JP2011045538A - Crawler chair - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electric crawler chair traveling, getting up and down stairs and helping bathing by loading various kinds of functions needed by a handicapped person on one set. <P>SOLUTION: For the electric crawler chair, a crawler belt is suspended over a rear driving wheel and a front wheel and a vehicle body is provided with a driving device loaded with a battery. A speed is adjusted by the operation of an operation rod freely in front, back, left and right directions near a driver's seat, and the front wheel can be brought down and raised centering on an axle attached to the vehicle body. Also, a driver can take a vertical posture at all times, and can help bathing as well. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention suspends crawler belts on both wheels, front wheels, driving devices, chairs, lifting devices,
Has a car body equipped with a chair tilting device, elevating stairs, running on grassland, running on indoor floors and sidewalks,
Electric crawler chair for disabled persons who can assist in bathing (hereinafter referred to as disabled persons)

Electric wheelchairs that run on motors, wheelchairs that go up and down stairs, and wheelchairs that run on rough roads already exist. However, a wheelchair driven by a motor does not overcome a step on a flat road or a slope connecting a step between a sidewalk and a road surface. In addition, wheelchairs that go up and down stairs are long and have drawbacks in traveling on the floor. Those wearing crawler belts that enable driving on rough roads do not get over stairs or slightly larger steps. Also, wheelchairs for bathing assistance are made only for that purpose. In this way, each is made only to achieve one purpose.

JP 2002-308159 A JP 2008-285087 A JP 2009-11372 A

  The above-mentioned document 1 is provided with a wheelchair holding device that has a narrower vehicle width than between both wheels of a wheelchair and pushes up and supports the inside between both wheels of the wheelchair and holds it at a predetermined inclination angle so as to be tiltable in the vertical direction. Providing a posture control sensor for detecting the vertical tilt of the wheelchair holding device in the longitudinal direction, and tilting the wheelchair holding device that supports the wheelchair based on information from the posture control sensor to hold it in a predetermined tilt state Elevating vehicle such as stairs for wheelchairs. There was a description

  The wheelchair stair climbing vehicle is separate from the wheelchair, and a caregiver needs to drive the vehicle. In addition, if the left and right direction is changed, the crawler belt may slide and the floor may be damaged.

  The document 2 includes a moving device including left and right front wheels, left and right rear wheels, a body that rotatably supports the front wheels and the rear wheels, a motor, and a crawler. When the belt surface that catches the vehicle is disposed at a fixed position above the lower ends of the front wheel and the rear wheel, and the front wheel and / or the rear wheel partially sinks in the barrier road surface during traveling, the crawler A moving device that contacts the barrier road surface and can travel on the barrier road surface by the crawler. There was a description.

The moving device is mainly intended for traveling outdoors and is suitable for traveling on rough roads and flat roads. However, steps and stairs cannot be raised or lowered. If the overall length is made longer, the level difference will rise to some extent, but when the body is leveled from a tilted state, it will receive a large impact, so it can only run on a gentle slope.

  The document 3 is an electric wheelchair including a wheelchair body and an electric drive device that is mounted on the wheelchair body and runs the wheelchair body with a motor. The wheelchair body is a frame provided on both sides of the seat portion. It is equipped with two large wheels that are mounted so that it can rotate on both sides of this frame and that has a manual ring fixed to the outside, and the frames on both sides extend upward from the back of the seat and backward on the top As a shape to bend, a vertical frame having a bent portion as a nursing care grip is provided, and the electric drive device is mounted on the wheelchair body and the wheelchair body is driven by a motor, and the drive mechanism is connected via a lead wire. And an operation mechanism for controlling the drive mechanism. The operation mechanism includes a handlebar for nursing care provided with an accelerator at an end portion for controlling rotation of the motor. And a handle mechanism for connecting the handlebars to the upper part of the vertical frame so as to extend to the left and right in a horizontal posture. An electric wheelchair. There was a description.

 The electric wheelchair is a self-propelled wheelchair mounted with a separate drive device, and is driven by rotating the wheel of the drive device in the center of the front wheel universal caster. In general, an electric wheelchair can rotate left and right front wheels or rear wheels with a motor. This type of wheelchair is mainstream, but as mentioned earlier, it can only be used on flat roads.

The above-mentioned document 1 described above is a transport vehicle that carries a handicapped person who is in a wheelchair only on the stairs and naturally requires an assistant. Not suitable for running on flat roads. Turning is also inconvenient for sliding crawler belts. In Document 2, it was developed mainly for the purpose of outdoor road travel, and stairs etc. cannot be raised or lowered. Reference 3 is for traveling on flat roads only. Moreover, what has been developed for bathing has been developed only for bathing by being installed at a predetermined position.

People with disabilities want to clear the barrier in front of the person moving in the same size as a wheelchair, climbing up and down stairs, running on flat roads, indoors, grasslands, bad roads, and bathing assistance. As described above, there is no mobile device that solves the above problems. This crawler chair is provided to solve these problems.

In the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a gradient type crawler belt is suspended on a rear drive wheel and a front wheel provided with a caster capable of shifting up and down on a shaft so that the vehicle can travel to a vehicle body via a power supply unit. Provided with a drive unit, speed adjustment forward / backward and left / right direction arranged near the driver's seat can be done by operating the control stick, the front wheels can be operated with the centering on the axle attached to the car body, and the driver can always Provided is an electric crawler chair that is equipped with a chair tilting device so that a vertical posture can be taken, and that a lifting device can be attached by having a bather help the bather.

  Commercially available electric wheelchairs and other wheelchairs and the devices of Patent Documents 1, 2, and 3 can overcome only specialized barriers. The crawler chair can be used by people with disabilities in a wide range from indoors to outdoors without having to change one chair.

The present invention is about the size of a self-propelled wheelchair, indoor floor, stair climbing, outdoor sidewalk, grassland, bad road,
Handicapped people can overcome many barriers, such as bathing assistance, and enrich their daily lives, travel and walks
Make

Some people with disabilities need these vehicles for some reason. Running on a flat road. Those with disabilities who need to go up and down the stairs and assist bathing, need all or more of them. However, when disabled people go one step outdoors and go to museums and museums, there are still many steps and other barriers. There is a barrier that immediately blocks people with disabilities just by going out on the road. Sightseeing places have a small staircase in the most important places and you can not see the important scenery. Even if you go to a hot spring, there are not many places that have a lifting device in the bathroom. There is a step at the entrance to enter the room. What disabled people need is how to remove the barrier in front of their eyes and how they can live a life like a healthy person.

     When traveling on a flat road surface, the casters 110 of the front wheels 10 are installed so as to be below the crawler surface 601, and the crawler surface 601 captures the road surface with the rear wheels of the crawler belt 60. The vehicle body is supported by the caster 110 and the left and right crawler surfaces of the rear wheel. The caster absorbs unevenness of the road surface by a spring 109, and the caster can sink on a soft road surface and can travel on the left and right crawler surfaces.

     As described above, the front wheel portion of the crawler belt 60 is floating from the road surface, and the crawler belt and the road surface do not need to slide, and the caster 110 is a free type, so that a smooth small rotation can be obtained and it can be freely used indoors. I can move.

     As mentioned above, the barriers for people with disabilities can be overcome with a single vehicle, so the life areas of people with disabilities will change dramatically, expanding their activities and contributing to social welfare.

The perspective view which concerns on the Example of this invention Front wheel perspective view Detailed view of M section EE cross-sectional enlarged view BB cross-sectional enlarged view Drive device perspective view Crawler belt perspective view Chair perspective view Lifting device perspective view LL horizontal section view Climbing side view Side view starting to descend Side view near the top floor of climbing Vehicle perspective view Bathing situation side view Flat road side view

    Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 and 2, the left and right crawler wheel frame 100, a front wheel 10 having a caster 110 at the center thereof, a driving device 20 for rotating the left and right crawler belts 60, a chair 40 via a spring, It consists of a lifting device 50 that can be removed, a crawler belt 60 suspended around the outer periphery of the crawler wheel, and a vehicle body equipped with a chair tilting device 70 that tilts the chair back and forth.

      The front wheel 10 includes three crawler belt wheels 101, 102, and 103 on both sides, and two casters 110 on the inner side of both wheels. A wheel 103 on the upper vehicle body side of the front wheel connects the vehicle body 30 and the front wheel 10 with a front wheel shaft 105. The shift guide 108 is fixed to the front wheel frame 100 with bolts 108b.

       The shift guide 108 has a width enough to allow movement of the drum drop 111a of the joint 111 on the upper surface, and a groove 108a is formed with a hole having an outer diameter of the joint 111 before and after the groove 108a.

       When either one of the shift levers 107L or 107R is pushed downward, the saw drop 111a can move along the groove 108a of the shift guide 108. Only one of 107L and 107R is attached. Pulling it forward and releasing it at the end of the groove lifts the lever 107L as the joint 111 is raised along the guide pin 109b by the spring 109a (FIG. 2B) and stops at the guide pin 109c. At that time, the roll 109e is in the elongated hole 109d of the caster raising / lowering link 109 and is raised in the direction of arrow F. As shown in the roll 109 (FIG. 2A), the guide pin 109b is rotatably attached. The guide pin 109b is fixed to the connecting key 102, and the connecting key 102 is fixed to the connecting bar 112. Thus, the drum drop 111a processed into the joint 111 passes through the groove 108a and holds the caster 110 in its position. Conversely, when the shift lever is pushed in and tilted forward, the caster is lowered below the crawler belt surface 601. Therefore, the caster catches the road surface and the crawler surface 601 of the front wheel 10 leaves the road surface. The shift lever 107L is extracted and placed in the handrail. The above operation may be performed by the shift lever 107R.

The joint 111 is inserted into the upper hole of the caster raising / lowering link 109, and is always pushed upward by the spring 109a. A portion of the Tyco drop 111a is removed from the groove 108a and is held in position. Also, there is a key groove 111b in the center, and the tip of the guide pin 109b is inserted into the key groove 111b of the joint 111.
Does not rotate. A caster up / down lever 107 is easily inserted into the upper part of the taper hole 11
1c is provided.

When ascending the stairs, the caster 110 is raised above the crawler surface 601 by the caster raising / lowering lever 107L or 107. Gradient 60 so that the front wheel tip easily bites the stairs
4 and FIG. 4, in which crawler grooves 602 are provided on the crawler surface. When the stairs climb and reach the top floor and enter the floor, the vehicle body 30 moves from the slope of the stairs to the level with jerk, but the front wheel 10 according to the present invention is centered on the front axle 105. Thus, it is bent by the corner of the top floor in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, the belt surface 601 of the front wheel crawler belt 60 has already captured the horizontal floor surface while the vehicle body 30 follows the staircase inclination angle. When the crawler chair 1 continues to move forward and the center of gravity W comes on a horizontal plane, the rear wheel floats. At this time, the weight of the crawler chair 1 is supported by the lower front wheel 104 and the crawler belt 60.

     As you can see, you can smoothly move to a horizontal floor after climbing up the stairs. During these exercises, the crawler chair 1 changes its angle by a staircase, but the disabled person always keeps the chair 40 in a vertical posture by the chair tilting device 70.

When getting off, when the lower wheel 104 of the front wheel 10 gets over the first step of the stairs, the front wheel is bent in the direction of arrow G with the front wheel shaft 105 as a fulcrum as shown in FIG.
As the crawler belt rotates and the vehicle body position changes, the corners of the stairs attempt to make it more concave, but the front wheels do not rotate any further because the overall length of the belt is constant. As the vehicle goes further, the car body gradually leans and the crawler belt surface 601 of the lower front wheel 104 is considerably close to the first floor. At this time, the center of gravity of the vehicle body is on the floor, so the vehicle body is tilted, but only the crawler belt is recessed and the rear wheel is in contact with the floor. When the center of gravity further advances and the center of gravity exceeds the floor, the vehicle body 30 tilts rapidly and the rear wheels leave the ground. However, since the lower front wheel is already trying to catch the first floor, the lower front wheel 104 contacts the first floor before the inclination speed is accelerated. Moreover, there is no steep inclination when moving from the upper floor to the first floor and no impact on landing on the first floor. As the vehicle 30 further advances, the crawler belt 60 supports the corners of the upper floor and the first floor between the front wheel lower wheel 104 and the vehicle lower wheel. Since the corners of the stairs move relatively, the crawler belt goes down the stairs while changing the degree of depression, and repeatedly descends with the front wheel 10 bent to the full and the crawler belt fully stretched. Of course, the handicapped person is kept in the vertical posture during this time. Therefore, disabled people can get down the stairs without fear, even though the body is small.

Referring to FIG. 2, one drive device 20 is mounted on each wheel, and a reduction gear motor 201 is attached to a two-stage transmission 206. Neutral, stair climbing and flat road running, shifting with the change lever 202, shifting the lever into the switching groove 203 provided in the upper cover 207 of the two-stage transmission 206 and switching by the spring 204 The shift position of the groove 203 is held. The upper crawler wheel 204 is attached to the output shaft of the two-stage transmission, and this is rotated to drive the crawler belt 60. Neutral can also be decoupled from the gear of the transmission when pushed by an assistant.

The chair 40 is installed in the center through the chair support shaft 304 in the lower end hole of the chair support plate 303 attached to both sides of the vehicle body 30 in FIG. A handicapped person moves forward and backward by a feed screw 704 from an inclining motor 701 (FIG. 7) so as to keep vertical to the floor according to the angle of the vehicle body. Since the leg pillar slide holder 706 is attached to the leg pillar slide holder 706 on the feed screw 704, the posture of the handicapped person is controlled by moving the leg pillar slide holder 706 back and forth. The center of gravity W of the handicapped person is always in the middle between the fulcrums X and Y. Removable insertion holes 401 for the lifting device are provided at both ends of the chair. The crossover cushion 417 and the lifting device 50 are inserted into the insertion hole 401 as needed, so that they can be used properly.

     In order for the disabled person to move from the crawler chair to the bed, the cushion 417 is inserted into the insertion hole 401 across the space between the both, and the space is filled. Moreover, when bathing, the caregiver bathes the handicapped person by inserting the insertion shaft 513 of the lifting device 50 into the insertion hole 401.

The vehicle body 30 includes the front wheel 10, the driving device 20, the chair 40, the lifting device 50, the crawler belt 60, and the chair tilting device 70 to become the crawler chair 1. First, the front wheel 10 is coupled to the front wheel bearing hole 307 of FIG. 10 through the upper front wheel 103 of the front wheel shaft 105. The front wheel shaft 105 is fixed between the front wheel frame 100 via a key. A chair support plate 30 3 is attached to the inner plate 302 of the vehicle body 30, and a chair support shaft 304 is attached. The leg column 402 of the chair 40 is passed through the chair support shaft 304 and inserted into the center of the vehicle body 40 so as to rotate left and right, and both ends thereof are stopped with a split collar 309 so as not to move left and right. The drive device receiver 305 fixes the vehicle body outer plate 301 and the vehicle body inner plate 302 on both sides of the vehicle body 30 and carries the drive device, the battery 205, and the chair tilting device 70.

The chair tilting device 70 is fixed to the two-stage transmission 206 on both sides of the drive device 20 as shown in FIG. A leg post slide holder 702 that has a leg screw 402 attached to the tilting motor 701 and holds the leg pole 402 of the chair 40 can move back and forth by the rotation of the feed screw 704. The tilt motor 701 is controlled so that the leg column 402 is always vertical by making the tilt of the chair 40 proportional to the tilt of the vehicle body 30.

    The crawler belt 60 is a synthetic rubber in which a round metal is braided into a closed loop wire in a chain shape, and the teeth of the upper crawler wheel 204 mesh with the wheel holes 609 of the crawler belt 60 and rotate. All other crawler wheels are driven wheels.

   The lifting device 50 shown in FIG. 5 has a small lifting allowance in order to keep the overall height as low as possible, but the lifting allowance can be obtained by removing the back lock lever 404 of the chair 40 and laying it down as much as necessary. Suspend with body belt 514. When fully lifted, the chair tilting device 70 is tilted forward. At this time, the center of gravity moves forward, and the weight of the electric crawler chair 1 works clockwise with X as a fulcrum. On the other hand, the total weight of the disabled and the lifting device 50 works counterclockwise with X as a fulcrum. At this time, the clockwise moment is designed to be larger than the counterclockwise moment in advance. The main weight of the clockwise moment is the driving device 20 and the battery 205 mounted on the rearmost part of the vehicle body 30. For safety, the sleepers 515 are placed in front of the crawler belt 60. When the bathtub is above the floor, hang it directly on the bathtub. In this way, you can take a bath when you take a handicapped person, so you can enter any hot spring. When you go up, you can do the opposite. Since it is as above-mentioned, since the crawler chair 1 is made into the magnitude | size substantially comparable compared with a general wheelchair, if only the consent of a hot spring is obtained, the place of the place is all right. FIG.

     When starting to climb the stairs from a flat place, as shown in the side view of the climbing entrance in FIG. 7, the crawler bell 60 is loaded between the fulcrum X and the branch Y, so the crawler belt 60 has its full length. Since it is constant, the front wheel 10 is bent upward and fully stretched. . Further, the front wheel 10 is structured so as not to bend beyond this. Therefore, the gradient 604 of the front wheel 10 is maximized to make it easy to catch the first step of the stairs.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Crawler chair 10 Front wheel 20 Drive device 30 Car body 40 Chair 50 Lifting device 60 Crawler belt 70 Chair tilting device 100 Front wheel frame 101 Crawler wheel 102 Connection key 103 Upper front wheel wheel 104 Lower front wheel wheel 105 Front wheel shaft 106 Caster support shaft 106a Metal 107L Caster Lift lever 107R Caster lift lever 108 Lever guide 109 Caster lift link 109a Bracket 109b Stepped guide bolt 109c Rotation stop pin 109d Long hole 109e Roller 110 Caster 111 Joint 111a Tie drop 111b Keyway 111c Lever insertion hole 112 Caster holder bar 113 fixed Bush 114 Stepped metal 115 Bearing 116 Shaft retaining nut 117 Shaft retaining Nut 201 Motor with reduction gear 202 Change lever 203 Switching groove 204 Upper crawler wheel 205 Battery 206 Two-stage transmission 207 Upper lid 301 Car body outer plate 302 Car body inner plate 303 Chair support plate 304 Chair support shaft 305 Drive device receiver 306 Lower rear wheel shaft 307 Front wheel bearing hole 308 Upper crawler wheel hole 309 Warri collar 401 Insertion hole 402 Leg post 403 Chair seat frame 404 Back lock lever 405 Back lock plate 406 Handrail 407 Auxiliary handrail fulcrum 408 Auxiliary handrail horizontal bar 409 Auxiliary handrail 410 Back lock plate connecting shaft 411 Seat Seat 412 Back Seat 413 Joystick Switch 414 Assisting Handle 415 Movement Auxiliary Plate 416 Insertion Shaft 417 Transition Cushion 418 Chair Mounting Hole 419L Bounce Bar 420L Footrest 501 Hoisting motor 502 Worm gear box 503 Shaft case 504 Belt guide 505 Color 506 Hoisting device pillar 507 Lifting belt 508 Bolt 509 Cap nut 510 Bearing metal 511 Belt holding screw 512 Winding shaft 513 Insertion shaft 514 Body belt 515 Roller belt 515 Roller belt 515 602 Crawler groove 603 Wheel hole 604 Inclination 701 Inclination motor 702 Cover 703 Inclination device fixing bracket 704 Feed screw 705 Fixing bolt
706 pedestal slide holder

Claims (2)

An electric crawler chair that has a front-gradient crawler belt suspended on at least the rear drive wheel and a front wheel equipped with a caster that can be shifted up and down, and a drive device installed on the vehicle body via the power supply unit. The speed adjustment, which is located near the driver's seat, can be performed by operating the control stick in the forward / backward / left / right direction, with the front wheels acting on the axle attached to the vehicle body, and the driver The electric crawler chair is equipped with a chair tilting device so that it can always take a vertical posture.
An electric crawler chair characterized in that the driver (handicapped person) can be lifted and moved by the caregiver's operation, and the electric crawler chair is provided on the vehicle body through attachment means so as to be attached and detached.

Images