JP2006110270A - Lifting chair - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a lifting chair having superior storage property when unused and superior safety and reliability when used. <P>SOLUTION: A seat part 4 of a chair body 3 is constituted to be selectively changed between a seating attitude of being forward extended from a backrest part 5 and a storage attitude of being flipped up to facingly close to the backrest part 5, and the back face of the seat part 4 is provided with a raising/lowering stop means 13 stopping the lowering operation of the chair body 3 by a raising/lowering driving mechanism when abutting on an obstacle in the lowering direction of the seat part 4. When there is the obstacle in the lower side of the seat 4 in the lowering operation of the chair body 3, this constitution operates the raising/lowering stop means 13 at a timing when the seat part 4 abuts on the obstacle, stops the lowering operation of the chair body 3 by the raising/lowering mechanism, previously prevents damage of the obstacle and improve the safety and reliability in use. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a lifting chair that can change the height position of a seat.

  In recent years, elevating chairs intended mainly for use by the physically challenged, such as the elderly and the physically handicapped, are becoming popular. This lifting chair is a seat part on which a person sits and a backrest part that keeps his back up and down so that the height of the seat part can be arbitrarily adjusted. It can be used as a seating chair by lowering it to near the floor surface, or it can be used as a seating chair by raising the seat part. For example, even if it is difficult for the person to change the posture between standing and sitting, after sitting on the seat in the standing position, lowering it, It is possible to safely and easily change the posture between the two.

  Such a lift chair is generally configured so as to drive the chair main body including the seat portion up and down along a lift support portion that is provided with a lift drive means and is erected in a rearward tilt state (patent) References 1-3).

    Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-67739 (paragraph “0012”, FIGS. 1 and 2)     Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-19055 (paragraphs “0017” to “0019”, FIGS. 1 and 2)     JP 2000-152842 A (paragraphs “0012” to “0023”, FIGS. 1, 3, 4, and 6).

  By the way, since an elevating chair has an elevating function, it is inevitably larger and heavier than an ordinary chair not having such a function. Required. In this case, as for the portability of the lift chair, it is customary to deal with this by providing a caster and a handle (see Patent Documents 1 to 3), but it is effective for the storage performance of the lift chair. No proposal has been made. However, since the lift chair is large, the compact storage form when not in use can be said to be an indispensable quality for the lift chair from the viewpoint of effective use of indoor space, and this should not be neglected. Absent.

  On the other hand, the lift chair lifts and lowers a person while sitting on the seat.For example, when a person sitting on the seat places his / her foot on the lower side of the seat, If the seat part is lowered from the state, there is a possibility that a foot may be caught between the seat part and the floor surface. As a technique for preventing this, a sensor is provided on the lower surface side of the seat part. When the presence of a foot is sensed by the above, there has been proposed one that forcibly stops the descending movement of the seat (see Patent Document 3).

  However, what is shown in Patent Document 3 is a configuration in which a horizontally long sensing plate is attached along the front edge of the lower surface of the seat portion, and the sensing object is that a person sitting on the seat portion lowers the lower limb of the seat portion. The lower limb is limited when it is inserted obliquely downward. However, in reality, what is likely to be pinched between the seat and the floor surface due to the descent of the seat is not limited to the lower limbs of a person, for example, daily necessities or toys In addition to various kinds of articles, pets, and the like, the region where the object can exist extends over the entire lower surface of the seat, and as in Patent Document 3, a horizontally long sensing plate along the front edge of the lower surface of the seat It is impossible to cope with the configuration with the attached.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made for the purpose of providing an elevating chair excellent in storage property when not in use and safety and reliability in use.

  In the present invention, the following configuration is adopted as a specific means for solving such a problem.

  In the first invention of the present application, the elevating drive mechanism 40 includes an elevating support portion 2 erected on the base 1, a seat portion 4, and a backrest portion 5. In the lifting chair configured to include the chair main body 3, the seat portion 4 of the chair main body 3 is opposed to the backrest portion 5 and the sitting posture extending forward from the backrest portion 5. It is characterized in that it is configured to be able to select the storage posture that is flipped up like this.

  According to a second invention of the present application, in the lifting chair according to the first invention, the base 1 is configured to be extendable in the front-rear direction.

  In the third invention of the present application, in the lifting chair according to the first or second invention, when the back surface 4a of the seat portion 4 abuts the obstacle 50 in the descending direction of the seat portion 4, the lifting drive is performed. It is characterized in that it includes elevating / lowering stopping means 13 for stopping the lowering operation of the chair body 3 by the mechanism 40.

  According to a fourth invention of the present application, in the lifting chair according to the third invention, the lifting / lowering stopping means 13 has a size that covers substantially the entire area of the back surface 4a of the seat portion 4 and three to the back surface 4a. The oscillating body 14 that is levitated and supported so as to be able to be tilted and displaced in the axial direction, and disposed at a substantially central portion of the back surface 4a of the seat portion 4 are subjected to the oscillating displacement of the oscillating body 14 to stop the operation of the elevating drive mechanism 40 It is characterized by comprising a switch means 17 to be operated.

  In the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

  (A) According to the lifting chair according to the first invention of the present application, the lifting chair includes the lifting drive mechanism 40 and the lifting support portion 2 erected on the base 1, the seat portion 4, and the backrest portion 5. In a lifting chair configured to include a chair body 3 supported by the support portion 2 and driven to move up and down, the seat portion 4 of the chair body 3 extends from the backrest portion 5 to the front thereof, and Since the retracted posture that is flipped up so as to face and oppose the backrest 5 can be selected, in the retracted posture while ensuring a good seating feeling in the seated posture of the seat 4. When the seat part 4 is flipped up and faces the backrest part 5 in close proximity, the chair body 3 in the longitudinal direction of the chair can be made compact, and thus the elevator chair can be made compact, particularly when the indoor space is small. The effect is remarkable.

  (B) According to the lifting chair according to the second invention of the present application, since the base 1 is configured to be extendable in the front-rear direction, when the seat portion 4 is set in the retracted posture, according to this By reducing the size of the base 1, both the chair body and the base 1 can be made compact, and the effect described in (a) is further promoted.

  (C) According to the lifting chair according to the third invention of the present application, in addition to the effect described in the above (a) or (b), the following specific effect is obtained. That is, according to the present invention, the lifting / lowering stopping means for stopping the lowering operation of the chair body 3 by the lifting / lowering drive mechanism 40 when the back surface 4a of the seat 4 abuts the obstacle 50 in the lowering direction of the seat 4. 13, when there is an obstacle 50 below the seat portion 4 during the lowering operation of the chair body 3, the ascending and descending is performed when the seat portion 4 comes into contact with the obstacle 50. The stopping means 13 is activated, the lowering operation of the chair body 3 by the elevating drive mechanism 40 is stopped, the obstacle 50 is prevented from being damaged, and safety and reliability in use are improved. become.

  (D) According to the lifting chair according to the fourth invention of the present application, the lifting / lowering stopping means 13 has a size that covers substantially the entire area of the back surface 4a of the seat portion 4 and is triaxial with respect to the back surface 4a. And a switch which is disposed at a substantially central portion of the back surface 4a of the seat portion 4 and receives the rocking displacement of the rocking body 14 to stop the operation of the lifting drive mechanism 40. Since it is constituted by the means 17, the presence of the obstacle 50 is detected by the rocking body 14 regardless of the position of the obstacle 4, regardless of the type of the obstacle 50. Since the operation of the elevating drive mechanism 40 is stopped by the switch means 17 in response to the rocking displacement of the rocking body 14, the obstacle 50 is prevented from being damaged in a sure manner. As a result, (c) The effect described in is further promoted.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described based on preferred embodiments.

  1 to 3 show a lift chair Z according to an embodiment of the present invention. The elevating chair Z includes a base 1, an elevating support 2 and a chair body 3 which will be described below.

  The base 1 is placed on the floor and supports the entire lift chair Z, and a pair of left and right main members 31, 31 disposed in the front-rear direction on both sides in the chair width direction. And a substantially rectangular frame-shaped body made of horizontal members 32, 32 for connecting the main members 31, 31 at the front and rear ends thereof, respectively. Further, in the pair of left and right main members 31, 31, an elastic member 34 is fitted from the front end so as to be extendable.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the stretch members 34, 34 are pulled out from the front end of the main member 31 to the chair front side, and a grounding member 37 provided at the tip thereof is grounded to the floor surface. The resistance against the fall of the base 1 toward the chair front side is increased, that is, the stability of the base 1 is increased.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, in the state where the support bodies 34 are pushed into the main member 31 from the front end thereof, the size of the base 1 in the longitudinal direction of the chair is close to the size of the main member 31. Thus, the base 1 is made compact.

  Further, of the horizontal members 32 and 33, the horizontal member 32 located on the front side serves as an attachment portion of the elevating support portion 2 described below. The horizontal member 33 located on the rear side is provided with wheels 9. Portability of the lift chair Z is ensured by the wheel 9 and the handle 8 provided on the lift support portion 2 described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the elevating support portion 2 includes a pair of left and right support members 25 erected in a state of being inclined backward by a predetermined angle at both ends of the horizontal member 32 of the base 1. , 25, and the inner space of each support member 25, 25 is provided with a motor 41, a screw shaft 42 driven to rotate by the motor 41, and a nut member 43 meshing with the screw shaft 42. An elevating drive mechanism 40 composed of “mechanism” is accommodated. A frame-like base 44 is attached to the nut member 43 via a bracket 46 that is disposed through the side wall on the front side of the elevating support portion 2.

  A straight rod-like support shaft 7 is attached to the base 44 in the up-down direction middle position in a horizontal state. And the lower end part of the vertically long backrest part 5 (see FIG. 1) is fixed to the base 44, and the backrest part 5 is integrated with the base 44.

  A seat support arm 10 is attached to the support shaft 7 via a pivot member 35 so as to be pivotable in the vertical direction. The seat support arm 10 has a seat portion having a substantially rectangular planar shape. 4 is fixed (see FIG. 1). Therefore, the seat portion 4 has a seating posture extending substantially horizontally from the lifting support portion 2 to the chair front side as shown in FIGS. As shown, the posture can be changed between retracted postures that are flipped upward and whose upper surface faces the front surface of the backrest 5 in the proximity or contact state. As shown in FIG. 4, the seating posture of the seat portion 4 is held by the seat portion support arm 10 engaging with a stopper 45 projecting from the base 44. Moreover, the rotation between the sitting posture and the retracted posture of the seat portion 4 is performed by human power.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIGS. 6 to 8, the following raising / lowering stopping means 13 is arranged on the lower surface 4 a of the seat portion 4. The elevating / lowering stopping means 13 includes a switch means 17 formed of a limit switch attached to a substantially central portion of the lower surface 4a of the seat portion 4 and an oscillating body 14 disposed at a predetermined interval between the lower surface 4a. Is done.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the rocking body 14 includes a rectangular frame member 15 having a size along the outer shape of the seat portion 4, and a substantially central portion inside the frame member 15. It comprises a plurality of inner frames 16, 16,... Arranged radially. The rocking body 14 is supported in the vicinity of the four corners thereof by the four rocking support portions 20 disposed on the lower surface 4a of the seat portion 4 so as to float by a predetermined dimension from the lower surface 4a.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the swing support portion 20 has one end fixed to the swing body 14 side, the other end penetrating the seat support arm 10 and entering the interior, and is prevented from being removed by a stopper 22. The guide rod 21 is provided, and a spring 23 is disposed to be compressed on the outside of the guide rod 21. And these four rocking | fluctuation support parts 20 are mutually independent, and can operate | move individually.

  Accordingly, the rocking body 14 is constantly urged in the direction away from the lower surface 4a of the seat portion 4 by the spring force of the spring 23, while the rocking body 14 is pressed in the direction toward the seat portion 4 side. When a force is input, it is allowed to move linearly toward the lower surface 4a side of the seat portion 4 against the spring force of the spring 23, and the swing support portions 20 are mutually connected. Since it is a structure that can operate independently and individually, it can be tilted and displaced in three axial directions. In any of these displacement forms, a displacement in a direction approaching the lower surface 4a of the seat portion 4 occurs in the central portion of the rocking body 14, and the displacement of the central portion faces the switch means. The operating force is transmitted to the 17 actuators 17a, and the operation of the motor 41 on the lifting support portion 2 side is stopped by the operation of the switch means 17, and the descending motion of the seat portion 4 is forced accordingly. It will be stopped.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, an armrest support arm 12 to which the armrest 6 is fixed is rotatably attached to both shaft ends of the support shaft 7 via a pivot member 36. Therefore, the armrest 6 is used in a posture in use extending from the support shaft 7 to the front of the chair as shown in FIG. 1 and is lifted upward as shown in FIG. 3 to the side of the backrest 5. The posture can be changed between the juxtaposed non-use postures.

  Note that an operation switch 18 for moving the chair body 3 up and down is provided at the tip of one of the pair of left and right armrests 6 and 6 (the left armrest 6 in this embodiment). A handle 8 for moving the lifting chair Z is attached to the upper end of the lifting support 2.

  Then, the usage method etc. of the said raising / lowering chair Z are demonstrated.

  FIG. 1 shows the extension of the elastic member 34 of the base 1 to ensure the stability of the base 1, and then lowers the chair body 3 to the lowest end, and the seat 4 and the armrest 6 are Both show the state set for each in-use form. This state is a state in which the lift chair Z can be used as a seat chair, and a person sitting on the seat portion 4 can take a rest with a feeling almost the same as when using a dedicated seat chair. it can.

  In this state, since the difference in height between the upper surface of the seat 4 and the floor is small, for example, a person moves from the seat 4 to the floor, and conversely, from the floor to the seat 4. Each can move easily and smoothly. When the seat 4 is in the seated state and when the seat 4 is separated from the seat 4, the armrest 6 may be flipped up as necessary to be set to a non-use posture.

  FIG. 2 shows a state where the chair body 3 is raised by operating the operation switch 18 from the state of FIG. This state is a state in which the lifting chair Z can be used as a seating chair, and a person sitting on the seat 4 can take a rest with a feeling almost the same as when using a dedicated seating chair. In this case, the height of the seat portion 4 may be adjusted according to the physique of the seated person.

  On the other hand, for example, when the seated person is a physically weak person such as an elderly person or a physically handicapped person and it is difficult to change the posture between the standing position and the sitting position, If the seat 4 is raised and lowered, the posture can be easily changed from the standing position to the sitting position, or from the sitting position to the standing position, without raising and lowering the body by itself, which is extremely useful for physically weak people.

  By the way, in the state where a person is seated on the seat portion 4 in this way, or while standing on the side of the lifting chair Z without being seated on the seat portion 4, the operation switch 18 is operated, When the seat part 4 is lowered from the raised position, if the seat part 4 is not provided with the lifting / lowering stopping means 13, the former may have a lower limb between the seat part 4 and the floor F depending on the posture of the seated person. There is a concern about being pinched and damaged, and in the former and the latter, if any article is present under the seat 4, the article is sandwiched between the seat 4 and the floor F. There is concern about damage.

  However, in the lift chair Z of this embodiment, since the lift stop means 13 is provided on the lower surface side of the seat portion 4, the operation of the lift stop means 13 causes an undesirable situation as described above. Therefore, it can be reliably prevented and high safety and reliability can be obtained. That is, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the seat part 4 is lowered, the swinging body 14 of the lifting stop means 13 is an obstacle 50 (that is, the lower limb or article of the above example). The swinging member 14 is linearly displaced in the vertical direction or tilted and displaced in the triaxial direction, and the switch means 17 is activated in response to these displacements, and the seat 4 is lowered. The movement is forcibly stopped, and the obstacle 50 is prevented from being pinched between the rocking body 14 and the floor F in a sure manner.

  In addition, in this case, the rocking body 14 has a size that covers the substantially entire area of the back surface 4a of the seat portion 4 and is supported to be levitated and displaceable in a triaxial direction with respect to the back surface 4a. Regardless of the position of the object 50 below the seat 4 and regardless of the type of the obstacle 50, the presence of the object 50 is detected by the oscillator 14, and the oscillator 14 is subjected to the oscillation displacement. Since the operation of the elevating drive mechanism 40 is stopped by the switch means 17, the safety and reliability of the elevating chair Z are further enhanced.

  On the other hand, when the lifting chair Z is accommodated, as shown in FIG. 3, the stretchable material 34 of the base 1 is reduced to reduce the chair front-rear direction dimension as a whole and Example: The chair body 3 is set to the lowest position so that the height of the lift chair Z is minimized, and the seat 4 and the left and right armrests 6 and 6 are flipped up together to extend in the longitudinal direction of these chairs. Minimize dimensions. By setting it as such a storage form, the said raising / lowering chair Z becomes compact in both the front-back direction and a height direction, can be easily accommodated in a narrower space, and the stowability will improve markedly.

  It is a perspective view which shows the shape at the time of use in the fall position of the raising / lowering chair which concerns on embodiment of this invention.   It is a perspective view which shows the shape at the time of use in the raising position of the raising / lowering chair which concerns on embodiment of this invention.   It is a perspective view which shows the shape at the time of non-use of the raising / lowering chair which concerns on embodiment of this invention.   It is IV-IV sectional drawing of FIG.   It is an enlarged side view of the seat part shown in FIG.   It is VI-VI arrow line view of FIG.   It is a VII-VII arrow line view of FIG.   It is an enlarged view of the VIII part of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 .. Base 2 .. Lifting support part 3 .. Chair body 4 .. Seat part 5 .. Backrest part 6 .. Armrest 7 .. Support shaft 8 .. Handle 9 .. Wheel 10 .. Seat part support Arm 11 .. Horizontal member 12 .. Armrest support arm 13 .. Lift stop means 14 .. Oscillator 15 .. Frame member 16 .. Inner member 17 .. Switch means 18 .. Operation switch 20. Supporting part 21 ・ ・ Guide rod 22 ・ ・ Stopper 23 ・ ・ Spring 24 ・ ・ Stopper 25 ・ ・ Strut material 31 ・ ・ Main material 32 ・ ・ Horizontal material 33 ・ ・ Horizontal material 34 ・ ・ Expandable material 35 ・ ・ Pivot Support material 36 ・ ・ Pivot material 37 ・ ・ Grounding member Z ・ ・ Elevating chair

Claims (4)

An elevating support portion (2) provided with an elevating drive mechanism (40) and standing on the base (1);
An elevating chair comprising a chair body (3) which is composed of a seat (4) and a backrest (5) and which is supported by the elevating support (2) and driven up and down,
Storage where the seat (4) of the chair body (3) is flipped up so that the seating posture extends forward from the backrest (5) and close to the backrest (5). A lifting chair characterized by being configured to select a posture. In claim 1,
The said base (1) is comprised so that expansion-contraction is possible in the front-back direction, The raising / lowering chair characterized by the above-mentioned. In claim 1 or 2,
The lowering operation of the chair body (3) by the elevating drive mechanism (40) when contacting the obstacle (50) on the back surface (4a) of the seat (4) in the descending direction of the seat (4) Lifting / lowering means (13) for stopping the movement is provided. In claim 3,
The lifting / lowering stopping means (13) has a size that covers substantially the entire back surface (4a) of the seat (4) and is levitated and supported so as to be tiltable and displaceable in three axial directions with respect to the back surface (4a). The oscillating body (14) and the back surface (4a) of the seat (4) are arranged at a substantially central portion and receive the oscillating displacement of the oscillating body (14) to stop the operation of the elevating drive mechanism (40). A lifting chair characterized by comprising a switch means (17).

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