JP3715139B2 - Wheelchair footrest - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a footrest for a wheelchair using a swing-out system (a system in which a flipped-up footrest plate is swung in a substantially horizontal direction and retracted).
[0002]
[Prior art]
A wheelchair is generally a footrest provided with a footrest so that it can be retracted. For example, a wheelchair using a swing-out system is retracted by flipping up the footrest plate outward. That is, the footrest plate is lowered at the use position to be approximately horizontal and is in a use state. After jumping up from the use state to a retracted state, the swing arm is swung approximately horizontally to retract to the retracted position. Thereby, when the user of the wheelchair gets on and off, the suspension around the front of the wheelchair is released, and a wide space is secured.
[0003]
For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-31850 “Footrest in Wheelchair” is an example of a wheelchair using a swing-out type footrest. In order to keep the footrest used in a stable position, a locking projection is provided on the side surface of the swivel shaft that hangs down from the top of the swing arm, and this locking projection is fitted into the slit of the bearing provided at the front of the frame. The lock pipe extended from is placed on the stopper of the frame and fitted. The bearing also has a slit for keeping the footrest in the retracted position. When the footrest plate is swung from the use position to the retracted position, the footrest plate is once lifted upward to release the locking protrusion from the bearing and the lock pipe from the stopper. Conversely, when the footrest plate is turned to the use position, the swing arm is turned after lifting the footrest plate to release the locking projection from the bearing.
[0004]
No. 6-30178 “Footrest of wheelchair” also uses a fitting structure of a stopper and a lock pipe to hold the footrest stably at the use position and the retracted position, as in the above presentation technology. Yes. The difference from the above (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-31850) is that the stopper is pivotally supported with respect to the frame so as to be pivotable up and down. The swing arm is also provided with a piston rod that can come into contact with the stopper so as to move up and down. When the swing arm is turned to retract the footrest plate, the stopper is turned downward by pushing down the piston rod, and the engagement between the stopper and the lock pipe is released.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Each of the above conventional examples implements a swing-out method. However, the former (Act No. 57-31850) has a simple structure but is inferior in operability, while the latter (Act No. 6-30178) is superior in operability compared to the former, but the structure is complicated. Has drawbacks. In addition, as a problem common to both, there is an inconvenience in handling that the footrest plate must be moved while supporting the lock pipe released from the stopper. For this reason, various inconveniences arise when the user or the assistant handles the footrest board.
[0006]
As a specific example of inconvenience, there is a case where an assistant places a user on a wheelchair by himself without using a device such as a moving lift. In this case, both hands are blocked in order for the assistant to lift the user. For this reason, if you have forgotten to raise or retract the footrest board in advance, in order to ensure the safety of the user, operate the footrest board once and then use it again. Need to hold the person. Such assistance is cumbersome and requires a great deal of effort.
[0007]
There is a similar problem when the assistant removes the user from the wheelchair. Even when the user is lowered, it is desirable to reserve the foot space of the user by flipping the footrest plate in advance and retracting it. Since the user is already sitting in a wheelchair, the operation of the footrest plate is such that the assistant takes a low posture, lifts the user's foot with at least one hand, and the footrest plate with the remaining one hand, and The swing arm will be operated. However, in reality, it was almost impossible to release the lock pipe from the stopper with one hand and further turn the swing arm. Therefore, we examined and developed a footrest that can be realized with a simple structure and a low-cost swing arm that turns with simple operation.
[0008]
[Means for solving the problems]
What was developed as a result of the study was a wheelchair-side turning base that was supported by a footrest that supported the footrest plate so that it could be flipped up by pivotally supporting the mounting portion provided at the end of the swing arm where the footrest plate was attached. It is a footrest of the wheelchair which allocated and provided a pair of protrusions and groove parts which perform to a turning base and an attachment part, respectively.
[0009]
In the footrest of the present invention, the swing arm is restricted by the engagement of the protrusion and the groove. The swing arm can easily turn when a force is applied beyond the load for maintaining the engagement between the protrusion and the groove, and does not require any special operation such as releasing the lock pipe when retracting the footrest plate. . For example, even when the assistant lifts the user's foot with one hand, the footrest plate can be turned between the use position and the retracted position with the remaining one hand. Further, even when the assistant holds the user and both hands are closed, the assistant can easily retract the footrest with his / her foot even if the footrest is in the use position.
[0010]
As long as the user puts his / her foot on the used footrest plate, the protrusion and the groove are not engaged and the swing arm does not turn. However, if the footrest plate is unloaded, the presence of the up-and-down fluctuation width necessary for the groove portion to start to turn over the protrusion may cause the swing arm to rattle. Therefore, the protrusion and the groove are arranged between the lower end of the mounting portion and the portion of the turning base that supports the lower end and in a substantially vertical positional relationship, and a spring that presses the lower end of the mounting portion against the turning base. Arranged between the swivel base and the mounting part. This spring suppresses rattling of the swing arm, and restricts the mounting portion from excessively moving up and down when the groove portion gets over the protrusion. Thereby, if a protrusion and a groove part overlap, it can be engaged reliably.
[0011]
Moreover, in order to suppress the rattling of the swing arm, it can also be realized by regulating the rattling of the footrest plate in use. That is, when the footrest plate is in the use position and in a substantially horizontal use state, a pair of engaging portions are provided at the opposing portions of the footrest plate in order to regulate the rattling of the footrest plate in the substantially horizontal direction. Is provided. Since each footrest can only rotate in the flip-up direction, the swing arm swing is indirectly restricted by engaging each other, and swinging and swinging of the swing arm are completely (reliably) suppressed. it can.
[0012]
The footrest according to the present invention engages the protrusion and the groove when the footrest plate is in the use position. The stopper portion and the stopper portion are restrained from turning the swing arm just before the protrusion and the groove are completely engaged with each other, so that an internal force for complete engagement is generated between them. For example, if the protrusion of the swivel base is slightly displaced outward from the groove of the swing arm, an internal force is generated to move the groove outward and engage the protrusion. Always try to turn outward. As described above, the swing arm is in a tensioned state at the use position or the retracted position, and unnecessary rattling of the footrest plate is suppressed.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a water wheelchair (shower, toilet) wheelchair to which the footrest of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view showing a state where a footrest plate 1 of the footrest is in a use position, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of arrow A in FIG. 2 when mounting plate 1 is in the use position, FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of arrow A in FIG. 2 when foot mounting plate 1 is in the retracted position, and FIG. It is a fragmentary perspective view showing the state which meshed | combined a pair of planar view serrated engagement part provided in the butting | matching site | part of a board. When the present invention is applied to a wheelchair for water, there are many opportunities for the user to go up and down, such as taking a bath or using the toilet, and therefore, the present invention is particularly advantageous.
[0014]
The configuration of the wheelchair of this example will be described with reference to FIG. The seat plate 3 and the backrest 4 are installed on a pair of left and right frames 2, and a free caster 5 and a straight traveling wheel 6 are attached to the front and rear of the lower end of the frame 2. A retractable armrest 7 is attached to the side edge of the frame 2 following the backrest 4. The footrest of the present invention includes a swing arm 8 and a footrest plate 1 attached to the upper side of the free caster 5 at the front edge of the frame 2.
[0015]
The swing arm 8 is pivotally attached to the swivel bases 10 and 11 fixed to the front edge of the frame 2 with a mounting portion 9 provided at one end, and supports the footrest plate 1 that can be flipped up at the other end. The footrest plate 1 is provided with a pair of serrated engaging portions 16 at the abutment portion of the left and right footrest plates 1, 1 and each footrest plate 1 (in use state) that is tilted substantially horizontally at the use position is mutually connected. The engaging portion 16 is engaged so as to restrict the turning in the substantially horizontal direction (see FIG. 5). When the user gets on and off the wheelchair, as shown in FIG. 1, each footrest plate 1 is in a retracted state in which the footboard 1 is flipped outward from the use state (this is the use position), and if necessary, the swing arm 8 Is turned and retracted to the side of the frame 2 (retreat position).
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 2, the footrest is mounted on the frame 2 of the wheelchair with the pivot bases 10 and 11, and the mounting base 9 provided at the end of the swing arm 8 is pivotally supported by the pivot bases 10 and 11. This is a configuration in which the footrest plate 1 is supported at the other end of 8 such that it can be flipped up. In this example, the swivel bases 10 and 11 are arranged so as to be divided into upper and lower parts and sandwich the attachment part, so that the protrusion 12 which is one of the engagement parts is formed on the upper surface of the lower swivel base 11 and the other groove part is formed on the lower surface of the attachment part 9. 13 is formed. For the purpose of ensuring the engagement between them and suppressing the rattling of the swing arm 8 that swivels together, a spring 14 that biases the upper surface of the mounting portion 9 downward is interposed between the upper swiveling base 10 and the mounting portion 9. It is intervening. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the stopper base 15 that contacts the side surface of the swing arm 8 that is the stopper portion is provided with the turning base 10, so that the swing arm 8 does not turn beyond the use position or the retracted position. 11 is provided.
[0017]
Next, the movement of the footrest of the present invention will be described. In order to retract the footrest plate 1 in the use state at the use position seen in the solid line in FIG. In the use position and in the retracted state, a sufficient space can be secured around the undercarriage. In the present invention, when the force pulling the swing arm 8 forward in FIG. 1 exceeds the load applied to maintain the engagement between the protrusion 12 and the groove 13, the swing arm 8 can be started to turn. At this time, since the spring 14 pushes the attachment portion 9 downward, the attachment portion 9 does not rattle when the swing arm 8 turns. The swing arm 8 can be turned by, for example, pressing the user with his / her foot while holding the user with both hands. Moreover, also when returning the footrest board 1 from a retracted position to a use position, the swing arm 8 can be easily turned in the same procedure.
[0018]
In this example, when the footrest plate is moved from the use position to the retracted position, the swing arm 8 is turned 180 degrees. However, as can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the grooves 13 and 13 on the lower surface of the mounting portion 9 have an angle smaller than 180 degrees with respect to the protrusion 12 on the upper surface of the lower turning base 11 extending in the direction perpendicular to the frame 2. It is formed with. For this reason, for example, even when the footrest plate 1 is set to the use position, the protrusion 12 and the groove 13 are not completely engaged (see FIG. 3). The groove portion 14 is slightly shifted from the projection 12 and is always in a direction in which both of them are completely engaged. In the use position, a force to turn the swing arm clockwise in FIG. appear. This inherent force applies tension to the swing arm 8 and suppresses rattling of the footrest plate 1. This rattling prevention function also works on the footrest plate in the retracted position.
[0019]
When the footrest plate 1 is in the use position and in a substantially horizontal use state, an internal force is generated in the direction in which the protrusion 12 and the groove 13 are engaged with each other. In order to facilitate the swing of the swing arm 8 However, there is a concern about the occurrence of rattling because the force cannot be increased so much. Further, even when the user puts his / her foot on, there is a possibility that the protrusion 12 and the groove 13 are unexpectedly disengaged due to a large vibration or collision, such as overstepping a step during traveling. Therefore, in this example, a pair of serrated engagement portions 16 are provided at the abutting portions of the opposing footrest plates 1 and 1 to engage the footrest plates 1 with each other in the used state, and rattling in a substantially horizontal direction. And he tried not to allow turning.
[0020]
For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 5, the sawtooth engaging portion 16 of the present example has the side surface of the butted portion different in the butting direction and the horizontal direction. That is, the side surface in the abutting direction is constituted by a tapered surface 18 (tapered toward the lower surface) so that the tilted footrest plates 1 can be easily engaged with each other and easily lifted up. On the other hand, the horizontal side surface is divided into upper and lower stages for the purpose of preventing rattling and turning, and the vertical surface 17 that is in contact with the horizontal direction is the upper stage to prevent mutual interference when tilting and flipping up. It has a surface 18 on the bottom.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
The footrest according to the present invention makes it possible to select the use position or the retreat position of the footrest plate in a wheelchair by a simple operation, and in particular, rattling when the footrest plate is brought into a use state at the use position. Will be able to prevent. For example, even if the caregiver is holding the user with both hands, the swing arm can be operated without any burden, and if the footrest plate is in use, the swing arm will not be rattled at all. As a result, the burden on the caregiver is reduced, and it is possible to realize care that is smoother for the caregiver and safer and kinder for the user.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view of a water wheelchair to which a footrest of the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which a footrest plate of a footrest is in a use position.
3 is an enlarged view taken along arrow A in FIG. 2 when the footrest plate is in the use position. FIG.
4 is an enlarged view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2 when the footrest plate is in the retracted position. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view showing a state in which engaging portions of left and right footrest plates are engaged with each other.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Footrest board 2 Frame 3 Seat board 4 Backrest 5 Swivel caster 6 Straight wheel 7 Armrest 8 Swing arm 9 Mounting part
10 Up swivel base
11 Lower swivel base
12 Projections
13 Groove
14 Spring
15 Stopper
16 Serrated engagement part
17 Vertical plane
18 Tapered surface

Claims (3)

A swing arm mounting portion that supports the footrest plate so that it can be flipped up is pivotally supported by a pivot base on the wheelchair side, and a pair of protrusions and grooves to be engaged with, and a stopper portion and a stoppered portion to be a pair of contact portions DOO in the turning base and the mounting portion footrest assignment provided a wheelchair, respectively, the stopper portion and the stopper portion just before the fully engaged with projections groove reaches the footrest plates used position or the retracted position By restricting the swing of the swing arm, an internal force that tries to fully engage between the protrusion and the groove is generated, and the swing arm in the use position or the retracted position is put in a tension state, and the footrest plate is unnecessary. A footrest for a wheelchair characterized by suppressing backlash .   The swivel base is divided into upper and lower parts, sandwiching the mounting part, forming a protrusion on the upper surface of the lower swivel base, forming a groove on the lower surface of the mounting part, and a spring for urging the upper surface of the mounting part downward The footrest of the wheelchair of Claim 1 which interposed between the upper turning base part and an attachment part, made the side surface of a swing arm into a to-be-stopped part, and provided the stopper part in the up-and-down turning base part. When the footrest plate is in the use position and in a substantially horizontal state of use, a pair of engaging portions are provided at the opposing portions of the footrest plate in order to restrict the rattling of the footrest plate in the substantially horizontal direction. was請 Motomeko 1 or 2 wheelchair footrests described.

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