WO2007052791A1

WO2007052791A1 - Turn limit device and wheelchair

Info

Publication number: WO2007052791A1
Application number: PCT/JP2006/322099
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kaoru Kuriyano
Original assignee: Seiwa Kogyo Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2005-11-07
Filing date: 2006-11-06
Publication date: 2007-05-10
Also published as: JP2007125303A; TWM312979U

Abstract

A turn limit device with which a wheelchair occupant can easily switch over between a state where the turn of the wheelchair is limited and a state where the turn is possible. A wheelchair (1) having a turn limit device (40) attached to a frame (10), where the turn limit device (40) is capable of switching between a turnable state where auxiliary universal wheels (30) are made to land on the ground and a turn-limited state where the auxiliary universal wheels (30) are not made to land on the ground. The turn limit device (40) has a bracket, auxiliary wheels (43) vertically movably supported at the bracket, a switchover drive section capable of switching the auxiliary wheels (43) between an upper position and a lower position, and an operation section. The direction of the axis of shaft of each auxiliary wheel (43) is fixed relative to the bracket. At the upper position, the switchover drive section holds the auxiliary wheels (43) at a height at which they are not on the ground, and holds the auxiliary universal wheels (30) in the turnable state where the wheels are on the ground. Further, at the lower position, the switchover drive section holds the auxiliary wheels (43) at the position where they are on the ground and holds the auxiliary universal wheels (30) in the turn-limited state where the auxiliary universal wheels are not on the ground.

Description

Specification

Swivel control device and wheelchair

Technical field

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a turning restriction device and a wheelchair, and more particularly to a turning restriction device for preventing an unintended turning of a wheelchair to travel in a desired direction and a wheelchair provided with the turning restriction device.

Background art

Conventionally, a wheelchair is configured with a pair of left and right main wheels and auxiliary wheels attached to a frame, and an occupant can travel in the front-rear direction by rotating the main wheel while seated. . In addition to the main wheels, auxiliary independent wheels that can turn in the horizontal direction are provided, so that the occupant can turn in the left-right direction by adjusting the rotational drive amount of the left and right main wheels.

[0003] By the way, when an occupant who is handicapped with one hand uses a wheelchair, the main wheel of the handicapped hand is not applied with a smaller force than the other main wheel. Turn towards and proceed. For this reason, in order to run straight ahead in the direction of the wheelchair, the occupant must operate on the ground with his extended leg so that the wheelchair will not bend and adjust the balance of the body. It was inconvenient.

[0004] In order to avoid such inconvenience, for example, a wheelchair described in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. The wheelchair described in Patent Document 1 is provided with an auxiliary wheel equipped with a rotation restricting body capable of restricting and releasing the turning of the wheel portion. This rotation restricting body is provided adjacent to the support body of the auxiliary universal wheel, and by rotating and tightening the bolt with a hexagon wrench, the wheel portion capable of turning in the horizontal direction with respect to the support body is directed to a predetermined direction. Can be fixed. Moreover, if the bolt is rotated in the reverse direction with a hexagon wrench and loosened, this turning restriction can be released.

[0005] In addition, in the wheelchair described in Patent Document 1, if the rotation restricting body is set in a semi-fixed state by loosening or crushing a bolt with a hexagon wrench, the occupant rotates the handle connected to the support body. By operating, you can adjust the direction of the auxiliary free wheel The

As described above, in the wheelchair described in Patent Document 1, even if an occupant who is incapable of one hand mainly drives the main wheel on one side by restricting the turning of the auxiliary wheel itself, the wheel can be moved in an unintended direction. It is possible to drive straight without turning the wheelchair.

[0006] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-143908

Disclosure of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

[0007] However, in the wheelchair described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to tighten and release the bolts of the rotation restricting body in order to place the rotation restricting body in the restricted state or the semi-fixed state, which is troublesome. In addition, it was inconvenient because it was not possible to change the setting while the passenger was seated.

Further, in the wheelchair described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to assemble an auxiliary wheel equipped with a rotation restricting body at the beginning of manufacture, and it is not possible to add a turning restriction function later to a commercially available wheelchair. There was an inconvenience.

[0008] In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to allow an occupant to easily switch between a state in which the wheelchair is restricted from turning and a state in which the wheelchair can be turned, and to be attached to a commercially available wheelchair. It is an object of the present invention to provide a turn restricting device that can perform this operation and a wheelchair equipped with the turn restricting device.

Means for solving the problem

[0009] According to the present invention, there is provided a turning restricting device for restricting turning of a wheelchair, a bracket attached to the wheelchair, and supported by the bracket so as to be vertically movable and substantially horizontally. An auxiliary wheel provided with an axle, a switching drive unit attached to the bracket and capable of switching the auxiliary wheel to an upper position and a lower position, and an operation unit for driving the switching drive unit, and the auxiliary wheel The axial direction of the axle is fixed with respect to the bracket, the upper position is set to a height at which the auxiliary wheel is not grounded, and the lower position is set to a height at which the auxiliary wheel can be grounded. Can be resolved. As described above, the turning control device of the present invention operates the switching drive unit with the operation unit.

Without changing the height of the auxiliary wheel to the ground, it can be switched to the upper position and the lower position where it can be grounded. When the auxiliary wheel is held at the upper position and is not grounded, the wheelchair can be turned by changing the direction of the auxiliary wheel.

[0011] On the other hand, when the auxiliary wheel is held at the lower position and grounded, the wheelchair is supported by the auxiliary wheel and the main wheel, so that the traveling direction is fixed in a fixed direction even if the direction of the auxiliary wheel is changed. Is done. As a result, even when an unbalanced driving force is applied to the left and right main wheels, the traveling direction can be fixed in a fixed direction.

[0012] Preferably, the bracket includes an attachment member and is detachably attached to the wheelchair by the attachment member. In this way, by adopting a configuration in which the bracket is detachably attached to the wheelchair, the turn restricting device can be retrofitted to a commercially available wheelchair.

[0013] Further, the present invention is a wheelchair comprising a frame, a pair of left and right main wheels attached to the frame, and an auxiliary universal wheel that can turn in a horizontal direction, and the frame includes: A turn restricting device that can be switched between a turnable state in which the auxiliary wheel is grounded and a turn restricted state in which the auxiliary wheel is not grounded is attached, and the turn restricting device can be moved up and down on the bracket, which is attached to the frame. And an auxiliary wheel provided with an axle in a substantially horizontal direction, a switching drive unit attached to the bracket and capable of switching the auxiliary wheel between an upper position and a lower position, and an operation for driving the switching drive part. The auxiliary wheel is fixed to the bracket in the axial direction of the axle, and the switching drive unit grounds the auxiliary wheel at the upper position. Hold the auxiliary wheel in a turnable state while holding it at a height, and holding the auxiliary wheel in a grounded position over the lower position to make the auxiliary wheel ungrounded. It is characterized by being held in a turning restricted state.

[0014] Further, the contact position of the auxiliary wheel is a position in the front-rear direction that exceeds the position of the center of gravity located between the contact position of the main wheel and the contact position of the auxiliary wheel with respect to the contact position of the main wheel. Set to With this setting, when the auxiliary drive wheel is lowered to the lower position by driving the switching drive unit, the wheelchair is moved to the main wheel, the main wheel and the center of gravity. It can be stably supported by an auxiliary wheel located on the opposite side across the wheel.

[0015] In addition, it is preferable that the operation unit includes a left hand operation unit provided on a left side portion of the wheelchair and a right hand operation unit provided on a right side portion of the wheelchair. With this configuration, even if the wheelchair occupant is a handicapped person, the turning control device can be operated with a hand that is not handicapped.

The bracket may be configured to be detachably attached to the frame.

[0016] According to the present invention, the height of the auxiliary wheel is switched between the upper position where the auxiliary wheel is not grounded and the lower position where the ground can be grounded by driving the switching drive unit, and the traveling direction of the wheelchair is changed accordingly. By making it possible to switch between grounding and non-grounding of auxiliary wheels, it is possible for the occupant to easily switch between a state in which the wheelchair is restricted from turning and a state in which it can turn.

[0017] Further, the present invention enables switching between grounding Z and non-grounding of auxiliary wheels, and other components of the wheelchair need not be changed, and the same ones as before can be used. Therefore, a wheelchair that can be switched between a turning restricted state and a turnable state can be obtained by simply retrofitting a turn restricting device to a commercially available wheelchair.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a wheelchair according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of a turning restricting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a turning restricting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

圆 4] An operation explanatory diagram of the turning restricting device.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of the turning restricting device.

Explanation of symbols

[0019] 1 · Wheelchair, 2, 3 · Ground contact position,

4 · center of gravity, 10 · frame, 11 'seat frame, 11a, lib "frame part,

11c • · Seat, lid ''

lie 'footrest, 12a, 12b "redder frame,

13 Back frame, 13a, 13b'Frame part

13c · Backrest, 14a, 14b '· Grip

15 · 'Handrail frame, 15a, 15b' · Frame part,

17 'base frame, 17a, 17b frame 咅 ^

20, main wheel, 21 axle

22, wheel part, 23 hand rim,

30 ·, Auxiliary wheel, 31 · Stem,

32 · Support, 33 · Axle,

34 · Wheel parts, 40 · Slewing restriction device,

41 · Bracket, 41 & · Fixed part,

41b .. side wall, 41c, support member,

41d 4 ^ "bore, 4Π ·· bearing,

42 · Mounting members, 42a- 'Nuts,

43 · Auxiliary wheel, 43a ·· Supporting part,

43b ■■ Single shaft, 43c ...

44 · Stem, 45 · Driver,

46 · Stage, 46 & · Bearing,

46b ..pi.d, 47..cam member,

47a, 47b "straight section, 48 ... drive member,

49 'coil spring, 50 ... operation part,

50a, 50b ··· gripping part, Α ··· Upper position,

下部 ··· Lower position, floor surface

s''stroke

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following explanation The members, arrangements, and the like which are not limited to the present invention are not limited to various modifications in accordance with the spirit of the present invention! ^.

1 to 5 relate to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a wheelchair, FIGS. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams of a turning restriction device, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are operations of the turning restriction device. It is explanatory drawing.

As shown in FIG. 1, the wheelchair 1 of this example includes a frame 10, a pair of left and right main wheels 20 rotatably attached to the frame 10, and a pair of left and right main wheels 20 that are also attached to the frame 10. The auxiliary wheel 30 and the turn restricting device 40 attached to the frame 10 are constituent elements.

[0022] The frame 10 of this example is a conventionally known one, and includes a seat frame 11, a back frame 13, a handrail frame 15, and a base frame 17 that supports these at the lower part as main components. Yes.

The seat frame 11 includes a pair of left and right frame portions 11a and l ib forces. The frame portions 11a and 1 lb are supported substantially horizontally, and a seating surface portion 1 lc is stretched between them. Further, on the frame portions 11a and ib, redder frames 12a and 12b extend obliquely downward and forward from the front side, and a redder rest l id is stretched between them.

[0023] Further, a footrest l ie is rotatably attached to the distal end side of the redder frames 12a, 12b.

The back frame 13 is composed of a pair of left and right frame portions 13a and 13b. The rear end portions of the frame portions 11a and l ib are fixed to the intermediate portions slightly below the frame portions 13a and 13b, respectively.

[0024] The upper end portions of the frame portions 13a and 13b are bent rearward to provide grip portions 14a and 14b, respectively. A backrest portion 13c is stretched between the frame portions 13a and 13b at positions below the gripping portions 14a and 14b.

Further, axles 21 of the main wheels 20 are respectively attached to the lower positions of the frame portions 13a and 13b.

[0025] The handrail frame 15 includes a pair of left and right frame portions 15a and 15b. The frame portions 15a and 15b have rear end portions fixed to the frame portions 13a and 13b at the lower portion of the backrest portion 13c and extending substantially horizontally forward, and further bent at the middle portion and extended downward. The downwardly extending portions of the frame portions 15a and 15b are fixed to the frame portions 11a and ib at their intermediate positions.

[0026] The base frame 17 includes a pair of left and right frame portions 17a and 17b. The frame portions 17a and 17b extend forward from the rear end portion substantially horizontally, and the lower end portions of the frame portions 13a and 13b are fixed to the vicinity of the rear end portion. Then, it is bent upward in a step shape in front of the fixing portions of the frame portions 13a and 13b, and the lower end portions of the frame portions 15a and 15b are fixed to the upper step portions of the step portions, respectively. Further, the front end portions of the frame portions 17a and 17b are fixed to intermediate portions of the leg frames 12a and 12b.

The frame 10 which is also a pair of left and right members is coupled to be foldable by a cross rod (not shown).

The main wheel 20 of the present example is a conventionally known wheel, and a wheel portion 22 and a hand rim 23 are attached around an axle 21 via spokes (not shown).

The auxiliary wheel 30 of this example is also a conventionally known one. The auxiliary wheel 30 is attached to the upper part of the front part of the frame parts 17a and 17b in a substantially vertical direction, a support part 32 rotatable around the stem 31 and a lower end part of the support part 32. The main component is an axle 33 that is provided and extends in a substantially horizontal direction, and a wheel portion 34 that has the axle 33 as a rotation center.

As shown in FIG. 1, the main wheels 20 and the auxiliary universal wheels 30 are grounded at the floor surface G at the ground contact positions 2 and 3, respectively. In the state where an occupant is seated on the wheelchair 1 of this example, the center of gravity 4 is located between the ground contact position 2 of the main wheel 20 and the ground contact position 3 of the auxiliary wheel 30 as shown in FIG.

[0029] The turning restricting device 40 of this example is mounted so as to be spanned between the frame portions 17a and 17b at a position ahead of the mounting position of the auxiliary universal wheel 30. This turning restricting device 40 has a pair of left and right auxiliary wheels 43, which can hold the auxiliary wheels 43 by switching their positions in the vertical direction. In other words, the auxiliary wheel 43 is configured to be movable up and down by a predetermined stroke S. During normal operation, the auxiliary wheel 43 is held at the upper position, and during operation, the auxiliary wheel 43 is held at the lower position.

[0030] At the upper position, the auxiliary wheel 43 is positioned slightly above the floor surface G by a height less than the stroke S and is in an ungrounded state. Therefore, in this state, if the occupant rotates only the hand rim 23 of one of the main wheels 20, the auxiliary wheel 30 of the wheelchair 1 is oriented. The wheelchair 1 turns to the other side.

On the other hand, in the lower position, the auxiliary wheel 43 is in contact with the floor surface G. The grounding position of the auxiliary wheel 43 is located in front of the position of the center of gravity 4 of the wheelchair 1. That is, the ground contact position 2 of the main wheel 20 is located behind the position of the center of gravity 4, and the ground contact position of the auxiliary wheel 43 is located forward.

[0032] Then, when the auxiliary wheel 43 moves down from the upper position to the lower position by the stroke S, the auxiliary wheel 43 contacts the ground, and the auxiliary wheel 30 is lifted as the auxiliary wheel 43 further descends. That is, the wheelchair 1 is supported by the auxiliary wheel 43 and the main wheel 20 with respect to the floor surface G, and the auxiliary free wheel 30 floats above the floor surface G. As a result, the auxiliary wheel 30 is ungrounded at the lower position. Therefore, even if the occupant rotates only the hand rim 23 of one main wheel 20, the wheelchair 1 supported by the main wheel 20 and the auxiliary wheel 43 1 Can travel in the front-rear direction where the wheelchair 1 faces directly without turning.

A specific configuration of the turning restricting device 40 of the present example will be described based on FIGS. 2 and 3.

The turn restricting device 40 of the present example includes a bracket 41 attached to the frame portions 17a and 17b, an auxiliary wheel 43 supported by the bracket 41 and movable in the vertical direction, and an auxiliary wheel 43 attached to the bracket 41 in the upper position. A switching drive unit 45 that can be switched to a lower position and an operation unit 50 that drives the switching drive unit 45 are main components.

[0034] The bracket 41 is formed by bending a thin plate member into a substantially L-shaped cross section to form a fixed portion 41a extending in the horizontal direction and a side wall portion 41b extending in the vertical direction, and is substantially parallel to the fixed portion 41a. In this way, one end of a rectangular thin plate-shaped support member 4 lc is attached to the side wall portion 4 lb so as to be opposed to the fixed portion 4 la.

[0035] In the central portion of the fixing portion 41a, through holes 41d for allowing the two stems 44 of the auxiliary wheels 43 to pass through in the vertical direction are provided at two positions apart in the width direction, and are supported. In the center of the member 41c, there are provided through holes 41e for inserting the stem 44 in the vertical direction.

The stem 44 is supported by a bearing 41f disposed in the through hole 41d of the fixed portion 41a so as to be vertically slidable. [0036] Near the left and right ends of the fixed portion 41a, a substantially U-shaped attachment member 42 is attached by a nut 42a. Screw holes are formed on both ends of the mounting member 42, and both ends are inserted into screw holes (not shown) drilled in the fixed portion 41a and tightened with nuts 42a on the lower side. By attaching, the attachment member 42 is attached to the fixed portion 41a. By tightening the mounting member 42 with the nut 42a in a state where the frame portions 17a and 17b are passed through the mounting member 42, the frame portions 17a and 17b are sandwiched between the mounting member 42 and the fixing portion 41a, and the bracket 41 is framed. Can be fixed to 10.

[0037] Further, the bracket 41 can be removed from the frame 10 by removing the nut 42a. Thus, the turning restricting device 40 of this example is detachable from the frame 10.

In this example, the force that allows the bracket 41 to be attached / detached by the substantially U-shaped attachment member 42 and the nut 42a is not limited thereto, and any structure that can be detachably fixed to the frame 10 is acceptable. By making it detachable, it can be easily attached to and detached from a commercially available wheelchair. In addition, the wheelchair 1 can be folded with the turning restricting device 40 removed. Note that the turning restriction device 40 may be fixed by welding or the like, without necessarily making the turn restricting device 40 removable.

In this example, two auxiliary wheels 43 are attached to the bracket 41. Unlike the auxiliary free wheel 30, the auxiliary wheel 43 is not configured to be able to turn in the horizontal direction. In other words, the auxiliary wheel 43 includes a stem 44 that is slidably supported by the bracket 41, a support portion 43a fixed to the lower end portion of the stem 44, and a substantially horizontal direction provided at the lower end portion of the support portion 43a. An axle 43b extending to the axle 43 and a wheel portion 43c rotatably attached to the axle 43b are used as main components.

In this example, the axle 43b is provided in a substantially horizontal direction, and is adjusted so as to extend substantially perpendicular to the front-rear direction of the wheelchair 1, that is, in the width direction. Therefore, the wheel portion 4 3c is always facing the front direction of the wheelchair 1 at all times.

[0039] Note that the stem 44 can be removed from the support portion 43a, so that various lengths can be used. Therefore, select the length of the stem 44 according to the ground height of the part of the frame 10 to which the turn restricting device 40 is attached, or adjust the length with a spacer member, etc. Thus, the turning restriction device 40 can be applied to various commercially available wheelchairs.

[0040] The switching drive unit 45 is rotated by two stays 46 that are spaced apart from each other in the width direction of the fixed portion 41a, and a bearing 46a that extends substantially horizontally in the width direction and is disposed on the two stays 46. A rod 46b movably supported, a cam member 47 fixed to the rod 46b, a drive member 48 having a substantially L-shaped cross section fixed to the upper end of the stem 44 by a nut, and a drive inserted through the stem 44 A coil spring 49 disposed between the lower surface of the member 48 and the upper surface of the fixed portion 41a is a main component.

The bearing 46 a is provided near the upper end of the stay 46. The bearing 46a rotatably supports the rod 46b, and the cam member 47 is fixed to the rod 46b so as to rotate together. The cam member 47 is always in contact with the upper surface of the drive member 48 at the center in the width direction of the drive member 48.

The coil spring 49 is disposed in a compressed state and constantly urges the drive member 48 upward against the fixed portion 41a.

[0042] The cam member 47 has two straight portions that stably come into contact with the drive member 48, and FIG. 2 (A) shows a state in which one straight portion 47a is in contact (in a turnable state). FIG. 2 (B) shows a state where the other straight portion 47b is in contact (turning restricted state). Since the distance between the straight part 47b and the rotation axis center is set to be longer than the distance between the straight part 47a and the rotation axis center, the wheel part 43c moves downward in the turning restricted state than in the turnable state. Extruded state. In this example, it is set to be pushed down about 1 cm. In other words, the stroke S is set to about 1 cm!

That is, the lowest point of the wheel portion 43c is held at the upper position A with respect to the bracket 41 in the turnable state, and is held at the lower position B in the turn restricted state. The upper position A is set to a height that does not contact the wheel 43c, and the lower position B is set to a height that enables the wheel 43c to be grounded.

[0044] The operation portion 50 is integrally formed by extending the left and right end portions of the rod 46b, and is bent at approximately 90 degrees with a gentle curvature on the outer side in the width direction of the stay 46 on both the left and right sides. Yes. The bent left and right end portions extend to the vicinity of the seat surface portion 1 lc stretched on the seat frame 11, and are provided with gripping portions 50a and 50b, respectively. Therefore, the occupant was seated The gripper 50a and the gripper 50b can be operated in the state. When one hand of the occupant is inconvenient, it can be operated with the grip part 50a or grip part 50b on the non-free side.

[0045] In order to operate the operation unit 50, the gripping unit 50a or the gripping unit 50b is powered in the front-rear direction to rotate around the bearing 46a. As a result, either the linear portion 47a or the linear portion 47b can be displaced to a state in which the linear member 47a is in contact with the driving member 48.

Next, the operation of the wheelchair 1 of the present example will be described based on FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a normal state (turnable state) in which the wheel portion 43c is at the upper position A shown in FIG. 2 (A). At this time, in the wheelchair 1, the pair of left and right main wheels 20 and the pair of left and right auxiliary autonomous wheels 30 are in contact with the floor surface G, and the wheel portion 43c is held at a position above the floor surface G and is in a non-grounded state. Become.

When the occupant drives the main wheel 20 in this state, the wheelchair 1 travels in the front-rear direction, but if there is a difference in the amount of drive to the left and right main wheels 20, the auxiliary wheel 30 rotates around the stem 31 according to this difference. The wheel part 34 turns and turns. This allows the wheelchair 1 to travel while turning left and right in addition to going straight.

[0047] As described above, when an occupant who is handicapped with one hand operates as described above, a biased force is applied to the left and right main wheels 20, so that the auxiliary universal wheel 30 turns unintentionally, Cannot go straight.

In such a case, in the wheelchair 1 of this example, the operation part 50 can be pushed forward to displace the wheel part 43c to the operating state (turning restricted state) in the lower position B shown in FIG. The FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the turning restricted state.

[0048] At this time, the occupant pushes the operating portion 50 forward, and the wheel portion 43c is pushed downward along the way, and the wheel portion 43c comes into contact with the floor surface G at an intermediate position. When the occupant further pushes out the operation part 50 to a predetermined position, the wheel part 43c is pushed further downward, so that the wheelchair 1 is supported by the pair of left and right main wheels 20 and the pair of left and right wheel parts 43c. Will come to be. At this time, the auxiliary wheel 30 is in a non-grounded state held at a position slightly above the floor surface G.

[0049] The pair of left and right wheel portions 43c are not configured to be rotatable around the stem 44, and the axle 43b is disposed so as to be substantially horizontal and substantially orthogonal to the front-rear direction. Gatsutsu Thus, the wheelchair 1 supported by the pair of left and right main wheels 20 and the pair of left and right wheel portions 43c is driven even when an unbalanced force is applied to the left and right main wheels 20 by driving one hand with a non-free passenger. Try to go straight forward and backward.

[0050] Thus, in the wheelchair 1 of the present example, the occupant operates the turning restriction device 40 as necessary to select one of the state in which the turning of the wheelchair 1 is restricted and the state in which the restriction is released. It is possible. This is made possible simply by adding the turn restricting device 40 and does not involve any change in the other components of the wheelchair 1.

[0051] The turning restricting device 40 of the present example is configured to be detachable from the frame 10, and can be easily attached to a frame of a general commercially available wheelchair. Therefore, the turn restricting device 40 of this example can be obtained by attaching a general wheelchair by retrofitting to a wheelchair that can be switched between a turn restricted state and a turnable state.

[0052] The embodiment described above can be modified as follows.

In the above embodiment, the wheelchair 1 in which the auxiliary wheel 30 is disposed in front of the main wheel 20 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the auxiliary wheel 30 is disposed behind the main wheel 20. May be. Even in this case, the ground contact position force of the wheel portion 43c of the turning restricting device 40 should be set on the side opposite to the ground contact position of the main wheel 20 across the center of gravity position of the wheel chair 1.

[0053] In the above embodiment, the switching drive unit 45 causes the occupant to move the operation unit 50 in the front-rear direction to rotate the cam member 47, thereby shifting the wheel unit 43c in the vertical direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cam member 47 may be rotated by driving means such as an electric motor so that the wheel portion 43c is displaced in the vertical direction.

[0054] Instead of using the cam member 47, a piston or a ball screw having a vertical stroke may be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, the auxiliary wheel 43 is fixed so that the direction of the auxiliary wheel 43 faces the front-rear direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the direction of the auxiliary wheel 43 is variably set to a plurality of directions by the operation of the occupant. May be configured to be able to.

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] A turning control device for controlling the turning of a wheelchair,

With a bracket mounted on the wheelchair,

An auxiliary wheel supported by the bracket so as to be movable up and down and provided with an axle in a substantially horizontal direction;

A switching drive unit attached to the bracket and capable of switching the auxiliary wheel between an upper position and a lower position;

An operation unit for driving the switching drive unit,

In the auxiliary wheel, the axial direction of the axle is fixed to the bracket, the upper position is set to a height at which the auxiliary wheel is not grounded, and the lower position is set to a height at which the auxiliary wheel can be grounded The turning control device characterized by being made.

[2] The turning restricting device according to [1], wherein the bracket includes an attachment member and is detachably attached to the wheelchair by the attachment member.

[3] A wheelchair comprising a frame, a pair of left and right main wheels attached to the frame, and an auxiliary universal wheel capable of turning in a horizontal direction,

The frame is provided with a turn restricting device capable of switching between a turnable state in which the auxiliary wheel is grounded and a turn restricted state in which the auxiliary wheel is not grounded,

The turning restriction device

A bracket attached to the frame;

An operation unit for driving the switching drive unit,

In the auxiliary wheel, the axial direction of the axle is fixed with respect to the bracket, and the switching drive unit does not ground the auxiliary wheel at the upper position! The auxiliary wheel is held in a turnable state in contact with the ground, and the auxiliary wheel is held in the lower position and the auxiliary wheel is ungrounded. A wheelchair characterized by maintaining a restricted turning state.

[4] The grounding position of the auxiliary wheel is set to a front-rear direction position that exceeds the center of gravity position between the grounding position of the main wheel and the grounding position of the auxiliary wheel with respect to the grounding position of the main wheel. The wheelchair according to claim 3, wherein

5. The operation unit according to claim 3, wherein the operation unit includes a left hand operation unit provided on a left side part of the wheelchair and a right hand operation unit provided on a right side part of the wheelchair. Wheelchair.

6. The wheelchair according to claim 3, wherein the bracket is detachably attached to the frame.