JPS63270055A - Walker - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the possibility of a fall by stopping the rotation of a castor when the load due to stumbling or staggering is applied to a walker during use, by mounting not only the castor to the leading end of a leg through an elastic member but also a stopper member, which stops the rotation of the castor through the deformation of the aforementioned elastic member when predetermined load or more is applied to the walker, to the leading end of said leg. CONSTITUTION:A slide member 25 is mounted to the leading end of a leg 38 through an elastic member like a compression coil spring 41 and a castor 37 is mounted to the leading end of said slide member 25. Further, a stopper member 34, which is brought into contact with the aforementioned castor 37 when the aforementioned slide member 25 moves through the deformation of the aforementioned elastic member generated when predetermined load or more is applied to a walker to stop the rotation of the castor 37, is provided to the leading end of the aforementioned leg 38. Therefore, when predetermined load or more due to stumbling is applied to the walker, the elastic member deforms and the leg 38 with draws while the stopper member 34 is brought into contact with the castor 37 of the leg 38 to stop the rotation of the castor 37 and the possibility of a fall is eliminated.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] This invention is designed to help sick or injured people or elderly people with weak legs to walk at hospitals, sanatoriums, rehabilitation centers, or at home. The present invention relates to a walker used as a walking aid or for walking training.

Speed Follower 4u (4 Conventionally, this type of walker has been such as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, for example.

First, in the one shown in Fig. 10, a plurality of vertical pipes (1)
Connect the top and bottom of ... with pipes (2) and (2) bent into a U-shape, respectively, to create a frame (3).
There are multiple casters (4) at the bottom of the frame (3)...
... was attached, and a U-shaped elbow pad (5) was provided at the top. When using the walker, place your body inside the frame (3) and support your body by placing your elbow on the elbow pad (5) located just around your waist.
Casters (4) by walking slowly...
This made it easier to move around.

On the other hand, in the one shown in FIG. 11, pipes (6) and (6) bent into an inverted U shape are provided facing each other on the left and right.

Their corresponding sides were rotatably connected to each other by an H-shaped connecting pipe (7) to form a frame (8). When using the walker, place both hands on the handles (9) and (9) on the pipes (6) and (6) respectively, support your body with the frame (8), and walk slowly. The left and right inverted U-shaped pipes (6) and (6) were made to move by moving them forward alternately in the directions indicated by the arrows in the figure.

The problem to be solved by the invention However, the caster (4) as shown in Fig. 10...
Although the conventional walker has the advantage of making one step easier, it has the problem that it can gain momentum and cause the person to fall, which is particularly dangerous on slopes.

For this reason, although some machines are equipped with a handbrake, it is extremely difficult to expect physically weakened patients, elderly people, etc. to operate them immediately.

Furthermore, with a conventional walker without casters as shown in Fig. 11, although it has the advantage that there is no risk of it falling over, it is difficult to move the left and right pipes (6) and (6) by one's own strength. Since the device must be moved forward, there is a problem in that it is not at all comfortable for seriously ill people or elderly people with severely weakened legs when using it as an aid to help them walk.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide the above-mentioned walker,
The object is to solve such problems so that walking is comfortable and there is no risk of falling.

Means for Solving the fL''1g Point Therefore, the walker according to the present invention has an elastic member such as a compression coil spring (41) at the tip of one leg (38), as shown in the illustrated embodiment below. Sliding member (25
), and a caster (37) is attached to the tip of the sliding member (25), and when a load of more than a predetermined value is applied on the other hand, the elastic member deforms and the sliding member (25)
a stopper member (5) that contacts the caster (37) and stops the rotation of the caster (37);
34) are provided at the tips of the legs (38). 6. Functions and 1. During normal walking, the user holds it in his hand and moves with it on casters (37) while being assisted by it. However, when a load exceeding a predetermined level is applied due to a trip, etc., the elastic member deforms and the foot (38) retracts, causing the stopper member (34) to come into contact with the caster (37) of the foot (38) and cause the foot (38) to rotate. Try to stop it.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a walker which is an embodiment of the present invention.
What is indicated by the symbol (10) in the figure is the lower frame, which has vertical pipe parts (10a) perpendicular to both ends of the horizontal pipe part (10a).
job) and (10c) are fixed together by welding or the like to form a substantially H-shape. Then, such lower frames (lO) are arranged to face each other left and right, and the corresponding vertical pipe part (
Rubber (11) and rubber (11) and
(11) and attach it to the front legs without casters (
12)・(12). Then, the base ends of the support pipes (13) and (13) are inserted from above into the vertical pipe parts (tab) and (10b) on the - side, respectively, and the base ends are screwed into the screws (14) and (14). ) to fix it.

A connecting frame (17) is attached to the outside of these support pipes (13), (13) by fitting short pipe parts (17a), (17a) from above, respectively. The connecting frame (17) is made into a substantially T-shape by fixing the upper end of the vertical pipe part (17c) to the lower center of the "<"-shaped pipe part (17b) by welding or the like. Department (
The aforementioned short pipe portions (17a) and (1
7a) are fixed vertically by welding or the like. and,
After fitting these short pipe parts (17a) and (17a) into the support pipes (13) and (13) and abutting them against the upper ends of the vertical pipe parts (1ob) and (10b), those support pipes ( 13)・Insert a ring (
18) Insert (18) into the connecting frame (17)
Stop removing. However, such a connected frame (
At the lower end of the vertical pipe part (17c) of 17), casters (1
9) form the front legs (20).

That is, as shown in FIG.
Outside the tip of the vertical pipe part (17c) is an outer pipe (23
) and secure with screws (24), and cover that part with a rubber cover (31) as shown in Figure 1. A sliding member (25) is housed in the outer pipe (23) from above and is slidable therein, and the lower end of the outer pipe (23) is squeezed to prevent the sliding member (25) from below. Extraction is prevented from being extracted. The sliding member (25) has a caster mounting portion (27) fixed to the lower end of the inner pipe portion (26), and the female threaded portion of the mounting portion (27) is connected to the male threaded portion (28a) of the caster support member (28). ) and tighten with the nut (29) to attach the caster (19) to the sliding member (25). Then, the upper end of the sliding member (25) and the vertical pipe portion (
A compression coil spring (30) is sandwiched between the lower end of the outer pipe (23) and the lower end of the outer pipe (23), thereby giving the sliding member (25) the habit of always moving downward within the outer pipe (23).

On the other hand, the vertical pipe portions (10c) and (10c) on the other side corresponding to the left and right sides of the lower frame (10) and (lO) shown in FIG.
Insert the support pipes (33) and (33) shown in FIG. Each support pipe (33)
As shown in FIG. 3, there is a long groove (33b
) and (33b), and a stopper member (34) at the lower end.
to fix. and each such support pipe (33)
As shown in FIG. 1, rear legs (38) having casters (37) are formed at the lower part of the body.

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, each support pipe (33)
An outer pipe (42) is placed on the lower part of the frame from below with a compression coil spring (41) in between, and the left and right outer pipes (42) and
(42) and the vertical pipe section (10c) and (10c) mentioned above.
) is equipped with a rubber cover (44) as shown in Figure 1.
)・(44). And the outer pipe (42)
The screw (43) inserted radially from the - side is screwed into the other side through the long grooves (33b) and (33b) of the support pipe (33), which urges the outer pipe (42) downward and its Prevents extraction. Each outer pipe (4
2) Ha.

A caster (37) is attached to the lower end, and a step (42a) is provided therein, and the above-mentioned section is connected between the step (42a) and the intermediate enlarged diameter section (33a) of the support pipe (33). A compressed boiling spring (41) is sandwiched therebetween. In this way, the hind legs (38) and (38) are formed at the bottom of the vertical pipe parts (10c) and (10c) on the other left and right sides of the lower frames (10) and (10), respectively. be.

Now, referring to FIG. 1 again, each lower frame (10) is fitted with both ends of the vertical pipe parts (10b) and (10c), and the upper frame (10) is bent into an inverted U shape. 46). Then, such upper frames (46) are left and right opposed.

A telescopic frame (47) is attached to the front (left side in the figure) '15 side of each of the upper parts of the rain frames (46) and (46).
As shown in the figure, an outer cylinder (48) having a plurality of positioning holes (48a) in the length direction at positions facing each other, and one ball fitting at positions facing each other. It has matching holes (49a) and (49a), and its outer cylinder (48)
It consists of an inner cylinder (49) that is inserted into the inside, and both ends are secured with bolts (
50), (50) and wing nuts (51), (51) are fixed to the upper frames (46), (46), respectively. As shown in Figure 1, inside the inner cylinder (49), a positioning ball (5
3) Insert the positioning member (54) formed by fixing it.

Then, the positioning ball (53) is fitted into the aforementioned ball fitting holes (49a) (49a). Then, the positioning ball (53) is further selectively engaged with each appropriate opposing positioning hole (48a) of the outer cylinder (48). Matching positioning hole (48a)・
The telescopic frame (47) by changing (48a)
The length can be adjusted.

In addition, as can be seen from Fig. 1, there is a
Attach the handles (55) and (55). The person using the walker should hold these handles (55) and (55) to support the body and casters (19), (37), and (3).
7), it moves together with the walker while moving.

The walker shown in FIG. 1 is constructed as described above. Then, as shown in Fig. 5, the front legs (20) and the hind legs (3
Casters (19), (37), (37) of 8) and (38)
) is placed on (on) a walking surface (g) such as a floor, hallway, road, etc., in contact with the walking surface (g). At this time, in the natural state, the remaining front legs (12), (12) without casters are provided so as to float a distance (Q) from the walking surface (g) as shown in the figure. That is, the front legs (20) with casters (19) are formed to be slightly longer than the front legs (12) without casters. For example, by forming the pipe portion (17b) in a "<" shape as in the illustrated embodiment, when the walker is moved forward as shown by the arrow in the figure, the center of the caster (19) does not have casters. Remaining front legs (1
2) It is preferable to be located slightly forward (by m in the illustrated embodiment). This is so that even if there is a slightly higher step on the walking surface (g), such as a threshold, the caster (19) will hit the step before the front foot (12) hits the step, making it easier to get over the step. This is for the purpose of

By the way, although not shown in the drawings, in this embodiment, the support pipes (13) and (13) respectively attached to the vertical pipe sections (iob) and (10b) on the negative side also have ball fitting holes (shown in FIG. 4). A ball fitting hole similar to 49a) and (49a) is made, and a positioning member similar to the positioning member (54) shown in FIG. 4 is inserted into the hole. Then, the positioning balls of the positioning member are similarly fitted into the ball fitting holes. On the other hand, the upper frames (46) (46) that fit into the support pipes (13) (13) also have positioning holes (46a) similar to the positioning holes (48a) shown in FIG. )... are spaced at approximately equal intervals in the length direction, three each at opposing positions (see FIGS. 1 and 6). Then, attach the upper frame (46) (46) to the support pipe (13) (13).
) when fitted, their positioning holes (46a)
. . . The above-mentioned positioning balls are selectively fitted into each of the opposing ones, and the upper frame (46
) and (46). Now, as shown in Figure 1, place one positioning ball into the lowest positioning hole (46a).
)・(46a), the handle (55)・
The position (55) is the highest. when in this state.

Push in the positioning balls on both sides with your fingers and attach the upper frame (46)
- When (46) is pushed down, the positioning balls fit into the next intermediate positioning holes (46a) and (46a), and the positions of the handles (55) and (55) become intermediate heights.

Furthermore, from this state, when the positioning ball is pushed in and the upper frames (46) (46) are pushed down, the first positioning ball fits into the uppermost positioning hole (46a) (46a), and the handle (55) ( The position 55) has the lowest height as shown in FIG. In the illustrated embodiment, three stages of positioning holes (46a) are provided, but it goes without saying that the number of positioning holes (46a) is not limited to three stages. Further, when a particularly high walker is required or a walker with a low height is required, the upper frames (46) and (46) may be replaced with new ones.

Now, when using the walker that has been adjusted to the appropriate height in this way, as mentioned above, one handle (55) and (55
) and put it on the casters (19), (37), (37
) while walking using the walker as support.

If a load exceeding a predetermined value is applied to the walker due to, for example, stumbling or staggering, the walker is pushed down against the aforementioned compression coil springs (30) and (41), and first the seventh As shown in the figure, the surface support pipe (3
3) Press the stopper members (34) and (34) of (33) against the casters (37) and (37) to brake their rotation. Also, next is a compression coil spring (30
) by sliding the sliding member (25) against the outer pipe (23
) and move upward within the casters (
The remaining front legs (12), which do not have the front legs (19), come into contact with the walking surface (g), making it difficult to move using the casters (19). Therefore, while walking, casters (19), (37),
Even if the rotation by (37) gains momentum and causes the walker to stagger, if a load greater than a predetermined amount is applied to the walker due to the wobbling, as described above, those casters (19), (37), and (37) ) because it stops the action of
There is no risk of it falling over easily like in the conventional case. In addition, even when using the walker in a sloping hallway or on a slope in a hospital, if you walk while leaning on the walker, you can use the casters (19).
Because it is possible to stop the action of (37) and (37),
Similarly, it doesn't fall over easily. Moreover, in the illustrated embodiment, the brakes are first applied to the rear legs (38) and (38), and then the front legs (12) and (12) touch the ground, and the movement of the walker is not immediately stopped. , there is no risk of tripping over the front. In addition, in Figure 8,
In order to emphasize the state in which the front foot (12) is in contact with the ground, the walker is shown tilted at a large angle, but in reality, the front foot (12)
- There is no need to shorten (12).

The illustrated walker according to this embodiment has a wing nut (
51) and (51), push in the positioning balls (53) and (53) with your fingers against the leaf springs (52), pinching the opening angle of the rain cover frames (46) and (46), and inserting them inside. Tube (49
) into the outer cylinder (48) and their positioning balls (
53)・(53) is the innermost positioning hole (48a)
- It can be fitted into (48a) and folded as shown in Fig. 9. Therefore, when the use is finished, it is stored in this state. Therefore, the walker of the illustrated embodiment has the advantage that it can be stored without taking up much space.

By the way, in the embodiments detailed above, the case where the present invention is applied to a cart-type walker has been described. but,
The present invention is not limited to such a walker, but can be similarly applied to a stick-like walker, and can also be applied to, for example, a crutch that has separate left and right sides.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a sliding member is attached to the tip of the foot via an elastic member, and a caster is attached to the tip of the sliding member, so that in a natural state, the caster is attached to the walking surface. The walker can be easily moved by touching the walker. Therefore, it can be easily handled even by severely ill patients and extremely debilitated elderly people. In addition, if the walker stumbles or stumbles during use, a load is applied to the walker, the sliding member moves against the elastic member and the caster is retracted, and the stopper member provided at the tip of the foot is brought into contact with the caster. Since the rotation of the caster is stopped, there is no risk of the product gaining momentum and falling over in such a case.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 9 show a walker which is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the front leg portion with casters, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the hind leg. Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the telescopic frame part, Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the part.
The figure is an overall side view in the natural state, Figure 6 is an overall perspective view with the height at its lowest, Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view of the hind foot when a load is applied, and Figure 8 is a view when a load is applied. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the folded state. FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are perspective views each showing a conventional walker. (25)...Sliding member (34)...Stopper member (37)...
...... Caster (38) ...... Leg (41) ...... Compression coil spring (elastic member) Fig. 1 5 Door 2 Fig. 3 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 10

Claims (1)

[Claims] A sliding member is attached to the tip of the foot via an elastic member, and a caster is attached to the tip of the sliding member, and when a load of more than a predetermined value is applied, the elastic member deforms and moves the sliding member. . A walker, wherein a stopper member is provided at the tip of the foot to come into contact with the caster and stop the rotation of the caster.