KR20220160275A - A powered wheelchair with tiltable structure - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an electric wheelchair having a tiltable structure. The electric wheelchair includes: a cart (10) provided with a driving actuator (13) and a seat (15); an operator (20) installed on the cart (10) to be connected with the driving actuator (13); a tilting member (30) connecting the cart (10) with the seat (15) through a flexible shaft (31), and regulating the tilting of the flexible shaft (31) through a plurality of sliding plates (35); and a control means (40) controlling the tilting member (30) with a set algorithm in response to the input of the operator (20). Accordingly, the electric wheelchair enables an elderly person or a handicapped person having difficulty in walking to perform a motion of tilting his or her upper body in any direction including forward, backward, left and right directions while getting on and moving the wheelchair by him or herself, thereby enabling the user to conveniently pick up a dropped article and improving driving stability.

Description

Electric wheelchair with tiltable structure {A powered wheelchair with tiltable structure}

The present invention relates to an electric wheelchair, and more particularly, to an electric wheelchair having a tiltable structure in which an elderly person or a disabled person who has difficulty walking can ride and move alone.

Electric wheelchairs help people with walking difficulties to participate in basic social life or lead a more active life. As technologies in related fields, such as electronic control, batteries, and materials, develop, it is expected to increase the mileage based on weight reduction and improve convenience such as voice guidance in the future. However, when moving alone with an electric wheelchair, if you drop your belongings, it is difficult to pick them up without help from around you. A function to prepare for the case where the body motion of an electric wheelchair occupant is required is necessary.

As prior art documents that can be referred to in this regard, Korean Utility Model Registration No. 0408128 (prior document 1), Korean Patent Publication No. 2020-0068846 (prior document 2), etc. are known.

Prior Document 1 provides a left and right frame having a backrest, a seat, and a footrest on the inside of an outer frame having a main wheel, an auxiliary wheel, and a brake, and controls the tilting state with a control tool, so it is more comfortable to use by switching to a lying state while maintaining a sitting posture By enabling this, we expect the effect of enhancing user convenience.

However, this structure is suitable for an assistant to operate rather than a passenger, and it is difficult to apply to a power wheelchair.

Prior Document 2 is a wheelchair mode in which the backrest and legrest are vertically arranged by user manipulation, a bed mode in which the backrest and legrest are horizontally arranged, and a comfort mode in which the frame unit is tilted at a certain angle from the base. Since it is adjusted as one, it is expected that the effect of distributing the load and enabling a comfortable posture is expected.

However, this is not suitable for outdoor use because the key is a tilting motion like a bed, so there is room for improvement.

Korean Registered Utility Model Publication No. 0408128 "Tilting Device for Wheelchair" (Publication Date: 2006.02.07.) Korean Patent Publication No. 2020-0068846 "Electric wheelchair capable of changing multiple posture modes" (Publication date: 2020.06.16.)

An object of the present invention for improving the above conventional problems is an electric wheelchair having a tiltable structure capable of implementing an operation of tilting the upper body in any direction in any direction in the process of riding and moving by the elderly or the disabled who have difficulty walking alone is to provide

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an electric wheelchair having a structure capable of tilting: a bogie equipped with a driving actuator and a seat; A manipulator installed on the bogie to be connected to the travel actuator; A tilting member connecting the carriage and the seat with a flexible shaft and controlling tilting of the flexible shaft with a plurality of sliding plates; and control means for controlling the tilting member with a set algorithm in response to the input of the manipulator.

According to the detailed configuration of the present invention, the flexible shaft of the tilting member is characterized in that it is formed by wrapping the center bar of a highly elastic material with an elastomer of a highly elastic material.

According to the detailed configuration of the present invention, the tilting member is characterized in that each of the four sliding plates is slidably supported around the flexible axis on the guide block, and causes individual vertical movement of the flexible axis and the sliding plate.

According to the detailed configuration of the present invention, the control means is characterized in that a mode switch for selecting a manual/automatic mode is mounted on the manipulator, and a change in inclination of the bogie and a change in height of the slide are detected by a posture detector.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the upper body tilting operation is implemented in any direction in the front, rear, left and right directions while the elderly or the disabled who have difficulty walking ride and move alone, it is convenient to pick up fallen belongings and has an effect of improving driving stability.

1 is a schematic diagram schematically showing a wheelchair according to the present invention;
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the main parts of the wheelchair according to the present invention
3 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of a wheelchair according to the present invention;
Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the angular dynamic state of the wheelchair according to the present invention

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the accompanying drawings.

The present invention proposes a power wheelchair having a tiltable structure. It is aimed at electric wheelchairs that can be used alone by the elderly or disabled who have difficulty walking, but are not necessarily limited thereto. Tilting of the wheelchair means a tilting motion that is convenient for the occupant to pick up belongings that have fallen on the ground.

According to the present invention, the bogie 10 has a structure with a driving actuator 13 and a seat 15.

Referring to FIG. 1 , a traveling actuator 13 and a seat 15 mounted on a bogie 10 are shown. The bogie 10 includes four driving wheels and a driving actuator 13 connected thereto to enable driving. The driving actuator 13 takes a configuration mounted on a conventional electric wheelchair. The bogie 10 may include a footrest 11 and a handle 12. The seat 15 of the seat and the back board is mounted on the upper side of the bogie 10. In addition, armrests may be installed on both sides of the seat 15.

In addition, according to the present invention, the manipulator 20 has a structure installed on the bogie 10 to be connected to the travel actuator 13.

In FIG. 1, the state in which the manipulator 20 is installed on the handle 12 of the cart 10 is shown. The manipulator 20 controls the travel actuator 13 to move the vehicle 10 forward, backward, and brake. The manipulator 20 is composed of a microprocessor, a memory, and a microcomputer circuit equipped with an input/output interface. It is preferable to further mount a touch screen in addition to the button switch for input to the manipulator 20 . The battery 25 mounted on the bogie 10 provides power to the driving actuator 13 and the manipulator 20.

In addition, according to the present invention, the tilting member 30 connecting the bogie 10 and the seat 15 to the flexible shaft 31 has a structure in which the tilting of the flexible shaft 31 is controlled by a plurality of sliding plates 35 is making up

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a flexible shaft 31 connecting the balance 10 and the seat 15 is shown. The flexible axis 31 interlocks the posture of the seat 15 by interlocking with the direction in which the upper body of the user sitting on the seat 15 tilts. The flexible shaft 31 is required to have high elasticity and high elasticity properties. A plurality of slide plates 35 surrounding the flexible shaft 31 adjust the degree of elastic deformation of the flexible shaft 31 . As will be described later, it is possible to tilt in all directions by linking the flexible shaft 31 and the sliding plate 35, and also secures stability by regulating tilting according to the situation.

According to the detailed configuration of the present invention, the flexible shaft 31 of the tilting member 30 is characterized in that it is formed by wrapping the central band 32 of a highly elastic material with an elastomer 33 of a highly elastic material.

In FIG. 2 , the central bar 32 and the elastomer 33 constituting the flexible shaft 31 are shown. The center band 32 uses a material having high elasticity equal to or higher than that of carbon fiber. The center band 32 may be configured in plurality to reinforce mechanical strength. Since the elastomer 33 surrounding the central bar 32 has a greater strain than the central bar, high elasticity is required. A composite material in which an olefin-based resin layer is formed on one side of the elastomer 33 may be used. A sheet woven of highly elastic fibers may be added to the outermost periphery of the elastomer 33 .

According to the detailed configuration of the present invention, the tilting member 30 supports the four slide plates 35 to be slidably centered on the flexible shaft 31 on the guide block 36, respectively, and the flexible shaft 31 and It is characterized in that it causes individual up and down movement of the sliding board (35).

2 shows a state in which the flexible shaft 31 and the sliding plate 35 are symmetrically disposed on the guide block 36. The guide block 36 is tightly fixed to the bogie 10, and supports the flexible shaft 31 and the sliding plate 35 to be vertically movable. The sliding plate 35 is formed in an arc-shaped cross section having a substantially similar curvature to that of the guide block 36 . The four sliding plates 35 are arranged in front and rear and left and right based on the running direction of the bogie 10 . At least some of the flexible shaft 31, the sliding plate 35, and the guide block 36 preferably include a Teflon resin layer to reduce sliding resistance.

At this time, the piezoelectric actuator 45 is connected to the lower end of the sliding plate 35 and the lift actuator 47 is connected to the lower end of the flexible shaft 31. The piezoelectric actuator 45 is formed by stacking a plurality of piezoelectric elements, and induces individual up and down motion for each sliding plate 35. Since the slide plate 35 is normally raised to a maximum height, it surrounds the flexible shaft 31 to a sufficient height, so that arbitrary tilting of the flexible shaft 31 is restricted. The lift actuator 47 is formed of a motor-gear train or a spring-solenoid, and causes the vertical movement of the flexible shaft 31. When the lift actuator 47 is operated during driving on a slope, the flexible shaft 31 descends to lower the center of gravity.

In addition, according to the present invention, the control unit 40 controls the tilting member 30 according to a set algorithm in response to the input of the manipulator 20 .

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3 , a control means 40 centered on the manipulator 20 is shown. Of course, the control means 40 may be configured by adding a separate control board on the manipulator 20. The algorithm controlling the tilting member 30 is stored in the memory of the manipulator 20 in the form of programs and data and executed. Although the flexible shaft 31 on the bogie 10 allows the seat 15 to tilt in all directions, it should not be arbitrarily operated when the wheelchair is located on a ramp or while driving.

According to the detailed configuration of the present invention, the control means 40 mounts a mode switch 41 for selecting a manual/automatic mode on the manipulator 20, and changes the inclination of the cart 10 with a posture detector 43. And it is characterized in that the height fluctuation of the sliding plate (35) is detected.

In FIG. 3, a mode switch 41, a posture detector 43, a piezoelectric actuator 45, a lift actuator 47, and the like that are directly or indirectly connected to the manipulator 20 are shown. The mode switch 41 has a manual mode for operating in one predetermined motion and an automatic mode for operating in response to a signal from the attitude detector 43 . When the manual mode is selected with the mode switch 41 while the wheelchair is stopped, the piezoelectric actuator 45 is operated and all slide plates 35 are lowered, so it is easy to tilt the seat 15. The automatic mode of the mode switch 41 will be described later. The attitude detector 43 is mounted on the bogie 10, the flexible shaft 31, the sliding board 35, etc. to detect a state in which the angle or position is changed.

Referring to FIG. 4, an example of operation in the case of selecting the automatic mode using the mode switch 41 is shown. As shown in FIG. 4 (a), when the height of the left sliding plate 35 is lowered while pulling the flexible shaft 31 downward, the seat 15 is tilted to the left. As shown in FIG. 4(b), when the height of the right sliding plate 35 is lowered while pulling the flexible shaft 31 downward, the seat 15 is inclined to the right. If the wheelchair is running on the ramp in the automatic mode of the mode switch 41, the manipulator 20 forcibly tilts the flexible shaft 31 in the opposite direction in response to the signal from the posture detector 43 to reduce the risk of overturning. stability can be ensured. Of course, it can also be expected to assist in tilting when the user picks up belongings when the wheelchair is stopped.

The present invention is not limited to the described embodiments, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, such variations or modifications should fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

10: bogie 11: scaffolding
12: handle 13: driving actuator
15: seat 20: manipulator
25: battery 30: connecting member
31: flexible shaft 32: central bar
33: elastomer 35: sliding plate
36: guide block 40: control means
41: mode switch 43: attitude detector
45: piezoelectric actuator 47: lift actuator

Claims (4)

In an electric wheelchair with a tiltable structure:
Bogie 10 equipped with a traveling actuator 13 and a seat 15;
A manipulator 20 installed on the bogie 10 to be connected to the travel actuator 13;
A tilting member 30 connecting the bogie 10 and the seat 15 with a flexible shaft 31 and controlling tilting of the flexible shaft 31 with a plurality of sliding plates 35; and
An electric wheelchair with a structure capable of tilting, characterized in that it comprises; control means (40) for controlling the tilting member (30) with a set algorithm in response to the input of the manipulator (20). The method of claim 1,
The flexible shaft 31 of the tilting member 30 is an electric wheelchair with a tiltable structure, characterized in that formed by wrapping the central bar 32 of a highly elastic material with an elastomer 33 of a highly elastic material. The method of claim 1,
The tilting member 30 supports four sliding plates 35 on the guide block 36 in a sliding manner around the flexible shaft 31, respectively, and the individual up and down of the flexible shaft 31 and the sliding plate 35 An electric wheelchair with a tiltable structure characterized in that it induces motion. The method of claim 1,
The control means 40 is equipped with a mode switch 41 for selecting a manual/automatic mode on the manipulator 20, and the attitude detector 43 determines the change in inclination of the bogie 10 and the height of the sliding board 35. An electric wheelchair with a tiltable structure characterized in that it detects fluctuations.

Images