JP2007085426A - Pipe length adjustment mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mechanism to continuously adjust pipe length, which easily and finely adjusts the pipe length by fixing an inner pipe sliding along an inner surface of an outer pipe, at an arbitrary position. <P>SOLUTION: The pipe length adjustment mechanism has: the inner pipe 15 with an inclined surface slidably fit along the inner surface of the outer pipe; a movable part 11 with an inclined surface at an end part of the inner pipe 15 inserted into the outer pipe 16 and a fastening part 14 manually fastening the movable part 11 to the other end of the movable part 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  Involved in a pipe length adjustment mechanism that allows the inner pipe sliding along the inner diameter of the outer pipe to be fixed at an arbitrary position and the pipe length to be easily adjusted steplessly without using a tool. .

  The height of the footrest of the wheelchair must be adjusted so that the occupant's feet are stably held in the wheelchair. In addition, a user such as a walker can perform walking training in a correct posture by adjusting the grip position to be an appropriate position. As described above, adjustment of the position where the foot is placed and the position where the hand is placed is necessary for various instruments, and it is desirable that the adjustment be simple. Various devices have been reported for easy adjustment. In Patent Document 1, as described in claim 1, telescopic legs are arranged in parallel along the side surface of the main leg, and both the legs are connected so as to be relatively movable in the longitudinal direction. The position of both legs can be fixed by a pin that protrudes and protrudes from the other leg side in one of a plurality of holes spaced at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction formed on the side surface of either one of the leg and the telescopic leg. A telescopic leg portion such as a base is disclosed.

  Patent Document 2 discloses that an outer pipe having at least one through-hole in a side wall made of a hollow cylindrical member and a plurality of side walls made of a small-diameter hollow cylindrical member that slide along an inner diameter portion of the outer pipe. A locking tool for fixing the connecting pipe for aligning and fixing the hole of the outer pipe and the inner pipe of the connecting pipe of which the length can be adjusted, comprising an inner pipe having a plurality of through holes. The locking tool includes a pin that loosely aligns the hole of the outer pipe and the hole of the inner pipe, and a C-shaped sandwiching portion that has an opening that wraps around the outer pipe. The pin is pivotally attached to one end of the opening of the sandwiching portion, and the head of the pin is engaged with the substantially central portion of the sandwiching portion where the head of the pivoted pin contacts. The connecting pipe consisting of the outer pipe and the inner pipe is fixed. The locking member is disclosed.

Generally, as described above, a hole is formed in the outer pipe and a side wall of the inner pipe that slides along the inner wall of the outer pipe, and the positions of the holes are aligned and fixed with a pin or a locking tool. A method of adjusting the sheath length is adopted. This method arises because the adjustment of height and length is limited to the position of the hole, so fine adjustment cannot be made, and the diameter of the hole is made slightly larger than the diameter of the pin so that the pin can be easily inserted. There were problems such as rattling. For this reason, there has been a demand for the emergence of a height adjusting mechanism that can easily adjust the length and height without using a tool.
JP 2004-332353 A JP 2004-358205 A

  The present invention is a mechanism for adjusting the length of a pipe in a stepless manner in which the inner pipe sliding along the inner diameter of the outer pipe is fixed at an arbitrary position and the length of the subtle pipe can be easily adjusted Is to provide.

  In order to adjust the length of the wheelchair or walker pipe, the inner pipe sliding along the inner diameter of the outer pipe is fixed at any position, and the subtle pipe length can be easily and steplessly made by hand. Various studies were conducted to provide a pipe length adjustment mechanism that can be adjusted. As a result, the above problem could be solved by the following method.

  The invention according to claim 1 includes an inner pipe having an inclined surface slidably inserted along an inner diameter of the outer pipe, and a movable portion having an inclined surface at a tip portion of the inner pipe inserted into the outer pipe. And a pipe length adjusting mechanism having a tightening portion capable of manually tightening the movable portion at the other end of the movable portion. Adjust the length of the inner pipe by sliding the inner wall surface of the outer pipe steplessly, rotate the clamping part attached to the other end of the movable part of the pipe by hand, and easily tighten and firmly fix it can do.

  A second aspect of the present invention is the pipe length adjusting mechanism according to the first aspect, wherein a large number of protrusions are formed on the movable portion having an inclined surface. By forming a large number of protrusions on the movable part having a slope, the movable part is firmly pressed against the inner wall surface of the outer pipe and fixed.

  The invention according to claim 3 is a wheelchair in which the pipe length adjusting mechanism according to claim 1 or 2 is attached to the footrest pipe, and the height of the footrest can be adjusted by hand. It is a featured wheelchair. The height of the footrest attached to the front frame of the wheelchair can be easily adjusted without using a tool by matching the position of the footrest to the occupant.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention is a walker equipped with the pipe length adjusting mechanism according to the first or second aspect, wherein the front and rear positions of the handle are adjustable by hand. It is a walker. By attaching the pipe length adjusting mechanism of the present invention to the attachment portion of the handle attached to the front end portion of the walker, the handle is adjusted to the optimum position where the user of the walker attaches the hand to the handle. The position can be adjusted back and forth.

  Since the pipe length adjusting mechanism of the present invention can be tightened and fixed by hand, the length and height can be adjusted wherever there is no tool. Since the pipe length adjusting mechanism of the present invention is a simple mechanism in which an inner pipe is inserted into an outer pipe, it can be attached to a wheelchair, a walker, a cane, etc. using the pipe, and a tool is used. It can be applied to a wheelchair, a walker, a cane, etc. that can be easily adjusted in length and height.

  The pipe length adjusting mechanism of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

  In order to adjust the height of the footrest 18 of the wheelchair, the bolt 28 is loosened using a wrench or the like attached to the lower part of the footrest frame 17 as shown in the perspective view of FIG. The positioned footrest frame 17 is fixed by moving it up and down and fastening it at an appropriate position and tightening the bolt 28. In this method, a tool such as a wrench is required to tighten or loosen the bolt 28, so that the height of the footrest 18 cannot be easily adjusted even when going out or at home.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the pipe length adjusting mechanism 100 of the present invention includes an inner pipe 15 having a slope at the tip of a pipe that is slidably inserted along the inner diameter of the outer pipe 16, and an outer pipe 16. It has a movable part 11 having a slope at the tip of the inserted inner pipe 15 and a tightening part 14 for fastening the movable part 11 to the other end of the movable part 11 by hand. This is a pipe length adjusting mechanism 100. The height of the footrest 18 and the position of the handle can be easily adjusted anywhere without requiring a tool such as a wrench as in the prior art.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the movable portion 11 attached to the distal end portion of the inner tube 15 is cut obliquely 11c. The obliquely cut portion 11c of the movable portion 11 is aligned with the obliquely cut portion of the distal end portion of the inner tube 15. The movable portion 11 is connected to the tightening portion 14 through the inner tube 15 by the rotation shaft 13. When the fastening portion 14 screwed to the end of the rotating shaft 13 is rotated, the movable portion 11 moves while sliding along the slope of the inner tube 15, and comes into contact with the inner wall of the outer tube 16 to press against the inner wall of the outer tube. Then, the inner tube 15 is fixed to the outer tube 16 wall by tightening or loosening. Linear grooves 11a are carved longitudinally and laterally and obliquely on the surface of the movable part 11 so that the outer wall 16 can be more strongly fixed when pressed against the inner wall of the outer tube 16, and as a result, the surface of the movable part 11 In this state, a large number of convex portions are attached. The large number of convex portions attached to the inner surface of the movable portion 11 can firmly press and fix the movable portion 11 to the inner wall of the outer tube in a stepless manner.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the rotating shaft 13 is provided with a tightening portion 14 provided with an unevenness at one end of the rotating shaft 13, and the inner tube 15 is inserted from the other end and the movable portion 11 having a slope at the end is inserted. The rotating shaft 13 is attached to the shaft stopper 11b of the movable portion so as to be axially movable. When the tightening portion 14 attached to one end of the rotating shaft 13 is rotated and tightened, the slope of the movable portion 11 falls along the slope of the inner tube 15, and the movable portion 11 is strongly pressed against the inner wall surface of the outer tube 16. Thus, the inner tube 15 can be firmly pressed against the inner wall surface of the outer tube 16.

  FIG. 4 shows a state in which the pipe length adjusting mechanism 100 of the present invention is attached to the inner tube of the footrest frame 17 of the wheelchair. The fastening portion 14 is attached to the end of the inner tube of the footrest frame 17 of the wheelchair via the rotating shaft 13, and a slope is formed at the other end of the inner tube of the footrest frame 17 of the wheelchair. 11 is aligned, and the end of the rotating shaft 13 on which the fastening portion 14 is attached is inserted through the movable portion 11 so that the rotating shaft 13 is pivotally attached to the movable portion 11. A footrest support member 27 is attached to the tightening portion 14 side of the inner tube 17, and a footrest 18 is attached.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the conventional footrest frame height is adjusted by loosening the bolt 28 under the footrest frame 20 to adjust the footrest 18 to an appropriate height, and then tightening and fixing the bolt 28. Thus, in the past, a tool had to be used. Thus, conventionally, the height of the footrest 18 cannot be adjusted unless a tool is used. As in the present invention, the movable portion 11 is loosened or tightened by simply turning the fastening portion 14 by hand. The appearance of a footrest 18 that can adjust the angle is desired.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the part of the wheelchair in which the footrest 18 of the wheelchair is attached to the inner tube of the footrest frame 17 and inserted into the footrest frame (outer tube) 20 of the wheelchair is shown in FIG. A footrest frame (outer tube) 20 is attached to the front frame 21 of the wheelchair, and a footrest frame (inner tube) 17 having a pipe length adjusting mechanism 100 is inserted into the footrest frame (outer tube) 21. ing. The tightening part 14 attached to the lower part of the footrest frame (inner pipe) 17 is turned to loosen the movable part 11 of the footrest frame (inner pipe) 17 and the height is adjusted. The movable part 11 of the inner pipe 17 is pushed down, and the movable part 11 is pressed and fixed to the inner wall of the footrest frame (outer pipe) 20.

  The location where the pipe length adjusting mechanism 100 of the present invention is applied to a wheelchair is not particularly limited to the footrest, and for example, for adjusting the handle position (height) for an assistant wearing at the rear of the wheelchair. It can also be applied. Moreover, the wheelchair to apply can be applied irrespective of the shape of a wheelchair, such as a sport type and a module type.

  FIG. 6 shows a side view and a front view of the handle 23 of the walker with the length adjusting mechanism 100 attached thereto. A handle 23 is attached to the inner pipe of the handle frame 22, and the hand frame (inner pipe) 22 is inserted into a hand frame (outer pipe) 25 on which an armrest is attached to be attached to the hand frame (inner pipe) 22. The provided handle 23 operates the tightening portion 14 so that the position of the handle 23 can be fixed by sliding back and forth in front of the walker and tightening the tightening portion 14 at an appropriate position.

  FIG. 7 shows a side surface in which the pipe length adjusting mechanism 100 is attached to the handle 23 of the walker. It is desirable that the walker has a shape that can be changed according to the symptoms of the user. For example, the walker shown in FIG. 7 can be used stably with a six-wheel walker, and further, a crossbar 29 is attached to the front part to raise a lever for adjusting the width of which one end of the crossbar is connected. Then, you can adjust the width of the walker by adjusting the width of the walker and tilting the lever. When the pipe length adjusting mechanism 100 of the present invention is applied to such a walker, the result is as shown in FIG. If the handle 23 is too close to the hand, it is difficult for a user who is bent forward to operate it. Therefore, in such a case, the handle 23 (inner tube) 22 is attached to the handle frame by turning the tightening portion 14 at the position of the handle 23. The position of the handle can be adjusted by sliding in the outer tube 25 and moving to an appropriate position and fixing.

  FIG. 8 shows a front view in which the pipe length adjusting mechanism 100 is attached to the handle 23 of the walker. In order to adjust the length of the handle 23, the tightening portion 14 is attached to the front portion of the walker. The handle frame (inner tube) 22 on which the handle 23 is attached is inserted into the handle frame (outer tube) 25 of the walker, and the tightening portion 14 for adjusting the position located below the handle 23 is rotated and loosened. The handle 23 is moved to an appropriate position, the fastening portion 14 is fastened, and the movable portion 11 in the handle frame (inner tube) 22 is pressed against and fixed to the inner wall of the handle frame (outer tube) 25.

  The pipe length adjusting mechanism 100 of the present invention is not limited to the shape of the walker illustrated above, but the length and height of the pipe such as the height adjustment of the handle position of the walker with a four-wheel chair can be adjusted. Can be widely applied to adjust.

The side view which shows the structure of the length adjustment mechanism of a pipe. The side view of a movable part. The side view of a rotating shaft and a handle part. The side view which installed the pipe length adjustment mechanism in the footrest. The partial perspective view of the wheelchair which attached the length adjustment mechanism of the pipe to the footrest. The side view of the handle of the walker with which the length adjustment mechanism was installed. The side view which attached the length adjustment mechanism of the pipe to the handle of a walker. The front view which attached the length adjustment mechanism of the pipe to the handle of a walker. The perspective view of the conventional footrest frame.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100: Pipe length adjustment mechanism 200: Wheelchair 300 equipped with the pipe length adjustment mechanism 11: Walker 11 equipped with the pipe length adjustment mechanism 11: Movable part 12: Fixed metal fitting 13: Rotating shaft 14: Tightening part 15 : Inner pipe 16: Outer pipe 17: Footrest frame (inner pipe)
18: Footrest 19: Manual height adjustment screw 20: Footrest frame (outer tube)
21: Front frame 22: Handle frame (inner tube)
23: Handle 24: Manual length adjusting screw 25: Handle frame (outer tube)
26: Length adjusting screw 27: Footrest support member 28: Bolt 29: Cross bar 30: Width adjusting lever 31: Elbow rest

Claims (4)

  An inner pipe that is slidably inserted along the inner diameter of the outer pipe, a movable part having a slope at the tip of the inner pipe that is inserted into the outer pipe, and a movable part at the other end of the movable part. A pipe length adjusting mechanism having a tightening portion that can be tightened by hand.   2. The pipe length adjusting mechanism according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of protrusions are formed on the movable part having an inclined surface.   A wheelchair in which the pipe length adjusting mechanism according to claim 1 or 2 is attached to a footrest pipe, wherein the height of the footrest is adjustable by hand.   3. A walker equipped with the pipe length adjusting mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the position of the front and rear of the handle is adjustable by hand.

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