JP2008295656A - Running posture adjusting mechanism for wheelchair - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a running posture adjusting mechanism for a wheelchair, allowing the wheelchair to stably descend on a slope out of home or hospital by selecting the state of the set angle of the whole frame as well as a seat surface of the wheelchair, matching the angle of inclination of the slope, according to the angle of inclination of the slope. <P>SOLUTION: The running posture adjusting mechanism for the wheelchair has a support shaft 14 of a small wheel 4 in the front for setting the direction of advancement of the wheelchair, attached to a front frame of the wheel chair in such a way that the length can be adjusted via a length adjustment member 11. The length adjustment member 11 comprises a cylinder 12 attached to the front frame, a support rod to which the elasticity is applied in the longitudinal direction by a first elastic member disposed inside the cylinder 12 and which is connected to the small wheel 4, and a position setting member for setting the length position of the support rod. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an adjustment mechanism that adjusts the running posture of a wheelchair by adjusting the inclination angle of the whole wheelchair.

  Wheelchairs used by people with disabilities and the elderly are unable to move unless the care recipient receives care, such as the assistance type or self-propelled assistance type, or only the lower body is inconvenient, and the self-propelled wheels are manually rotated. Different formats are used depending on health conditions, such as when you can, and some can be folded when not in use. As a general shape of a wheelchair, a pair of left and right main wheels attached to a position near the back of a chair frame and a small auxiliary front wheel (caster) attached to a position near the front end of the frame are used.

  In addition to the chair frame, main wheel, and front assist wheel, which are general components described above, the assisting wheelchair is provided with a hand handle, a footrest on which a foot is placed, a pair of left and right armrests, and the like. . As an example of such a care-type wheelchair, an example of “wheelchair” in Patent Document 1 is known. This wheelchair is "a seat surface for sitting placed between the left and right frames, a backrest arranged upward from the rear part of this seat surface, and arranged downward from the front part of the seat surface" The seat surface includes a footrest and a footrest provided at the lower portion of the footrest, includes a wheel for movement, and is configured so that the rear portion of the seat surface is inclined downward, and an inclination adjusting device is provided. It is possible to adjust the inclination angle.

  The tilt adjustment device has a problem of providing a wheelchair that does not cause a forward shift even if the body is not fixed and can hold the seating surface in a state that matches the person who sits. A connecting member for adjusting the fixed position by a cylindrical member, bolt, and nut is provided at a position where the lower frame of the backrest is connected to the seating surface, and the seating surface is rotatably connected to this connecting member, and the position of the connecting member below By adjusting the angle, the inclination angle of the backrest and the seating surface can be adjusted.

  The example which enabled adjustment of the inclination-angle of the seat surface by the said patent document 1 is also shown by patent documents 2 and 3 in addition, and in these prior arts, when a cared person is a handicapped person mainly. Is intended to prevent such a situation from slipping off the seat surface even when traveling in a horizontal state. The angle adjustment device of Patent Document 2 is provided with an inverted U-shaped inclination adjusting table with respect to the seating surface so that the angle can be adjusted, and the front of the seating surface can be fixed in an upwardly inclined manner via an inclination fixing bolt. It is a thing.

In the angle adjusting device of Patent Document 3, when the operation lever is operated and pulled rearward, the telescopic member is extended so that the backrest is tilted rearward and becomes reclining. However, the seating surface itself remains fixed at a predetermined inclination angle and is not configured to be adjusted to the angle of the seating surface by the angle adjusting device.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-230002 JP 2002-52046 A JP 2004-357829 A

  The wheelchair of any of the above-mentioned prior patent documents is formed so that the seat surface can be adjusted to be inclined in order to prevent the disabled person of the care recipient from slipping off the seat surface, assuming a horizontal running state. In any example, when the inclination angle of the seating surface is adjusted, the seat surface is used while being fixed in that state. Therefore, when traveling on a horizontal road surface and floor surface using such a wheelchair, the inclination angle may be used in accordance with the horizontal state of the road surface and floor surface.

  However, when using a wheelchair at home or outside a hospital on an inclined road surface or floor such as a slope, it is dangerous to use a wheelchair that is in the normal form assuming the horizontal state as described above. In particular, when feeling down a hill, a feeling of fear arises, and not only the cared person but also the caregiver himself feels fear. In the above normal wheelchair, even if only the seating surface is inclined, the entire wheelchair frame does not fit the inclined state of the slope, so the caregiver who pushes the wheelchair on the slope tries to slide down along the inclination angle of the slope When the user operates the wheelchair in the direction in which the wheelchair is held, or looks down on the sloped road surface, the fear increases, so a method of moving backwards and backwards, that is, backwards is used.

  In consideration of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is adapted so that the set angle of the entire wheelchair frame is adapted to the inclination angle of the slope in addition to the seating surface according to the inclination angle at home and outside the hospital. It is an object of the present invention to provide a wheelchair travel posture adjustment mechanism that allows a set state to be selected and enables stable downhills.

  As a means for solving the above-mentioned problem, the present invention attaches the support shaft of the front small wheel that sets the traveling direction of the wheelchair to the front frame of the wheelchair through the length adjustment member so that the length can be adjusted. The length adjusting member includes a cylinder attached to the front frame, a first elastic member provided in the cylinder, a support rod to which elastic force is applied in the length direction and connected to the small wheel, and a support rod of the support rod. A position setting member for setting a length position, the position setting member determining a setting position of the support rod in the cylinder corresponding to an engagement groove provided in the support rod, and the positioning member A second elastic member that presses in a direction perpendicular to the axis, and is connected to an operation lever provided on the operation handle by a connecting wire, and the positioning member is elastically moved by pulling the operation lever; While pulling away from the axis against the force, the support rod is pushed into the position set by the balance between the elastic force of the first elastic member in the cylinder and the pushing force applied through the small wheel, The setting position of the support shaft of the small wheel in the length direction is set to an optimal position that matches the inclination state of the road surface by the adjusting member, and the wheelchair traveling posture is configured to be adjustable to a desired inclination angle. The adjustment mechanism is configured.

  According to the wheelchair traveling posture adjusting mechanism of the present invention configured as described above, the posture of the wheelchair during traveling is adjusted as follows. That is, in this adjustment mechanism, since the operation lever attached to the operation handle on one side is integrated so as to operate the brakes of the left and right main wheels, the caregiver can use the other operation lever for operating the position setting member on the other side. Can be operated by hand. On a horizontal road surface, the caregiver travels in a normal operation with the cared person on the wheelchair while maintaining the normal posture. In this case, the position setting member does not attract the operation lever, and the positioning member The second elastic member is always urged by the urging force toward the support rod in the cylinder and is engaged with the engagement groove at the initial position.

  However, when the wheelchair carrying the cared person comes to the slope, when the operation lever is pulled, the positioning member is pulled away in the direction away from the axis against the elastic force of the second elastic member, and the operation lever is pulled. Is adjusted in length. Since the support shaft is urged in the protruding direction by the first elastic member while the operation lever is attracted, when the caregiver greatly tilts the wheelchair frame to an arbitrary angle as a whole, the support shaft protrudes to the lowest position. . However, since the weight is applied when the cared person is placed, a force in the direction of pushing the support shaft from the small wheel is applied by the reaction force. For this reason, the entire length of the support shaft does not actually protrude from the cylinder, and is set to a predetermined length position that matches the inclination angle of the road surface.

  Therefore, this length position setting is a position that is set by a balance between the elastic force of the first elastic member in the cylinder and the pressing force applied through the small wheel when the force for pressing the support shaft from the small wheel is applied. While pushing the support rod into the length adjustment member, the positioning member for determining the length position is engaged with the engagement groove provided in the support rod of the length adjustment member, and the setting position in the length direction of the support shaft of the small wheel is set to the road surface. By setting the optimal position suitable for the inclination state of the inclination angle θ, the traveling posture of the wheelchair can be adjusted to a desired inclination angle.

  In this way, by operating the position setting member with the operation lever, the length adjusting member is set to a horizontal angle suitable for the horizontal road surface or floor surface, and when the road surface or floor surface is inclined, the inclination angle is set. By setting the angle state according to θ through the position setting member, a stable traveling state can be set. The selection of this setting state differs from a conventional wheelchair that tilts only the seating surface in that the entire wheelchair frame is set at an angle according to the inclination of the road surface or floor surface. A great sense of security can be obtained for caregivers.

  In the wheelchair traveling posture adjusting mechanism according to the present invention, the support shaft of the small wheel in front of the wheelchair is attached to the front frame of the wheelchair via the length adjusting member so as to be adjustable in length, and the length position is set. A position setting member is provided, and the positioning member is pulled away in the direction away from the axis against the elastic force of the second elastic member by the pulling force of the operation lever, and is applied via the elastic force of the first elastic member in the cylinder and the small wheel While pushing the support rod into the position set by the balance with the pushing force, the length adjustment member sets the setting position in the length direction of the support shaft of the small wheel to the optimal position that matches the inclined state of the road surface. Since the wheelchair's running posture can be adjusted to the desired tilt angle, the setting angle of the entire wheelchair frame is set to the slope angle of the wheelchair as well as the seating surface according to the tilt angle at home and outside the hospital. Conform And selecting each time setting state to state, the effect is obtained that makes it possible to stably down the hill.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the overall schematic configuration of the wheelchair of the embodiment. As shown in the figure, the wheelchair 10 of this embodiment is of a known type, and the configuration will be briefly described. As shown in the drawing, the wheelchair 10 is made of pipes and L-shaped left and right support frames 1 and 1 are connected by connecting members 2 and 2, and main wheels 3 and 3 are provided near the lower end of the support frame 1. A small wheel (caster) 4 that can freely change the traveling direction is provided at a position near the front end. There are various types of wheelchairs, and the example shown is for nursing and non-folding.

  As shown in the figure, the shape of the support frame 1 is as follows: a front frame 1b including a horizontal portion and a vertical portion, and a front frame 1c including a horizontal portion and a vertical portion on the front side of the L-shaped frame 1 including a vertical portion. A seat surface 5 is provided at the upper end position of the front frame 1b, an elbow rest 6 is provided at the upper end of the front frame 1c thereon, and an operation handle 7 that is operated by a caregiver is provided at the upper end of the support frame 1. Yes. In the case of the folding type, an X-shaped connecting member is provided between the support frames instead of the connecting members 2 and 2. The seat surface 5 may be provided in a downwardly inclined manner backward. Reference numeral 8 denotes a disc brake for the main wheel 3, which is fixedly attached to the support frames 1 and 1 with appropriate connecting members.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the wheelchair travel posture adjusting mechanism A provided for the wheelchair 10 has a support shaft 14 for the front small wheel 4 that sets the traveling direction of the wheelchair 10. 10 is attached to the front frame 1b via a length adjustment member 11 so that the position can be adjusted in the vertical direction. The length adjustment member 11 is a cylinder 12 attached to the front frame 1b, and a first member provided in the cylinder 12. A support rod 15 that is elastically applied in the length direction by a coil spring 13 of one elastic member and connected to the small wheel 4, and a position setting member 16 that sets the length position of the support rod 15 are provided. Yes.

  The position setting member 16 includes a positioning member lock lever 17 that determines a setting position of the support rod 15 in the cylinder 12 corresponding to an engagement groove 15 a provided in the support rod 15, and a positioning member lock lever 17. It has a spring 18 of a second elastic member that presses in a direction perpendicular to the axis. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, it is connected to an operating lever 21 provided on the operating handle 7 via a connecting wire 20 (20s). Details of the position setting member 16 will be described later. In this example, as shown in FIG. 3, a brake lever 22 is attached to the opposite side (right side) of the operation lever 21 (left side).

  The connecting wire 20 extends from the left and right position setting members 16 provided on the front frame 1b along the lower side of the support frames 1 and 1 and is collected on one support frame side, and rises along the vertical support frame. The connecting pieces 23 are combined into one, and the extension wires 20 s are connected to the operation lever 21. In the example of this embodiment, the brake wires 24, 24, the connecting piece 23, and the extension wire 24s are attached to the other operation handle 7 as a similar system for the disc brakes 8, 8 of the main wheels 3, 3. The brake lever 22 is connected.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the position setting member 16 is attached to one side surface of a mounting plate 25 having an oval cross section surrounding the outer periphery of the cylinder 12 of the front frame 1 b and the length adjusting member 11. The lock lever 17, the support bracket 17 a, the support pin 17 b, the locking pin 17 c, the engagement hole 17 d, and the spring 18 are provided. The lock lever 17 has a half-moon-shaped (1/4 arc-shaped) tip shape portion 17s so that the tip end engages with the engagement groove 15a to lock the movement of the support rod 15 in the axial direction. The base portion of the lever is supported in a horizontally rotatable state by inserting a pin 17b through a support piece 17a provided on the mounting plate 25.

  However, it is assumed that the notch window 27 is formed in a corresponding position in advance so that the tip-shaped portion 17s of the lock lever 17 can be engaged with the engagement groove 15a through the mounting plate 25. A spring 18 is attached around the pin 17b supporting the lock lever 17 so that the other end is engaged with the locking pin 17c, and the tip-shaped portion 17s of the lock lever 17 is always in the engagement groove 15. The elastic force that pushes toward (perpendicular to the axis) acts. A connecting wire 20 is connected to an engagement hole 17 d provided at the rear end of the lock lever 17. A guide member 20 a is attached to one side surface of the attachment plate 25 to guide the connecting wire 20.

  However, the spring 18 is not of a bent type as shown, but a coil spring may be provided between the guide member 20a and the engagement hole 17d. From the mounting plate 25, a connecting plate 28 for connecting to the two anti-rotation members 26 attached to the front frame 1b extends downward. The elastic constant of the coil spring 18 of the second elastic member is set smaller than the elastic constant of the coil spring 13 of the first elastic member, and the elastic force of the second elastic member is operated by the operation lever 21. It is set within the range that can be operated with the operating force. 6 is an inclined surface of the engaging groove 15a, 15b of FIG. 5 is a retaining groove for the key 19, and is also a rotation stopper for the support rod, and 25a of FIG. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the wheelchair is in a horizontal normal posture, the lock lever 17 is engaged with the lowermost engaging groove 15a. However, when adjusting the tilt angle of the wheelchair, the support rod 15 is lowered. Therefore, the lock lever 17 relatively moves to engage with the grooves above the plurality of engagement grooves 15a. The engagement groove 15a has a pitch of T (> P) for the first upper stage from the initial setting position, but the upper pitch P is set to a small size equal to or less than T, and adjustment of the tilt angle of the wheelchair. It is set appropriately according to the state (for example, a distance corresponding to 3 degrees in each tilt angle). Accordingly, in the above example, the angle of inclination can be adjusted to 3 ° × 5 + α = 15 ° + α in total.

  In the wheelchair provided with the wheelchair traveling state adjusting mechanism according to this embodiment, the brake lever 22 is attached to the operation handle 7 on one side, and the brakes of the left and right main wheels 3 and 3 are attached to the operation lever 21 attached to the handle 7 on one side. Since they are integrated, the caregiver can operate the other operation lever 21 for operating the position setting member 16 with the other hand. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 7A, the caregiver travels in a normal operation with the cared person on the wheelchair while maintaining a normal posture on a horizontal road surface. In the position setting member 16, when the operation lever 21 is not attracted, the lock lever 17 of the positioning member is always urged by the urging force toward the support rod 15 in the cylinder 12 by the coil spring 18 of the second elastic member. , Engaged with the engagement groove 15a at the initial position.

  However, as shown in FIG. 7B, when the wheelchair 10 on which the cared person is placed has come on a slope, when the operating lever 21 is pulled, the lock lever 17 of the positioning member is pulled by the pulling force of the operating lever 21. Is pulled away in the direction away from the axial center against the elastic force of the second elastic member, and the length position is adjusted by the lock lever 17 of the positioning member while the operation lever 21 is pulled. That is, the support shaft 14 is urged in the protruding direction by the spring 13 of the first elastic member while the operation lever 21 is attracted, so that the caregiver greatly tilts the wheelchair frame to an arbitrary angle as a whole. And protrudes to the lowest position. However, since the weight is applied when the cared person is placed, the reaction force causes a force in the direction of pushing the support shaft 14 from the small wheel 4.

  Therefore, in practice, the entire length of the support shaft 14 does not protrude from the cylinder 12 and is set to a predetermined length position that matches the inclination angle of the road surface by the pushing force. While pushing the frame of the wheelchair 10 to a desired inclination angle suitable for the inclined state of the road surface with this pushing force, the pushing force applied via the elastic force of the spring 13 of the first elastic member in the cylinder 12 and the small wheel 4. The length adjustment member 11 sets the small wheel 4 to an optimum position that matches the slope of the road surface while pushing the support rod 15 into the position set by the balance with the desired position of the wheelchair. Adjustable to tilt angle.

  Therefore, just by the caregiver operating the position setting member 16 from the position of the handle 7 by the operation lever 21, the entire wheelchair frame can be set to an angle according to the inclined state of the road surface or the floor surface. That is, when the road surface or the floor surface is inclined, as shown in FIG. 7A, the length of the support shaft 14 of the length adjusting member 11 is set to a horizontal road surface or floor surface by the operation lever 21. A stable traveling state can be set by setting the length position to match the suitable horizontal angle and setting the angle state to the inclination angle θ through the position setting member 16. The selection of this setting state is different from a conventional wheelchair in which only the seat surface 5 is tilted in that the entire frame of the wheelchair is set at an angle corresponding to the tilting state of the road surface or floor surface, and there is a great sense of security. can get.

  In the example of the above embodiment, the position setting member 16 has a half-moon-shaped (1/4 arc-shaped) tip-shaped portion 17s, and is a positioning member that is rotatable around the support pin 17b supported by the support bracket 17a. Although the lock lever 17 and the coil spring 18 of the second elastic member are formed, the position setting member 16 may be of other types besides this shape. For example, the lock lever 17 may be of a type that can be inserted into and pulled out from the engaging groove 15a of the supporting rod 15 facing the locking lever 17 in a direction perpendicular to the axial center thereof and in parallel. Also in this case, the lock lever 17 sets an elastic force so that the spring 8 is always pushed toward the axis of the support rod 15.

  In the above embodiment, the length adjusting member 11 has been described on the assumption that it is attached to a newly manufactured wheelchair. However, the length adjusting member 11 is retrofitted to an existing wheelchair that does not include the length adjusting member 11. Can also be attached. In this case, the support shaft 14 of the existing small wheel 4 is removed from the front frame 1b, and the length adjusting member 11 is attached thereafter. In the description of the above-described embodiment and the like, various modifications are shown, but various modifications other than the above may exist. Accordingly, all configurations other than those described above that can be modified within the scope of the present invention are included in the scope of the present invention.

  The wheelchair travel state adjusting mechanism according to the present invention sets the position of the small wheel support shaft in the length direction by the length adjusting member to an optimal position suitable for the inclined state of the road surface, and the wheelchair travel posture is desired. The tilt angle is adjustable so that it can be widely used for various wheelchairs.

(A) Schematic block diagram of the adjustment mechanism of the traveling state of the wheelchair of the embodiment, (b) Partial enlarged view near the position setting member Longitudinal section of length setting member Overall schematic diagram of the length setting member operation system External perspective view of the length setting member attached Cross-sectional view of the above Cross-sectional view of the above Illustration of use condition

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Wheelchair 11 Length adjustment member 12 Cylinder 13 Coil spring 14 Support shaft 15 Support rod 15a Engaging groove 15k Inclined surface 16 Position setting member 17 Lock lever 18 Spring 19 Key 20 Connection wire 20s Extension wire 21 Operation lever 22 Brake lever 23 Connection Piece 24 Brake wire 24s Extension wire 25 Mounting plate 26 Rotation stop member 27 Notch window 28 Connecting plate

Claims (3)

  The support shaft of the front small wheel 4 that sets the traveling direction of the wheelchair 10 is attached to the front frame 1b of the wheelchair via the length adjustment member 11 so that the length can be adjusted. The length adjustment member 11 is the front frame 1b. A support rod 15 of a support shaft 14 which is elastically applied in the length direction by a first elastic member provided in the cylinder 12 and connected to the small wheel 4, and the support rod A position setting member 16 for setting a length position of 15, and the position setting member 16 determines a setting position of the support rod 15 in the cylinder 12 corresponding to an engagement groove 15 a provided in the support rod 15. It has a positioning member and a second elastic member that presses the positioning member in a direction perpendicular to the axis, and is connected to an operating lever 21 provided on the operating handle 7 by a connecting wire 20. The pulling force applied via the small wheel 4 and the elastic force of the first elastic member in the cylinder 12 by pulling the positioning member away from the axis against the elastic force of the second elastic member by the pulling force of -21 The length adjustment member 11 sets the support shaft 14 in the length direction of the small wheel 4 to the optimum position that matches the slope of the road surface while pushing the support rod 15 into the position set by the balance with The wheelchair travel posture adjustment mechanism is configured to freely adjust the travel posture of the wheelchair 10 to a desired inclination angle.   The operation lever 21 is attached to one of the left and right sides of the operation handle 7, and the length adjusting member 11 of the left and right small wheels 4 is configured to be freely operated by the one operation lever 21. The wheelchair running posture adjustment mechanism described.   The positioning member of the position setting member 16 is a lock lever 17, and the positioning member lock lever 17 is determined according to the engagement grooves 15 a provided on the support rod 15 corresponding to the inclination angle of the wheelchair. The lock lever 17 has a spring 18 as a second elastic member that presses the lock lever 17 in a direction perpendicular to the shaft center, and is connected to an operation lever 21 provided on the operation handle 7 by a connection wire 20 and is positioned by a force that pulls the operation lever 21. The member can be operated so as to overcome the elastic force of the spring 18 of the second elastic member and away from the shaft center, and the setting position in the length direction of the support shaft 14 of the small wheel 4 can be freely set. The wheelchair traveling posture adjustment mechanism according to claim 1 or 2.

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