JP2642861B2 - Crawler type stair climber - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a crawler-type stair climbing machine used for raising and lowering stairs of a wheelchair for the handicapped as a welfare device, or for transporting heavy objects on the stairs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Stairs in stations, public buildings, shopping centers, and the like are not only a major obstacle for wheelchairs, which are a general means of transportation for disabled people, but also an obstacle for carrying heavy objects. . In order to solve such a problem, various types of stair climbers have been proposed. However, there are few such stair climbers that can be applied not only to specific stairs but also to any stairs and that can perform a stable ascent / descent operation.

[0003] In order to be able to apply a stair climber to the climbing of any stairs, it is essential to avoid attaching a fixed installation structure to the stairs. , It is necessary to perform an elevating operation according to the height and depth of each step. From such a viewpoint, the present inventor investigated stairs installed in various places, and there was a certain difference in height and depth for each stair, and thus there was also a difference in the inclination angle of the entire stair. It was confirmed that there was no significant difference between the height and depth of each step.

Accordingly, in a stair climber, if the pitch can be adjusted to one of the stairs, the stair can be raised and lowered stably, and the pitch of the ground contact portion that captures each step of the stair can be made variable. If it is possible to perform the elevating operation in accordance with the pitch of each stair, it becomes possible to apply the stair elevator to elevating the stairs at various places.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is based on the above considerations, and the technical problem thereof is to make a stair climber applicable to the ascending and descending of an arbitrary staircase. Without installing, and furthermore, in the stair climber, it is possible to move up and down at a variable pitch a ground contact portion that captures each step of the stairs, and more specifically, in a stair climber adopting a crawler type driving mechanism, The pitch of the grounding plate at the grounding part of the crawler belt is variable,
That is, it is to enable the adjustment of the distance between the grounding plates. Another technical object of the present invention is to provide a stair climber capable of changing the pitch even during traveling.

[0006]

A crawler-type stair climber according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is provided with a crawler belt for traveling driven by a drive source on a body thereof, and the crawler belt includes a large number of crawler belts. Connect the ground plate to each
And adjust the pitch to those connecting members
Move the projecting protrusion in the direction perpendicular to the running direction of the grounding plate
Variable pitch mechanism that makes the distance between ground plates variable
The above-mentioned body has a ground plate.
Guide the pitch-adjusting projection at the ground contact
Claw that adjusts the position of the main plate in the direction perpendicular to the running direction
And a pitch adjusting means for adjusting the distance between the grounding plates in the grounding portion by using the guides .

In the above crawler type stair climbing machine, the connecting member having the variable pitch mechanism is moved between the grounding plates by moving the pitch adjusting protrusion projecting to the rear side thereof in the direction perpendicular to the running direction of the grounding plate. It can be constituted by a link mechanism for adjusting the distance. In the crawler-type stair climbing machine, a driving unit guide that acts on a variable pitch mechanism of a connecting member at a position other than the grounding portion of the grounding plate in the crawler belt on the body to maintain a constant distance between the grounding plates. In the portion where the distance between the grounding plates is kept constant by the driving unit guide, the teeth of the driving wheels that are rotationally driven by the driving source can be meshed with the driving engaging portions of the grounding plate in the crawler belt. .

[0008]

In the crawler-type stair climbing machine having the above structure, the crawler belt is driven by the driving source for traveling, and the position of the crawler guide constituting the pitch adjusting means of the grounding plate is adjusted when the stairs are moved up and down. When adjusted to match, the pitch adjusting projection of the connecting member is guided by the crawler guide whose position is adjusted, and the pitch between the grounding plates is adjusted in the link mechanism constituting the connecting member. As a result, at least in a portion where the ground plate is grounded, the distance between the ground plates is adjusted to match the pitch of the stairs.

When the connecting member, the position of which has been adjusted by the crawler guide, reaches the portion of the driving portion guide, the driving portion guide acts on the pitch variable mechanism of the connecting member so that the space between the adjacent grounding plates can be reduced. Is adjusted to match the pitch of the teeth of the driving wheel that is rotationally driven by the driving source. Therefore, in the crawler belt driving unit, the grounding plate is always kept at a constant interval, and the crawler belt is driven smoothly regardless of the stair pitch.

Further, when the pitch between the grounding plates is adjusted in the link mechanism constituting the connecting member by the crawler guide, the entire length of the crawler belt changes. By adjusting the distance between the grounding plates with the variable pitch mechanism of the connecting member in the part and the part other than the part meshing with the driving wheel for driving, it can be kept almost constant.

[0011]

1 and 2 show a basic configuration of an embodiment of a crawler type stair climber according to the present invention. This crawler-type stair climbing machine includes crawler belts 12 and 22 for running independently driven by motors 11 and 21, which are driving sources, on the left and right sides of a body 10 so that the crawler belt can run on flat ground by driving the stairs. 1 can be moved up and down. The crawler belts 12, 22 are formed by variably connecting a plurality of grounding plates 13, 23 indicated by chain lines via a connecting member having a variable pitch mechanism (not shown) so that the distance between the grounding plates is variable. An example of the specific configuration is shown in FIGS.

Referring to an example of the crawler belt shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the crawler belt 62 shown in FIG. 3 is formed by connecting a large number of ground plates 63 via a connecting member 64 having a variable pitch mechanism. In FIG. 4, a state in which the upper connecting member 64 has the narrowest interval between the adjacent ground plates 63 (pitch: P _MIN ), and a lower connecting member 64 has the widest ground plate interval (pitch: P _MIN ). Pitch: P _MAX )
Is shown.

Each ground plate 63 has a substantially rectangular ground plate main body 65 and end plates 66, 66 attached to both ends thereof.
Connecting shafts 67, 6 installed before and after the ground plate body 65
And a friction member 68 such as rubber is joined to the ground surface of the ground plate main body 65. When the stair climbing machine moves up and down the stairs by moving forward, the friction member 68 shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, it can be made into a triangular cross section provided with two inclined surfaces that touch the ground at each of the ascent and descent of the stairs, but when it is assumed that the aircraft retreats when descending the stairs , A single inclined surface as shown in FIG. In these cases, the inclined surface of the friction member 68 has an average inclination angle of a general staircase.
The friction member 68 is not limited to the illustrated example,
In general, a shape or a structure suitable for traveling on a flat surface and ascending and descending a stair may be used.

On the other hand, the connecting member 64 is
It is constituted by a link mechanism having a variable pitch mechanism for variably connecting the distance between them. This link mechanism includes a pair of links 70, which are rotatably connected at the center by pins 71,
The connecting pieces 72, 73 are rotatably connected to both ends of the link 70, respectively, and the connecting pieces 72 provided at one end of both links are rotatably connected around the connecting shafts 67, 67 of the adjacent ground plates, and are connected by stoppers 74. Connecting piece 7 in the axial direction of shaft 67
2 are connected to each other by blocking the movement of the link 2, and the connecting piece 73 provided at the other end of both links is likewise rotatably connected to the adjacent connecting shaft 67.
In addition, the connecting shaft 67 is slidably connected in the axial direction, and a pitch adjusting projection 75 projects from the connecting piece 73 to the rear side of the connecting member 64. The connection of the links 70 to the connection pieces 72 and 73 is to enable rotation in a plane including the axis of the connection shaft 67 to which the connection pieces are attached or in a plane parallel thereto.

Therefore, each of the grounding plates 63 and the connecting members 64 are connected to the connecting members 72 and 73 of the connecting members 64 so as to be rotatable with respect to the connecting shaft 67 of the grounding plate. By rotating the pitch adjusting projection 75 in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the ground plate 63 by an external force, the minimum pitch P _MIN shown in the upper part of FIG. Pitch P
It is possible to adjust the distance between the ground plate 63 and the _MAX, and thus a link mechanism having a variable pitch mechanism is configured.

In the stair climbing elevator shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of crawler belts 12 and 22 having the structure illustrated here are provided on the left and right sides of the body 10, and the body 1
The motor 11 is independently driven for traveling by the motors 11 and 21 while being guided by the fixed guides 14 and 24 on the vehicle 0. The body 10 has at least the grounding plates 13 and 23 of the crawler belts 12 and 22 respectively. Crawler guides 15 and 25 functioning as pitch adjusting means for adjusting the distance between adjacent grounding plates in the portion where the grounding is performed,
It is arranged on the back side of the crawler belts 12,22.

The crawler guides 15 and 25 are provided with pitch-adjusting projections 16 on a connecting member schematically shown in FIG.
26 (corresponding to the pitch adjusting projection 75 in FIGS. 3 to 5) are provided with guide grooves 17 and 27 for guiding the movement of the crawler guide itself along the guides 18 and 28 for lateral movement. The distance between the grounding plates 13 and 23 can be adjusted by moving the pitch adjusting projections 16 and 26 in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the ground.
In order to move the crawler guides 15 and 25, the body 10 is provided with a pitch control shaft 53 that is rotationally driven from a pitch control motor 51 via a speed reduction mechanism 52, and one end of the pitch control shaft 53 is provided with a ball screw. 19 is provided with a ball screw 29 in the opposite direction at the other end.
9 and 29, the crawler guides 15 and 25 can be simultaneously moved inside or outside the body 10. In addition, the guide grooves 17 of the crawler guides 15 and 25,
The introduction portions of the pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26 at the tip of the 27 are opened in a trumpet shape to facilitate introduction of the pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26.

Accordingly, when the crawler guides 15 and 25 are moved to the inside of the body 10 via the ball screws 19 and 29 by the rotation drive of the pitch control motor 51, the connecting members at the grounding portions of the crawler belts 12 and 22 are moved. The pitch adjusting projections 16 and 26 are used for the crawler guide 15,
25 moves inward while being guided by the 25 guide grooves 17, 27, thereby increasing the interval between adjacent grounding plates. Conversely, the pitch control motor 51 causes the crawler guides 15, 25 to move the body 10 Of the crawler belts 12, 22, the pitch adjusting projections 1
6 and 26 are the guide grooves 17 of the crawler guides 15 and 25,
It moves outwardly guided by 27, thereby reducing the spacing between adjacent ground plates.

The adjustment of the distance between the grounding plates will be described with reference to the crawler belt 62 shown in FIGS.
3 is moved to the left and right in FIG. 3 by the crawler guide. Therefore, the link mechanism constituting the connecting member 64 is driven, and the distance between the grounding plates 63 is the minimum pitch P _MIN and the maximum pitch shown in FIG. It is adjusted between the pitch _PMAX .

Accordingly, in the stair climbing machine shown in FIG. 2, the pitch adjusting means on the body 10, which is constituted by the crawler guides 15, 25 and a mechanism for moving the crawler guides, is provided.
Acting on the mechanism for varying the pitch of the connecting members in the ground plates 13 and 23, the distance between the ground plates in the ground portion is adjusted. Therefore, if the distance between the grounding plates is adjusted to match the pitch of the stairs to be raised and lowered, the stairs can be raised and lowered very stably.

Depending on various conditions, the crawler guides 15, 25 may be used to adjust the pitch of the connecting members 16 and 26 of the connecting members between the ground plates that are currently grounded by friction between the ground and the ground plates 13 and 23. There is a possibility that the motor cannot be moved to an expected position by driving the pitch control motor 51 while guiding the motor. Including such a case, the crawler guides 15 and 25 are provided with a pitch control motor 51 before and after.
The drive mechanism is provided, and the front and rear parts are individually driven and controlled, and gradually moved from the front part so that the movement gradually reaches the rear part, or the crawler guide itself is divided and installed, A drive mechanism including the pitch control motor 51 can be provided independently of each other.

On the other hand, in order to drive the crawler belts 12 and 22, the connecting members are provided on the body 10 at positions other than the grounding portions of the grounding plates 13 and 23 on the crawler belts 12 and 22, such as at the rear end. The drive unit guide 3 which acts on the pitch variable mechanism in the above-described embodiment and maintains the distance between the adjacent ground plates 13 and the adjacent ground plates 23 constant.
1, 41 are provided. The drive unit guides 31, 41
Is the pitch adjusting projection 1 guided by the guide grooves 17 and 27 of the crawler guides 15 and 25.
6 and 26 are also provided with funnel-shaped guide grooves 32 and 42 having an enlarged inlet side for guiding the same to a predetermined position.
As a result, the pitch adjusting projections 16 and 26 are guided so that the distance between adjacent ground plates becomes the minimum pitch P _MIN .

The drive units of the crawler belts 12 and 22 are provided with axles 34 and 44 driven by drive sources 11 and 21 such as motors or engines via reduction gears 33 and 43, and these axles 34 and 44 are provided with driving wheels. 35, 45 and drive wheels 36, 46 are mounted. The driving wheels 35 and 45
When the ground plates 13 and 23 are at the above-mentioned minimum pitch P _MIN , the members corresponding to the connecting shafts 67 and 67 erected before and after the ground plate main body 65 in FIGS. The driving wheel 3 is used as a driving engagement portion.
5, 45 teeth are meshed with each other, but it is not always necessary to drive the ground plates 13, 23 at the minimum pitch P _MIN . An engaging portion can be separately provided.

In the crawler-type stair climbing machine having the above-described structure, the crawler belt 1 is driven by the driving sources 11 and 21.
When the stairs 1 are moved up and down, the positions of the crawler guides 15 and 25 constituting the pitch adjusting means of the grounding plates 13 and 23 are set at the stair pitch (need to know in advance). When adjusted to match, the crawler guides 15, 25 whose positions have been adjusted guide the pitch adjusting projections 16, 26 of the connecting member, and adjust the pitch between the grounding plates in the link mechanism constituting the connecting member. As a result, at least in the portion where the ground plates 13 and 23 touch the ground, the distance between the ground plates is adjusted to match the pitch of the stairs.

When the connecting members, the positions of the pitch adjusting projections 16 and 26 adjusted by the crawler guides 15 and 25, reach the drive unit guides 31 and 41, the guide grooves 32 of the drive unit guides 31 and 41 are used. Reference numeral 42 guides the pitch adjusting projections 16 and 26 of the connecting member so that the distance between the adjacent grounding plates is adjusted by the driving sources 11 and 21 so that the driving wheel 3 is rotated.
Adjusted to fit 5,45 tooth pitch. Therefore, in the drive units of the crawler belts 12 and 22,
The grounding plates are always kept at a fixed interval, and the crawler belts 12, 22 are driven smoothly regardless of the pitch of the stairs.

Further, when the pitch between the grounding plates is adjusted in the link mechanism constituting the connecting member by the crawler guides 15 and 25, the entire length of the crawler belts 12 and 22 changes. And the driving wheels 35, 45 for driving the ground contact portion and the crawler belt.
By adjusting the distance between the ground plates 13, 13 and the distance between the ground plates 23, 23 by using a variable pitch mechanism of the connecting member in a portion other than the meshing portion of the connecting member, the distance can be maintained substantially constant. This adjustment is appropriately performed without particularly guiding the pitch adjusting projections 16 and 26. However, if necessary, the pitch adjusting projections 16 and 26 are provided at the return side portions of the ground plates 13 and 23.
Means may be provided for adjusting the distance.

[0027]

According to the stair climber of the present invention described in detail above, a fixed structure is not installed on the stairs, and the ground contact portion that captures each step of the stairs in the stair climber is moved up and down at a variable pitch. With the simple means of enabling operation, the crawler type stair climber can be applied to climbing any stairs.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing a basic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view schematically showing the configuration of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged rear view showing an example of a crawler belt.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along a line AA in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 stairs, 10 fuselage, 11,21 drive source, 12,22 crawler belt, 13,23 ground plate, 15,25 crawler guide, 16,26 pitch adjusting protrusion, 17,27 guide groove, 31,41 drive unit Guides, 32, 42 guide grooves, 35, 45 driving wheels, 62 crawler belts, 63 ground plates, 64 connecting members, 67 connecting shafts, 70 links, 75 protrusions for pitch adjustment.

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] An airframe is provided with a crawler belt for traveling driven by a driving source, and the crawler belt connects a plurality of ground plates to respective connecting portions.
Connected through a material and the connecting members
Move the adjusting protrusion in the direction perpendicular to the running direction of the grounding plate.
Pitch machine with variable distance between grounding plates
It constituted by providing the structure, to the aircraft, the pitch adjustment of the ground portion of the ground plate
A direction perpendicular to the running direction of the grounding plate by guiding the adjusting protrusion
A crawler guide for adjusting the position of the crawler, and pitch adjusting means for adjusting the distance between the grounding plates in the grounding portion , thereby providing a crawler-type stair climber. 2. The stair climber according to claim 1, wherein the connecting member having the variable pitch mechanism is moved by moving a pitch adjusting protrusion projecting to the rear side thereof in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the grounding plate. A crawler-type stair climber , comprising a link mechanism for adjusting a distance between ground plates. 3. The stair climbing machine according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the ground plates is adjusted by acting on a pitch variable mechanism in a connecting member at a position other than the ground portion of the ground plate on the crawler belt on the body. A drive guide for maintaining the distance constant between the grounding plates is provided by the drive guide, and the teeth of the driving wheels that are rotationally driven by the driving source are engaged with the ground plate on the crawler belt in a portion where the distance between the ground plates is maintained constant. A crawler-type stair climber, which is meshed with a section.