KR102730881B1 - Free moving wheelchair using in-wheel motor and omni-directional wheels - Google Patents

Abstract

A wheelchair including a rollover prevention mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises: a seat support plate on which a plurality of wheels are rotatably fixed; a height-adjusting member for adjusting the height of a structure connected to the upper end and the lower end of the seat support plate; a seating seat having a lower end coupled to the upper end of the height-adjusting member; an acceleration sensor installed on one or both of the seating seat or the seat support plate to detect acceleration and its direction; a rollover prevention unit having at least one rollover prevention member connected to the lower end of the seating seat and having a controllable length installed on each of the left and right sides; a controller for controlling the height-adjusting member, the acceleration sensor, the rollover prevention unit, and the motor, which is detachably connected to a controller connector provided on the seat support plate for electrical connection, a drive motor for providing rotational driving force to each wheel, and a battery detachably connected on the seat support plate to provide power to each component requiring power according to the control of the controller; the controller determines the posture of the seating seat and the seat support plate using acceleration and direction measurement values received from the acceleration sensor, and determines the result of the determination in advance. In the event that the overturn state is determined to be outside the set range, the overturn prevention zone is extended to operate to escape the overturn state. According to the present invention having the above configuration, there is an effect of providing a wheelchair including an overturn prevention structure that can raise the wheelchair back to the correct posture when the wheelchair overturns due to an unexpected situation while the wheelchair is in motion.

Description

Wheelchair with anti-rollover device {FREE MOVING WHEELCHAIR USING IN-WHEEL MOTOR AND OMNI-DIRECTIONAL WHEELS}

The present invention relates to a wheelchair, and more specifically, to a wheelchair including an anti-overturning unit that can automatically raise the wheelchair when the wheelchair overturns or falls while driving on a road with poor road conditions or due to an unexpected emergency.

Wheelchairs are broadly divided into manual wheelchairs, which the user drives by turning the handwheel with his or her hand or by a caregiver pushing the handle formed at the rear of the wheelchair backrest, and electric wheelchairs, which are driven by rotating the rear wheels with a drive motor connected to a battery.

These wheelchairs, whether manual or electric, face a variety of road conditions while in operation. Namely, when the road surface is uneven, irregular or sloped, there is always a risk of tipping over due to the high center of gravity of the wheelchair.

In addition, accidents in which the wheelchair overturns frequently occur when the wheelchair turns a curve at a speed exceeding a certain speed or when the wheelchair tries to avoid pedestrians, pets, cars, or bicycles that suddenly appear in front, are problematic.

In particular, recently, the number of people using electric wheelchairs is increasing, including those with lower limb disabilities as well as the elderly with bad knee joints or weak lower body. However, the number of patients with fracture accidents due to overturning of the vehicle body due to speed of electric wheelchairs, sudden braking in emergency situations, and lack of skill in operating the electric wheelchair is increasing.

Several proposals for preventing such frequent rollover accidents of existing wheelchairs have been patented in Korea, such as Registered Patent No. 10-0663951, “Rollover-Preventing Wheelchair,” Publication Patent No. 10-2011-0050044, “Safety Wheelchair with Attached Training Wheels,” Registered Utility Model No. 20-0350264, “Wheel Bracket Device for Electric Wheelchair with Assistive Wheels,” and Publication Patent No. 10-2012-0004591, “Automatic Posture Correction Wheelchair.”

In the case of the above registered patent No. 10-0663951, a multi-stage slide bar is embedded in the rear of the wheelchair frame via a sliding member, so that when the wheelchair goes up a slope or the front wheels are lifted, the multi-stage support parts inside the fixed part are pulled out to the rear of the rear wheels to support the floor surface at the rear of the vehicle body, thereby preventing the vehicle body from overturning.

However, even with the configuration of these registered patents, there is still a problem in that the wheelchair body cannot be prevented from tilting to the side and overturning in the event of an emergency.

The above-mentioned patent publication No. 10-2011-0050044 discloses a structure for preventing the front wheel from coming off or getting caught on a recessed groove or bump in the floor by mounting a pair of auxiliary wheels on the left and right sides in front of the front wheel of the wheelchair so that they can rotate up and down.

However, since these training wheels are installed on the front side of the front wheels of the wheelchair to prepare for cases where the wheelchair passes over a groove or a bump, they have the disadvantage of not being able to prevent the body from tilting to the side and overturning in the event of an unexpected situation while driving.

In the case of Utility Model Registration No. 20-0350264, it is equipped with a rear anti-rollover wheel mainly adopted in conventional wheelchairs, and in particular, a frame supporting the front wheel is connected to an axle assembly so as to be cushion-rotatable up and down, and a separate anti-rollover wheel is configured at the rear of the rear wheel so as to be cushion-rotatable by the axle assembly, so that when the wheelchair passes over a groove or bump in the floor, the frame supporting the front wheel rotates elastically to a certain extent in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, thereby enabling stable driving.

However, even in this case, there is a limitation in that although it can prevent the vehicle from rolling forward or backward when driving on slopes, it cannot prevent rollover accidents caused by the vehicle's lateral tilt.

In addition, in the case of the above-mentioned public patent publication No. 10-2012-0004591, a configuration is disclosed in which first to fourth cylinder-type actuators are mounted on each of the four wheels of a wheelchair, and these are connected to a detection sensor so that when the body of the wheelchair is out of level, such detection information is transmitted to each actuator so that the cylinder rod of each actuator is extended to a length corresponding to the degree to which the body is tilted, thereby maintaining the body's posture horizontal.

However, in this case, it is not enough to deal with sudden situations that occur during operation, and there is a limit to preventing the body from overturning with only the expansion of the actuator.

Therefore, it is necessary to devise a more reliable and fundamental means to prevent the high center of gravity of the wheelchair and the body from overturning due to an unexpected situation that occurs during driving.

In addition, even if a wheelchair is equipped with an anti-rollover device, there are cases where the wheelchair rolls over, so a device that can raise the wheelchair to the correct posture when the wheelchair rolls over or falls is needed.

Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-1290955 (Title: Wheelchair with lateral safety wheels for body posture control, Registration date: July 23, 2013) Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-0663951 (Title: Anti-Turnover Wheelchair, Registration Date: December 26, 2006) Republic of Korea Utility Model Registration No. 20-0350264 (Title: Wheel bracket mechanism for electric wheelchair with auxiliary wheel, Registration date: May 3, 2004) Republic of Korea Publication Patent No. 10-2011-0050044 (Title: Safety wheelchair with training wheels, Publication date: May 13, 2011) Republic of Korea Publication Patent No. 10-2012-0004591 (Title: Automatic Posture Correction Wheelchair, Publication Date: January 13, 2012)

The present invention has been made to improve the above-mentioned problems, and the purpose of the present invention is to provide a wheelchair including an anti-overturning structure that can restore the wheelchair to a proper posture when the wheelchair overturns due to an unexpected situation while the wheelchair is in motion, thereby improving the safety of wheelchair use.

The technical problems of the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below.

In order to achieve the above object, a wheelchair including a rollover prevention mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a seat support plate on which a plurality of wheels are rotatably fixed, a height-adjusting member that is coupled to the upper surface of the seat support plate at its lower end and allows the height of a structure coupled to the upper end to be adjusted, a seating seat having its lower end coupled to the upper end of the height-adjusting member, an acceleration sensor that is installed on either or both of the seating seat or the seat support plate to detect acceleration and its direction, a rollover prevention unit having at least one rollover prevention member coupled to the lower surface of the seating seat and having a controllable length installed on each of the left and right sides, a controller that is detachably connected to a controller connector for electrical connection provided on the seat support plate to control the height-adjusting member, the acceleration sensor, the rollover prevention unit, and the motor, a drive motor that provides rotational driving force to each wheel, and a battery that is detachably connected to the seat support plate to provide power to each component that requires power according to the control of the controller, wherein the controller uses acceleration and direction measurement values received from the acceleration sensor to measure acceleration and direction of the seating seat and the It is characterized in that the posture of the seat support plate is judged, and if the judgment result is judged to be in a rollover state outside the preset range, the rollover prevention zone is extended to operate to avoid the rollover state.

In addition, a rollover prevention unit of a wheelchair including a rollover prevention mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a motor that generates rotational power, a rollover prevention belt whose length can be extended or shortened by interaction of one or more linear members, and a case that maintains an installation position in which the motor and the rollover prevention belt can interact with each other while maintaining a state in which an end of the rollover prevention belt protrudes outward, and a controller is characterized in that, when the judgment result is out of a preset range, the controller controls the rollover prevention belt to be extended so as to escape from a rollover state.

In addition, a controller of a wheelchair including an anti-rollover mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is characterized by including a display for visually displaying information including a current moving speed on one surface, a button for accelerating or decelerating the moving speed, a button for turning the power on/off, a button for controlling the generation of a warning sound provided externally, and a joystick for controlling the moving direction.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect of providing a wheelchair including an anti-rollover structure for preventing the wheelchair from rolling over due to an unexpected situation while the wheelchair is in motion.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is an effect of providing a wheelchair including an anti-rollover structure capable of improving stability in use.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view and a rear view of a first embodiment of a wheelchair prototype including an anti-rollover structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an operational state diagram showing the operational state of an anti-rollover unit included in a first embodiment of a wheelchair prototype including an anti-rollover unit structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a rear view of a second embodiment of a prototype of a wheelchair including an anti-rollover structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating a controller provided in a prototype of a wheelchair including an anti-rollover structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to easily carry out the present invention.

In describing the embodiments, descriptions of technical contents that are well known in the technical field to which the present invention belongs and are not directly related to the present invention will be omitted. This is to convey the gist of the present invention more clearly without obscuring it by omitting unnecessary descriptions.

For the same reason, some components in the attached drawings are exaggerated, omitted, or schematically illustrated. In addition, the size of each component does not entirely reflect the actual size. The same or corresponding components in each drawing are given the same reference numbers.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view and a rear view of a first embodiment of a wheelchair prototype including an anti-rollover structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1(a) is a perspective view, and Figure 1(b) is a rear view.

Referring to FIG. 1(a), a wheelchair including an overturn prevention mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises: a seat support plate on which a plurality of wheels are rotatably fixed; a height-adjusting member that is coupled to the upper surface of the seat support plate at its lower end and allows the height of a structure coupled to its upper end to be adjusted; a seating seat (4) whose lower end is coupled to the upper end of the height-adjusting member; an acceleration sensor that is installed on either or both of the seating seat (4) or the seat support plate to detect acceleration and its direction and transmit it to the outside; an overturn prevention unit (20) coupled to the lower surface of the seating seat (4) and having at least one overturn prevention member whose length is controllable, installed on the left and right sides respectively; a controller connector (6) for electrical connection provided on the seat support plate, which is detachably coupled to the height-adjusting member, the acceleration sensor, the overturn prevention unit (20), the controller (50) that controls the motor, a drive motor that provides rotational driving force to each wheel, and a drive motor that provides power to each component that requires power according to the control of the controller. It includes a battery (front) (7)/(rear) (11), and a controller (50) determines the posture of the seating seat (4) and the seat support plate using acceleration and direction measurement values received from an acceleration sensor, and if the determination result is determined to be a rollover state outside a preset range, the rollover prevention belt (25) is extended to operate to avoid the rollover state.

Here, the seat support plate is located underneath the seating seat (4), and refers to a plate on which a wheel (9) is rotatably connected and on which a battery (front) (7) and a battery (rear) (11) can be placed or connected.

In addition, a height adjustment member (omitted) including the functions of height adjustment and cushioning of the seating seat (4) may be included between the seating seat (4) and the seat support plate.

In addition, the rollover prevention unit (20) is installed on the bottom of the seat (4) and, when the wheelchair rolls over, it extends the rollover prevention zone (25) to the left and right sides under the control of the controller (50) (see Fig. 1(b)) to raise the wheelchair and prevent it from rolling over.

Specifically, as can be seen in FIGS. 2(a) and (b), when the wheelchair overturns, the overturn prevention unit (20) extends under the control of the controller (50), and after the end of the overturn prevention unit (21) contacts the ground, the upper side of the wheelchair is lifted, and when it is lifted by a certain angle or a certain extension, the wheelchair returns to its normal standing state.

In addition, the controller determines the posture of the seating seat (4) and the seat support plate using the acceleration and direction measurement values received from the acceleration sensor, and if the determination result is determined to be outside the preset range and in a rollover state, the controller controls the rollover prevention zone (25) of the rollover prevention unit (20) to be extended, thereby controlling the wheelchair to avoid a rollover state.

Fig. 2 is an operational state diagram showing the operational state of the rollover prevention unit included in the first embodiment of a wheelchair prototype including a rollover prevention unit structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Both Fig. 2(a) and Fig. 2(b) are illustrated assuming a case where the rollover prevention unit (20) is viewed from above.

Figure 2(a) illustrates the rollover prevention unit (20) in a normal state in which the wheelchair can travel normally. At this time, it can be confirmed that a part of the end of the rollover prevention belt (25) and the end of the rollover prevention belt (21) protrude outside the case of the rollover prevention unit (20).

Figure 2(b) illustrates a situation in which the rollover prevention belt (25) is extended when the wheelchair rolls over. It can be confirmed that the rollover prevention belt (25) is a linear member that can be extended by the interaction of multiple columns with different diameters.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of a second embodiment of a prototype of a wheelchair including an anti-rollover structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3(b) shows a state in which a wheelchair including a rollover prevention structure according to the second embodiment has fallen over, and Fig. 3(a) shows a state immediately after the rollover prevention hinge (26) and the rollover prevention standing bar (28) are controlled by the controller (50) to return the wheelchair from the rollover state of Fig. 3(b) to the normal standing state. Fig. 3(c) shows only the rollover prevention hinge (26) and the rollover prevention standing bar (28) separately.

FIG. 4 is a drawing showing a controller provided in a prototype of a wheelchair including an anti-rollover structure according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The controller of FIG. 4 can be applied to either of the wheelchairs according to the first embodiment or the second embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, the controller (50) is characterized by including a display (52) that visually displays information including a current moving speed on a surface, buttons (low-speed button (55) and high-speed button (56)) that can accelerate or decelerate the moving speed of the wheelchair, a power button (54) for turning the power on/off, a horn button (53) for controlling the generation of a warning sound provided externally, and a joystick (57) for controlling the moving direction.

Here, the low-speed button (55) and the high-speed button (56) may be set to perform the deceleration/acceleration function according to each embodiment, or may be set to set the speed range of the wheelchair.

When set to take charge of the deceleration/acceleration function, pressing the low-speed button (55) causes the wheelchair to decelerate from the current moving speed, and pressing the high-speed button (57) causes the wheelchair to accelerate from the current moving speed.

In addition, when set for speed range setting, the low-speed button (55) and high-speed button (57) operate in a toggle manner, and the wheelchair can accelerate and decelerate within the preset speed range depending on the on/off state of each button.

At this time, the preset speed range can be set to an appropriate range according to the embodiment depending on the status of each button.

Additionally, the joystick (57) is used to indicate the direction of movement of the wheelchair, and depending on the embodiment, it may be set to have acceleration/deceleration functions as well.

In this way, when explaining the case where the joystick (57) includes an acceleration/deceleration function, it can be set so that acceleration or deceleration occurs when the joystick is tilted forward or backward at a greater angle than the set angle. In this case, it is appropriate to set it so that the movement speed range of the wheelchair is adjusted according to the operation of the low-speed button (55) and the high-speed button (57) as described above.

The configuration of a wheelchair including an overturn prevention mechanism according to the present invention and the functions/operations of each button of the controller (50) included therein have been described. The functions of each button may be set and implemented to have more diverse possibilities to suit the conditions/environments of each embodiment with reference to the above description.

Meanwhile, the present specification and drawings have disclosed preferred embodiments of the present invention, and although specific terms have been used, they have been used only in a general sense to easily explain the technical contents of the present invention and to help understand the invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modified examples based on the technical idea of the present invention can be implemented in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

1: Guardian handle 2: Backrest
3: Armrest 4: Seat
5: Folding lever 6: Controller connector
7: Battery (electric) 8: Footrest
9: Wheel 10: Pocket
11: Battery (rear) 15: Wheel
20: Anti-overturning department
21: End of anti-rollover zone 25: Anti-rollover zone
26: Anti-overturn hinge 28: Anti-overturn standing bar
50 : Controller 52 : Display
53 : Horn button 54 : Power button
55: Low speed button 56: High speed button
57 : Joystick

Claims (4)

A seat support plate on which multiple wheels are rotatably fixed;
A height-adjusting member that enables the height of a structure to be adjusted, the lower part of which is connected to the upper surface of the above-mentioned sheet support plate and the upper part of which is connected to the upper part;
A seating seat having a bottom surface joined to the top of the height-adjusting member;
An acceleration sensor installed on one or both sides of the above seating seat or the above seat support plate to detect acceleration and its direction;
An anti-rollover unit having at least one anti-rollover member, which is connected to the lower surface of the seat and has a length controllable, installed on each of the left and right sides;
A drive motor that provides rotational driving force to each of the above wheels;
A controller that is detachably connected to a controller connector for electrical connection provided on the above sheet support plate and controls the height adjustment member, the acceleration sensor, the rollover prevention member, and the driving motor; and
A battery is detachably coupled to the seat support plate to provide power to each component requiring power according to the control of the controller;
The above controller uses the acceleration and direction measurement values received from the acceleration sensor to determine the posture of the seating seat and the seat support plate, and if the determination result is determined to be a rollover state outside the preset range, the rollover prevention belt is extended to operate to avoid the rollover state.
The above controller,
A display that visually displays information including the current movement speed on a surface;
Buttons to accelerate or decelerate the above movement speed;
Button to turn the power on/off;
A button for controlling the generation of an externally provided warning sound; and
a joystick for controlling the direction of movement;
Buttons that can accelerate or decelerate the above movement speed include a low-speed button and a high-speed button.
The above low-speed and high-speed buttons are,
Each can be set to perform a deceleration or acceleration function,
It can also be set for setting the interval of the above movement speed,
When the above low-speed and high-speed buttons are set to set the range of the above movement speed,
The movement speed can be controlled by the joystick, and when the joystick is tilted forward or backward at a greater angle than the set angle, acceleration or deceleration of the movement speed is performed, respectively.
A wheelchair including an anti-rollover device characterized in that a pocket for storing personal belongings is installed on the rear of a backrest combined with the above-mentioned seat.
In paragraph 1,
The above anti-overturning part is,
A motor that generates rotational power;
A rollover prevention device in which one or more linear elements interact with each other to extend or shorten in length; and
A case in which the motor and the overturn prevention device maintain an interactive installation position while the end of the overturn prevention device remains in a state in which it protrudes outward;
The above controller,
If the above judgment result is outside the preset range,
A wheelchair including an overturn prevention mechanism characterized in that the overturn prevention zone is controlled to be extended so as to escape from an overturn state.
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