Information
-
Patent Grant
-
6783179
-
Patent Number
6,783,179
-
Date Filed
Thursday, June 27, 200221 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, August 31, 200419 years ago
-
Inventors
-
Original Assignees
-
Examiners
- Mai; Lanna
- Garrett; Erika
Agents
- Armstrong, Kratz, Quintos, Hanson & Brooks, LLP
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 297 34417
- 297 335
- 297 337
- 297 330
- 297 DIG 10
- 297 34412
- 297 331
- 248 429
- 248 430
- 296 651
-
International Classifications
-
Abstract
An elevation chair having a seat which is elevated by a driving mechanism, provided with a seat frame and a seat main body attached to the frame as to incline forward, the seat main body has an oscillation mechanism to automatically incline the seat main body forward at a predetermined height, and an angle detecting means to stop the driving mechanism when the seat main body reaches a predetermined inclination angle. And, the elevation chair has an automatic braking mechanism which releases wheels when a footrest attached to a position above a front wheel is laid to be horizontal, and brakes the wheel when the footrest is standing.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an elevation chair.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an elderly person sitting in a chair whose knees and legs are weak, and a physically-handicapped person having knees and legs disabled, hold an armrest or a hand rail to stand up from the chair. And, when an auxiliary device to incline the seat of the chair is provided, the inclination angle can not be certainly and easily set and adjusted. And, in a case of a running chair, the chair can not be certainly and easily fixed without failure when the person get on and off the chair.
It is difficult for the elderly person and the physically-handicapped person to stand up from the chair they are sitting by themselves safely and smoothly, great labor is required to stand up, and physical stress is high. And, even in the case of the seat provided with the inclination auxiliary device, setting and adjustment of the inclination of the seat is complicated and difficult to be conducted by a user, and the user may be injured by malfunction. And, in the case of the running chair with wheels, the chair may move backward and the person may fall on the ground when the person gets on and off the chair.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a safe and secure elevation chair with which standing movement of the elderly person whose knees and legs are weak or the physically-handicapped person having knees and legs disabled, is smoothly supported and the stress in standing is alleviated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1
is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an elevation chair of the present invention;
FIG. 2
is a side view of a driving mechanism;
FIG. 3
is a top view of a driving mechanism;
FIG. 4
is a cross-sectional side view showing the embodiment of the elevation chair of the present invention;
FIG. 5
is a cross-sectional side view showing another embodiment of the elevation chair of the present invention;
FIG. 6
is a cross-sectional side view showing still another embodiment of the elevation chair of the present invention;
FIG. 7
is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a principal portion showing a component;
FIG. 8
is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a principal portion showing a component;
FIG. 9
is a front view showing a braking state of an automatic braking mechanism;
FIG. 10
is a cross-sectional side view showing the braking state of the automatic braking mechanism;
FIG. 11
is a front view showing a non-braking state of the automatic braking mechanism;
FIG. 12
is a cross-sectional side view showing the non-braking state of the automatic braking mechanism;
FIG. 13
is a rear perspective view in which the elevation chair is disassembled;
FIG. 14
is a perspective view showing a further embodiment of the elevation chair of the present invention;
FIG. 15
is a perspective view for explanation of a driving mechanism;
FIG. 16
is a perspective view for explanation of the driving mechanism;
FIG. 17
is a cross-sectional side view showing the driving mechanism and an oscillation mechanism;
FIG. 18
is a perspective view showing a pedal braking mechanism;
FIG. 19
is a side view showing a non-braking state of the pedal braking mechanism;
FIG. 20
is a side view showing a braking state of the pedal braking mechanism;
FIG. 21
is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the elevation chair of the present invention;
FIG. 22
is a perspective view to explain a leg portion; and
FIG. 23
is a perspective view to explain the leg portion.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1
shows an embodiment of an elevation chair (a chair with a seat which is lifted up and down) of the present invention. This elevation chair, running on the floor, etc., has a seat
4
which is inclined and elevated (lifted). A lower partof the elevation chair has a pair of bar-shaped leg portions
36
, a wheel
2
is attached to both (front and rear) end portions of each of the leg portions
36
, and the leg portions
36
are connected with a base member
37
. A post
38
is fixed to the base member
37
as to incline backward, and a driving mechanism M, to elevate (ascend and descend) the seat
4
and a back portion
10
, is detachably attached to the post
38
.
A battery
15
is placed on the post
38
to elevate and incline the seat
4
of the elevation chair independently with electricity. And, a handle
25
for movement is disposed on an upper rear side of the post
38
as the elevation chair can easily run (move).
The seat
4
is provided with a seat frame
5
and a seat main body
7
attached to a forth end portion
6
of the seat frame
5
as to incline forward, and, keeping a horizontal state, elevated (lifted up and down) by the driving mechanism M. And the seat main body
7
is inclined forward by an oscillation mechanism N.
The driving mechanism M to elevate (lift) the seat
4
is, as shown in
FIG. 2
, provided with a motor
16
, a reducer portion
17
, a guide rail portion
18
, a rotating male screw portion
26
, a sliding female screw portion
27
, and a sliding member
28
which are united into one unit. And,
FIG. 3
is a cross-sectional top view of the driving mechanism M in which rotation (torque) of the motor
16
is transmitted to the rotating male screw portion
26
through the reducer portion
17
to revolve.
And, the sliding female screw portion
27
screwed to the rotating male screw portion
26
has a pair of first rollers
29
which fit to guide rails
18
′ parallel to the rotating male screw portion
26
, and moved (screwed) up and down by the rotation of the rotating male screw portion
26
. That is to say, the sliding female screw portion
27
elevates (screws) the rotating male screw portion
26
up and down by restriction of the rotating male screw portion
26
by the guide rails
18
′.
The sliding female screw portion
27
is connected to the sliding member
28
through a connencting shaft
19
(refer to FIG.
3
), and the sliding member
28
is connected to the seat frame
5
of the seat
4
(refer to FIG.
2
). Therefore, the seat
4
(the seat frame
5
) is elevated by elevation of the sliding female screw portion
27
. And, the seat frame
5
is set to be guided by inner faces of the post
38
shown in FIG.
1
.
To switch ascent to descent of the seat
4
, the rotating direction of the motor
16
is switched by a controller not shown in Figures mounted on the elevation chair. And, threads of the rotating male screw portion
26
and the sliding female screw portion
27
are set to be self-locked and prevented from spontaneous falling.
And, as shown in
FIG. 3
, second rollers
30
, having rotational axes at right angles with rotational axes of the first rollers
29
, are attached to the sliding member
28
as to rotate and disposed as to hold a guide rail
18
″ parallel to the rotating male screw portion
26
. The guide rail portion
18
is composed of the guide rails
18
′ and the guide rail
18
″, which are constructed as that the first rollers
29
prevent deviation (sheering and trembling) of the sliding member
28
(the seat
4
) in back-and-forth direction and the second rollers
30
prevent the deviation in left-and-right direction.
Returning to
FIG. 1
, the seat frame
5
is a L-shaped supporting frame having a horizontal portion supporting the seat main body
7
horizontal and a vertical portion holding the back portion
10
, and an armrest
20
, laid horizontal and raised vertical, is attached to each of left and right sides of the vertical portion as to be oscillatable. And, a headrest
10
a
, detachable and position-changeable to correspond to the head height of the user, is disposed on an upper part of the back portion
10
.
The driving mechanism M is disposed on an upper and a lower side of the post
38
respectively, the sliding member
28
as a component of the driving mechanism M is attached to the vertical portion of the seat frame
5
of the seat
4
, and the seat
4
is elevated stably with the seat frame
5
guided by grooves on the post
38
.
Next, in a side view of a principal portion of
FIG. 4
showing the embodiment of the elevation chair (from which cushion material to be attached to the seat main body
7
and the back portion
10
are removed), the elevation chair has an oscillation mechanism N to elevate the seat
4
horizontally and automatically incline the seat main body
7
forward at a predetermined height.
FIG. 4
shows the elevation and inclination of the seat
4
.
The oscillation mechanism N is provided with a tension spring
44
, a running pulley
46
, a flexible member
39
, a first pulley
40
, and a second pulley
41
. To describe in detail, an end of the flexible member
39
is attached to a supporting portion
42
on a rear end of the seat main body
7
, and another end is attached to an attachment member
43
through the running pulley
46
, the first pulley
40
, and the second pulley
41
. And, the attachment member
43
is hitched to a hitching member
53
of a fixation portion
45
fixed to the base member
37
.
A long hole is formed on a side face of the seat main body
7
, and the running pulley
46
, guided and supported by the long hole as to be movable, is connected to an end of the tension spring
44
disposed in front of the seat main body
7
. The tension spring
44
is set to be always pushing the running pulley
46
forward, giving tension to the flexible member
39
, and stored in the seat main body
7
without laxation.
When the seat
4
, in a state in which the seat main body
7
is held horizontal, namely, the state shown with a mark A
1
, is ascended, the running pulley
46
is moved backward by the flexible member
39
along the long hole, and the running pulley
46
contacts a rear end of the long hole and stops when the seat
4
reaches a predetermined height to make a state shown with a mark A
2
.
When the seat
4
is ascended further, the rear end of the seat main body
7
is raised along the ascension through the running pulley
46
, the seat main body
7
is oscillated around an axis G to gradually incline forward, and the seat main body
7
is in a forward-inclined position with a predetermined inclination angle θ as shown with a mark A
3
when the seat
4
reaches a predetermined height.
The height, at which the seat main body
7
begins the inclination, can be changed by hitching the attachment portion
43
on the end portion of the flexible member
39
to another hitching portion
53
on the fixation portion
45
fixed to the base member
37
. That is to say, the attachment member
43
as a component of the oscillation mechanism N has an adjustment mechanism F to change the forward-inclination starting height. And, although not shown in Figures, the number of the hitching members
53
and
53
′ may be 3 or more, and plural hitching holes may be formed on the flexible member
39
to be hitched onto a hitching piece on the fixation portion
45
. With the adjustment mechanism F, the height at which the seat main body
7
begins the inclination is changed in plural stages.
And, as shown in
FIG. 6
, the attachment member
43
on the end portion of the flexible member
39
may not be hitched to the fixation portion
45
fixed to the base member
37
, namely, may be freely ascended and descended to interrupt the automatic inclination of the seat main body
7
at the predetermined height, and the seat
4
can be elevated with horizontal state. That is to say, the attachment member
43
as a component of the oscillation mechanism N has a non-inclination switching mechanism E to interrupt the automatic forward inclination of the seat main body
7
and elevate the seat
4
with horizontal state.
And, as shown in FIG.
4
and
FIG. 5
, the seat
4
has an angle detecting means L to stop the driving mechanism M when the seat main body
7
reaches the predetermined inclination angle θ. To describe in detail, as shown in FIG.
7
and
FIG. 8
, the angle detecting means L is provided with a shielding plate
8
and a photosensor
9
attached to the seat frame
5
to detect the inclination angle θ through an inclination angle of the shielding plate
8
which inclines along with the seat main body
7
.
To describe further in detail, as shown in
FIG. 7
, in a state that the seat main body
7
(shown with solid lines) of the seat
4
is horizontal (the seat main body
7
and the seat frame
5
are overlapped in a side view), the photosensor
9
attached to the seat frame
5
is blocked by the shielding plate
8
attached to the seat main body
7
. That is to say, as shown in a cross-sectional view of the angle detecting means L in
FIG. 8
, the shielding plate
8
is placed between an emission portion
9
a
and a receiving portion
9
b
disposed on a U-shaped main body
9
c
, and the driving mechanism M works when the photosensor
9
is switched off. Then, in a state that the seat main body
7
of the seat
4
inclines to the predetermined inclination angle θ (shown with two-dot broken lines in FIG.
7
), the shielding plate
8
is departed from the photosensor
9
attached to the seat frame
5
, the photosensor
9
is switched on to send a signal to a control circuit not shown in Figures, and the driving mechanism M is stopped.
And, the inclination angle θ of the seat main body
7
can be changed by changing the attached angle of the photosensor
9
. The inclination angle θ, which is preferably 15° to 35°, is most preferably 25°. And, although not shown in Figures, the angle detecting means L may be composed of a micro switch and a contact piece which contacts and parts from a terminal of the micro switch.
Next, FIG.
9
through
FIG. 12
show an automatic braking mechanism B mounted on the elevation chair. The wheels
2
are disposed front and rear portions on the elevation chair, and the automatic braking mechanism B is disposed on a position of each of the wheels
2
on the front portion (as shown in FIG.
1
). The wheel
2
is released when a footrest
3
attached to the wheel bracket
1
of the wheel
2
is laid horizontal (as in FIGS.
11
and
12
), and the wheel
2
is braked when the footrest
3
is raised upright (as in FIGS.
9
and
10
).
To describe in detail, the automatic braking mechanism B has the footrest
3
of flat plate attached to the wheel bracket
1
as to held vertical by an elastic member
47
. And, a front supporting shaft
11
is disposed on a front upper position of an axle
48
as to be parallel to the axle
48
and a rear supporting shaft
21
is disposed on a rear upper position of the axle
48
as to be parallel to the axle
48
, and a front braking arm
12
having L-shaped cross section is attached to the front supporting shaft
11
as to oscillate and a rear braking arm
22
having L-shaped cross section is attached to the rear supporting shaft
21
as to oscillate.
As shown in FIG.
9
and
FIG. 10
, a receiving portion
13
on an end of the front braking arm
12
and a receiving portion
23
on an end of the rear braking arm
22
are protruding from an opening on a top plate
35
of the wheel bracket
1
, and a brake pad
14
attached on another end of the front braking arm
12
and a brake pad
24
attached on another end of the rear braking arm
22
are respectively pressed to front and rear parts of the wheel
2
by self weight of the front and rear braking arms
12
and
22
, and the brake pads
14
and
24
. That is to say, the brake pads
14
and
24
are pressed to the wheel
2
to brake the wheel
2
in the vertical upright state of the footrest
3
. As shown in
FIG. 9
, widths of the brake pads
14
and
24
are larger than the width of the wheel
2
to slide on the whole width of the wheel
2
to enhance the braking ability by enlarging the sliding portion.
The automatic braking ability with the front and rear braking arms
12
and
22
is determined by positions of tangent points
14
a
and
24
a
of the brake pads
14
and
24
with the wheel
2
as shown in FIG.
10
. That is to say, the tangent point
14
a
is an intersectional point of a radius R of the wheel
2
and an oscillation radius r
1
of the front braking arm
12
, and a distance C, between the front supporting shaft
11
of the front braking arm
12
and the axle
48
, is set to be smaller than a sum of the radius R of the wheel
2
and the oscillation radius r
1
of the front braking arm
12
. Therefore, when the wheel
2
starts rotation in clockwise direction H in
FIG. 10
, the brake pad
14
presses toward the center of the wheel
2
in the radius R direction to enhance the braking ability by frictional force. This automatic braking function stops the rotation in the clockwise direction H of the wheel
2
.
In this case, the front braking arm
12
is free from rotation of the wheel
2
in anti-clockwise direction J. The wheel
2
can run while the brake pad
14
is sliding on a rotating face of the wheel
2
(without braking). Therefore, in the automatic braking mechanism B, the rear braking arm
22
is disposed on a position symmetric to the front braking arm
12
with respect to a vertical line going through the axle
48
, the rotation of the wheel
2
in the anti-clockwise direction J is prevented by the braking function to prevent the wheel
2
from moving in back-and-forth direction.
Next, as shown in FIG.
11
and
FIG. 12
, in the state that the footrest
3
is laid horizontal, a reverse face
3
a
of the footrest
3
faces the top plate
35
of the wheel bracket
1
and pushes the receiving portions
13
and
23
down, the front and rear braking arms
12
and
22
oscillate around the front and rear supporting shafts
11
and
21
, and the brake pads
14
and
24
are parted from the wheel. Then, the wheel
2
can run and the chair can freely move back and forth. To lay the footrest
3
horizontal, the self weight of the footrest
3
overcomes the elastic force of the elastic member
47
, attached to the footrest
3
, to lay down the footrest
3
.
The footrest
3
, larger than the width of the wheel
2
(the wheel bracket
1
) as shown in FIG.
9
and
FIG. 11
, has a sufficient size as shown in
FIG. 1
with which a person can put the foot when sitting on the seat
4
. Therefore, the footrest
3
must be raised upright as shown in
FIG. 9
when a person sits on and stands up because the large footrest
3
occupies footspace necessary for sitting and standing. That is to say, the footrest
3
must be raised upright and brake locking (braking) is certainly conducted. With this mechanism, the person is prevented from falling when sits on and stands from the seat by the braking of the wheel
2
without spontaneous backward movement of the chair. And, injury caused by dragging is prevented by putting the foot on the footrest
3
when the person sitting on the seat
4
is transferred.
As described above, the driving mechanism M for elevating the seat
4
is provided with the motor
16
, the reducer portion
17
, the guide rail portion
18
, the rotating male screw portion
26
, the sliding female screw portion
27
, and the sliding member
28
, and united as a unit. When the elevation chair of the present invention (the driving mechanism M) is maintained, a cover
49
and an electric portion
50
are removed from the main body of the chair, fixation screws
51
to fix the driving mechanism M to a vertical portion of the seat frame
5
are unscrewed to remove the driving mechanism M as one unit from the post
38
. That is to say, the driving mechanism M to be maintained can be removed from the main body of the chair without disassembly into individual parts.
And, to facilitate the removal from the main body of the chair, an upper part of the driving mechanism M is pinned to an upper part of the post
38
with a fixation member
52
, and, although not shown in Figures, a lower part has a hook-shaped hitching portion to be hitched to a lower part of the post
38
. Therefore, the driving mechanism M can be taken out of the post
38
only with removal of the fixation member
52
.
Next, another embodiment of the elevation chair of the present invention as shown in a perspective view of
FIG. 14
is described. This elevation chair, similar to the elevation chair described with
FIG. 1
, has a seat
4
which is elevated (lifted) and inclined, and runs on floor, etc. A lower portion of the elevation chair is provided with a lower fixation portion
64
as a base portion to hold the post
38
, having leg portions
36
connected to the front of the lower fixation portion
64
on left and right sides. Wheels
2
are attached to forth end portions of the leg portions
36
and wheels
92
are attached to the lower fixation portion
64
on the left and right sides as to rotate. The posy
38
is placed on and fixed to the lower fixation portion
64
as to incline backward, and a driving mechanism M, to elevate (ascend and descend) the seat
4
and a back portion
10
(a sliding member
28
), is detachably attached to the post
38
.
A battery
15
is mounted on the post
38
to independently conduct elevation and inclination of the seat
4
of the elevation chair electrically. A handle
25
for transfer is disposed on a rear side of the post
38
to easily transfer (move) the elevation chair. And, as described later in detail, a pedal braking mechanism D is mounted behind the lower fixation portion
64
to brake the wheels
92
and certainly fix the position of the elevation chair.
The seat
4
is provided with a seat frame
5
and a seat main body
7
attached to a forth end portion
6
of the seat frame
5
as to incline forward. The seat
4
, keeping horizontal state, is elevated (lifted up and down) by the driving mechanism M, and the seat main body
7
is inclined forward by an oscillation mechanism N at a predetermined height. The seat
4
is connected to the sliding member
28
elevated along the post
38
to be elevated.
The driving mechanism M to elevate the seat
4
, as shown in
FIG. 15
, is provided with the elevatable sliding member
28
to which the seat
4
is connected, an expansion actuator
61
which expands and contracts up and down, a running rotation pulley
62
disposed on an upper end of the expansion actuator
61
, and a flexible member
63
. The flexible member
63
, of which end
63
a
is attached to a fixation metal
69
of the lower fixation portion
64
, is expanded upward and suspended on the running rotation pulley
62
, and another end
63
b
of the flexible member
63
is attached to an attachment metal
68
of the sliding member
28
situated low.
As shown in
FIG. 15
, to obtain necessary elevation stroke (2× S) of the sliding member
28
(the seat
4
), the running rotation pulley
62
on the upper end of the expansion actuator
61
is moved for a half of the stroke (S) because the running rotation pulley
62
on the expansion actuator
61
serves as a running pulley.
With this pulley device, elevation movement dimension of the running rotation pulley
62
as a component of the driving mechanism M can be diminished. Vertical dimension and expansion length of the expansion actuator
61
can be made small, and the device is made compact and light. Therefore, the elevation chair can be light-weight, moved easily, and handled properly.
The flexible member
63
is composed of a flexible belt
65
having a double-suspension construction in which an outer belt
66
and an inner belt
67
are layered. In normal working, the inner belt
67
is suspended to be tensed as to suspend the sliding member
28
(the seat
4
) from the fixation metal
69
(the lower fixation portion
64
) through the running rotation pulley
62
as shown in
FIG. 15
, and the outer belt
66
is untensed and suspended on the lower fixation portion
64
, the running rotation pulley
62
, and the sliding member
28
. That is to say, in normal working, only the inner belt
67
suspends the sliding member
28
to elevate with the expansion actuator
61
.
And, a safety device is constructed as that in emergency in which overload is generated by malfunction of the expansion actuator
61
, and the inner belt
67
is broken by aging, as shown in
FIG. 16
, the outer belt
66
, suspended in loose state, is tensed to suspend the sliding member
28
and retain the position (prevent falling).
As shown in
FIG. 16
, the sliding member
28
is provided with two rollers
96
on each of upper and lower positions to elevate along the guide rails of the post
38
to smoothly elevate the sliding member
28
without trembling.
As shown in FIG.
15
and
FIG. 16
, a position-corresponding plate
70
is disposed between the outer belt
66
and the inner belt
67
. The position-corresponding plate
70
is pushed to press the outer belt
66
in normal working to hold the outer belt
66
as not to be excessively loosened. And, as shown in
FIG. 16
, in emergency in which the inner belt
67
is broken, the outer belt
66
is tensed to suspend the sliding member
28
to retain the position and push the position-corresponding plate
70
to the inner belt
67
side to change the position. Then, the position-corresponding plate
70
contacts a detecting portion of a displacement detecting mechanism
71
(a limit switch) to stop (by electric shielding) the expansion actuator
61
of the driving mechanism M.
Therefore, even if the inner belt
67
is broken by overload generated by the expansion actuator
61
, the expansion actuator
61
does not break the outer belt
66
, and the seat
4
is (although slightly descended by idle length of the outer belt
66
) suspended and held.
And, as shown in
FIG. 16
, the outer belt
66
and the inner belt
67
are attached to the attachment metal
68
of the sliding member
28
at different heights. In production of the flexible belt
65
, a belt is folded at the middle which is an end
63
a
, and two ends on the opposite side are ends
63
b
. These two belts are the outer belt
66
and the inner belt
67
. The end
63
b
on the outer belt
66
side is attached to an upper pin
68
′ of the attachment metal, and the inner belt
67
side is attached to a lower pin
68
″. Therefore, the outer belt
66
is naturally loosened when the inner belt
67
is tensed. The flexible belt
65
is easily made thereby without error in assembly. And, the belt does not fall out of the lower fixation portion
64
when the inner or the outer belt is tensed because the folded portion is formed into a loop by sewing.
Next, in inclination movement of the seat main body
7
in the embodiment shown in
FIG. 14
, although the seat main body
7
is inclined as in
FIGS. 4
,
5
, and
6
similar to that of the embodiment shown in
FIG. 1
, a suspension belt
78
(corresponding to the flexible member
39
in
FIG. 4
) of the oscillation mechanism N is differently composed from the embodiment in FIG.
1
.
To describe in detail with
FIG. 17
, the oscillation mechanism N is provided with an elevation pulley
75
attached to the sliding member
28
, a middle deflection shaft
76
attached the post
38
, and a hook
77
with a deflection shaft hitched to a hitching protruding portion
80
. The suspension belt
78
raises the seat main body
7
as to incline forward with this pulley mechanism by elevation movement of the elevation pulley
75
of the sliding member
28
. To compose the suspension belt
78
, an end portion
78
a
is connected to a rear end portion
79
of the seat main body
7
to suspend (composed similar to the embodiment in FIG.
1
), and another end portion
78
b
is fixed to a fixation metal
72
on an upper portion of the post
38
. And, the suspension belt
78
extends upwards from the end portion
78
a
to be suspended on the elevation pulley
75
and on the middle deflection shaft
76
, then, extends downwards to be suspended on the hook
77
with the deflection shaft and connected to the upper fixation metal
72
.
With this construction, an elevation movement stroke of the sliding member
28
(the elevation pulley
75
) to incline the seat main body
7
is required to be only a half of that when the seat main body
7
is directly raised because the elevation pulley
75
elevated by the sliding member
28
works as a running pulley.
The hook
77
with the deflection shaft, as described later, can change the height of hitching position, although not shown in Figures, only by hitching a hole on the hook
77
to the hitching protruding portion
80
of the post
38
. The hook
77
with the deflection shaft is always pulled up by the suspension belt
78
to prevent the hook
77
from falling off the hitching protruding portion
80
. So the hook
77
with the deflection shaft is positioned lower than the elevation pulley
75
, and the end portion
78
b
of the belt
78
is fixed to the upper fixation metal
72
to make a loop of the belt.
Further, the middle deflection shaft
76
is disposed as the suspension belt
78
, between the middle deflection shaft
76
and the hook
77
with the deflection shaft, is pulling the hook
77
with the deflection shaft always in a constant direction, and the hook
77
with the deflection shaft receives a component of tensile force. The hook
77
with the deflection shaft is prevented from falling out of hitching, and having a simple construction, not receiving strong bending force, which can resist only tensile force in one direction.
The suspension belt
78
, unstretchable and having a constant length, raises the seat main body
7
to be inclined forward with the pulley mechanism. As the oscillation mechanism N to make the movement, an adjustment mechanism F which can change the height at which the inclination of the seat main body
7
begins corresponding to height of the person who sits on the seat
4
. The adjustment mechanism F, composed of hitching protruding portions
80
and
80
′ disposed on different heights on the front side of the post
38
to which the hook
77
with the deflection shaft is hitched, expands application range of the elevation chair corresponding to the difference of the height.
To describe concretely, as shown in
FIG. 17
, the hitching protruding portions
80
and
80
′ are disposed on the front side of the post
38
on plural stages (two stages) in vertical direction. Then, the length that the end portion
78
a
of the suspension belt
78
contacts the rear end portion of the long hole
73
on the seat main body
7
to raise the seat main body
7
is changed by changing the hitching height of the hook
77
with the deflection shaft from the protruding portion
80
to the protruding portion
80
′ (or from the protruding portion
80
′ to the protruding portion
80
) to change the height at which the forward inclination begins.
When the hook
77
with the deflection shaft is hitched to the protruding portion
80
, the seat main body
7
starts the inclination at an early (a lower) predetermined position for a short person. When the hook
77
with the deflection shaft is hitched to the protruding portion
80
′, the seat main body
7
, later than the case of the protruding portion
80
, starts the inclination at a higher position for a tall person. With the construction of the running pulley including the elevation pulley
75
described above, the difference of the height, at which the inclination begins, between for the short person and for the tall person is the twice of the difference of height between the protruding portion
80
and the protruding portion
80
′.
Further, the seat
4
can be kept horizontal when elevated without the automatic forward inclination of the seat main body
7
at the predetermined height by changing the hitching height of the hook
77
with the deflection shaft to the position of a hitching protruding portion
80
″ (the uppermost stage) disposed further (a non-inclination switching mechanism E). When the hook
77
with the deflection shaft is hitched to the upper predetermined position, the end portion
78
a
of the sliding member
78
does not contact the rear end portion of the long hole
73
, and the rear end portion
79
of the seat main body
7
is not raised even if the sliding member
28
ascends to the uppermost portion.
To detect a height position of the seat main body
7
(the sliding member
28
) at which the seat main body
7
is stopped after the elevation and forward inclination, the expansion actuator
61
itself detects the elevation stroke S, stops its expansion movement, and the inclination of the seat main body
7
is stopped. As another method, as shown in
FIG. 17
, a position detecting mechanism
81
such as a limit switch is disposed on the post
38
, a protruding piece
82
on the sliding member
28
contacts the position detecting mechanism
81
when elevated to a predetermined height, and the driving mechanism M (the expansion actuator
61
) is stopped by the position detecting mechanism
81
.
And, as shown in FIG.
14
and
FIG. 17
, a working switch
83
is disposed near (above) the protruding portion
80
on the post
38
. When the hook
77
with the deflection shaft hitches to the protruding portion
80
, the hook
77
with the deflection shaft pushes the working switch
83
to electrically switch on the position detecting mechanism
81
(the limit switch) above.
In the case that a two-staged height adjusting mechanism is applied (for short and tall persons) as described above, a two-staged upper limit position detecting means is required. To describe concretely a stopping mechanism for the driving mechanism M, when the hook
77
with the deflection shaft is hitched to the protruding portion
80
for a short person, the hook
77
with the deflection shaft pushes the working switch
83
to electrically switch on the position detecting mechanism
81
(the limit switch) above, the sliding member
28
is elevated by the driving mechanism M, the protruding piece
82
on the sliding member
28
contacts the position detecting mechanism
81
at the predetermined height to stop the driving mechanism M (the expansion actuator
61
).
When the hook
77
with the deflection shaft is hitched to the protruding portion
80
′ for a tall person, the position detecting mechanism
81
(the limit switch) is electrically switched off, the detection is not conducted when the protruding piece
82
contacts the position detecting mechanism
81
, the sliding member
28
is elevated further, then, the expansion actuator
61
itself detects the predetermined elevation stroke to stop its expansion movement.
Next, the pedal braking mechanism D, disposed behind the elevation chair in
FIG. 14
, is described. A schematic perspective view is shown in
FIG. 18
, and
FIGS. 19 and 20
are side views. In
FIG. 18
, rotation of the wheel
92
on the rear side is restricted by pressing an end portion
89
a
of a brake shaft
89
to the wheel
92
. Although
FIG. 18
mainly shows the wheel
92
on the left side, the wheel
92
on the right side has a similar and symmetric construction. That is to say, the brake shaft
89
is a rod-like member bent U-shaped approximately.
The braking mechanism D is provided with a brake pedal
86
of plate and the rod-like metal brake shaft
89
. An end portion
86
a
of the brake pedal
86
is attached to an inner portion of the lower fixation portion
64
on the rear side as to oscillate around a first horizontal axis
87
in lateral direction, and an operation pedal portion
88
is disposed on another end portion
86
b
(another end side portion) as to protrude outward from the lower fixation portion
64
.
The U-shaped rod-like brake shaft
89
is provided with a leg portion
89
′, namely, a supporting rod in proceeding direction of the chair, and a back portion
89
″, namely, a horizontal beam in lateral direction. A middle portion
90
of the leg portion
89
′ of the brake shaft
89
is attached as to oscillate around a second horizontal axis
91
in lateral direction near the wheel
92
of the lower fixation portion
64
, and the end portion
89
a
of the leg portion
89
′ can contact the wheel
92
with the oscillation movement of the brake shaft
89
around the second horizontal axis
91
to brake the wheel
92
. The back portion
89
″ of the brake shaft
89
is attached to the lower face side of the brake pedal
86
on a position on the operation pedal portion
88
side toward the position of the first horizontal axis
87
, and, as shown in the side view of
FIG. 19
, out of an imaginary line going through the first horizontal axis
87
and the second horizontal axis
91
(above the imaginary line in FIG.
19
), and oscillatable around a third horizontal axis
94
along with the brake pedal.
And, when the operation pedal portion
88
of the brake pedal
86
in
FIG. 19
is stamped by foot to oscillate around the first horizontal axis
87
as to become the state in
FIG. 20
, as shown in
FIG. 18
, the back portion
89
″ of the brake shaft
89
, being pulled and elastically deformed (for a displacement ε), is oscillated around the second horizontal axis
91
to brake the wheel
92
. Similarly, the operation pedal portion
88
of the brake pedal
86
in
FIG. 20
is pulled up by foot as to become the state in
FIG. 19
to release the brake.
The elastic deformation of the back portion
89
″ of the brake shaft
89
works to keep the braked state and the released state. Especially, in the braked state, the wheel
92
is firmly pressed by elastic force with the end portion
89
a.
This position retaining work is caused by elastic work of the brake shaft
89
(the back portion
89
″) made of metal, and, as shown in FIG.
19
and
FIG. 20
, difference between an oscillation radius r
11
of the first horizontal axis
87
and the third horizontal axis
94
of the brake pedal
86
and an oscillation radius r
12
of the second horizontal axis
91
and the third horizontal axis
94
of the brake shaft
89
, namely, the oscillation radius r
12
is longer than the oscillation radius r
11
.
And, the connecting point of the brake shaft
89
and the brake pedal
86
(the third horizontal axis
94
) passes an imaginary line going through the first horizontal axis
87
and the second horizontal axis
91
, and the brake shaft
89
becomes static on two intersection points
95
of two different arc traces without elastic deformation. That is to say, the connecting point above (of the third horizontal axis
94
) between the two intersection points
95
automatically returns to one of the two intersection points
95
with elasticity.
Returning to
FIG. 14
, a footrest
93
of plate is disposed above the forward wheels
2
as to be position-changeable. In the state shown in
FIG. 14
, a person sitting on the seat
4
can put the feet on the footrest
93
to prevent the feet from dragging in transfer. And, the position of the footrest
93
is changed parallel to the leg portion
36
not to hinder the person to get on and off the seat
4
.
Next,
FIG. 21
is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the elevation chair of the present invention. This elevation chair, similar to the elevation chair described with FIG.
1
and
FIG. 14
, runs (moves) on the floor and has a seat
4
elevated (ascended and descended) by the driving mechanism M as described above. A lower part of the elevation chair is provided with a base member
37
to hold a post
38
, horizontal leg portions
36
are disposed both sides of the base member
37
, and wheels
2
are disposed on front positions and rear positions of the leg portions
36
as the elevation chair has
4
wheels.
The leg portion
36
is composed of a rear fixation portion
103
and a front oscillation arm portion
101
which is before the base member
37
. The oscillation arm portion
101
is a horizontal supporting member protruding forward, and a front wheel
2
a
is attached to a forth end of the oscillation arm portion
101
. And, the front wheel
2
a
, with a rear wheel
2
b
attached to the rear fixation portion
103
, supports the elevation chair stably as to run.
And, the oscillation arm portion
101
is attached to the fixation portion
103
as to be freely switched between a forward-protruding used state and an upward-folded stored state at a base end portion side of the oscillation arm portion
101
.
FIG. 21
is showing the used state, and the oscillation arm portion
101
is folded at the base end portion side in a direction of arrows V to be changed to the stored state. FIG.
22
and
FIG. 23
are perspective views to explain the leg portion
36
.
FIG. 22
shows the used state, and
FIG. 23
shows the stored state.
As shown in
FIG. 23
, an auxiliary wheel
102
, disposed on the base end portion of the oscillation arm portion
101
, protrudes downward and contacts the ground in the stored state.
To describe concretely, the base end portion of the oscillation arm portion
101
is attached to the fixation portion
103
as to freely oscillate, and
104
is an oscillation center. To describe further, a fixation piece
105
is fixed to the fixation portion
103
and an oscillation piece
106
is fixed to the base end portion of the oscillation arm portion
101
as to face. And, the fixation piece
105
and the oscillation piece
106
are connected with a first connecting shaft
107
and a second connecting shaft
108
. The second connecting shaft
108
, although fixed to the fixation piece
105
, slides along an arc long hole on the oscillation piece
106
, and the oscillation arm portion
101
(the oscillation piece
106
), of which oscillation angle is restricted to approximately 90°, can oscillate around the first connecting shaft
107
as a center.
As shown in
FIG. 22
, in the used state, the oscillation arm portion
101
is held approximately horizontal by insertion of fixation bolts
110
to two fixation holes on a side face of the fixation portion
103
(not shown in
FIG. 22
) and two fixation holes
109
on a side face of the oscillation arm portion
101
. And, as shown in
FIG. 23
, in the stored state, the oscillation arm portion
101
is held approximately vertical (folded state) by insertion of the fixation bolt
110
to one of the fixation holes
109
on the rear side of the oscillation arm portion
101
in the used state and one of the fixation holes on the side face of the fixation portion
103
on the front side.
And, the auxiliary wheel
102
is attached to a base end face of the base end portion of the oscillation arm portion
101
. Therefore, the auxiliary wheel
102
is oscillated to protrude downward toward the ground by the above-described folding movement. The chair can move (run) with 4 wheels, namely, the auxiliary wheels
102
and the two rear wheels
2
b.
Further, as shown in
FIG. 21
, the seat
4
is freely switched between a horizontal used state and an upright stored state. And, an armrest
20
is disposed on both sides above the seat
4
as to be switched from a horizontal used state to an upright stored state.
Therefore, when the oscillation arm portion
101
, the seat
4
, and the armrests
20
are folded upward, the elevation chair becomes compact without protrusion to be stored in small space, handled easily in transfer. And, it is preferable that the auxiliary wheel
102
can freely change its rolling direction.
In
FIG. 21
, safety belt
111
is disposed on the back portion
10
to keep safety as a person does not fall from the chair accidentally when the seat
4
, on which the person is sitting, is elevated and the elevation chair is moved with the person.
According to the elevation chair of the present invention, the seat main body
7
is elevated horizontally to a desired height, automatically inclined forward, and certainly stopped to incline when reaches the predetermined inclination angle θ. User's standing movement from the seat
4
and sitting movement on the seat
4
are safely and certainly supported. And, the predetermined inclination angle θ, not influenced by elevation height of the seat
4
, can be controlled constant, and constant inclination angle θ can be set as to correspond to various heights of users.
The seat main body
7
, being kept horizontal, can be elevated to a desired height to enlarge the application range.
The set height of the seat main body
7
, at which the seat main body
7
kept horizontal and elevated to a desired height starts automatic forward inclination, is easily changed, and the height is properly adjusted to various heights of the users.
And, the seat main body
7
is certainly stopped to incline when reaches the predetermined inclination angle θ. Malfunction and instability of movement are eliminated because the detection of the angle is conducted without contact. The predetermined inclination angle θ can be controlled constant without influence by the elevation height of the seat main body
7
, and excessive inclination and insufficient inclination of the seat main body
7
are prevented thereby. And, the inclination angle θ is freely changed.
Further, maintenance is easily conducted because it is not required to remove many components for maintenance, regulation, and repair. When the chair is broken, only the driving mechanism M is sent to the maker's workshop for check up and repair without transfer and repair of the whole large and heavy chair.
And, according to the elevation chair of the present invention, the seat main body
7
is elevated horizontally to a desired height, and automatically inclined forward. User's standing movement from the seat
4
and sitting movement on the seat
4
are safely and certainly supported. And, working stroke of the expansion actuator
61
is a half of necessary elevation stroke of the seat
4
because the running rotation pulley
62
has a function as a running pulley, and the apparatus is made compact and light-weight to be easily handled.
Mechanical noise in elevation of the seat
4
is decreased for comfortable use.
In an emergency in which the inner belt
67
suspending the sliding member
28
(the seat
4
) is cut by excessive load generated by malfunction of the expansion actuator
61
or degradation of the belt, the person sitting on the seat
4
is not injured by falling of the sliding member
28
(the seat
4
).
For an emergency in which the inner belt
67
is cut and the sliding member
28
(the seat
4
) is suspended only by the outer belt
66
, a safety device with simple construction is made to certainly stop the working of the expansion actuator
61
to prevent the outer belt
66
from cutting by overload generated by the continuously working expansion actuator
61
.
The hook
77
with a deflection shaft, of which position is freely changed, can be raised always in constant direction by the suspension belt
78
, and safe without parting off the hitching protruding portion
80
. And, the hook
77
with a deflection shaft, mainly receiving tensile force and not receiving strong bending force, is safe and its components can be simplified.
The wheel
2
is prevented from being unbraked because it is difficult to have a seat for the footrest
3
occupying footspace when not raised vertically. And, the user is prevented from falling because the chair is restricted as not to spontaneously move backward when the user sits on and gets off the seat
4
And, the wheel
2
is prevented from being unbraked because it is difficult to have a seat for the footrest
3
occupying footspace when not raised vertically. And, the brake is automatically works simultaneously on both of front side and rear side in proceeding direction, and the chair is made safer when the user sits on and gets off the seat
4
. And, the brake is released when the footrest
3
is horizontal, and the user can put the feet on the footrest
3
for safety.
And, according to the elevation chair of the present invention, the chair can be stored in small space when the chair is not in use. Further, the chair is easily moved even in the stored state with the auxiliary wheels
102
and the wheel
2
on the rear side.
And, the elevation chair is compact without protrusions and stored in smaller space, and handled easily in transfer.
Further, the brake is made certain with a small number of parts. And, a safe brake excellent in operation can be composed as that the rotation of the wheels
92
is completely restricted, and the elevation chair does not move spontaneously when the user gets on and off the seat
4
.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in this specification, it is to be understood that the invention is illustrative and not restrictive, because various changes are possible within the spirit and indispensable features.
Claims
- 1. An elevation chair having a seat ascended and descended by a driving mechanism, comprising a seat main body to which the seat is attached to a seat frame and a forth end portion of the seat frame as to incline forward, an oscillation mechanism which inclines the seat main body automatically at a predetermined height, and an angle detecting means which stops the driving mechanism when the seat main body reaches a predetermined inclination angle, wherein the driving mechanism is provided with a motor, a reducer portion, a guide rail portion, a rotating male screw portion, a sliding female screw portion, and a sliding member, and united as a unit.
- 2. The elevation chair as set forth in claim 1, wherein the oscillation mechanism has an adjustment mechanism which changes the height at which the forward inclination begins.
- 3. An elevation chair having a seat ascended and descended by a driving mechanism, comprising a seat main body to which the seat is attached to a seat frame and a forth end portion of the seat frame as to incline forward, an oscillation mechanism which inclines the seat main body automatically at a predetermined height, and an angle detecting means which stops the driving mechanism when the seat main body reaches a predetermined inclination angle, wherein wheels are disposed on a front side and a rear side, and an automatic braking mechanism, in which a brake for the wheel on the front side is released when a footrest attached on a position above the wheel is laid horizontal and the wheel is braked when the footrest is raised upright, is provided, wherein:the automatic braking mechanism has a front braking arm having a footrest receiving portion protruding from a top plate of a wheel bracket on one end and a brake pad sliding on front side of the wheel on another end, and a rear braking arm having footrest receiving portion protruding from the top plate of the wheel bracket on one end and a brake pad sliding on rear side of the wheel on another end, and a reverse face of the footrest pushes the footrest receiving portions as the brake pads are parted from the wheel when the footrest is laid horizontal.
- 4. An elevation chair having a seat ascended and descended by a driving mechanism, comprising a seat main body to which the seat is attached to a seat frame and a forth end portion of the seat frame as to incline forward, an oscillation mechanism which inclines the seat main body automatically at a predetermined height, and an angle detecting means which stops the driving mechanism when the seat main body reaches a predetermined inclination angle, wherein the chair has a pedal braking mechanism in which:an end portion of a brake pedal is attached as to oscillate around a first horizontal axis, an operation pedal portion is disposed on another end portion, a middle portion of a leg portion of a brake shaft of rod approximately U-shaped is attached as to oscillate around a second horizontal axis, an end portion of the leg portion of the brake shaft contacts a wheel by the oscillation to brake the wheel; and a back portion of the brake shaft is connected to the brake pedal on a position on the operation pedal portion side to the first horizontal axis and out of a straight line going through the first horizontal axis and the second horizontal axis, and the back portion of the brake shaft is pulled as to oscillate around the second horizontal axis with elastic deformation by oscillation of the operation pedal portion of the brake pedal around the first horizontal axis to brake and release the wheel.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2001-210213 |
Jul 2001 |
JP |
|
US Referenced Citations (10)