JPH11347072A - Wheel for wheelchair - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively shield spokes to improve safety of a wheelchair by providing the wheel with a wheel main body part provided with a spoke and an outer case integrally constructed of a spoke cover part and a sideward protruded ring shape hand part and fixing the outer periphery part of the outer case to a rim of the wheel main body part. SOLUTION: This wheel main body part 2 of a wheel 1 for a wheelchair constituted of a hub 3 of the center part, a rim 4 to be attached with a tire on the outer periphery part and multiple spokes 5 radially extended to connect the hub 3 and the rim 4. An outer case 6 made of a synthetic resin is attached to a wheel main body 2 surface which faces sideward when attached to the wheelchair. The outer case 6 is formed by integrally constructing a disk shape spoke cover part 8 extended from a round opening part 7 disposed on a part corresponding to the hub 3 as the center and a hand part 9 sideward protruded around the wheel rim 4. The outer periphery part 10 of the outer periphery side of the hand part 9 is made to be a fixing part to the rim 4 and is fixed to the rim 4 using bolts, etc., as stopping members.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a wheelchair wheel, and more particularly to a wheelchair wheel that is safe and does not damage furniture when used indoors.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional wheel for a wheelchair, a tire is mounted on a metal rim provided with spokes radiating from a shaft, and a metal or resin handrail is mounted at a position close to the tire.

[0003] However, in the conventional wheel for a wheelchair, a user may pinch his hand between the rim and the handrail during traveling, and his hands may be injured by spokes. In order to improve this, a device in which a resin plate is mounted on the front side of a wheel as a safety cover material has been proposed.

[0004]

However, when a resin plate is used as a cover material, it is difficult to mount a handrail. Also, the cover material is placed only on the spokes, and in some cases there is a gap between the cover material and the rim, and there are problems such as fingers entering through the gap and injuries to the hands In addition to the problem, there was another problem that metal parts of the wheelchair could damage furniture in the room.

An object of the present invention is to provide a wheelchair wheel that is safe and does not damage furniture during indoor use.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a wheelchair wheel in which a tire is mounted on a wheel rotatably mounted on a shaft. A spoke body, and an exterior panel integrally formed with a spoke cover and a ring-shaped hand part arranged on the outer peripheral side of the spoke cover and protruding laterally. The outer rim of the outer panel is fixed to the rim.

[0007] By adopting such a configuration, the hand member can be attached at the same time as the cover is mounted on the wheel. Further, since the hand member and the outer panel are integrated, unlike the conventional cover plate, the cover member differs from the conventional cover plate. Since there is no gap between the board and the handrail, there is no risk of fingers being pinched by the spokes.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a slit is provided at the outer edge of the outer panel, and the slit is fitted to the spoke at the rim portion. By doing so, the outer panel does not shift in the rotational direction with respect to the rim, and can be easily and firmly attached.

According to a third aspect, the thickness of the outer edge portion is 1 to 6 mm.
However, by adjusting the thickness of the outer edge to a predetermined range, the work of adjusting the spoke tension can be easily performed by a conventional method without removing the exterior panel.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an opening for mounting and dismounting wheels having a diameter of 80 to 300 mm is provided at the center of the spoke cover portion of the exterior panel. This is provided so that the outer panel does not hinder the work of attaching and detaching the wheel from the wheelchair, and the wheel can be easily attached and detached without removing the outer panel as before.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A wheelchair wheel according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wheelchair equipped with the wheelchair wheel of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the wheelchair wheel of the present invention.

Wheelchair wheel 1 of the present invention shown in FIGS.
In this case, the wheel main body 2 is a hub 3 in the central portion, similar to a conventional wheel.
A rim 4 for attaching a tire at the outer peripheral portion is connected by a spoke 5, and the hub 3 is fixed to a shaft of a portion for attaching a wheel of a wheelchair so as to be able to idle. An exterior panel 6 made of a synthetic resin is attached to a surface of the wheel body 2 which is arranged on the side facing the side when it is attached to a wheelchair.

The exterior panel 6 has a spoke cover portion 8 extending from a circular opening 7 provided in a portion corresponding to a hub and a hand portion 9 protruding laterally near the rim 4 of the wheel. It is integrally formed so as to extend from the portion 8. The hand portion is a member corresponding to a portion called a handrail in a conventional wheelchair for a passenger to give a propulsive force to a wheelchair by hand.

An outer edge 10 of the outer panel 6 on the outer peripheral side of the hand portion 9 is a portion for fixing to the rim 4, and as shown in FIG. 3, the rim is fixed by a fastening material 11 such as a screw, a bolt or a nut. The rim 4 is fixed to the wheel body 2 by fixing the rim 4 and the outer edge 10 of the outer panel 6 at three to five equally spaced parts around the circumference of the wheel 4. The rim used for the wheelchair is usually 3-5 mm for attaching the handrail.
There are screw holes at each location, which can be used as they are.

As another means for fixing the outer panel 6, slits 12 to be fitted into the spokes 5 are provided at equal intervals by the number of the spokes 5 as shown in FIG.
A method of fitting the exterior panel 6 to the wheel body 2 by fitting the spokes 2 into the spokes 5 can be used. After being attached to the wheel body 2 by this fixing method, the wheel body 2
With respect to the rotation direction.

Of course, it is also possible to use both of the above fixing methods together.

In the case of a wheel using the spoke 5, the spoke 5 may be loosened during use, and it is necessary to adjust the run-out of the wheel due to the loose spoke tension by tightening the nipple fitting 5a at the end of the spoke 5. Comes out. When the rider operates the wheels with the hand unit 9, the tension of the outer spokes 5 and the inner spokes 5 is changed by adjusting the tension of the outer spokes 5 and the inner spokes 5 in order to adjust the position of the hand unit 9 to a position where force can be easily applied. The position of 4 may be moved closer or farther away.

For example, by reducing the tension of the outer spokes 5 and increasing the tension of the inner spokes 5, the position of the rim 4 approaches the occupant,
Conversely, if you adjust it, you will go away. Adjust according to the passenger's preference. Such adjustment is made by tightening or loosening the nipple fitting 5a at the end of the spoke 5.

Therefore, the thickness of the outer edge portion 10 of the outer panel 6 is 1
The width of the slit 8 is set slightly larger than the diameter of the nipple fitting 5a. By doing so, the nipple fitting 5a protrudes about 2 to 4 mm from the outer edge portion 10 and the nipple fitting 5a can rotate freely, similarly to the case where the run-out adjustment is performed with a general spoke type wheel. Using a normal nipple turning tool, the rim 4
Can be adjusted. Note that the smaller the thickness of the outer edge portion 10 is, the easier the above-described run-out adjustment is. However, 1 mm or more is necessary from the viewpoint of strength.

The wheelchair wheel 1 is required to be easily attached to and detached from a wheelchair in order to be mounted and stored in an automobile or the like, and can be attached and detached by operating a knob. The attachment / detachment operation is performed by a one-handed operation of pressing a release knob (not shown) attached to the shaft, while holding the portion radially disposed near the spoke axis with one finger.

In the outer panel 6 of the wheelchair wheel 1 of the present invention,
The center circular opening 7 has a diameter of about 80 to 300 mm so as not to hinder the attaching / detaching operation as described above. 8
If the length is less than 0 mm, the above-mentioned attachment / detachment operation is hindered. If the length exceeds 300 mm, the shape of the hand part 9 is restricted in size, and at the same time, a finger may be caught in the spokes during running. It is not preferable because the property increases.

The opening 7 is provided so as not to hinder the operation as described above. The shape of the opening 7 is not limited to a circle, but may be another shape. But,
Even in that case, it is necessary to have a diameter of about 80 to 300 mm and a size of a circle.

Examples of the material used for the outer panel include resin materials such as polyester resin, polyamide resin, phenol resin, polycarbonate resin, and acrylic resin, which can be formed by injection molding. Also, S
MC (sheet molding compound) and BMC
FRP using unsaturated polyester such as (bulk molding compound) or epoxy resin
(Thermosetting resin reinforced with glass fiber). In addition, a stampable sheet (a thermoplastic resin reinforced with glass fiber) using a polypropylene resin, a polyamide resin, or a polycarbonate resin can also be used.

[0024]

As described above, according to the wheelchair wheel of the present invention, in the wheelchair wheel according to the first aspect, the wheel body portion provided with the spokes, the spoke cover portion, and the outer peripheral side of the spoke cover portion are arranged. And an outer panel integrally formed with a ring-shaped hand portion protruding laterally, and an outer edge of the outer panel is fixed to a rim of the wheel body.

By adopting such a structure, it is possible to attach the cover to the wheel and at the same time to attach the hand member. Further, since the hand member and the outer panel are integrated, unlike the conventional cover plate, the cover member differs from the conventional cover plate. Since there is no gap between the board and the handrail, there is no risk of fingers being pinched by the spokes.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a slit is provided at the outer edge of the outer panel, and the slit is fitted to the spoke at the rim portion. By doing so, the outer panel does not shift in the rotational direction with respect to the rim, and can be easily and firmly attached.

In the third aspect, the thickness of the outer edge portion is 1 to 6 mm
However, by adjusting the thickness of the outer edge to a predetermined range, the work of adjusting the spoke tension can be easily performed by a conventional method without removing the exterior panel.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an opening for attaching and detaching wheels having a diameter of 80 to 300 mm is provided at the center of the spoke cover of the exterior panel. This is provided so that the outer panel does not hinder the work of attaching and detaching the wheel from the wheelchair, and the wheel can be easily attached and detached without removing the outer panel as before.

As described above, the wheelchair wheel conventionally used can be diverted to the wheel body of the present invention as it is, and can be easily attached and detached, and the operations such as adjusting the spoke tension and removing the wheel can be performed. A safe wheelchair wheel that can be performed without any trouble can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wheelchair equipped with a wheelchair wheel of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a wheelchair wheel of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which an exterior material is fixed to a rim with a fastening material.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which a slit at an outer edge is fitted into a spoke.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wheelchair wheel 2 Wheel main body part 3 Hub 4 Rim 5 Spoke 6 Exterior material 7 Opening 8 Spoke cover part 9 Hand part 10 Outer edge part 11 Fastening material 12 Slit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A wheelchair wheel in which a tire is mounted on a wheel rotatably mounted on a shaft, a wheel body portion having spokes arranged radially from a hub to a rim, a spoke cover portion, and an outer peripheral side of the spoke cover portion. A wheel for a wheelchair, comprising: an outer panel integrally formed with a ring-shaped hand portion disposed on the outer surface of the outer panel, and an outer edge of the outer panel being fixed to a rim of the wheel body. 2. The wheelchair wheel according to claim 1, wherein a slit is provided in an outer edge portion of the exterior panel, and the slit is fitted to the spoke at a rim portion. 3. The wheelchair according to claim 2, wherein the outer edge has a thickness of 1 to 6 mm. 4. At the center of the spoke cover portion of the exterior panel,
2. The wheelchair wheel according to claim 1, further comprising an opening for attaching and detaching a wheel having a diameter of 300 mm.