CN116570438B

CN116570438B - Wheelchair movement auxiliary device

Info

Publication number: CN116570438B
Application number: CN202211421749.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 藤井弘
Original assignee: Toyota Motor Corp
Current assignee: Toyota Motor Corp
Priority date: 2022-02-08
Filing date: 2022-11-14
Publication date: 2025-10-31
Anticipated expiration: 2042-11-14
Also published as: JP2023115507A; CN116570438A; JP7563398B2

Abstract

This invention provides a wheelchair mobility assistance device, comprising: a rear unit having an axle orthogonal to the axle direction of the main wheel and a rear auxiliary wheel supporting the main wheel; a front unit having the aforementioned axle and a front auxiliary wheel supporting the front wheel; a switching lever for switching between a first state and a second state, the first state being a wheel assembly consisting of the main wheel and the front wheel on the ground, and the second state being a wheel assembly consisting of the rear auxiliary wheel and the front auxiliary wheel on the ground; and a connecting rod for transmitting the force applied to the switching lever between the rear unit and the front unit, the rear unit having a drive force transmission mechanism that contacts the main wheel in the second state and transmits the drive force applied to the main wheel to the rear auxiliary wheel.

Description

Wheelchair movement auxiliary device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a wheelchair movement support device, and more particularly to a wheelchair movement support device that improves the degree of freedom in the direction of movement of a wheelchair.

Background

Wheelchairs have the characteristic of being difficult to traverse over short distances or in confined spaces. Accordingly, japanese patent application laid-open No. 2004-275528 discloses a technique for moving a wheelchair in an arbitrary direction.

The wheelchair assist disclosed in japanese patent application laid-open No. 2004-275528 is a wheelchair assist that is mounted on a wheelchair having a large wheel and an assist wheel capable of steering in all directions, and is configured to include an assist wheel support member that supports a second assist wheel at a lower end, a guide member that is fixed to a frame of the wheelchair and supports the assist wheel support member so as to be movable in the up-down direction, a lever that engages with the assist wheel support member at an intermediate portion, and a link mechanism that connects one end of the lever to the frame of the wheelchair.

However, in the technique described in japanese patent application laid-open No. 2004-275528, the rider cannot traverse the vehicle by operating the main wheel, and the rider must move in the manner of, for example, a transmission travel. That is, in the technique described in japanese patent application laid-open No. 2004-275528, there is a problem in that the rider must move in a posture different from the normal movement based on the main wheel in order to traverse.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wheelchair in which a rider can traverse the wheelchair by an operation in the same manner as the movement of the main wheel.

The wheelchair movement support device is configured to be mounted on a wheelchair having a pair of main wheels provided on a back side of a frame and a pair of front wheels provided on a foot side of the frame, and includes a rear unit provided on the pair of main wheels and having an axle in a direction orthogonal to an axle direction of the main wheels and having a rear auxiliary wheel supporting the main wheels, a front unit provided on the pair of front wheels and having an axle in a direction orthogonal to the axle direction of the main wheels and having a front auxiliary wheel supporting the front wheels, a switching lever for switching between a first state in which a normal wheel set formed by combining the main wheels and the front wheels is grounded and a second state in which an auxiliary wheel set formed by combining the rear auxiliary wheels and the front auxiliary wheels is grounded, and a connecting rod for applying a driving force to the rear unit and the front wheels in a first driving force transmitting state in which the driving force is applied to the main wheels and the driving force transmitting mechanism.

In the wheelchair movement support device of the present invention, the rear auxiliary wheel and the front auxiliary wheel having the lateral rolling direction of the wheelchair are used to apply the driving force to the rear auxiliary wheel by the main wheel in a state where the main wheel and the front wheel are lifted.

According to the present invention, in the wheelchair movement support apparatus, a wheelchair in which a rider can traverse by the same operations as those based on the movement of the main wheels can be provided.

Drawings

Features, advantages, technical and industrial significance of embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like elements.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a wheelchair equipped with the wheelchair movement assistance device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of the wheelchair movement assistance device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating a front unit of the wheelchair movement assistance device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating a rear unit of the wheelchair movement assistance device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating a driving force transmission mechanism of the rear unit of embodiment 1.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating a first state of the wheelchair movement assistance device according to embodiment 1.

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in the middle of transition from the first state to the second state of the wheelchair movement support apparatus of embodiment 1.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating a second state of the wheelchair movement assistance device according to embodiment 1.

Detailed Description

Embodiment 1

First, fig. 1 shows a schematic view of a wheelchair 1 equipped with the wheelchair movement assistance device according to embodiment 1. In the following description, a direction on the chest side of the body of the rider sitting on the wheelchair 1 is defined as a forward direction, a direction on the back side of the rider is defined as a rearward direction, and a direction orthogonal to the direction from the rear to the front is defined as a lateral direction.

As shown in fig. 1, the wheelchair 1 according to embodiment 1 is configured such that a wheelchair movement support device 20 is attached to a push-type wheelchair. The wheelchair has a foot rest 11 attached to an end of the frame 10 on the foot lower side, and a handle 12 for assisting a user in operating the wheelchair 1 attached to an end of the frame 10 opposite to the attachment position of the foot rest 11. The frame 10 is provided with a seat surface 14 and a backrest 15, which are contacted by an armrest 13 for a rider and a seat of the rider.

In the wheelchair 1, a pair of main wheels 16 are provided at the position on the back 15 side of the frame, and a pair of front wheels 17 are provided at the position on the foot rest 11 side of the frame 10. The main wheel 16 is mounted with a hand pushing member capable of rotating the main wheel by the force of a rider. The main wheel 16 rotates in one direction about an axis extending in a direction in which the pair of main wheels 16 face each other. The front wheel 17 is attached to the frame 10 such that the rotation shaft can rotate in all directions.

In the wheelchair 1, a wheelchair movement support device 20 is attached to the frame 10 below the main wheels 16. The wheelchair movement assistance device 20 changes the wheelchair 1 from a first state in which the main wheel 16 and the front wheel 17 are in contact with the floor surface to a second state in which the main wheel 16 and the main wheel 16 are separated from the floor surface by performing an operation of tilting the switching lever 31 toward the front side (for example, the underfoot side). In the second state, the front auxiliary wheel and the rear auxiliary wheel provided in the wheelchair movement auxiliary device 20 are brought into a grounded state, and the force generated by rotating the main wheel 16 is transmitted to the rear auxiliary wheel, so that the wheelchair 1 is laterally moved. Therefore, the wheelchair movement assistance device 20 will be described in detail below.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 according to embodiment 1, fig. 3 shows a diagram illustrating a front unit 30 of the wheelchair movement support apparatus according to embodiment 1, and fig. 4 shows a diagram illustrating a rear unit of the wheelchair movement support apparatus according to embodiment 1.

As shown in fig. 2, the wheelchair movement assistance device 20 includes a front unit 30, a rear unit 40, and a link rod 50. The coupling bar 50 serves to transmit a force applied to the switching lever 31 between the front unit 30 and the rear unit 40.

The switching lever 31 is an operation lever for switching between a first state in which a normal wheel set formed by combining the main wheel 16 and the front wheel 17 is grounded and a second state in which an auxiliary wheel set formed by combining the rear auxiliary wheel 43c and the front auxiliary wheel 37 is grounded.

The front unit 30 is provided on a pair of front wheel sides, has an axle in a direction orthogonal to the axle direction of the main wheel 16, and has a front auxiliary wheel 37 that supports the front wheel 17. In the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 according to embodiment 1, the switching lever 31 is connected to the front unit 30, but the switching lever 31 may be provided on the rear side of the front wheel 17. However, since the switching lever 31 is provided near the front wheels 17, the operation of switching the travel mode of the wheelchair 1 from the first state to the second state is facilitated, and it is preferable that the switching lever 31 is provided near the front wheels 17.

The rear unit 40 is provided on the pair of main wheel sides, has an axle in a direction orthogonal to the axle direction of the main wheel 16, and has a rear auxiliary wheel 43c for supporting the main wheel 16. The rear unit 40 further includes a driving force transmission mechanism 43, and the driving force transmission mechanism 43 is in contact with the main wheel 16 in the second state and transmits the driving force applied to the main wheel 16 to the rear auxiliary wheel 43c.

Next, the structure of the front unit 30 will be described in detail with reference to fig. 2 and 3. The front unit 30 includes a switch lever 31, a frame mount 32, a mode switch shaft 33, a cam plate 34, a cam follower 35, a link plate 36, and a front auxiliary wheel 37, which are assembled to a chassis 39. The switching lever 31 mounts the rotation shaft to the mode switching shaft 33 of the front unit 30. The frame mounting portion 32 is a structure for mounting the front unit 30 to the frame 10.

The switching lever 31 is attached to each of both ends of the mode switching shaft 33, and the switching lever 31 is rotated by an operation of the switching lever 31 as a rotation axis of the switching lever 31. In the example shown in fig. 2 and 3, two link plates 36 are attached to the portion of the mode switching shaft 33 sandwiched by the switching lever 31. In this case, the link plate 36 may be formed as a single piece, but the subsequent construction of the link plate 36 is required. One end of the link plate 36 is connected to the mode switching shaft, and the other end is connected to the connecting rod 50. The link plate 36 rotates in response to the operation of the switching lever 31, and moves the link rod back and forth in a direction orthogonal to the axle direction of the main wheel 16.

In the example shown in fig. 2 and 3, a cam plate 34 is provided near the center of the mode switching shaft 33 in the extending direction and at a position sandwiched by link plates 36. The cam follower 35 is provided so as to contact the cam plate 34. The cam follower 35 is mounted to a cam follower base 35a. The cam follower base 35a is coupled to the front auxiliary wheel 37 via a shaft penetrating the chassis 39. The shaft connecting the cam follower base 35a and the front auxiliary wheel 37 is provided to pass through the spring 38. The spring 38 is a retraction spring, and raises the front auxiliary wheel 37 toward the chassis 39 when the cam follower 35 is raised in response to the operation of the cam plate 34. That is, the spring 38 is a front elastic member that maintains the front auxiliary wheel 37 in the non-grounded state in the first state.

The structure of the rear unit 40 will be described with reference to fig. 2 and 4. The rear unit 40 is assembled with a frame mounting portion 41, a link mechanism 42, a driving force transmission mechanism 43, a chassis 44, and a spring 45 on the chassis 44. The frame mounting portion 41 is a structure for mounting the rear unit 40 to the frame 10. The link mechanism 42 presses the rear auxiliary wheel coupled to the driving force transmission mechanism 43 against the floor in response to the operation of the coupling rod 50. The link mechanism 42 includes an upper link arm and a lower link arm, and a connecting rod 50 is connected to a portion connecting the upper link arm and the lower link arm. The end of the upper link arm is coupled to an upper link arm mounting portion 46 of the chassis 44, and the end of the lower link arm is coupled to a lower link arm mounting portion 47 of the driving force transmission mechanism 43. The upper link arm attachment portion 46 and the lower link arm attachment portion 47 are assembled to each attachment portion so as to rotate in a direction along the paper surface of fig. 4 (for example, in a direction about a rotation axis extending in the front-rear direction of the wheelchair 1). The link mechanism 42 increases the opening angle of the upper link arm and the lower link arm according to the pressing force from the connecting rod 50, and thereby presses the driving force transmission mechanism 43 against the floor surface.

The driving force transmission mechanism 43 is rotatably attached to the chassis 44 of the rear unit 40 with respect to the chassis 44. The driving force transmission mechanism 43 is coupled to the chassis 44 via a spring 45. The spring 45 is a contraction spring, and adds an assist force to the driving force transmission mechanism 43 when the driving force transmission mechanism 43 is pulled down to the chassis 44 side, and maintains a state in which the driving force transmission mechanism 43 is raised to the chassis 44 side. That is, the spring 45 is a rear elastic member that maintains the rear auxiliary wheel 43c attached to the driving force transmission mechanism 43 in the first state in a non-grounded state.

The driving force transmission mechanism 43 is in contact with the main wheel in the second state, and transmits the driving force applied to the main wheel to the rear auxiliary wheel. The driving force transmission mechanism 43 is assembled with a driving shaft 43a and a rear auxiliary wheel 43c on a gear case 43 b. Here, fig. 5 shows a diagram illustrating a driving force transmission mechanism of the rear unit of embodiment 1. As shown in fig. 5, the rotation axis AXa of the drive shaft 43a and the rotation axis AXb of the rear auxiliary wheel 43c are disposed orthogonal to each other. The gear case 43b includes a helical gear 48 having the same rotation axis as the drive shaft 43a and a helical gear 49 having the same rotation axis as the rear auxiliary wheel 43c. The gear case 43b transmits the driving force transmitted in a state where the driving shaft 43a is in contact with the main wheel 16 to the rear auxiliary wheel 43c as a lateral driving force through the helical gear 48 and the helical gear 49.

Next, the operation of the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 will be described. The wheelchair movement assistance device 20 switches between a first state in which a normal wheel set formed by combining the main wheel 16 and the front wheel 17 is grounded and a second state in which an auxiliary wheel set formed by combining the rear auxiliary wheel 43c and the front auxiliary wheel 37 is grounded by operating the switch lever 31 by a rider or the like. The wheels of the non-grounded side in the first state and the second state are in a state of being lifted from the floor. Next, with reference to fig. 6 to 8, a description will be given of what state the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 is in for each state. In fig. 6 to 8, the upper stage shows a diagram illustrating the state of the front unit 30, the middle stage shows the state of the rear unit 40 seen from the side (for example, the state seen from the lateral direction), and the lower stage shows the state of the rear unit 40 seen from the rear of the wheelchair 1.

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating a first state of the wheelchair movement assistance device according to embodiment 1. As shown in fig. 6, in the first state, the switching lever 31 is in the most upright state. When the switching lever 31 is in the upright state, the side of the cam plate 34 having a short distance from the center of the mode switching shaft 33 to the side thereof contacts the cam follower 35. When the cam follower 35 is positioned close to the mode switching shaft 33, the cam follower base 35a is maintained at the highest position by the spring 38. Thereby, the front auxiliary wheel 37 is maintained at a position at a distance G1 from the floor surface.

In the first state, the rear auxiliary wheel 43c of the rear unit 40 is also maintained at a position spaced apart from the floor surface by a distance G1, as shown in fig. 6. In this first state, the connecting rod 50 is positioned at the foremost position, and the angle formed by the upper link arm 42a and the lower link arm 42b of the link mechanism 42 is the narrowest. In the state of the link mechanism 42, the link mechanism 42 raises the driving force transmission mechanism 43 upward. The driving force transmission mechanism 43 is also raised by the spring 45, and the spring 45 maintains the driving force transmission mechanism 43 in a state pulled upward. In the first state, the drive shaft 43a is maintained at a position not in contact with the main wheel 16.

Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in the middle of transition from the first state to the second state of the wheelchair movement support apparatus of embodiment 1. As shown in fig. 7, in the switching halfway state, the switching lever 31 is in a state of being lowered to the lower side of the foot than in the first state. In this state, the cam plate 34 is inclined in response to the rotation of the mode switching shaft 33, and the distance between the mode switching shaft 33 and the cam follower 35 increases. Thereby, the cam follower base 35a is pressed down toward the floor side, and the front auxiliary wheel 37 is landed. At this time, in the switching halfway state, the front wheels 17 and the front auxiliary wheels 37 are in a state of being grounded.

As shown in fig. 7, in the intermediate state of switching, the rear auxiliary wheel 43c of the rear unit 40 is also brought close to the floor surface side, and the rear auxiliary wheel 43c is brought into contact with the floor surface. In this switching intermediate state, the connecting rod 50 is positioned further to the rear than the first state, and the angle formed by the upper link arm 42a and the lower link arm 42b of the link mechanism 42 is wider than the first state. In the state of the link mechanism 42, the link mechanism 42 depresses the driving force transmission mechanism 43 toward the floor side than in the first state. The driving force transmission mechanism 43 is turned to open to the outside of the vehicle body with a portion rotatably attached to the chassis as a center. The rear auxiliary wheel 43c rotates and moves to the outside of the vehicle body after landing.

Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating a second state of the wheelchair movement assistance device according to embodiment 1. As shown in fig. 8, in the second state, the switching lever 31 is further lowered to the lower side of the foot than in the switching halfway state. In this state, the cam plate 34 is inclined in response to the rotation of the mode switching shaft 33, and is maintained at a position where the distance between the mode switching shaft 33 and the cam follower 35 is larger than that in the first state. Thus, the front auxiliary wheel 37 is kept in a state where the cam follower base 35a is depressed toward the floor side. At this time, in the second state, the front wheels 17 are in a non-grounded state by being maintained at the distance G2 from the floor surface.

In the second state, as shown in fig. 8, the rear auxiliary wheel 43c of the rear unit 40 is also in contact with the floor surface, and the main wheel 16 is not in contact with the floor surface at a position spaced apart from the floor surface by a distance G2. In this second state, the connecting rod 50 is positioned at the rearmost position, and the angle formed by the upper link arm 42a and the lower link arm 42b of the link mechanism 42 is maximized. In the example shown in fig. 8, in the second state, the angle formed by the upper link arm 42a and the lower link arm 42b is about 180 degrees. In the state of the link mechanism 42, the link mechanism 42 depresses the driving force transmission mechanism 43 to the floor-most side. The driving force transmission mechanism 43 is maintained in a state of being turned to open to the outside of the vehicle body with a portion rotatably attached to the chassis as a center. In this second state, the drive shaft 43a is in contact with the main wheel 16, and can receive the driving force applied to the main wheel 16.

According to the above description, the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 of embodiment 1 can operate the wheelchair 1 in the first state by floating the front auxiliary wheels 37 and the drive shaft 43a from the floor surface as in the case where the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 is not present. On the other hand, in the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 according to embodiment 1, in the second state, the main wheel 16 and the front wheel 17 are lifted from the floor surface, and the front auxiliary wheel 37 and the rear auxiliary wheel 43c are brought into contact with the floor surface. The rotation axes of the front auxiliary wheel 37 and the drive shaft 43a are orthogonal to the rotation axis of the main wheel 16. In the second state, the wheelchair movement assistance device 20 transmits the driving force applied to the main wheel 16 by the rider to the rear assistance wheel 43c via the drive shaft 43 a. Thus, the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 having the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 according to embodiment 1 can easily traverse the wheelchair 1 without changing the posture of the occupant.

In the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 according to embodiment 1, the switching lever 31 is tilted forward about the position on the front wheel 17 side of the wheelchair 1, thereby switching from the first state to the second state. Accordingly, when the rider falls down the switching lever 31 to the front side, the rider becomes a posture in which the buttocks are lifted from the seating surface 14, and the center of gravity of the rider is biased against the foot rest 11, so that the load applied to the main wheel 16 side can be reduced, and the force applied to the switching lever 31 by the rider to raise the wheelchair 1 can be reduced. That is, by disposing the switching lever 31 under the foot and performing switching from the first state to the second state by the operation of lowering the switching lever 31 forward, an easy state switching operation can be realized.

In the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 according to embodiment 1, the switching operation is performed only by the force applied to the switching lever 31, and the wheelchair movement support apparatus can be laterally moved by the rotational force applied to the main wheel 16 in the second state. That is, the wheelchair movement support apparatus 20 can be used to traverse the wheelchair without using a motor member such as a motor. Further, since no motor component is required, the risk of failure is reduced, and maintenance such as component replacement becomes easy.

While the invention completed by the present inventors has been specifically described based on the embodiments, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wheelchair mobility aid, fitted to a wheelchair having a pair of main wheels and a pair of front wheels, the pair of main wheels being located on the backrest side of the frame, and the pair of front wheels being located on the foot side of the frame, wherein,

The wheelchair mobility aid has the following features:

The rear unit is located on the side of the pair of main wheels, has an axle in a direction orthogonal to the axle direction of the main wheels, and has a rear auxiliary wheel that supports the main wheels.

The front unit is located on the side of the pair of front wheels, has an axle in a direction orthogonal to the axle direction of the main wheel, and has a front auxiliary wheel that supports the front wheels;

A switching lever switches between a first state and a second state. The first state is when the main wheel and the front wheel (forming a standard wheel assembly) are on the ground, and the second state is when the auxiliary wheel and the front auxiliary wheel (forming an auxiliary wheel assembly) are on the ground.

A connecting rod transmits the force applied to the switching lever between the rear unit and the front unit.

The rear unit has a drive force transmission mechanism, which contacts the main wheel in the second state and transmits the driving force applied to the main wheel to the rear auxiliary wheel.

The switching lever has a rotation center axis on the side of the frame near the front wheel, and accepts an operation of folding it down towards the feet to switch the rear unit and the front unit from the first state to the second state.

The front unit has:

The mode switching axis is connected to the switching lever and rotates in response to the movement of the switching lever;

A cam plate, connected to the mode switching shaft; and

The connecting rod plate has one end connected to the mode switching shaft and the other end connected to the connecting rod. Corresponding to the movement of the switching rod, the connecting rod moves back and forth in a direction orthogonal to the axle direction of the main wheel.

The front unit is configured to press the front auxiliary wheel against the floor in response to the action of the cam plate.

The rear unit has a linkage mechanism that, in response to the movement of the connecting rod, presses the rear auxiliary wheel, which is connected to the drive force transmission mechanism, against the floor.

The drive force transmission mechanism is rotatably mounted on the chassis relative to the chassis of the rear unit. In the second state, the drive force transmission mechanism is maintained in a state in which it has undergone a transformation that opens outward from the vehicle body with the part rotatably mounted on the chassis as the center.

2. The wheelchair mobility aid according to claim 1, wherein,

The rear unit has a rear elastic component, which maintains the rear auxiliary wheel in a non-grounded state in the first state.

The front unit has a front elastic component that maintains the front auxiliary wheel in a non-grounded state in the first state.

3. The wheelchair mobility aid according to claim 1 or 2, wherein,

The driving force transmission mechanism has:

The drive shaft, in the second state, is in contact with the main wheel; and

The helical gear converts the driving force transmitted to the drive shaft into the rotational force of the rear auxiliary wheel.