KR20160103634A - wheelchair with mountable power train system and controlled by passenger motion - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wheelchair with a power transmission unit capable of steering control in accordance with a posture of a passenger, which consists of wheels, a seat, and a backrest, comprising: a connection housing which is mounted on and connected to wheel support parts on both sides of a lower rear surface of the wheelchair; a power transmission unit which is mounted on the rear of the connection housing, and includes two electric wheels connected to the central rear of the connection housing to contact with the ground side by side, and a dual motor part which is connected to a shaft toward each of the electric wheels on both sides to independently rotate the electric wheels, respectively; a steering sensor part mounted on a part of the wheelchair or a passenger to measure left and right slopes of the passenger; and a steering control part installed on the part of the wheelchair to control a direction by varying the rotation speed of the dual motor part on both sides in accordance with a slope signal of the passenger measured by the steering sensor part. Accordingly, the present invention provides the improved electric wheelchair whose direction is simply controlled by tilting of an upper body of a disabled person or a patient who is hard to move the upper body due to paralysis of hands or arms.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a wheelchair with a power train capable of steering control according to an occupant attitude,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to an electric wheelchair, and more particularly, to a wheelchair provided with a power transmitting device capable of steering control according to a passenger's posture capable of steering a wheelchair with simple inclination or behavior of a passenger.

BACKGROUND ART [0002] Generally, a wheelchair is an auxiliary mechanism used for facilitating movement of a patient or an elderly person who is uncomfortable in the lower half body, an inconvenient mobility, or the like. In the conventional wheelchair, A second wheel formed on the front side of the lower frame, a chair having an armrest at an upper end of the upper frame, and a handle formed on both sides of the rear end of the chair.

As described above, the conventional wheelchair can be moved by the user by pushing the rotary knob by the hand or by the protector pushing it from the back side of the wheelchair. If the wheelchair is used for a long time, the user's physical power is wasted, will be. Particularly, in a hospital or a nursing home, a wheelchair can be used only through a helper or an assistant, so that there is a high need for an electric wheelchair.

Accordingly, there has been proposed a device for driving a wheelchair without using manpower by forming a driving device on the wheelchair as disclosed in Korean Utility Model Registration No. 0226365. However, all of the driving devices for the wheelchair have a structure of a part of the wheelchair It can be driven only if it is changed. This means that the conventional wheelchair that has been used well has been abandoned unconditionally and bought a new wheelchair, so that the disabled person or his / her caregiver has a very heavy financial burden. In addition, the conventional electric wheel chair has a problem that the device is complicated and heavy and inconvenient to carry due to long-distance movement.

In order to solve this problem, a wheelchair with a removable electric motor is shown in Fig. 1 in the Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0254844. As shown in Fig. 1, the present invention is composed of a battery (1), a drive motor (2), a drive shaft (3), a motor fixed plate (4), a drive shaft gear (5), and an axle gear It is an electric power unit for wheelchair used.

If the same size of force is transmitted to both wheels at the same time during wheelchair driving, the wheelchair can only go forward or backward. Therefore, two driving motors (2) are used for controlling the wheels on both sides, respectively, so that the wheelchair can be smoothly driven not only forward and backward but also when turning.

The motor fixing plate ④ is attached to the wheelchair frame ⑩ so as to fix the driving motor ② to the wheelchair and the driving shaft ③ passes through the hole bored in the motor fixing plate ④. The drive shaft gear (⑤) is engaged with the axle gear (⑥) coupled to the wheel shaft by engaging with the drive shaft (③) passing through the motor fixing plate (④) The generated loss can be reduced.

On the other hand, the battery (①) can be attached to and detached from the battery holder (⑨), so that it can be switched to manual or automatic at any time, and beside the right armrest (⑦) (⑧) was attached to facilitate the operation of the driver.

However, in the above-described conventional invention, there is a problem that gears are to be installed on the wheels of a general wheel as power transmission using gears, and a power-driven motor is required to be installed on both wheels. The total weight is increased, and the manufacturing cost is increased.

In addition, a conventional electric wheel chair has proposed a system that directly steers the wheel to steer the wheelchair or steers the steering wheel through an operation lever. However, a patient who is uncomfortable in the upper body such as paralyzed hands or arms, There is a problem that it is difficult to control or manipulate the traveling direction.

Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0254844 (Registration date: November 08, 2001)

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved electric wheelchair which can control the direction of a wheelchair simply by tilting an upper body to a patient or the like of a disabled person having an incompetent upper body behavior with a simple structure.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wheelchair comprising a wheel, a seat, and a backrest, the wheelchair including: a connection housing mounted on and connected to both wheel supports on the lower rear of the wheelchair; A pair of electric motors connected to the rear of the connection housing and connected to the rear of the connection housing and connected to the ground, and a dual motor unit connected to the shafts on both sides of the electric motor to independently rotate the electric wheels. A removable power transmission device comprising: A steering sensor unit mounted on a part of the wheelchair or a passenger and measuring the tilt of the passenger; And a steering control unit installed in a part of the wheelchair for controlling the direction by varying the rotation speeds of both the dual motor units according to the tilt signal of the occupant measured by the steering sensor unit.

Preferably, the power transmission device further includes a shock obsorber extending rearward from a central portion of the connection housing and connected to the shaft of the electric wheel. The steering sensor unit may include a tilt sensor, a gyro sensor, And a load cell.

Preferably, the tilt sensor or the gyro sensor may be attached to the body of the passenger, and two of the load cells may be installed on both seat seats so that the passenger may measure the tilt signal through a difference in the tilted load have.

Preferably, the steering control unit includes a microcontroller unit and a wireless communication device capable of wireless communication with the steering sensor unit. When the tilt signal measured by the steering sensor unit is equal to or greater than a preset value, And transmit it to the power transmission device.

Preferably, the steering control unit generates a steering angle for driving in proportion to the tilt signal, and the dual motor unit is preferably a servo motor.

As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided a steering system that can steer right and left according to the posture of a passenger, and a power transmission device that can be easily attached to and detached from the vehicle. The present invention provides an improved electric wheelchair which can control the direction of the wheelchair simply by tilting the upper body to the patient.

1 is a view showing a configuration of a wheel chair with a conventional disengagement electric motor,
FIG. 2 is a rear view showing the entire configuration of a wheelchair having a power transmission device capable of steering control according to an occupant attitude according to an embodiment of the present invention,
3 is a plan view showing a configuration of a wheelchair having a power transmitting device capable of steering control according to a passenger attitude for measuring a tilt using a load cell according to another embodiment of the present invention,
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of right steering through a wheelchair provided with a power transmission device capable of steering control according to an occupant attitude according to an embodiment of the present invention,
5 is a schematic diagram of left steering through a wheelchair provided with a power transmission device capable of steering control according to an occupant attitude according to an embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and how to accomplish it, will be described with reference to the embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein but may be embodied in other forms. The embodiments are provided so that those skilled in the art can easily carry out the technical idea of the present invention to those skilled in the art.

In the drawings, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the specific forms shown and are exaggerated for clarity. Also, the same reference numerals denote the same components throughout the specification.

The expression "and / or" is used herein to mean including at least one of the elements listed before and after. Also, singular forms include plural forms unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Also, components, steps, operations and elements referred to in the specification as " comprises "or" comprising " refer to the presence or addition of one or more other components, steps, operations, elements, and / or devices.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

2 is a rear view showing the entire configuration of a wheelchair 100 provided with a power transmission device capable of steering control according to an occupant attitude according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2, a wheelchair 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a wheel 110, a seat 170, and a backrest 130. In the wheelchair 100, A connection housing 150 mounted on and connected to both wheel supports of the rear lower portion; Two electric wheels 230 that are connected to the rear of the center of the connection housing 150 and come in contact with the ground side by being mounted to the rear of the connection housing 150 and connected to the shafts on both sides of the electric wheels 230, And a dual motor unit that rotates the electric wheels 230 independently of each other. A steering sensor unit 300 mounted on a part of the wheelchair 100 or a passenger and measuring the tilt of the passenger; And a steering control part (400) installed in a part of the wheelchair (100) and controlling the direction by controlling the rotation speeds of both the dual motor parts according to the tilt signal of the occupant measured by the steering sensor part (300) do.

As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, unlike the conventional steering apparatus for steering the wheelchair 100, it is possible to provide a steering system capable of steering right and left according to the posture of the occupant, It is possible to easily control the direction of the wheelchair 100 by tilting or moving the upper body to a patient with a disability who is inconvenienced by the paralysis of the hand or arm due to the simple configuration The present invention provides an improved motorized wheelchair 100 that can be used for a motorized wheelchair.

Here, the power transmission device 200 is installed at the lower part of the rear side of the wheelchair 100 and functions as a power source for moving the entire wheelchair 100 by the rotation of the electric wheel 230 contacting with the ground by motor driving.

The connection housing 150 is an H-shaped frame structure formed by two transverse frames arranged in a vertical frame, and a battery, which is a secondary battery 150, is preferably mounted in the first half, and two electric wheels 230 are installed.

In the general-type wheelchair 100, a pipe-shaped support portion supporting both wheels is formed in parallel with the ground, and a structure for inserting and mounting a first half vertical frame of the connection housing 150 to the support portion, So that the power transmission device 200 can be easily mounted on the wheel chair 100 without the need.

The first half of the connection housing 150 is a box-like structure having a bottom support and a top open. The battery can be easily replaced or installed at any time. In other words, the connection housing 150 preferably includes a box-shaped housing for mounting the battery, and a connecting bar positioned on both sides of the lower portion of the box-shaped housing to be inserted into the two wheel supports. . Here, the handle bar is a handle of a user to easily attach and detach the power transmitting device 200 to the wheelchair 100.

The shock absorber 270 is fixed to a front portion of the box-shaped housing and extends obliquely to the rear of the housing. The shock absorber 270 is fixedly connected to the electric wheel 230 through a support. It is preferable to connect and fix it through a support. The shock absorber 270 is one of the main components of the vehicle suspension. It is mounted between the vehicle body and the wheels and serves as a brake (resistance) against the vehicle's shaking.

The principle of the shock absorber 270 is to adjust the shrinkage of the spring so that the shocked spring can be prevented from repeatedly bouncing up and down, thereby allowing the spring to slowly return to its original state. In other words, it is a device that performs the function of expanding and contracting the spring, that is, weakening the vibration of the vehicle body up and down and buffering it.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the two electric wheels 230 are connected to the wheelchair 100 through the shock absorber 270, shocks and the like generated by contact with the ground surface having various curved surfaces are buffered, It is possible to prevent damage to the delivery device 200 and to enhance durability and to reduce the impact transmitted to the wheelchair 100. [

The dual motor unit 130 is composed of two motors that independently drive the rotation of the two electric wheels 230. That is, an actuator that receives electric power from the power source of the secondary battery and rotates the electric wheel 230 by driving the motor is connected to the axes of the two electric wheels 230 and is driven independently of each other, The direction of the wheelchair 100 can be controlled according to the difference in the rotation ratio or the rotation speed of the wheelchair 100. [ Therefore, it is preferable that the two motors of the dual motor unit use a servo motor. The servo motor is capable of precise control and control through numerical analysis, so that the steering angle according to the signal measured by the steering sensor unit 300 can be implemented precisely and quickly.

The secondary battery uses a rechargeable battery that can be easily charged as a power source of the power transmission apparatus 200 and is provided with an adapter and a plug in order to enhance the convenience of charging, desirable. That is, the user can easily remove and charge the battery, or charge the battery by connecting it to the power source using the plug in the mounted state.

Here, the steering sensor unit 300 is a measuring device mounted on a part of the wheelchair 100 or a passenger to measure the tilt of the passenger. That is, when tilting the upper body in a state where the occupant is aboard, the sensor installed on the body of the occupant or a part of the wheelchair 100 measures the tilt of the occupant and transmits the measured tilt to the steering controller 400 Function.

Preferably, the steering sensor unit 300 includes at least one of a tilt sensor, a gyro sensor, and a load cell 350, and the tilt sensor or the gyro sensor is attached to a body of a passenger.

A gyroscope is a sensor that uses the principle of a gyroscope, and a gyroscope is a device used for measuring or maintaining a direction. A gyroscope is a rotating wheel that can be placed in either direction and is a mechanism of rotor and gimbal and is based on the Angular momentum conservation law. When the gyroscope rotates rapidly, when the torque is given from the outside, the direction changes much less than when the gyroscope does not rotate due to the angular momentum due to rotation. Since the gyroscope is placed on the gimbal, which is a horizontal holding device, the external torque is minimized and the direction is almost fixed even if the mounted bearing moves.

An example of a gyro sensor that can be compared with this gyroscope principle is an acceleration sensor or a tilt sensor. The acceleration sensor or the tilt sensor measures the tilt with respect to the surface of the earth. The characteristic of this sensor is that it can not measure the motion of the object finely, and if the sum of external acceleration is zero, There is nothing. However, the gyro sensor differs from the acceleration sensor or the tilt sensor in that it measures the tilt with the information obtained by measuring the 'angular velocity'.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the steering system for controlling the direction of the wheelchair 100 through the inclination of the upper body of the occupant is provided, and the tilt sensor or the gyro sensor is attached to a part of the occupant or the wheelchair 100, . Of course, it is also possible to use any sensor capable of measuring the movement or inclination of the upper body of the passenger.

The steering control unit 400 is installed in a part of the wheelchair 100 and generates a driving command signal that varies the rotational speeds of the two dual motor units according to the tilt signal of the occupant measured by the steering sensor unit 300, The direction of the wheelchair 100 is controlled. It is preferable that the steering control unit is provided with a microcontroller unit and a wireless communication device. This makes it possible to easily install the steering sensor unit, the power transmission device, the measured tilt signal and the driving signal without installing a complicated wired line, This is because the degree of freedom is high.

3 is a plan view showing a configuration of a wheelchair 100 having a power transmission device capable of steering control according to a passenger attitude measuring a tilt using a load cell 350 according to another embodiment of the present invention. 3, in the embodiment of the present invention, when two load cells 350 are mounted on both sides of the seat 170 of the wheelchair 100, The weight measured by the load cell 350 on the tilted side becomes higher and the weight on the other side becomes relatively lower. When the difference value of the weight measured by both of the load cells 350 becomes higher than a preset specific value The steering control unit 400 generates a driving command signal for steering the wheelchair 100 and transmits the driving command signal to the power transmission device 200 to control the traveling direction of the wheelchair 100. [

By providing sensors on both sides of the seat 170 on which the passengers are seated using a sensor for measuring the pressing force such as the load cell 350 or the piezoelectric element, the pressing force applied through the hip of the occupant is related to the inclination of the upper body. So as to generate a steering drive signal capable of controlling the steering of the wheelchair 100 by measuring the tilt of the occupant.

It is possible to measure the difference of the load applied to both the load cells 350 of the seat 170 and measure the difference of the load applied to the wheelchair 100 on the basis of the significant difference, as opposed to measuring the direct inclination of the upper body, unlike the tilt sensor or the gyro sensor described above. And when the difference value is changed, the steering angle is calculated or generated in proportion to the difference value, so that the occupant can easily steer the wheelchair 100 as needed.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of right steering through a wheelchair 100 provided with a power transmission device capable of steering control according to an occupant attitude according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a left steering.

As shown in Fig. 4, if the occupant tilts the upper body of the occupant at a specific angle to the right after tilting the wheelchair 100, or tilts the left direction at a specific angle as shown in Fig. 5, the inclination sensor or the gyro sensor And the measured tilt signal is received by the steering control unit 400 and is transmitted to each motor of the power transmission apparatus 200 to transmit driving signals for generating the steering angle corresponding to the tilt to each motor do. When the electric motor 230 is rotated according to the driving command signals of the different rotational ratios or rotational speeds to the respective motors of the both sides, the direction of the wheelchair 100 is steered by the difference of the rotational speeds of the two electric wheels 230 .

Here, when the tilt signal measured by the steering sensor unit 300 is equal to or greater than a preset value, it is preferable to generate and transmit a steering driving signal to the power transmitting apparatus 200, If not, the driving command signals are transmitted to both of the electric wheels 230 in the case of fine measurement of the inclination, so that it is sensitive to the small movement of the occupant, so that the system operation becomes very unstable or the possibility of malfunction may increase to be. That is, since the steering command signal can be transmitted only when the tilt signal is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the steering operation can be performed only in a steady state in which the steering is steadily stable and the tilt value of the occupant is clearly shown. .

In addition, the steering control unit 400 preferably generates a steering angle for driving in proportion to the tilt signal. In this embodiment, the magnitude of the steering angle is calculated in proportion to the degree of inclination, and the steering angle is calculated on both sides of the steering angle By determining the rotation ratio or rotation speed of the motor, it becomes possible to easily control the degree or magnitude of the steering.

While the invention has been shown and described with respect to the specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Anyone with it will know easily.

100: wheelchair, 110: wheel, 130: backrest, 150: connecting housing,
200: power transmission device, 230: electric wheel, 250: motor
300: steering sensor unit, 400: steering control unit

Claims (9)

A wheelchair comprising a wheel, a seat, and a backrest,
A connecting housing mounted and connected to both wheel supports on the lower rear of the wheel chair;
A pair of electric motors connected to the rear of the connection housing and connected to the rear of the connection housing and connected to the ground, and a dual motor unit connected to the shafts on both sides of the electric motor to independently rotate the electric wheels. A removable power transmission device comprising:
A steering sensor unit mounted on a part of the wheelchair or a passenger and measuring the tilt of the passenger;
And a steering control part installed in a part of the wheelchair for controlling the direction by varying the rotational speeds of the two dual motor parts according to the tilt signal of the occupant measured by the steering sensor part. And a power transmission device for transmitting the power to the wheelchair.
The method according to claim 1,
The power transmission device includes:
And a shock obsorber extending rearward from a central portion of the connection housing and connected to an axis of the electric wheel. The wheelchair according to claim 1,
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the steering sensor unit includes at least one of a tilt sensor, a gyro sensor, and a load cell.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the tilt sensor or the gyro sensor is attached to a body of a passenger.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the load cell is provided on both sides of the seat so that the tilt signal is measured through a difference in the tilted load of the occupant.
6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5,
The steering control unit includes:
And a wireless communication device capable of wireless communication with the steering sensor unit. The wheelchair according to claim 1,
6. The method according to any one of claims 3 to 5,
And a power transmission device capable of steering control according to an occupant's attitude when the tilt signal measured by the steering sensor unit is equal to or greater than a preset value, and generates and transmits a steering driving signal to the power transmission device.
8. The method of claim 7,
And the steering control unit generates a steering angle for driving in proportion to the tilt signal.
6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Wherein the dual motor unit is a servo motor. 2. The wheelchair of claim 1, wherein the dual motor unit is a servo motor.

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