HK1227001A

HK1227001A - Stroller

Info

Publication number: HK1227001A
Application number: HK17100476.4A
Authority: HK
Priority date: 2011-11-01
Filing date: 2014-08-01
Publication date: 2017-10-13

Description

Baby carriage

The application is a divisional application of an invention patent application with the application number of 201280053113.7, the date of the original application entering the Chinese country is 2014, 4 and 28, and the invention name of the original application is 'foldable baby carriage'.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a stroller.

Background

A stroller is known which is formed by connecting left and right structural members of a vehicle body in a link mechanism shape and is deformable between an unfolded state and a folded state. In this type of stroller, the upper ends of the front legs and the rear legs are connected to the front end of an intermediate linking member called an armrest, the rear end of the armrest is rotatably connected to a handle lever, and the handle lever and the rear legs are connected to each other by an opening/closing lock mechanism. When the stroller in the deployed state is viewed from the left-right direction, the armrest extends substantially in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, and the handle bar extends substantially parallel to the front leg at a position that is spaced rearward from the front leg (see, for example, patent document 1).

Patent document 1: japanese laid-open patent publication No. 2008-174016

Generally, a front wheel of a stroller is attached to a front leg by a rotating mechanism centered on a rotation axis in a vertical direction. In addition, in the conventional stroller, in order to facilitate folding of the body, the handle bar extends substantially parallel to the front leg at a position rearward away from the front leg. Therefore, in consideration of how to apply force to the front and rear wheels at the lower portion of the stroller, that is, in the area near the ground contact surface where the front and rear wheels are located, the force with which the user pushes the stroller is transmitted to the lower portion of the body via the handle bar, so that the front wheel can be pushed from a position away from the rotational axis of the front wheel toward the rear of the body. That is, the front wheel in the freely rotatable state is pushed from a position rearward away from the front wheel, thereby achieving the operation of the stroller. However, since the front wheel is often swung around the rotation axis, there is a problem that the orientation of the front wheel is unstable both when the front wheel travels straight and when the front wheel rotates, and the feeling of operation of the stroller is impaired.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a stroller in which the folding function can be maintained and the operation feeling can be improved, and to provide a stroller in which the back portion of the seat can be held at the storage position without depending on the restricting member.

The baby carriage comprises a body (2), front legs (14), rear legs (15), a handle bar (30), a middle linkage component (16), a front linkage component (35) and a rear linkage component (36), wherein the front legs (14) are arranged at two sides of the body (2) in the left-right direction and are provided with front wheels (22) which can rotate by taking a specified rotation axis (VA) as a center; a rear wheel (26) is mounted on the rear leg (15); the handle lever (30) is used for transmitting the operation force of the user to the vehicle body; one end of the middle linkage component (16) is connected with the upper ends of the front legs and the rear legs respectively and can rotate, and the other end of the middle linkage component is connected with the handle bar and can rotate; one end of the front linkage member (35) is rotatably connected to the handle bar at a position (37) below a connection point (34) between the connection bar and the intermediate linkage member, and the other end is rotatably connected to the front leg at a position (38) below a connection point (29) between the front leg and the intermediate linkage member; one end of the rear linkage member (36) is rotatably connected to the handle bar at a position (37) below a connection point of the connecting bar and the intermediate linkage member, and the other end is rotatably connected to the rear leg at a position (39) below a connection point (29) of the rear leg and the intermediate linkage member; the stroller is deformable between an unfolded state and a folded state by relatively rotating the front legs, the rear legs, the handle bars, the intermediate link member, the front link member, and the rear link member about respective connection points. In the baby carriage, when the carriage body is viewed from the left and right direction, the handle rod can be divided into two parts, namely an upper rod part (30b) and a lower rod part (30c) by taking a bending part (30a) in the middle as a boundary, the lower rod part (30c) is deviated backwards relative to an Extension Line (EL) of the upper rod part, the front linkage part and the rear linkage part are connected with the lower rod part and can rotate, and when the baby carriage in the unfolding state is viewed from the left and right direction of the carriage body, the upper rod part, the middle linkage part and the front legs are in linear arrangement.

In the present invention, the handle bar can be divided into two portions of an upper bar portion and a lower bar portion, the lower bar portion being bent with respect to the upper bar portion as follows: the extension line of the upper rod portion is offset rearward of the vehicle body. Therefore, even if the lower portion of the handle bar is connected to the front legs and the rear legs via the front interlocking member and the rear interlocking member, and the handle bar, the front legs, and the rear legs are interlocked between the unfolded state and the folded state, the connecting portion of the lower lever portion, the front interlocking member, and the rear interlocking member can be accommodated in the region closer to the rear of the vehicle body than the extension line of the upper lever portion, and the upper lever portion can be inclined so that the extension line thereof is along the intermediate interlocking member and the front legs, and the operating force can be transmitted linearly from the upper lever portion to the front legs via the intermediate interlocking member. Therefore, the force pushing the vehicle body acts on the vicinity of the rotation axis of the front wheel or in front of the rotation axis, and the front wheel is pulled from the front and rotates about the rotation axis. Therefore, the front wheel can be prevented from wobbling about the rotation axis, and the orientation of the front wheel can be stabilized both during linear movement and during rotation. Thereby improving the operational feeling of the stroller.

In one aspect of the present invention, the upper rod part may be provided in the following manner: the extension of the upper rod part intersects an imaginary Horizontal Plane (HP) containing the axis of the axle (21) of the front wheel on or in front of the axle. With such a setting, the force for pushing the stroller can be reliably applied to the axle of the front wheel or the area in front of the axle, and the stability of the front wheel can be further improved.

A connection point (34) of the intermediate linkage member and the handle bar may be provided at a side of the lower bar portion. Accordingly, since the lower lever portion is located rearward of the extension line of the upper lever portion, the linearity of the upper lever portion, the intermediate interlocking member, and the front leg can be further improved by making the connecting point of the intermediate interlocking member and the handle lever closer to the extension line of the upper lever portion.

In one aspect of the present invention, an open/close lock mechanism for switching between a relatively rotatable state and a relatively non-rotatable state of the handle lever and the link member may be further provided between the handle lever and at least one link member (36) of the front and rear link members. Thus, the stroller can be locked in the unfolded state or the folded state by the open-close locking mechanism.

In the above aspect, a lower pin (37) that connects and relatively rotates the handle lever and the rear link member may be provided at a connection point between the handle lever and the rear link member, the open/close lock mechanism may be provided with a lock member (50) that is movable along the handle lever between a release position and a lock position, and a lock receiving portion (56) that is rotatable together with the rear link member about the lower pin, and when the lock member moves to the lock position, the lock member engages with the lock receiving portion and is not rotatable about the lower pin, so that the handle lever and the rear link member are not rotatable relative to each other, and when the lock member moves to the release position, the engagement state between the lock member and the lock receiving portion is released, thereby enabling the handle bar and the rear linkage member to rotate relative to each other. According to this configuration, the lock member and the lock receiving portion can be engaged with each other in the vicinity of the lower pin connecting the handle lever and the rear interlocking member, so that the load acting on the lock member or the lock receiving portion can be reduced, and the reduction in size and weight of these members can be achieved.

Also, when the stroller is in the unfolded state, the locking member and the lock receiving portion may be engaged and may not relatively rotate centering on the lower pin, and when the stroller is in a deformation process between the unfolded state and the folded state, the locking member and the lock receiving portion may not be engaged. In addition, when the stroller is in the folded state, the lock member and the lock receiving portion may be engaged and may not be relatively rotatable centering on the lower pin. Thus, the opening/closing lock mechanism can be reliably operated to lock the stroller in the unfolded state. In addition, the opening and closing locking mechanism does not have misoperation in the deformation process of the baby carriage. Also, the stroller can be locked in the folded state.

In the above-described aspect, the lower pin and the rear interlocking member may be made of metal, and the lower pin may be fitted to the handle bar and the rear interlocking member, respectively. So that a load transmission path from the handle lever to the rear interlocking member through the lower pin is formed by the metal member. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the load on other components of the opening/closing lock mechanism, for example, the lock member and the lock receiving portion, and to form these components from a non-metallic material such as resin. The rear interlocking member and the rear leg may be rotatably connected to each other by a rear connecting pin made of metal. Therefore, a load transmission path from the handle bar to the rear legs through the rear interlocking bar can be formed by the metal parts, and the strength and rigidity of the vehicle body can be maintained at a high level.

In one aspect of the present invention, a lower bracket (40) may be provided on the rear leg, the lower bracket receiving a lower end of the handle bar from below when the stroller is in the unfolded state. Accordingly, at least a part of the downward load acting on the handle lever is directly supported by the rear legs, and the burden on the members disposed at the connecting portions of the handle lever, the front interlocking member, and the rear interlocking member can be reduced.

Further, a pair of engaging portions (59, 40b) may be provided between the lower end of the handle bar and the lower bracket, the pair of engaging portions being engaged in the left-right direction of the vehicle body when the stroller is in the deployed state. Therefore, even if the handle bar and the rear leg are connected by a plurality of members, the gap in the left-right direction between the handle bar and the rear leg is not enlarged, and the shaking of the vehicle body in the unfolded state can be suppressed.

In one aspect of the present invention, a grip portion (43) may be provided on an upper end side of the handle bar, the grip portion being curved as follows: the vehicle body is gradually shifted forward from the outer side to the inner side in the left-right direction of the vehicle body. In this case, the user can easily prevent the grip portion from being held by hand, and the operability of the stroller can be improved.

In one technical scheme of the invention, a storage basket (5) can be hung below the vehicle body through a connecting belt (120), a stopping part (120b) is formed by connecting the connecting belt after the connecting belt is overlapped, a hook (121) is fixed on the storage basket, the hook is provided with a notch (121a) through which the connecting belt can pass, the stopping part stops the connecting belt entering the hook through the notch and falls off from the hook, so that a ring is formed, structural components (38, 39) of the vehicle body enter the ring, and the connecting belt is blocked on the vehicle body. According to the technical scheme, the connecting bands are overlapped to form the stopping parts, so that the number of parts required for mounting the storage basket can be reduced.

In the above description, the present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings with parentheses for the purpose of facilitating the understanding of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the description.

As described above, in the present invention, the vehicle body can be configured as follows: the lower lever portion of the handle lever is bent with respect to the upper lever portion so as to be offset toward the rear of the vehicle body with respect to the extension line of the upper lever portion, whereby the connection portion between the lower lever portion and the front and rear interlocking members is accommodated in a region closer to the rear of the vehicle body than the extension line of the upper lever portion, and the upper lever portion can be inclined so that the extension line thereof extends along the intermediate interlocking member and the front leg, whereby the operating force can be transmitted linearly from the upper lever portion to the front leg via the intermediate interlocking member. Therefore, the front wheel can be prevented from wobbling about the rotation axis, and the orientation of the front wheel can be stabilized both during linear movement and during rotation. Thus, not only the folding function of the stroller can be maintained, but also the operation feeling can be improved compared with the prior art.

A wheel device (12) of a cart (1) according to the present invention comprises: the vehicle body (2) is attached to the vehicle body (2) by a wheel holding member (24), and an axle (25) to which a wheel (26) is attached so as to be rotatable about the axle. The wheel device is provided with a plurality of protruding portions (93) which are provided on the side of the wheel opposite to the wheel holding member of the wheel and are arranged at a constant interval around the axle, and a lock operation member (91) which is attached to the wheel holding member in a state of being capable of swinging between a lock position and a lock release position around a swing shaft (91) parallel to the axle. A stopper (92a) is provided at a position of the lock operation member remote from the swing shaft, and when the lock operation member is located at the lock position, the stopper is fitted into a gap between the plurality of protrusions and engaged with the protrusions in the circumferential direction of the axle, and when the lock operation member is located at the unlock position, the stopper is retracted from the protrusions. When an arc in which a center position (SC) of the stopper portion when engaged with the protrusion portion is drawn around the axle is set as a rotation locus (C1) of the protrusion portion, an arc in which a center position of the stopper portion is drawn around the swing axis is set as a rotation locus (C2) of the stopper portion, and tangents (α, β) to the respective rotation loci are drawn at an intersection point (P) of the two rotation loci, a relationship between the stopper portion and the protrusion portion is set as follows: the included angle (theta) between the two tangent lines is about 90 deg.

According to the present invention, when a moment acts on the wheel in a state in which the stopper portions are fitted in the gaps between the projecting portions, regardless of the direction of the moment, a thrust force acts between the projecting portions and the stopper portions in a direction tangential to the rotational locus of the projecting portions, and a component force in a direction in which the stopper portions are pushed out from the gaps between the projecting portions does not act, or acts very little if at all. Therefore, the rotation of the vehicle can be stably restricted in any rotation direction of the wheels.

In one aspect of the present invention, a base portion (93a) extending in a radial direction of the vehicle and an enlarged portion (93b) disposed on an outer peripheral side of the base portion may be provided on each of the protruding portions. Therefore, the stop part can be prevented from falling off through the expansion part of the protrusion part.

The outer peripheral side of the enlarged portion may be tapered so as to become thinner toward the tip. Therefore, when the lock operation member is operated in the lock position, the stopper portion easily enters the gap between the protruding portions.

In one aspect of the present invention, the wheel may be attached to the axle by bringing an end surface (82e) of the wheel facing the wheel holding member into contact with a restricting surface (81a) of the wheel holding member in a direction of the axle in an upper region of the axle. In this case, an end surface of each of the projecting portions in the direction of the axle may be in contact with a restricting surface of the wheel holding member as an end surface facing the wheel holding member. By mounting the wheel in this manner, the restricting surface can suppress the occurrence of an operation such as the wheel falling toward the wheel holding member. Further, a bearing member (84) rotatable with respect to the axle may be attached to the axle, and the wheel may be fitted to the bearing member so as not to be rotatable with respect to the bearing member. Therefore, sliding between the bearing member and the axle occurs, and abrasion between the wheel and the bearing member does not occur, or even if abrasion occurs, the abrasion speed is extremely slow. When the bearing member is worn or deformed to cause a gap which cannot be ignored between the axle and the bearing member, the wheel can be prevented from wobbling relative to the axle and the wobbling can be prevented from being intensified by replacing the bearing member.

The above solution is particularly suitable for the following situations: only one wheel is mounted on the axle. That is, in the case where only one wheel is provided on one axle, the load on the wheel is larger and the wheel situation or the rattling motion is more likely to occur than in the case where a plurality of wheels are provided on the same axle. Further, the one wheel may be mounted on the axle on an outer side of the wheel holding member in the left-right direction of the vehicle body. Therefore, the wheels arranged on the outer side in the left-right direction of the vehicle body can be prevented from shaking relative to the axle and falling inwards.

In one aspect of the present invention, the wheel device may further include an axle cover (100), and the axle cover (100) may be attached to and detached from the wheel. In this case, a claw portion (103) for locking the wheel may be provided on the axle cover, the claw portion being hidden from the user on the back side of the axle cover and being excluded from the range of the surface treatment to be performed on the front side of the axle cover. Therefore, it is possible to prevent poor engagement and embrittlement that occur due to dimensional changes of the claw portions caused by surface treatment, and an increase in the risk of breakage due to a decrease in elasticity. When the surface treatment is performed by immersing the plating liquid or the like in the treatment liquid, the claw portion does not need to be immersed in the treatment liquid. Therefore, masking of the claw portion is not required, and man-hours can be reduced.

As described above, in the present invention, the stopper portion and the projecting portion are set in a specific positional relationship such that the thrust force acts between the projecting portion and the stopper portion in the tangential direction with respect to the rotational locus of the projecting portion, and therefore, the component force in the direction of pushing out the stopper portion from the gap between the projecting portions does not act, or even acts very little. Thus, the rotation of the vehicle can be stably restricted in any rotation direction of the wheels.

The baby carriage of the invention is provided with a carriage body (2) and a seat (3) installed on the carriage body,

the seat is formed as a subassembly, and a seat material (61) is bonded to a seat frame (62) having a structure in which a pair of left and right side pipes (62a) are connected by a front pipe (62b) and a back frame (63) having a structure in which a pair of left and right side pipes (64) are connected by a head pipe (65), while a tensile force is applied to these members. The seat is attached to the vehicle body by connecting the side pipes of the seat section frame and the back section frame of the seat formed as a subassembly to the vehicle body.

In the stroller of the present invention, the pair of left and right side tubes of the seat frame are connected together by the front tube, and the pair of left and right side tubes of the back frame are connected together by the head tube, so that sufficient rigidity can be imparted to both the seat frame and the back frame as a single member. Accordingly, the seat material is connected to the seat section frame and the back section frame while being strongly stretched, and the seat can be formed as a rigid sub-assembly capable of supporting an infant by the "pulling force" of the seat member. Further, the seat can be mounted on the vehicle body by connecting the side tubes of the seat section frame and the back section frame to the vehicle body. Therefore, the core material can be omitted, the number of components can be reduced, and the assembly efficiency of the seat can be improved.

In one aspect of the present invention, a seat support member (70) extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body may be provided on the back surface side of the seat in the vehicle body, and the seat material and the seat support member may be connected by a connection belt (71) at a position near a boundary between the seat section frame and the back section frame. Therefore, the seat material can be clearly divided into regions corresponding to the seat section and the back section, respectively, with the attachment position of the connecting strap as a boundary.

Additionally, the seating material may be formed from a mesh. Therefore, the seat material can be strongly stretched, and the seat can be endowed with high air permeability.

The side pipe of the back frame may be attached to the vehicle body by a holding member (53) that is rotatable about an axis in the lateral direction of the vehicle body, and a mechanism (73) for adjusting the inclination of the back frame with respect to the vehicle body may be provided between the seat and the vehicle body. Thereby enabling adjustment of the inclination of the back frame.

Also, handle bars (30) for transmitting an operation force of a user to the vehicle body may be respectively provided at both sides of the vehicle body in the left-right direction, and the side tubes of the seat frame and the back frame may be connected to the handle bars. Generally, since the boundary vicinity region between the seat section and the back section of the seat is located inside the lower end portion of the handle bar, the handle bar can be set to the side tubes of the seat section frame and the back section frame, which contributes to the miniaturization and simplification of the connection structure between the side tubes and the vehicle body.

A sun shield (4) is provided between the left and right handle bars, and is switchable between an unfolded state in which the seat is opened so as to cover the seat from above and a folded state in which the seat is folded to the rear of the vehicle body. The sunshade has: mounting portions (113a) which are mounted on the left and right handle bars, respectively; and a rotating section (113c) that is rotatable relative to the mounting section about an axis in the lateral direction of the vehicle body. The sunshade has a sunshade base (113), a sunshade strut (114), a sunshade canopy (115), a plurality of sunshade ribs (116) between the mounting portion and the rotating portion, wherein a position retaining mechanism is provided on the sunshade base for selectively retaining the rotating portion in one of a plurality of stop positions within a range of rotation; the sunshade strut is arranged between the rotating parts of the sunshade base in an arc-shaped manner on the rotating parts; the awning is made of elastic awning material and is connected with the awning supporting rod in a mode of winding the awning supporting rod into the inner side of the front end part of the awning supporting rod; when the sunshade is in the unfolded state, the plurality of sunshade ribs are spaced apart in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body, and both end portions of the sunshade ribs are concentrated near the rotating portion of the sunshade base and fixed to the sunshade, and the sunshade stay is rotated forward by rotating the rotating portion of the sunshade base, so that the sunshade is switched to the unfolded state in which the sunshade stay is held at a position corresponding to the unfolded state by the position holding mechanism of the sunshade base, and the shape of the sunshade is held by tension applied to the sunshade. The tension of one of the canopy legs and the canopy is thereby used to maintain the canopy in the extended configuration. The sunshade rib may be fixed to the sunshade so as to extend in an arc shape, and the sunshade rib does not need to be attached to the sunshade base in order to be attached to a predetermined position in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body. In order to maintain the space between the sunshade stay and the sunshade rib or between the sunshade ribs, it is not necessary to provide a member such as an operation handle or a spring, or even if it is necessary to provide it, only a very small number of members may be attached. Thereby reducing the number of parts.

Further, a winding portion (117) may be provided on both sides of the awning, and the winding portion may be connected to the handle bar so as to be wound around the handle bar. Therefore, by connecting the handle rod and the sunshade, tension can be generated between the winding part and the sunshade support rod, and the shape holding effect of the sunshade can be improved. In addition, the winding portion may be provided in a manner corresponding to one position of the plurality of sunshade ribs. Thus, since the sunshade rib can be held along the handle bar, the shape holding effect of the sunshade can be improved.

Further, a fastening portion (115a) capable of fastening the outer periphery of the mounting portion or the rotating portion of the sunshade may be provided on both sides of the sunshade and on a portion where the end portions of the plurality of sunshade ribs are concentrated. Thus, by catching the catching portion, the end portion of the sunshade rib can be held substantially around the mounting portion, that is, around the rotational center portion of the sunshade stay.

As described above, in the present invention, since the seat material is stretched and attached to the seat section frame and the back section frame to form the seat as a rigid sub-assembly capable of supporting an infant and the seat is attached to the vehicle body by connecting the side pipes of the seat section frame and the back section frame to the vehicle body, the core material can be omitted, the number of components can be reduced, or the efficiency of the assembly work of the seat can be effectively improved. In addition, even when the sunshade is provided, the tension of one sunshade stay and the sunshade can be used to keep the sunshade in the unfolded shape, thereby reducing the number of parts required for adding the sunshade.

The baby carriage (1) of the invention comprises: a vehicle body (2) comprising front legs (14) and rear legs (15); and a handle lever (30) that is provided at a rear portion of the vehicle body and transmits an operation force of a user to the vehicle body, wherein a lower end portion of the handle lever is connected to the rear leg, and a direction in which a cross-sectional dimension is large and a direction in which the cross-sectional dimension is small exist with respect to each cross-sectional shape of the front leg and the rear leg. In the stroller, the front legs are configured as follows: the direction in which the cross-sectional dimension is large corresponds to a left-right direction of the vehicle body, and the rear leg is arranged as follows: the direction in which the cross-sectional dimension is small corresponds to the left-right direction of the vehicle body.

In the stroller of the present invention, the lower end portion of the handle bar disposed at the rear portion of the vehicle body is connected to the rear leg, so that the rear leg is positioned below the handle bar, and a downward load transmitted through the handle bar is applied to the rear leg more than to the front leg, and the rear leg is subjected to a large bending moment along the vertical plane. Therefore, by arranging the rear legs so that the direction of the small cross-sectional dimension is oriented in the lateral direction of the vehicle body, the cross-sectional modulus and the cross-sectional quadratic moment with respect to the load direction can be secured, and the flexural strength and the rigidity can be improved. The front legs are arranged such that the direction in which the cross-sectional dimension is large is oriented in the left-right direction of the vehicle body, because the load applied to the front legs is relatively small. Thereby, the projected area of the front leg when the baby carriage is seen from the front can be ensured greatly. Therefore, when the baby carriage is seen from the front, the front legs are easy to attract the attention of the user, and the visual effect is improved. Thereby, the bending strength and rigidity and the visual effect to the user can be simultaneously ensured. In addition, attaching a distinctive color and pattern different from those of other portions to the front legs, or using the front surface of the front legs as a display surface such as a trademark or a product name can attract the attention of the user, and can give a deep impression to the user of the design, the trademark, or the like of the stroller.

In one aspect of the present invention, the handle bar and the rear leg may be configured as follows: the rear leg blocks the lower end of the handle bar from below. In this case, since the downward load acting on the handle lever is largely applied to the rear legs, the effect of the present invention can be more effectively exerted.

Also, in the cross section of the front leg, the front surface of the front leg may be designed as an arc of an arch toward the front of the vehicle body. Thereby enabling the front legs to be given a more prominent feature in design.

The baby carriage of the invention can also comprise a middle linkage part (16), a front linkage part (35) and a rear linkage part (36), wherein one end part of the middle linkage part (16) is connected with the upper ends of the front legs and the rear legs respectively and can rotate, and the other end part is connected with the handle bar and can rotate; one end of the front linkage member (35) is rotatably connected to the handle bar at a position (37) below a connection point (34) between the connection bar and the intermediate linkage member, and the other end is rotatably connected to the front leg at a position (38) below a connection point (29) between the front leg and the intermediate linkage member; one end of the rear linkage member (36) is rotatably connected to the handle bar at a position (37) below a connection point of the connecting bar and the intermediate linkage member, and the other end is rotatably connected to the rear leg at a position (39) below a connection point (29) of the rear leg and the intermediate linkage member; the stroller is deformable between an unfolded state and a folded state by relatively rotating the front legs, the rear legs, the handle bars, the intermediate link member, the front link member, and the rear link member about respective connection points. In the foldable stroller like this, a downward load applied by the handle bar may be largely applied to the rear legs from the lower end portion of the handle bar. Therefore, setting the orientations of the front legs and the rear legs according to the present invention can simultaneously secure the bending strength and rigidity and the visual effect to the user.

As described above, in the present invention, since the front legs are arranged so that the direction of the large cross-sectional dimension corresponds to the left-right direction of the vehicle body and the rear legs are arranged so that the direction of the small cross-sectional dimension corresponds to the left-right direction of the vehicle body, the bending strength and rigidity against a downward load are ensured by the rear legs, and the visual effect when the baby carriage is viewed from the front is enhanced by the front legs, so that the bending strength and rigidity and the visual effect to the user can be ensured at the same time.

The baby carriage (1, 1A) of the invention has a vehicle body (2) with a frame structure and an armrest (16), wherein, the vehicle body (2) can be deformed between an unfolded state and a folded state, the armrest (16) is respectively arranged at two sides of the vehicle body in the left-right direction, each upper end part of a front leg (14) and a rear leg (15) of the vehicle body is connected with a front end part (16a) of the armrest and can rotate, in the folded state, the armrest is along the rear leg and inclines towards a rear end part (16b) from the front end part thereof, and the armrest comprises: a top plate (16c) facing upward; and side plates (16d, 16e) extending along both side edges of the roof panel, and having a hollow in a region surrounded by the roof panel and the side plates in the lateral direction of the vehicle body, the hollow being formed in a shape that opens toward the lower surface side. In the stroller, the distance from the center line (CL1) of the rear leg in the left-right direction of the vehicle body to the side plate (16d) located on the outer side in the left-right direction is greater than the distance from the center line of the rear leg to the side plate (16e) located on the inner side in the left-right direction.

According to the stroller of the present invention, when the body is folded, the armrest is inclined obliquely downward from the front end portion toward the rear end portion, the lower surface side of the armrest is close to the rear leg inclined in the same direction, and a part of the rear leg enters the inside of the armrest in the vicinity of the connecting portion between the armrest and the rear leg. In such a case, the outer side panel is spaced apart from the center line of the rear leg in the left-right direction of the vehicle body than the inner side panel, so that a sufficient gap is left between the outer side panel and the rear leg. Therefore, the effect of preventing the fingers of the user from being caught between the side plates and the rear legs on the outer side of the armrest can be improved.

In one aspect of the present invention, a gap (S2) of a size equal to or larger than a required gap amount defined as a minimum value of the gap amount required to prevent a finger of a user from being pinched is secured between the rear leg and the lateral plate on the left and right outer sides of the armrest. Thus, the effect of preventing fingers from being caught between the armrest and the rear leg can be reliably exhibited.

In the folded state, a gap (S3) greater than or equal to the required gap amount may be secured between the rear legs and the top panel, and a recess (16f) may be provided in the side panel on the inner side in the left-right direction to allow the gap between the rear legs and the top panel to pass to the outside of the armrest. Thus, the effect of preventing fingers from being caught inside the armrest can be improved without causing the armrest to excessively bulge inward in the left-right direction of the vehicle body.

In the folded state, the connection position of the front legs and the armrest may be offset forward of the connection position of the rear legs and the armrest. Thereby improving the effect of preventing fingers from being caught between the front leg and the rear leg.

Further, the vehicle body may be provided with a handle bar (30) for transmitting an operation force of a user to the vehicle body, the rear end portion of the armrest may be rotatably connected to the handle bar, and a gap larger than the required gap amount may be secured between the rear end portion of the armrest and the handle bar in the folded state (S4). Thereby preventing the effect of fingers being pinched between the handle bar and the armrest.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the outer side panel of the armrest is spaced apart from the center line of the rear leg in the lateral direction of the vehicle body as compared with the inner side panel of the armrest, and a sufficient gap can be secured between the outer side panel and the rear leg, when the vehicle body is folded, the armrest is inclined obliquely downward from the front end portion toward the rear end portion, and the lower surface side thereof is close to the rear leg inclined in the same direction, or a part of the rear leg enters the inside of the armrest in the vicinity of the connecting portion between the armrest and the rear leg, and even in this case, the effect of preventing the user's finger from being caught between the outer side panel of the armrest and the rear leg can be improved.

A stroller (1) according to the present invention includes a body (2) deformable between an expanded state and a folded state, and a seat (3) having a seat portion (3a) and a back portion (3b) including a back support member (64) having one end portion rotatably connected to the body via back connection points (37, D), and a head member (65) rotatably connected to the other end portion of the back support member via head connection points (66a, A), the head member being connected to the body via a link member (67) having one end portion rotatably connected to the body via front connection points (68, C) spaced upward from the back connection points, and the other end portion being connected to the body via a candidate connection point (69, C) spaced apart from the head connection points, B) The vehicle body, the back support member, the head member, and the link member constitute a four-bar mechanism by being connected to the head member and being rotatable, and in the folded state, the back support member and the link member are rotated about the back connection point and the front connection point, whereby the back portion is movable between an extended position (position shown in fig. 39) in which the back portion is tilted rearward of the vehicle body and a stowed position (position Ps shown in fig. 42) in which the back portion is raised forward of the vehicle body. In this stroller, when the back portion is located in a region on the side of the storage position with respect to a restriction position (position Px shown in fig. 42) between the extended position and the storage position, a pivotal movement about one of the head connection point and the rear connection point (66a, a) is restricted, and a connection structure (66) about the one connection point is configured such that, when the back portion is moved to the region on the side of the storage position beyond the restriction position, the back portion is elastically deformed, and the storage position (Ps) is set to a position where an action of holding the back portion in the storage position is generated by a restoring force against the elastic deformation.

According to the stroller of the present invention, when the back reaches the restricting position, the pivotal movement about the one connecting point which is not located on the vehicle body side, i.e., the one connecting point on the head part side is restricted. If the structural member of the back is an all-rigid body, it is necessary to allow a pivotal motion about all the connection points in order to operate the four-bar mechanism, and the four-bar mechanism cannot be operated in a state where the pivotal motion about one connection point is restricted. Therefore, the back support member and the interlocking member of the back cannot be rotated from the regulation position to the storage position by nature. However, in practice, the back portion can be moved to the storage position side beyond the regulation position by elastically deforming the structural member of the back portion. The amount of elastic deformation of the back portion, which is increased or decreased in accordance with the correlation between the rotational movement of the back support member centered on the back connection point and the rotational movement of the interlocking member centered on the connection point, shows the following changes: the amount of elastic deformation increases just after the back has passed the limit position, and during the movement, it turns to decrease, and thereafter, it increases again. After the elastic deformation amount is decreased, if the back portion is returned to the extended position, the elastic deformation amount is increased, and along with this, the restoring force starts to act to prevent the back portion from moving to the extended position. With this property, the action of holding the back portion in the stowed position can be produced by a restoring force against elastic deformation of the back portion. This effect can be obtained by moving the back portion beyond the regulation position toward the storage position. Therefore, when the back portion of the seat does not depend on the regulating member, the back portion of the seat can be held at the storage position by a simple operation of moving the back portion to the storage position.

In one aspect of the present invention, the storage position may be set by moving the back portion until the intersection point (P2) coincides with the other connection point (point B), so that the back portion reaches the storage position. When the back portion is located at the restricted position, an intersection point between rotational trajectories (Et, Bt) of the other of the head connection point and the rear connection point, which are rotated about the back connection point and the front connection point, is defined as an intersection point (P2), and the intersection point (P2) is located forward of the vehicle body relative to the other connection point at the restricted position. In the technical scheme, when the back reaches the accommodating position, the other connecting point reaches the intersection point of 2 rotating tracks, and the back is released from the elastic deformation state. Since the amount of elastic deformation increases regardless of the direction from which the back portion is moved, the back portion can be reliably held at the storage position where the elastic deformation and the restoring force against the elastic deformation are not generated.

In one aspect of the present invention, the inclination of the back portion in the deployed state may be changed, and the connection structure centered on the one connection point may be configured as follows: this connection structure allows the back section to reach a limit position when the back section stands up forward of the vehicle body over the range of movement of the back section in the deployed state. Therefore, in the deployed state, the four-bar mechanism of the back can be turned without being hindered in this operation, and the inclination of the back can be changed.

In one aspect of the present invention, side members (64) extending along the side edge portions are provided as the back support members at the left and right side edge portions of the back portion, the head members are provided so as to connect the left and right side members, and the interlocking member is provided so as to connect the head members and the vehicle body at the left and right sides of the back portion, so that the four-bar mechanism can be configured at each side edge portion of the back portion. This can restrict the turning operation of the four-bar mechanism on both sides of the back portion at the restriction position, and generate an action of holding the back portion at the storage position on both sides of the back portion.

In one aspect of the present invention, a gap greater than or equal to a required gap amount defined as a minimum value of the gap amount required to prevent fingers from being pinched can be ensured around each connection point at a position during movement of the back portion from the extended position to the storage position (S8, S9, S15, S16). Thereby preventing fingers from being caught near the respective connection points when the back is stored.

As described above, according to the present invention, in the process of moving the back portion of the seat from the regulation position to the storage position, the rotation operation about the one connection point on the head member side is regulated, the back portion is elastically deformed, and the back portion is held at the storage position by the restoring force generated along with the elastic deformation, so that the back portion of the seat can be held at the storage position by a simple operation of moving the back portion of the seat to the storage position without depending on the regulation member.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a stroller according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a right side view of the stroller shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing a body structure of the stroller shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a right side view of the vehicle body structure shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a view showing a folded state of the stroller shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the upper portion of the hand push frame is viewed from diagonally behind the vehicle body.

Fig. 7 is a plan view taken with the grab bar as the center.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which the lower portion of the vehicle body is viewed obliquely from the rear.

Fig. 9 is a diagram showing a relationship between the sectional shape of the front leg and the rear leg and the vehicle body direction.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged view showing a state in which a connecting portion of a structural member of a vehicle body is viewed from a side of the vehicle body.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view showing a state in which the connecting member shown in fig. 10 is viewed from a diagonally rear side of the vehicle body.

Fig. 12 is a side view showing a state when the back frame of the seat is erected.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the seat when the back frame of the seat is raised as viewed diagonally from behind the vehicle body.

Fig. 14 is a sectional view taken along a lower pin of the opening/closing lock mechanism.

Fig. 15 is a perspective view showing a state in which the lock mechanism is viewed obliquely from the rear of the vehicle body.

Fig. 16 is a perspective view showing a state in which the lock member and the lock receiving portion of the lock mechanism are viewed from the inside of the vehicle body.

Fig. 17 is a view showing a state in which a seat portion of the seat is viewed from the front side.

Fig. 18 is a view showing a state in which the seat is viewed obliquely from the rear of the vehicle body.

Fig. 19 is a view showing a state in which the rear wheel and its surrounding structure are viewed from diagonally behind the vehicle body.

Fig. 20 is a view showing a state in which the rear wheel and its surrounding structure are viewed from the arrow XX direction in fig. 19.

Fig. 21 is a view showing a supporting mechanism for the rear wheel along the axle.

Fig. 22 is a diagram showing main components of the rear wheel lock mechanism.

Fig. 23 is a diagram showing a relationship between the stopper pin of the rear wheel locking mechanism and the rear wheel-side protrusion.

Fig. 24 is a perspective view of the surface side of the shaft cover.

Fig. 25 is a perspective view of the back side of the shaft cover.

Fig. 26 is a perspective view of the foot support portion and its vicinity.

Fig. 27 is a view showing a structure of a back surface side of the foot peg.

Fig. 28 is an enlarged view of the sun shield and its surroundings.

Fig. 29 is an enlarged view of the mounting portion of the sun shield relative to the hand push frame.

FIG. 30 is a view showing a connecting strap for hanging a basket from a vehicle body

Fig. 31 is a view showing a state where the connection band is attached to the front connection pin.

Fig. 32 is an enlarged view showing the armrest and its surrounding structure in the folded state, as viewed from the outside in the left-right direction of the stroller.

Fig. 33 is a front view of the periphery of the armrest as viewed from the arrow XXXIII direction in fig. 32.

FIG. 34 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XXXIV-XXXIV of FIG. 32.

Fig. 35 is a view of the folded armrest and its surrounding structure viewed from the back side of fig. 32.

Fig. 36 is a perspective view showing a state in which the portion shown in fig. 35 is viewed from diagonally in front of the stroller.

Fig. 37 is a view showing a state in which the periphery of the lower pin is viewed from the arrow XXXVII direction in fig. 5.

Fig. 38 is a perspective view showing a state in which the periphery of the lower pin is viewed from the inside of the stroller.

Fig. 39 is a view showing a state where the back frame is projected rearward in the folded state.

Fig. 40 is a view showing a state in which the back frame is stored to the side of the handle bar in the folded state.

Fig. 41 is a view showing a state where the back frame is stored on the side of the handle bar in the folded state.

Fig. 42 is a schematic view showing the operation of the back frame in the folded state.

Fig. 43 is a view corresponding to fig. 4 showing a stroller according to a modification.

Detailed Description

Next, a stroller according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. First, the overall structure of the stroller will be described with reference to fig. 1 to 5. The stroller 1 includes: a vehicle body 2; a seat 3 supported by the vehicle body 2; a sunshade 4 disposed above the seat 3; and a basket 5 disposed below the seat 3. In fig. 3 to 5, a part or all of the sunshade 4 is omitted from illustration, and only a frame portion of the seat 3 is shown. In fig. 4 and 5, the basket 5 is not shown. The stroller 1 is deformable between an unfolded state (unfolded state) as shown in fig. 1 to 5 and a folded state (folded state) as shown in fig. 5. Next, the structure of the stroller 1 will be described centering on the unfolded state.

As is clear from fig. 3 and 4, the vehicle body 2 includes: a frame portion 10; a front wheel part 11 and a rear wheel part 12, which support the frame part 10 to move. The frame portion 10 is a portion constituting a frame structure of the vehicle body 2, and includes: a pair of front legs 14 disposed on both sides of the stroller 1 (body 2) in the left-right direction (lateral direction); a pair of rear legs 15; a pair of armrests (intermediate link members) 16; a hand push frame 17 configured to connect the left and right hand rails 16; a foot rest portion 18 as a front cross member that connects lower portions of the left and right front legs 14 together; and a rear cross member 19 that connects lower portions of the left and right rear legs 15 together.

The front wheel portion 11 is provided at the lower end of the front leg 14, and the rear wheel portion 12 is provided at the lower end of the rear leg 15. Each front wheel portion 11 has: a front wheel holding member 20 attached to the lower end of the front leg 14; an axle 21 in the horizontal direction supported by the front wheel holding member 20; and a pair of front wheels 22 disposed so as to sandwich the front wheel holding member 20, and rotatably attached to both end portions of the axle 21. The front wheel holding member 20 includes: a fixing portion 20a fixed to the front leg 14; and a rotating portion 20b that is rotatable about a rotation axis VA (see fig. 4) substantially in the vertical direction with respect to the fixed portion 20 a. The axle 21 is attached to the rotating portion 20 b. Thus, the front wheel 22 and the axle 21 thereof can rotate about the rotation axis VA. The axle 21 is offset with respect to the rotation axis VA. When the stroller 1 is advanced, the axle 21 is held behind the front wheel holding member 20 by a moment about the rotation axis VA applied to the front wheel 22. The position where the front wheels 22 are located in this state is set as the forward position of the front wheels 22. The front wheel holding member 20 is provided with a rotation lock mechanism (not shown) that locks the rotation portion 20b in a non-rotatable state in a state when the front wheel 22 is at the forward position by operation of a lock lever 23 (see fig. 8). The rotation lock mechanism may use well-known components as with a stroller, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. The rear wheel portion 12 includes: a rear wheel holding member 24 attached to the lower end of the rear leg 15; an axle 25 supported by the rear wheel holding member 24 in a state of facing the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2; a single rear wheel 26 supported by the axle 25 and capable of rotation. The rear wheel 26 cannot rotate about the vertical axis. That is, the axle 25 of the rear wheel 26 is normally oriented in the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2. The rear wheel 25 and its surrounding structure will be described in detail later.

On one side of the vehicle body 2 in the left-right direction, the upper end portions of the front legs 14 and the rear legs 15 and the leg attachment portion 16a at the lower end of the armrest 16 are connected to each other by a fulcrum pin 29 and are rotatable. The other side of the vehicle body 2 in the left-right direction is also configured in the same manner as described above. The connecting position (rivet 28) of the front leg 14 and the leg attachment portion 16a is slightly offset in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 2 with respect to the fulcrum pin 29. The armrest 16 is a resin molded product, and the armrest 16 has a top plate 16c facing upward so that the infant can place his or her hand or arm on the armrest 16. The armrest 16 has a characteristic shape for preventing pinching of fingers when folded, as will be described in detail later.

The hand push frame 17 has: a pair of right and left handle bars 30; and a grip bar 31 extending in such a manner as to connect upper portions of the handle bars 30. Each handle bar 30 has the following shape: the handle bar 30 can be divided into two parts, i.e., an upper bar part 30b and a lower bar part 30c, by a curved part 30a located at the center of the handle bar 30. However, the upper rod portion 30b and the lower rod portion 30c are integrally formed by bending a single metal pipe. As is clear from fig. 4, the lower lever portion 30c is curved so as to be offset rearward of the vehicle body 2 with respect to the extension line EL of the upper lever portion 30 b. An immovable upper bracket 32 is attached to the lower rod portion 30c by a rivet 33. A handle connection portion 16b at the upper end of the armrest 16 is attached to the upper bracket 32 via an upper pin 34. Accordingly, the handle bar 30 of the armrest 16 and the hand push frame 17 can be rotated with respect to each other about the upper pin 34 as a fulcrum. Further, a rear end portion of the front interlocking lever (front interlocking member) 35 and a front end portion of the rear interlocking lever (rear interlocking member) 36 are rotatably connected to a lower end of the lower lever portion 30c via a lower pin 37. The structure of these connecting portions will be described in detail later. The front end of the front linkage rod 35 is connected to the front leg 14 by a front connecting pin 38 and can rotate. The rear end of the rear linkage bar 36 is connected to the rear leg 15 by a rear connecting pin 39 and can rotate. The linkage rods 35 and 36 and the connecting pins 38 and 39 are made of metal. Further, a lower bracket 40 is fixed to the rear leg 15. When the stroller 1 is in the deployed state, the lower end of the handle bar 30 abuts against the lower bracket 40 and is stopped by the rear legs 15 in the vertical direction. An opening/closing lock mechanism 41 for locking the stroller 1 in the unfolded state and the folded state is provided around the lower pin 37. The opening and closing lock mechanism 41 will be described in detail later. In addition, the lower bracket 40 may be formed integrally with the rear leg 15.

The front legs 14, the rear legs 15, the armrests 16, the handle bars 30, the front linkage bars 35, and the rear linkage bars 36 form connection mechanisms on the left and right of the frame portion 10 of the vehicle body 2, respectively. The left and right connecting mechanisms have the same structure. The stroller 1 can be deformed between the folded state shown in fig. 5 and the folded state shown in fig. 1 by releasing the lock of the vehicle body 2 by the open/close lock mechanism 41 and rotating the components of the link mechanism about the respective connection points. The deformation from the unfolded state to the folded state is described below with reference to fig. 4. When the stroller 1 is deformed from the unfolded state to the folded state, the front leg 14 is rotated counterclockwise about the fulcrum pin 29 with respect to the armrest 16, the rear leg 15 is rotated clockwise about the fulcrum pin 29 with respect to the armrest 16, and the armrest 16 is rotated clockwise about the upper pin 34 with respect to the lower lever portion 30 c. Accordingly, the front and rear link levers 35 and 36 rotate about the lower pin 37 with respect to the lower lever portion 30c, the front link lever 35 rotates about the front connecting pin 38 with respect to the front leg 14, and the rear link lever 36 rotates about the rear connecting pin 39 with respect to the rear leg 15. So that the frame part 10 of the vehicle body 2 is folded up as shown in fig. 5. In this folded state, the front wheels 22 and the rear wheels 26 are arranged at a slight distance in the front-rear direction. At this time, the center of gravity of the stroller 1 is located between the front wheel 22 and the rear wheel 26 in the front-rear direction of the body 2. Thus, the stroller 1 can stand in the folded state by the front wheels 22 and the rear wheels 26. Since the rivet 28 connecting the front legs 14 is positioned slightly forward of the fulcrum pin 29, a gap is generated between the front legs 14 and the rear legs 15 in the folded state. Thereby preventing the possibility of the finger being pinched or the like. This will be described in further detail later.

When the stroller 1 in the unfolded state is viewed from the left-right direction of the body 2, the upper lever portion 30b of the stroller frame 17 is aligned with the armrest 16 and the front leg 14. As a criterion for determining whether the three are linearly arranged, it can be determined that the three are linearly arranged if the extension line EL of the upper rod portion 30b extends so as to penetrate at least a part of the armrest 16 and at least a part of the front leg 14. Further, when the front wheel 22 is located at the forward position (the solid line position shown in fig. 4), the upper lever portion 30b is preferably provided as follows: its extension EL intersects an imaginary horizontal plane HP containing the axis of the axle 21 at or in front of the axle 21. The upper stem portion 30b is also preferably provided as follows: its extension EL intersects the imaginary horizontal plane HP on or in front of the axis of rotation VA. Further, since the upper bracket 32 is attached to the lower lever portion 30c, the upper pin 34 can be provided at a position close to the extension line EL.

When the upper lever portion 30b, the armrest 16, the front leg 14, and the front wheel 22 are arranged in relation to each other as described above, there are the following advantages. When considering how the front and rear wheels 22 and 26 are urged at the lower portion of the stroller 1, that is, the area near the ground contact surface where the front and rear wheels 22 and 26 are located, the force by which the user pushes the vehicle body 2 through the handle lever 30 acts on the area near or in front of the rotation axis VA of the front wheel 22. Thus, the front wheel 22 is pulled forward and rotates about the rotation axis VA. Therefore, the rattling of the front wheel 22 about the rotation axis VA can be suppressed, and the orientation of the front wheel 22 can be stabilized both during the linear movement and during the rotation. Thereby, the operational feeling of the stroller 1 can be improved. In contrast, in the conventional stroller in which the extension line of the handle bar is positioned between the front wheel and the rear wheel or passes through the vicinity of the rear wheel, the front wheel is pushed from behind, and therefore the front wheel is likely to shake about the rotation axis, and stability of the orientation of the front wheel 22 is impaired, which may deteriorate the user's operational feeling.

As shown in detail in fig. 6 and 7, the hand lever 31 of the hand push frame 17 has: connection portions 42 connected to the left and right handle bars 30, respectively; a grip portion 43 that is curved so as to extend obliquely forward and upward of the vehicle body 2 with respect to the connection portions 42; and a communication part 44 located between the grip parts 43. The connecting portion 42 and the grip portion 43 are formed integrally by bending a metal pipe material. The connecting portion 42 and the handle bar 30 are connected by a connector 45. Therefore, even if the cross-sectional shapes of the handle lever 30 and the grab bar 31 are different, the handle lever 30 and the grab bar 31 can be reliably connected by matching the shapes of the handle fitting portion 45a and the grab fitting portion 45b on the connector 45 side with the respective shapes of the handle lever 30 and the grab bar 31.

Each connector 45 incorporates an angle adjustment mechanism. The angle adjustment mechanism is provided for the following purposes: the inclination of the grip lever 31 with respect to the handle lever 30 can be changed by switching the grip fitting portion 45b of the connector 45 between a rotatable state and a non-rotatable state with respect to the grip fitting portion 45 a. When the buttons 45c (see fig. 6) of the left and right connectors 45 are simultaneously pressed, the locked state between the fitting portions 45a and 45b of the connectors 45 is released, and the inclination of the grip lever 31 with respect to the handle lever 30 can be changed. When the push button 45c is released from the pressed state, the fitting portions 45a and 45b of the connector 45 cannot rotate relative to each other. Next, the position of the grab bar 31 when it is in the following state is taken as its reference position: the connection portion 42 is substantially aligned with the upper lever portion 30b of the handle lever 30, in other words, the connection portion 42 is positioned on the extension line EL of the upper lever portion 30 b. As described above, the grip portion 43 extends obliquely, so that when the grab bar 31 is positioned at the reference position, the grip portion 43 is gradually displaced toward the front of the vehicle body 2 from the outside (the side connected to the handle bar 30) toward the inside. Therefore, the user can easily put his or her hand on the hand grip portion 43, and the operability of the stroller 1 is improved. In addition, single-handed operation is also easy. When the grab bar 31 is tilted rearward with respect to the reference position, the grip portion 43 projects upward from the outside toward the inside. In this case, the user can easily put his or her hand on the grip portion 43, and the operability of the stroller 1 is improved.

The communicating portion 44 is made of resin and has a substantially hollow cylindrical shape. Both ends of the communicating portion 44 are fitted to the grasping portion 43, so that the communicating portion 44 and the grasping portion 43 are formed integrally. The communicating section 44 is provided with an opening/closing operation section 47 for operating the opening/closing lock mechanism 41 of the vehicle body 2. The opening/closing operation unit 47 includes: an operation handle 48 provided on the outer periphery of the communication portion 44; and a connecting wire (not shown) which is housed inside the grab bar 31 in conjunction with the operation handle 48. The connection line is pulled over the grip lever 31 to the vicinity of the lower end of the handle lever 30. The operation handle 48 is attached to the communicating portion 44 in a state of being slidably operated in the right-left direction. When the operating handle 48 is positioned on the right side of the sheet in fig. 6, the opening/closing operation mechanism 41 activates the lock function to lock the stroller 1 in the unfolded state or the folded state. When the operation handle grip 48 is operated in the left direction, the lock performed by the open/close lock mechanism 41 is released. As is apparent from fig. 5, when the stroller 1 is folded with the grab bar 31 positioned at the reference position, the grip portion 43 and the communicating portion 44 of the grab bar 31 are positioned substantially between the front wheel 22 and the rear wheel 26 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 2. Such a configuration is advantageous in that the position of the center of gravity of the stroller 1 in the folded state is set between the front wheel 22 and the rear wheel 26.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a state where the front leg 14 and the rear leg 15 are viewed obliquely from the rear, and fig. 9 is a diagram showing a relationship between the sectional shapes of the front leg 14 and the rear leg 15 and the direction of the vehicle body 2. The front legs 14 and the rear legs 15 are formed by processing a metal pipe in the same manner as the hand push frame 17 and the handle bar 30. As is clear from fig. 9, the front leg 14 has a modified hexagonal cross section, and the rear leg 15 has a substantially rectangular cross section. In fig. 9, the arrow F indicates the front of the vehicle body 2, the arrow B indicates the rear of the vehicle body 2, the arrow L indicates the left of the vehicle body 2, and the arrow R indicates the right of the vehicle body 2. Although the front leg 14 and the rear leg 15 have different sectional shapes, both have a longer side direction with a wider width and a shorter side direction with a narrower width in the sectional dimension. The relationship between the direction of the vehicle body 2 and the longitudinal direction and the short direction of the cross section is different between the front leg 14 and the rear leg 15. The front legs 14 are configured as follows: the longitudinal direction corresponds to the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2, and the short-side direction corresponds to the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 2. In contrast, the rear leg 15 is arranged as follows: the longitudinal direction corresponds to the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 2, and the short-side direction corresponds to the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2. The reason for such a configuration is as follows.

The rear legs 15 are located below the hand push frame 17, and the hand push frame 17 is connected to the rear legs 15 by a rear link 36, and further, its lower end is supported by a lower bracket 40 on the rear legs 15. Therefore, when the user applies a downward load to the hand push frame 17, the load is applied to the rear legs 15 more largely than to the front legs 14, and a large bending moment generated in the vertical direction is applied to the rear legs 15. The rear leg 15 is disposed so that the longitudinal direction thereof corresponds to the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 2, and therefore, the section modulus and the section quadratic moment with respect to the load direction can be secured to a large extent, and the bending strength and the rigidity can be improved. The front legs 14 are arranged so that the longitudinal direction corresponds to the lateral direction of the vehicle body 2. Thus, the projected area of the front legs 14 when the stroller 1 is viewed from the front can be secured to a large extent. Therefore, when the stroller 1 is viewed from the front, the front legs 14 are likely to attract the attention of the user, and the visual effect thereof is improved. The effect of the rush can be further improved by providing a sense of unity between the top plate 16c of the armrest 16 and the front leg 14. By attaching a distinctive color and pattern different from those of other portions to the front legs 14, or by using the front surface of the front legs 14 as a display surface such as a trademark or a product name, it is possible to draw attention of the user and give a deep impression to the user of the design, the trademark, or the like of the stroller 1. In addition, the front leg 14 is designed to be an arc of an arch toward the front of the vehicle body 2, thereby giving a more prominent feature to the front surface of the front leg 14 in terms of design. The sectional shapes of the front leg 14 and the rear leg 15 are examples, and these shapes may be appropriately modified. For example, the front leg 14 and the rear leg 15 may be formed from a tube having an oval cross-section. Even in this case, the front leg 14 and the rear leg 15 may be configured as follows: the front leg 14 is disposed so that the direction of the larger cross-sectional dimension corresponds to the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2, and the rear leg 15 is disposed so that the direction of the smaller cross-sectional dimension corresponds to the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2.

Next, the opening/closing lock mechanism 41 will be described in detail. Fig. 10 is an enlarged view of a connecting portion of the front legs 14, the rear legs 15, the armrest 16, and the hand push frame 17, and fig. 11 is a view of the portion shown in fig. 10 viewed obliquely from the rear of the vehicle body 2. Fig. 12 and 13 show a state in which the seat 3 is raised from the state shown in fig. 10 and 11. The structure associated with the tilt adjustment of the seat 3 will be described in detail later. As described above, the opening/closing lock mechanism 41 is provided around the lower pin 37. The number of the open/close lock mechanisms 41 is 1 on each of the left and right sides of the vehicle body 2, and the left and right open/close lock mechanisms 41 have the same configuration.

Fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view of the open/close lock mechanism 41 taken along the lower pin 37, and fig. 15 is a view of the open/close lock mechanism 41 viewed from diagonally behind the vehicle body 2. As is clear from these drawings, the opening/closing lock mechanism 41 includes: a lock member 50 fitted to the outer periphery of the lower rod portion 30c of the handle lever 30; a wire holder 51 disposed inside the lower lever portion 30 c; a 1 st holding member 52 disposed on the inner side in the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2 (on the right side of the paper in fig. 14) with respect to the lower rod portion 30 c; the 2 nd holding member 53; the 3 rd holding member 54. The lower rod portion 30c is provided with a long hole 30d extending in the longitudinal direction of the lower rod portion 30 c. The lock member 50 and the wire holder 51 are connected together by a connecting pin 55 extending through the elongated hole 30d and are movable together in the length direction of the lower lever portion 30 c. The 1 st to 3 rd holding members 52, 53, and 54 are rotatably connected to each other, and are connected to the lower rod portion 30c by being passed through by the lower pin 37. These holding members 52, 53, and 54 are rotatable about the lower pin 37. The 1 st holding member 52 and the 3 rd holding member 54 are provided with fitting recesses 52a and 54a coaxial with the lower pin 37, and the 2 nd holding member 53 is provided with fitting projections 53a and 53b fitted into the fitting recesses 52a and 54a and rotatable. By fitting the fitting concave portions 52a, 54a and the fitting convex portions 53a, 53b, the play between the 1 st to 3 rd holding members 52, 53, 54 can be suppressed, and the 1 st to 3 rd holding members 52, 53, 54 can be smoothly rotated about the lower pin 37.

A rear linkage bar 36 is fixed to the 1 st holding member 52, and a front linkage bar 35 is fixed to the 3 rd holding member 54. The rear linkage bar 36 is also passed through by the lower pin 37. The frame of the seat 3 is fixed to the 2 nd holding member 53 and the 3 rd holding member 54, and this point will be described in detail later. The 1 st holding member 52 is formed integrally with the lock receiving portion 56. The lock receiving portion 56 protrudes toward the outer periphery of the 1 st holding member 52, and lock receiving grooves 56a are provided at 2 positions of the outer periphery. The lock member 50 is provided with a lock projection 50a projecting toward the inside of the lower lever portion 30 c. The lock member 50 moves between a release position where the lock member 50 is located when the lock projection 50a is located above the lock receiving portion 56 as shown in fig. 16, and a lock position where the lock member 50 is located when the lock projection 50a is displaced below the release position. When the lock member 50 moves to the lock position, the lock projection 50a is fitted into the lock receiving groove 56 a. So that the locking member 50 and the lock receiving portion 56 are engaged and cannot relatively rotate centering on the lower pin 37.

The locking member 50 is mounted on the lower lever portion 30c of the handle lever 30, and the lock receiving portion 56 is rotatable together with the rear interlocking lever 36 centering on the lower pin 37. Therefore, when the locking member 50 and the lock receiving portion 56 cannot relatively rotate, the handle bar 30 and the rear interlocking bar 36 cannot relatively rotate centering on the lower pin 37. The rear link 36 rotates relative to the handle bars 30 and the rear legs 15, etc. as the vehicle body 2 is deformed between the unfolded state and the folded state. Therefore, when the handle bar 30 and the rear link bar 36 cannot rotate relatively, the vehicle body 2 cannot be deformed. Thereby allowing the stroller 1 to be locked in the unfolded state or the folded state. In addition, as described above, 2 lock receiving grooves 56a are provided on the lock receiving portion 56. In the unfolded state, the lock projection 50a is fitted into one of the lock receiving grooves 56a, and in the folded state, the lock projection 50a is fitted into the other lock receiving groove 56 a. The lock projection 50a and the lock receiving groove 56a cannot be fitted in the process of being deformed between the unfolded state and the folded state.

In this way, in the opening/closing lock mechanism 41, the stroller 1 is locked in the unfolded state or the folded state by fitting the lock projection 50a of the lock member 50 into the lock receiving groove 56a, and the lock receiving groove 56a is located at a position closer to the lock projection 50a with respect to the lower pin 37 as the rotation center of the handle lever 30 and the rear interlocking lever 36. The lock member 50 and the lock receiving portion 56 are engaged in the vicinity of the rotation center, so that the load acting on the fitting portion of the lock projection 50a and the lock receiving groove 56a can be reduced. The lock member 50 and the lock receiving portion 56 can be reduced in size and weight. The lock member 50 is switched between the release position and the lock position by operating an operating handle 48 (see fig. 6 and 7) provided on the communicating portion 44 of the grab bar 31. As described above, the operating handle 48 is connected to a cord pulled into the hand push frame 17, and the top end of the cord is connected to the connecting base 51. The link holder 51 is biased to the locking position by a biasing member (not shown) such as a spring. When the operation handle 48 is operated to the left of the paper surface in fig. 7 against the force of the urging member, the link base 51 is pulled up, and the lock member 50 is moved to the release position.

As shown in fig. 14, a support leg 58 and a fitting block 59 fixed to the inside of the support leg 58 are provided at the lower end portion of the lower rod portion 30c of the handle lever 30 (see also fig. 5). The fitting block 59 protrudes below the handle bar 30 beyond the support leg 58. When the stroller 1 is unfolded from the folded state to the unfolded state, the support legs 58 are fitted into the leg receiving portions 40a of the lower bracket 40, and the fitting blocks 59 are fitted into the recessed portions 40b provided in the leg receiving portions 40 a. Since the support legs 58 contact the leg receiving portions 40a of the lower bracket 40, the handle bar 30 is received by the lower bracket 40 from below. Thus, a part of the downward load acting on the handle lever 30 can be directly supported on the rear leg 15, and the burden on the structural components of the opening/closing lock mechanism 41 can be reduced.

Further, since the fitting block 59 is fitted into the concave portion 40b, the positional change of the handle lever 30 with respect to the rear leg 15 in the left-right direction can be restricted. Therefore, even if the handle lever 30 and the rear leg 15 are connected together by a plurality of members such as the lower pin 37, the rear interlocking lever 36, and the rear connecting pin 39, the rattling of the vehicle body 2 in the deployed state can be more reliably prevented without enlarging the gap between the handle lever 30 and the rear leg 15. Thus, the fitting block 59 and the concave portion 40b of the lower bracket 40 function as a pair of engagement portions. A convex portion similar to the fitting block 59 may be disposed on the lower bracket 40, and a concave portion may be disposed on the lower end of the handle bar 30, so that these members function as a pair of engaging portions. In order to prevent the occurrence of a situation in which fingers may be pinched when the support legs 58 are fitted into the leg receiving portions 40a as the vehicle body 2 is deformed from the folded state to the unfolded state, a standing wall portion 40c is provided in the lower bracket 40, and the standing wall portion 40c surrounds the support legs 58 in the front and left and right directions of the vehicle body 2 (see also fig. 8 and 10).

The materials of the lock member 50, the 1 st to 3 rd holding members 52, 53, 54, the support leg 58, and the fitting block 59 may be appropriately set, but forming these members with resin as a material can reduce the weight of the vehicle body 2. Since the metal handle bar 30 and the metal rear interlocking bar 36 are respectively fitted to the lower pin 37, which is also made of metal, the load transmission path from the handle bar 30 to the rear interlocking bar 36 is formed of a metal member. Also, since the rear interlocking bar 36 is connected to the rear leg 15 by a rear connecting pin 39 made of metal, the load transmission path between the rear interlocking bar 36 and the rear leg 15 is also constituted by a metal member. Therefore, even if the structural members of the 1 st to 3 rd holding members 52, 53, 54 of the opening/closing lock mechanism 41 are made of resin, the load transmission path from the handle lever 30 to the rear leg 15 via the rear interlocking lever 36 is made of a metal member, and the strength and rigidity of the vehicle body 2 can be maintained high.

Next, the seat 3 will be explained. The seat 3 has the following basic structure: the seat material 61 shown in fig. 1 and 2 is attached to the seat frame 60 shown in fig. 3 and 4. As best shown in fig. 10 and 11, the seat frame 60 includes a seat frame 62 and a back frame 63. The seat frame 62 is a portion that becomes a seat frame of the seat 3, and the back frame 63 is a portion that becomes a back frame of the seat 3. The seat frame 62 is configured by bending a single pipe material to integrate a pair of left and right side pipes 62a and a front pipe 62b connecting the front ends of the side pipes 62 a. The front pipe 62b is bent downward with respect to the side pipe 62a, and extends in the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2. The rear end of each side tube 62a is fixed to the 3 rd holding member 54 of the opening/closing lock mechanism 41 (see fig. 15). Thus, the seat frame 62 and the front link 35 are integrally formed, and are rotated between the unfolded state and the folded state about the lower pin 37.

In addition, the back frame 63 has: a pair of left and right side tubes (side members as back support members) 64; a head pipe (head member) 65 extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2 and connecting the side pipes 64. The side tube 64 is fixed to the 2 nd holding member 53 of the opening/closing lock mechanism 41 (see fig. 15). Therefore, the side tube 64 is connected to the handle lever 30 in a rotatable state about the lower pin 37. The head pipe 65 is connected to the side pipe 64 by a connection mechanism 66. The link mechanism 66 includes a pair of link portions 66b and 66c, and the pair of link portions 66b and 66c are connected together and rotatable about a link pin 66 a. The side pipe 64 is fixed to the lower connecting portion 66b, and the head pipe 65 is fixed to the upper connecting portion 66 c. So that the head pipe 65 can be angularly (obliquely) changed with respect to the side pipe 64 centering on the connecting pin 66 a. The upper connecting portion 66c is connected to the upper bracket 32 via a link lever (link member) 67. The front end of the link bar 67 is rotatably connected to the upper bracket 32 by a front pin 68, and the rear end of the link bar 67 is rotatably connected to the upper connecting portion 66c by a rear pin 69. The lower connecting portion 66b of the connecting mechanism 66 functions as a part of the side tube 64, and the upper connecting portion 66c functions as a part of the head tube 65. Thus, the handle bar 30, the side tube 64, the head tube 65 and the linkage bar 67 constitute a four-bar linkage.

As shown in fig. 10 and 11, when the side pipe 64 of the back frame 63 is tilted rearward about the lower pin 37, the head pipe 65 is pulled up by the link rod 67 with respect to the side pipe 64 and is rotated about the connection pin 66 a. As shown in fig. 12 and 13, when the side tube 64 of the back frame 63 is pulled up by the handle lever 30 about the lower pin 37, the head tube 65 is pressed by the interlinking lever 67 and is rotated clockwise in fig. 12 about the connecting pin 66 a. Thus, the connecting portions 66b, 66c of the connecting mechanism 66 are aligned in a straight line, and the head pipe 65 changes the inclination in the following manner: the tip end portion thereof is bent rearward with respect to the extension line of the side pipe 64. The clockwise rotational movement of the upper connecting portion 66c relative to the lower connecting portion 66b in the connecting mechanism 66 is limited to a position slightly offset clockwise from the position shown in fig. 12, and the connecting mechanism 66 cannot further rotate clockwise beyond this position. The rotational movement can be restricted as such by providing a stopper member or the like that restricts the rotational range between the lower connecting portion 66b and the upper connecting portion 66c, for example.

The seat material 61 is joined to the tubes 62a, 62b, 64, and 65 of the seat frame 60 in a state where appropriate tension is applied to these members. Fig. 17 and 18 show a state in which the seat material 61 is attached. As an example, a mesh cloth having a plurality of through holes may be used as the seat material 61. As is apparent from fig. 13 and 15, a tube holding member 54b is formed on the 3 rd holding member 54 of the left and right opening/closing lock mechanisms 41, the tube holding member 54b is formed integrally with the 3 rd holding member 54, and an end portion of a seat support tube (seat support member) 70 extending in the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2 is attached to the tube holding member 54 b. The seat support pipe 70 rotates together with the side pipe 64 of the back frame 63 about the lower pin 37. In addition, the tube holding portion 54b is in contact with the rear interlocking bar 37 from the left-right direction inner side. Thereby, the rigidity of the vehicle body 2 in the right-left direction can be improved.

As is clear from fig. 18, a connecting band 71 is attached to the back surface side of the seat material 61 at a position near the boundary between the seat frame 62 and the back frame 63, and the connecting band 71 forms a loop. By inserting the seat support tube 70 through the connection band 71, the connection band 71 is locked to the seat support tube 70 in a state where an appropriate tension is applied. Thus, the seat material 61 is clearly divided into regions corresponding to the seat section 3a and the back section 3b, respectively, with the attachment position of the connection strap 71 as a boundary. Further, a seat belt 72 for restraining an infant is attached to the seat member 61.

According to the above configuration of the seat 3, the seat 3 itself can be completed in advance as a subassembly by attaching the accessory such as the seat belt 72 after the seat material 61 is pasted to the seat frame 60. The seat 3, which is assembled as a subassembly, can be mounted on the vehicle body 2 as follows: the side tube 62a of the seat frame 62 is fixed to the 3 rd holding member 54 of the opening/closing lock mechanism 41, the side tube 64 of the back frame 63 is fixed to the 2 nd holding member 53 of the opening/closing lock mechanism 41, the seat support tube 70 is inserted into the loop formed by the connection band 71, and then the connection mechanism 66 and the upper bracket 32 are connected by the interlocking rod 67. In this way, since the assembly work of the seat 3 and the mounting work of the seat 3 on the vehicle body 2 can be clearly distinguished, the efficiency of the mounting work related to the seat can be improved.

In order to ensure stability of the back portion 3b by connecting the back portion 3b of the seat 3 to the handle bar 30 and to adjust the inclination of the back portion 3b, an inclination adjustment belt 73 (see fig. 2) serving as a mechanism for adjusting the inclination of the back frame 63 is provided on the back surface side of the seat 3. The reclining belt 73 is disposed so as to surround the outside of the back portion 3b of the seat 3 in the left-right direction of the vehicle body 2, and both ends thereof are fixed to the handle bars 30 of the stroller frame 17. The tilt adjusting belt 73 can be adjusted in length by using an adjusting knob 73 a. The tilt adjustment belt 73 is lengthened, the back portion 3b is tilted, the tilt adjustment belt 73 is shortened, and the back portion 3b is raised.

Thereby enabling the seat back angle adjusting function of the seat 3. However, the mechanism for adjusting the inclination of the back frame 63 is not limited to the inclination adjustment belt 73, and can be modified as appropriate. For example, other connection members than the band members, the length of which can be adjusted, may be separately provided between both sides of the back frame 63 and the left and right handle bars 30.

Next, the rear wheel 26 and its surrounding structure will be described in detail. As shown in fig. 19 and 20, a rear leg attachment portion 80 and an axle support portion 81 are integrally formed on the rear wheel holding member 24. The rear leg attachment portion 80 is provided with a fitting recess 80a, and the lower end of the rear leg 15 is fitted into the fitting recess 80a, so that the rear leg 15 and the rear wheel holding member 24 are integrally connected. The rear cross member 19 is also fixed to the rear leg attachment portion 80. As shown in fig. 21, the axle 25 of the rear wheel portion 12 is attached to the axle support portion 81. The rear wheel 26 has: a wheel main body 82 made of resin; and a tire 83 made of an elastic material fitted to the wheel body 82. The wheel body 82 has a hub 82a, spokes 82b and a rim 82 c. The number of spokes 82b is set to 3 for the purpose of weight reduction (see fig. 1). For reinforcement purposes, a plurality of ribs 82d are provided on the rim 82 c. Each front wheel 22 has a structure in which a wheel body and a tire are combined, and the number of spokes of the wheel body is 3, as in the case of the rear wheel 26.

The hub 82a is fitted to the axle 25 via a collar 84 as a bearing member.

The collar 84 is fitted to the hub 82a so as to be rotatable together therewith, and the collar 84 is rotatable relative to the axle 25. Therefore, even when the axle 25 is made of metal and the wheel body 82 is made of resin, sliding occurs between the collar 84 and the axle 25, and abrasion does not occur between the boss 82a and the collar 84, or the abrasion speed is extremely slow even if abrasion occurs. When a non-negligible gap is formed between the axle 25 and the collar 84 due to wear or deformation of the collar 84, the rear wheel 26 can be prevented from rattling with respect to the axle 25 and from being reinforced by replacing the collar 84. The axle 25 is attached to the axle support portion 81 such that the flange portion 25a at one end thereof is positioned outside the rear wheel 26. The other end side of the axle 25 projects inward of the axle support 81 and is fixed by a fixing member 85 such as a retaining ring so as not to fall off. A washer 86 is provided between the flange portion 25a of the axle 25 and the collar 84. The rear wheel 26 is restrained from tilting relative to the axle 25 by the washer 86. A washer 87 is provided between the fixed member 85 and the axle bearing portion 81. The washer 87 prevents wear of the end surface of the axle support 81 facing the fixed member 85, and suppresses the axial play of the axle 25. Accordingly, the stability of the axle 25 is improved, and the effect of preventing the rear wheels 26 from tilting with respect to the axle 25 is further enhanced. However, when the same effect can be obtained by the fixing member 85, the washer 87 may be omitted. Also, the rear wheel 26 is mounted on the axle 25 in the following manner: in the region of the rear wheel 26 above the axle 25, the inner end surface 82e of the boss 82a contacts the restricting surface 81a of the axle support portion 81. Therefore, even if only one rear wheel 26 is provided at one rear wheel portion 12, the upper portion of the rear wheel 26 can be suppressed from falling inward in the axle direction, that is, the rear wheel 26 can be suppressed from tilting in the direction indicated by the arrow a in fig. 21.

As shown in fig. 19 and 20, a rear wheel locking mechanism 90 for locking the rear wheel 26 against rotation is further provided between the rear wheel 26 and the rear wheel holding member 24. The rear wheel locking mechanism 90 includes: an operation pedal (lock operation member) 92 which is rotatably attached to the rear wheel holding member 24 about a pin 91 serving as a rotation shaft; and a plurality of protrusions 93 provided inside the hub 82a of the rear wheel 26. The protrusion 93 is formed integrally with the wheel main body 82, and the protrusion 93 constitutes a part of the hub 82 a. The end surface 82e of the boss 82a is constituted by the end surfaces of the projections 93. As shown in fig. 22, the plurality of projections 93 are provided at a constant pitch around the axle 25. Fig. 22 shows a state in which the operating pedal 92 and the projection 93 are in a relationship when viewed from a direction parallel to the axle 25, and the right side of the drawing corresponds to the rear of the vehicle body 2.

Each of the protrusions 93 has: a base 93a extending in a radial direction of the hub 82 a; and an enlarged portion 93b disposed on the outer peripheral side of the base portion 93 a. Further, a cylindrical stopper pin (stopper portion) 92a is provided on the operating pedal 92. A pair of operation portions 92b and 92c are provided on the surface of the operation pedal 92, and when the user selectively steps on these operation portions 92b and 92c, the operation pedal 92 swings like a seesaw about the pin 91. When the operating portion 92b located on the left side of the paper surface in fig. 2 is stepped on, the operating pedal 92 rotates counterclockwise about the pin 91, moves to the unlocking position shown by the solid line, and the stopper pin 92a moves rearward away from the projecting portion 93 (projecting portion 93). When the operating portion 92c on the right side of the sheet of fig. 2 is stepped on, the operating pedal 82 rotates clockwise about the pin 91 and moves to the lock position, and the stopper pin 92a fits into the pin receiving groove 94 formed by the gap between the protrusions 93. In this case, regardless of whether the rear wheel 26 is rotated in the forward direction or in the backward direction, the protrusion 93 and the stopper pin 92 are fitted in the circumferential direction of the axle 25, and the boss 82a is restrained in the circumferential direction, so that the rear wheel 26 cannot be rotated. Since the enlarged portion 93b is provided on the outer peripheral side of the projecting portion 93, the stopper pin 92a can be prevented from coming off due to the moment acting on the rear wheel 26. By setting the following relationship between the stopper pin 92a and the projection 93, the effect of preventing the stopper pin 92a from coming off can be reliably exhibited.

As shown in fig. 23, an arc drawn by centering the center position SC of the stopper pin 92a around the axle 25 is set as the rotation locus C1 of the protrusion 93, and an arc drawn by centering the center position SC of the stopper pin 92a around the pin 91 as a rotation axis is set as the rotation locus C2 of the stopper pin 92 a. When the tangent lines α and β are drawn from the intersection point P of the rotational loci C1 and C2 with respect to the rotational loci C1 and C2, the relationship between the stopper pin 92a and the projection 93 is set such that the angle θ between the tangent lines α and β is substantially 90 °. Therefore, in the state where the stopper pin 92a is fitted in the pin receiving groove 94, even if a moment in either of the forward direction and the backward direction acts on the rear wheel 26, a thrust force acts between the protrusion 93 and the stopper pin 92a along the tangent line α, and a component force from the direction in which the stopper pin 92a is pushed out from the pin receiving groove 94 does not act, or acts very little if at all. Therefore, the locking effect of the rear wheel locking mechanism 90 on the rear wheel 26 can be reliably exhibited. In addition, as for the angle θ, as long as a component force enough to push the stopper pin 92a out of the pin receiving groove 94 is not generated, several allowable ranges may be set with respect to 90 °. "substantially 90 °" means that a range (allowable range) like this is included.

The outer peripheral side of the enlarged portion 93b provided in the projecting portion 93 of the hub 82a is tapered so as to become thinner toward the tip. By providing such a taper, the stopper pin 92a is easily inserted into the pin receiving groove 94. Further, a hole 92d is formed between the operating portions 92b, 92c of the operating pedal 92. At least one of the following symbols is provided on the rear wheel holding member 24: a lock indicator appearing in the hole 92d when the operating pedal 92 is located at the lock position; when the operating pedal 92 is located at the lock release position, a lock release indicator appears in the hole 92 d. By confirming the above-mentioned identification, the user is allowed to discriminate whether the rear wheel 26 is in the locked state or in the rotated state.

Fig. 24 and 25 show the shaft cover 100. The axle cap 100 is optionally mounted to each of the outer sides of the front wheel 22 (but only to the outer front wheel) and the rear wheel 26 for decorative purposes. Fig. 4 and 19 show the end cap 100 in an assembled state. The end caps 100 for the front wheel and the end caps 100 for the rear wheel have the same structure although they have different sizes. Accordingly, the structure of the end cap 100 of the rear wheel 26 will be described below by way of example. The end cap 100 has a disk-like shape and is formed with a through hole 101 at a central portion thereof. On the back surface side (the side shown in fig. 25) of the shaft cover 100, there are provided: a rib 102 fitted to the rear surface side of the axle cover 100 along the inner periphery of the rim 82c of the rear wheel 26; and claw portions 103 which protrude further from the ribs 102. The shaft cover 100 is attached to the rear wheel 26 by fixing the claw portions 103 to the inside of the rim 82 c. When the axle cover 100 is attached to the rear wheel 26, the claw portions 103 are hidden on the back surface side of the axle cover 100, and therefore the user cannot see the claw portions 103. Therefore, when the shaft cover 100 is subjected to a surface treatment for the purpose of improving functionality, for example, a plating treatment for the purpose of improving appearance or a coating treatment for the purpose of improving wear resistance, the claw portions 103 may be excluded from the range of the treatment target. Therefore, problems associated with the surface treatment, such as poor engagement due to dimensional changes, embrittlement, and an increase in the risk of breakage due to a decrease in elasticity, can be prevented. When the surface treatment is performed by immersing in a treatment liquid such as a plating liquid, it is not necessary to immerse the claw portions 103 in the treatment liquid. Therefore, masking of the claw portion 103 is not required, and man-hours can be reduced.

Fig. 26 shows the step portion 18. The footrest 18 is provided at a place where an infant seated on the seat 3 places his or her feet, and functions as a member for connecting the left and right front legs 14 and reinforcing the vehicle body 2 in the left-right direction. The step portion 18 is a resin molded product. Leg fitting holes 18a through which the front legs 14 pass are provided at both ends of the foot support portion 18. A step surface 18b for placing a foot is formed between the leg fitting holes 18 a. The step surface 18b is configured as a stepped surface formed by making the rear portion 18d lower than the front portion 18 c. By providing the step surface 18b as such, the apparent width of the step portion 18 in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 2 can be reduced. Fig. 27 shows a structure of the back surface side of the foot support portion 18. In order to provide the necessary strength to the step portion 18, ribs 18e are formed on the back surface side of the step portion 18 in a longitudinal and transverse direction as necessary. The ribs 18e may also be arranged differently. The rib 18e may be provided at a position limited to a position required for enhancing strength or rigidity.

Fig. 28 is an enlarged view of the sun shield 4 and its surroundings, and fig. 29 is an enlarged view of a mounting portion of the sun shield 4 with respect to the hand push frame 17. The sun visor 4 has a sun visor support mechanism 110 and a sun visor body 111. As shown clearly in fig. 29, the sunshade support mechanism 110 includes: a pair of sunshade brackets (only one side is shown in fig. 29) 112 mounted on the left and right handle bars 30 of the hand push frame 17; a pair of sunshade bases 113 which are mounted on and detachable from the pair of sunshade brackets 112; a sun shade support rod 114 disposed between the pair of sun shade bases 113 (see also fig. 4). The sunshade base 113 includes: a mounting portion 113a mounted on the sunshade bracket 112; and a rotating portion 113c attached to the mounting portion 113a and rotatable about the pin 113 b. The mounting portion 113a can be detached from the sunshade bracket 112 by pushing the operating handle 113 d.

The mounting portion 113a and the rotating portion 113c are made of resin. A position holding mechanism (not shown) is provided between the mounting portion 113a and the rotating portion 113c, and selectively holds the rotating portion 113c at one of a plurality of stop positions within its rotational range by the elasticity of resin. The position holding mechanism is configured, for example, as follows: when the position holding mechanism is configured as described above, the rotation of the rotating portion 113c is restricted and these uneven portions function as the position holding mechanism by alternately forming the uneven portions between the facing surfaces of the mounting portion 113a and the rotating portion 113c around the axis of the rotating portion 113c, that is, the pin 113b, and fitting the convex portions facing each other into the concave portions of the other facing surface to stop the rotation of the rotating portion 113 c. A strut fitting portion 113e is integrally formed on the rotating portion 113 c.

The sun shade stay 114 is a resin band-shaped member, and both ends thereof are fixed to the stay fitting portions 113e of the left and right sun shade bases 113, so that the sun shade stay 114 is supported between the sun shade bases 113 in an upwardly curved state. The sun visor support rod 114 is held by a position holding mechanism built in the sun visor base 113 at one of a plurality of stop positions including an extended position when the sun visor 4 is extended and a retracted position when the sun visor 4 is folded.

The sunshade main body 111 includes: a awning 115 formed by cutting an awning material into an appropriate shape; and a plurality of resin sunshade ribs 116 attached to appropriate positions on the inner surface side of the sunshade 115. An elastic material is used as the material of the sunshade. The front end of the canopy 115 is connected to the canopy stay 114 so as to roll the canopy stay 114 inside. When the canopy 115 of the sunshade 4 is deployed as shown in fig. 28, the canopy ribs 116 are fixed to the canopy 115 so as to be spaced at appropriate intervals in the front-rear direction of the vehicle body 2. Both ends of the sunshade rib 116 are concentrated near the sunshade base 113, but are not fixed to the sunshade base 113.

A winding portion 117 capable of winding around the handle bar 30 of the hand push frame 17 is provided on both sides of the awning 115. The connection position of the winding portion 117 with respect to the sunroof 115 corresponds to the position of the 3 rd sunshade rib 116 counted from the front end of the sunroof 115. The handle bar 30 is wound with the left and right winding portions 117, and the winding portions 117 and the awning 115 are fixed to each other by a pair of upper and lower snap fasteners 118, so that both sides of the awning 115 can be connected to the handle bar 30 while holding the 3 rd awning rib 116 along the handle bar 30. Further, on both sides of the awning 115, and at the portion where the awning ribs 116 are concentrated, there are provided snap ring portions 115a which can be fixed to the mounting portion 113a (or the rotating portion 113c) of the awning base 113. By fixing the clasp portion 115a to the mounting portion 113a, both ends of each sunshade rib 116 are substantially fixed in the vicinity of the mounting portion 113 a.

An extension 115b is provided on the rear end side of the sunroof 115 toward the rear of the vehicle body 2. The expanded portion 115b is sewn in a bag shape, and its rear end portion can cover the back surface side of the back portion 3b of the seat 3 when the back portion 3b is in a laid-down state (see also fig. 6). Therefore, even when the back portion of the seat 3 is in a laid-down state, the region above the back portion 3b of the seat 3 can be covered by the sunroof 115. A connecting member such as a snap fastener for connecting the extension portion 115b and the back portion 3b of the seat 3 is provided between the extension portion 115b and the back portion 3b, and the seat 3 and the sunroof 115 can be connected to each other by the connecting member.

In the sunshade 4 as described above, the folding state and the unfolding state of the sunshade 115 can be switched by rotating the sunshade stay 114 of the sunshade support mechanism 110 about the pin 113b of the sunshade base 113. In the deployed state of the canopy 115, the canopy stay 114 is held in a position projecting substantially horizontally forward of the handle bar 30 by a position holding mechanism provided in the canopy base 113, and the canopy 115 is stretched in the front-rear direction and is subjected to an appropriate tension. Further, the 3 rd sunshade rib 116 is held along the handle bar 30 by the winding portion 117, and the buckle portion 115a is fixed to the sunshade base 113, so that both end portions of each sunshade rib 116 are held substantially near the sunshade base 113. Therefore, the following structure does not need to be added: the sunshade ribs 116 are mounted to the sunshade base 113 to hold these components in a fixed position. Further, even if another member such as a frame or a spring for keeping the distance between the sunshade stay 114 and the sunshade rib 116 or the distance between the sunshade ribs 116 constant is not provided in the front-rear direction, the awning 115 can be kept in a substantially constant expanded shape by the elasticity of the awning 115. Thereby, the number of parts of the sunshade 4 can be reduced.

Referring to fig. 1 to 5, the basket 5 is formed by sewing a material such as a mesh cloth into a box shape. The basket 5 is suspended from the vehicle body 2 by the connecting bands 120 arranged at the four corners of the upper edge portion thereof. As shown in fig. 8, the front side of the basket 5 is suspended from a front connecting pin 38 connecting the front linkage 35 and the front leg 14 by a connecting strap 120. The rear side of the basket 5 is suspended by a connecting strap 120 from a rear connecting pin 39 connecting the rear linkage 36 and the rear leg 15. Fig. 30 and 31 show a detailed structure of the connection band 120. The base portion 120a of the connecting band 120 on one end side is sewn to the basket 5, whereby the connecting band 120 is fixed to the upper edge portion of the basket 5. By bending the connecting band 120 itself and sewing them together, stoppers 120b protruding to both the front and back sides of the connecting band 120 are formed at the tip end of the connecting band 120. A hook 121 is fixed to the base portion 120a of the connection band 120 at a connection position by a ring band 122. The endless belt 122 is sewn to the base portion 120a of the connecting belt 120, and is sewn to the storage basket 5 at a predetermined connecting position SP. A notch 121a through which the connecting band 120 can pass is formed at the top end of the hook 121.

Therefore, the connection band 120 is folded back after being wound around the front connection pin 38 and the rear connection pin 39, and the portion closer to the base 120a than the stopper 120b is inserted into the hook 121 from the cutout 120a, so that the stopper 120b is caught by the hook 121, and the connection band 120 is blocked from falling out of the hook 121. So that the basket 5 can be hung on the front and rear connection pins 38 and 39 through the connection strap 120. Since the stopper 120b is formed by overlapping and connecting the connecting band 120 itself, the number of components required for attaching the storage basket 5 can be reduced as compared with a case where another component is attached to the connecting band 120 and functions as a stopper.

Next, the structure of the armrest 16 and its surroundings for preventing pinching of fingers will be described in detail. Fig. 32 is an enlarged side view showing the armrest 16 and its surrounding structure in a folded state, fig. 33 is a front view as viewed from the XXXII direction indicated by the arrow in fig. 32, and fig. 34 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line XXXIV-XXXIV in fig. 32. As is clear from fig. 32, in the folded state of the stroller 1, the handle connecting portion 16b is inclined downward with respect to the leg attachment portion 16a, as opposed to the unfolded state. In this case, the front legs 14 and the rear legs 15 are close to each other around the leg attachment portions 16a, and the armrest 16 is covered by the rear legs 15. Therefore, when the user is deformed from the unfolded state to the folded state, the user may inadvertently put a finger around the fulcrum pin 39, and the finger may be pinched. Therefore, as described above, the front leg 14 is offset to the front of the fulcrum pin 29 with respect to the rear leg 15 and connected to the rear leg 15, thereby ensuring the gap S1 between the front leg 14 and the rear leg 15 in the folded state. The size of the gap S1 is set to be equal to or larger than the minimum value of the gap amount necessary for preventing the finger from being pinched (hereinafter referred to as the necessary gap amount). The required gap amount may be set to a certain safety value estimated for the estimated range of the finger thickness of the user. When the required amount of play is defined according to a standard other than the safety standard for the stroller, the value thereof may be set as the required amount of play. For example, if an arc having a diameter equal to or larger than the required gap amount is assumed as to whether or not the gap equal to or larger than the required gap amount is secured, and if the gap including the arc exists in the folded state, it can be determined that the gap equal to or larger than the required gap amount is secured. In fig. 32, the approximate position of the gap S1 is indicated by a circle formed by a broken line. In the following, other gaps are also indicated by the same circles in the drawings. However, the circles in the drawings indicate only the positions of the gaps, and do not indicate the ranges or amounts of the gaps.

As is clear from fig. 33 and 34, the armrest 16 includes: the top plate 16 c; and a pair of side plates 16d and 16e extending along both side edges of the roof plate 16c and facing the left and right direction of the vehicle body 2. The inner region of the armrest 16 surrounded by the top plate 16c and the side plates 16d and 16e is a hollow, and the hollow opens to the lower surface side of the armrest 16, in other words, to the side facing the rear leg 15. So that the rear legs 15 can enter the inside of the armrest 16 in the folded state. In order to prevent the finger from being pinched between the armrest 16 and the rear leg 15, the side plates 16d, 16e of the armrest 16 are disposed so as not to be left-right symmetrical with respect to the center line CL1 in the width direction of the rear leg 15. First, the lateral plate 16d on the outer side in the left-right direction of the stroller 1 is provided so as to largely bulge outward of the rear leg 15, and the distance from the center line CL1 to the lateral plate 16d is larger than the distance from the center line CL1 to the lateral plate 16 e. Accordingly, in a state where a part of the rear leg 15 enters the inside of the armrest 16, a gap S2 having a size equal to or larger than a required gap amount is secured between the rear leg 15 and the side panel 16 d. Therefore, even if the user puts a finger inside the side plate 16d of the armrest 16 when folding the stroller 1, the finger is not pinched between the rear leg 15 and the side plate 16 d.

The inner side panel 16e is closer to the center line CL1 than the side panel 16 d. The reason is that the side panel 16e is located inside, it is difficult to estimate the possibility that the user puts his fingers on the inner surface of the side panel 16e when folding, and when the side panel 16e inside the armrest 16 protrudes excessively on the seat 3, the space on the seat 3 is compressed in the left-right direction, which impairs the comfort of the infant. In the folded state, the lower bracket 40 on the rear leg 15 approaches the armrest 16, and in particular, the leg receiving portion 40a (see fig. 8) moves over the side plates 16d, 16e until it substantially enters the inside of the armrest 16. Therefore, as shown in fig. 34, a gap S3 equal to or larger than a required gap amount is also ensured between the top plate 16c and the leg receiving portion 40 a. As shown in fig. 35 and 36, a concave portion 16f is formed in the side plate 16e so as to positionally match the lower bracket 40 in the folded state. So that the gap S3 passes through the recess 16f to the exterior of the armrest 16, more specifically to the exterior of the side panel 16 e. In addition, the recessed portion 16f is not limited to the position of the leg receiving portion 40a, and may be provided at an appropriate position of the side plate 16e as needed.

As shown in fig. 35, the upper pin 34 connecting the handle connecting portion 16b of the armrest 16 and the upper bracket 32 on the handle lever 30 is offset forward of the lower lever portion 30c of the handle lever 30. Therefore, in the folded state, the gap S4 is secured between the top panel 16c of the armrest 16 and the lower bar 30c of the handle bar 30 by a predetermined gap amount or more.

In addition to the gaps S1 to S4, gaps S5 to S14 having a size equal to or larger than a required gap amount are secured in the stroller 1 to prevent the fingers from being pinched. The following description is made in order. As shown in fig. 35, a gap S5 is provided between the sun shade base 113 of the sun shade support mechanism 110 and the top panel 16c of the armrest 16. As shown in fig. 33, in the seat frame 60, the link bar 67 of the back frame 63 is bent in two stages in the left-right direction between both end portions thereof, thereby ensuring a gap S6 between the end portion on the side of the front pin 68 and the side tube 64 and a gap S7 between the end portion on the side of the rear pin 69 and the sunshade base 113 and the sunshade stay 114. Both end portions of the link 67 are further bent in the front-rear direction with respect to the intermediate portion, so that a gap S8 is ensured centering on the front pin 68 and a gap S9 is ensured centering on the rear pin 69.

Fig. 37 is a view showing a state in which the periphery of the lower pin 37 is viewed from the arrow XXXVII direction in fig. 5, and fig. 38 is a view showing a state in which the periphery of the lower pin 37 is viewed from the inside of the stroller 1. As shown in these figures, a clearance larger than a required clearance amount is secured at several positions around the lower pin 37. As described above, the 1 st, 2 nd, and 3 rd holding members 52, 53, 54 are attached in this order in the axial direction of the lower pin 37, the rear interlinking rod 36 is fixed to the 1 st holding member 52, the side pipe 64 of the back frame 63 is fixed to the 2 nd holding member 53, and the side pipe 62a of the seat frame 62 is fixed to the 3 rd holding member 54. The handle lever 30 and the rear leg 15 are in the same position in the left-right direction of the stroller 1 (the axial direction of the lower pin 37), and the rear interlocking lever 37 extends straight from the 1 st holding member 52 and is connected to the rear leg 15 by the rear connecting pin 39. Thus, a gap S10 is provided between the rear leg 15 and the rear linkage bar 37. Further, in order to maintain the gap S10, the washer 39a is fitted to the outer periphery of the rear link pin 39. In addition, according to the thicknesses of the 1 st and 2 nd holding members 52, 53 in the axial direction, a gap S11 is ensured between the rear interlocking lever 36 and the 2 nd holding member 53, and S12 is ensured between the rear interlocking lever 36 and the side tube 64.

In order to secure the width of the seat 3, the side tube 62a of the seat frame 62 connected to the 3 rd holding member 53 is bent so as to protrude outward in the left-right direction from the connecting portion with the 3 rd holding member 54, but the amount of bending is limited so that a gap S13 is generated between the side tube 62a and the handle bar 30. As is clear from fig. 38, a gap S14 is also ensured between the connection portion of the side tube 64 to the 2 nd holding member 53 and the connection portion of the side tube 62a to the 3 rd holding member 54.

Next, the storage of the back portion 3b (see fig. 1) when the stroller 1 is in the folded state will be described. As is apparent from fig. 5, when the stroller 1 is in the folded state, the back frame 63 of the seat frame 60 (in other words, the back 3b of the seat 3) can be moved to the storage position when standing up on the side of the handle bar 30 of the vehicle body 2. Fig. 39 to 41 show the following states: when the stroller 1 is in the folded state, the back frame 63 is folded into the handle bar 30 side. However, fig. 39 shows a state in which the back frame 63 is in the extended position when it is tilted backward. As described above, the side pipe 64 of the back frame 63 is connected to the handle bar 30 and pivots about the lower pin 37 with respect to the handle bar 30. Therefore, when the back frame 63 (back 3b) is moved to the storage position, the back frame 63 may naturally fall to the extended position without restricting the rotation of the back frame 63 in some way. Next, a structure for holding the back frame 63 at the storage position will be described with reference to fig. 42.

Fig. 42 is a diagram schematically showing a case where the back frame 63 is a four-link mechanism, where point a represents a connecting pin 66a, point B represents a back pin 69, point C represents a front pin 68, point D represents a lower pin 37, point D corresponds to a back connecting point, point a corresponds to a head connecting point, point C corresponds to a front connecting point, and point B corresponds to a back connecting point. First, when a point CD attached to (on) the same handle lever 30 is fixed, a rotation locus a centered on a point D is drawn from the point a, and a rotation locus B centered on a point C is drawn from the point B. In addition, the point B is relatively rotated about the point a. However, the rotational movement of point B with respect to point a is limited. That is, when the back frame 63 is moved from the extended position to the storage position Ps, the rotational movement around the point B is allowed until the back frame 63 reaches the limit position Px where the head pipe 65 is inclined slightly rearward from the position where the connection portion between the side pipe 64 and the head pipe 65 is aligned on a straight line. When the back frame 63 moves beyond the limit position Px to the region on the side of the storage position Ps, the rotational movement is limited between the connection portions 66B, 66c of the connection mechanism 66, and therefore the point B cannot relatively rotate about the point a. In fig. 42, when the point B reaches the position P1, the back frame 63 is at the restriction position Px. The position of point B at this time is referred to as a limit start point P1. At the limit start point P1, a point B is defined as an intersection point on two different trajectories of the rotational trajectory Bt centered on the point C and the rotational trajectory Dt centered on the point D. Therefore, if the back frame 63 is an all-rigid body, the point B cannot move to the storage position Ps side beyond the limit starting point P1. However, since the back frame 63 is not an all-rigid body in practice, the point B can be moved beyond the limit starting point P1 by, for example, elastically deforming the interlink lever 67. The further the locus Bt and Et are separated from each other, the larger the elastic deformation amount.

As clearly shown in fig. 42, the turning locus B, E also intersects with an inflection point P2 other than the limit start point P1, and the position where the inflection point P2 and the point B coincide is the storage position Ps of the back frame 63. When the point B is at the inflection point P2, the back frame 63 is released from the elastically deformed state as when at the limit starting point P1. When the point B moves further to the left of the drawing sheet of fig. 42 (i.e., further in the direction of folding back frame 63) beyond the inflection point P2, the pivot loci Bt and Et are separated again, and the back frame 63 is elastically deformed. That is, the back frame 63 is elastically deformed in any direction of the point B with the inflection point P2 as a boundary, and the restoring force against the elastic deformation acts in the direction of returning the point B to the inflection point P2. Thus, the position of the back frame 63 when the point B coincides with the inflection point P2 is set as the storage position Ps. That is, when the back frame 63 is moved to the storage position Ps, the point B coincides with the inflection point P2, and the back frame 63 is held at the storage position Ps. When the point B is located between the limit start point P1 and the inflection point P2, as is clear from the difference in the trajectories Bt and Et, the amount of elastic deformation of the back frame 63 reaches the maximum at the intermediate position between the points P1 and P2, and gradually decreases as the point B moves to the inflection point P2 side beyond the intermediate position. Since the restoring force caused by the elastic deformation acts in the direction of reducing the amount of elastic deformation, if the point B moves to the side of the point P2 beyond the intermediate position between the points P1 and P2, a force is applied to the back frame 63 to move it to the storage position Ps. Therefore, if a stopper member for restricting the movement of the back frame 63 to the storage position Ps is added to the vehicle body 2 at an arbitrary position between the intermediate position between the points P1 and P2 and the inflection point P2 at the point B, the back frame 63 is pushed to the stopper member side by the elastic restoring force generated therein. Even if this position is set to the storage position Ps, the back frame 63 can be held at the storage position Ps by the restoring force generated along with the elastic deformation.

The regulation position Px of the back frame 63 is set outside a range (a movement range of the back 3b) in which the inclination of the back frame 63 in the deployed state of the vehicle body 2 can be adjusted. That is, if the inclination of the back section 3b in the unfolded state is adjusted, the rotation between the connection sections 66b and 66c of the connection mechanism 66 is not restricted, and when the back frame 63 is raised slightly forward from the extended position shown in fig. 39 in the folded state, the connection structure of the connection sections 66b and 66c of the connection mechanism 66 centering on the connection pin 66a is formed so that the back frame 63 reaches the restricted position. As shown in fig. 39 to 41, the back frame 63 is provided with a gap S15 centered on the connection pin 66a of the connection mechanism 66 and a gap S16 centered on the lower pin 37 as gaps having a size equal to or larger than a necessary gap amount for preventing fingers from being caught in addition to the gaps S8 and S9 described above.

Fig. 43 is a view showing a stroller 1A according to a modification corresponding to fig. 4. This stroller 1A differs from the stroller 1 in the following respects: in the back frame 63 of the seat 3, the side tubes 64 and the head tube 65 are formed integrally, the connecting mechanism 66 and the interlocking bar 67 shown in fig. 10 to 13 are omitted, and the handle bar 30 and the grip bar 31 are connected in such a manner that the angle cannot be adjusted, and the connector 45 is removed. The stroller 1A is otherwise identical to the stroller 1. Therefore, in fig. 42, the same portions as those of the stroller 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those of fig. 4, and the description thereof will be omitted. In addition, in the stroller 1A, as in fig. 1 and 2, a seat material is attached to a seat frame, and a sunshade and a basket are attached.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the modifications thereof, and may be implemented in various other embodiments. For example, the sunshade 4 and the bracket 5 may be omitted, the structure of the seat 3 is not limited to the above-described one, and various structures of seats equipped in a known stroller may be mounted on the body. The configurations of the front wheel portion and the rear wheel portion are not limited to the above-described manner. For example, the rear wheel portion may be two wheels. The lower rod portion of the handle rod may be further bent more than one time between the bent portion and the lower end thereof. The opening/closing lock mechanism may be provided in place of or together with the rear interlocking member to lock the relative rotation of the front interlocking member and the handle lever. The lock member of the opening/closing lock mechanism is not limited to the one that is remotely operated by the opening/closing operation portion to switch between the lock position and the release position. The open/close lock mechanism may be configured such that the user directly operates the left and right lock members. A lock receiving groove may be provided on the lock member, and a lock protrusion may be provided on the lock receiving portion.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the modifications thereof, and may be implemented in various other embodiments. For example, although the wheel device according to the present invention is applied to the rear wheel in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the rear wheel, and may be applied to the front wheel. The stroller to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the stroller described above, and may be applied to a stroller having a different body structure, or may be applied to a stroller having a different purpose from that of the stroller. The wheel apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the case where one wheel is mounted on one wheel holding member via an axle. Even in the case where a plurality of wheels are mounted on the same axle, it is possible to lock the rotation of some or all of the wheels according to the present invention. The invention is not limited to four-wheeled carts and may be applied to carts with three or fewer than three wheels, or with five or more than five wheels.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the modifications thereof, and may be implemented in various other embodiments. For example, if a seat is formed as a subassembly by attaching seat materials to the seat frame and the back frame, the front pipe and the head pipe may be provided to the seat frame and the back frame, and a reinforcing member for connecting the side pipes in the left-right direction may be appropriately provided in addition to the front pipe and the head pipe, as long as the formation of the seat is not hindered. For example, the present invention can be applied to a stroller in which an extension line of a handle lever is directed toward a rear wheel side. The invention can also be applied to a baby carriage with a non-foldable body. The seat of the present invention may also be adapted for use with a stroller that does not have a sun shield. The bracket may be omitted. The configurations of the front wheel portion and the rear wheel portion are not limited to the above-described manner. For example, the rear wheel portion may be a two-wheel type, and the seat and sunshade of the present invention may be applied to a three-wheel type stroller in which the front wheel is disposed at the center of the body.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the modifications thereof, and may be implemented in various other embodiments. For example, the present invention is not limited to a pushchair, but may be applied to a pushchair whose body is not foldable. The present invention can also be applied to a stroller in which an extension line of the handle bar is directed toward the rear wheel side. The structure of the seat is not limited to the above example, and may be modified as appropriate. The sun shade and the storage basket can be omitted. The configurations of the front wheel portion and the rear wheel portion are not limited to the above-described manner. For example, the rear wheel portion may be two wheels. The present invention is not limited to a four-wheel type stroller in which front and rear legs are respectively disposed on the left and right sides of a vehicle body, and can be applied to a three-wheel type stroller in which a front wheel is disposed in the center of a vehicle body.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the modifications thereof, and may be implemented in various other embodiments. For example, the stroller of the present invention is not limited to the following structural examples: in the unfolded state, the upper rod portion of the handle bar, the armrest and the front leg extend substantially in a straight line, and the present invention can also be applied to a stroller in which: the armrest is disposed so as to extend rearward from a connection point with the upper end of the front leg substantially horizontally or to extend gradually obliquely upward. The structure of connecting the handle bar and the rear leg is not limited to the above-described manner. Various modifications can be made to the structure for enabling the stroller to be folded, as long as it has the following structure: in the folded state, the armrest is inclined obliquely downward from the front end portion to the rear end portion along the rear leg so that the lower surface side of the armrest and the rear leg are close to each other, or a part of the rear leg is positioned on the lower surface side of the armrest.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the modifications thereof, and may be implemented in various other embodiments. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the rotational movement centered on the pin 66a of the link mechanism 66, in other words, centered on the head connection point a, is limited in the region of the limit position to the storage position, but instead, the rotational movement centered on the rear pin 69, in other words, centered on the rear connection point B, may be limited. In this case, the pin 66a may draw a turning locus around the lower pin 37 and the front pin 68, and set the storage position as in fig. 42 for the turning locus. The back support member of the back portion is not limited to the tubular side member, and other suitable plate-like forms may be employed. One back support member can be connected to vehicle body structural members such as left and right handle bars by a back connection point so as to be rotatable. In the above-described embodiment, the back portion is provided so as to form the four-bar mechanism on both side edges in the left-right direction of the back portion, but the four-bar mechanism may be formed on either side edge. Even in the case where the four-bar mechanism is provided on both sides, the rotational movement centered on one connection point on the head part side can be restricted on either side. However, when the pivoting movement is restricted on both sides, it is preferable that the back part is held at the storage position equally on both sides of the back part, and the back part holding effect can be more reliably exhibited. The vehicle body is not limited to the example obtained by the above-described frame structure. Various modifications may be made to the structure for enabling the vehicle body to be folded, as long as the back portion of the seat is mounted on the vehicle body in such a manner as to constitute a four-bar mechanism, and the structure is not necessarily limited to the frame structure. The present invention is not limited to the four-wheeled stroller, and can be applied to a three-wheeled stroller in which the front wheel is a single wheel.

[ description of reference ]

1. 1A: a stroller; 2: a vehicle body; 3: a seat; 3 a: a seat portion; 3 b: a back; 4: a sun shade; 5: a storage basket; 10: a frame portion; 11: a front wheel section; 12: a rear wheel section; 14: a front leg; 15: a rear leg; 16: an armrest (intermediate link member); 16 c: a top plate; 16 d: a lateral plate on the outer side; 16 e: a side plate on the inner side; 17: pushing the frame; 18: a pedal portion; 18 b: pedaling a surface; 18 e: a rib; 19: a rear cross member; 21: an axle; 22: a front wheel; 23: a locking handle; 24: a rear wheel holding member (wheel holding member); 25: a rear wheel; 25: an axle; 26: a rear wheel; 29: a fulcrum pin; 30: a handle bar; 30 a: a bending section; 30 b: an upper rod part; 30 c: a lower rod part; 31: a hand-held lever; 32: an upper bracket; 34: an upper pin; 35: a front linkage rod (front linkage member); 36: a rear link (rear link member); 37: lower pins (back connection points); 38: a front connecting pin; 39: a rear connecting pin; 40: a lower bracket; 40 a: a leg receiving portion; 40 b: a recess; 40 c: a vertical wall portion; 41: an opening/closing locking mechanism; 42: a connecting portion; 43: a hand-held portion; 44: a communication unit; 45: a connector; 48: an operating handle; 50: a locking member; 50 a: a locking protrusion; 52: 1 st holding member; 53: a 2 nd holding member; 54: a 3 rd holding member; 55: a connecting pin; 56: a lock receiving portion; 56 a: a lock receiving groove; 58: a support leg; 59: a fitting block; 60: a seat frame; 61: a seat material; 62: a seat frame; 62 a: a seat frame; 62 b: a head tube; 63: a back frame; 64: side tubes (back support member, side members); 65: a head pipe (head member); 66: a connecting mechanism; 66 a: connecting pins (head connecting points); 67: a link lever (link member); 68: front pins (front attachment points); 69: a rear pin (rear attachment point); 70: a seat support tube (seat support member); 71: a connecting belt; 80: a rear leg mounting section; 81: an axle bearing portion; 81 a: a limiting surface; 82: a wheel main body; 82 a: a hub; 82 b: spokes; 82 c: a rim; 82e, the ratio of: an end face of the hub; 84: a collar (bearing member); 85: a fixing member; 86: a gasket; 90: a rear wheel locking mechanism; 91: a pin (rotating shaft); 92: an operating pedal (lock operating member); 92 a: a stopper pin (stopper portion); 93: a protrusion portion; 93 a: a base; 93 b: an enlarging portion; 94: a pin receiving slot; 100: a shaft cover; 103: a claw portion; 110: a sun shade support mechanism; 111: a sunshade main body; 112: a sunshade bracket; 113: a sunshade base; 113 a: an installation part; 113 c: a rotating part; 114: a sun shade support rod; 115: a awning; 115 a: a buckle part; 116: a sunshade rib; 117: a winding section; 118: snap fasteners; 120: a connecting belt; 120 a: a base; 120 b: a stopper portion; 121: a hook; 121 a: cutting; 122: a girdle; c1: a rotation locus of the protrusion; c2: the rotation track of the stop pin; EL: an extension line of the upper rod part of the handle rod; HP: an imaginary horizontal plane containing the axle axis of the front wheel; S1-S16: a gap greater than the required gap amount; SP: the connecting position of the connecting belt; VA: a rotational axis of the front wheel; α, β: a tangent to the rotation trajectory; θ: the angle of the tangent.

Claims

1. A stroller having a body (2) and a seat (3), wherein the body (2) is deformable between an unfolded state and a folded state, the seat (3) has a seat portion (3a) and a back portion (3b), the back portion (3b) includes a back support member (64) and a head member (65), wherein one end portion of the back support member (64) is rotatably connected to the body (2) through back connection points (37, D), the head member (65) is rotatably connected to the other end portion of the back support member (64) through head connection points (66a, A), the head member (65) is connected to the body (2) through a link member (67), and one end portion of the link member (67) is connected to the body (2) through a front connection point (68) upwardly distant from the back connection points (37, D), C) Is rotatably connected to the vehicle body (2), and the other end of the link member (67) is rotatably connected to the head member (65) via a rear connection point (69, B) that is distant from the head connection points (66a, A), with the above configuration, the vehicle body (2), the back support member (64), the head member (65), and the link member (67) constitute a four-bar mechanism, in the folded state, the back support member (64) and the linkage member (67) are rotated about the back connection point (37, D) and the front connection point (68, C) to enable the back section (3b) to move between an extended position in which the back section is tilted rearward of the vehicle body (2) and a stowed position (Ps) in which the back section is raised forward of the vehicle body (2),

a connecting structure (66) centered on one of the head connecting points (66a, A) or the rear connecting points (69, B) is configured in such a manner that a rotational movement around the one connecting point is limited when the back part (3B) is located in an area on the side of the storage position (Ps) compared to a limit position (Px) between the extended position and the storage position (Ps),

when the back part (3b) is moved to the region on the side of the storage position (Ps) beyond the limit position (Px), the back part (3b) is elastically deformed, and the storage position (Ps) is set to a position where a force for holding the back part (3b) at the storage position (Ps) is generated by a restoring force against the elastic deformation.

2. The stroller according to claim 1,

the other of the head connection points (66a, A) or the rear connection points (69, B) when the back section (3B) is positioned at the restricted position (Px) is rotated around the back connection points (37, D) and the front connection points (68, C), respectively, and the traced rotation trajectories (Et, Bt) have an intersection therebetween, and the storage position (Ps) is set such that the back section (3B) reaches the storage position (Ps) by moving the back section (3B) until the intersection closer to the front of the vehicle body (2) than the other connection point at the restricted position (Px) coincides with the other connection point.

3. Baby carriage according to claim 1 or 2,

the connection structure that can change the inclination of the back section (3b) in the deployed state and that pivots about the one connection point is configured to bring the back section (3b) to a restricted position when the back section (3b) stands up forward of the vehicle body (2) over the range of movement of the back section (3b) in the deployed state.

4. The stroller according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the four-bar mechanism is configured at each side edge of the back part (3b), side members (64) extending along the side edge are provided as the back support members (64) at each of left and right side edges of the back part (3b), the head members (65) are provided so as to connect the left and right side members (64), and the interlocking members (67) are provided so as to connect the head members (65) and the vehicle body (2) at the left and right sides of the back part (3 b).

5. The stroller according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

at a position of the back part (3b) during the movement from the extended position to the storage position (Ps), a gap (S8, S9, S15, S16) having a size equal to or larger than a required gap amount defined as a minimum value of the gap amount required for preventing the finger from being pinched is ensured around each connection point.