as a rotational moment about the first shaft 16, but this force acts in the direction of pulling the upper back support ring 26 and the lower back support ring 29, so that the force in the folding direction is The wheelchair is not easily folded by the impact from the front.
In addition to the impact received from the front when the wheelchair moves forward, it is necessary that the wheelchair is not folded by the weight of the user (passenger) and the force the caregiver pushes the wheelchair during traveling. The weight of the user on the upper frame 10 on which the user sits and the force with which the caregiver holds the handle 60 and pushes the wheelchair mainly work as a rotational moment with respect to the swing shaft 11. Since the force is applied to the rear body part 4 having no folding structure via the lock mechanism 53, the wheelchair in which both forces are offset by the weight of the user and the pressing force of the caregiver is not easily folded. Yes.

Next, the storing order by the four-bar linkage mechanism of the wheelchair of the embodiment will be described. Fig.5 (a)-FIG.5 (d) are explanatory drawings which show the order of folding. First, the elbow pads 63 on both sides are raised at the upper part around the swinging shaft 64 and stopped at a position where they come into contact with the backrest 12. Next, the legrest 14 and the footrest 15 integrated with the legrest 14 are lifted up around the swing shaft 44 (the state shown in FIG. 5A).
Next, the stepless locking device 55 for the backrest is released, and the backrest portion 12 is swung forward about the swing shaft 49 so as to overlap the legrest 14 (the state shown in FIG. 5B). The folding handle 33 and the wire 38 are grasped by hand at the same time (see FIG. 2), and are pulled upward and folded at the same time as the lock mechanism 35 is released. Simultaneously with this operation, the lever attached to the handle 60 is operated to release the lock mechanism 53 of the upper frame stepless positioning device 50 (the state shown in FIG. 5C). The final storage state is the state shown in FIG.

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view showing an embodiment in which the folding wheelchair of the present invention is developed for a handicapped child. 2 is a three-dimensional view seen from the back of the three-dimensional view of FIG. FIG. 3 is an operation diagram illustrating the swinging state of the upper frame 10. FIG. 4 is an operation diagram showing the swinging state of the backrest 12. Fig.5 (a)-FIG.5 (d) are explanatory drawings which show the order of folding.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Folding wheelchair 2 ... Chassis 3 ... Front vehicle body part 4 ... Rear vehicle body part 6 ... Wheel fixing shaft 10 ... Upper frame 12 ... Backrest part 13 ... Seat part 15 ... Footrest 16 ... First axis 25 ... Second axis 26 ... Upper back bearing ring 26
28 ... Third shaft 29 ... Lower back bearing ring 30 ... Fourth shaft 33 ... Folding handle 35, 53 ... Lock mechanism 50 ... Stepless positioning device for upper frame

Claims (5)

In a hand-held folding wheelchair with a plurality of wheels on the frame constituting the main body,
The frame is
A front body part (3) constituting a front frame of the folding wheelchair;
A rear vehicle body part (4) connected by a first shaft (16) to be swingable at a lower position of the front vehicle body part (3) and constituting a front frame of the folding wheelchair;
An upper back bearing ring (26) whose upper end is coupled by a second shaft (25) so as to be swingable at an upper position of the front body part (3);
The upper end is connected to the lower end of the upper back support ring (26) by a third shaft (28) so as to be swingable, and the lower end is swingable by a fourth shaft (30) provided on the rear body part (4). A lower back bearing ring (29) connected to the four-link mechanism link for folding,
An upper frame (10) on which a backrest (12) for supporting the back of the occupant and a seat (13) for supporting the butt of the occupant are mounted at an upper position of the front body (3). Folding wheelchair characterized by that. In claim 1,
The upper frame (10) is swingably provided at the upper position by a swing shaft (11),
Upper frame positioning means for adjusting the swing angle of the upper frame (10) by adjusting the distance between the upper frame (10) and the rear body part (4) and positioning and fixing it. 50) and a folding wheelchair. In claim 1 or 2,
The backrest (12) is swingably provided at the upper position by a swing shaft (49),
Positioning means for backrest (55) for adjusting the distance between the backrest portion (12) and the upper frame (10) and positioning and fixing the swinging angle of the backrest portion (12). A foldable wheelchair characterized by comprising: In claim 1 or 2,
The four-bar linkage mechanism is
A foldable wheelchair comprising a stopper (27) for restricting the swing of the third shaft (28) and a lock mechanism (35) for locking. In one selected from Claims 1-4,
The upper frame (10) is provided with a legrest (14) for mainly supporting the lower leg of the occupant and a footrest (15) for supporting the foot of the occupant. Wheelchair.

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