JP2015029679A - Wheelchair - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a wheelchair capable of reducing a burden of an operation relating to the tilt of a seat surface, on a care giver.SOLUTION: A wheelchair 1 comprises: a seat surface 22; a tilt mechanism 30 which changes the tilt of the seat surface 22 by swinging the seat surface 22; and a grip 40 which is provided at a position not moving with the swinging of the seat surface 22 and is gripped by a person sitting on the seat surface 22. The wheelchair 1 is suitable as a wheelchair for bathing to be used when a care receiver is bathed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a wheelchair, and more particularly to a wheelchair suitable for use by a person who has a physical disability and needs assistance (hereinafter referred to as a person requiring assistance) during bathing.

  Conventionally, for example, a wheelchair for bathing has been used to bathe a person who needs assistance such as an elderly person or a disabled person. Among such wheelchairs, there is a type in which a seat surface portion (seat surface) on which a bather sits is inclined (becomes tilted) (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 4).

  FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing a conventional bathing wheelchair 100 and a bathing apparatus 200 used as a pair with the bathing wheelchair 100. In FIG. 5, the bathing wheelchair 100 is placed on the bathing apparatus 200. FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view when the bathing wheelchair 100 and the bathing apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 5 are viewed from above. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the conventional bathing wheelchair 100 is configured to include a carriage unit 110 and a chair unit 120 disposed on the upper side of the carriage unit 110.

  The cart unit 110 includes a cart frame 111 and four casters 112 provided at the bottom of the four corners of the cart frame 111. Two rails 113 extending in the width direction of the bathing wheelchair 100 (in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 5) are provided on the top of the carriage frame 111 with a gap in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 5). Yes.

  The chair part 120 includes a roller 121 (roller) 121 a and a traveling part 121 that can move the chair part 120 with respect to the carriage part 110. The rollers 121a are provided on the front side (left side in FIG. 5) and the rear side (right side in FIG. 5) so as to correspond to the two rails 113 provided on the upper portion of the carriage unit 110. As the roller 121 a rolls along the rail 113, the traveling unit 121 (as a result, the chair unit 120) moves relative to the carriage unit 110.

  The running unit 121 includes a seating surface part support frame 124 that supports a seating surface part 122 on which a bather (a person who needs assistance) sits and a backrest part 123 that is used as a backrest by the seating person seated on the seating surface part 122. It is attached. The support frame 124 such as a seating surface portion is attached so as to be rotatable (tiltable) with respect to the traveling portion 121. In addition, a footrest portion frame 126 that supports a footrest portion 125 on which a seated person sitting on the seat surface portion 122 places a foot is rotatably attached to the support frame 124 such as a seat surface portion.

  The chair unit 120 can be switched between a state in which the chair unit 120 can move on the carriage unit 110 and a state in which the chair unit 120 cannot move by a lock mechanism (not shown).

  FIG. 7 is a view showing a state where the seat surface portion 122 of the bathing wheelchair 100 is tilted (tilted) from the state shown in FIG. In this tilted state, the seating surface of the seating surface portion 122 is lifted from the substantially horizontal state (the state shown in FIG. 5) to the front side (the left side in FIGS. 5 and 7) and tilted by a predetermined angle (here, about 20 °). It is in the state that was. At this time, the backrest portion 123 and the like change the inclination together with the seat surface portion 122. This tilt state is obtained when the support frame 124 such as the seating surface portion rotates about the central axis X (for example, provided in the traveling unit 121).

  The bathing wheelchair 100 is configured such that the footrest portion 125 is also rotated (lifted up by a predetermined angle) in conjunction with the tilt of the seat surface portion 122 by a link mechanism (not shown). Further, a state in which the seat surface portion 122 is not tilted (state in FIG. 5) and a state in which the seat surface portion 122 is tilted (state in FIG. 7) perform a switching mechanism (not shown) provided in the chair portion 120 (locking and unlocking). The mechanism can be switched.

  Here, in order to deepen the understanding of the bathing wheelchair 100, a conventional bathing apparatus 200 used in combination with the bathing wheelchair 100 will also be described. The bathing apparatus 200 includes a bathtub 210, a tank 220 provided on the back side of the bathtub 210 (expression when referring to FIG. 5), and a lift unit 230.

  An opening 212 is formed on one side wall 211 (the side wall on the near side in FIG. 5) of the bathtub 210 so as to cut out substantially the upper half thereof. The opening 212 can be opened and closed by a door 213 provided so as to be slidable in the vertical direction. The chair portion 120 of the bathing wheelchair 100 is transferred to the chair receiving portion 232 (details will be described later) provided in the bathtub 210 through the opening portion 212.

  Since the opening 212 does not reach from the upper surface to the lower part of the side wall 211, but only reaches about half from the upper surface, the bath 210 is in a state in which hot water has entered (a state in which about half of the hot water has entered) ), The bather can enter and leave the bathtub 210. For this reason, it is possible to suppress the bather from feeling cold by storing hot water in a short time while reducing the capacity of the tank 220 for storing hot water to be put in the bathtub 210.

  On the back side of the bathtub 210 (the side on which the tank 220 is provided), a lift part 230 provided so as to be movable up and down is disposed. An arm 231 is attached to the lift unit 230. A chair receiving portion 232 on which the chair portion 120 can be placed is attached to the distal end side of the arm 231 (see FIG. 6). The arm 231 is provided not only to move up and down as the lift unit 230 moves up and down, but also to swing in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the bathtub 210 (the left-right direction in FIGS. 5 and 6). For this reason, the position of the chair receiving portion 232 can be moved in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction in the bathtub 210.

  On the upper surface of the chair receiving portion 232, two rails 232a arranged in parallel with a gap in the longitudinal direction of the bathtub 210 (left and right direction in FIG. 6) are provided. The rail 232a extends in the short direction of the bathtub 210 (vertical direction in FIG. 6). The chair receiving portion 232 is provided with an auxiliary plate portion 233 that can be folded to the side surface (the side surface opposite to the side attached to the arm 231).

  When the auxiliary plate 233 is not folded, the auxiliary plate 233 protrudes out of the bathtub 210 through the opening 212. When the door 213 is closed or the chair receiving portion 232 is lowered by the lift portion 230, the auxiliary plate portion 233 is lifted by the door 213 or the side wall 211 and folded. Two rails 233a are also provided on the auxiliary plate portion 233, and the rail 233a of the auxiliary plate portion 233 is in a state where the auxiliary plate portion 233 is opened (in a state of being substantially horizontal without being lifted). The rail 232a of the chair receiving portion 232 is substantially continuous.

  When bathing a caregiver or the like, a bather is placed on the bathing wheelchair 100, and the bathing wheelchair 100 is placed at a predetermined position of the bathing apparatus 200 (the state of FIG. 5 corresponds). At this point, the door 213 of the bathtub 210 is open (the door 213 is lowered and the opening 212 is exposed). At this time, about half of hot water may be stored in the bathtub 210.

  When the bathing wheelchair 100 is set at a predetermined position, the seat surface portion 122 is tilted as shown in FIG. Further, when the bathing wheelchair 100 is set at a predetermined position, the rail 113 of the carriage unit 110, the rail 232a of the chair receiving unit 232, and the rail 233a of the auxiliary plate unit 233 are set to have the same height. Adjusted. In this example, the arm 231 is moved so that the chair receiving portion 232 is arranged at the left and right ends of the bathtub 210, so that the height of the rail 232 a and the rail 233 a is the height of the rail 113 of the carriage portion 110. It comes to fit.

  When the seat surface portion 122 is tilted, a lock mechanism (not shown) is released, and the chair portion 120 can move on the rail 113 of the carriage portion 110. The chair 120 is moved on the rails 113, 232a, and 233a by the assistant. Thereby, the chair part 120 is transferred to the chair receiving part 232 provided in the bathtub 210.

  When the transfer of the chair portion 120 is completed, the chair portion 120 is fixed to the chair receiving portion 232 by a lock mechanism (not shown). Moreover, the door 213 of the bathtub 210 is closed. In this state, the chair receiving portion 232 is lowered by the lift portion 230, and the bather sitting on the chair portion 120 can be immersed in the hot water in the bathtub 210. At this time, hot water is appropriately added from the tank 220 into the bathtub 210. Since the seat surface of the seat surface portion 122 is tilted (tilted) from the horizontal, it is difficult for the bather to slip out of the seat surface portion 122 and drop off, and a stable bathing posture can be maintained. In addition, when a bather goes out of the bathtub 210, operation reverse to what was mentioned above is performed.

JP 2006-102389 A JP 2001-79060 A JP-A-9-108290 JP-A-9-66090

  By the way, in the conventional bathing wheelchair 100, when the seat surface part 122 is inclined (tilted state), the assistant needs to lift the lower body side of the bather. Further, when the tilted state of the seating surface portion 122 is released, the assistant needs to lift the bather's upper body side. For this reason, the operation related to the tilting of the seat surface portion 122 may be a heavy burden on the caregiver.

  In view of the above points, an object of the present invention is to provide a wheelchair that can reduce a burden on an assistant due to an operation related to tilting of a seat surface portion.

  In order to achieve the above object, a wheelchair according to the present invention is provided at a position where a seat surface portion, a tilt mechanism that swings the seat surface portion to change the inclination of the seat surface portion, and does not move with the swing of the seat surface portion. And a grip portion gripped by a person on the seat surface portion (first configuration).

  According to this configuration, when an assistant performs an operation of changing the tilt (tilt) of the seat surface portion using the tilt mechanism, a person (sitting) who sits on the seat surface portion (sitting person) grasps the grip portion. By applying a force in a predetermined direction, an operation for changing the inclination of the seating surface portion can be assisted. That is, according to this configuration, it is possible to reduce the burden on the caregiver for the operation related to the tilt of the seat surface portion.

  In the wheelchair having the first configuration, it is preferable that a grip installation portion in which the grip portion is provided is erected on the side surface of the seat surface portion (second configuration). According to this configuration, it is easy to install the grip portion at a place suitable for the bather on the seat portion to assist the assistant's operation (operation related to tilt).

  The wheelchair having the second configuration may be configured to be rotatably supported by the grip installation portion and include a connection portion connected to the seat surface portion (third configuration). This configuration provides a specific configuration example of a tilt mechanism that changes the tilt of the seat surface portion by swinging the seat surface portion. In addition, in this structure, a connection part may be directly connected with a seat surface part, and may be connected indirectly. Further, as another specific configuration example of the tilt mechanism that swings the seat surface portion and changes the tilt of the seat surface portion, a configuration in which a curved frame that supports the seat surface portion is slid by a guide roller is adopted. Good.

  In the wheelchair having any one of the first to third configurations, the seat portion includes a first state in which the seat surface is substantially horizontal and a seat surface inclined at a predetermined angle from the first state. It is preferable that the second state is selectable (fourth configuration). According to this structure, it is easy to make the attitude | position at the time of conveyance and bathing of a bather into the stable state.

  The wheelchair having any one of the first to fourth configurations includes a cart portion having wheels, the seat surface portion, the tilt mechanism, and the grip portion, and is detachably disposed on the cart portion. And a configuration (fifth configuration).

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the wheelchair which can reduce the burden on the caregiver of operation regarding the tilt of a seat surface part can be provided.

The schematic perspective view which shows the structure of the wheelchair for bathing which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the case where a seat surface part is a 1st state in the schematic side view which shows the structure of the wheelchair for bathing concerning embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the case where a seat surface part is a 2nd state in the schematic side view which shows the structure of the wheelchair for bathing which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure for demonstrating the modification of the grip part with which the wheelchair for bathing concerning embodiment of this invention is provided. Schematic side view showing a conventional bathing wheelchair and a bathing apparatus used in combination with the bathing wheelchair Schematic plan view when the wheelchair for bathing and bathing apparatus shown in FIG. 5 are viewed from above The figure which shows the state which the seat surface part of the wheelchair for bathing inclined (tilted) from the state shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, a wheelchair (bathing wheelchair) according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The bathing wheelchair according to the embodiment of the present invention is used in combination with a bathing apparatus similar to the bathing apparatus 200 described above. In the description of the bathing wheelchair according to the embodiment of the present invention, expressions such as front, rear, left and right are used with reference to a bather sitting on the bathing wheelchair.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a bathing wheelchair 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the bathing wheelchair 1 according to the present embodiment includes a carriage unit 10 and a chair unit 20 provided on the carriage unit 10 so as to be separable.

  Casters 12 are respectively provided at lower portions of the four corners of the carriage frame 11 constituting the carriage unit 10. The four casters 12 enable the cart unit 10 to travel on the floor surface. In addition, two rails 13 extending in the width direction (left-right direction) are provided on the upper portion of the carriage frame 11 with an interval in the front-rear direction.

  The chair part 20 has a roller (wheel) 21 a and is provided with a traveling part 21 that can move the chair part 20 relative to the carriage part 10. The rollers 21 a are provided on the front side and the rear side so as to correspond to the two rails 13 provided on the upper portion of the carriage unit 10. When the roller 21 a rolls along the rail 13, the traveling unit 21 moves relative to the carriage unit 10. When the roller 21 a is moved out of the rail 13 of the carriage unit 10, the chair unit 20 is separated from the carriage unit 10. The chair unit 20 can be switched between a state where it can move on the carriage unit 10 and a state where it cannot move by a lock mechanism (not shown).

  The chair portion 20 is provided with a support frame 24 that is fixed to the seat surface portion 22 and the backrest portion 23 and supports the seat surface portion 22 and the like. In the present embodiment, in addition to the support frame 24, a headrest portion 25 and a handrail portion 26 are supported. The handrail portion 26 is preferably attached to the support frame 24 so as to be rotatable. In addition, a footrest portion 27 on which a seated person sitting on the seat surface portion 22 places his / her foot is provided on one end side of the support frame 24 (the side opposite to the side where the headrest portion 25 is provided). The footrest portion 27 is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the support frame 24.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the bathing wheelchair 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and is a view showing a case where the seat surface portion 22 is in the first state. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the bathing wheelchair 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and is a view showing a case where the seating surface portion 22 is in the second state.

  As shown in FIG.2 and FIG.3, in the wheelchair 1 for bathing of this embodiment, the seat surface part 22 is provided so that a 1st state and a 2nd state can be selected. Switching between the first state and the second state of the seat surface portion 22 is made possible by a tilt mechanism 30 described later in detail. In addition, the 1st state of the seat surface part 22 and the 2nd state of the seat surface part 22 are each fixable. The fixing and the release thereof may be realized, for example, by inserting / removing pins.

  In the first state, the seating surface of the seating surface portion 22 is almost horizontal (substantially horizontal). This first state is used, for example, when the bather is transported by the bathing wheelchair 1. In the second state, the seating surface of the seating surface portion 22 is tilted (tilted state) from the first state (substantially horizontal state). In the second state, not only the seat surface portion 22, but also the backrest portion 23, the headrest portion 25, and the like are inclined as compared to the case where the seat surface portion 22 is in the first state. A 2nd state (tilt state) is a state set so that the bather who moved to the bathtub with the chair part 20 may maintain the stable attitude | position in a bathtub.

  The tilt mechanism 30 is provided with a side wall 31 standing on the right side surface of the seat surface portion 22, and a connecting portion 32 that is rotatably supported by the side wall portion 31 and connected to the seat surface portion 22 via the support frame 24. And. The side wall part 31 is fixed to the traveling part 21. Moreover, the connection part 32 is attached to the axial part 33 which protrudes from the wall surface of the side wall part 31 so that rotation is possible. When the connecting portion 32 rotates around the shaft portion 33, the seat surface portion 22 swings together with the support frame 24 connected to the connecting portion 32. By this swing, the inclination of the seat surface portion 22 (seat surface) is changed.

  In the present embodiment, the side wall portion 31 is provided on the right side surface of the seat surface portion 22, but may be provided on the left side surface. Further, the connecting portion 32 may be configured to rotate with respect to the side wall portion 31 by engaging a protrusion fixedly disposed on the connecting portion 32 with an engaging hole provided in the side wall portion 31. .

  By releasing the fixing by the fixing means (not shown), the support frame 24 can be swung by the tilt mechanism 30 described above. When the seat surface portion 22 is in the first state (the state shown in FIG. 2), the seat surface of the seat surface portion 22 can be tilted from a substantially horizontal state by swinging the support frame 24 forward (see FIG. 2). 3). Further, when the seat surface portion 22 is in the second state (the state of FIG. 3), the support frame 24 is swung rearward to change the seat surface of the seat surface portion 22 from a tilted state to a substantially horizontal state. It can be returned (it can be in the state of FIG. 2).

  By the way, in the bathing wheelchair 1 of this embodiment, the grip part 40 which the bather who mounts on the seat surface part 22 can hold | grip is fixedly arrange | positioned in the back upper part side of the side wall part 31 provided in the side surface of the seat surface part 22. ing. The traveling portion 21 to which the side wall portion 31 is fixed does not swing together with the swing of the support frame 24. For this reason, the grip part 40 does not swing (does not move) with the swing of the support frame 24. In addition, the side wall part 31 is an example of the grip installation part of this invention.

  When the seat surface portion 22 is in the first state, a bather who sits (sits down) on the seat surface portion 22 grasps the side grip portion 40 and applies a force in a direction to pull the grip portion 40 toward the front side. The seat surface portion 22 is applied with a force that causes the seat surface portion 22 to swing forward. On the other hand, when the seat surface portion 22 is in the second state, the bather placed on the seat surface portion 22 grasps the side grip portion 40 and applies the force in the direction of pushing the grip portion 40 forward. When applied, a force that swings backward is applied to the seat surface portion 22.

  For this reason, in the bathing wheelchair 1 of the present embodiment, the bather sitting on the seat surface portion 22 holds the grip portion 40 when the assistant performs an operation to bring the seat surface portion 22 into a tilted state (or a horizontal state). By grasping and applying a force in a predetermined direction, the assistant's operation can be assisted. That is, the bathing wheelchair 1 according to the present embodiment can reduce the burden on the caregiver for operations related to the tilt of the seating surface portion 22.

  The embodiment described above is an exemplification of the present invention, and the configuration of the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment described above. That is, the configuration of the embodiment described above may be changed as appropriate within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

  For example, the structure of the grip part 40 provided in the side wall part 31 is not the meaning limited to the structure of this embodiment, and may be changed suitably. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the length of the shaft portion 33 that supports the coupling portion 32 so as to be able to swing (rotate) is lengthened (the shaft portion 33 is positioned in front of the bather sitting on the seat surface portion 22). The shaft portion 33 may also serve as the grip portion 40. In the configuration shown in FIG. 4, when the seat surface of the seat surface portion 22 is in a substantially horizontal state (first state), the bather performs an operation such that the user grips the grip portion 40 and moves upside down. The surface portion 22 can be easily brought into a tilted state (second state). For this reason, the labor of the operation related to the tilt of the assistant can be reduced.

  Moreover, the tilt mechanism 30 of this embodiment is only an example of a tilt mechanism provided in the wheelchair of the present invention. The tilt mechanism of the present invention may have another configuration as long as the seat surface portion 22 can be swung to change the inclination of the seat surface portion 22. For example, the tilt mechanism included in the wheelchair of the present invention may be configured using a guide roller that guides the curved support frame 24 so as to be slidable.

  In the embodiment described above, the chair unit 20 is separated from the cart unit 10. However, the present invention can also be applied to a wheelchair in which the chair portion and the cart portion are not separated.

  In addition, the present invention is applicable to a wheelchair including a reclining mechanism that can tilt a backrest portion with respect to a seat surface portion. In some cases, the present invention may be applied to a wheelchair other than a bathing wheelchair.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bathing wheelchair 10 Bogie part 20 Chair part 22 Seat surface part 30 Tilt mechanism 31 Side wall part (grip installation part)
32 connecting part 40 grip part

Claims (5)

A seat surface,
A tilt mechanism that swings the seating surface portion to change the inclination of the seating surface portion;
A grip portion that is provided at a position that does not move with the swinging of the seat surface portion, and gripped by a person on the seat surface portion;
A wheelchair characterized by comprising:   The wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein a grip installation portion on which the grip portion is provided is erected on a side surface of the seat surface portion.   The wheelchair according to claim 2, further comprising a connecting portion that is rotatably supported by the grip installation portion and connected to the seat surface portion.   The seat surface portion is provided so as to be selectable between a first state in which the seat surface is substantially horizontal and a second state in which the seat surface is inclined by a predetermined angle from the first state. The wheelchair according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A carriage unit having wheels;
A chair portion including the seat surface portion, the tilt mechanism, and the grip portion, and detachably disposed on the carriage portion;
The wheelchair according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising:

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