JPH08336559A - Wheelchair - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To prevent the edge of the clothing of a passenger who operates a hand rim from being stained due to contact with the rubber tire surface of a driving wheel. CONSTITUTION: In this wheelchair in which a driving wheel 8 of large diameter is arranged at the outside of armrests 4 on both sides of a main body frame 1, and a hand rim 11 of diameter smaller than that of the driving wheel 8 is fixed on the wheel of the driving wheel 8 via a connection member and it is arranged concentrically with the driving wheel 8 at the outside of the driving wheel 8, the outer periphery on the upper part of the driving wheel 8 is hidden with a wheel cover 12 mounted on the main body frame 1 in non- contact fashion.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wheelchair used as a means of transportation for people who have difficulty walking, and more particularly to an improvement of a wheelchair of a type in which a person on board operates a hand rim by himself.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a well-known manual type wheelchair, a caregiver holds a handgrip protruding to the upper rear part and pushes the wheelchair, and a person on board operates the handrim to move the wheelchair. There are usage patterns. There are armrests on both sides of the seat on which the user sits, and large-diameter drive wheels on both outer sides. The driving wheels are made of the same rubber tires as bicycles, and are mounted on metal wheels. A hand rim is attached to this wheel.
The hand rim is a wheel made of a metal pipe, the diameter of which is slightly smaller than the outer shape of the drive wheel, the wheel rim is arranged concentrically with the drive wheel, and is arranged outside the drive wheel at a slight interval.

When the user sits down on the seat, spreads his arms slightly and puts his elbow outside the armrest, the hand limbs naturally reach the hand rim just outside the drive wheel. The wheelchair moves forward when both hands are rowed on the hand rim from the rear to the front, and backwards when both hands are pulled from the front to the back. If you row only the right (left) hand rim forward, the wheelchair turns to the left (right), and if you pull the right (left) backward, it turns to the right (left).
Control the movement of the wheelchair by adjusting the movements of both hands.

[0004]

The rider operates by touching the palm of the hand against the hand rim and holding it lightly. At this time, the wrist moves around in the vicinity of the rubber tire surface of the drive wheel. When an occupant wears long-sleeved clothes, the cuffs of the clothes often come into contact with the drive wheels and stain the clothes. Even in an indoor wheelchair, the rubber tire surface of the drive wheel is quite dirty. So don't let the cuffs of your clothes get dirty,
I had to roll my sleeves one by one, which was inconvenient.
It is unavoidable to forget to roll your sleeves and stain your important clothes.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object thereof is to prevent a cuff of a garment of a passenger who operates a hand rim from touching a rubber tire surface of a drive wheel and getting dirty. To provide.

[0006]

Therefore, in the present invention, large-diameter drive wheels are arranged outside the armrests on both sides of the main body frame, and a hand rim having a smaller diameter than the drive wheels is connected to the wheels of the drive wheels via a connecting member. In a wheelchair fixedly attached and arranged concentrically with the drive wheel on the outer side of the drive wheel, the wheel cover attached to the main body frame covers the outer periphery of the upper portion of the drive wheel in a non-contact manner.

Here, it is desirable that the outer edge portion of the wheel cover has an arc shape, and the arc has a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the hand rim and is arranged concentrically with the hand rim. In the case of this configuration, the connecting member that connects the wheel and the hand rim is formed into a shape that is bent into a substantially U shape, the middle portion thereof is located closer to the center than the inner diameter of the hand rim, and the outer edge portion of the wheel cover is the above-mentioned. The U-shaped connecting member is inserted into the intermediate portion.

[0008]

When the user seated on the seat spreads his / her hands slightly outside the armrest and lowers his / her hands, the hand rim is located there. Put your palm on this hand rim and operate it with a light grip. At that time, the forearm part from the wrist to the elbow moves close to and above the large-diameter drive wheel. In the wheelchair of the present invention, since the upper portion of the drive wheel is covered with the wheel cover, the cuffs of the user's clothes do not touch the dirty rubber tire surface.

If the arc of the outer edge portion of the wheel cover is located closer to the center than the inner diameter of the hand rim, it becomes difficult for the fingers operating the hand rim to touch the edge of the wheel cover, and unnecessary friction that impairs the feeling of operation is not generated. .

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a schematic construction of the whole wheelchair according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows the essential parts thereof in detail. A seat 2 and a backrest 3 are made of canvas or the like on a main body frame 1 mainly made of metal. Further, in the main body frame 1, a plastic armrest 4 is attached at a high position on both sides of the seat 2, and a side plate 5 for partitioning a seat space is attached below the armrest 4. Further, there is a footrest 6 in the lower front part of the seat 2, and a handgrip 7 held by a caregiver in the upper rear part of the backrest 3. The wheelchair of this example is of a rear wheel drive type, a pair of rear wheels are drive wheels 8 having a large diameter, and a pair of front wheels are caster wheels 9 having a very small diameter and capable of changing direction.

The drive wheel 8 has the same structure as that of a bicycle wheel, and a rubber wheel 8b is attached to a metal wheel 8a.
A plurality of connecting members 10 protruding laterally are fixed to the wheel 8a, and a hand rim 11 is integrally attached to the tip ends of these connecting members 10. Hand rim 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes a wheel made of a metal pipe, the diameter of which is slightly smaller than the outer shape of the drive wheel 8 (rubber tire 8b), is arranged concentrically with the drive wheel 8, and is arranged outside the drive wheel 8 with some space. There is.

The wheel cover 12 is a plastic molded product,
It is fixed to the main body frame 1 by an appropriate stay, and the wheel cover 12 covers the outer periphery of the upper portion of the drive wheel 8 in a non-contact manner. The gap between the outermost periphery of the rubber tire 8b and the wheel cover 12 is sufficiently small.

The connecting member 10 connecting the wheel 8a and the hand rim 11 is bent in a substantially U shape, and the intermediate portion thereof is located closer to the center than the inner diameter of the hand rim 11. Further, the outer edge portion of the wheel cover 12 is formed in an arc shape, the arc has a diameter smaller than the inner diameter of the hand rim 11, and the arc is concentric with the hand rim 11. That is, the outer edge arc portion of the wheel cover 12 enters the intermediate portion of the U-shaped connecting member 10. In this way, since the arc of the outer edge portion of the wheel cover 12 is located closer to the center than the inner diameter of the hand rim, it becomes difficult for the fingers operating the hand rim 11 to touch the edge of the wheel cover 12, and unnecessary friction that impairs the operation feeling is generated. Does not happen.

[0014]

When a user sitting on the seat spreads his / her hand slightly outside the armrest and lowers the hand, the hand rim is located there. Put your palm on this hand rim and operate it with a light grip. At that time, the forearm part from the wrist to the elbow moves close to and above the large-diameter drive wheel. In the wheelchair of the present invention, since the upper portion of the drive wheel is covered with the wheel cover, the cuffs of the user's clothes do not touch the dirty rubber tire surface. Therefore, even if the cuffs are not rolled up, important clothes are not soiled.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wheelchair according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a configuration of a main part of the above wheelchair.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Body Frame 2 Seat 3 Backrest 4 Armrest 5 Side Plate 6 Footrest 7 Handgrip 8 Drive Wheel 8a Wheel 8b Rubber Tire 9 Caster Wheel 10 Connecting Member 11 Handrim 12 Wheel Cover

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A large-diameter drive wheel is arranged outside the armrests on both sides of the main body frame, and a hand rim having a smaller diameter than the drive wheel is fixed to the wheel of the drive wheel via a connecting member to the outside of the drive wheel. Wheelchair arranged concentrically with the drive wheel, wherein a wheel cover attached to the body frame is arranged so as to cover the outer periphery of the upper portion of the drive wheel in a non-contact manner. . 2. The wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein an outer edge portion of the wheel cover has an arc, and the arc has a diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the hand rim and is arranged concentrically with the hand rim. 3. The outer edge of the wheel cover according to claim 2, wherein the connecting member connecting the wheel and the hand rim is bent in a substantially U shape, and an intermediate portion thereof is located closer to a center side than an inner diameter of the hand rim. A wheelchair characterized in that a part is inserted into the intermediate part of the U-shaped connecting member.