JP2013208245A - Wheelchair - Google Patents

Abstract

A stairs or the like can be moved up and down with a simple configuration without fear of falling.
A swing-sliding wheel mechanism 3 provided on both sides of a chair portion 2 and having wheels 31 at both ends, and capable of turning and sliding the wheels 31 integrally in the side surface, a front wheel 4 and wheels. 31 is provided with a processing unit 7 for controlling the turning slide wheel mechanism 3 so that two or more of the left and right wheels of 31 are grounded.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a wheelchair having an elevating mechanism capable of elevating and lowering stairs and the like without falling down.

  General wheelchairs used by people with walking disabilities specialize in plane running, and cannot step up or down steps or stairs (hereinafter referred to as stairs) by themselves. Therefore, when there are stairs or the like on the moving route, labor such as holding a wheelchair by a plurality of people is required.

As means for solving such problems, for example, wheelchairs having a lifting function as disclosed in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2 are known. In these wheelchairs, it is possible to move up and down stairs and the like by using four wheels.
For example, structures as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are also known. In the wheelchair disclosed in Patent Document 1, stairs and the like can be moved up and down by driving a crawler using eight wheels having a slide mechanism. In addition, in order to improve the stability of the crawler operation, an auxiliary wheel body is attached. Moreover, in the loading platform disclosed in Patent Document 2, stairs and the like can be moved up and down by using four wheels and a getter. Thereby, it is possible to keep the loading platform horizontal.

Japanese Patent No. 3800400 JP-A-2005-41461

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However, in the wheelchairs disclosed in Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2, there is a state in which two wheels are inverted while moving up and down the stairs. The wheelchair of Non-Patent Document 1 dynamically controls the position of the center of gravity, but may fall over if it exceeds the control range. In addition, in the wheelchair of Non-Patent Document 2, it is necessary for the assistant or the like to move up and down while always supporting the wheelchair, and there is a possibility that the assistant or the like may fall down if the assistant is not properly supported. Therefore, in the wheelchairs of Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2, there is a problem that there is a possibility that the wheelchair may fall over at the timing when the posture is held by two wheels.
Moreover, in the wheelchair disclosed by patent document 1, since it is necessary to provide a crawler and an auxiliary | assistant wheel body, there exists a subject that there are many components and a structure is complicated. Similarly, the loading platform disclosed in Patent Document 2 also needs to use a getter, and there are problems that the number of parts is large and the structure is complicated.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has an object to provide a wheelchair having a lifting mechanism capable of moving up and down, such as stairs, with a simple configuration and without fear of falling. .

  The wheelchair according to the present invention is provided on each of the front and rear sides of the chair part, has wheels at both ends, and a turning slide wheel mechanism capable of turning and sliding integrally with each other in the side surface, and the front wheel and the wheel And a processing unit that controls the turning slide wheel mechanism so that two or more wheels on the left and right are grounded.

  According to the present invention, since it is configured as described above, it is possible to move up and down stairs and the like with a simple configuration without fear of falling.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the turning slide wheel mechanism in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the operation example of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the wheelchair which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a wheelchair 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the following description, the wheel 31 described later is assumed to be a non-electric wheelchair 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the wheelchair 1 is provided with a chair portion 2 including a seat on which a passenger (not shown) rides, a backrest, an armrest, and the like. A swivel slide wheel mechanism 3 is provided on each of the front and rear sides of the chair portion 2. The swivel slide wheel mechanism 3 is used also when traveling on a flat surface, but exhibits its function when moving up and down a staircase or the like, and the detailed configuration will be described later. Further, in front of the chair portion 2, a front wheel 4 capable of turning such as an auxiliary wheel and a caster for maintaining posture and assisting in traveling on a flat surface is provided. In addition, a handle 5 is provided above the chair portion 2 for an assistant to operate the wheelchair 1.

The wheelchair 1 is provided with a road surface condition detection sensor (detection sensor) 6 that detects a road surface condition on which the wheelchair 1 travels. As this road surface condition detection sensor 6, a round trip time measuring device for measuring the road surface shape including the ground, stairs, etc. from the round trip time of the irradiated laser or ultrasonic wave, an image processing device for measuring the road surface shape from the captured image, etc. Is used.
Then, the wheelchair 1 calculates the slide amount and the turning angle of the turning slide wheel mechanism 3 based on the detection result by the road surface condition detection sensor 6, and the front wheel 4 and the wheel 31 described later are processed through each actuator described later. A processing unit 7 is provided for controlling the turning slide wheel mechanism 3 so that two or more wheels on the left and right are grounded.
In FIG. 1, the road surface state detection sensor 6 and the processing unit 7 are shown outside the wheelchair 1, but actually, the road surface state detection sensor 6 and the processing unit 7 are mounted on the wheelchair 1.

Next, the configuration of the turning slide wheel mechanism 3 will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, two wheels 31 are connected to both ends of the inter-wheel frame 32 in the turning slide wheel mechanism 3. The inter-wheel frame 32 is attached to the chair portion 2 by being connected to the frame end 21 of the chair portion 2.
The inter-wheel frame 32 is provided with a slide mechanism 33 that allows the frame end 21 of the chair portion 2 to slide from one end side to the other end side of the inter-wheel frame 32. With the slide mechanism 33, the two wheels 31 can be slid together in the side surface of the chair portion 2. Further, the inter-wheel frame 32 is provided with a turning mechanism 34 that integrally turns the two wheels 31 within the side surface of the chair portion 2 with the frame end 21 of the chair portion 2 as a fulcrum. Note that the slide mechanism 33 and the turning mechanism 34 are mounted with actuators (not shown) (single-axis actuators, etc., and the turning mechanism 34 (with a gear), etc.), and the position / angle is set to (servo). It is possible to control.

  Next, an operation example of the wheelchair 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. In addition, in FIGS. 3-16, the wheelchair 1 is shown with a schematic diagram, and it is respectively code | symbol with respect to each wheel 31 of the two turning slide wheel mechanisms 3 provided in one side surface (left side surface in the figure) of the wheelchair 1. A description will be given with A to D). Moreover, in FIGS. 3-16, description of the road surface condition detection sensor 6 and the process part 7 is abbreviate | omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the wheelchair 1 travels on a plane, one or more of the front wheels 4 and the wheels 31 of the front and rear turning slide wheel mechanisms 3 (left and right turning slides in FIG. 3). A total of four or more wheels (only the wheel B of the wheel mechanism 3) are grounded to the ground for traveling. Thereby, planar driving | running | working can be performed like the past.
In addition, although planar driving | running | working by 6-wheel grounding or 8-wheel grounding is possible, the resistance with respect to turning of the wheelchair 1 will increase with the increase in the number of wheels. For this reason, when running on a flat surface, a four-wheel grounding (state shown in FIG. 3) is usually used.

  On the other hand, when the wheelchair 1 goes up the stairs, the road surface condition detection sensor 6 first detects the stairs shape (lifting height, depth). Based on the detection result, the processing unit 7 calculates the slide amount and the turning angle of the turning slide wheel mechanism 3 and gives instructions to each actuator.

  Specifically, first, as shown in FIG. 4, the front and rear turning slide wheel mechanism 3 uses the frame end 21 located on the wheel A side and the frame end 21 located on the wheel D side as fulcrums, respectively. , B and wheels C, D are rotated together. Thereby, the wheels A and C of the front and rear turning slide wheel mechanisms 3 are grounded on the first tread surface. As shown in FIGS. 5 to 6, the rear turning slide wheel mechanism 3 turns the wheels A and B integrally with the frame end 21 located on the wheel A side as a fulcrum. As a result, the wheel B of the rear turning slide wheel mechanism 3 is grounded on the second step surface.

  7 and 8, the front and rear turning slide wheel mechanism 3 slides the frame end 21 from the wheel A, D side of the inter-wheel frame 32 to the wheel B, C side. Thereby, the chair part 2 moves upwards.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the front and rear turning slide wheel mechanism 3 has wheels A, B and wheels with the frame end 21 located on the wheel B side and the frame end 21 located on the wheel C side as fulcrums. Rotate C and D together. Thereby, the wheel A of the front and rear turning slide wheel mechanism 3 is grounded on the third step surface, and the wheel D is grounded on the second step surface.
Thereafter, it is possible to go up the stairs by repeating the operations of FIGS.

  As shown in FIGS. 11 to 13, when the rear turning slide wheel mechanism 3 reaches the uppermost step, the wheels A and B are both grounded on the uppermost tread surface. Thereafter, as shown in FIGS. 14 to 16, the front and rear turning slide wheel mechanisms 3 turn and slide, so that the front turning slide wheel mechanism 3 also reaches the uppermost stage. And the front and rear turning slide wheel mechanism 3 shifts the wheels A and B and the wheels C and D to the state at the time of plane running.

By operating as described above, it is possible to go up the stairs to the top. Further, when going down the stairs, the operation may be performed in the reverse order of the above operation. Moreover, the operation | movement sequence of the wheelchair 1 is not limited to said operation | movement, It can change suitably.
In this way, even during the ascending / descending operation, since at least four or more wheels are always installed on the tread surface of the staircase, if the range of the center of gravity of the occupant is within the ground contact range of the front wheels 4 and the wheels 31, the vehicle falls over. Never do.

Next, the fall prevention principle by the wheelchair 1 comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated. Note that the center of gravity range of the occupant during the stairs is the same as when traveling on a flat surface (the occupant is riding in the same posture as when traveling on a flat surface without getting out of the chair part 2 when the stairs are elevated) To do).
3-16, the code | symbol I has shown the contact position of the wheel (front wheel 4 or the wheel 31) ahead of the wheelchair 1, and the code | symbol II has shown the contact position of the wheel 31 behind the wheelchair 1. FIG. Moreover, the display of the grounding range displays the range between the outermost grounding positions.

Here, it is obvious that the wheelchair 1 is designed so that the center of gravity range of the occupant always exists within the ground contact range (between I and II) of the wheelchair 1 during the planar traveling shown in FIG.
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 16, the range of the center of gravity exists within the ground contact range of the wheelchair 1 in any state during the stair climbing. Therefore, it can be said that it will not fall over when going up and down the stairs.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the swivel is provided respectively on the front and rear sides of the chair portion 2, has the wheels 31 at both ends, and can turn and slide the wheels 31 integrally in the side surface. Since the slide wheel mechanism 3 is provided and the swing slide wheel mechanism 3 is controlled so that two or more of the front wheel 4 and the wheel 31 are grounded on the left and right sides, it has a simple configuration and there is no fear of falling down, stairs, etc. Can be moved up and down.

In addition, unlike the prior art, the trajectory of the chair part 2 (passenger) during the lifting operation is substantially linear along the slope of the stairs. Therefore, the riding comfort as the wheelchair 1 is improved.
Further, during normal traveling, the heights of the left and right wheels 31 that are grounded on the road surface are independently changed by each turning slide wheel mechanism 3 according to the road surface shape detected by the road surface condition detection sensor 6. Even on rough terrain, the posture of the chair 2 (passenger) can be kept constant. Therefore, the riding comfort and operability as the wheelchair 1 are improved. In addition, an inclination detection sensor (detection sensor) that detects the inclination angle of the wheelchair 1 may be mounted, and control may be performed so as to keep the posture of the chair portion 2 constant based on a detection result by the inclination detection sensor.

  In the first embodiment, the wheel 31 is assumed to be a non-electric wheelchair 1 and the two wheels 31 included in the turning slide wheel mechanism 3 are freely rotatable. On the other hand, the configuration of the present invention can be applied to a wheelchair in which the wheels 31 are electrically operated, and a traveling motor is mounted on each wheel 31 of the turning slide wheel mechanism 3 so that the wheel 31 can be rotated electrically. May be.

  In the first embodiment, the processing unit 7 controls the turning slide wheel mechanism 3 according to the road surface state detected by the road surface state detection sensor 6. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the shape of the stairs (lifting height / depth) frequently used by the passenger is registered in the memory in advance, and the processing unit 7 turns the slide slide based on the memory information. The wheel mechanism 3 may be controlled.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the wheelchair 1 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The wheelchair 1 according to the second embodiment shown in FIG. 17 is obtained by adding an attachment position variable mechanism 8 to the wheelchair 1 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. Other configurations are the same, and the same reference numerals are given and description thereof is omitted.

The attachment position variable mechanism 8 is a mechanism that varies the attachment position pitch (width A and height B shown in FIG. 17) of the turning slide wheel mechanism 3 provided on the front and back sides of the chair portion 2. Note that the mounting position variable mechanism 8 is provided with an actuator (not shown) (single-axis actuator or the like) and can control the position (servo).
Then, in addition to the function in the first embodiment, the processing unit 7 calculates the slide amount of the attachment position variable mechanism 8 based on the road surface condition detected by the road surface condition detection sensor 6, and instructs the actuator. It also has a function to perform. In FIG. 17, the signal lines from the processing unit 7 to the turning slide wheel mechanism 3 are not shown.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, since the mechanism for changing the mounting position pitch of the turning slide wheel mechanism 3 provided at the front and rear is provided, the wheelchair 1 is added to the effect of the first embodiment. The range of the step which can be moved up and down, the height H of the staircase, and the length (depth) W of the tread can be expanded.

  In addition, by independently changing the mounting position pitch of the left and right turning slide wheel mechanism 3, it is possible to move up and down even on stairs with different depths on the left and right, such as spiral staircase ability, and stairs with different heights on the left and right. It becomes.

  In the second embodiment, the processing unit 7 controls the attachment position variable mechanism 8 according to the road surface condition detected by the road surface condition detection sensor 6. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the shape (lifting height / depth) of the stairs frequently used by the passenger is previously registered in the memory, and the processing unit 7 determines the mounting position based on the memory information. The variable mechanism 8 may be controlled.

  In the present invention, within the scope of the invention, any combination of the embodiments, or any modification of any component in each embodiment, or omission of any component in each embodiment is possible. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wheelchair 2 Chair part 3 Turning slide wheel mechanism 4 Front wheel 5 Handle 6 Road surface condition detection sensor 7 Processing part 8 Attachment position variable mechanism 21 Frame end 31 Wheel 32 Wheel-to-wheel frame 33 Slide mechanism 34 Turning mechanism

Claims (6)

In a wheelchair with a front wheel,
A turning slide wheel mechanism that is provided on each of the front and rear sides of the chair portion, has wheels at both ends, and can turn and slide the both wheels together in the side surface;
A wheelchair comprising: a processing unit that controls the turning slide wheel mechanism so that two or more left and right wheels of the front wheel and the wheel are grounded. The said process part controls the said turning slide wheel mechanism so that the grounding range by the said front wheel and the said wheel may become wide with respect to the gravity center range of the passenger who is boarding the said chair part. Wheelchair. 3. The wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit controls the turning slide wheel mechanism so that a path of the chair portion is linear when performing an elevating operation. 4. It has a detection sensor that detects the road surface condition or its own inclination,
The said processing part controls the said turning slide wheel mechanism so that the attitude | position of the said chair part may be fixed based on the detection result by the said detection sensor. The any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned. The wheelchair described in item 1. The said process part controls the said turning slide wheel mechanism so that one wheel of each right and left may be grounded, when performing planar driving | running | working. Any one of the Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. The wheelchair described in the section. The wheelchair according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising an attachment position variable mechanism that makes an attachment position of the turning slide wheel mechanism variable.

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