JPH07328073A - Step ascending/descending electric wheelchair - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a step ascending/descenting electric wheelchair capable of freely ascending or descending a normal step between a footpath and a driveway by itself by providing the wheelchair with an arm driving mechanism forcibly operating a front section lifting arm up or down and an expansion member driving mechanism operating the expansion member of a rear section lifting frame. CONSTITUTION:A front section lifting arm 10 is lifted, a wheelchair main body 1 is advanced to locate the arm 10 on an upper step (b), then a hydraulic cylinder 15 is operated to rotate the arm 10 downward. A wheel 14 at the tip of the arm 10 is grounded, and front wheels 6 are lifted by the reaction. After the front wheels 6 are lifted higher than the upper step (b), the wheelchair main body 1 is advanced until rear wheels 4 are brought into contact with a rise face (c) between the upper and lower steps (b), (a), the arm 10 is lifted to the original height to ground the front wheels 6 on the upper step (b), and the hydraulic cylinder 15 is extended to extend the rear section lifting frame 20. The rear section of the wheelchair main body 1 is lifted forward and upward, and the rear wheels 4 are lifted onto the upper step (b) along the rise face (c).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a step lift type electric wheelchair capable of moving up and down a stepped portion such as a roadway and a sidewalk.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electric wheelchairs have been widely used by people with physical disabilities. This conventional electric wheelchair is equipped with a steering mechanism that allows the left and right wheels to be driven separately with the rear wheels as the driving wheels, and the front wheels can be turned around the vertical axis. It is designed to operate the motor.

[0003]

In such a conventional electric wheelchair, when there is a step having a height of about ½ or more of the front wheel radius at the place where one wants to run, it is difficult to get on it. For this reason, in recent years, slopes that gently go down to roadways have been formed on the sidewalks where there are pedestrian crossings.

However, between slope-less sidewalks and roadways,
Many other places with steps have the problem that the conventional electric wheelchair cannot climb freely.

In view of the above conventional problems, the present invention has been made for the purpose of providing a step-lifting electric wheelchair capable of freely ascending / descending a step on the order of an ordinary sidewalk or a roadway.

[0006]

The features of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned conventional problems and achieving the initial object are as follows.
A wheelchair body having electric traveling wheels, a front lifting arm having a tip projecting forward of the wheelchair body and having a wheel at the tip, an arm drive mechanism for forcibly operating the arm up and down, The upper end side is supported by the rear part of the wheelchair body, and the lower end side is rotatable from diagonally rearward downward to the rear side,
Further, there is provided a step lift type electric wheelchair including a rear lifting frame having a stretching member on the lower end side and a stretching member drive mechanism for stretching the stretching member of the rear lifting frame (claim 1).

Incidentally, hydraulic cylinders may be used for the arm drive mechanism and the expansion / contraction member drive mechanism, and hydraulic pressure may be supplied to each hydraulic cylinder by an electric small hydraulic unit (claim 2).

[0008]

In the step-lifting electric wheelchair of the present invention, when climbing from the lower step to the upper step at the step, the wheelchair body is advanced with the tip of the front lifting arm raised to the upper step. , Rotate the arm downward. As a result, the wheel at the tip of the arm comes into contact with the upper tier, and the reaction force lifts the front wheel side of the wheelchair body.

After the front wheels are lifted to the upper stage in this way, the wheelchair body is driven and moved forward until the rear wheels hit the rising edge of the step. When the front lifting arm is returned in this state and the rear lifting frame is extended, the lower end of the arm is grounded to the lower surface and further extended to lift the rear side of the wheelchair body. Also, at this time, since the rear lifting frame is diagonally rearward and downward, the wheelchair body is pushed forward as soon as the rear part is lifted, the rear wheels rise along the rise of the step, and finally to the upper stage. Pushed up.

When descending from the upper stage side to the lower stage side of the step portion, if the step is not so large, it is possible to descend by advancing in the same manner as in normal flatland traveling. Also, if the step is large and the vibration becomes too large during normal running, after moving forward to the foremost part of the upper stage, rotate the front lifting arm downward and make the tip wheel touch the lower surface. Move the front wheel forward to the position where it disengages from the upper stage, and raise the front support arm to return it to its original position to ground the front wheel on the lower stage surface, and then slowly move forward to reduce large vibration even at high steps. Then you can descend.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is an electric wheelchair body. In this wheelchair body 1, a seat 3 is fixed on a vehicle body frame 2, and a pair of footrests 7, 7 are fixed on the front part.
The body frame 2 is provided with a pair of rear wheels 4 at a rear portion thereof, which is an electric motor (not shown) powered by a battery 5.
Is driven by. Body frame 2
A pair of front wheels 6 are attached below the front part of the.

The front wheel 6 has a vertical turning shaft 6b at a position displaced from the position right above the axle 6a in the direction of rotation,
It is supported by the vehicle body frame 2 via the turning shaft 6b.

The steering operation of the wheelchair body 1 is as follows.
This is done by driving only one of the left and right rear wheels 4 and 4 and stopping the other.

A front lifting arm 10 projects from the front of the wheelchair body 1. This arm 10 is provided with a horizontal shaft 11 on an arm support frame fixed to the center of the vehicle body frame 2.
It is rotatably supported via, and the tip side 10a is projected to the front side from between both foot bases 7,7. Arm 10
A wheel frame 12 is fixed to the tip of the wheel frame 12, and a pair of wheels 14, 14 are rotatably supported on the wheel frame 12 via a shaft 13.

The front lifting arm 10 has an upwardly projecting operation projection 10b integrally formed at its rear end. An arm drive mechanism including a hydraulic cylinder 15 is attached between the upper end of the operating projection 10b and the vehicle body frame 2, and the arm 10 is rotated up and down as the hydraulic cylinder 15 extends and contracts.

At the rear of the wheelchair body 1, there is a rear lifting frame 20.
Is provided. The rear lifting frame 20 includes a mounting-side frame body 21 and a stretching frame body 22 that is a stretching member, and the upper edge of the mounting-side frame body 21 is laid across the seat back of the vehicle body frame 2. The upper end side is pivotally attached with a horizontal axis 23.

The mounting-side frame 21 has a single reinforcing plate 21a on the upper end side, and a pair of bearing cylinders 21b, 21b are fixed to the lower edge of the reinforcing plate 21a at a central portion with a space therebetween. The horizontal shaft 23, which is pivotally mounted, is inserted through the reference numerals 21b, 21b. Further, a pair of guide cylinders 21c, 21c are fixed in parallel to each other on each end side of the two bearing cylinders 21b, 21b so as to be orthogonal to this.

The expansion / contraction frame 22 has a single reinforcing plate 22a on the lower end side, and a pair of bearing cylinders 22b, 22b are fixed to the upper edge side of the reinforcing plate 22a at a central portion thereof with a space provided therebetween. , 22b has a horizontal shaft 24 inserted therein. A pair of insertion / extraction shafts 22c, 22c that are inserted into and removed from the guide cylinders 21c, 21c of the mounting side frame 21 are fixed to the bearing cylinders 22b, 22b. An elastic material 25 for grounding is fixed to the lower edge of the reinforcing plate 22a.

Both bearing cylinders 21b, 21b of the mounting side frame 21
Between the two bearing cylinders 22b and 22b of the expansion and contraction side frame 22, a hydraulic cylinder 26 constituting an expansion and contraction member drive mechanism is attached between both horizontal shafts 23 and 24, and is attached by expansion and contraction of the hydraulic cylinder 26. With respect to the side frame body 21,
The expansion / contraction side frame body 22 is adapted to be expanded / contracted.

The hydraulic cylinders 15 and 26 are both
Small hydraulic units 15a, 26 individually provided
It is designed to be operated by a. 27 in the figure
It is a control box for operating hydraulics and the wheelchair body.

As described above, the rear lifting frame 20 uses the reinforcing plates 21a and 22a and the bearing cylinders 21b and 22b, and the guide cylinder 21c and the moving shaft 22 protruding from them.
c is telescopically fitted, and each bearing cylinder 21b, 21b
By interposing the hydraulic cylinder 25 between the space and between 22b and 22b, the structure is simple and has high strength and durability.

The rear lifting frame 20 thus constructed is
Normally, it is regulated by a stopper so that it is directed obliquely downward and rearward by its own weight, and it can freely rotate rearward and upward.

Next, the operation of the electric wheelchair constructed as above will be described. First, referring to FIG. 4 to FIG.
To explain the case of moving from the upper stage b to the upper stage b, as shown in FIG. 4, the wheelchair main body 1 is advanced with the front lifting arm 10 raised, and the arm 10 is positioned on the upper stage b. The hydraulic cylinder 15 is operated to rotate the arm 10 downward. As a result, the wheel 14 at the tip of the arm 10 comes into contact with the ground, and the reaction force thereof lifts the front wheel 6 side of the wheelchair body 1.

After the front wheels 6 are thus lifted higher than the upper stage b, the wheelchair body 1 is advanced until the rear wheels 4 come into contact with the rising surface c between the upper and lower stages a and b as shown in FIG. In this state, the arm 10 is raised to the original height, the front wheel 6 is grounded on the upper stage b, and the hydraulic cylinder 26
To extend the rear lifting frame 20. As a result, the rear portion of the wheelchair body 1 is pushed up to the front upper side, the rear wheel 4 moves along the rising surface c, and is pushed up on the upper stage b as shown in FIG.

On the contrary, when descending from the upper stage b side to the lower stage c side, if there is not much step, it is possible to descend by the normal forward traveling. When the step is large, as shown in FIG. 7, the arm 10 is advanced to the edge of the upper stage b, and the arm 10 is lowered to ground the wheel 14 at the tip on the lower stage a. In this state, the wheelchair body 1 is advanced to a position where the front wheel 6 is disengaged from the upper stage b, and then the arm 10 is slowly raised as shown in FIG. 8 to ground the front wheel 6 on the lower stage a. By slowly advancing 1 the vibration can be reduced and it can descend.

[0027]

As described above, the step lift type electric wheelchair of the present invention has a simple structure by providing the front lifting arm and the rear lifting frame in front of and behind the electric wheelchair body. It is now possible to freely move up and down high steps that could not be moved up and down.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a rear view showing the rear lifting frame of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a step of raising a step portion of the wheelchair of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a step of raising a step portion of the wheelchair of the same embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a side view showing a step of raising a step portion of the wheelchair according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing the step of descending the step portion according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing the step of descending the step portion of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 a lower tier b upper tier c rising surface 1 wheelchair body 2 vehicle body frame 3 seat 4 rear wheel 5 battery 6 front wheel 6a axle 6b turning axis 7 footrest 10 front lifting arm 10a tip side 10b operating protrusion 11 lateral axis 12 wheels Frame 13 Shaft 14 Wheels 15 and 26 Hydraulic cylinders 15a and 26a Small hydraulic unit 20 Rear lifting frame 21 Mounting side frame 21a and 22a Reinforcing plates 21b and 22b Bearing cylinder 21c Guide cylinder 22 Expansion and contraction frame 22c Entry and exit shafts 23 and 24 Horizontal axis 25 Elastic material 27 Control box

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A wheelchair main body having electric traveling wheels,
A front end is projected to the front of the wheelchair main body, and a front lifting arm having a wheel at the front end, an arm drive mechanism for forcibly operating the arm up and down, and an upper end side supported on the rear part of the wheelchair main body, The lower end is rotatable rearward from diagonally downward to the rear side, and includes a rear lifting frame having an elastic member on the lower end side, and an elastic member driving mechanism for expanding and contracting the elastic member of the rear upper frame. Step-up / lower type electric wheelchair. 2. The electric wheelchair according to claim 1, wherein hydraulic cylinders are used for the arm drive mechanism and the telescopic member drive mechanism, and hydraulic pressure is supplied to each hydraulic cylinder by an electric small hydraulic unit. .