JPH0938162A - Walking aid - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily release a braking state from a braked state and to improve convenience. SOLUTION: The walking aid is provided with a seat 20 where a user sits down, wheel parts 10 for supporting the seat 20, grip part 40 to be grasped with hands when the user walks, brake equipment 100 having a lever 101 arranged near the grip part 40 and a brake member 104 for stopping the turns of the wheel parts 10 corresponding to the user's operation of the lever 101, and lever holding mechanism 70 for holding the state of stopping the turns of the wheel parts 10 with the brake member 104 by holding the lever 101 on the grip part 40 and for releasing the holding of the lever 101 by moving the lever 101 from this holding state.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a walking assist device (walking assist device) for assisting the walking of a user when the user walks.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When an elderly person or a physically handicapped person walks, a walking assist device may be used to assist the walking. This type of walking aid is of a basket type, and has a structure in which a storage basket is provided on wheels and a grip portion is set on the basket. When using this type of walking aid, the user walks while holding the grip portion and pushing the basket portion forward.

[0003]

However, when this type of conventional walking aid is used, the user's foot hits the cage part in front and it is difficult to walk. Also, when the user is walking and tired, the user cannot sit and rest on the cage. Moreover, since the conventional walking aid cannot be folded, it takes a lot of space when carrying the walking aid or storing the walking aid. Some conventional walking aids are equipped with a lever-type brake. The lever of this brake stops the rotation of the wheel of the walking aid and keeps the brake state by simply hooking and holding the lever with the grip portion, so that the brake state is released. In some cases, the lever has to be manually removed from the hook, which is very troublesome. Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a walking aid that is easy to use and that can easily release the braking state from the state where the walking aid is braked. There is.

[0004]

The above object is, in the invention of claim 1, a seat on which a user can sit in a walking assist device for assisting the walking of the user when the user walks. And a wheel portion that supports the seat, a grip portion for the user to grip with a hand when walking, a lever arranged near the grip portion, and a wheel portion to stop the rotation by the user's operation of the lever. By holding the position of the lever with respect to the grip portion by holding the position of the lever with respect to the grip portion, the state in which the rotation of the wheel portion is stopped by the brake member is held, and by moving the lever from this holding state, the lever is moved. Is achieved by a walking assist device including a lever holding mechanism section that releases the holding of the.

In the invention of claim 2, preferably, the lever holding mechanism portion includes a hook for hanging the lever, and an urging means for separating the hook from the lever when the lever is moved. In the invention of claim 3, the lever is preferably arranged substantially parallel to the grip portion. In the invention of claim 4, it is preferably foldable. In the invention of claim 5, the wheel portion preferably has two front wheels and two rear wheels, and can be folded by changing the positional relationship between the seat and the grip portion. In the invention of claim 6, preferably, the storage portion is provided under the seat, and the seat can open and close the storage portion. In the invention of claim 7, a backrest is preferably provided behind the seat.
In the invention of claim 8, the seat, the grip portion, and the front wheel are preferably arranged in relation to the column. In the invention of claim 9, the seating surface of the seat is preferably removable. In the invention of claim 10, preferably, the column is provided with an armrest. In the invention of claim 11, preferably, the brake member is applied to the outer peripheral portion of the rear wheel to stop the rotation of the rear wheel.

According to the first aspect of the invention, the user can sit in the seat. Wheels support this seat. The grip portion is designed to be gripped by a hand when the user walks. The lever of the braking device is arranged near the grip portion, and the brake member stops rotation of the wheel portion by the operation of the lever by the user. The lever holding mechanism holds the lever in a state in which the rotation of the wheel is stopped by the brake member by holding the lever against the grip. When the user moves the lever, the lever holding mechanism section
The holding of the lever is automatically released. As a result, when the user is tired while walking, he / she can sit on the seat and take a break. In that case, in order to prevent the walking assist device from moving, the user pulls the lever of the braking device and holds the lever with respect to the grip by the lever holding mechanism. As a result, the brake member can maintain the braking state in which the rotation of the wheel portion is stopped. When the user wants to move the walking assist device, the lever holding mechanism section can easily release the holding of the lever by the user moving the lever from the holding state.

According to the invention of claim 2, by moving the lever, the biasing means disengages the hook from the lever. According to the invention of claim 3, since the lever is arranged substantially parallel to the grip portion, the user can easily operate the lever at any position of the grip portion. According to the invention of claim 4, since the walking aid can be folded, the size can be reduced during transportation of the walking aid or storage of the walking aid. According to the invention of claim 5, when folding the walking aid, it is folded by changing the positional relationship between the seat and the grip portion. According to the invention of claim 6, the storage section is provided under the seat,
The seat acts as an opening / closing lid for the storage section. Claim 7
According to the invention, since there is a backrest on the back side of the seat, stability is obtained when the user sits in the seat. According to the invention of claim 9, since the seating surface of the seat is removable,
The seat surface can be removed and washed. According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, since the supporting column is provided with the armrest, it is stable when the user sits on the seat.

[0008]

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the embodiments described below are preferred specific examples of the present invention,
Although various technically preferable limitations are given, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these modes unless otherwise specified to limit the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of a walking aid according to the present invention as seen obliquely from the front, and FIG.
It is the perspective view which looked at this walking aid from the slanting back. Further, FIG. 3 shows a state in which the walking aid of FIGS. 1 and 2 is folded. First, the overall structure of the walking aid will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3. The walking aid is for assisting the walking of the user when the user walks. The walking aid has four columns 1, 2, 3, and 4.
The front two columns 1 and 2 of the four columns are provided with front wheels 5 and 6 at their lower ends. Front wheel 5
Can be turned in the direction of arrow R with respect to the lower end of the column, and similarly, the front wheel 6 can be turned in the direction of arrow R with respect to the column 2. A rear wheel 7 is set at the lower end of the column 4. A rear wheel 8 is also set at the lower end of the column 4. The front wheels 5 and 6 have a smaller diameter than the rear wheels 7 and 8.
The front wheels 5 and 6 and the rear wheels 7 and 8 form a wheel portion 10. The wheel portion 10 supports the seat 20. The seat 20 includes a seat surface 21 and frames 22 and 23 that support the seat surface 21 substantially horizontally. The seat surface 21 has, for example, a rectangular or square shape, and is fixed onto the frame bodies 22 and 23 with screws or the like.

The frame 22 has a member 22a and a member 22b. Similarly, the frame body 23 includes members 23a and 23b.
have. The frame body 22a and the frame body 22b are joined together by a pin 22c in the middle, and in the folded state as shown in FIG. 3, the members 22a and 22b are lifted up around the pin 22c in the arrow X direction and folded in two. It is designed to be bent so that it overlaps. Similarly, the frame 23
The members 23a and 23b are lifted up in the arrow X direction about the pin 23c and bent in two. The portion 21 a of the seat surface 21 is a member 22 of the frame body 22.
a front portion 22d of b, a front portion 23 of the member 23b of the frame 23
Since at least each is fixed to d, the rear end portion 21b of the seat surface 21 is obliquely lifted upward as shown in FIG. 3 in the folded state. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the rear end portion 21b of the seat surface 21 has a backrest 3
It is lifted and held to a position substantially between 0 and the grip portion 40.

Next, the pipe portions 41 and 42 of the grip portion 40 are fitted into the upper ends 1a and 2a of the columns 1 and 2, respectively. Upper part 1 as shown in FIG.
One hole H is formed on the back side of a and 2a. Correspondingly, a plurality of holes H1 are also provided on the back side of the pipe portion 41
Are formed at equal intervals. The hole H of the upper portion 1a or 2a and the hole H of the pipe portion 41 or 42
By aligning 1 with each other, the pin 43 of the position setting member 43
Insert a. By doing so, the position of the grip portion 40 in the height direction with respect to the columns 1 and 2 can be adjusted. With the pin 43a of the position setting member 43 inserted in the holes H and H1, the cylindrical cover 44 is lowered in the direction of the arrow Y and covered as shown in FIG.
Can be prevented from coming off from the upper portion 1a or 2a, and the end surface of the upper portion 1a or 2a and the step portion of the insertion portion of the pipe portion 41 or 42 can be covered. The holes H and H1 are set on the back side.
This is to prevent rainwater or the like from entering through the holes H and H1. Further, the position setting member 43 having the pin 43a has a simple structure and is easy to set the position of the grip portion 40 as compared with setting the height of the grip portion 40 using a screw or a lever. This is because. The height of the grip 40 is set in the range of 800 to 950 mm, for example.
It can be adjusted in 5 steps. When changing the height of the grip portion 40, it is possible to remove the position setting member 43 by moving the cap 44 in the arrow Z direction as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, armrests 50, 50 are detachably attached in the middle of the columns 1, 2.
The armrests 50, 50 are for hanging both elbows while the user is sitting on the seat surface 21. Back stanchions 3,
A backrest 30 is preferably attached to 4.
The backrest 30 is a portion that supports the back of the user while sitting on the seat surface 21. Next, the grip portion 40 will be described. The grip portion 40 is substantially U when viewed in the direction of arrow J in FIG.
It is a character type. Cushion members 49, 49 are formed to cover the required portion of the grip portion 40 to improve the grip feeling. The levers 101 of the braking device 100 are attached to both ends of the cushion members 49, 49.
It is attached via 02 and 102. Braking device 10
0 has a lever 101, a wire 103, and a brake member 104. The lever 101 has a grip 4
It has a shape substantially corresponding to 0. In this way, the lever 101 is formed substantially U-shaped to correspond to the grip portion 40. That is, at any position of the cushion member 49 of the grip portion 40, the lever 101 can be operated with one hand or both hands, This is for enabling the braking device 100 to work.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the structure of the braking device 100. The brake member 104 has an abutting portion 104a for contacting the outer peripheral surfaces of the rear wheels 7 and 8 to stop the rotation of the rear wheels 7 and 8. The brake member 104 is connected to the columns 3 and 4 by pins 104b. Therefore, the contact portion 104a of the brake member 104 is
When the user lifts the lever 101 in the direction of arrow S, the pin 104b rotates about the pin 104b in the direction of arrow T, so that the contact portion 104a is strongly abutted against the outer peripheral surfaces of the rear wheels 7 and 8. This stops the rear wheels 7, 8 from rotating.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lever holding mechanism portion 7 is provided between the cushion members 49 of the grip portion 40.
0 is provided. The lever holding mechanism portion 70 has a structure as shown in FIGS.
Is held against the cushion members 49 of the grip portion 40, the contact portion 10 of the brake member 104 of FIG.
At 4a, the braking state in which the rotation of the rear wheels 7, 8 is stopped is maintained. Moreover, the lever holding mechanism section 70 has a function of automatically releasing the holding of the lever by moving the lever from the holding state of the lever. Specifically, the lever holding mechanism section 70 has a bracket 72, a hook 72 for hanging the lever, a shaft 73, and a spring 74 as an urging means. The bracket 71 has a grip 4
It is fixed to the portion 55 between the zero cushion members 49, 49. A shaft 73 is rotatably attached to the bracket 71. The shaft 73 and the hook 72 are integrated with each other, and the hook 72 is attached to the shaft 7 with respect to the bracket 71.
It is adapted to rotate in the direction of arrow E about 3. The spring 74 biases the hook 72 in the arrow E direction.

FIG. 10 shows a change from a state where the hook 72 is not engaged with the lever, that is, an open state (non-braking state), to a holding state (braking state) where the hook 72 is engaged with the lever 101. In FIG. 10, when the lever is hooked on the hook 72, the user holds the cushion member of the grip portion 40 with his / her hand and pushes the lever 101 with his / her finger S.
The hook 72 is hooked on the lever 101 while being lifted in the direction. As a result, the lever 101 can be hooked on the hook 72 and held in the braking state as shown in FIG. When releasing the lever 101 from the hook 72 of the lever holding mechanism 70 to release the holding of the lever, the lever 101 is once further lifted in the F direction so that the urging force of the spring 74 of FIGS. Acts, the hook 72 is forcibly separated from the lever 101 in the arrow E direction. That is, the hook 72 can automatically release the holding of the lever 101 by simply moving the lever 101 in the F direction. By automatically releasing the holding of the lever 101 in the lever holding mechanism 70 in this way, even an elderly person or a physically handicapped person can easily release the brake.

FIG. 11 shows a part of the walking aid seen from the columns 1 and 3. As shown in FIG. 11, the foot L of the user can be inserted between the columns 3 and 4, so that when the user walks forward while holding the grip 40 with both hands or one hand, There is no problem that the foot L hits a part of the walking aid to make walking difficult. Therefore, the user can walk in a good posture without bending the waist.

FIG. 12 shows a bag B arranged below the seat surface 21. The bag B is preferably attached removably directly below the seat surface 21. Seat surface 2
1 is rotatably supported by pins 99 on the columns 3 and 4. Therefore, the front side 21c of the seat surface 21 can be lifted and opened in the direction of the arrow G, whereby the contents of the bag B can be taken out or necessary items can be put into the bag B.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the seating surface is substantially rectangular or square. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a seat surface shape such as a circular shape or a semicircular shape may be adopted. Further, although the brake lever 101 is arranged on the lower side of the grip portion 40, the invention is not limited to this, and the lever 101 may of course be arranged on the upper side of the grip portion 40.

[0019]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The braking state can be easily released from the state where the walking assist device is braked.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a preferred embodiment of a walking aid of the present invention as seen from an oblique front side.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the walking aid of FIG. 1 as seen obliquely from behind.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state in which the walking aid of FIGS. 1 and 2 is folded.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing an example of a height adjusting portion of a grip portion with respect to a support column.

5 is a cross-sectional view of the adjusting portion at the position of the grip portion in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an adjustment unit for adjusting the position of the grip unit in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a part of a braking device.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a lever holding mechanism section.

9 is a side view of the lever holding mechanism as viewed from an arrow K in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a view showing a state in which a lever holding mechanism section 70 opens and holds a lever.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a positional relationship between a walking aid and a user's foot.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing an example in which a bag is set as a walking aid.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Wheel part 20 Seat 40 Grip part 70 Lever holding mechanism part 72 Hook 74 Spring (biasing means) 100 Braking device 101 Lever 104 Brake member

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A walking assist device for assisting a user to walk when a user walks, a seat on which the user can sit, a wheel portion that supports the seat, and a hand when the user walks. A braking device having a grip for gripping, a lever arranged in the vicinity of the grip, and a brake member for stopping the rotation of the wheel by the user's operation of the lever, and the position of the lever on the grip. And a lever holding mechanism section that holds the state in which the rotation of the wheel portion is stopped by the brake member by holding it against the holding state and releases the holding state of the lever by moving the lever from this holding state. Walking aid. 2. The walking assist device according to claim 1, wherein the lever holding mechanism portion includes a hook for hanging the lever, and a biasing means for separating the hook from the lever when the lever is moved. 3. The walking assist device according to claim 1, wherein the lever is arranged substantially parallel to the grip portion. 4. The walking aid according to claim 1, which is foldable. 5. The walking assist device according to claim 1, wherein the wheel portion has two front wheels and two rear wheels and is foldable by changing a positional relationship between the seat and the grip portion. 6. The walking assist device according to claim 1, further comprising a storage section below the seat, the seat being capable of opening and closing the storage section. 7. A seat back is provided behind the seat.
The walking aid described in. 8. The walking assist device according to claim 5, wherein the seat, the grip portion, and the front wheel are arranged in relation to the column. 9. The walking assist device according to claim 6, wherein the seating surface of the seat is removable. 10. The walking assist device according to claim 8, wherein the supporting column is provided with an armrest. 11. The walking assist device according to claim 5, wherein the brake member is applied to the outer peripheral portion of the rear wheel to stop the rotation of the rear wheel. 12. The walking assist device according to claim 5, wherein the front wheel is capable of changing direction.