JP2012115437A - Walking aid and caster unit attached thereto - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a walking aid capable of preventing a load from being directly applied to the rotating shaft of a wheel by a braking operation, and a caster unit for use therein.SOLUTION: The walking aid includes a pair of front legs 11a; at least one connection member for connecting the pair of front legs; a pair of rear legs; a pair of grip members for longitudinally connecting the pairs of front and rear legs to each other and grippable by the user's hands; and caster units 5 attached to at least one of the pair of front legs or the pair of rear legs. Each of the caster units includes a pressing member 52 attached to one of the legs, a wheel 53 disposed beneath the pressing member, a support member 56 for rotatably supporting the wheel, and a vertically expanding and contracting elastic member 57 disposed between the lower end of the leg and the support member. The pressing member can press the wheel as the elastic member contracts.

Description

  The present invention relates to a walker and a caster unit attached to the walker.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, walker has been used for rehabilitation for sick people to return to society and for assisting elderly walking. Various types of walker have been proposed. For example, there is one described in Patent Document 1. In this walker, a wheel is provided at the lower end of the leg, and the user's walking is assisted by the rotation of the wheel. By the way, if a walker is provided with wheels, the walker may continue to move, and the user may have difficulty controlling walking. Therefore, in the walker described in Patent Document 2, a coil spring is arranged on the rotating shaft of the wheel, and the leg is biased upward by this coil spring. In this configuration, when the user presses the walker downward, the legs are pushed downward against the coil spring and come into contact with the floor surface. As a result, a frictional force is generated between the lower end portion of the leg and the floor surface to brake the rotation of the wheel.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-101939 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-104333

  However, the walker of Patent Document 2 has a problem in strength because the load by the coil spring directly acts on the rotating shaft of the wheel. That is, if the brake operation is repeated and a load is applied to the rotating shaft many times, the rotating shaft may be damaged and the rotation of the wheel may be affected.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a walker capable of preventing a load from directly acting on a rotating shaft of a wheel by a brake operation, and a caster unit used therefor. And

  A walker according to a first aspect of the present invention connects a pair of front legs, at least one connecting member that connects the pair of front legs, a pair of rear legs, and the pair of front legs and rear legs in the front-rear direction. And a caster unit attached to at least one leg of the pair of front legs and the pair of rear legs, wherein the caster unit includes the legs. A pressing member attached to the pressing member, a wheel disposed below the pressing member, a supporting member for rotatably supporting the wheel, a lower end portion of the leg and the supporting member, and arranged in a vertical direction. An elastic member that expands and contracts, and the pressing member is configured to be able to press the wheel by contraction of the elastic member.

  According to this configuration, the pressing member is provided on the leg, and the wheel is disposed below the pressing member. An elastic member is provided between the support member that rotatably supports the wheel and the lower end of the leg, and the distance between the wheel and the pressing member changes as the elastic member expands and contracts. It has become. Therefore, when the user presses the gripping member and applies a downward load to the legs, the pressing member presses the outer peripheral surface of the wheel arranged below, so that the wheel rotates. Can be braked. At this time, the load acting on the leg acts on the support member from the leg through the elastic member. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a load from directly acting on the rotating shaft of the wheel, and it is possible to prevent the wheel from being directly damaged by the load from the leg. Note that the pressing member may be directly attached to the leg, or may be attached to the leg via another member. Moreover, the elastic member should just adjust the length between a wheel and a press member, for example, besides a coil spring, various springs can be attached. Further, the “lower end of the leg” where the elastic member is disposed includes not only the lowermost end of the leg but also the vicinity thereof.

  In the walker, the pressing member and the rotating shaft of the wheel can be arranged on the axis of the leg. By carrying out like this, when a load acts on a leg, since a press member contacts the outer peripheral surface of a wheel toward the rotation axis of a wheel, a load can be made to act on a wheel efficiently. As a result, the braking effect can be improved.

  Further, as described above, the elastic member can be directly provided at the lower end portion of the leg, or can be attached to the lower end portion of the leg via another member. For example, a fixing member that is attached to the leg and has a protruding portion that protrudes radially outward from the axis of the leg can be further provided, and an elastic member is disposed between the protruding portion of the fixing member and the support member. can do. In this way, the load acting on the leg is released to the outside in the radial direction, and then acts on the support member via the elastic member. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent the load from acting directly on the wheel. it can.

  At this time, the support member can be extended obliquely downward from the lower end portion of the elastic member toward the rotation axis of the wheel, and the rotation axis of the wheel can be arranged on the axis of the leg. In this case, since the support member is attached obliquely with respect to the rotation shaft of the wheel, the force acting on the rotation shaft from the support member can be released obliquely, and the load on the rotation shaft can be further increased. Can be reduced. Moreover, since the load which acts on a leg faces the rotating shaft of a wheel and a press member contacts the outer peripheral surface of a wheel, a load can be made to act on a wheel efficiently. As a result, the braking effect can be improved.

  Moreover, in the said walker, the shaft member supported so that a vertical motion is possible with respect to a leg is further provided, the lower end part of this shaft member is connected to a support member, and the coil spring which winds an elastic member around a shaft member Can be configured. With this configuration, since the leg and the support member are firmly connected by the shaft member, the strength of the caster unit can be improved and the stability can be increased. The shaft member can be directly attached to the leg, or can be attached to the leg via another member such as the fixing member described above.

  The second aspect of the present invention is a caster unit that is attached to a leg of a walker, and is a fixing member that is attached to a lower end portion of the leg and has a protruding portion that protrudes radially outward from the axis of the leg. A pressing member attached to the fixing member and projecting downward on the axis of the leg; a wheel disposed below the pressing member; a supporting member for rotatably supporting the wheel; and An elastic member that is disposed between the protruding portion and the support member and expands and contracts in the vertical direction, and is configured such that the pressing member can press the wheel by contraction of the elastic member.

  According to this configuration, since the supporting member that supports the wheel and the elastic member are attached to the fixing member that is attached to the leg, the caster unit can be attached to the walker simply by attaching and detaching the fixing member to the leg. Can do.

  According to the walker and the caster unit according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent a load from acting directly on the rotating shaft of the wheel by a brake operation.

It is a perspective view which shows one Embodiment of the walker based on this invention. It is a partial enlarged view of the rear leg of the walker of FIG. It is a side view of the caster unit provided in the walker of FIG. It is a side view explaining operation | movement of the caster unit of FIG. It is a side view which shows the other example of the caster unit of FIG. It is a side view which shows the other example of the caster unit of FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a walker according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a walker according to the present embodiment. In the following description, a symmetrical member may be described with only one of the symbols. That is, although a and b are attached | subjected in drawing to the left-right symmetric member, in the following description, the one member to which the code | symbol a was mainly attached is demonstrated.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the walker includes a pair of left and right leg frames 1a and 1b, which are connected by a connecting frame 2 and a telescopic member 3 extending in the horizontal direction. Each leg frame 1a, 1b is formed in an inverted U-shape, and rod-shaped front legs 11a, 11b and rear legs 12a, 12b extending in the vertical direction have bar-shaped gripping portions 13a, 13b extending horizontally at their upper ends. It is integrally formed by being connected by 13b. And the caster unit 5 containing a wheel is attached to the lower end part of each front leg 11a, 11b. In addition, gripping grips 14a and 14b having cushioning properties are attached to the gripping portions 13a and 13b so that the user can grip them. Further, in each of the leg frames 1a and 1b, intermediate portions of the front legs 11a and 11b and the rear legs 12a and 12b are connected by rod-like auxiliary members 15a and 15b extending in the horizontal direction.

  The connection frame 2 connects the cylindrical support members 21a and 21b covering the outer periphery of the front legs 11a and 11b of the leg frames 1a and 1b, and the two support members 21a and 21b, and two rod-like connections extending in the horizontal direction. It consists of members 22 and 23. Since each support member 21a, 21b covers the periphery of each front leg 11a, 11b and is not fixed, each front leg 11a, 11b can rotate about the axis with respect to the support members 21a, 21b. ing. Thereby, each leg frame 1a, 1b can be folded with respect to the connection frame 2. FIG. Further, the support members 21a and 21b are formed with cutout portions 211a and 211b extending in the horizontal direction. The cutout portions 211a and 211b have projections 115a and 115b formed on the front legs 11a and 11b inside. It fits in. Each notch part 211a, 211b is formed over about 90 degrees outward from the front side of the outer peripheral surface of the support members 21a, 21b. Thereby, each leg frame 1a, 1b can rotate in the range which does not form the angle of 90 degrees or more with respect to the connection frame 2 by planar view. As will be described later, since the length of the elastic member 3 is fixed during use, the leg frames 1a and 1b maintain an angle of 90 degrees with respect to the connecting frame 2 and the elastic member 3 during use. Yes.

  In addition, ring-shaped stoppers 16a and 16b are fixed to the front legs 11a and 11b above the support members 21a and 21b in the axial direction, and the support members 21a and 21b described above are provided on the front legs 11a and 11b. In the axial direction, they are arranged between the auxiliary members 15a and 15b and the stoppers 16a and 16b. Thereby, the position of the connecting frame in the axial direction with respect to the front leg is determined.

  The telescopic member 3 is formed in a U shape in plan view, and both ends thereof are attached to the front end portions of the grip portions 13a and 13b of the leg frames 1a and 1b. The elastic member 3 is formed by connecting an L-shaped first piece 31 and a second piece 32 near the center in the left-right direction. The 2nd piece 32 is formed in the cylinder shape larger than the outer diameter of the 1st piece 31, and the 1st piece 31 fits. A projecting member 34 urged radially outward by a spring is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the first piece 31, and the projecting member 34 is engaged with a through hole provided in the second piece 32. It is like that. In the use state shown in FIG. 1, the protruding member 34 is locked in the through hole, whereby the first piece 31 is positioned on the second piece 32, and the length of the elastic member 3 in the left-right direction is fixed. . On the other hand, when the protruding member 34 is pushed during storage to release the locking state with the through hole, the first piece 31 can be pushed into the second piece 32 to shorten the length of the elastic member 3. Moreover, the shaft member 33 extended in an up-down direction is attached to the right and left both ends of the expansion-contraction member 3, and this shaft member 33 is attached to the lower surface of the front-end part of the holding parts 13a and 13b. Thereby, the expansion-contraction member 3 is rotatable around the shaft member 33 with respect to the gripping portions 13a and 13b.

  Next, the configuration of each leg will be described. Here, the rear leg will be described as an example with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged view of the rear leg. As shown in FIG. 2, each rear leg 12a includes a rod-shaped main shaft portion 121a and a rod-shaped adjusting portion 122a attached to the lower end portion thereof. The main shaft portion 121a is a portion of the rear leg 12a that extends from the grip portion 13a to a position slightly below the auxiliary member 15a, and a fixing piece 123a for fixing the adjustment portion 122a is attached to the lower end portion. On the other hand, the adjustment part 122a is formed of a rod-like base part 1221a and a cylindrical movable part 1222a fitted to the outer peripheral surface of the base part 1221a. A projecting member 1223a projecting in the radial direction is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the base 1221a. The protruding member 1223a is urged radially outward by a spring or the like, and enters the inside of the base 1221a when pushed. On the other hand, a plurality of through holes 1224a are formed on the outer peripheral surface of the movable portion 1222a at predetermined intervals along the axial direction. When the movable portion 1222a is fitted into the base portion 1221a, the protruding member 1223a is locked to any through hole 1224a of the movable portion 1222a. Thereby, the movable portion 1222a is positioned in the axial direction with respect to the base portion 1221a. And the position of the axial direction of the movable part 1222a can be adjusted by latching the protrusion member 1223a to the desired through-hole 1224a. The configuration of the rear legs 12a and 12b as described above is the same for the front legs 11a and 11b, and the length can be adjusted in the axial direction.

  Next, the caster unit 5 attached to the front legs 11a and 11b will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view of the caster unit at the lower end of the front leg. As shown in the figure, a caster unit 5 is attached to the lower end portions of the front legs 11a and 11b, that is, the lower end portions of the adjustment portions 112a and 112b. The caster unit 5 includes a fixing member 51 that is attached to the lower end portion of the front leg 11a and extends radially outward from the axis X of the front leg 11a. The fixing member 51 includes a base portion 511 attached to the lower end of the front leg 11a and a protruding portion 512 extending radially outward from the base portion 511. The lower surface of the base portion 511 extends along the axis X of the front leg 11a. A pressing member 52 extending downward is attached. As will be described later, the pressing member 52 performs braking by contacting with the outer peripheral surface of the wheel 53, and is formed of wear-resistant rubber or the like. On the other hand, a through hole 513 is formed in the protruding portion 512 of the fixing member 51, and a shaft member 54 extending downward is inserted into the through hole 513 so as to be vertically movable. An annular stopper 55 having a diameter larger than that of the through hole 513 is attached to the upper portion of the shaft member 54 to prevent the shaft member 54 from dropping downward from the fixed member 51. A support member 56 that supports the wheel 53 is attached to the lower end portion of the shaft member 54. The support member 56 extends obliquely downward toward the axis X of the front leg 11a, and a wheel 53 is attached to the lower end portion thereof. A rotating shaft 531 is attached to the wheel 53 so as to be positioned on the axis X of the front leg 11a, and this rotating shaft 531 is rotatably attached to the lower end portion of the support member 56 via a bearing.

  A coil spring 57 wound around the outer peripheral surface of the shaft member 54 is disposed between the protruding portion 512 of the fixing member 51 and the upper end portion of the support member 56. The spring 57 is compressed so as to form a gap d between the pressing member 52 and the wheel 53 as shown in FIG. 3 when the walker is supported in a normal state, that is, when no load is applied. Yes. On the other hand, when the user applies a downward load to the walker, the coil spring 57 is further compressed, and the pressing member 52 comes into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the wheel 53.

  On the other hand, the caster unit is not attached to the rear leg 11a, and a non-slip 126a made of rubber or the like is attached as shown in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the walker configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, in the normal use state, as shown in FIG. 3, since the gap d is formed between the pressing member 52 and the wheel 53, the wheel 53 is rotatable. In this state, the user enters between the leg frames 1a and 1b and holds the grip grips 14a and 14b of the grip portions 13a and 13b. And if a walker is pushed ahead, a user will move forward with a walker by rotation of the wheel 53. If the user presses the grip grips 14a, 14b downward during walking, the load is transmitted to the front legs 11a, 11b, so that the coil spring 57 of the caster unit 5 is compressed, and as shown in FIG. 52 abuts on the outer peripheral surface of the wheel 53 and brakes the rotation of the wheel 53. Thereby, the walker is stopped.

  Then, the storage method of a walker is demonstrated. When storing the walker, first, the protruding member 34 of the telescopic member 3 is pushed in, and the fixed state of the first piece 31 and the second piece 32 is released. Following this, the right leg frame 1 b is folded so as to be substantially parallel to the connecting frame 2. At this time, since the front leg 11b of the leg frame 1b rotates around the axis of the support member 21b of the connecting frame 2, the grip portion 13b and the rear leg 12b integrally formed with the front leg turn together with the front leg 11b. In addition, the length of the elastic member 3 is shortened while the first piece 31 enters the second piece 32. Since the second piece 32 is rotatable with respect to the leg frame 1b around the shaft member 33, the leg frame 1b is folded as the length of the elastic member 3 becomes shorter. When the right leg frame 1b is folded, similarly, the left leg frame 1a is folded and overlapped with the right leg frame 1b. In this way, the walker is folded compactly and is stored.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the fixing member 51 protruding radially outward from the leg is provided, and the wheel 53 is provided on the fixing member 51 via the coil spring 57 and the support member 56. Therefore, when the user presses the grip members 13a and 13b downward, the load acting on the front legs 11a and 11b is released from the front legs 11a and 11b to the outside in the radial direction via the fixing member 51, and then the support member. It acts on the wheel 53 via 56. Therefore, since the load acts on the support member 56, it is possible to prevent the load from acting directly on the rotating shaft 531 of the wheel 53. As a result, the wheel 53 can be prevented from being directly damaged by the load from the legs.

  In the caster unit 5 as described above, since the support member 56 for supporting the wheel 53 and the coil spring 57 are attached to the fixing member 51 attached to the front legs 11a and 11b, the fixing member 51 is attached to and detached from the leg. The caster unit 5 can be attached to the walker simply by doing. That is, if the above caster unit 5 is prepared as a single unit, it can be easily attached to a walker that is not provided with the wheels 53.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible unless it deviates from the meaning. For example, in the above embodiment, the front leg, the grip portion, and the rear leg are integrally formed as a leg frame. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the front leg, the grip member, and the rear leg, which are three members, are formed. You may combine.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the pressing member 52 and the supporting member 56 are attached to the fixing member 51, as shown in FIG. 5, the fixing member 51 is attached to the outer peripheral surface of the leg 11a, and it attaches to the lower end part of the leg 11a. The pressing member 52 can also be directly attached. Further, the wheel 53 is arranged so that the rotation shaft 531 is on the leg axis X, but if the pressing member 52 is in contact with the wheel 53 and can be braked when the coil spring 57 is contracted, the wheel 53 is particularly suitable. Is not limited.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, the fixing member 51 can be rotatably attached to the leg 11 via the shaft body 80. Thereby, since the caster unit 5 is attached to a leg so that rotation is possible to the surroundings of the axis line X, the direction of a walker can be changed easily. Such a change is the same as in the case of FIG. 5, and the fixing member 51 can be rotatably attached to the outer peripheral surface of the leg.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the coil spring 57 is attached to the leg via the fixing member 51, the coil spring 57 can be directly attached to a leg without using a fixing member, and the support member 56 can be attached to the lower end part. Further, the pressing member 52 is not particularly limited as long as the pressing member 52 can press the wheel 53, and may be configured to extend in parallel with the leg in addition to being attached to the lower end portion of the leg. This also applies to the shaft member 54, and can be directly attached to the leg.

  In the above embodiment, the caster unit 5 is provided on the front legs 11a and 11b, but a caster unit may be provided on all the legs. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the caster unit 5 can be rotatably attached to all the legs.

11a, 11b Front leg 12a, 12b Rear leg 13a, 13b Gripping member (gripping part)
22, 23 Connecting member 5 Caster unit 51 Fixing member 52 Pressing member 53 Wheel 531 Rotating shaft 54 Shaft member 56 Support member 57 Coil spring (elastic member)

Claims (6)

A pair of front legs,
At least one connecting member for connecting the pair of front legs;
A pair of rear legs;
A pair of gripping members that connect the pair of front legs and rear legs in the front-rear direction, and can be gripped by a user's hand;
A caster unit attached to at least one of the pair of front legs and the pair of rear legs;
With
The caster unit is
A pressing member attached to the leg;
Wheels disposed below the pressing member;
A support member for rotatably supporting the wheel;
An elastic member disposed between the lower end portion of the leg and the support member and extending and contracting in the vertical direction;
With
A walker that is configured such that the pressing member can press the wheel by contraction of the elastic member.   The walker according to claim 1, wherein the pressing member and a rotating shaft of the wheel are arranged on an axis of the leg. A fixing member attached to the leg and having a protruding portion protruding radially outward from the axis of the leg;
The walker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elastic member is disposed between the protruding portion of the fixing member and the support member.   The said support member is extended diagonally downward toward the rotating shaft of the said wheel from the lower end part of the elastic member, The rotating shaft of the said wheel is arrange | positioned on the axis line of the said leg. Walker. It further comprises a shaft member supported so as to be movable up and down with respect to the leg,
The lower end portion of the shaft member is connected to the support member,
The walker according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the elastic member includes a coil spring wound around the shaft member. A caster unit attached to the leg of a walker,
A fixing member attached to the lower end of the leg and having a protruding portion protruding radially outward from the axis of the leg;
A pressing member attached to the fixing member and projecting downward on the axis of the leg;
Wheels disposed below the pressing member;
A support member for rotatably supporting the wheel;
An elastic member that is disposed between the protrusion of the fixing member and the support member and expands and contracts in the vertical direction;
With
A caster unit configured such that the pressing member can press the wheel by contraction of the elastic member.

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