JP3910416B2 - Wheel with rotating body - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a wheel with a rotating body in which a plurality of non-turning rotating bodies that rotate in a direction orthogonal to the straight direction of the wheel are arranged for turning around the wheel.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a wheel with this type of rotating body, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-227404 discloses a roller-shaped rotating body that rotates in a direction perpendicular to the straight direction on a rotating shaft along the outer circumference of the wheel. A wheel in which a buffer member is disposed is disclosed. In Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-12829 or Japanese Patent Publication No. 10-500049, a large number of spindle-shaped rotating bodies are inclined with respect to the straight traveling direction on the premise that the driving wheels are provided. A wheel is disclosed.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
According to the former wheel, the turning body for turning does not turn unlike the caster, that is, without increasing the lateral width of the wheel, it runs in the lateral direction or diagonally while rotating the wheel according to the vector component force. However, a gap is inevitably generated between the front and rear ends of adjacent rotating bodies with a width corresponding to the diameter of the rotating body. Therefore, although a cushioning member is interposed in order to hold stones or the like in the gap, there remains room for improvement in terms of generating frictional resistance with the rotating body and being unable to rotate smoothly due to its non-rotation.
[0004]
On the other hand, according to the latter wheel, it is possible to travel in the lateral direction or the oblique direction without turning by the oblique turning rotating body. If the diameter of the wheel is increased in consideration of getting over and the vertical width of each rotating body is increased accordingly, the lateral width of the wheel, that is, the turning radius, is naturally increased by the inclined rotating body.
[0005]
Therefore, according to Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-222548, the present applicant arranges a plurality of rotating bodies that rotate in a direction orthogonal to the straight traveling direction of the wheel around the wheel, and each rotating body is centered on the axle. The rotating body is supported so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis that intersects with the radial direction, and the diameter of the tip of each rotating body is made smaller than the diameter of the base end to form an arc of the wheel outer circumference circle by the peripheral surface A wheel with a rotating body formed into a shape to make was proposed. This makes it possible not only to turn in the traveling direction like a caster, but also to turn the traveling direction of the vehicle freely and diagonally forward and backward, and to increase the wheel diameter so that the steps can be easily overcome. Even in this case, the gaps between the rotating bodies can be made as small as not interfering with each other.
[0006]
An object of the present invention is to further develop such a wheel with a rotating body that travels in all directions so as to alleviate the vibration at the time of the wheel or the impact at the time of collision and make it easy to get over the step in the lateral direction.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides, according to claim 1, a wheel with a rotating body in which a plurality of rotating bodies rotating in a direction orthogonal to the straight direction of the wheel are arranged around the wheel, A rotating body is supported so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis intersecting with a radial direction centered on the axle, and each rotating body has a peripheral surface with a diameter at the tip end smaller than that at the base end. Is formed into a shape that forms a circular arc of the outer circumference of the wheel , and the distal end portion is partially in the recess formed in the adjacent proximal end portion so that the distal end portion can be close to the proximal end portion of the adjacent rotating body. The head shaft, which protrudes upward from the upper end of the fork that supports the axle on both sides, moves up and down via an annular elastic body that surrounds the head shaft in a cylindrical bearing attached to the vehicle body. It is supported so as to be rotatable about a direction axis.
[0008]
The rotating body is rotatably supported on a rotation axis intersecting with the radial direction, and the diameter gradually decreases from the proximal end portion toward the distal end portion, or decreases once the diameter increases and the circumferential surface. To form a circle around the wheel. The tip of the small diameter proximal portion of larger diameter, closer possible next compared with the case of uniform diameter, yet by the tip penetrates into the recess of the base end portion of the other party, even the gaps between the rotary bodies Get smaller. When the wheel collides in the straight direction or the lateral direction, the head shaft deflects the elastic body and is displaced with a buffering action. When the wheels collide obliquely in the lateral direction, the head shaft deflects the elastic body and rotates in a direction perpendicular to the collision surface to obtain a buffering action, and rides in a direction perpendicular to the rising surface of the step. .
[0009]
Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 2, the head shaft projecting upward from the upper end of the fork that supports the axle on both sides is centered on the vertical axis of the cylindrical bearing portion attached to the vehicle body. And an elastic body that exhibits elastic resistance against rotation from the reference rotation position of the head shaft in the cylindrical bearing portion, or according to the invention of claim 3, A head shaft projecting upward from the upper end of the fork supported on both sides is supported by a cylindrical bearing portion attached to the vehicle body so as to be rotatable about an axis in the vertical direction, and the outer periphery of the head shaft. A key groove that tapers in the center direction is formed on the surface, and the corresponding tapered key is pressed into the key groove by being urged by the elastic body from the back toward the center in the cylindrical bearing part. The wheels can be Upon striking the transverse direction, likewise the head shaft rotates in the direction to become the orthogonal with a buffering action by bending an elastic body.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A wheel with a rotating body employed as a front wheel among four wheels of a wheelchair according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The front wheel 9 has a diameter large enough to easily overcome a step such as a sidewalk between the roads, and is orthogonal to the straight direction of the front wheel 9 around the rim 2 having the axle 1 at the center. A plurality of rotating bodies 10 having the same shape that rotate in the direction of the rotation are arranged.
[0011]
A rotating shaft in which each rotating body 10 is positioned on a rotating axis X1 that is coplanar with the radial circle with respect to the direction of the radius R1 centered on the rotating axis O of the axle 1 and that intersects obliquely with a deviation angle from the orthogonal direction. 26 is rotatably supported. The diameter of each rotating body 10 continuously decreases from the base end portion 11 toward the tip end portion 12 along the radius R1, and the circular arc 19 is obtained when the peripheral surface 19 is rotated to the wheel outer peripheral circle C1 of the front wheel 9. Therefore, each rotating body 10 is formed in a semi-spindle shape.
[0012]
Moreover, the peripheral surface 19 which penetrate | invaded partially into the outer peripheral side half of the conical surface-shaped recessed part 25 formed in the base end part 11 of the rotary body 10 to which the front-end | tip part 12 adjoins, and rotated to the wheel outer periphery circle | round | yen C1 is preferable. Can approach the base end portion 11 of the adjacent rotating body 10 with a gap 19a of about 1 mm to 5 mm.
[0013]
Further, the base end portion of the bearing arm 20 is attached to the peripheral surface of the rim 2, and enters the gap 27 between the peripheral wall 25 a on the rim 2 side of the recess 25 and the peripheral surface 19 on the rim 2 side, and further between the distal end portions 12. Are bent sequentially in the orthogonal direction with respect to the adjacent rotating shaft 26. As a result, the base side end of the rotating shaft 26 is supported at the midway position 21 of the bearing arm 20, and the tip side end of the rotating shaft 26 of the adjacent rotating body 10 is supported at the tip position 22.
[0014]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper end of the fork 7 that rotatably supports the axle 1 of the front wheel 9 of the wheelchair shown in FIG. 4 is provided below the leg 8 via a disk-shaped bearing base 31. A pin-shaped head shaft 32 supported by the cylindrical bearing portion 30 protrudes upward. The upper end of the shaft is rotatably abutted on the bearing base 31 and a bearing portion 30 formed integrally downward on the base portion is surrounded by an annular elastic body 35 made of synthetic resin such as rubber or urethane. The head shaft 32 is supported so as to be rotatable about a vertical vertical axis. The outer peripheral surface of the elastic body 35 is fixed to the bearing portion 30 by bonding or the like, and the inner peripheral surface is bonded to the head shaft 32 so that the front wheel 9 is supported in the traveling direction in a normal state.
[0015]
The operation of the wheelchair employing the front wheel 9 configured as described above is as follows. When the wheelchair, that is, the front wheel 9 is pushed in the straight traveling direction A, the rotating body 10 moves straight without rotating. Similarly, retraction is possible. The entire peripheral surface 19 of the rotating body 10 can form a substantially continuous wheel outer periphery circle C1, and the gap between the front and rear ends of the rotating body 10 is so small that the respective rotating operations do not interfere with each other. This prevents the stones from getting caught and ensures smooth running. Further, when the front wheel 9 collides with an obstacle, the head shaft 32 can be displaced rearward with respect to the bearing portion 30 by the elastic expansion and contraction of the elastic body 35, so that the impact is alleviated.
[0016]
When the wheelchair is pushed in the lateral direction, the grounded rotating body 10 rotates and the traveling direction of the wheelchair is changed to the lateral direction. When it is pushed diagonally, the front wheel 9 rotates about its axle 1 according to the component of the vector in which the traveling force is decomposed in the orthogonal direction, and the rotating body 10 also rotates about the rotating shaft 26 to rotate the wheelchair. The direction of travel turns diagonally forward or backward. That is, the vehicle can travel in all directions of 360 ° without widening the lateral width of the front wheel 9 due to the non-turning of the rotating body 10. Since the peripheral surface 19 of the rotating body 10 is continuous with the outer periphery of the front wheel 9 having a sufficient diameter, it is possible to easily get over the road surface step and the like without being caught. Since the rear wheel is not provided with the rotating body 10, the wheelchair gradually turns in that direction in a lateral or oblique traveling process, and goes straight.
[0017]
When the front wheel 9 collides with the rising surface of the step from the lateral direction, the front wheel 9 gets slightly displaced in the lateral direction with a buffering action due to the elastic body 35 surrounding the head shaft 32. At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, when the front wheel 9 collides with the rising surface 6a of the step 6 obliquely instead of perpendicularly from the lateral direction (solid line in the figure), the head shaft 32 bends the elastic body 35 and rotates. The front wheel 9 is straight with respect to the rising surface 6a of the step 6 (dotted line in the figure) and rides smoothly. When the oblique collision is released, the front wheel 9 returns elastically in the normal traveling direction.
[0018]
FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the head shaft portion at the upper end of the fork 7 according to another embodiment. A fan-shaped spring accommodating portion 47 smaller than 180 ° is formed in a concave shape in the bulging portion 48 bulging inward in the lateral direction of the cylindrical bearing portion 40 of the front wheel 9 on both sides. On the other hand, a plate-like spring seat 43 projects from the head shaft 42 inward in the lateral direction. Two coil springs 45 that are in pressure contact with both sides of the spring seat 43 are mounted on the spring accommodating portion 47. In the normal state, the front wheel 9 is directed straight in the balance of these springs. When the front wheel 9 collides obliquely with the step rising surface, one of the springs 45 is compressed, the other extends and rotates the head shaft 42 from the normal rotation position with a buffering action, and the side surface of the front leg 9 is made to interfere with the interference surface. Rotate to face up. When the side collision is released, the front wheels 9 are returned to the normal state by the coil springs 45 on both sides.
[0019]
FIG. 6 shows a configuration of a head shaft portion at the upper end portion of the fork 7 according to still another embodiment. The bearing portion 50 is formed with a box-shaped spring accommodating portion 58 that bulges inward in the lateral direction. On the other hand, a key groove 53 that is gradually tapered toward the center thereof is formed on the peripheral surface of the head shaft 52. A coil spring 59 is accommodated in the spring accommodating portion 58, and a tapered key 57 corresponding to the key groove 53 is urged from the back so that it can advance and retreat along the spring accommodating portion 58.
[0020]
In the normal state, as shown in FIG. 3A, the key 57 is engaged with the key groove 53 to support the rotational position where the head shaft 52 is directed in the straight direction. As shown in FIG. B, when the front wheel 9 collides obliquely with the interference surface and a rotational force is applied in the direction of the arrow shown in the drawing, the head shaft 52 rotates while the key 57 is retracted with a buffering action by a spring. As shown in FIG. 6C, when the impact is large, the keyway 53 is detached from the key 57 and rotates greatly to avoid the impact. When the collision is released, the front wheel 9 is manually rotated and the key 57 is engaged with the key groove 53 to return to the normal rotation position.
[0021]
The wheel with a rotating body described above as a front wheel can also be used as a rear wheel of a wheelchair or a caster of a carriage. Further, as a structure for rotatably supporting each rotating body on the rim, various configurations such as dividing the rotating body into two parts in the front and rear and supporting it at an intermediate position are conceivable. The present invention is naturally applicable to a case where both ends of the axle are rotatably supported by the fork and the rim is fixed to the axle.
[0022]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first to third aspects of the present invention, it is possible not only to turn the vehicle in the forward and backward oblique directions, but also to easily make a step difference, without the need to turn in the direction of travel unlike a caster. Even when the diameter of the wheel is increased so that it can get over , each rotating body can be made slightly small so as not to interfere with each other by making the diameter of the tip part smaller than the diameter of the base end part, The gap can be further reduced by the tip portion entering the concave portion of the base end portion of the other party . According to the first aspect of the present invention, the impact is reduced when the vehicle collides linearly or laterally, and the rotating body moves to the rising surface of the step when moving in the lateral direction when used in a wheelchair or a carriage. When the vehicle collides obliquely, the wheels rotate with a buffering action in the direction perpendicular to the surface, so that the overcoming ability is improved. Similarly, according to the inventions of claims 2 and 3, the ability to get over an oblique step is improved by the rotation accompanied by the elasticity of the wheel, and at the same time, a buffering action is obtained against an oblique collision.
[0023]
According to the invention of claim 4, the difference in diameter between the front and rear ends is increased by the semi-spindle shape, and the rotating bodies can be easily brought close to each other in order to reduce the gap.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a wheel with a rotating body according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 2A and 2B show a head shaft portion of a wheel with the same rotating body. FIG. 2A is a partial longitudinal sectional view thereof, and FIG. 2B is a partial transverse sectional view thereof.
FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the operation of the wheel with the rotating body.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a wheelchair that employs the wheel with the rotating body.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a bearing portion of a head shaft according to another embodiment.
6A and 6B are sectional views of a bearing portion of a head shaft according to another embodiment, where FIG. A is a normal state, FIG. B is a state where a small impact is applied to the front wheel in an oblique lateral direction, and FIG. This shows a state in which a large shock is applied to the front wheel in an oblique lateral direction.

Claims (4)

In a wheel with a rotating body in which a plurality of rotating bodies rotating in a direction orthogonal to the straight direction of the wheel are arranged around the wheel,
Each rotating body is supported so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis that intersects the radial direction about the axle, and each of the rotating bodies has a diameter at the tip end smaller than that at the base end. The front end is formed on the adjacent base end so that the front end can be close to the base end of the adjacent rotating body. Partially penetrates the formed recess,
A head shaft projecting upward from the upper end of the fork that supports the axle on both sides is provided in a vertical direction via an annular elastic body that surrounds the head shaft in a cylindrical bearing portion attached to the vehicle body. A wheel with a rotating body, which is supported so as to be rotatable about an axis. In a wheel with a rotating body in which a plurality of rotating bodies rotating in a direction orthogonal to the straight direction of the wheel are arranged around the wheel,
Each rotating body is supported so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis that intersects the radial direction about the axle, and each of the rotating bodies has a diameter at the tip end smaller than that at the base end. The front end is formed on the adjacent base end so that the front end can be close to the base end of the adjacent rotating body. Partially penetrates the formed recess,
A head shaft projecting upward at the upper end of a fork that supports the axle on both sides is supported by a cylindrical bearing portion attached to the vehicle body so as to be rotatable about an axis in the vertical direction, and A wheel with a rotating body, wherein an elastic body that exhibits elastic resistance against rotation from a rotation position of the head shaft in a normal state is housed in a cylindrical bearing portion. In a wheel with a rotating body in which a plurality of rotating bodies rotating in a direction orthogonal to the straight direction of the wheel are arranged around the wheel,
Each rotating body is supported so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis that intersects the radial direction about the axle, and each of the rotating bodies has a diameter at the tip end smaller than that at the base end. The peripheral portion is shaped to form an arc of a wheel outer periphery circle, and the distal end portion is formed at the adjacent proximal end portion so that the distal end portion can be close to the proximal end portion of the adjacent rotating body. Partially penetrates the recessed part,
A head shaft projecting upward at the upper end of a fork that supports the axle on both sides is supported by a cylindrical bearing portion attached to the vehicle body so as to be rotatable about an axis in the vertical direction, and A key groove that tapers in the center direction is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the head shaft, and a corresponding taper shape that is urged by an elastic body from the back toward the center in the cylindrical bearing portion and engages with the key groove. A wheel with a rotating body, wherein the key is housed so as to be able to advance and retreat relative to the keyway.   The wheel with a rotating body according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein each rotating body has a semi-spindle shape in which a diameter thereof is continuously reduced from a base end portion toward a tip end portion.

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