JPH1080447A - Wheelchair with seat plate ascending and descending device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small and light weight wheelchair with a seat plate ascending/descending device where a seat plate is easily ascended/descended. SOLUTION: A main frame 14 where wheels 16 are attached to the both sides of a rear part and auxiliary wheels 15 are attached to the both sides of a front part is provided with a pair of pipe-shaped supporters 12a erected at a rear side. A first roller 17 is arranged so as to be abutted on the inner periphery of the supporters 12 and its spindles 18 are projected to an outside through guide grooves 12a which are formed on the side walls of the supporters 12. The second roller 19 is abutted on the outer periphery of the supporters 12 and an ascending/descending frame 21 where a seat plate 27 is attached is supported with the first roller 17 and the second roller 19 so as to be ascending/descending possible. On sides of a gas damper 30 and a linear actuator such as a motor driven linear actuator, etc., are supported at the lower part of the main frame 14 and the other sides are attached to the ascending/ descending frame 21 by supporting so that the ascending/descending frame 21 is made to be ascending/descending possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small and lightweight wheelchair with a seat plate elevating device which can raise and lower a seat plate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Wheelchairs are used especially for persons with lower body disabilities, but the height of the seat plate is generally fixed. However, a wheelchair with a fixed seat plate height,
There is a problem that it is very inconvenient when getting on and off from a bed or the like, or when trying to work at a position higher or lower than a fixed height.

For this reason, a wheelchair has been proposed in which the height of a seat plate can be changed. For example, JP-A-6-21813
In the publication, a pair of chains are vertically arranged and mounted on the rear side of a standing frame having casters on the front and running wheels on the rear, and a sprocket meshing with the chain and a seat interlocking with the sprocket are provided. An operation lever for supporting the mounting plate and rotating the sprocket via the interlocking mechanism is provided via a ratchet mechanism capable of switching directions, and the seat mounting plate is raised and lowered by repeatedly rotating the operation lever. An apparatus for raising and lowering a seat in a wheelchair is disclosed.

In Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 7-37143, a wheel is mounted on both sides of a rear portion of a frame, and driven wheels are mounted on both sides of a front portion of the frame. Is connected by a pair of parallel links between the pair of support plates provided to support the seat plate so as to be able to move up and down while maintaining its posture,
A wheelchair with a seat elevating device is disclosed in which one end of a gas damper is pivotally supported by the holding plate, and the other end is pivotally supported by the support plate, and a lever for opening and closing a valve body of the gas damper is provided.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The wheelchair disclosed in 6-121813 Publication, since the operation lever is repeatedly rotated many times to raise and lower the seat mounting plate, the lifting speed is slow, and the mechanism is complicated, so the cost increases, There was a problem that the appearance was poor because the chain was exposed outside.

In the wheelchair disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 7-37143, a parallel link is used as a mechanism for raising and lowering the seat plate. Therefore, if the vertical width of the seat plate is increased, the link becomes longer. The front and rear position of the seat plate changes greatly between when the seat plate is raised and when the seat plate is lowered,
In addition, since the distance between the seat plate and the wheels increases as the link length increases, the type in which the running wheels are manually turned has a problem in that the running wheels cannot be reached. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a small and lightweight wheelchair with a seat plate lifting device which can easily lift and lower the seat plate.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention comprises a pair of pipe-like pillars erected on the back side, wheels attached to both rear sides, and both front sides. A main frame having an auxiliary wheel mounted thereon, and a first frame which is disposed in contact with the inner periphery of the column, and whose shaft is projected through a guide groove formed along the axial direction in a side wall of the column. An elevating frame attached to the column via a roller and a second roller disposed in contact with the outer periphery of the column, a seat plate attached to the elevating frame, and the main frame. And a linear actuator having one end supported at the lower part of the seat and the other end supported by the elevating frame.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the linear actuator comprises a gas damper;
An object of the present invention is to provide a wheelchair with a seat plate elevating device provided with a lever for opening and closing the valve body via a wire connected to a valve body for controlling expansion and contraction of the gas damper.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the wheelchair with the seat plate elevating device according to the first aspect, wherein the linear actuator is an electric linear actuator.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the elevation frame moves up and down along the column by the operation of the linear actuator, and the height of the seat plate attached to the elevation frame can be changed. In this case, the front-back position of the seat plate does not significantly change even if the height of the seat plate is changed, as compared with the link type. Therefore, in a type in which the running wheels are manually turned, even if the elevating distance of the seat plate is increased, the running wheels cannot be reached.

Further, since the lifting frame is supported by the first roller abutting on the inner periphery of the pipe-shaped column and the second roller abutting on the outer periphery of the column, the lifting mechanism is made compact and small. It is lightweight and has a clean appearance. Furthermore, since the first roller is disposed inside the pipe-shaped support, the supporting portions of the first roller and the second roller are less likely to rattle, and there is a danger that the hand may be pinched between the rollers and the like. Less.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a gas damper is used as a linear actuator, and a lever for operating a valve for controlling expansion and contraction of the gas damper is provided. Therefore, the valve of the gas damper is opened by operating the lever to extend and contract the gas damper. Is movable, the seat plate attached to the lifting frame can be raised and lowered. At this time, by setting the gas pressure of the gas damper to be slightly weaker than the weight of the user, it is possible to easily lower the weight by applying the weight, and to easily raise the weight by slightly lifting the weight by oneself or an assistant. The operation can be performed instantaneously by gas pressure. Further, when the height of the seat plate is adjusted to a desired position, the lever can be released to close the valve element of the gas damper, thereby fixing the expansion and contraction of the gas damper and fixing the seat at that height.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the electric linear actuator is used as the linear actuator,
The elevating operation of the elevating frame supporting the seat plate can be performed electrically only by operating the switch, and the height of the seat plate can be easily changed.

[0015]

1 to 6 show an embodiment of a wheelchair with a seat plate lifting device according to the present invention. 1 is a side view of a wheelchair with a seat plate elevating device, FIG. 2 is a rear view of the wheelchair, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a pipe-shaped support, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an internal structure of a gas damper, and FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in which the seat plate of the wheelchair is raised, and FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in which the seat plate of the wheelchair is lowered.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the wheelchair 10 with a seat plate elevating device includes a bottom frame 11 and a pair of pipe-like columns 12, 12 erected in parallel from both rear sides of the bottom frame 11. And a main frame 14 composed of a plurality of horizontal frames 13 connecting the columns 12, 12
have. Auxiliary wheels (casters) 15, 15 are attached to both front sides of the main frame 14. Wheels (running wheels) 1 are provided on both sides of the rear portion of the main frame 14.
6, 16 are attached. In this embodiment, the wheel 16 is composed of only a normal tire wheel, but when the user turns the wheel by hand, an annular wheel is attached for turning by hand in parallel with the tire wheel. In addition, the struts 12, 12
At the upper end of the handle, there are handles 28, 28 for assistants projecting rearward.
Is installed.

As shown in FIG. 3A, in this embodiment, the pipe-shaped support 12 has an elliptical cross section, and has guide grooves 12a formed on both sides thereof along the axial direction. A drum-shaped first roller 17 is arranged in the support 12 in contact with the inner peripheral surface in front of the support 12,
The support shaft 18 protrudes to both sides through the guide groove 12a. On the other hand, a pin-shaped second roller 19 is arranged in contact with the outer peripheral surface in front of the column 12. As shown in FIG. 3B, the support 12 may be made of a bar having a C-shaped cross section. In this case, one side of the first roller 17 passes through the vertical groove 12b of the support 12. The first roller 17 may be supported in a cantilever manner via a support shaft 18 protruding from the first roller 17. The cross-sectional shape of the column 12 is not limited to the elliptical shape as described above, and may be any shape such as a circle, a rectangle, and a polygon.

Referring again to FIGS. 1 and 2, the first roller 1
7 and the support shaft 20 of the second roller 19,
An elevating frame 21 is attached so as to be able to elevate and lower along the columns 12. The elevating frame 21 has a slide portion 22 having a U-shaped cross section so as to cover the front surface and both side surfaces of the column 12.
And a seat plate supporting portion 23 extending forward from a lower end of the sliding portion 22, a leg portion 24 extending downward from a front end of the seat plate supporting portion 23, and both ends supported by the sliding portion 22 and the seat plate supporting portion 23. And a footrest 26 attached to the lower end of the leg 24. Then, a seat plate 27 provided with an appropriate cushion material or the like is attached to the seat plate support portion 23. In addition, the armrest 25
Preferably, it is removable. Also, the first
The roller 17 is supported on the upper portion of the slide portion 22, and the second roller 19 is supported on the lower portion of the slide portion 22.
When an unbalanced load is applied to the front of the vehicle, the load is easily received.

Gas dampers 30, 30 are disposed on the back side of the columns 12, 12, and upper ends of the gas dampers 30, 30 on the cylinder 31 side are provided on sliding portions 22 of the lifting frame 21.
Of the gas dampers 30, 30
The lower end of the side is pivotally supported at the lower part of the main frame 14.
However, the rod 32 side of the gas dampers 30, 30 may be set up, and the cylinder 31 side may be set down.

As shown in FIG. 4, the gas damper 30 has a cylinder 31 and a rod 32, and a piston 33 is connected to a tip of the rod 32. The rod 32 is inserted through a central hole of a cover 34 attached to one end of the cylinder 31 via an O-ring, and the cylinder 31 is sealed by the cover 34. Also, in the cylinder 31,
A movable piece 35 having a seal ring 35a mounted on its outer periphery is slidably accommodated. The upper part in the figure is a gas chamber 36 in which gas such as air is sealed at a predetermined pressure, and the lower part in the figure is an oil chamber 37. Have been. The oil chamber 37 is divided into a first oil chamber 37a and a second oil chamber 37b by a piston 33 having a seal ring 33a mounted on the outer periphery.

The upper surface of the piston 33 has a large valve opening 38a,
A passage 38 having a small valve opening 38b on the lower surface is provided, and opening and closing of the large valve opening 38a are performed by up and down of a valve body 39a provided at a distal end of a valve punch 39 inserted into the center of the rod 32. It has been like that. That is, as shown in FIG. 4 (B), the valve body 39a is pushed in the direction of arrow A, and
8a, the first oil chamber 37a and the second oil chamber 37
4B, the oil can be moved between the large valve opening 3 and the valve body 39a by pulling the valve body 39a in the direction of arrow B as shown in FIG.
8a is closed, the first oil chamber 37a and the second oil chamber 37a are closed.
The movement of the oil between the oil chamber 37b and the oil chamber 37b is eliminated, so that the position of the piston 33 is fixed, and the length of expansion and contraction of the gas damper 30 is fixed.

The valve punch 39 is connected to an operation piece 41 attached to the support piece 40, and one end of the operation piece 41 is connected to a wire 42 shown in FIG. This wire 42 is connected through a tube 43 to a lever 44 attached to the horizontal frame 13 between the columns 12, 12 in FIG. By operating the lever 44, the valve punch 39 moves up and down via the wire 42, and the valve body 39a at the tip of the valve punch 39 opens and closes. In this embodiment, the gas dampers 3 are provided on the back of each of the columns 12.
0, and two levers 44 are provided to operate these gas dampers 30.
0 is provided only in the middle of the columns 12, 12, and the lever 44
May be only one. Further, the lever 44 may be attached to a place such as the armrest 25 where the user can easily operate.

The gas pressure in the gas chamber 36 is preferably set in accordance with the weight of a person sitting in the wheelchair 10 with the lifting device, and more preferably, the valve body 39 is held by holding the lever 44.
It is preferable to set the gas pressure to such a degree that the seat plate 27 slowly descends when the user opens the seat a and sits on the seat plate 27.

The column 12 may have a straight line shape, or may have a rearwardly curved shape. In this case, when the lifting frame 21 is raised and the seat plate 27 is raised, the seat plate 27 can be inclined forward and upward.

Next, a method of using the wheelchair with the seat plate lifting device will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, when raising the seat plate 27, a person or an assistant sitting in the wheelchair 10 with the seat plate elevating device grasps the lever 44 and lifts or lifts the body by itself or by the force of the assistant. As a result, when the weight applied to the seat plate 27 is slightly reduced, the valve body 39a rises to open the large valve port 38a, and the oil in the second oil chamber 37b of the oil chamber 37 moves to the first oil chamber 37a, and the piston 33 is lowered, the length of the rod 32 outside the cylinder 31 is increased, the total length of the gas damper 30 is increased, and the lifting frame 21 is raised together with the seat plate 27.
When the lever 44 is released when it has been raised to a desired position, the valve body 39a is lowered to close the large valve port 38a, and the oil chamber 37
Inside, the second oil chamber 37b and the first oil chamber 37a
Is stopped, the position of the piston 33 is fixed, and thus the entire length of the gas damper 30 is fixed, and the position of the seat plate 27 is held in that state.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, when the seat plate 27 is to be lifted downward, when the person or the assistant sitting in the wheelchair 10 with the seat plate lifting device grips the lever 26, the valve body 39a is raised. When the large valve opening 38a is opened and the weight of the person sitting or the pushing force of the helper is applied, the first oil chamber 37 of the oil chamber 37 is opened.
a moves to the second oil chamber 37b, and the piston 3
3 rises upward, the length of the rod 32 outside the cylinder 31 decreases, and the overall length of the gas damper 30 decreases,
The lifting frame 21 descends together with the seat plate 27. When the lever 44 is released when the lever is lifted down to a desired position, the valve body 39a is released.
, The large valve port 38a is closed, the movement of oil between the second oil chamber 37b and the first oil chamber 37a is stopped in the oil chamber 37, and the position of the piston 33 is fixed. The full length is fixed, and the position of the seat plate 27 is held in that state.

Further, the wheelchair 10 with the seat plate lifting device of the present invention
A first roller 17 disposed inside the support pillars 12 and 12 on the back side and abutting on the inner wall thereof; a second roller 19 disposed outside the support pillars 12 and 12 and abutting on the outer wall thereof; 19
Since the lifting frame 21 is supported through the above, the sliding portion of the lifting frame 21 has no backlash and is compact and has a good appearance.

In the wheelchair 10 with the seat plate elevating device of the above embodiment, the gas damper 30 is used as a means for elevating the elevating frame 21. However, in the present invention, an electric linear actuator is used instead of the gas damper 30. You can also.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the electric linear actuator. The electric linear actuator 51 includes a cylinder part 52 having one end closed and the other end opened, and a pipe-shaped rod part 53 slidably inserted from the opened end of the cylinder part 52. Have. An electric motor 54 is provided in the closed end of the cylinder 52, and the drive shaft thereof has a cylinder 5.
Two bolts 55 extending toward the open end are connected. Further, the cylinder portion 5 of the pipe-shaped rod portion 53
A nut 56 is fixed to the end inserted into the nut 2, and the bolt 55 is screwed into the nut 56. Further, a bracket 58 having a mounting hole 57 is attached to a base end of the cylinder portion 52, and a bracket 60 also having a mounting hole 59 is attached to a distal end of the rod portion 53.

A control device 62 is connected to the motor 54 via a cord 61, and a battery is built in the control device 62. Further, a remote controller 64 is connected to the control device 62 via a cord 63. The remote controller 64 has, for example, a power ON / OFF switch 64a, a forward switch 64b of the electric motor 54, and a reverse switch 64c. By operating the remote controller 64, the electric motor 54 operates to rotate the bolt 55, and the rod portion 53 expands and contracts as shown by an imaginary line in the figure via a nut 56 screwed to the bolt 55. It is supposed to work.

Then, one bracket of the electric linear actuator 51, for example, a bracket 58 on the cylinder side, is pivotally supported on the lower part of the main frame 14 of the wheelchair 10 with the seat plate elevating device, and the other of the electric actuator 51 Bracket, for example, the rod side bracket 60
Is pivotally supported on the upper end of the slide portion 22 of the lifting frame 21, so that the lifting frame 21 can be moved up and down using the electric actuator 51 instead of the gas damper 30. In this case, the control device 62 is installed below the main frame 14 and the remote controller 64
Is preferably installed in a place such as the armrest 25 that is easy for a user or an assistant to operate.

[0032]

As described above, according to the wheelchair with the seat plate elevating device of the present invention, the first roller abutting on the inner periphery of the pipe-shaped support and the second roller abutting on the outer periphery of the support are provided. Since the lifting frame is supported by the rollers, the lifting mechanism is compact, small and lightweight, and has a clean appearance. In addition, since the first roller is disposed inside the pipe-shaped column, the supporting portion of the first roller and the second roller is less likely to rattle, and there is a risk that the hand may be pinched between the rollers and the like. Less. Further, since the lifting frame supporting the seat plate moves up and down along a pair of columns erected on the back side of the main frame, the front-back position of the seat plate does not greatly change depending on the height of the seat plate, In the type in which the running wheels are manually turned, even if the lifting distance of the seat plate is increased, the running wheels cannot be reached. Therefore, it is possible to provide a wheelchair with a seat plate elevating device which is lightweight and compact, can be easily carried, and has a small turn in a room or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of a wheelchair with a seat plate lifting device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the wheelchair with the seat plate elevating device.

3A and 3B are cross-sectional views of a column portion of the wheelchair with the seat plate elevating device, wherein FIG. 3A shows one example, and FIG. 3B shows another example.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a gas damper used in the wheelchair with the seat plate elevating device, wherein (A) is a cross-sectional view in an extended state, and (B) is a cross-sectional view in a contracted state.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state where the seat plate of the wheelchair with the seat plate lifting device is raised.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state where the seat plate of the wheelchair with the seat plate lifting device is lowered.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of an electric linear actuator used in another embodiment of the wheelchair with a seat plate elevating device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 Wheelchair with seat plate elevating device 11 Bottom frame 12 Post 12a Guide groove 13 Horizontal frame 14 Main frame 15 Auxiliary wheel 16 Wheel 17 First roller 18 Support shaft 19 Second roller 20 Support shaft 21 Elevating frame 22 Slide portion 23 Seat plate Support part 24 Leg part 25 Armrest part 26 Footrest 27 Seat plate 30 Gas damper 31 Cylinder 32 Rod 33 Piston 35 Movable piece 36 Gas chamber 37 Oil chamber 37a First oil chamber 37b Second oil chamber 39 Valve punch 39a Valve body 44 Lever 51 Electric linear actuator 52 Cylinder part 53 Rod part 54 Electric motor 55 Bolt 56 Nut 62 Control device 64 Remote controller

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A main frame including a pair of pipe-like columns erected on the rear side, wheels mounted on both rear sides, and auxiliary wheels mounted on both front sides, and an inner periphery of the columns. A first roller having a support shaft protruding through a guide groove formed in the side wall of the column along the axial direction and a second roller disposed in contact with the outer periphery of the column; An elevating frame attached to the column so as to be able to ascend and descend, a seat plate attached to the elevating frame, one end supported at a lower portion of the main frame, and the other end supported by the elevating frame. A wheelchair with a seat plate elevating device, comprising: a linear actuator. 2. The seat plate according to claim 1, wherein said linear actuator comprises a gas damper, and a lever for opening and closing said valve body is provided via a wire connected to a valve body for controlling expansion and contraction of said gas damper. Wheelchair with lifting device. 3. The wheelchair with a seat plate lifting device according to claim 1, wherein the linear actuator is an electric linear actuator.