JP2007282725A - Wheelchair with lifting seat - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the deformation of a seat and improve the durability. <P>SOLUTION: This wheelchair includes the deformable seat, and a lifting unit 240 capable of lifting/lowering the seat; and the lifting unit 240 includes first and second stays 232 and 232 supporting the seat at a certain angle and mutually relatively rotating to deform the seat, and a stopper mechanism 270 fixing the first and second stays 232 and 232 to each other at the certain angle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a seat lifting wheelchair having a seat portion that can be lifted and lowered.

  In order to reduce the burden on the user when getting in and out of a wheelchair, a seat elevating wheelchair provided with a device for raising and lowering a seat has been proposed (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2 below).

  In this wheelchair, the left and right side frames are connected by a folding X-type link device provided opposite to the front and rear. The seat is connected to the left and right side frames of the seat with a lifting link device. A support member is spanned between the pivot pins at each intersection in the front and rear X-links. An expansion / contraction device that raises and lowers the seat is interposed between the seat and the support member. Using the front and rear folding X-link devices, the lateral end of the seat and the end of the X-link rotate inward in the horizontal direction with the intersection of the X-links as the fulcrum. Fold with.

Utility Model Registration No. 3086541 JP 2002-126008 A

  By the way, according to the seat elevating wheelchair described in Patent Document 1, the tip of the seating surface seat bar and the tip of the seating surface support bar are connected by a hinge. The seat seat rises while tilting with this hinge as a fulcrum. However, when the user of the wheelchair sits on the seating sheet when the seating sheet is raised or lowered or in a normal state, the seating sheet sinks downward and bends the seating sheet like a hammock. In this state, if a wheelchair user is sitting for a long time, the user gets tired from sitting because of pressure from both sides of the user's buttocks. Moreover, since this bending state concentrates stress on the hinge, there is a fear that the durability of the hinge is lowered.

  The seat lifting device of Patent Document 2 has a link mechanism connected between a seating surface support bar and a seating surface seat bar. The link mechanism raises the seat surface while protruding forward. Even in this apparatus, the seat surface bends downward like a hammock as in Patent Document 1.

  Accordingly, the present invention firstly provides a seat lifting wheelchair that prevents the seat from being deformed.

  Secondly, the present invention provides a seat lifting wheelchair with improved durability.

  A feature of the present invention is a seat lifting wheelchair (200) including the following elements. The wheelchair includes a deformable seat (220) and an elevating unit (240) that can raise and lower the seat. The elevating unit includes first and second stays (232, 232) that support the seat at an angle and are rotatable relative to each other so as to deform the seat. The elevating unit includes a stopper mechanism (270) that fixes the first and second stays to each other at the angle.

  In the seat elevating wheelchair described above, the stopper mechanism (270) may include a first stopper pin (271) fixed to one of the first and second stays (232, 232). The stopper mechanism may include a stopper member (273) that is rotatably attached to the other of the first and second stays and engages with the first stopper pin.

  The seat (220) may be deformed to remove the stopper member (273) from the stopper pin (271).

  The other stay (232) may include a second stopper pin (275) that stops the rotating stopper member (273).

  The stopper member (273) may be bent.

  The stopper member (273) may include a latch (273a) that is latched to the first stopper pin (271).

  The stopper mechanism holds the first and second stays at an angle formed by the stopper mechanism and stops relative rotation of the first and second stays, thereby preventing deformation of the seat. This action prevents the sitting fatigue of the user accompanying the deformation of the seat.

  In a seat elevating wheelchair in which the seat is inclined, the stopper mechanism disperses the stress concentrated on the hinge connecting the seating surface seat bar and the seating surface support bar, and as a result, prevents a decrease in durability of the hinge.

  Since the second stopper pin prevents the stopper member from falling in the opposite direction to the first stopper pin, the stopper member is rotated toward the first stopper pin when the seat is restored to the original shape.

  Since the bent stopper member tends to move downward in the vertical direction due to its own load when the seat is deformed, the bent stopper member is easily tilted toward the first stopper pin while the seat is restored to the original shape. Also, the bent stopper member does not get in the way of pushing the seat between the first and second stays after the seat is deformed.

  The best mode for carrying out the invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  The wheelchair 200 of the present embodiment has a seat part 220 that is attached to the machine frame 205 using a pivot 224. The wheelchair 200 has a seat holding part 230 that holds the seat part 220 so that a user can sit down and can fold the seat part 220. The wheelchair 200 includes an elevating unit 240 that moves up and down while rotating the rear part of the seat part 220 up and down with the pivot 224 as a fulcrum via the seat holding part 230. The wheelchair 200 includes a pair of X-shaped links 226 and 227 that are positioned relative to the longitudinal direction of the machine casing 205 and can fold the machine casing 205 in the lateral direction.

  In the wheelchair 200, the X-links 226 and 227 rotate inward while folding, with the intersections serving as fulcrums, and the left and right end portions of the seat portion 220 rotate upward while being folded. Then, the wheelchair 200 is folded in the lateral direction (width direction).

  Here, the wheelchair 200 is configured such that the turning trajectories of the upper ends of the X-shaped links 226 and 227 coincide with the turning trajectories of both side ends of the seat portion 220 at a predetermined interval when folded. It has become. Thereby, the wheelchair 200 smoothly performs the folding operation without applying an extra load to members related in the folding operation.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 2, the wheelchair 200 has a machine frame 205 including a pair of left and right side frames 201 and 202. Each side frame 201, 202 has a caster 203 and a wheel 204 attached to the front and rear, respectively, on the outside thereof.

  The side frames 201 and 202 have front struts 206 and rear struts 207 that extend in a substantially vertical direction at the front and rear portions. The side frames 201 and 202 include an upper connecting member 208 and a lower connecting member 209 that connect the front column 206 and the rear column 207 in the longitudinal direction. The side frames 201, 202 have armrest arms 210 that extend from the upper part of the rear column 207 to the front F 1, bend downward, and connect to the front upper part of the upper connecting member 208. The armrest arm 210 has an armrest 210a mounted thereon. The front strut 206 has a footrest 212 attached to its lower end. The rear column 207 includes an upper member 207a and a lower member 207b connected by a connecting portion 213. The upper member 207a is bent backward R1 as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1A. The upper member 207a is bent at the upper end portion thereof, and has a grip 214 at the end portion for the assistant to hold. The upper part of the rear column 207 of both side frames 201 and 202 has a backrest 215 over which a seat 215a is stretched. The side frames 201 and 202 may have a side plate 281 as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, a seating surface support bar 218 that supports both lateral ends of the seat portion 220 from below is disposed along the inside of the upper connecting member 208. The seating surface support bar 218 is supported from below by a support member 219 fixed to the upper connecting member 208.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the wheelchair 200 includes a brake device 250 for braking the wheel 203 from rotation. The brake device 250 is particularly used for parking the wheelchair 210, and is attached to the right side frame 202 side of the front portion of the wheel 203 by a fixing tool such as a screw (not shown).

  The brake device 250 includes a brake lever 251 operated by a user and an arm 252 connected via a link mechanism (not shown). The brake device 250 includes a crimping part 252 a that presses the wheel 204 by the rotation of the arm 252. The brake lever is installed upright so that it can tilt, and the crimping portion 252a presses the outer peripheral surface of the wheel 204 and locks the rotation of the wheel 204 as the brake lever 251 tilts. With the brake lever 251 standing substantially vertically (returning the brake lever 251 from its tilted state to its original position), the crimping part 252a is released from the wheel 204 and the lock is released.

  The left and right side frames 201 and 202 are connected to each other below the seat portion 220 using front and rear folding X-type link devices 225 and can be folded in the lateral direction (width direction) as shown in FIG. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the front and rear folding X-link devices 225 include X-links 226 and 227, respectively. The lower ends of the X-shaped links 226 and 227 are rotatably attached to the lower connecting members 209 of the side frames 201 and 202, respectively. Upper ends of the front and rear X-shaped links 226 and 227 are rotatably attached to the seating surface support bar 218.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (a), when the X-shaped links 226, 227 are opened laterally, the left and right seat support bars 218 stop along the upper connecting members 208 of the left and right side frames 201, 202, respectively. It is held in a seatable state. As shown in FIG. 2B, when the X-shaped links 226 and 227 are closed in the horizontal direction, the left and right seat support bars 218 are lifted upward, and both the side frames 201 and 202 are closed inward in the horizontal direction. .

  The seat part 220 includes a seating surface seat bar 221 disposed on both the left and right sides, and a flexible seating surface seat 222 spanned between the left and right seating surface seat bars 221. The seat surface seat bar 221 is disposed on the upper portion of the seat surface support bar 218. As shown in FIG. 1A, the front end of the seating surface seat bar 221 is rotatably supported by the seating surface support bar 218 using a pivot 224.

  The wheelchair 200 has a seat holding section 230 below the seat section 220 that holds the seat section 220 so that a user can sit down and can fold the seat section 220 in the lateral direction. The wheelchair 200 includes an elevating unit 240 that elevates and lowers the seat unit 220 using the seat holding unit 230.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 2, the seat holding unit 230 includes two wings or stays 232 that are connected to each other by a connection pin 231 that functions as an axis of the present application. The two wings 232 are pivotally mounted substantially symmetrically in a V shape, and the other ends are fixed to the seating surface seat bar 221. The two wings 232 are turnable in the lateral direction with the connecting pin 231 as a fulcrum.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the seat holding unit 230 includes a stopper mechanism 270 that fixes the wings 232 and 232 at an angle formed therebetween. The stopper mechanism 270 has a stopper pin or a first stopper pin 271 fixed to one wing 232. The stopper mechanism 270 includes a stopper or a stopper member 273 that is rotatably supported by the other wing 232. The stopper 273 has a notch or latch 273a that can be hooked on the stopper pin 271 at one end. The stopper 273 has a hole 273 b through which the connection pin 272 passes at the other end, and is connected to the other wing 232 using the connection pin 272.

  The stopper 273 is bent into a V shape at the central portion 273c. The central portion 273c and both ends define a recess. The central portion 273 c is disposed farther from the seat surface sheet 222 and is disposed closer to the connecting pins 231 of the wings 232 and 232. This shape causes the load of the stopper 273 to be directed downward. That is, when the seat surface sheet 222 is pushed in to be in a sitting state, this shape makes the stopper 273 easily fall toward the stopper pin 271. In addition, after folding the seating sheet 222, this shape does not prevent the seating sheet 222 from being pushed between the wings 232, 232.

  The stopper mechanism 270 includes a wire 277 that connects the stopper 273 and the seating sheet 222. The wire 277 is hooked to the stopper 273 at one end and is fitted to the seat surface sheet 222 at the other end. The wire 277 is pulled by the seating sheet 222 while the seating sheet 222 is folded, and the stopper 273 is removed from the stopper pin 271 (see the phantom wire 277 and the stopper 273).

  The seat sheet 222 and the wire 277 may be fixed using a hook 278 as shown in FIG. Hook 278 includes a rotatable ring 278 a connected with wire 277. When the seating sheet 222 is dirty and removed, the hook 278 is removed from the seating sheet 222. As a result, the stopper 273 is separated from the seat surface sheet 222 to facilitate washing of the seat surface sheet 222.

  The stopper mechanism 270 includes an inversion prevention pin or a second stopper pin 275 fixed to the other wing 232. The anti-inversion pin 275 prevents the stopper 273 from being reversed by being pulled by the wire 277 during the folding of the seat sheet 222 and falling in the opposite direction. Therefore, when the seat surface sheet 222 is in a normal sitting state, the stopper 273 moves downward toward the stopper pin 271 in a certain rotational direction in accordance with the pushing operation of the seat surface sheet 222.

  The stopper mechanism 270 may be replaced with the stopper mechanism 270A shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b). The stopper mechanism 270 </ b> A includes a spring 279 that is wound around the connecting pin 272 and engages the wing 232 and the stopper 273. The spring 279 may engage with the anti-inversion pin 275 instead of the wing 232. The spring 279 biases the stopper 273 toward the stopper pin 271 to facilitate the engagement between the stopper pin 271 and the stopper 273.

  As shown in FIG. 1A or FIG. 1B, the elevating unit 240 includes a holding member 242 that is spanned and attached between the pivot pins 241 at the intersections of the X-shaped links 226 and 227. The elevating unit 240 includes a telescopic device 243 that is pin-coupled to the bottom plate of the holding member 242 and is held so as to be swingable in the longitudinal direction. The expansion / contraction device 243 is specifically an electric actuator, and includes a rod 243a, a cylinder portion (not shown) that holds the rod 243a, and a drive unit such as a motor that expands and contracts the rod 243a. The expansion / contraction device 243 expands and contracts the entire length of the expansion / contraction device 243 as the rod 243a reciprocates in the cylinder portion by the operation of the drive unit. The rod 243a of the telescopic device 243 is attached to the base 245 that covers the top of the rod 243a by pin coupling.

  As for the electric actuator used by this embodiment, as shown to FIG. 1A and FIG. 2, a drive part is arrange | positioned at the lower end part left side of an electric actuator main body. The total length L of the electric actuator main body is the dimension when the rod is most contracted, and is about 216 mm, for example. This total length L is shorter and smaller than the conventional electric actuator. Thus, by using a small electric actuator for raising and lowering the seat part of a wheelchair, the height from the ground to the seat part 220 can be applied to a low-floor wheelchair with a height of 40 cm. In addition, you may set arbitrarily the full length L of an electric actuator main body in the range of about 210-240 mm.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, two wings 232 are attached to the front and back of the base 245 by connecting pins 231. The wing 232 may be provided at least on either the front part or the rear part of the base body 245. For example, when the wing 232 is attached to the front portion of the base body 245 and the width of the X-type link device 225 arranged in the front and rear is narrow, the rod 243a of the expansion / contraction device 243 rises and the rod It is conceivable that 243a interferes with wing 232. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 6, the problem can be solved by attaching a wing 232 only to the rear portion of the base 245. As the wing 232 (for example, thickness) for ensuring the strength, an optimal thickness or material may be appropriately applied.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the sheet member 222 is folded in a substantially V shape from the unfolded state as the wing 232 rotates. As shown in FIG. 1A, when the telescopic device 243 is in the contracted state, the seat 220 is lowered to a position that is substantially the same height as the upper connecting member 208, and as shown in FIG. 1B, the telescopic device 243 is in the extended state. If there exists, the rear part of the seat part 220 will raise to the position of the height which reaches the armrest 210a substantially, and the said seat part 220 will incline a little forward F1.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 2, the connecting pin 231 coincides with the intersection of the X-shaped links 226 and 227 in terms of height (vertical direction) and lateral position. As a result, in the folding operation of the wheelchair 200, the rotation trajectories of the seating surface support bar 218 and the seating surface seat bar 221 coincide with each other with a predetermined interval. Thereby, in the folding operation | movement of the wheelchair 200, the said wheelchair can be folded smoothly, without applying the extra load to related members. It should be noted that the intersection between the connecting pin 231 and the X-shaped links 226 and 227 is preferably completely coincident, but may be within an allowable range such as a slight error.

  As shown in FIG. 2, two levers 247 whose tips are connected by connecting pins 246 are pivotally mounted on the rear X-shaped links 226 and 227 in a bilaterally symmetrical manner. A guide groove 248 that engages with the connecting pin 246 extends in the longitudinal direction of the holding member 242.

  The two levers 247 are formed to have the same length and are disposed between the rear X-shaped link device 225 and the holding member 242. One ends of the two levers 247 are connected to each other by a connecting pin 246 so that the other ends are pin-coupled to the rear X-shaped links 226 and 227, and are arranged symmetrically. The connecting pin 246 protrudes inside the holding member 242, and a protrusion (not shown) is slidably fitted into the guide groove 248. The upper portions of the X-shaped links 226 and 227 each have a support member 249 that can rotate. The support member 249 extends from the upper part of the X-shaped links 226 and 227 in a substantially horizontal direction, and is rotatably attached to the side frames 201 and 202, respectively.

  As a result, when the wheelchair 200 is folded and the X-shaped links 226 and 227 are closed vertically, the connecting pin 246 descends while sliding from the upper end portion of the guide groove 248 toward the lower end portion. The 242 and the expansion / contraction device 243 are held in a vertical position without being inclined to the left or right.

  The wheelchair 200 has a battery (not shown) disposed on the left side of the backrest 215. This battery drives the drive unit of the lifting unit 240. This is because the drive part (not indicated) of the wheelchair 200 is arranged on the lower right side. When the drive unit is disposed on the left side, the battery is disposed on the right side of the backrest 215. As described above, in the wheelchair 200, the battery is disposed on the side different from the driving unit with respect to the arrangement position (either left or right) of the driving unit of the lifting unit. In this way, in particular, the weight balance of the wheelchair 200 can be stabilized by disposing the heavy drive unit and the battery at different left and right positions.

  Next, the operation of the wheelchair will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B and FIG.

  The getting on and off of the wheelchair 200 will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 2A, when the seat unit 220 is lowered by contracting the telescopic device 243, the seat surface seat bar 221 is placed on the seat surface support bar 218, so that the seat unit 220 is in the seating position. Retained.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, when the telescopic device 243 is extended to raise the seat part 220 via the seat holding part 230, the rear part of the seat part 220 rises with the pivot 224 as a fulcrum, and the seat part 220 assumes a forward leaning posture. Become.

  Thus, since the seat part 220 can be made into the forward leaning posture, the user can easily get on and off the wheelchair 200.

  Next, the folding operation of the wheelchair 200 will be described.

  When the wheelchair 200 is folded, the seat portion 220 is slightly lifted, and then the left and right side frames 201 and 202 are closed inward as shown in FIG. As a result, the ends of the X-shaped links 226 and 227 are folded inward with the intersection as a fulcrum, and the seating surface support bar 218 rises. As the seating surface support bar 218 rises, the seating surface seat bar 221 rises, and the wing 232 is folded inward with the connecting pin 231 as a fulcrum.

  Here, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 5B, the center portion of the seating sheet 222 is lifted upward, and the stopper 273 is removed from the stopper pin 271 using the wire 277. Further, the seat sheet 222 rotates the stopper 273 upward about the connecting pin 272. Here, since the stopper 273 is V-shaped, it always tends to rotate downward toward the stopper pin 271.

  Next, when the user sits on the wheelchair 200, the seat surface sheet 222 may be pushed downward, and the seat surface seat bar 221 may be pushed down together with the seat surface sheet 222. As a result, the seat surface sheet 222 is unfolded and stretched. Here, since the stopper 273 is V-shaped, it does not prevent the seat surface sheet 222 from being pushed in, and rotates downward with the connecting pin 272 as a fulcrum. The notch 273a of the stopper 273 is hooked on the stopper pin 271 as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 5 (a). Thereby, since the wings 232 and 232 are fixed at an angle formed by the both, the rear part of the seating sheet 222 is maintained in the developed shape without bending the rear part of the seating sheet 222 by the load of the user.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes modifications and variations of the above-described embodiment by those skilled in the art. In the above embodiment, the lever and the guide groove are attached to the rear X-shaped link, but may be the front side.

It is a side view of a seat raising / lowering wheelchair, and shows the structure at the time of seat lowering, F1 and R1 show the front and back, respectively. It is a side view of a seat raising / lowering wheelchair, and shows the structure at the time of a seat raising, F1 and R1 show the front and back, respectively. FIG. 1A shows a folding operation of the wheelchair shown in FIG. 1A, (a) is a rear view before the folding operation, (b) is a rear view after the folding operation, and L2 and R2 indicate left and right, respectively. (A) is a principal part rear view of the seat raising / lowering wheelchair of FIG. 1A, (b) is a bottom view of a stopper mechanism. (A) is a general | schematic principal part rear view of the seat raising / lowering wheelchair concerning the aspect of a deformation | transformation, (b) is a bottom view of a stopper mechanism. (A) is an enlarged rear view of the stopper mechanism, and (b) is an enlarged rear view of the stopper mechanism when the wheelchair is folded. It is a side view of the seat raising / lowering wheelchair concerning the form of a deformation | transformation.

Explanation of symbols

205 Machine frame 220 Seat part 224 Pivot axis 225 X-shaped link 230, 230a Seat holding part 231 Connecting pin 232, 265 Wing 240 Lifting unit 253 Short arm 254 Long arm 255 Link mechanism 266 Joint part 267, 268 Support member 269 Rotation restricting member 270 Stopper mechanism 271 Stopper pin 272 Connecting pin 273 Stopper 275 Reverse prevention pin 277 Wire 279 Spring

Claims (6)

A deformable seat,
An elevating unit capable of elevating the seat,
The elevating unit is a seat elevating wheelchair including first and second stays that support the seat at an angle and are rotatable relative to each other so as to deform the seat,
The seat lifting wheelchair, wherein the lifting unit includes a stopper mechanism that fixes the first and second stays to each other at the angle. The stopper mechanism is
A first stopper pin fixed to one of the first and second stays;
The seat elevating wheelchair according to claim 1, further comprising a stopper member rotatably attached to the other stay of the first and second stays and engaged with the first stopper pin.   The seat lifting / lowering wheelchair according to claim 2, wherein the seat is deformed to remove the stopper member from the stopper pin.   The seat lifting / lowering wheelchair according to claim 2, wherein the other stay includes a second stopper pin that stops the rotating stopper member.   The seat raising / lowering wheelchair according to claim 2, wherein the stopper member is bent.   The seat raising / lowering wheelchair according to claim 2, wherein the stopper member includes a latch that is latched to the stopper pin.

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