JP5635790B2 - Walking aid - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a walking aid, and more particularly to a walking aid that walks while gripping a grip member attached to the upper end of a cylindrical support member.

  Elderly people and people with impaired walking function use walking aids such as walking sticks to walk more safely. The walking aid is, for example, a grip member attached to the upper end of a support member having a cylindrical shape, for example, to walk while supporting a part of body weight by grasping this grip member with a hand, Alternatively, even a person with a deficiency in motor function or walking function can walk more safely.

  In such a walking aid, when the support member having the grip member attached to the upper end is composed of a pair of upper and lower cylinders, and these are combined so that they can be expanded and contracted, the length can be adjusted. This makes it possible to adjust the length to an optimum dimension according to the physique and purpose of use.

  Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-3181010, a non-slip member having a claw at the tip is provided at the lower end of the inner shaft housed in the outer cylinder connecting the grip portion and the grounding cap at the upper and lower ends. Proposed a cold district cane that connects and removes the claw from the grounding cap by operating the handle that protrudes at least partially from the gripping part, so that the non-slip claw can be moved in and out with a simple operation. Has been.

In this way, according to the configuration in which the claw is switched between the protruding state and the retracted state at the tip side portion, for example, even when the road surface is frozen, The tip does not slip, and the safety of walking is improved especially in cold weather.
However, when attaching a non-slip claw, the above-mentioned claw must be attached to the lower end of the inner shaft penetrating into the outer cylinder constituting the support member. Cannot be incorporated. In other words, the expansion / contraction function of the walking aid and the provision of a non-slip mechanism having a switching mechanism for switching between a state in which the nail is protruded and a state in which the nail is retracted are not compatible.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-31981 JP 2004-105685 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a walking aid that allows a support member having a gripping member at its upper end to be expanded and contracted, and is provided with a non-slip member that can be switched between a protruding state and a retracted state on the lower end side. Is to provide.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a walking aid that makes the expansion and contraction mechanism of the support member compatible with switching means for switching between a state in which the anti-slip member is protruded and a state in which it is stored.

  The above-described problems and other problems of the present invention will be made clear by the technical idea of the present invention described below and the embodiments thereof.

The main invention of the present application includes a cylindrical support member, a gripping member attached to the upper end of the support member and gripped by a pedestrian by hand, a non-slip member protruding downward from the lower end of the support member, A switching means for switching between a state in which the anti-slip member protrudes from the lower end of the support member and a state in which it is stored;
In addition, the support member is composed of a pair of upper and lower cylinders, and one cylinder is slidably combined in the other cylinder so that the length can be adjusted, and the pair of upper and lower can be adjusted in a state where the length is adjusted. The present invention relates to a walking aid characterized by including a lock unit that locks cylinders to each other and an adjustment unit that adjusts the length of the switching unit according to the length adjustment of the support member.

  Here, the support member is composed of a pair of upper and lower cylinders, and the upper end side of the lower cylinder is slidably incorporated in the upper cylinder, and a plurality of upper cylinders are provided along the length direction thereof. And a single insertion hole is formed in the lower cylinder, and a lock pin incorporated in the lower cylinder and biased by a spring is provided in the lower cylinder. The cylinder may be maintained at a predetermined length by being engaged with a single insertion hole and one of the plurality of lock holes of the upper cylinder. A sliding block in which the switching means is slidably disposed in the support member; an operation member for sliding the sliding block; and the anti-slip member attached to a tip portion; And a transmission rod that switches between a state in which the anti-slip member protrudes from a lower end of the support member and a state in which the anti-slip member is housed in accordance with the sliding movement of the support member, and the upper end of the transmission rod is connected to the sliding block. A pin that is slidably assembled in the transmission sleeve and that protrudes to the outer peripheral portion of the transmission rod is received in the sliding groove of the transmission sleeve, and among the plurality of engaging recesses formed in the sliding groove. The switching means may be expanded and contracted according to the length adjustment of the support member by engaging the pin of the transmission block with one. In addition, an elastic pad is attached to the lower end of the lower cylindrical body, and the anti-slip member protrudes from the lower end through the center hole of the elastic pad, and is incorporated in a recess that is open upward in the elastic pad. A pressing ring that presses the compression coil spring is fixed to the transmission rod, and when the switching means is switched to the contracted state, the compression coil spring may press the transmission rod upward to house the anti-slip member.

Another main invention includes a cylindrical support member, a grip member attached to an upper end of the support member, and gripped by a pedestrian with a hand, a non-slip member protruding downward from a lower end of the support member, Switching means for switching between the state in which the anti-slip member protrudes from the lower end of the support member and the state in which it is stored;
In addition, the support member is composed of a pair of upper and lower cylinders, the male screw at the end of one cylinder is engaged with the female screw of the other cylinder and is expanded and contracted by the screw, and the switching means is a transmission rod, A transmission sleeve, a male screw at the tip of the transmission rod and a female screw of the transmission sleeve are screwed together, and the pitch of the screw on the support member side and the pitch of the screw on the transmission rod are equal to each other, and the support The present invention relates to a walking aid characterized in that expansion and contraction of a member coincides with expansion and contraction of the transmission rod. Here, the transmission rod may be non-rotatable with respect to the cylindrical body of the support member.

Still another main invention of the present application includes a cylindrical support member, a grip member attached to an upper end of the support member, and gripped by a pedestrian with a hand, and an anti-slip member protruding downward from the lower end of the support member And switching means for switching between the state in which the anti-slip member protrudes from the lower end of the support member and the state in which it is stored,
In addition, the support member is composed of a pair of upper and lower cylinders, one cylinder is slidably inserted into the other cylinder, and can be expanded and contracted, and the switching means includes a transmission rod and a transmission sleeve. And when the transmission rod is rotated and expanded and contracted, the pair of cylinders of the support member expands and contracts in conjunction therewith. The present invention relates to a walking aid characterized by that. Here, the transmission rod may be unable to rotate with respect to the cylindrical body of the support member.

Still another main invention of the present application includes a cylindrical support member, a grip member attached to an upper end of the support member, and gripped by a pedestrian with a hand, and an anti-slip member protruding downward from the lower end of the support member And switching means for switching between the state in which the anti-slip member protrudes from the lower end of the support member and the state in which it is stored,
In addition, the support member is composed of a pair of upper and lower cylinders, and the length of the support member can be adjusted by an extendable gas spring incorporated in the pair of cylinders, and the length of the extendable gas spring can be adjusted. A walking is provided with a stopper provided on an operating rod that is locked by being moved, and an interlocking mechanism is provided in which the switching means is locked in conjunction with the operation rod switching the gas spring to a locked state. It relates to assistive devices.

  Here, the interlock mechanism is provided with a stopper provided on the operating rod of the gas spring, a claw pressed by the stopper via a leaf spring, and a sawtooth engaging portion of switching means with which the claw is engaged. When the operation rod locks the gas spring with an arbitrary length, the stopper engages the claw with the serrated engaging portion via the leaf spring to lock the switching means. You can do it. Further, the anti-slip member is attached to the lower end of the lower transmission rod, and the upper transmission rod is provided in a sliding block incorporated in the upper cylinder body with a switching knob, and the claw of the interlock mechanism is When the stopper, which is held in the lateral small hole of the upper transmission rod and is movable in the axial direction on the inner side of the upper cylindrical body, presses the claw via the leaf spring, the lower The claw may engage with a serrated engaging portion formed inside the side transmission rod, and the interlock mechanism may be locked.

  The main invention of the present application is a cylindrical support member, a grip member attached to the upper end of the support member and gripped by a pedestrian by hand, an anti-slip member protruding downward from the lower end of the support member, and an anti-slip member Switching means for switching between a state in which the support member protrudes from the lower end of the support member and a state in which the support member is stored, and the support member is composed of a pair of upper and lower cylinders, and one cylinder slides in the other cylinder. The length of the switching means can be adjusted according to the adjustment of the length of the support member and the lock means that locks the pair of upper and lower cylinders together while the length adjustment is possible. And adjusting means for providing.

  Therefore, according to such a configuration, the length of the support member can be adjusted by the length adjusting means assembled so as to be slidable by the pair of upper and lower cylinders, and the adjusting means for adjusting the length of the switching means. Thus, the anti-slip member can be adjusted in conjunction with the length of the support member.

It is a longitudinal section showing the whole composition of the walking aid of a 1st embodiment. It is a front view which shows the structure of the switching means of the walking aid. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the structure of the switching means. It is a principal part disassembled perspective view of the lock mechanism which locks an upper and lower cylinder body mutually in the state which adjusted the length of the supporting member. It is a principal part disassembled perspective view of the adjustment means which adjusts the length of the transmission rod of a switching means. It is the principal part front view. It is a disassembled perspective view of the compression coil spring built in the lower end side of the lower cylinder of a supporting member, and the mechanism relevant to it. It is a principal part longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the expansion-contraction mechanism of the supporting member of the walking aid of 2nd Embodiment. It is the perspective view and longitudinal cross-sectional view which show the combined structure of the guide cylinder incorporated in the part of the lower end side of the expansion-contraction mechanism and a sliding block. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the modification of the expansion-contraction structure of the supporting member of the said 2nd Embodiment. It is a side view which shows the whole structure of the walking aid of 3rd Embodiment. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view seen from the front and the side which shows the whole internal structure of the walking aid. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view seen from the front side and side surface side of the upper end side part of the walking aid. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view seen from the front side and side surface which show the part of the interlock mechanism of the walking aid. It is a perspective view which shows an upper side transmission member and a lower side transmission member. It is the perspective view cut in the middle of the upper transmission member, and the perspective view which shows integration of the upper transmission member to the same lower transmission member. It is a perspective view which shows the coupling | bonding relationship of a lower side transmission member and a non-slip | skid member. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view seen from the front side and side surface side of the intermediate part of the support member which show the structure of attachment of a gas spring. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view seen from the front side and side surface side of the part of the lower end side of the support member. It is a principal part longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the locking operation by an interlock mechanism. It is a front view of the walking aid concerning a modification. It is a principal part perspective view which shows the structure of the walking aid of another modification.

  FIG. 1 shows a walking aid of the first embodiment, and this walking aid includes a support member 10 extending in the vertical direction. The support member 10 is formed by combining the upper cylindrical body 11 and the lower cylindrical body 12, and the upper end side of the lower cylindrical body 12 is slidably incorporated into the upper cylindrical body 11, thereby The length is adjustable. A gripping member 18 is attached to the upper end side of the support member 10. The gripping member 18 is configured such that a mounting projection 13 provided at a lower portion of the gripping member 18 is pushed into the upper cylindrical body 11 and is pressed by a pressing ring 14 from the outer peripheral side of the upper cylindrical body 11.

  A male screw 15 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lower end of the upper cylindrical body 11, and a presser ring 16 is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the male screw 15 and is locked by a lock nut 17.

  FIG. 4 shows in more detail a locking mechanism that locks in such a state that the length of the telescopic support member 10 is adjusted. Here, the pair of upper and lower cylindrical bodies 11 and 12 are locked in a state in which they are adjusted to each other. A lock pin 20 is provided. The lock pin 20 is attached to one end portion of the bending spring 21 so as to protrude sideways, and the bending spring 21 has a radially bent portion 22 whose upper end portion is bent in the radial direction. doing. Such a radial bent portion 22 escapes a transmission sleeve 40 described later and is incorporated between the lower cylindrical body 12 and the transmission sleeve 40. An insertion hole 23 is formed in the lower cylinder 12, and four lock holes 24 are formed in the upper cylinder 11 at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction.

  Moreover, as described above, a male screw 15 is formed at the lower end portion of the upper cylindrical body 11 in which the lock holes 24 are arranged in the vertical direction, and the male screw 15 is fastened by the lock nut 17 via the presser ring 16. The presser ring 16 is made of, for example, nylon resin and has a C shape with a part in the circumferential direction cut away.

  Therefore, while inserting the upper end side of the lower cylinder 12 into the upper cylinder 11 so that the upper cylinder 11 and the lower cylinder 12 have a predetermined length, the lock pin 20 is inserted into the lower cylinder. By inserting any one of a plurality of, for example, four lock holes 24 of the insertion hole 23 of the body 12 and the upper cylinder 11, and tightening the lock nut 17 in this state, the upper cylinder 11 and the lower cylinder 11 are The cylindrical body 12 is fixed in a state in which the length is adjusted with respect to each other.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an elastic pad 28 made of rubber or synthetic resin is attached to a lower end side of the support member 10 and a lower end side portion of the lower cylindrical body 12. The lower end portion of the lower cylindrical body 12 is inserted into the concave portion at the top of the elastic pad 28. An anti-slip member 30 is incorporated so as to penetrate the center hole 29 of the elastic pad 28. The anti-slip member 30 has a conical shape at the tip side, and is projected from the lower end of the elastic pad 28 in conjunction with the sliding operation of the sliding block 31 incorporated in the upper end side of the upper cylindrical body 11. And can be switched to the stored state.

  The sliding block 31 is composed of a cylindrical block made of synthetic resin that is slidably incorporated in the upper cylindrical body 11, and as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sliding block 31. A switching knob 32 is screwed so as to protrude sideways. A long hole 33 for slidably receiving such a switching knob 32 is formed in the upper cylinder 11. The sliding block 31 is formed with a concave portion 34 extending in the radial direction below the switching knob 32, and a spring 35 is accommodated in the concave portion 34, and the outlet side of the concave portion 34 is also provided. The lock button 36 is attached to the portion. Such a lock button 36 projects into a circular hole 37 formed on the lower side of the long hole 33 of the upper cylinder 11 so that the sliding block 31 is locked so as to be held in the lower position. The

  Here, when the sliding block 31 is in the upper position as shown in FIGS. 2A and 3A and the switching knob 32 is positioned at the upper end of the long hole 33, the anti-slip member 30 is shown by a solid line in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the elastic pad 28 is drawn into the center hole. On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2B and 3B, when the sliding block 31 moves downward and the switching knob 32 is positioned at the lower end of the long hole 33, the lock button 36 is fitted in the circular hole 37. At this time, the anti-slip member 30 protrudes downward from the center hole 29 of the elastic pad 28 as shown by a chain line in FIG. 1, and thereby the anti-slip member 30 exhibits the anti-slip function.

Next, a connecting mechanism that connects the sliding block 31 and the anti-slip member 30 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, a transmission sleeve 40 is connected to the lower end of the sliding block 31, and is fixed by a screw 39 as shown in FIG. A transmission rod 41 is slidably incorporated in the lower end side of the transmission sleeve 40. The above-described anti-slip member 30 is fixed to the lower end side portion of the transmission rod 41.
Here, a length adjusting mechanism shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is provided between the transmission sleeve 40 and the transmission rod 41, and the length of the support member 10 shown in FIG. In conjunction with the adjustment by the adjustment mechanism, the length of the connecting member that connects the sliding block 31 and the anti-slip member 30 can be adjusted. This mechanism includes a pin 42 provided on the outer peripheral portion of the transmission rod 41 so as to protrude in the radial direction, and a sliding groove 43 of the transmission sleeve 40 that receives the pin 42. The sliding groove 43 is provided with engaging recesses 44 at four locations along the length direction thereof. The distance between the engagement recesses 44 matches the dimension of the lock hole 24 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the upper cylinder 11 shown in FIG.

  Therefore, according to such a configuration, the transmission rod 41 is connected to the transmission sleeve 40 shown in FIG. 5 in conjunction with the adjustment of the lengthwise dimension of the upper cylinder 11 and the lower cylinder 12 constituting the support member 10. By adjusting the amount of pushing, the position of the anti-slip member 30 can always be set to an appropriate value. By engaging the pin 42 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the transmission rod 41 with the engaging recess 44 on the lowermost side of the sliding groove 43 on the outer peripheral surface of the transmission sleeve 40 as shown in FIG. 41 becomes the longest state. This state corresponds to a state in which the lock pin 20 is engaged with the lowermost lock hole 24 among the four lock holes 24 of the upper cylinder 11 shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, the transmission rod 41 is largely pushed into the transmission sleeve 40, and the pin 42 of the transmission rod 41 is engaged with the engagement recess 44 on the uppermost side of the sliding groove 43. Then, the transmission rod 41 is in the shortest state. This state corresponds to a state in which the lock pin 20 is engaged with the uppermost lock hole 24 among the four lock holes 24 of the upper cylinder 11 in FIG.

  Next, a biasing mechanism for returning the compression coil spring 48 and the transmission rod 41 associated with the compression coil spring 48 incorporated in the lower end side of the lower cylinder 12 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 1, a compression coil spring 48 is incorporated in the front end portion of the lower cylinder 12, and the upper portion of the compression coil spring 48 is received by a spring receiver 49 to compress the compression coil spring 48. The lower part of the coil spring 48 is received by the lower spring receiver 50. The inner diameter of the compression coil spring 48 is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the spring holder 51, and is held on the outer peripheral portion of the spring holder 51. The spring holder 51 is formed with sliding recesses 52 on the outer peripheral side and on both sides, and the lower spring receiver 50 slides in the vertical direction on the outer surface of the spring holder 51 by the sliding recesses 52. It is like that. Here, the upper spring receiver 49 is fixed to the transmission rod 41 by a screw 53, and the spring holder 51 is fixed to the transmission rod 41 by upper and lower screws 54 and 55. And the transmission rod 41 penetrates this spring holder 51 by the through-hole 56 which penetrates the center part of the spring holder 51, and the said anti-slip | skid member 30 is fixed to the front end side part. A washer 57 is disposed at the bottom of the recess that opens above the elastic pad 28 connected to the tip of the lower cylinder 12.

  Here, the operation of the compression coil spring 48 will be described. The sliding block 31 shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 is slid from the upper position shown in FIGS. 2A and 3A to the lower position shown in FIGS. 2B and 3B, and is held by the sliding block 31. When the lock button 36 is engaged with the circular hole 37, the transmission sleeve 40 is moved downward by this, and the pin 42 engaged with the predetermined engagement recess 44 of the transmission sleeve 40 sliding groove 43 is implanted. Thus, the transmission rod 41 moves downward, and the spring receiver 49 attached to the transmission rod 41 presses the compression coil spring 48 to store elastic energy. At this time, since the spring holder 51 fixed to the transmission rod 41 descends together with the transmission rod 41, the lower spring receiver 50 relatively moves the sliding recess 52 of the spring holder 51 upward from below. Move to. As the transmission rod 41 moves downward, the anti-slip member 30 protrudes downward from the center hole of the elastic pad 28 at the lower end as shown by the chain line in FIG. In this state, the anti-slip member 30 is switched to the operating state. Therefore, it is possible to walk on a slippery place such as a frozen road surface with the anti-slip member 30 protruding in this manner.

  Next, in FIG. 2B and FIG. 3B, the compression button spring 36 incorporated in the lower cylindrical body 12 by pressing the lock button 36 and immersing the lock button 36 in the recess 34 of the sliding block 31. The transmission rod 41 is pushed upward by the elastic restoring force 48, and the transmission sleeve 40 is also pushed upward for this purpose. Accordingly, the sliding block 31 connecting the transmission sleeve 40 moves from the lower position shown in FIGS. 2B and 3B to the upper position shown in FIGS. 2A and 3A. The stop position of the upward movement operation of the sliding block 31 at this time is a position where the switching knob 32 comes into contact with the upper end of the long hole 33 of the upper cylindrical body 11. That is, the sliding block 31 moves upward in the upper cylinder 11 and stops at the position shown in FIGS. 2A and 3A.

  The greatest feature of the walking aid of the present embodiment is that when the length of the support member 10 is adjusted by the sliding operation of the upper cylinder 11 and the lower cylinder 12 constituting the support member 10, The transmission rod 41 having the anti-slip member 30 on the distal end side is adjusted in conjunction with the adjustment of the length of the support member 10 by adjusting the combined length of the transmission sleeve 40 and the transmission rod 41 incorporated in the support member 11. The length can be adjusted. That is, the combined length of the upper cylindrical body 11 and the lower cylindrical body 12 is obtained by engaging the lock pin 20 shown in FIG. 4 with any one of the four lock holes 24 of the upper cylindrical body 11. In this embodiment, the length of the support member 10 can be adjusted in four stages. Then, according to such length adjustment, the pushing length of the transmission rod 41 with respect to the transmission sleeve 40 is changed, and the pin 42 of the transmission rod 41 is inserted into the sliding groove 43 of the transmission sleeve 40 as shown in FIGS. By engaging with any of the engaging recesses 44, the length of the transmission rod 41 having the anti-slip member 30 on the distal end side can be adjusted. The length adjustment of the transmission rod 41 corresponds to the length adjustment of the support member 10 composed of the upper cylindrical body 11 and the lower cylindrical body 12 as described above.

  Therefore, according to such a configuration, the substantial expansion / contraction amount of the transmission rod 41 is adjusted according to the expansion / contraction amount of the support member 10 including the upper cylinder body 11 and the lower cylinder body 12. Therefore, in any length of the four stages of the support member 10, the sliding block 31 incorporated in the upper cylinder 11 is positioned at the upper position shown in FIGS. 2A and 3A and the lower position shown in FIGS. 2B and 3B. In the lower position, by engaging the lock button 36 with the circular hole 37 of the upper cylinder 11, the anti-slip member 30 protrudes from the lower surface of the elastic pad 28 as shown by the chain line in FIG. it can. On the other hand, when the lock button 36 is pressed and released from the circular hole 37 of the upper cylinder 11, the transmission rod 41 and the transmission sleeve are caused by the elastic restoring force of the compression coil spring 48 incorporated in the lower end of the lower cylinder 12. The sliding block 31 moves upward via 40, and at this time, the anti-slip member 30 is housed in the center hole 29 of the elastic pad 28 as shown by a solid line in FIG.

  Therefore, according to such a configuration, it is possible to arbitrarily adjust the length of the walking aid according to the physique and the purpose of use. At this time, by adjusting the length of the transmission rod 41, the switching mechanism composed of the sliding block 31 is used to store the anti-slip member 30 in a state of protruding downward in each length-adjusted dimension. It becomes possible to switch to the state.

  Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, an internal thread 62 is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the upper cylindrical body 11, and an external thread 63 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lower cylindrical body 12. A lock nut 17 is screwed onto a male screw 15 formed on the outer peripheral surface at the lower end of the upper cylinder 11. A presser ring 16 is attached to the inner peripheral surface on the lower end side of the upper cylindrical body 11. With such a configuration, the support member 10 composed of the upper cylinder body 11 and the lower cylinder body 12 can be expanded and contracted, and the length of the support member 10 can be adjusted.

  In addition, in this embodiment, a nut 64 is fixed to the lower end of the transmission sleeve 40, and a female screw 65 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the nut 64 is screwed with a male screw 66 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the transmission rod 41. ing. The lower surface of the nut 64 is urged upward by a compression coil spring 71. A guide cylinder 67 is arranged in a state of being fixed to the inner peripheral surface on the lower end side of the lower cylinder 12 so as to guide the lower end side portion of the transmission rod 41 having the male screw 66 on the upper end side. A sliding block 68 attached to the tip of the transmission rod 41 slides in the axial direction in 67. A pin 69 is implanted in a slide block 68 fixed to the transmission rod 41, and the pin 69 slides in a vertical direction in a slide groove 70 formed in the guide tube 67.

  Here, the most important features of the present embodiment are the pitch of the expansion / contraction mechanism of the support member 10 including the male screw 63 and the female screw 62, the female screw 65 formed on the nut 64, and the nut 64 at the lower end of the transmission rod 41. That is, the pitches of the expansion and contraction mechanisms of the transmission rod 41 including the formed male screw 66 are equal to each other. Further, since the sliding groove 70 of the guide cylinder 67 receives the pin 69 of the sliding block 68, the transmission rod 41 rotates together with the lower cylinder 12.

  In the above configuration, when the lower cylinder 12 is rotated with respect to the upper cylinder 11 so that the male screw 63 is screwed into the female screw 62, the lower cylinder 12 is accommodated in the upper cylinder 11. The overall length of the support member 10 is shortened. On the other hand, when the male screw 63 is rotated relative to the female screw 62 in the direction of loosening the screw, the lower cylinder 12 is gradually pulled out from the upper cylinder 11, and the total length of the support member 10 is shortened. Is done.

  When the lower cylinder 12 is rotated in the screwing direction or the screw loosening direction with respect to the upper cylinder 11 in order to expand and contract the support member 10 in this manner, the lower cylinder 12 is provided inside the lower cylinder 12. The guide cylinder 67 is rotated together with the lower cylinder 12. Therefore, this rotation is transmitted to the sliding block 68 via the sliding groove 70 and the pin 69 of the guide cylinder 67, so that the transmission rod 41 rotates in synchronization with the rotation of the lower cylinder 12. Therefore, the rotation of the lower cylinder 12 in the screwing direction also rotates the transmission rod 41 in the screwing direction, and the male screw 66 is screwed into the female screw 65 of the nut 64 at the lower end of the transmission sleeve 40. As a result, the transmission rod 41 is shortened. Moreover, the shortened length is equal to the shortened length of the support member 10. That is, since the pitch of the male screw 66 and the female screw 65 is equal to the pitch of the male screw 63 and the female screw 62 on the support member 10 side, the contraction amount of the transmission rod 41 becomes equal to the contraction amount of the support member 10. The same applies to the case where the lower cylinder 12 is pulled out from the upper cylinder 11 in the direction of loosening the screw. In this case, the rotation of the lower cylinder 12 causes the guide cylinder 67 having the sliding groove 70. Is transmitted to the sliding block 68, and the sliding block 68 rotates the transmission rod 41 in the same direction as the lower cylindrical body 12. Therefore, the male screw 66 of the transmission rod 41 rotates with respect to the nut 64, and thereby the transmission rod 41 is extended downward.

  Therefore, according to such a configuration, the length of the amount of expansion / contraction of the upper cylinder 11 and the lower cylinder 12 can be continuously adjusted. At that time, the length of the transmission rod 41 can be expanded and contracted in synchronization with the rotation of the lower cylindrical body 12.

  In this embodiment as well, a sliding block 31 similar to that of the first embodiment is incorporated in the upper cylindrical body 11 and on the upper end side thereof. 31, regardless of the amount of expansion / contraction of the support member 10, the anti-slip member 30 is moved downward with respect to the sliding guide 72 at any length thereof, or protruded from the sliding guide 72. It becomes possible to retract inside. That is, it is possible to make the support member 10 have an arbitrary extension / contraction length while allowing the anti-slip member 30 to protrude and retract from the distal end portion of the walking aid.

  Next, a modification of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this modification, both the internal thread 62 on the inner peripheral surface of the upper cylindrical body 11 and the external thread 63 on the outer peripheral surface of the lower cylindrical body 12 in the second embodiment are eliminated. Instead of such a configuration, a cylindrical sliding guide 72 is attached to the inner peripheral surface of the upper cylindrical body 11 on the lower end side thereof, and the lower cylindrical body 12 is attached by the sliding guide 72. The outer peripheral surface on the upper end side is guided in the axial direction. The presser ring 16 may be interposed between the outer peripheral surface of the lower cylinder 12 and the inner peripheral surface of the sliding guide 72 in the same manner as in the second embodiment. The mechanism for expanding and contracting the transmission rod 41 is the same as in the second embodiment, and the male screw 66 of the transmission rod 41 is screwed into the female screw 65 of the nut 64 formed at the lower end of the transmission sleeve 40. I am letting. The mechanism for preventing the rotation of the transmission rod 41 by the sliding guide 67 having the sliding groove 70 on the distal end side and the sliding block 68 is the same as that in the second embodiment.

  According to such a configuration, the lower cylinder 12 is rotated by rotating the lower cylinder 12 with respect to the upper cylinder 11 in the direction in which the male screw 66 of the transmission rod 41 is screwed in a state in which the anti-slip member 30 is projected. The transmission rod 41 is rotated by a pin 69 that engages with a sliding groove 70 of a sliding guide 67 attached to the lower end of the sliding guide 67. Accordingly, the male screw 66 is rotated in a direction to be screwed into the female screw 65 of the nut 64. By starting such an operation from the longest length of the support member 10, it is possible to arbitrarily adjust the length of the transmission rod 41 by rotating the lower cylindrical body 12. After that, the lower cylinder 12 is pushed into the upper cylinder 11 by an arbitrary length, and the lock nut 17 is tightened. The lock nut 17 is screwed into the male screw 15 to the lower cylinder 12. The lower end portion of the upper cylinder 11 is fixed with a screw. As a result, the length of the support member 10 is fixed in an adjusted state.

  In such a state, the anti-slip member on the tip side is interposed via the transmission sleeve 40 and the transmission rod 41 by the switching mechanism including the sliding block 31 of the first embodiment incorporated in the upper cylindrical body 11. It is possible to cause 30 to protrude from the lower side or to be retracted again.

  When play occurs between the lower cylinder 12 and the transmission rod 41 during the length adjustment operation as described above, the lower cylinder 12 is pushed into the upper cylinder 11. Then, the above-mentioned play may be absorbed by the pin 69 abutting on the lower end in the sliding groove 70 of the guide cylinder 67. In order to absorb such play, a spring in which the transmission rod 41 is urged downward with respect to the lower cylinder 12 may be incorporated between the lower cylinder 12 and the sliding block 68. .

  Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, an elastic gas spring 105 is incorporated therein, thereby adjusting the length of the support member 10 composed of a pair of upper and lower cylinders 11 and 12, and the anti-slip member 30 from the lower end side. It is configured freely. The gas spring used here is, for example, used in a lifting device that adjusts the height of the seating surface of a chair or the like, and such a gas spring is filled with a gas and a liquid depending on the case, and has one end thereof. It has a tubular casing connected to the seat surface, and the piston rod of the piston movable in the axial direction is sealed and protrudes from the other end of the casing, and the adjusted position of the piston is The casing end, which is locked and joined to the seating surface, has an open pin for the shut-off device, which connects the casing chamber in front of the piston and the casing chamber behind the piston. It is a gas spring of the type adapted to shut off the bypass chamber. Such a gas spring is known, for example, from Japanese Patent Publication No. 47-38222.

  FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show the overall configuration of the support member 10 according to such a configuration. Here, the support member 10 is combined with an upper cylindrical body 11 and a lower cylindrical body 12, and the upper cylindrical body is shown. 11 has a structure in which a gripping member 18 is attached to the upper end side of 11. When the sliding block 31 having the switching knob 32 protruding from the upper cylindrical body 11 is moved downward on the lower side of the gripping member 18, the slip stopper housed inside from the tip of the elastic pad 28 on the lower end side. The member 30 protrudes. In the state in which the non-slip member 30 is protruded, the slide block 31 is locked by the lock button 36 engaging with the circular hole 37 at the lower position, whereby the anti-slip member 30 maintains the protruded state.

  Next, the internal configuration of the support member 10 as described above will be described. As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, a sliding block 31 is slidably supported inside the upper cylindrical body 11 of the support member 10. The basic configuration of the sliding block 31 is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the switching knob 32 is provided so as to protrude to the outside, and the sliding block 31 is engaged with the circular hole 37 of the upper cylinder 11. A lock button 36 that can be freely connected and disconnected is provided, and the lock button 36 is pressed in a protruding direction by a spring. The sliding block 31 is received by a coil spring 97 provided on the lower side thereof. Here, the lower end portion of the coil spring 97 is received by a spring receiving screw 98 screwed from both sides, and the spring 97 biases the sliding block 31 upward.

  An upper transmission rod 95 is integrally provided at the lower end side of the sliding block 31. As shown in FIG. 15A in particular, the upper transmission rod 95 is provided with a slit 96 at an intermediate portion thereof so as to be divided into two at the lower surface of the sliding block 31. An insertion hole 123 is provided at the lower end of the upper transmission rod 95. The operation rod 110 is inserted through the insertion hole 123 so as to be guided downward.

  A lower transmission rod 102 as shown in FIG. 15B is incorporated below the upper transmission rod 95 and inside the upper cylindrical body 11 and the lower cylindrical body 12 of the support member 10. . The lower transmission rod 102 has a slit 103 whose upper end is opened in the height direction, and a sliding groove 104 is formed inside the slit 103 of the lower transmission rod 102 so as to face each other. ing. As shown in FIGS. 12 and 18, a gas spring 105 having an elongated cylindrical shape is incorporated between the slits 103 of the lower transmission rod 102, and the gas spring 105 is formed in the slit 103 of the lower transmission rod 102. Is fixed to the upper cylindrical body 11 by a fixing screw 106 that is inserted therethrough. The rod 107 protruding from the lower end of the gas spring 105 is fixed to the lower cylinder 12 via a fixing screw 108. Accordingly, in conjunction with the expansion and contraction of the gas spring 105, the upper and lower cylinders 11 and 12 expand and contract each other, and the length dimension of the support member 10 is adjusted.

  As shown in FIG. 12 and FIG. 18, the operation rod 110 is arranged to penetrate through the central portion of the support member 10 so as to penetrate through the central portions of the upper transmission rod 95 and the lower transmission rod 102. The operation bar 110 has an elongated bar shape and is provided with a length adjustment button 111 at the upper end thereof. The length adjustment button 111 is pressed and urged upward by a built-in spring 112 built in the grip member 18. An operating rod 110 having a length adjustment button 111 at the upper end extends downward through the center hole 113 of the sliding block 31, and is connected to the operating portion 114 of the gas spring 105 shown in FIG. The lock of the gas spring 105 is released via the length adjustment button 111 and the operation rod 110.

  A stopper 118 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape is fixed to the intermediate portion of the operation rod 110 as shown in FIG. A leaf spring 119 is disposed on the inner side of the slit 96 of the upper transmission rod 95 so as to be in contact with opposite side surfaces of the stopper 118. Further, as shown in FIGS. 14A and 15A, the upper transmission rod 95 is formed with a pair of small holes 120 opposed to each other in the lower portion thereof, and the claws 121 are horizontally disposed in the small holes 120. It is held slidably in the direction. Corresponding to the claw 121, a serrated engagement portion 122 is formed inside the slit 103 of the lower transmission member 102, and engages with the claw 121. The stopper 118 including the claw 121 engaged with the serrated engagement portion 122 constitutes an interlock mechanism, and the length adjustment button 111 is set in a state where the support member 10 is adjusted to an arbitrary length by the gas spring 105. When is released, an interlock operation is performed, whereby the upper transmission rod 95 and the lower transmission rod 102 are locked at the current length.

  Next, the structure of the lower end portion of the support member 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 19. The elastic pad 28 is coupled to the lower end portion of the lower cylindrical body 12. In the elastic pad 28, a spring receiving block 126 is fixed to the lower end portion of the lower cylindrical body 12. The spring 127 is received by the spring receiving block 126, and the spring 127 is transmitted to the lower transmission. The lower end portion of the rod 102 is pressed and biased upward. The lower transmission rod 102 is formed with a long hole 132 as shown in FIG. 19, and this long hole 132 is engaged with a stroke restricting screw 131 screwed to the lower cylindrical body 12, The lower transmission rod 102 of the lower transmission rod 102 is engaged with the stroke regulating screw 131 by the spring 127, and at this time, the anti-slip member 30 is accommodated in the elastic pad 28.

  Next, the expansion and contraction operation of the support member 10 according to the above configuration will be described. The length of the support member 10 is adjusted according to the amount of pressing of the lower cylinder 12 with respect to the upper cylinder 11. The length adjustment is preferably performed in a state where the anti-slip member 30 is housed in the elastic pad 28 as shown in FIG. That is, the sliding block 31 is moved upward by the switching knob 32. At this time, the upper transmission rod 95 is positioned at the upper position when the switching knob 32 of the sliding block 31 abuts on the upper edge of the long hole 33, and the lower transmission rod 102 has the lower edge of the long hole 132. The position is restricted in a state where the anti-slip member 30 is held at the storage position at the upper position in contact with the stroke restriction screw 131.

  Since the upper cylinder 11 and the lower cylinder 12 are connected to each other by the gas spring 105, the length adjustment button 111 for releasing the lock of the gas spring 105 may be pressed downward. When the length adjustment button 111 is pressed, the operation rod 110 moves downward, whereby the operation portion 114 of the gas spring 105 moves downward, and the lock of the gas spring 105 is released. Therefore, the upper cylinder 11 and the lower cylinder 12 are in a free state. Therefore, in the state where the length adjustment button 111 is pressed to release the lock of the gas spring 105, the support member 10 is extended to the maximum length by removing the force on the upper cylinder 11 and the lower cylinder 12. Then, the elastic pad 28 on the tip side of the support member 10 is pressed against the road surface or the floor while the length adjustment button 111 is pressed, and the lower cylinder 12 is pushed into the upper cylinder 11 by a predetermined length. This adjusts the length. Then, in a state where the length is appropriate, the pressing of the length adjustment button 111 is released. Then, the operating rod 110 provided with the length adjustment button 111 at the upper end moves upward, and the operating portion 114 of the gas spring 105 locks the gas spring 105. Accordingly, the length adjusting operation is thereby achieved.

  Next, the interlock operation of the anti-slip member 30 on the distal end side connected to the sliding block 31 via the upper transmission rod 95 and the lower transmission rod 102 will be described. The anti-slip member 30 must be locked in that state in both the state of being housed in the elastic pad 28 and the state of protruding downward from the elastic pad 28. Such an operation is achieved by the interlock mechanism shown in FIG.

  FIG. 20 shows the operation of such an interlock mechanism. When the length adjustment button 111 provided at the upper end of the gripping member 18 is pressed downward to adjust the length of the support member 10, FIG. The operation rod 110 changes from the state shown in FIG. 20A to the state shown in FIG. 20B. That is, the operating rod 110 is lowered in conjunction with the pressing operation of the length adjustment button 111. Accordingly, the upper end portion of the leaf spring 119 by the stopper 118 is released. When the length adjustment button 111 is released after the length of the support member 10 is adjusted, the stopper 118 is returned upward by the biasing force of the built-in spring 112 via the operation rod 110, and the stopper 118 is moved to both sides. The leaf spring 119 is pushed back to the original state. Therefore, the claw 121 is again engaged with the serrated engaging portion 122, whereby the connection between the upper transmission rod 95 and the lower transmission rod 102 is achieved at a new sliding position. That is, according to the extension of the length of the support member 10, the connection of the upper and lower transmission rods 95 and 102 that connect the sliding block 31 and the anti-slip member 30 is achieved.

  Next, a modification of the walking aid will be described with reference to FIG. The walking aids of the first to third embodiments are all so-called walking sticks, and have a configuration in which a grip member 18 whose upper surface is substantially horizontal is fixed to the upper end of the support member 10. Instead of such a configuration, a structure for supporting the arm may be provided as shown in 21A. That is, here, a grip member 76 having a substantially L-shape is attached to the upper end side of the support member 10 incorporating the same expansion and contraction mechanism as in the first embodiment, and obliquely viewed from the base end side of the grip member 76. Arm support portions 77 are continuously provided above, and arm receivers 78 having a substantially C shape are attached to both ends of the arm support portions 77. Therefore, such a walking aid can hold the grip member 76 by hand and can receive the upper arm of the hand holding the grip member 76 by the arm support 78, thereby supporting the weight more reliably. At the same time, the length can be adjusted, and the anti-slip member 30 can be projected and retracted from the lower end.

  FIG. 21B is in the form of a so-called crutch, in which the upper end of the support member 10 that can be expanded and contracted is sandwiched between the lower end portions of the pair of left and right side bows 82. A gripping member 83 is attached to the intermediate portion of the side bow 82 in the height direction so as to be connected laterally, and a side pad 84 is disposed on the upper end of the side bow 82. Therefore, walking support can be performed by holding the gripping member 83 with the hand while supporting the side with the side pad 84 at the upper end. Moreover, the length of the support member 10 can be adjusted by the support member 10 attached to the lower end of the side bow 83, and the anti-slip member 30 can be protruded from the elastic pad 28 on the front end side or stored therein.

  FIG. 22 shows a combination of four support members 10 that can be expanded and contracted. The upper ends of the pair of left and right support members 10 are connected by a connecting frame 88, and the pair of front support members 10 are connected by a connecting frame 89. I try to connect them. An elastic grip member 90 is attached to the connecting frame 88.

  Again, the four support members 10 all have the same internal structure as in the first embodiment, the total length thereof can be adjusted, and the anti-slip member 30 protrudes from the tip of the elastic pad 28. Alternatively, it can be stored inside.

  Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments and the modifications, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be widely used as a walking aid used when an elderly person or a person with a disability in walking function supports a body weight while walking.
Moreover, the walking aid of this invention can be used for walk assistance assistance in various scenes, such as mountain stream fishing and mountain climbing, for example. In this case, since there is an expansion / contraction mechanism, a pick, etc., it is excellent in portability and secures safe walking.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Support member 11 Upper cylinder 12 Lower cylinder 13 Mounting protrusion 14 Press ring 15 Male screw 16 Press ring 17 Lock nut 18 Grip member 20 Lock pin 21 Bending spring 22 Radial bending part 23 Insertion hole 24 Lock hole 28 Elasticity Pad 29 Center hole 30 Non-slip member 31 Slide block 32 Switching knob 33 Long hole 34 Recess 35 Spring 36 Lock button 37 Circular hole 39 Screw 40 Transmission sleeve 41 Transmission rod 42 Pin 43 Slide groove 44 Engaging recess 48 Compression coil spring 49 Spring support (top)
50 Spring support (bottom)
51 Spring holder 52 Sliding recess 53 to 55 Screw 56 Through hole 57 Washer 62 Female screw 63 Male screw 64 Nut 65 Female screw 66 Male screw 67 Guide cylinder 68 Sliding block 69 Pin 70 Sliding groove 71 Compression coil spring 72 Sliding guide 76 Grip member 77 Arm support portion 78 Arm support 82 Side bow 83 Grip member 84 Side support 88, 89 Connecting frame 90 Grip member 95 Upper transmission rod 96 Slit 97 Spring 98 Spring bearing screw 102 Lower transmission rod 103 Slit 104 Sliding groove 105 Gas spring 106 Fixing screw 107 Rod 108 Fixing screw 110 Operation rod 111 Length adjustment button 112 Built-in spring 113 Central hole 114 Operation part 118 Stopper 119 Leaf spring 120 Small hole 121 Claw 122 Serrated engagement part 123 Insertion hole 126 Spring receiving block 127 Spring 131 Stroke regulating screw 132 Long hole

Claims (3)

A cylindrical support member; a gripping member attached to the upper end of the support member and gripped by a pedestrian by hand; an anti-slip member projecting downward from the lower end of the support member; and the anti-slip member as the support member Switching means for switching between a state of protruding from the lower end and a state of storage,
In addition, the support member is composed of a pair of upper and lower cylinders, the male screw at the end of one cylinder is engaged with the female screw of the other cylinder and is expanded and contracted by the screw, and the switching means is a transmission rod, A transmission sleeve, a male screw at the tip of the transmission rod and a female screw of the transmission sleeve are screwed together, and the pitch of the screw on the support member side and the pitch of the screw on the transmission rod are equal to each other, and the support A walking aid characterized in that expansion and contraction of a member coincides with expansion and contraction of the transmission rod. The walking aid according to claim 1, wherein the transmission rod is not rotatable with respect to the cylindrical body of the support member. A cylindrical support member; a gripping member attached to the upper end of the support member and gripped by a pedestrian by hand; an anti-slip member projecting downward from the lower end of the support member; and the anti-slip member as the support member Switching means for switching between a state of protruding from the lower end and a state of storage,
In addition, the support member is composed of a pair of upper and lower cylinders, one cylinder is slidably inserted into the other cylinder, and can be expanded and contracted, and the switching means includes a transmission rod and a transmission sleeve. And when the transmission rod rotates and expands and contracts, the pair of cylinders of the support member expands and contracts in conjunction with this. The walking aid is characterized in that the transmission rod is not rotatable with respect to the cylindrical body of the support member.

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