JP3380893B2 - Electric wheelchair stair climbing mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair capable of climbing stairs.
More specifically, by providing a simple guide on the side wall of the stairs and attaching a simple lifting mechanism to the electric wheelchair, the stairs are mounted on the wheelchair using the drive motor of a normal electric wheelchair. The present invention relates to a stair-climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair that can also be lifted and lowered.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, when a user of a wheelchair moves up and down along stairs at a station or the like, there are many cases where a stair climbing device provided along a side wall of a stair is used. This stair lift device is usually a wheelchair placed on a moving table that can be moved up and down along a guide on the side wall of the stairs, and the moving table is electrically moved up and down. It is very effective in reducing the labor of the person who carries with the user.

However, in the above-mentioned stair climbing device, it is not necessary to always arrange the moving table somewhere on the side wall surface of the stairs, and since the moving table has a drive mechanism for raising and lowering, it is large. In addition, if a lockable cover is provided to prevent unnecessary use of the moving table or prevent damage, the entire device will become even larger, and they will interfere with the use of stairs by ordinary people. It will limit the use of stairs. Further, there is a problem that installation of the stair climbing device equipped with the above-mentioned moving table is relatively expensive.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair that solves the above problems, and the basic technical problem thereof has been previously proposed by the present inventor. Crawling type moving mechanism (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-27922)
(8) etc. is effectively used to significantly simplify the equipment installed on the stairs, and the electric wheelchair is equipped with a simple lifting mechanism that can move up and down the stairs to drive the wheelchair itself. It is an object of the present invention to provide a stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair that allows the stairs to be raised and lowered by a motor for driving.

In the above proposed crawl type moving mechanism, a guide rail is generally installed along the wall surface of stairs,
The movable table is slidably engaged with the guide rail, and while maintaining its posture, it can be moved along the guide rail by a driving mechanism. By providing several engaging elements around the rotating member provided at the tip of the rotating shaft of, the engaging elements are sequentially engaged with the drive guides juxtaposed on the wall surface to generate a driving force, The movable table can be moved along the guide rail at a substantially constant speed.

[0006]

A stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is provided for a wheelchair main body with respect to a guide rail provided on the electric wheelchair main body along the side wall surface of the staircase. Providing a plurality of engagement support members that slidably engage in a state in which the posture is kept constant, and a rotating member having a diameter smaller than that of the moving wheel of the electric wheelchair that rotates on the same or parallel axis. , A plurality of engaging elements are equally arranged around the rotating member, and the rotating member is made to be able to come into contact with and separate from the driving motor of the driving wheel by a clutch, while,
On the stairs where the electric wheelchair goes up and down, along the side wall surface,
While the guide rail is installed, the plurality of engaging elements on the rotating member are sequentially engaged with the guide surface by the rotation of the rotating member to provide the wheelchair body with a driving force along the ascending / descending direction of the stairs or a supporting force for preventing fall. It is characterized in that drive guides to be generated are arranged in a row.

In the stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair described above, it is effective to make the rotation transmitted from the output side of the driving motor for the moving wheel to the rotating member by the clutch at a low speed which is sufficiently reduced than the moving wheel by the reduction mechanism. .

In the stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair having the above structure, when the electric wheelchair reaches the top or bottom of the stairs to be lifted, a plurality of engaging support members provided on the wheelchair body are provided on the side wall surface of the staircase. When the wheelchair body is held in a constant posture by engaging with a guide rail provided on the wheel, the clutch is switched to transmit the driving force of the drive wheel driving motor to the rotating member. Is sequentially engaged with the guide surface of the drive guide provided on the side wall surface of the stairs, the driving force is applied to the wheelchair main body along the ascending / descending direction of the stairs, and the wheelchair main body is slidably engaged with the guide rail. While being held in a predetermined posture by the joint support member or the like, it is driven up and down along the stairs by its driving motor. When the wheelchair body descends down the stairs due to its own weight, the engaging element of the rotating member engages with the guide surface of the drive guide to exert a supporting force for preventing the wheelchair body from falling. It is also possible to provide a drive guide for driving and drive in both directions.

According to such a stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair, it is not necessary to always dispose the moving base of the electric wheelchair somewhere on the side wall surface of the stairs, and the motor for driving the electric wheelchair itself is not required. Since the stairs are raised and lowered by the driving force, the side walls of the stairs only need to be provided with a guide rail similar to a handrail that is generally installed and a drive guide with which the above-mentioned engaging elements engage, in a row. The equipment provided on the stairs can be significantly simplified so that they do not hinder the use of the stairs by the general public or partially limit the use of the stairs.

Further, in the electric wheelchair, a plurality of engaging support members slidably engaged with the guide rails, a rotating member for moving up and down stairs by using a drive motor, and the rotating member for driving the driving wheels. It is only necessary to attach a simple lifting mechanism such as a clutch that connects and disconnects with the motor, and the drive motor of the electric wheelchair itself is used to move up and down the stairs, so the structure added to that wheelchair is relatively simple, resulting in Moreover, it becomes possible to provide the stair climbing mechanism as a whole at low cost.

[0011]

1 and 2 show an example of the structure of an electric wheelchair used in the present invention, and FIG. 3 schematically shows the structure of a lifting mechanism of the electric wheelchair, and FIG. b)
Shows a modified example of the clutch and the speed reduction mechanism in FIG. Further, FIG. 5 shows the structure of the stairs for elevating and lowering the electric wheelchair and the guides provided on the side walls thereof in relation to the rotating member of the electric wheelchair.

In general, the stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair according to the present invention uses a drive motor for a normal electric wheelchair to allow the wheelchair to climb the stairs. The electric wheelchair shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is connected to a frame of the main body 1 of the drive motor 2 capable of forward and reverse rotations, a pair of left and right moving wheels 3 rotationally driven by the motor 2, and a steering device. In addition to the front steering wheel 4 and the operating device 6 for controlling the driving of the driving wheels 3 and the steering wheel 4, a seat necessary for the original wheelchair,
Equipped with armrests, backrests, leg rests and other equipment.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a pair of upper and lower guide rails 22 and 22 are provided on the side wall surface 21 of the staircase 20 which is going up and down.
The frame is provided with a plurality of engagement support members 8, 8 slidably engaged with the pair of guide rails 22, 22 while keeping the posture of the wheelchair body 1 constant. These engagement support members 8 may be anything that slides while holding the pipe-shaped guide rail 22 and moves the wheelchair body 1 along the guide rails 22, 22, and as shown in the drawings, The guide rail 22 may be configured by a plurality of rotatable rollers 8a that sandwich the guide rail 22 or the like, but may be configured by a pair of sandwiching pieces that slide while sandwiching the guide rail. These engagement support members 8 need to be rotated with respect to the frame of the wheelchair body 1 in accordance with the orientation of the guide rails 22, 22 that are curved from the horizontal state to the inclined state along the stairs. Mounted rotatably.

The engaging support member 8 serves to support the weight of the wheelchair body 1 on the guide rails 22 and 22, and at the same time, the wheelchair body 1 is stably held by the guide rails. It is also necessary to have a function to prevent dropping. It is desirable that the engagement support member 8 such as the roller 8a and the sandwiching piece has a function or a shape for preventing the falling, but the engagement support member 8 bears only the weight of the wheelchair. It is also possible to separately provide a means for preventing the engagement support member 8 from falling off the guide rail. The guide rails 22 and 22
Is constructed by providing a pipe-shaped member along the side wall surface 21 of the stairs, like the handrail of the stairs, but it can also be used as the handrail of the stairs.

Further, on the outside of the moving wheel 3 of the electric wheelchair, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, a disc-shaped rotating member 1 having a diameter smaller than that of the moving wheel 3 rotating on the same axis as the moving wheel 3.
0 is provided, and a plurality of engaging elements 11 are provided around the rotating member 10.
Are equally divided. These engaging elements 11 are preferably formed by projecting a rotatable roller vertically from the outer surface of the rotating member 10. However, these engaging elements 11 can slide on a drive guide 24 (FIG. 5) on the side wall of the stairs, which will be described later. If so, it does not have to be the roller.

This electric wheelchair is driven by connecting the clutch 13A from the output side of the driving motor 2 for driving wheels 3 by operating the operating device 6 (FIGS. 1 and 2), as schematically shown in FIG. The output shaft of the driving motor 2 is connected to the moving wheels 3 via the speed reducer 14A, and the output shaft of the driving motor 2 is connected to the rotating member 10 via the speed reducer 14B by connecting the clutch 13B. It is designed to be decelerated. The speed reducers 14A and 14B are
The required reduction ratio is obtained by combining the large and small gears schematically shown. Therefore, during normal traveling of the electric wheelchair on a flat surface, the moving wheels 3 are decelerated by the connection of the clutch 13A, and when the stairs are moved up and down, the clutch 13A is disconnected and the clutch 13B is connected at the same time to rotate the rotating member. 10 is connected to transmit the reduced rotation. When the rotation is transmitted to the rotating member 10, the rotation may be transmitted to the moving wheel 3 and the moving wheel may be made to idle temporarily.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show another example of the structure of the clutch and the speed reducer for transmitting the rotation from the drive motor 2 to the driving wheel 3 and the rotary member 10. FIG. 1A shows a case where the rotational axes of the driving wheel 3 and the rotating member 10 are deviated from each other in parallel, and the rotation is transmitted to them via the clutches 13A and 13B and the speed reducers 14A and 14B (structure is omitted). Is configured. Further, in FIG. 3B, the axes of rotation of the driving wheel 3 and the rotating member 10 are shown in FIG.
The same as in the case of, but the clutch 13A,
13B and the speed reducers 14A and 14B are different from those shown in FIG.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, a pair of upper and lower guide rails 22, 22 each having a pipe shape are installed along the side wall surface 21 of the stairs 20 through which the electric wheelchair moves up and down. Along with the rails 22, 22, a large number of drive guides 24 are arranged in a row. The drive guide 24 has a guide surface 24 on which the plurality of engaging elements 11 on the rotating member 10 are sequentially engaged by the rotation of the rotating member 10.
The wheelchair body 1 is provided with a and the engaging member 11 engages with the drive guide 24 to rotate, whereby a driving force is generated in the wheelchair body 1 along the vertical direction of the stairs 20. This drive mechanism corresponds to the crawl type moving mechanism previously proposed by the present inventor. In the illustrated example, two guide rails 22 are installed in parallel on the side wall surface 21 of the stairs 20, but the required number of guide rails 22 can be installed.

The drive guides 24 arranged on the stairs move when the rotating member 10 moves along the pair of guide rails 22, 22, that is, when the wheelchair body 1 moves.
Within the range of motion of the engagement element 11 on the rotary member 10 (between the straight lines L1 and L2 in FIG. 5), it is biased to one side (lower left side in the figure) of the movement locus L of the rotation center O of the rotary member 10. Are arranged side by side at regular intervals, and the guide surface 24a formed by the surfaces of the rotating member 10 is rotated when the engaging element 11 of the rotating member 10 engages with the guide surface 24a and rotates at a constant speed. Is a surface which gives a substantially constant velocity in the moving direction on the side wall surface 21 with respect to the center of rotation, and is a surface which is curved and inclined substantially like a cycloid curve and is arranged in parallel at a constant interval.

The length of the drive guides 24 is such that at least one engaging element 11 is always in the drive guides 24.
Each engaging element 11 in the return stroke until it engages with the guide surface 24a of the drive guide and engages with the guide surface 24a of the next drive guide. The length is formed so that it does not interfere with.

Therefore, in FIG. 5, one engaging element 11
While the rotating member 10 rotates in the counterclockwise direction in a state where the engaging member 11 is engaged with the guide surface 24a of the drive guide 24, the engaging member 11 moves on the guide surface 24a of the drive guide 24.
The wheelchair body 1 is moved in the traveling direction via the rotating member 10, but before the engaging element 11 is disengaged from the guide surface 24a and enters the return stroke, the next engaging element 11 is adjacent to the advancing direction one by one. Guide surface 24 of the drive guide 24 (upper left side)
a on the guide surface 24a, and the guide surface 24a is curved in a cycloidal curve at that time, the rotating member 10 is always moved on the wall surface of the building. It is possible to move at a substantially constant speed.

Since the rotation transmitted to the rotating member 10 requires a large driving force when climbing along the stairs, it is desirable that the rotation speed be sufficiently reduced by the reduction mechanism 14B than the moving wheels 3. For example, on a level ground, a wheelchair with a running speed of 100 m / min is 2 m / min on stairs
In the case of moving up and down with, if the rotation diameter of the engagement element 11 on the rotation member 10 is half the diameter of the moving wheel 3, the reduction ratio thereof is 1/25. As the deceleration mechanism 14B (FIGS. 3 and 4 (a) and (b)) for performing this deceleration, an appropriate mechanism can be adopted. For example, it is necessary at the stage of transmitting the rotation via a belt or a gear. You can also perform deceleration.

When the slope of the stairs 20 is steep and the wheelchair body 1 can descend the stairs 20 by its own weight when descending the stairs, the rotating member 10 is reversely rotated by the driving wheel driving motor 2, Engagement element 11 of rotating member 10
Is engaged with the guide surface 24a of the drive guide 24 to generate a supporting force that prevents the wheelchair body 1 from falling rapidly. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the slope of the stairs may be very gentle. If there is a landing in the middle of the stairs and it is necessary to drive the stairs up and down in both directions, the drive guides 2 for both up and down directions are provided in order to accommodate the up and down movements.
It is also possible to provide 4, 25 and drive in both directions.

The guide surface 25a of the drive guide 25 for slowly descending or horizontally moving is provided with the engaging element 11 on the rotating member 10.
Within the movement range of (between the straight lines L1 and L2 in FIG. 5),
The wheelchair main body 1 is moved (lowered) by arranging it in parallel with the drive guide 24 at a constant interval in parallel with the drive guide 24 and engaging the engaging element 11 of the rotating member 10 with the drive guide 25. Also, when the wheelchair body 1 tries to descend the stairs due to its own weight, the engaging element 1
1 engages with the guide surface 24 a of the drive guide 24, and exerts a supporting force for preventing the wheelchair body 1 from falling. When the wheelchair body 1 does not descend due to its own weight, a plurality of engaging elements are used in the same manner as when the stairs are raised by the drive guide 24 except that the rotation direction of the rotating member 10 by the drive motor 2 is reversed. 11 is sequentially engaged with the guide surface 25a of the drive guide 25, and the driving force in the descending direction of the stairs is generated in the wheelchair body 1. Even when the drive guides 24 and 25 for both the up and down directions are provided in this way, when the rotating member 10 rotates in the up and down direction, each of the engagement elements other than the engagement elements that move on the guide surface 24a or 25a is a drive guide. It does not interfere with 24 or 25.

Next, referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, when the wheelchair approaches the stairs, a pair of upper and lower guide rails 22, 22 are provided.
The engaging support members 8 and 8 are engaged with the rotating member 1
Equipment suitable for engaging the engaging element 11 of 0 with the drive guide 24 and starting to climb the stairs will be described. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the wheelchair travels on a level ground to reach the stairs 20.
When approaching, first, the upper and lower engagement support members 8,
8 is engaged with the pair of upper and lower guide rails 22, 22, respectively. At that time, it is necessary to adjust the position of the moving wheel 3 by aligning the running line of the wheelchair with the guide rail 22. Grooves 27 (a pair of left and right) provided on the traveling road are
The wheelchair can be positioned in the left-right direction by dropping the moving wheel 3 into the groove 27 when approaching the stairs.

Further, the wheelchair is driven by the rotation of the driving wheel 3, and the engagement element 11 of the rotary member 10 is driven by the drive guide 2.
It is necessary to engage with the guide surface 24a of No. 4 and switch to the drive for climbing stairs. Therefore, a roller 28 for idling the moving wheel 3 of the wheelchair is provided on the road surface at the position where this switching is performed. In the wheelchair in which the driving wheel 3 reaches the roller 28, the driving wheel 3 spins idle, so the clutch 13
When the rotating member 10 is rotated by switching the switch, the next engaging element 11 that engages with the guide surface 24a of the drive guide 24.
After engaging the first drive guide 24, the rotating member 10
Driving of the wheelchair main body 1 is started, and the wheelchair starts to climb the stairs. The groove 27 and the roller 28 have been described as being suitable for the case where the wheelchair approaches the stairs and starts to climb the stairs. Any other suitable means can be used.

In the stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair having the above structure, when the electric wheelchair reaches the top or bottom of the stairs to be lifted, the plurality of engaging support members 8 provided on the wheelchair body 1 are moved up and down. When the clutch 13 is switched and the driving force of the driving motor 2 for the driving wheel 3 is transmitted to the rotating member 10 in a state where the wheelchair body 1 is held in a constant posture while being engaged with the guide rail 22 provided on the side wall surface 21. , The engaging member 11 on the rotating member 10 is sequentially engaged with the guide surface 24a of the drive guide 24 provided on the side wall surface 21 of the staircase, and the wheelchair body 1 is given a driving force along the ascending / descending direction of the staircase. In a state where the guide rail 1 is held in a predetermined posture by the guide rail 22, the drive motor 2 drives the rail 1 up and down along the stairs 20.

According to this stair climbing mechanism, it is not necessary to always dispose the movable base of the electric wheelchair on the side wall surface of the staircase as in the prior art, and the driving motor 2 of the electric wheelchair itself is driven. Since the stairs are moved up and down by force, the side walls of the stairs need only be provided with a guide rail 22 similar to a handrail that is generally installed and a drive guide 24 with which the engaging element 11 engages. Well, the equipment provided on the stairs 20 can be remarkably simplified and can be manufactured at extremely low cost.

The electric wheelchair has a guide rail 22.
A plurality of engagement support members 8 slidably engaged with the vehicle, a rotary member 10 that moves up and down stairs using the drive motor 2, and a clutch 13 that connects and disconnects the rotary member to and from the drive motor 2 of the driving wheel 3. It suffices to attach a simple ascending / descending mechanism such as, etc., and since the drive motor 2 of the electric wheelchair itself is used for ascending / descending the stairs, the structure added to the wheelchair is relatively simple, and as a result It becomes possible to provide it at low cost as a whole. Further, according to such a stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair, the installation radius of the engaging element 11 in the rotating member 10 is made constant, and the positional relationship between the plurality of engagement support members 8 is made constant, so that The intervals between the plurality of guide rails 22 corresponding to the inclination, the installation positions of the drive guides, and the like are standardized, which can also reduce the cost.

In the illustrated stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair, the guide rails and driving wheels are depicted so as to interfere with each other depending on the inclination angle of the stairs or when the electric wheelchair moves on the landing of the stairs. Maybe, but it's only natural to design and manufacture them so they don't interfere with each other.

[0031]

According to the stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair of the present invention described in detail above, the crawl type moving mechanism previously proposed by the present inventor can be effectively used, and the equipment provided on the stairs can be remarkably simple. In addition, the electric wheelchair is equipped with a simple lifting mechanism that can move up and down stairs by using its drive motor, and the wheelchair drive motor moves the stairs up and down. Can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a configuration of an electric wheelchair used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the electric wheelchair.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing a configuration of a lifting mechanism for the electric wheelchair.

4 (a) and 4 (b) are explanatory views schematically showing another configuration example of the clutch and the speed reduction mechanism of the electric wheelchair.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a stairway for elevating and lowering the electric wheelchair and guides provided on the side wall thereof in relation to the rotating member of the electric wheelchair.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a drive guide when the electric wheelchair is driven up and down along stairs.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a portion where the electric wheelchair approaches a stair from a flat surface.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of a cross section orthogonal to the traveling direction of the electric wheelchair.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 wheelchair body 2 Drive motor 3 wheels 8 Engagement support member 10 Rotating member 11 Engagement element 13A, 13B clutch 14A, 14B Reduction mechanism 20 stairs 21 Side wall surface 22 Guide rail 24, 25 drive guide 24a, 25a guide surface

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electric wheelchair body is provided with a plurality of engagement support members slidably engaged with guide rails provided along side wall surfaces of stairs while the posture of the wheelchair body is kept constant. A rotating member having a diameter smaller than that of the moving wheel that rotates on the same or parallel axis as the moving wheel of the electric wheelchair is provided, and a plurality of engaging elements are equally arranged around the rotating member, and the rotating member is used as a clutch. It can be freely moved to and from the driving motor of the driving wheel by the side wall surface of the stairs where the electric wheelchair moves up and down.
While the guide rail is installed, the plurality of engaging elements on the rotating member are sequentially engaged with the guide surface by the rotation of the rotating member to provide the wheelchair body with a driving force along the ascending / descending direction of the stairs or a supporting force for preventing fall. A stair climbing mechanism for an electric wheelchair, which is characterized in that drive guides that generate are arranged in a row. 2. The electric wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein the rotation transmitted from the output side of the driving motor for the driving wheel to the rotating member by the clutch is set to a low speed sufficiently reduced by the reduction mechanism than the driving wheel. Stair lift mechanism.