JPH07223562A - Crawler type staircase elevator - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To apply a staircase type elevator for the rising and lowering of an arbitrary staircase, by operating a grounded part for catching each stage of the staircase elevator, without installing a fixed structure body for the elevator, on the staircase. CONSTITUTION:A machine body is equipped with the crawler belts 12 and 22 for the traveling driven by driving sources 11 and 21. As for the crawler belt, a number of grounded plates 13 and 23 are connected through a connecting member which is constituted of a link mechanism having a pitch varying mechanism so that the distance between the grounded plates can be varied. On the machine body, the crawler guides 15 and 25 which guide the pitch adjusting projectors 16 and 26 for the connecting member at the grounded parts of the grounded plates 13 and 23, and adjusts the distance between the grounded plates at the grounded part of the grounded plate are installed. In the drive for each crawler belt 12, 22, the distance between the grounded plates is kept constant by the driving part guides 31 and 41, and drive is carried out at the part by the driving source.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a crawler type stair lift for use in raising and lowering stairs of a wheelchair for persons with disabilities as welfare equipment, or for carrying heavy objects on stairs.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Stairs at train stations, public buildings, shopping centers, etc. are not only a major obstacle for wheelchairs, which are a general means of transportation for people with disabilities, but also for carrying heavy objects. . Various stair lifts have been proposed in order to solve such a problem. However, there are not many stair lifts that can be applied to not only a specific staircase but also an arbitrary staircase and that can perform a stable lifting operation.

In order to be able to apply the stair lift to any stair lift, it is essential to avoid attaching a fixed installation structure to the stairs, but at the same time, the stair lift itself must be staircased. It is necessary to perform the lifting operation according to the height and depth of each step in. From this point of view, the present inventor investigated the stairs installed at various places, but there is a certain difference in height and depth between the stairs, and thus there is a difference in the inclination angle of the stairs as a whole. For the two stairs, it was confirmed that there was no great difference in the height and depth of each step.

Therefore, in the stair lift, if the pitch can be adjusted to one step of the stair, the stair can be stably moved up and down, and the pitch of the grounding portion that captures each step of the stair can be made variable. If it is possible to perform the lifting operation according to the pitch of each stair, it becomes possible to apply the stair lift to the lifting of stairs at various places.

[0005]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention is based on the above consideration, and its technical problem is that a structure fixed to a staircase is provided so that the stairlifter can be applied to ascend and descend any staircase. In addition, the grounding part that captures each step of the stairs in the stair lift can be moved up and down at a variable pitch without installing a stair lift, and more specifically, in a stair lift using a crawler type drive mechanism, The pitch of the ground plate in the ground part of the crawler belt can be changed,
That is, the distance between the ground plates can be adjusted. Another technical problem of the present invention is to obtain a stair lift that can change the pitch even while running.

[0006]

A crawler-type stair lift according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is basically provided with a crawler belt for traveling driven by a drive source in the machine body. The belt is constructed by connecting a large number of ground plates variably with the distance between the ground plates via a connecting member having a pitch changing mechanism, and acts on the pitch changing mechanism of the connecting member in the ground portion of the ground plate on the above-mentioned aircraft. Then, pitch adjusting means for adjusting the distance between the ground plates at the ground portion is provided.

In the above-mentioned crawler type stair lift, the coupling member having the pitch varying mechanism is moved between the ground plates by moving the pitch adjusting protrusion projecting to the back side thereof in the direction orthogonal to the running direction of the ground plates. The pitch adjusting means may be a crawler guide that guides the pitch adjusting projections to adjust the position of the ground plate in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction. Further, in the crawler type stair climber, a drive unit guide that acts on the pitch varying mechanism in the connecting member at a portion of the crawler belt other than the grounding portion of the grounding plate to keep the distance between the grounding plates constant. In the portion where the distance between the ground plates is kept constant by the drive part guide, the teeth of the driving wheel rotated by the drive source can be engaged with the drive engaging part of the ground plate in the crawler belt. .

[0008]

In the crawler type stair lift having the above structure, the crawler belt is driven for traveling by the drive source, and when the stair is moved up and down, the position of the crawler guide constituting the pitch adjusting means of the ground plate is adjusted to the pitch of the stair. When the adjustment is made so as to match with the above, the pitch adjusting protrusion of the connecting member is guided by the crawler guide whose position is adjusted, and the pitch between the ground plates is adjusted in the link mechanism that constitutes the connecting member. As a result, at least in the portion where the ground plate is grounded, the distance between the ground plates is adjusted to match the pitch of the stairs.

When the connecting member of which the position of the pitch adjusting protrusion is adjusted by the crawler guide reaches the portion of the driving portion guide, the driving portion guide acts on the pitch varying mechanism of the connecting member to cause a gap between the adjacent ground plates. Is adjusted to match the pitch of the teeth of the driving wheel that is driven to rotate by the drive source. Therefore, in the drive portion of the crawler belt, the ground plates are always held at a constant interval, and the crawler belt is driven smoothly regardless of the pitch of the stairs.

Further, if the pitch between the ground plates is adjusted in the link mechanism that constitutes the connecting member by the crawler guide, the overall length of the crawler belt changes, but this change in length causes the ground contact in the crawler belt. By adjusting the distance between the ground plates by the pitch varying mechanism of the connecting member, it can be held substantially constant except for the portion and the portion that meshes with the driving wheel for driving.

[0011]

1 and 2 show the basic construction of an embodiment of a crawler type stair lift according to the present invention. This crawler type stair lift is equipped with crawler belts 12 and 22 for traveling, which are independently driven by motors 11 and 21 which are drive sources, on the left and right sides of the machine body 10, and can drive on stairs while traveling on a flat ground. 1 can be moved up and down. The crawler belts 12 and 22 are configured by connecting a large number of ground plates 13 and 23 indicated by chain lines so as to variably connect the distance between the ground plates through a connecting member having a pitch changing mechanism (not shown). Then, an example of the specific configuration is shown in FIGS.

An example of the crawler belt shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 will be described. The crawler belt 62 in FIG. 3 is formed by connecting a large number of ground plates 63 via a connecting member 64 having a pitch varying mechanism. 4A and 4B, a state in which the connecting member 64 shown on the upper side has the narrowest space between adjacent ground plates 63 (pitch: P _MIN ) and a state in which the connecting member 64 shown on the lower side has the widest space between the ground plates ( Pitch: P _MAX )
Is shown.

Each ground plate 63 has a substantially rectangular ground plate body 65 and end plates 66, 66 attached to both ends thereof.
Connecting shafts 67, 6 installed in front of and behind the ground plate body 65
7, and a friction member 68 such as rubber is joined to the ground surface of the ground plate body 65. When the stair lifter moves up and down the stairs by advancing, the friction member 68 shown in FIG.
As shown in, the cross-section can have a triangular shape with two inclined surfaces that come into contact with the ground each time the stairs are lifted or lowered. , A single inclined surface as shown in FIG. The inclined surface of the friction member 68 in these cases has an average inclination angle of a general staircase.
The friction member 68 is not limited to the illustrated example,
Generally, the shape or structure should be suitable for traveling on a flat surface and climbing stairs.

On the other hand, the connecting member 64 is connected to each ground plate 63.
It is composed of a link mechanism having a pitch variable mechanism for variably connecting the distance between them. This link mechanism includes a pair of links 70 whose center is rotatably connected by a pin 71.
The connecting pieces 72 and 73 are rotatably connected to both ends of the link 70, respectively, and the connecting piece 72 provided at one end of both links is rotatably around the connecting shafts 67 and 67 of the adjacent ground plates and is connected by the stopper 74. Connecting piece 7 in the axial direction of the shaft 67
The connecting piece 73 provided at the other ends of both links is connected to the connecting shaft 67 so as to be freely rotatable.
Further, the connecting shaft 67 is slidably connected in the axial direction, and the pitch adjusting projection 75 is projected from the connecting piece 73 to the back side of the connecting member 64. The connection of the links 70 to the connecting pieces 72, 73 is made rotatable in a plane including the axis of the connecting shaft 67 to which the connecting pieces are attached or a plane parallel to the axis.

Therefore, each ground plate 63 and the connecting member 64 are rotatably connected to the connecting shafts 72 of the connecting member 64 with respect to the connecting shaft 67 of the ground plate so that they can be rotatably connected to each other in the same manner as a normal crawler belt. It is rotatably connected, and by moving the pitch adjusting protrusion 75 in a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the ground plate 63 by an external force, the minimum pitch P _MIN shown in the upper part of FIG. Pitch P
It is possible to adjust the distance between the ground plates 63 with respect to _MAX, and these constitute a link mechanism having a pitch varying mechanism.

In the stair lift shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a pair of crawler belts 12 and 22 having the structure as illustrated here are provided on the left and right sides of the machine body 10.
0 is driven by the fixed guides 14 and 24 on the 0 and independently driven for traveling by the motors 11 and 21, but at least the ground plates 13 and 23 of the crawler belts 12 and 22 are mounted on the airframe 10. In the portion to be grounded, the crawler guides 15 and 25 functioning as pitch adjusting means for adjusting the distance between the adjacent ground plates,
It is arranged on the back side of the crawler belts 12 and 22.

The crawler guides 15 and 25 are provided with pitch adjusting protrusions 16 on the connecting members, which are schematically shown in FIG.
26 (corresponding to the pitch adjusting protrusion 75 of FIGS. 3 to 5) is provided with guide grooves 17 and 27, and the crawler guide itself moves along the guides 18 and 28 for lateral movement to the ground plates 13 and 23. The distance between the ground plates 13 and 23 can be adjusted by moving the pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26 in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the.
Due to the movement of the crawler guides 15 and 25, the machine body 10 is provided with a pitch control shaft 53 that is rotationally driven from a pitch control motor 51 through a reduction mechanism 52, and one end of the pitch control shaft 53 has a ball screw. 19 and a ball screw 29 in the opposite direction at the other end,
It is configured such that the crawler guides 15 and 25 can be simultaneously moved to the inside or the outside of the machine body 10 by 9, 29. In addition, the guide grooves 17 of the crawler guides 15, 25,
The introduction portion of the pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26 at the tip of 27 is opened like a trumpet in order to facilitate the introduction of the pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26.

Therefore, when the crawler guides 15 and 25 are moved to the inside of the machine body 10 via the ball screws 19 and 29 by the rotational driving of the pitch control motor 51, the connection members of the crawler belts 12 and 22 at the ground contact portions are connected. The pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26 are the crawler guides 15,
It moves inward in a state of being guided by the guide grooves 17 and 27 of 25, thereby opening the gap between the adjacent ground plates, and conversely, the pitch control motor 51 causes the crawler guides 15 and 25 to move. Of the crawler belts 12 and 22 when moved to the outside of the
6, 26 are guide grooves 17 of the crawler guides 15, 25,
It moves outward while being guided by 27, thereby narrowing the spacing between adjacent ground plates.

The adjustment of the distance between the ground plates will be described with reference to the crawler belt 62 shown in FIGS.
5 is moved to the left and right in FIG. 3 by the crawler guide, so that the link mechanism that constitutes the connecting member 64 is driven, and the distance between the ground plates 63 is the minimum pitch P _MIN and the maximum pitch shown in FIG. Adjusted to pitch P _MAX .

Therefore, in the stair lift of FIG. 2, the pitch adjusting means on the machine body 10, which is composed of the crawler guides 15 and 25 and a mechanism for moving them, is
It acts on the pitch varying mechanism of the connecting members of the ground plates 13 and 23 to adjust the distance between the ground plates at the ground portion. Therefore, if the distance between the ground plates is adjusted so as to match the pitch of the stairs going up and down, the stairs can be moved up and down extremely stably.

Depending on various conditions, the crawler guides 15 and 25 are provided with pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26 for connecting members between the ground plates that are actually grounded due to friction between the ground and the ground plates 13 and 23. There is a possibility that it will not be possible to move to the desired position by driving the pitch control motor 51 while guiding the. In such a case, the crawler guides 15 and 25 have the pitch control motor 51 before and after the crawler guides 15 and 25.
A drive mechanism is provided to control the front and rear parts individually and gradually move from the front part so that the movement gradually extends to the rear part, or the crawler guide itself is installed in a plurality of divided parts. A drive mechanism including the pitch control motor 51 can be provided independently of each other.

On the other hand, in order to drive the crawler belts 12 and 22, the connecting member is provided on the machine body 10 at a position other than the grounding portions of the ground plates 13 and 23 of the crawler belts 12 and 22, such as the rear end portion. Drive unit guide 3 that acts on the pitch varying mechanism in to keep the distance between the ground plates 13 adjacent to each other and the ground plates 23 adjacent to each other constant.
1, 41 are provided. This drive unit guide 31, 41
Is a pitch adjusting protrusion 1 guided at any position by the guide grooves 17 and 27 of the crawler guides 15 and 25.
In order to guide 6, 6 to a predetermined position, funnel-shaped guide grooves 32, 42 having widened inlet sides are provided.
Thereby, the pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26 are guided so that the distance between the adjacent ground plates becomes the minimum pitch P _MIN .

The drive parts of the crawler belts 12 and 22 are equipped with axles 34 and 44 which are driven by drive sources 11 and 21 such as motors or engines via speed reducers 33 and 43, and these axles 34 and 44 are driven by wheels. 35, 45 and drive wheels 36, 46 are attached. The driving wheels 35 and 45 are
When the ground plates 13 and 23 are at the above-mentioned minimum pitch P _MIN , the members corresponding to the connecting shafts 67 and 67 that are erected before and after the ground plate body 65 of FIGS. 3 to 5 have a constant pitch. The driving wheel 3 is used as a driving engaging portion.
Although the teeth 5, 5 are meshed with each other, it is not always necessary to drive the ground plates 13, 23 at the minimum pitch P _MIN, and for driving the other parts of the ground plates 13, 23. The engaging portion can be provided separately.

In the crawler type stair climbing machine having the above structure, the crawler belt 1 is driven by the drive sources 11 and 21.
When driving the stairs 1 up and down by driving 2 and 22 for traveling, the positions of the crawler guides 15 and 25 constituting the pitch adjusting means of the ground plates 13 and 23 are set to the pitch of the stairs (need to be known in advance). When adjusted to match, the crawler guides 15 and 25 whose positions have been adjusted guide the pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26 of the connecting member, and the pitch between the ground plates is adjusted in the link mechanism that constitutes the connecting member. As a result, at least in the portion where the ground plates 13 and 23 are grounded, the distance between the ground plates is adjusted to match the pitch of the stairs.

When the connecting members whose positions of the pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26 are adjusted by the crawler guides 15 and 25 reach the portions of the drive unit guides 31 and 41, the guide grooves 32 of the drive unit guides 31 and 41, The guide wheel 42 guides the pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26 of the connecting member, and the distance between the adjacent ground plates is rotationally driven by the drive sources 11 and 21.
Adjusted to fit 5,45 tooth pitch. Therefore, in the drive unit of the crawler belts 12 and 22,
The ground plates are always held at a constant interval, and the crawler belts 12 and 22 are smoothly driven regardless of the pitch of the stairs.

Further, when the pitch between the ground plates is adjusted in the link mechanism which constitutes the connecting member by the crawler guides 15 and 25, the overall length of the crawler belts 12 and 22 changes, but this change in length does not occur. , The above-mentioned ground contact portion of the crawler belt and the driving wheels 35, 45 for driving
By adjusting the distances between the ground plates 13 and 13 and between the ground plates 23 and 23 by the pitch varying mechanism of the connecting member, it is possible to keep them substantially constant except for the meshing part with. This adjustment is appropriately performed without particularly guiding the pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26, but if necessary, the pitch adjusting protrusions 16 and 26 may be provided at the return side portions of the ground plates 13 and 23.
A means for adjusting the guide can be attached.

[0027]

According to the stair lift of the present invention described in detail above, a fixed structure is not installed on the stairs, and the ground contact portion for catching each step of the stairs is lifted at a variable pitch. The crawler-type stair lift can be applied to the lifting of any stair by the simple means of being operable.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing the basic configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom view schematically showing the configuration of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged rear view showing an example of a crawler belt.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the same.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 stairs, 10 machine bodies, 11,21 drive sources, 12,22 crawler belts, 13,23 ground plates, 15,25 crawler guides, 16,26 pitch adjusting protrusions, 17,27 guide grooves, 31,41 drive parts Guides, 32, 42 guide grooves, 35, 45 moving wheels, 62 crawler belts, 63 ground plates, 64 connecting members, 67 connecting shafts, 70 links, 75 pitch adjusting protrusions.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A vehicle body is provided with a crawler belt for traveling driven by a drive source, and the crawler belt is capable of varying the distance between the ground plates via a connecting member having a pitch varying mechanism. It is configured by connecting, and the aircraft body is provided with pitch adjusting means for adjusting the distance between the ground plates at the ground portion by acting on the pitch varying mechanism of the connecting member at the ground portion of the ground plate. Crawler type stair lift. 2. The stair lift according to claim 1, wherein the pitch adjusting protrusion projecting to the rear side of the connecting member having the pitch varying mechanism is moved in a direction orthogonal to the running direction of the ground plate. It is composed of a link mechanism that adjusts the distance between the ground plates, and the pitch adjusting means is a crawler guide that guides the pitch adjusting protrusions to adjust the position of the ground plate in the direction orthogonal to the traveling direction. Crawler type stair lift. 3. The stair lift according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pitch varying mechanism in the connecting member acts on the machine body at a position other than the grounding portion of the grounding plate of the crawler belt, and the distance between the grounding plates is increased. A drive unit guide that holds the ground plate constant is provided, and at the portion where the distance between the ground plates is held constant by the drive guide, the teeth of the driving wheels that are driven to rotate by the drive source are engaged for driving the ground plate on the crawler belt. A crawler-type stair climber characterized by being engaged with a section.