JP2022070298A - Omnidirectional wheel - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide omnidirectional wheels which are applicable to various vehicles such as a wheel chair and a carriage, and have high versatility.SOLUTION: Omnidirectional wheels 1 are configured so as to be equipped as free wheels of an equipped object 50. Each of the omnidirectional wheels 1 includes a support member 20 which supports a wheel center axis 11 and a coupling member 30 which couples the support member 20 and the equipped object 50. The coupling member 30 can be exchanged according to the equipped object 50. The coupling member 30 can be attached to/detached from a wheel support member 53 provided in the equipped object 50. In addition, the wheel support member 53 in the equipped object 50 is formed in a cylindrical or bar shape, and the coupling member 30 is formed with a bar-shaped member or a cylindrical member capable of being coupled to the wheel support member 53 by being inserted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to omnidirectional wheels.

Conventionally, various wheelchairs, trolleys, and the like are known. Further, a wheelchair having a swivel caster on the front wheel is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-252282

By the way, in the wheelchair of Patent Document 1 described above, it is necessary to replace the casters due to wear of the wheels due to use, failure of the casters themselves, or the like. Here, the casters described above need to be mounted on a wheelchair so that they can turn smoothly. Therefore, the caster mounting portion of the wheelchair is formed so that the axis line, which is the turning center of the caster, is perpendicular to the ground contact surface of the wheel when the caster is mounted. Therefore, when replacing the casters, it is necessary to prepare special casters suitable for the wheelchair. Further, at the time of mounting, it is necessary to make the axis line which is the turning center of the casters perpendicular to the ground plane of the wheel, and it is also necessary to make the mounting accuracy of the casters strict.

In addition, in order to mount the casters on a wheelchair, it is necessary to avoid interference with footrests and the like. Therefore, it is necessary to make the casters a special product that matches the shape and size of the mounting part of the wheelchair body. Therefore, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost of casters is high and there is a problem that a dedicated caster must be prepared for each wheelchair.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a highly versatile omnidirectional wheel that can be applied to various vehicles such as wheelchairs and trolleys.

(1) The omnidirectional wheel of the present invention provided to solve the above-mentioned problems is an omnidirectional wheel mounted as a free wheel to be mounted, and is a support for supporting the wheel central axis of the omnidirectional wheel. It has a member, a support member, and a connecting member for connecting the mounted object, and the connecting member is interchangeable according to the mounted object.

In the above-mentioned omnidirectional wheel, the support member that supports the wheel central axis is coupled to the mounted object via the coupling member, and the coupling member is replaceable according to the mounted target. There is. Therefore, by matching the coupling member to the object to be mounted, the omnidirectional wheel can be easily mounted on the object to be mounted without changing the structure of the support member. As a result, the members (for example, support members) can be shared, and cost reduction can be expected. Further, by changing the coupling member, it is possible to mount the wheel on various objects to be mounted, so that it is possible to provide a highly versatile omnidirectional wheel. Here, as the connecting member, various members can be used as long as they can be attached to the support member.

(2) In the omnidirectional wheel of the present invention described above, it is preferable that the connecting member is removable from the wheel support member included in the mounted object.

According to such a configuration, the free wheel included in the mounted object can be easily replaced with the omnidirectional wheel of the present invention via the coupling member. Therefore, it is possible to provide a highly versatile omnidirectional wheel.

Here, for example, when the object to be mounted is formed mainly of a frame such as a wheelchair, it is conceivable that the wheel support member is formed of a cylindrical member or a rod-shaped member such as a pipe or a shaft. Will be. Therefore, the shape of the coupling member may be adapted to the wheel support member.

(3) Based on this finding, in the above-mentioned omnidirectional wheel of the present invention, the wheel support member in the mounted object is formed in a cylindrical shape or a rod shape, and the coupling member is attached to the wheel support member. It is preferable that it is made of a rod-shaped member or a tubular member that can be connected by insertion.

According to such a configuration, the wheel support member and the coupling member can be coupled to the wheel support member by a simple operation of inserting the coupling member. Therefore, it is possible to provide an omnidirectional wheel having good wearability according to the wheel support member included in the object to be mounted.

(4) In the omnidirectional wheel of the present invention described above, it is preferable that the support member is allowed to move the wheel center axis in the vertical direction.

According to such a configuration, the omnidirectional wheel can release the impact and the load received from the ground contact surface and the object to be mounted in the vertical direction. This makes it possible to improve the durability of the omnidirectional wheels. Further, in order to further improve the durability of the omnidirectional wheel, the omnidirectional wheel may be made to attenuate the impact and the load received from the ground contact surface and the object to be mounted.

(5) Based on this finding, in the above-mentioned omnidirectional wheel of the present invention, the support member has an elastic member, and the wheel center axis is allowed to move in the vertical direction via the elastic member. Is good.

According to such a configuration, the impact and load that the omnidirectional wheel receives from the ground contact surface and the object to be mounted can be damped by the elastic member. This can dramatically improve the durability of the omnidirectional wheels. As the elastic member, various members such as springs, rubbers, and resins that can attenuate the impact and load can be adopted.

Here, when the object to be mounted is a wheelchair, since the wheelchair has a footrest, the front wheel may be made smaller or the front wheel dedicated to the wheelchair may be used so as not to interfere with the footrest when the front wheel turns. It is possible that it will happen. Therefore, a replacement wheel that can be easily replaced in a wheelchair is required.

(6) Therefore, in the omnidirectional wheel of the present invention, it is preferable that the object to be mounted is a wheelchair.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to provide an omnidirectional wheel suitable for a wheelchair. Therefore, it is possible to provide a highly versatile omnidirectional wheel that can be mounted on various wheelchairs without considering the footrest in the wheelchair.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a highly versatile omnidirectional wheel applicable to various vehicles such as wheelchairs and trolleys.

It is a schematic perspective view of the wheelchair which mounted the omnidirectional wheel which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an overall perspective view of the omnidirectional wheel which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the whole perspective view of the omnidirectional wheel seen from the back side of FIG. It is an exploded perspective view of the omnidirectional wheel which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 4 viewed from another direction. (A) is an explanatory view of the omnidirectional wheel mounted on the mounted object as viewed from the side in the traveling direction, and (b) is an explanatory view of the omnidirectional wheel mounted on the mounted object as viewed from the front in the traveling direction. It is explanatory drawing.

An embodiment of the omnidirectional wheel 1 according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. In the present embodiment, the case where the omnidirectional wheel 1 is mounted on the front wheel (also referred to as a free wheel) of the wheelchair 50 (also referred to as a mounted object 50) will be described as an example.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wheelchair 50 is mainly composed of a combination of frames such as pipes. In the present embodiment, the wheelchair 50 is provided with a pair of hand push handles 51, 51 at the rear of the vehicle body, and is driven by human operation. The wheelchair 50 is equipped with omnidirectional wheels 1 and 1 as left and right front wheels. Further, the wheelchair 50 has rear wheels 52 and 52 having a diameter larger than that of the front wheels. In addition to the above, the wheelchair 50 has a footrest 54 or the like on which the passenger can rest his / her feet.

The wheelchair 50 is detachably mounted with omnidirectional wheels 1 and 1 as front wheels. The wheelchair 50 can travel in the front-rear direction and rotate in all directions by the rear wheels 52, 52 and the omnidirectional wheels 1, 1. Since the omnidirectional wheels 1, 1 and the wheelchair 50 are symmetrically formed in the same configuration, one side will be described in the following description.

The wheelchair 50 has a wheel support member 53 for supporting the front wheels. In this embodiment, the wheel support member 53 is formed so as to be perpendicular to the ground plane. Further, the wheel support member 53 is formed of a tubular pipe. The wheel support member 53 can support the omnidirectional wheel 1 by inserting the coupling member 30 in the omnidirectional wheel 1 described later.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the omnidirectional wheel 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, the omnidirectional wheel 1 is roughly divided into a wheel main body side and a support side. First, the configuration of the wheel body 10 will be described, and then the configuration of the support side will be described.

≪About the configuration on the wheel body side≫
The wheel body 10 has a plurality of rollers 12 in the circumferential direction of the wheel center shaft 11. In the present embodiment, the wheel body 10 is formed by arranging the roller units 13 that hold the rollers 12a having a large diameter and the rollers 12b having a diameter smaller than the rollers 12a as a pair in a radial pattern.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the omnidirectional wheel 1, and FIG. 5 is an exploded view of FIG. 4 as viewed in different directions. As shown in the figure, the wheel body 10 has a wheel center shaft 11, a roller unit 13, a hub member 14 that supports the roller unit 13, and the like. Further, the wheel body 10 has a bearing 15 that rotatably supports the hub member 14, support plates 16a and 16b that support the hub member 14 from both sides, and the like.

The hub member 14 is formed in a disk shape using a resin or the like as a material. Further, the hub member 14 is formed with a connecting portion 14a for supporting the roller unit 13 on the outer peripheral side. The hub member 14 is supported via a bearing 15 so as to be rotatable around the wheel center axis 11. The hub member 14 may not only rotate around the wheel center shaft 11, but may also rotate integrally with the wheel center shaft 11.

Next, the details of the roller unit 13 connected to the connecting portion 14a of the hub member 14 will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the roller unit 13 has a roller 12a, a roller 12b, a support portion 13a that rotatably supports the rollers 12a, 12b, and the like.

The support portion 13a is formed so as to extend outward in the radial direction of the hub member 14. The support portion 13a is formed in a plate shape on one end side, and can rotatably support the rollers 12a and 12b. Further, the other end side of the support portion 13a is formed so as to be engaged with the connection portion 14a of the hub member 14 (T-shaped in this embodiment). By connecting the other end side of the support portion 13a to the connection portion 14a, one end side of the support portion 13a is made to protrude in the radial direction of the hub member 14. When the support portion 13a is connected to the connection portion 14a, the hub member 14 is sandwiched by the support plates 16a and 16b and fixed by the bolts 17 and 17.

The rollers 12a and 12b have an outer shape in which the diameter on the tip side is reduced with respect to the diameter on the base end side. Further, in the rollers 12a and 12b, the outer ridge line formed between the tip end side and the proximal end side on the outer peripheral side around the axis of the wheel center axis 11 has a predetermined curvature.

The rollers 12a and 12b are attached to one end side of the support portion 13a in a posture in which the base end sides face each other. As a result, the rollers 12a and 12b can rotate about the rotation axis orthogonal to the radial direction of the hub member 14, respectively. That is, the rollers 12a and 12b can rotate in a direction orthogonal to the rotation direction of the hub member 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the roller 12a has a cavity toward the base end side in the rotation axis direction, and when a plurality of rollers 12 are arranged on the outer peripheral side of the hub member 14, the roller units 13 are adjacent to each other. Can accommodate the tip end side of the roller 12b. As a result, the wheel body 10 that can rotate in all directions is formed. The omnidirectional wheel 1 is not limited to the one having the above-mentioned configuration, and various omnidirectional wheels can be adopted as long as they can rotate in all directions.

≪About the configuration of the support side of the omnidirectional wheel≫
As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the support side of the omnidirectional wheel 1 opposite to the wheel body 10 is a support member 20 that supports the wheel central shaft 11 and a wheel support member 53 in the wheelchair 50 (see FIG. 1). ), And the like.

The support member 20 is formed in a substantially box shape so that the vertical direction is the longitudinal direction. The support member 20 is formed with elongated holes 21 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) on the surface side so as to be longitudinal in the vertical direction. One end side of the wheel center shaft 11 is inserted through the elongated hole 21.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the support member 20 has a support block 22 that can move up and down along the support member 20. The support block 22 is formed with a shaft hole 22a for supporting the wheel center shaft 11. The wheel center shaft 11 is inserted into the shaft hole 22a and fixed to the shaft hole 22a by the bolt 22b. As a result, the wheel center shaft 11 is allowed to move in the vertical direction. Along with this, the omnidirectional wheel 1 is allowed to move in the vertical direction with respect to the support member 20. Further, the support block 22 has a convex portion 22c formed on the upper end side, and can support the lower end side of the elastic member 23 described later.

As described above, by adopting a configuration that allows the wheel central shaft 11 to move in the vertical direction, the omnidirectional wheel 1 can release the impact and load received from the ground contact surface and the object to be mounted in the vertical direction. .. Thereby, the durability of the omnidirectional wheel 1 can be improved.

The omnidirectional wheel 1 of the present invention is provided with a spring 23 (also referred to as an elastic member 23) in the support member 20. The spring 23 is supported by the support block 22 by inserting the convex portion 22c of the support block 22 into the lower end side. Further, when the support block 22 is attached to the support member 20, the spring 23 comes into contact with the upper wall of the support member 20 and urges the support block 22 downward. As a result, the omnidirectional wheel 1 can attenuate the impact and load received from the ground contact surface and the object to be mounted by the spring 23. Therefore, the durability of the omnidirectional wheel 1 can be dramatically improved. Here, as the elastic member 23, various members capable of attenuating an impact or a load can be used. Further, the elastic member 23 is not limited to the one using the spring 23 as in the present embodiment, but may be, for example, one using rubber or resin.

Next, the coupling member 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. In the figure, for convenience of explanation, a coupling member 30a having a large diameter and a coupling member 30b having a diameter smaller than that of the coupling member 30a are shown together, but when they are mounted on the wheel support member 53, they are shown together. Please note that either one is used.

One end side (mounting side to the wheelchair 50) of the connecting members 30a and 30b is formed in accordance with the wheel support member 53, and the other end side (supporting side to the support member 20) can be supported by the support member 20. It is formed. Specifically, the coupling members 30a and 30b are formed as rod-shaped members at least on the mounting side of the wheelchair 50 so that they can be inserted into the cylinder of the wheel support member 53 formed as a tubular member. Further, a convex portion 31 (see FIG. 5) is formed on the support side to the support member 20, and the convex portion 31 can engage with the concave portion 24 of the support member 20.

The coupling member 30 is replaceable according to the wheel support member 53 (see FIG. 1) of the wheelchair 50. Specifically, each diameter of the coupling member 30 is formed to have a thickness corresponding to the inner diameter of the wheel support member 53, and each of the coupling members 30a and 30b can be inserted and removed from the wheel support member 53. There is. Here, for the connection between the coupling member 30 and the wheel support member 53, it is possible to provide a separate support means such as screwing a bolt or the like after inserting the coupling member 30 into the wheel support member 53.

Further, in the coupling members 30a and 30b, the convex portions 31 have the same shape, respectively, and can be engaged with the concave portions 24 of the support member 20. Specifically, a hole 31a is formed in the convex portion 31, and the connecting member 30 is connected to the support member 20 by screwing the bolt 32 into the hole 31a from the inside of the support member 20.

As described above, the convex portions 31 in the connecting members 30a and 30b are standardized. Therefore, the connecting members 30a and 30b can be connected to the recess 24 without changing the shape and size of the recess 24 of the support member 20. Here, the support member 20 and the coupling member 30 may be detachable. For example, instead of the above-mentioned connection by screwing the bolt 32, various connection structures such as a connection by a ball plunger or a screw formed on the outer periphery of the convex portion 31 and screwed into the concave portion 24 are adopted. can do.

As described above, by making the coupling member 30 replaceable according to the wheel support member 53, the omnidirectional wheel 1 can be easily mounted on the wheelchair 50 without changing the structure of the support member 20. .. As a result, the members (for example, the support member 20) can be shared, and cost reduction can be expected. Further, by changing the coupling member 30, it is possible to mount it on various mounted objects 50, so that it is possible to provide a highly versatile omnidirectional wheel 1.

The above is an example of the configuration of the omnidirectional wheel 1 of the present invention. Next, based on FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), the conventional casters regarding the action and effect of the omnidirectional wheel 1 of the present invention. It will be described in comparison with 60.

FIG. 6A shows the state of traveling by the omnidirectional wheel 1 by the illustrated solid line, and for the sake of explanation, the state of traveling by the conventional caster 60 is also shown by a two-dot chain line. Further, in the figure, the left side shows the front side of the wheelchair 50 (see FIG. 1), and the right side shows the rear side of the wheelchair 50.

FIG. 6B is a side view seen from the front side of FIG. 6A. Further, in the figure, the left side shows the left side in the width direction of the wheelchair 50 (see FIG. 1), and the right side shows the right side in the width direction of the wheelchair 50.

Here, in the conventional caster 60, if an attempt is made to increase the wheel diameter, the turning range of the caster 60 becomes large, which interferes with the footrest 54 (see FIG. 1). Therefore, for example, when designing a wheelchair 50, the diameter of the wheel is considered so as not to interfere with the footrest 54 or the vehicle body.

On the other hand, when the omnidirectional wheel 1 of the present invention is adopted for the wheelchair 50, it is possible to rotate the wheel in all directions without turning like the caster 60. Further, since it is not necessary to consider the turning range, the wheel diameter can be made larger than the wheel diameter of the caster 60. Further, as shown in FIG. 6A, the wheelbase of the wheelchair 50 can also increase the distance d with respect to the conventional casters 60. Further, as shown in FIG. 6B, the tread width of the omnidirectional wheel 1 can be expanded by a width W (2W when both sides are combined) with respect to the caster 60. Therefore, by designing the wheelchair 50 that reflects these, it can be expected that the running stability and comfort of the wheelchair 50 will be improved.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the wheel support member 53 is formed so as to be perpendicular to the ground plane 3 in order to allow the casters 60 to turn. However, when the omnidirectional wheel 1 is mounted on the wheel support member 53, the wheel support member 53 does not have to be perpendicular to the ground plane 3. Therefore, when the omnidirectional wheel 1 is mounted, the degree of freedom in designing the wheel support member 53 can be expanded, and the mounted object 50 having a rich design can be designed. Further, unlike the caster 60, the omnidirectional wheel 1 does not need to be mounted at a strict vertical degree, so that it can be easily mounted on the wheelchair 50. Further, since the omnidirectional wheel 1 does not turn when mounted, it can be easily mounted on the wheelchair 50.

The above is the embodiment of the omnidirectional wheel 1 of the present invention, but the omnidirectional wheel 1 of the present invention can be modified in various ways.

In the present embodiment, the object to be attached is the wheelchair 50, but the object to be attached can be various objects such as a dolly and a bed provided with a free wheel instead of the wheelchair 50. Further, the omnidirectional wheel 1 is not limited to the one according to the above-described embodiment, and any form of omnidirectional wheel can be adopted. Further, the support member 20 can be appropriately changed to have various shapes and sizes according to the object to be mounted. Further, the coupling member 30 can be appropriately changed to various shapes and sizes according to the support member 20 and the object to be mounted. Further, in the present embodiment, the coupling member 30 is detachable from the support member 20, but the coupling member 30 may be fixed to the support member 20.

In the present embodiment, the coupling member 30 is detachable from the wheel support member 53, but the coupling member 30 may be fixed to the wheel support member 53.

In the present embodiment, the wheel support member 53 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the coupling member 30 is formed of a rod-shaped member that can be coupled to the wheel support member 53 by insertion. The coupling member 30 can be of various shapes and sizes as long as it can be coupled to each other. For example, when the wheel support member 53 is formed in a rod shape, the coupling member 30 may be formed of a tubular member, and the wheel support member 53 may be inserted into the cylinder of the coupling member 30. When both the wheel support member 53 and the coupling member 30 are formed in a cylindrical shape, for example, one of them may be formed to have a larger diameter with respect to the other, and one of them may be inserted into the other. When the wheel support member 53 and the coupling member 30 are both formed in a rod shape, for example, one of them may be formed in a convex shape and the other may be formed in a concave shape so as to engage with each other. ..

Further, the connection between the wheel support member 53 and the coupling member 30 is not limited to the insertion, and various coupling structures can be adopted. For example, a wheel support member 53 and a coupling member 30 are clamped to be coupled, a screw or the like is screwed to be coupled, a wheel support member 53 and a coupling member 30 are engaged with each other by unevenness, a ball plan. Various coupling structures can be adopted, such as those that are engaged by jars and those that combine these.

Further, in the present embodiment, the wheel center shaft 11 is allowed to move in the vertical direction by the vertical movement of the support block 22 through the elongated hole 21 of the support member 20, but the wheel center shaft 11 is in the vertical direction. Various structures can be adopted as long as they can be moved to. The wheel center shaft 11 may not be able to move in the vertical direction. In such a case, the omnidirectional wheel 1 and the wheel support member 53 may be used to alleviate the impact and load from the ground contact surface 3 and the object to be mounted 50.

In the present embodiment, the support member 20 has a spring 23 as an elastic member, and the wheel center shaft 11 is allowed to move in the vertical direction via the spring 23, but the elastic member replaces the spring 23. Various materials can be adopted. For example, rubber or resin may be adopted as the elastic member, and the elastic member may be formed by a combination of these. Further, it is also possible to provide an elastic member on the omnidirectional wheel 1 and the wheel support member 53 to alleviate the impact from the ground contact surface 3, the impact from the mounted object 50, and the like. The above is the embodiment of the omnidirectional wheel 1 of the present invention.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to those exemplified in the above-described embodiments and modifications, and it is possible to those skilled in the art that there may be other embodiments from the teaching and spirit within the scope of the claims. It will be easy to understand.

The omnidirectional wheel of the present invention can be used for various mounted objects to which a free wheel can be mounted. The omnidirectional wheel of the present invention can be preferably used for, for example, a wheelchair, a trolley, a nursing bed, a medical bed, or the like.

1: Omni-directional wheel 10: Wheel body 11: Wheel center shaft 12: Roller 12a: Roller 12b: Roller 13: Roller unit 14: Hub member 20: Support member 21: Long hole 22: Support block 23: Spring (elastic member)
30: Coupling member 30a: Coupling member 30b: Coupling member 50: Wheelchair (to be mounted)
53: Wheel support member 54: Footrest 60: Caster

Claims (2)

An omnidirectional wheel that is mounted as a free wheel to be mounted.
A support member that supports the wheel center axis of the omnidirectional wheel, and
It has the support member and the coupling member that binds the object to be mounted.
An omnidirectional wheel, wherein the coupling member is replaceable according to the object to be mounted. The omnidirectional wheel according to claim 1, wherein the connecting member is removable from a wheel support member included in the mounted object.

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