SI9700331A - Control handle integrated bi-directional drive with control system and additional control wheel for single hand driving and control of wheelchairs - Google Patents

Abstract

Subject of the invention is a control handle integrated bi-directional drive with control system and additional control wheel for single hand driving and control of the wheelchair by muscle power, enabling the transformation of linear movement of a handle forward - backward into continuous rotation and is intended for single hand driving and control of wheelchairs. The suggested invention is presented as an implementation model when used in single hand mode where the driving direction is determined by transverse movements of the gripping part (3a) of the control handle (3), which is connected to the additional control wheel (4) by a steel rope (8). The additional wheel (4) can be easily lifted from the surface if required, by using a lifting lever (11) and spring (12).

Description

TWO-DRIVE OPERATOR WITH STEERING WHEEL STEERING SYSTEM AND ADDITIONAL STEERING WHEEL

The object of the invention is a two-way gearbox with a control system on the drive lever and an additional steering wheel for one-handed actuation and steering of the muscle-powered trolley, which enables the forward or backward movement of small-stroke handles, preferably hand-operated handles. into continuous rotation and is intended for one-handed

2o wheelchair drive and steering. With different positions of the drive lever, it is possible to activate the drive forwards, backwards, braking or idling and also to control the driving direction with only one hand and without releasing or moving the hand from the drive lever. For this purpose, the drive lever is connected to an additional, adjustable steering wheel, which enables efficient one-handed driving and steering in virtually all driving conditions, and the ability to quickly and easily convert a wheelchair into a normal wheelchair. The invention belongs to Class B 62 M 1/14 of the International Patent Classification.

A technical problem that is successfully solved by the present mechanism according to the invention is such a design solution of a one-wheel-drive wheelchair drive system, which will enable active and, above all, safe two-way operation with the possibility of changing the gear ratio between the io movement of the wheelchair and the possibility of rapidly changing the direction of rotation of the drive wheel without Separation of the driver's arm from the drive lever, which in the case of a one-wheel-drive wheelchair, which, with increased safety and higher operating efficiency, enables improved maneuverability of the lever-operated wheelchair. The mechanism of the invention operates without sinusoidal losses characteristic of converting linear motions into rotation by means of eccentric clamping of the actuators.

The technical problem of the submitted continuous (continuous) drive, which is to enable, in particular, safer and more efficient driving on all types of terrain or terrain. of the rolling stock is the construction of the structure itself, which should be easy to manufacture and suitable for retrofitting to any or all. a pre-existing wheelchair.

The designs of single-wheel-drive wheelchairs are based on four well-known concepts:

In the first group, the carts driven by the driver by direct thrust on the drive rings are rigidly mounted on the drive wheels. A positive feature of such drives is their good maneuverability, as the driver can turn the trolley in place by twisting one wheel in one hand with the other in the opposite direction. The negative feature of such drives is the very low drive efficiency, since after the drive ring is detached, the driver must release the ring and return the arm back, which means that during one half of the entire arm movement, the driver does not actively perform the drive. The second cause of the poor utilization of the drives in question lies in the unfavorable working angle of the driver's wrist and whole arm, since with maximum physical exertion it allows the development of only a small portion of the force that the arm could develop at a physiologically more favorable working angle. In particular, in a sitting position in a wheelchair, the driver, with his arms nearly extended downwards, pushes the drive ring at an angle of less than 80 ° initially, in excess of 90 ° and then ends at approximately 130 ° with respect to the angle, formed by his spine. Depending on the size of the average driver, the average length of the arms and the average starting angle of the driver's body, the mean value of the thrust angle of the driver's arm per drive ring relative to the line formed by the spine varies between 105 ° and 115 °. Such

Due to its lowering down and good blood flow, the working angle of the arm is positive, but given the force that the arm can develop, it is extremely unfavorable. According to the well-known data of the physiology of human muscle function, with the maximum physical exertion of the arm, it can develop a maximum repulsive force in e.g. characterized by a thorax and a mandatory high raised arm (when the drive ring is unreachable), and with the lower arm at a much greater thrust angle than can be done on the drive ring. It is the angle of action of a force that forms at least 140 ° to 190 ° with the spine line. The propulsion with a wheel attached to the wheel of the wheelchair is therefore mechanically marked and limits the possibility of greater propulsion efficiency to less than 1/3 of the theoretically possible value. In addition, the drive ring has a particularly adverse effect on the wrist of the rider, since loads occurring in stronger or sportier and recreationally oriented paraplegics in a very large percentage of cases cause permanent deformities of the wrist, the need for serious surgery and so on. In some cases of spinal or muscular disorders of the spine, the annular type of propulsion causes excessive shear stress on the spine and opens the possibility of its subsequent defects or deformities. One-handed actuators based on the ring actuator are designed so that the axle of one wheel under the wheelchair seat is extended in the direction opposite to the wheel and mounted through the axis of its rotation. Thus, two drive rings, usually one above the other, are mounted on the side of the driver's healthy arm, the upper one attached to the wheel rim and the lower one to the extended central axis on the opposite side of the wheel. The one-handed actuator described is extremely inefficient as the driver cannot simultaneously squeeze the two rings with sufficient force, turning on the spot is impracticable, and the drive is only possible on a horizontal and completely smooth running surface.

In the second group of known embodiments of two-wheeled wheelchairs are lever-driven wheelchairs, driven by alternately pushing and pulling high-mounted drive arms, which transform linear motions into rotation of the drive wheel via an eccentrically clamped and longitudinally mounted bar. The first trolleys with such a drive were created immediately after the First World War and are still in production today, and inventors have reported their improvements in the last decade (e.g., USA

No. 4,993,732). A positive feature of such a drive is its slightly higher driving efficiency in flat terrain. Negative characteristics, however, lie in extremely poor maneuverability, inability to drive steeply or in poor running conditions, and a mechanically defined stroke of the crank arm, which, over a longer drive, extremely tired the musculature of the driver, is otherwise acceptable in view of the physiological characteristics of the drive. ring drive (described in the first group), as it is performed by the driver with his arms high and with a characteristic chest pull and traction. The physiologically negative characteristics of such a lever drive are also significantly worse for the driver's bloodstream, and the fact that this type of drive would be almost ideally effective for healthy drivers who, when pulling the lever with their feet, can rely on a tilting surface (similar to rowing on racing boats) . As it is not possible for the disabled to rest on the legs, this type of drive must be performed alternately - one pushes the lever while the other pulls using a relatively small number of hand and chest muscle groups only. Due to all these advantages and disadvantages, the driving efficiency of such a drive with the average driver is somehow up to two times higher than the efficiency of the ring drive, but exclusively on flat and smooth running surfaces. One-handed implementations of such drives have additional disadvantages, since it is almost impossible to eliminate the problems of the existence of the drive system in one of the two blind spots of the drive eccentric, and slope driving is much less efficient because, in addition to the reduced drive power, the problem causes maintenance of direction because the drive torque of a distinctly sinusoidal shape is generated on only one side wheel. Therefore, driving with such a propulsion system is possible mainly on a horizontal and smooth running surface

In the third group, there are so-called pedal drives ”in which the driver drives the crankshaft-like gears with his hands clasped, and two-wheeled chain-link, belt or similar medium to the front wheel-drive wheel of a wheelchair of three types, (eg in U.S. patent documents No. 4,758,013 and 4,471,972). Such drives may be fitted with a gearbox, but due to the very unfavorable operating position of the hands, the utilization of such drives is even smaller or equal to the efficiency of the gear units described in the second group. In addition, in this type of three-wheel drive, the drive is possible mainly on a very forward-facing front drive-steering wheel, to which even 10% of the total weight of the trolley with the driver cannot be carried. It is therefore virtually impossible to drive uphill because the drive wheel slips, and because of the extremely large turning radius, it is virtually impossible to use such a wheelchair indoors. Technically, such gearboxes are manufactured in an alternative for simultaneous or simultaneous pushing and pulling of pedal arms, but in the last few years only versions for simultaneous pushing of both pedal arms have remained in production and use. The reason for this lies in a somewhat higher efficiency compared to the physiological characteristics of the human body in cases where the legs cannot be active and when the greater pushing force can only be achieved by the driver when the pedal arms are pulled off in horizontal traction or vertical thrust, but only a negligible force. Although, based on the described propulsion system, there are technical possibilities for constructing a single-handed actuator, unlike the above two versions, such single-handed actuators are not manufactured anywhere.

The fourth group includes inventions and, in the known state of the art, recognizable designs, which seek to eliminate at least the basic disadvantages of the described groups of drive systems:

The first structures of this kind were made on the basis of the installation of a conventional mechanical handle (such as the one used to tighten the socket wrenches) on the drive wheel axis. With the crank arm extended, the resulting driving torque was significantly higher, but even in the ideal case the efficiency was not even 50% possible since the energy of the movement of returning the arm to its initial driving position was not used. As a result of the problem described, several solutions have been created that take advantage of both hand motions - push and pull, while simultaneously reducing the reduced drive efficiency due to the sinusoidal torque created on the drive wheel due to the eccentric conversion of the linear drive arm movement into the drive wheel rotation. There are a number of known solutions in this group (US Patent Documents 1,605,750; 2,130,426; 3,994,509; 4,354,691; 4,453,729; 4,460,181; 4,682,784; 4,762,332; 4,811,964; 5,007,655; 5,322,312; 5,499,833; 5,577,748). The disadvantages of these and other known solutions are that they do not open the possibility of building a propulsion system that, with optimal driving safety, which is extremely important for the disabled, would significantly increase the simplicity and, above all, efficiency and drive efficiency, in addition to physiological and a medically sound and acceptable way to drive and operate a wheelchair. Some recent developments in patent applications over the last decade have significantly improved the mechanical means of converting from straight-arm movement to continuous rotation (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,168; DE 39 32 538 A1; U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,754; Sl 92 00 294; Sl 93 00 501; Sl 93 00 517; Fig. 94 00 241), but still with a very large number of completely concrete deficiencies, which, even when all the best solutions of known inventions or combinations are combined. patent applications do not allow construction

2o a propulsion system that, as a technical unit, would meet most of the necessary and set requirements. Even the most preferred known embodiments, e.g. the embodiment described in patent document Sl 94 00 241, in addition to the above, still no longer meet the essential criteria:

• do not envisage or allow the installation of propellers which are adapted to the physical structure of the disabled person in his / her work area and whose feet are inoperative and therefore require significantly different mechanical arrangements for efficient and health-friendly means of transmitting body power to the propulsion medium. All existing lever solutions, with the exception of the solution described in Fig. 94 00 241, provide for and can be fitted with drive levers located between the drive wheel and the wheelchair stick. However, the levers so fitted do not allow for their shortening of the io and the appropriate shape to ensure energy-efficient and medically optimal propulsion; • they do not allow efficient, safe driving, braking, steering and reversing of the driving direction forwards - backwards, especially in one-handed operation and while driving in the slope of the disabled, which can use only one hand for all the above operations, as the steering rotation of the control lever is generally transmitted to the left or right front wheel of a wheelchair, which is very lightly weighted (less than 15% of total weight) when traveling unilaterally the driving force of the gear unit does not guarantee safe maintenance of the direction, nor does it completely fail in steep driving (when the center of gravity of the trolley is further reversed).

• they do not allow the safe and reliable maintenance of the straight terrain as the drive and steering on the same lever often cause partial transverse movements of the lever while the drive is running, resulting in an unpleasant tilting of the trolley when attempting to maintain a straight running direction.

The present invention is presented in an embodiment for use in single-hand drive, whereby the control of the driving direction is achieved by the transverse bending of the gripping portion of the drive arm connected to the additional steering wheel via a steel rope. The auxiliary steering wheel can be easily lifted off the bogie if necessary by means of a lifting lever and a spring.

The invention will be explained in more detail on the basis of pictures, of which it shows:

Fig. 1 shows an axionometric view of a wheelchair with one-wheel drive and a steering transmission to a centrally mounted auxiliary steering wheel with a locking mechanism and a lifting mechanism;

Figure 2 shows an axionometric view of the locking axis lock of the auxiliary steering wheel;

Fig. 3 side-view / cross-section of the form of the drive lever with a built-in 20 brake lever, gear lever and control unit, suitable for single-acting actuation with coated steel braids to control the centrally mounted auxiliary steering wheel.

Figure 1 shows a wheelchair with a bi-directional gearbox mounted with a steering system on the drive lever and an additional steering wheel for one-handed operation and steering of a wheelbarrow with a bi-directional gearbox 1 with a steering system 2 on the drive lever 3 and an additional steering wheel 4 in a known manner unilaterally mounted on the connecting rod 5 of the wheelchair.

The bi-directional gearbox 1 has a clamping part 3a and a drive arm 3 mounted on the outside of the drive wheel A, which allows for optimum energy utilization with a properly designed and shortened drive arm 3, which at the same time provides energy efficient and medically optimal drive. The drive lever 3 has both a movable or a lifting gear. the propulsion working trajectory is made in a circle with a diameter of at least 30 to a maximum of 38 with the center of its rotation in the axis of the drive wheel 1 of the drive wheel A, where the latter is also attached to the wheelchair sticks. In the area of standard mounting under the vertical backrest bracket, the drive arm 3 is bent twice at arbitrary angles so that the gripping portion 3a of the drive arm 3 is parallelly displaced in the travel (tear-off) direction by 1/6 to

3/6 of the total drive arm length 3.

The gripping portion 3a of the drive arm 3 may also be provided with a brake lever 5 which is connected via steel ropes to the gearbox in the gearbox 1 and the gear lever 6 is connected to the gearbox, which is also mounted in the gearbox 1.

The control system 2 is configured in such a way that the grip portion 3a is transversely movably attached to the drive arm 3, whereby a wheel 7 is provided in the axis of the pivot with a groove in which a steel rope 8 is fixed, which is fixed to the wheel 7 in one part. the parts of the steel rope 8 are guided through the sheathed part to the roller 9 by a groove mounted on the longitudinal axis 10 of the additional steering wheel 4. The additional steering wheel 4 is otherwise movably clamped by means of the carrier 4a to the wheelchair sticks so that it is possible use lifting lever 11 to lift it from the ground as needed. The lifting lever 11 is also equipped with a return spring 12. The lifting of the additional io steering wheel 4 can be considered when pushing the trolley by another person, since in this case the additional steering wheel 4 would make it difficult to drive and prevent easy maneuvering.

On the vertical axis 10 of the auxiliary steering wheel 4, a snap groove 10a of any shape is made into which a snap ball 13 is fitted, and is pressed from the spring 14 and the adjusting screw 15, which are mounted on a bearing-guide housing 16 fixed by the bearers of any shape to a wheelchair stick. . The mechanism provided makes it easy to position and control the direction of the steering wheel 4 when driving straight. This eliminates the automatic and unintentional turning of the direction when the one-handed gearbox is provided.

The present invention provides, with simple upgrading, a safe and efficient one-handed actuator in which all required functions are performed by the driver with only one hand, without removing the hand from the drive-control lever and have an effective load on the additional steering wheel so that it can be safely controlled even at uphill or downhill. in all driving conditions.

In addition, it creates the ability to quickly and easily install 5 one-wheel drive system according to the invention on almost any standard wheelchair and to remove it quickly and easily (without the use of tools or special tools) and to convert the wheelchair into a regular two-wheel drive wheelchair.

By lifting the additional steering wheel off the bogie with a 10 built-in lifting lever (and when the drive unit is idling), it enables the third party to safely and easily push the disabled person on the wheelchair, giving the wheelchair all the characteristics of a perfectly normal wheelchair.

Claims (3)

PATENT APPLICATIONS 1. A bi-directional gearbox with a control system on the drive lever and an additional steering wheel, characterized in that the one-wheel-drive wheelchair drive is characterized by the fact that the additional steering wheel (4) is rotatably mounted on a carrier (4a), which is attached in a known manner to the rods wheelchair, whereby by means of a lifting lever (11) and a snap spring (12) or otherwise known, it can be moved from contact with the bogie to a complete departure from the bogie and a roller (9) is mounted on the vertical axis (10). ) with a groove which is connected to the roller (7) via a steel rope (8) and the steel rope (8) is fixed in one part to the roller (7) and the other part to the roller (9). A two-way gearbox with a control system on the drive lever and an additional steering wheel for one-wheel-drive wheelchairs according to claim 1, characterized in that 2o that a locking groove (4a) of any shape is provided on the vertical axis (10) of the auxiliary steering wheel (4) into which a snap ball (13) is pushed away from the spring (14) and the adjusting screw (15) mounted on the bearing - a guide housing (16) secured by a bracket (4a) to the wheelchair sticks. A two-way gearbox with a control system on the drive lever and an additional steering wheel for one-wheel-drive wheelchairs, characterized in that the gripping part (3a) of the drive arms (3) is mounted on the outside of the drive wheel, movably or. a working trajectory in a circle with a diameter of at least 30 to a maximum of 38 centered in its rotation in the io axis of the drive wheel (A) when it is secured to the wheelchair sticks in the area of standard attachment under a vertical backrest bracket with the body of the drive arm (3 ) twice bent at any angles such that the grip portion (3a) is parallelly displaced in the travel direction by 1/6 to 3/6 of the total and the length of the drive arm (3).