JP3065554B2 - Electric wheelchair - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electric wheelchair.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Most of conventional manual wheelchairs in which a front wheel caster and a rear wheel are attached to a chair are of a type that can be folded in the width direction. There are three-wheeled scooter-type electric wheelchairs that can be divided into parts and mounted on an automobile, and those that fold the backrest of the steering wheel and the chair. The divided electric wheelchair is divided into four to five parts such as a battery, a chair, a traveling mechanism, and a handle. There are no three-wheel scooter-type electric wheelchairs that can be mounted on a compact folding station wagon.

[0003]

In 2010, an aged society will arrive. However, in the conventional electric wheelchair, since it is difficult for the elderly to disassemble and assemble it, it is impossible to load it on a car such as a station wagon without a caregiver. It is important that wheelchairs that support mobility that are important for the elderly can be stored in a compact shape when not in use, such as transporting them by car as a means of transportation for elderly people with weak legs and storing them in a narrow space at the entrance. Conditions. The present invention provides such a compactly foldable electric wheelchair to secure the means of transportation for elderly people whose body movements have declined but who do not need a caregiver to be able to stand alone, even when going out, and the aging that should occur. This is to contribute greatly to the welfare of society.

[0004] The problem to be solved by the present invention is to fold it into a compact shape, mount it on a general station wagon car without a wheelchair mounting device, etc., and transport it. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electric wheelchair which can be used by being lowered and which can be folded into a compact shape and placed on an eaves such as an entrance.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, the entire length of a wheelchair is shortened in the direction of the vehicle body by, for example, flipping or sliding a step portion at an intermediate portion between a handle and a seat, so that the handle can be folded. The lengthwise direction is shortened and the total height is reduced so that it can be mounted on the bed of a general station wagon (910 mm long, 1260 mm wide, and 770 mm high). It is desirable that the backrest can be folded. In addition, when mounting on a station wagon car, pass a wooden board or something similar to the loading platform and the road surface,
In the folded state, the user performs self-running from the side of the electric wheelchair and mounts it on the wagon carrier.

The present invention specifically provides the following electric wheelchairs.

[0007] The present invention, front wheel and a handle, front body having a handle portion having a handle column, vehicle rear portion having a rear wheel and the chair, step portion and is disposed between the front body and rear body an electric wheelchair comprising a backrest, the step portion is formed by reducing floor consisting of floor to reduce the vehicle length, even back
The handle portion has a folding fulcrum, and a part of the handle portion has a folding fulcrum, and when the length of the shortened floor portion of the step portion is reduced in the vehicle body direction, Folded to sit on or above the chair
And the body is almost circular or trapezoidal.
Structure is formed, and the shortened floor portion is connected to the vehicle body front portion.
Move the floorboard upward with the connection point with the step
Provided is an electric wheelchair characterized in that the wheelchair is contracted in the vehicle body length direction by moving .

The present invention provides an electric wheelchair, wherein the handle and the handle column are hinged, and the handle is positioned on the chair.

Preferably, the rear portion of the vehicle has a slide mechanism that allows the step portion to slide.

[0010] Preferably, a hinge structure is provided between the handle and the handle column, and the handle is positioned on the chair.

[0011] The present invention relates to a vehicle front provided with a handle portion including a front wheel, a handle, and a handle column, a vehicle rear provided with a rear wheel and a chair, and a step portion disposed between the vehicle front and the vehicle rear. An electric wheelchair comprising: a body folding structure having a substantially circular or substantially trapezoidal outer shape formed by the front part of the vehicle body, the rear part of the vehicle body, and the handle part.

The present invention relates to a vehicle body front provided with a handle portion including a front wheel, a handle, a handle column, and the like, a vehicle rear provided with a rear wheel and a chair, and a step portion disposed between the vehicle body front and the vehicle body rear. An electric wheelchair comprising: a vehicle body folding structure formed by the vehicle body front part, the vehicle body rear part, and the handle part;
The electric vehicle is characterized in that the vehicle body length is larger than the sum of the vehicle body front length and the vehicle body rear length but smaller than 910 mm, and the height is larger than the height of the handle column up to the folding point but smaller than 770 mm. Provide a wheelchair.

[0013] The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the description of each claim in the claims or the description of the means for solving the problems, and can be easily replaced by those skilled in the art. Range.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

As an embodiment, a three-wheeled scooter type electric wheelchair will be described.

The structure of the three-wheeled scooter-type electric wheelchair is composed of a battery, a drive system, a chair provided with a folding hinge on a backrest, and a rear portion of a vehicle body composed of structural members, a steering wheel, operation switches, front wheels, and structural members. It is composed of a front part of the vehicle body, and an intermediate part composed of a floor plate and a structural member on which feet for connecting these are put and a structural member.

The entire length of the vehicle body can be expanded or contracted by providing a telescopic mechanism (link mechanism or slide mechanism) at the intermediate portion and storing the floorboard at the rear of the vehicle body, bending it upward, or removing the floor plate and unlocking the telescopic mechanism. .

The expansion and contraction is performed, for example, by manually moving the front portion of the vehicle body, by using the bending force when bending the floorboard, by applying a brake to the front wheels, and moving the rear portion of the vehicle body by the drive system of the rear portion of the vehicle body.

For more positive expansion and contraction, the front and rear of the vehicle body and the rear part of the vehicle body are connected by screws, and the screws are rotated manually or by a motor. The details will be described below.

FIGS. 1 to 3 show an entire three-wheeled scooter type electric wheelchair.

The overall configuration includes a battery (not shown), a driving device (not shown), a chair 11, a rear wheel 4, and a backrest 1.
0, a vehicle body rear portion 43 including a handle 46, a handle column 47 (the handle and the handle column are referred to as a handle portion), and the front wheel 13;
It is composed of a step unit 45 disposed therebetween. The folding is performed by folding the handle 46, the handle column 47, the step portion 45, and the backrest 10. By folding as described above, as shown in FIG. 4, the bed (910 mm long, 12 mm wide)
60 mm, height 770 mm).

FIG. 4 is a view when the vehicle is stored in a station wagon. As you can see from this figure, the electric wheelchair is
A vehicle front 44, a vehicle rear 43 and a handle 46,
47, a vehicle body folding structure is formed, and when the structure is folded, the vehicle body length is larger than the sum of the vehicle body front length and the vehicle body rear length but smaller than 910 mm, and the height of the handle column 47 is It is larger than the height to the folding point but smaller than 770 mm.

In the figure, reference numeral 50 denotes a station wagon car,
51 indicates a rear seat.

FIGS. 5 to 9 show a link type step section floor plate flip-up type folding mechanism. FIG. 7 shows a configuration when the floorboard and the link are deployed. FIG. 9 shows the lock mechanism.

The vehicle body structure comprises a vehicle body rear portion 43 in which a driving device 3, a rear wheel 4, and a battery 5 are mounted on a rear frame 2.
And the front wheel 13 and the lower part of the handle column 1
4, the upper part 15 of the handle column and the front part 44 of the vehicle body to which the handle folding angle adjustment mechanism 16 is attached are connected by the link mechanism 7 arranged symmetrically to the left and right, and the floor plate 6 of the step part, the front part of the body and the rear part of the body are parallel. Link 9 to move
And a fixture 8 for fixing the link mechanism 7. The floor plate 6 has a link 9 and a fixing bracket 8 integrated with each other. The total length of the wheelchair with the chair 11 and the backrest 10 attached to it was shortened, and the height was reduced so that the wheelchair could be mounted on a station wagon and carried. At the time of use, the link mechanism 7 having the degree of freedom only in the lateral direction is restrained in the lateral direction by the fixing bracket 8, and it is safe against the compressive tension force, the torsional moment and the vertical and horizontal bending moments of the vehicle body. Configuration.

In folding, the floor plate 6 constituting the shortened floor portion is flipped up by human power with the rear end of the front part of the vehicle as a fulcrum, and the fixing bracket 8 of the link mechanism 7 is released. The link 9 is provided with a slack in the joint portion of the link 9 so that the floor plate 6 is raised to a position where the floor plate 6 does not interfere with the floor at the rear of the vehicle body. Acts to generate a force that brings them together. With this force, the vehicle body is shortened. When the folding is completed, the link 9 is fixed by the lock mechanism 12 for the link 9 attached to the floor plate. Further, the links 9 are arranged at two positions on the left and right sides in order to keep the front and rear portions of the vehicle body parallel during folding and storage.

To reduce the height direction, the backrest 10 is folded down and put on the chair 11. The handle releases the handle folding angle adjustment mechanism 16 and the handle column 1
5, and the grip is folded down on the folded back.

When the electric wheelchair of the present invention is used, the folding mechanism is extended by the reverse procedure to achieve the traveling mode.

FIG. 10 shows a handle folding angle adjusting mechanism 1.
6 is shown.

The handle folding adjustment mechanism is attached to the joint between the lower handle column 14 and the upper handle column 15. The structure consists of a hinge 2 with an angle adjustment plate
0 is joined to a hinge 17 attached to the upper part of 14 with a pin 26. The hinge 17 has a lock 18 and a cylinder 23
Is attached. In order to bend the handle column, the lock 18 attached to 17 is rotated by 180 ° about the shaft 27 together with the angle adjusting screw 19 so as not to interfere with the angle adjusting plate of the hinge 20 with the angle adjusting plate. As a result, the rotation of the hinge 20 with the angle adjusting plate is free, and the handle column can be bent. Angle adjustment is performed by adjusting the angle adjustment screw 19. When unlocking and locking, the cylinder 23
The piston 2 is adjusted by the pressing force adjusting screw 25 attached to the
4 is moved up and down, and the angle of the hinge 20 with the angle adjusting plate is adjusted by using the holding metal 21 for pushing up the angle adjusting plate of the hinge 20 with the angle adjusting plate and the relief of the pressing force adjusting spring 22 sandwiched between the angle adjusting plate. The adjustment plate is easily sandwiched between the lock 18 and the holding metal 21. Also,
The pressing pressure adjusting spring 22 reduces the impact from the handle transmitted to the occupant's hand when the electric wheelchair travels, and contributes to making the occupant less tiring.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a slide-type folding mechanism as another embodiment.

The link type step section floor plate flip-up type folding mechanism shown in FIG. 1 is a slide type folding mechanism. The configuration is such that two vertical rollers 29 for opposing a bending moment in the horizontal direction and two horizontal rollers 30 for opposing a moment in the vertical direction are attached to a guide 28 integrated with the rear part of the vehicle body symmetrically to the left and right. The left and right rollers are joined by a beam 31, and are constituted by a beam 32 integrated with the front part of the vehicle body attached to 31. Since the sliding mechanism is a roller, it is possible to expand and contract with a small force. This structure can resist torsion at the time of expansion and contraction, and keeps the front and rear portions of the vehicle body parallel with each other.
Can be one. When running and storing,
This is performed by a lock mechanism 12 that operates during folding and running. The expansion / contraction operation is the same as in FIG.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show a floor plate slide mechanism.

The link type step section floor plate flip-up type folding mechanism shown in FIG. 1 is different from the slide type folding mechanism shown in FIG. The configuration is such that a slide mechanism with a lock 34
, And is constituted by a slide mechanism 34 with a lock, a floor plate 36 and a beam 35 integrated with the front part of the vehicle body.
In this structure, since the locking slide mechanism 34 can withstand the bending moment, it can also withstand the torsional moment of the vehicle body. Fixing during traveling and storage is performed by a locking mechanism in the front-rear direction attached to a sliding mechanism with a lock 34 that acts during folding and traveling.
The expansion / contraction operation is performed by releasing the lock mechanism of the slide mechanism with lock 34 and moving the front wheel.

FIG. 15 shows an automatic telescopic device.

This device is for performing the conventional expansion and contraction by human power by a motor. The structure is such that the rotation of the DC motor 37 is reduced by the speed reducer 38, and the shaft 40 combined with a screw or a ball screw is rotated by the rotation of the output shaft of the speed reducer 38, so that the thrust direction or the thrust direction fixed to the rear of the vehicle body is achieved. And a mechanism for extending and contracting the vehicle body by a nut 41 meshing with a shaft fixing 39 having a fixed bending direction and a screw portion of a shaft 40 fixed to the front of the vehicle body.

FIG. 16 shows an automatic telescopic device.

This device is obtained by manually changing the device shown in FIG. The construction is such that the shaft 40 shown in FIG. 13 is extended to the rear part of the vehicle body, and a crank handle 42 is attached to the shaft 40 and turned.

1 to 16 can be freely combined to develop an electric three-wheeled scooter-type wheelchair of a floor jumping or floor sliding type. By removing the floor plates 6 and 36, it is also possible to combine only the mechanism of FIGS. 10 and 11 or the mechanism of FIGS. 10 and 11 with the mechanism of FIGS.

[0040]

According to the wheelchair body of the present invention, the structure is compact when stored so that it can be mounted and carried on a station wagon vehicle. Since the person can fold this compact structure by himself, the range of activities of tourist destinations by car can be expanded, which can greatly contribute to the aging society in the early 21st century.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a front surface of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an upper surface of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state where the electric wheelchair of FIG. 1 is stored in a station wagon.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment using a link mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state before the operation of the configuration of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration when a floor plate and a link are deployed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state after the operation of the configuration of FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a partial configuration diagram of a lock mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a handle folding angle adjustment mechanism.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of an embodiment using a slide-type folding mechanism.

FIG. 12 is a view showing the operation of the mechanism shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an entire configuration of an embodiment using a floor plate slide mechanism.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the operation of the configuration shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automatic expansion and contraction device using a motor.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a configuration of a manual automatic extension device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... front frame, 2 ... rear frame, 3 ... drive device,
4 rear wheel, 6 floor plate, 7 link mechanism, 8 fixing bracket,
9 link, 10 backrest, 11 chair, 12 lock mechanism, 13 front wheel, 14 lower handle column, 15
... handle column upper part, 16 ... handle folding angle adjusting mechanism, 17 ... hinge, 43 ... body rear part, 44 ... body front part, 45 ... step part, 46 ... handle, 47 ... handle column.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Yasuhiko Oshiro 3781-1, Nagaoka, Ibaraki-cho, Higashi-Ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture Inside the Ibaraki Industrial Technology Center (72) Inventor Rihide Otaka 3781 Nagaoka, Ibaraki-cho, Higashi-Ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture No. 1 in Ibaraki Prefectural Industrial Technology Center (72) Inventor Yoshio Fujinuma 3781-1 Nagaoka, Ibaraki-cho, Higashiibaraki-gun, Ibaraki Pref. 1 in Ibaraki Prefectural Industrial Technology Center (72) Inventor Tadashi Nagayama 2--17 Mikagaharacho, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture No. 10 (72) Inventor Shigeki Saito 2477 Takaba, Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki Pref.Hitachi Car Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shoichiro Sakurai 3781-1, Nagaoka, Ibaraki-cho, Higashiibaraki-gun, Ibaraki Pref. Technical Research Association (72) Inventor Isao Odaka 3781-1, Nagaoka, Ibaraki-cho, Higashi-Ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki Pref. (72) Inventor, etc.Harazawa et al. 3781-1, Nagaoka, Ibaraki-cho, Ibaraki-gun, Ibaraki Pref. 3781-1, Nagaoka, Ibaraki-cho Ibaraki Prefectural Elderly People Assistive Device Development Technology Research Association (56) References Hikaru 2-143930 (JP, U) Hikaru 1-82027 (JP, U) Hikaru 6 −81523 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 5-111928 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61G 5/04-5/04 506

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A front wheel, a handle, and a handle column.With
DoEquipped with a front part, a rear wheel and a chair with a handle
The rear of the vehicle,Located between the front and rear of the vehicle
Step partAnd backrestElectric wheelchair consisting of
In the child, the step portion shortens the vehicle lengthConsists of floorboardsShortened floor
Formed byThe backrest is fallen down and put on the chair,  The handle has a folding fulcrum, and a part thereof
However, the shortened floor portion of the step portion has a length in the vehicle body direction.
Located on or above the chair when retracted
likeFolded, almost circular or almost trapezoidal car
A body folding structure is formed, and The shortened floor portion connects the front portion of the vehicle body and the step portion.
By moving the floorboard upward with the continuation point as a fulcrum,
To be shrunk in the longitudinal direction An electric wheelchair. 2. The electric wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein a hinge is provided between the handle and the handle column, and the handle is located on the chair.