JPH05338475A - Small electric motor car - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a small electric motor car which can automatically stop its running even if an operator strongly grasps an accelerator lever and operates the same to the maximum speed operation side in error in case of emergency and can allow brake operation on both right hand side and the left hand side by means of a simple structure. CONSTITUTION:An intermediate part 10b for interlocking for linking together respective right and left grasping parts 10a, 10a of an accelerating lever 10 disposed in such a manner as to be freely grasped and operated in conjuection with a pair of right and left grip parts 9 of an operating handle is integrated with the grasping parts 10a, 10a. A detecting means 10 is provided for elastically energizing the accelerating lever 10 in such a manner as to be separated from the grip parts 9 in the grasping direction, and also for regulating the position of the accelerating lever in such a manner as to regulate the movement in the separating direction in a designated position, and for detecting the condition of the accelerating lever 10 coming close to the grip parts 9 from its regulating position against the energizing force by the displacement of the intermediate part 10b, and further there is provided a running stop means 19 for stopping run of a car body, interlocking with the detecting operation of the detecting means 18.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small electric vehicle used for assisting walking of a person with difficulty walking, such as the elderly. More specifically, the accelerator lever for setting the traveling speed of the vehicle body is provided with a pair of left and right steering handles. The present invention relates to a small electric vehicle that is arranged near the grip portion so as to be freely gripped together with the grip portion.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of small electric vehicle,
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-276850, a brake lever for performing a braking operation is provided only at one of a right-hand operation position and a left-hand operation position of a steering handle so that the brake lever can be grasped and operated separately from an accelerator lever.

[0003]

However, while the accelerator lever is being gripped and operated, for example, when an obstacle suddenly appears in front, the brake lever should be operated regardless of whether or not the brake lever should be operated. There was a risk that the driver would hurry to squeeze the accelerator lever and operate it at the maximum speed. Also, since the brake lever was provided only on one of the left and right sides of the steering wheel, depending on the operator, the lever may not be gripped by the right hand or the left hand. It was desirable to have a structure that allows brake operation in both cases. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in an emergency, the driver can automatically stop traveling even if the driver accidentally squeezes the accelerator lever and strongly squeezes the highest speed operation, and has a simple structure. An object of the present invention is to provide a small electric vehicle that can be braked with either the right hand or the left hand.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a small electric vehicle according to the present invention has the above-mentioned structure and has an intermediate portion for connecting left and right grip portions of the accelerator lever with the grip portion. And an elastic member for elastically biasing the accelerator lever so as to separate from the grip portion in the gripping direction, and position regulation so that movement in the separating direction is regulated at a predetermined position. The vehicle body is provided with detection means for detecting the state of proximity to the grip portion against the biasing force of the accelerator lever more than the regulation position thereof by the displacement of the intermediate portion. A characteristic configuration is that a traveling stopping means for stopping traveling is provided. The actions and effects of this characteristic configuration are as follows.

[0005]

In other words, since the left and right grips of the accelerator lever are integrally formed via the intermediate portion, the accelerator can be operated by gripping at least one of the left and right grips, and the accelerator can be operated. The lever is elastically supported in a position regulated at a predetermined position so as to be separated from the grip in the gripping direction, and when the accelerator lever is strongly gripped, it is detected that the middle part of the accelerator lever is displaced from the position regulation position. The displacement is detected by the means, and the vehicle traveling is stopped by the traveling stopping means based on the detection result. Further, in a normal operation state in which the operator does not squeeze strongly, the accelerator lever is simply rotated around the axis of the lateral axis about the regulation position, and the accelerator is operated. Since the vehicle is not separated from the vehicle, the vehicle will not be unduly stopped.

[0006]

As described above, according to the present invention, when an emergency stop is required, even if the accelerator lever is accidentally put in the highest speed operation state and the operator strongly squeezes it, the operation can be stopped and the brake operation can be performed. The operability of the brake operation can be improved because the operation can be performed by gripping only one of the right hand and the left hand. Further, since the detecting means is provided so as to detect the displacement state of the intermediate portion of the accelerator lever, one detecting means is not required even if two detecting means are provided so that the left and right grips of the accelerator lever can detect the displacement. Since the displacement can be detected when only one of the left and right of the accelerator lever is strongly gripped by only providing the means, the number of detecting means to be installed can be reduced and the structure can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 shows an example of a small electric vehicle. This small electric vehicle includes a front wheel 2 which is steered by a steering wheel 1 and a pair of left and right rear wheels 4 which are driven by an electric motor 3.
4 is supported by the vehicle body frame 5, and a seat 6, a battery 7 and a control device 8 for driving an electric motor are mounted above the rear wheels 4, 4.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the steering wheel 1 is provided with a pair of left and right grip portions 9 and 9 for the operator to operate the steering wheel, and is gripped together with the grip portions 9 and 9. A rearward opening state of the support bracket 12 provided on the control panel 1A in a state in which the operable accelerator lever 10 can swing up and down around the horizontal axis P and is elastically biased upward by the first spring 11. It is engaged with and supported by a pair of left and right cutouts 13, 13. The accelerator lever 10 is provided with grip portions 10a, 10a that can be gripped together with the left and right grip portions 9, 9 at both left and right end portions formed by symmetrically bending one rod-shaped body. 10a, 10a so as to connect the 10a
b is provided. And, the engagement support to the notch portions 13 and 13 is performed by the intermediate portion 10 as shown in FIGS.
b, the accelerator lever 10 is separated from the grip portions 9, 9 and the cutout portions 13, 13
The accelerator lever 10 is elastically supported by the pair of left and right second springs 14 and 14 so as to come into contact with the inner end portion of and to be regulated in position. Further, a potentiometer 16 for detecting the turning angle of the accelerator lever 10 is linked via a link member 15 that is connected to the intermediate portion 10b, and an output signal of the potentiometer 16 is input to the control device 8. I am trying. And this control device 8
Drives the electric motor 3 based on the signal from the potentiometer 16 so that the traveling speed is proportional to the swing angle of the accelerator lever 10 from the non-operating posture, and when the accelerator lever 10 is in the non-operating posture, Motor 3
Is stopped, and the electromagnetically operated brake 17 interposed between the electric motor 3 and the rear wheels 4 and 4 is braked.

As shown in FIG. 1, the front end of the accelerator lever 10 at the center position on the left and right sides is of a limit switch type capable of detecting that the rear side of the accelerator lever 10 is strongly gripped. The detection means 18 is provided, and the output signal of the detection means 18 is provided to the control device 8.
I am trying to type in. And this detecting means 18
Means that the accelerator lever 10 has both the notch parts 13, 13
When the inner end of the accelerator is in contact with the switching operation part of the detecting means 18, the accelerator lever 10 is in contact with the control device 8 and a detection signal indicating that the accelerator lever 10 is held at the normal position is provided. Is output to the accelerator lever 10 against the biasing force of the second spring 14, and the grip portion 9 is pulled to the alligator operation, and the accelerator lever 1
When 0 is separated from the inner end portion of at least one of the notches 13 and 13, the switching operation portion of the detection means 18 and the accelerator lever 10 are released from contact, so that the accelerator lever 10 is in the normal position. The non-detection signal indicating that the signal is held at is output to the control device 8. In the control device 8, when the signal from the detecting means 18 is the detection signal, the traveling control based on the signal from the potentiometer 16 is performed and the detecting means 18 is performed.
When the signal from is the non-detection signal, the electric motor 3 is stopped and the electromagnetically operated brake 17 interposed between the electric motor 3 and the rear wheels 4 and 4 is braked. ing. Here, the control means 8 and the electromagnetically-operated brake 17 constitute a travel stopping means 19. Incidentally, the linkage structure between the potentiometer 16 and the accelerator lever 10 has a flexible structure in which the influence of the displacement of the accelerator lever 10 due to the strong grip operation as described above does not cause damage to the potentiometer 16.

With the above structure, when the operator needs to board the small electric vehicle and make an emergency stop, the accelerator lever 10 is strongly operated to the highest speed operation position to switch the detecting means 18. Travel stop means 1
The vehicle body travel is automatically stopped by operating 9. Since the accelerator lever 10 is engaged and supported by the pair of left and right cutouts 13 and 13, as described above, even if the left hand or the right hand is strongly gripped, the accelerator lever 10 can be operated. Since the intermediate portion moves rearward, the detecting means 18 can be operated to detect.

Since the accelerator lever 10 can also be used for the brake operation, it is not necessary to provide the steering handle 1 with a lever dedicated to the brake operation.

Next, a tilt handle structure capable of changing the operating posture of the steering handle 1 back and forth will be briefly described. As shown in FIGS. 3A, 3 </ b> B, and 4, the handle shaft portion 20 of the steering wheel 1 includes a base portion 20 </ b> A that supports the front wheels 2 and is pivotally supported on the vehicle body frame 5, and the base portion 20 </ b> A. In addition, the upper shaft portion 20B is pivotally supported about the horizontal axis Q so as to be swingable back and forth. Upper part 20
The pivot point of B is composed of a plate member, and an elliptical through hole 21 is formed in this plate member, and a top member 22 that can be fitted into this through hole 21 is fixed with one bolt 23. The base portion 20A is fixedly held. Top member 22
The knock pin holes 2 formed at different positions along one arc centering on the axial direction of the screwing direction of the bolt 23.
One pin 25 to be fitted in 4 ... With this configuration, the tilt posture of the handle is fixed and held by fastening the bolt 23, and the tilt posture is changed by loosening the bolt 23 and inserting the pin 25 of the top member 22 into the appropriate knock pin hole 24, and then the bolt. It can be done by just fastening 23.

Next, the bumper structure will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 5, a flat plate disposed along the front end side portion of the vehicle body frame 5 at the lower edge portion of the front cover 26 that is continuously provided on the vehicle body frame 5 at the front portion of the vehicle body to protect the front wheels 2. The bumper member 27 is attached to the vehicle body by sandwiching the flange portion 27a that is continuously provided along the upper edge portion of the bumper member 27 with the vehicle body frame 5. The bumper member 27 is provided with a switch 28 capable of detecting that an obstacle has come into contact with the bumper member 27. When the switch 28 detects that the obstacle has come into contact with the bumper member 27, the signal is input to the control device 8. The traveling stop means 19 is operated to stop traveling.

It should be noted that reference numerals are given in the claims for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the accompanying drawings by the entry.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a steering wheel.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view showing a steering wheel.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a structure for changing a tilt posture of a steering handle.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional front view showing a tilt posture changing structure of a steering handle.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional side view showing a bumper structure.

FIG. 6 is an overall side view showing a small electric vehicle

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control handle 9 Grip part 10 Accelerator lever 10a Grip part 10b Intermediate part 18 Detecting means 19 Travel stopping means

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An accelerator lever (10) for setting a running speed of a vehicle body is arranged near a pair of left and right grips (9) of a steering handle (1) so that the operator can grip the grip together with the grips (9). A small electric vehicle comprising: an intermediate portion (10b) linking the left and right hand grips (10a), (10a) of the accelerator lever (10) with the hand grip (10a);
(10a) and the accelerator lever (1
0) is elastically biased so as to be separated from the grip portion (9) in the gripping direction, and is positionally regulated so that the movement in the separation direction is regulated at a predetermined position. ) Is provided with a detection means (18) for detecting a proximity state to the grip portion (9) against the biasing force from the regulated position, by the displacement of the intermediate portion (10b),
A small electric vehicle provided with a traveling stopping means (19) for stopping the vehicle body traveling in synchronization with the detection operation of the detecting means (18).