Patent Application
20150082537
The present invention relates to a wheelchair having an armrest capable of being deployed and retreated, and a bed to be combined with the same.
In nursing care to a care-receiver such as an aged person or an ailing person (hereinafter, referred to as the care-receiver), a wheelchair is used. As a wheelchair, a manually operated type wheelchair to be manually pushed by a care-giver from a back surface thereof to travel, or an electrically driven type wheelchair to be self-propelled by an operation of the care-receiver himself/herself is used. These wheelchairs include armrests for stably supporting an arm or the like. For the care-receiver to get on and off in the side surface direction of the wheelchair, a wheelchair that has a rotatable armrest is proposed (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1).
In
By rotating the armrest 13 about a rotation shaft 15, the armrest 13 can be retreated on the side of the back bottom support surface 12a from a deployed state of the armrest 13 shown in
However, with the configuration of the conventional wheelchair 10, there is a need for making an elbow and a shoulder of the passenger 14 avoid a rotation action of the armrest 13 in such a manner that the elbow and the shoulder of the passenger 14 are not brought into contact with the armrest 13 at the time of retreating and at the time of deploying the armrest 13.
The present invention is to solve such a problem, and an object thereof is to provide a wheelchair and a bed to be combined with the same, with each of which there is no need for making an elbow and a shoulder of a passenger avoid at the time of retreating and at the time of deploying.
In order to accomplish the object of the present invention, there is provided a wheelchair comprising:
a first seat portion that at least has a first support portion having a back bottom support surface on a surface;
first and second armrests; and
a third drive unit that forward and backward rotates the second armrest about a first rotation axis, to move the second armrest between a deployed position and a retreated position placed behind the first support portion,
wherein the first rotation axis is arranged on a plane perpendicular to the back bottom support surface of the first seat portion and parallel to a front and rear direction of the first seat portion.
In order to accomplish the object of the present invention, there is provided a bed comprising:
the wheelchair according to the above aspect; and
a bed base portion to be combined with the wheelchair to form the bed.
According to the present invention, the wheelchair and the bed to be combined with the same, with each of which there is no need for making the elbow and the shoulder of the passenger avoid at the time of retreating and at the time of deploying can be provided.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become clear from the following description taken in conjunction with the embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the same constituent elements will be given the same reference signs, and description thereof will sometimes be omitted. For easy understanding, the drawings are schematic focusing on the constituent elements.
As shown in
The bed base portion 30 includes first seat portions 31, a first operating unit 44, a first drive unit 42, and a first control unit 39. The first seat portions 31 are one example of a bed seat portion. The first operating unit 44 is one example of a bed operating unit. The first drive unit 42 is one example of a bed drive unit. The first drive unit 42 lifts the first seat portions by an operation of the first operating unit 44. It should be noted that in a state of the bed 40 where the wheelchair 20 and the bed base portion 30 are combined with each other, by the operation of the first operating unit 44, the first seat portions 31 and a second seat portion 22 to be described later are integrated with each other and a posture change is performed by the first drive unit 42.
The wheelchair 20 includes a carriage portion 21, the second seat portion 22, a first armrest 23, a second armrest 24, a second operating unit 41, a third drive unit 25, and a second control unit 36. The second seat portion 22 is one example of a wheelchair seat portion. The second operating unit 41 is one example of a wheelchair operating unit. The third drive unit 25 is one example of an armrest drive unit.
The carriage portion 21 travels with wheels (not shown) and supports the second seat portion 22 thereon. In a case where the wheelchair 20 is used as an electrically driven wheelchair, a second drive unit 43 serving as one example of a wheelchair drive unit is provided, and the wheels of the carriage portion 21 are driven by the second drive unit 43 by an operation of the second operating unit 41.
The second seat portion 22 is a part on which a passenger is seated or leans (rests). The second seat portion 22 at least has a first support portion 22b having a back bottom support surface 22a on a surface, is supported by the carriage portion 21, and changes a seating posture of the passenger by a posture change. The first support portion 22b is one example of a back bottom support portion of the wheelchair 20. The back bottom support surface 22a is a surface capable of supporting a back of the passenger as shown in
The first armrest 23 is an armrest placed in one side part (right side part in
The second armrest 24 is an armrest placed in the other side part (left side part in
The first embodiment is characterized in that at the time of retreating the second armrest 24 to the retreated position 24b, the second armrest 24 is moved by an arc trajectory curved as shown by an arrow 26 in such a manner that the second armrest 24 is not brought into contact with an elbow and a shoulder of the passenger of the wheelchair 20. This trajectory is a route in which a leading end of the second armrest 24 is moved rearward while being rotated so as to go away from the other side part of the first support portion 22b and go toward the retreated position 24b on a back surface of the first support portion 22b. It should be noted that at the time of deploying the second armrest 24 to the deployed position 24a, reverse movement to the above description is performed. That is, at the time of deployment and retreating, the second armrest 24 in the first embodiment is moved in the direction of going away from the side part of the first support portion 22b and then moved in the direction of coming close to the back surface of the first support portion 22b, so as to be moved to draw a large arc. Such movement of the second armrest 24 is particularly effective in the wheelchair 20 to be combined with the bed base portion 30 as in the first embodiment. This is because the passenger seated on the second seat portion 22 of the wheelchair 20 as in the first embodiment is highly possibly seated close to the side of the bed base portion 30, and particularly highly possibly brought into contact with the second armrest 24 on the side of the bed base portion 30.
In the first embodiment, the second armrest 24 is retreated to the opposite side of the bed base portion 30 behind the first support portion 22b. Thus, a first rotation axis 27 serving as the rotation center of the second armrest 24 is arranged on an imaginary plane 28 serving as a plane perpendicular to the back bottom support surface 22a and parallel to the front and rear direction of the second seat portion 22 (front and rear direction of the wheelchair 20). Altogether, in the first embodiment, the second armrest 24 is arranged and inclined with respect to the back bottom support surface 22a by a predetermined angle (for example, 10° or more and 170° or less in the first embodiment, 45° as one specific example). By arranging the first rotation axis 27 on the imaginary plane 28, the second armrest 24 of the first embodiment is moved and retreated while a posture of an upper surface of the second armrest 24 (surface on which an arm of the passenger is placed, the arm mount surface 24a-1) is changed in the vertical direction as a retreating action progresses. By moving the second armrest 24 in such a way, even in a case where the retreating action of the second armrest 24 is performed while the passenger places his/her arm on the arm mount surface 24a-1, the arm of the passenger slips off onto a knee or a thigh from the arm mount surface 24a-1. Therefore, upon the retreating action of the second armrest 24, the arm of the passenger is less possibly nipped between the second armrest 24 and another member, so that safety is obtained. Further, by the retreating action of the second armrest 24, the passenger is not required to perform not only an action of making the shoulder avoid but also an action of lowering the arm from the arm mount surface 24a-1 of the second armrest 24. By arranging the first rotation axis 27 on the imaginary plane 28, the third drive unit 25 can be formed by a single-axis motor. Thus, a configuration that the second armrest 24 is retreated to the back surface of the first support portion 22b can be realized as a simple configuration.
It should be noted that at the deployed position 24a protruding forward, the arm mount surface 24a-1 of the second armrest 24 is arranged along the horizontal direction or placed at an inclination angle of about 90° with respect to the back bottom support surface 22a. Meanwhile, at the retreated position 24b moved to the back surface side, the second armrest 24 does not protrude toward the side from the first support portion 22b but is placed on a back surface of the back bottom support surface 22a.
The trajectory of the arrow 26 will be described with using
As shown in
A rotation action of the second armrest 24 between the deployed position 24a and the retreated position 24b is set to be performed in a state where the wheelchair 20 is in a tilt posture in the following description. However, as shown in
Successively, with using
As shown in
An angle between the second armrest 24 at the deployed position 24a and the back bottom support surface 22a is θa, an angle between the first rotation axis 27 and the back bottom support surface 22a is θb, and an angle made by the back bottom support surface 22a with the horizontal direction 38 is θc. The larger the angle θb is, the more outward (going away from the wheelchair 20) a trajectory of the second armrest 24 is expanded. Thus, the shoulder of the passenger can be more reliably avoided. However, since the trajectory of the second armrest 24 is expanded outward, the arm of the passenger slips off to a position away from a body. Therefore, in order to reduce a burden of the passenger, there is a need for setting a proper value as a value of the angle θb. In the first embodiment, θb=θa/2 is set so that the trajectory of the second armrest 24 reliably avoids the shoulder of the passenger, and in a case where the arm of the passenger slips off, the arm slips off near the body of the passenger.
It should be noted that in the first embodiment, θa+θc=180° is set so that the arm mount surface 24a-1 is horizontal at the deployed position 24a. However, the angle of θa is desirably changed in accordance with the passenger, for example θa=90° is set or the like in a case where a passenger having a narrow elbow movable range due to muscle contracture or the like is seated.
Successively, with using
It should be noted that in a case where there is no need for accommodating the fixing portion 23a of the first armrest 23 on the back of the first support portion 22b, the length L may be L=(D+d1)/2 or less.
By combining the wheelchair 20 described above with the bed base portion 30, the second seat portion 22 and the first seat portions 31 are arranged on the same plane, so as to be utilized as the bed 40. In the bed 40 of the first embodiment, by separating a part thereof and utilizing the part as the wheelchair 20, an action (transferring action) of moving a care-receiver (passenger) from the bed 40 to the wheelchair 20 can be simply performed.
With using
At the time of combining the wheelchair 20 with the bed base portion 30, the passenger operates the second operating unit 41 to provide a combination instruction to the bed base portion 30. When the combination instruction is provided from the passenger, the combination actions of the wheelchair 20 and the bed base portion 30 are performed by the control of the second control unit 36 based on the flowchart shown in
Firstly, in a posture change step S1, the second control unit 36 of the wheelchair 20 changes the posture of the second seat portion 22 into the tilt posture as shown in
Successively, in an adjacent step S2, by moving the wheelchair 20 in the tilt posture into a recess 32 of the bed base portion 30 by the control of the second control unit 36, the wheelchair 20 is placed to be adjacent to the bed base portion 30 as shown in
Successively, in the armrest retreating step S3, a retreating action of the second armrest 24 is performed. Specifically, in the armrest retreating step S3, as described with using
Finally, in a bed deformation step S4, by changing the posture of the second seat portion 22 into a flat posture and then raising the first seat portions 31 of the bed base portion 30, the second seat portion 22 and the first seat portions 31 are brought into the same plane state as shown in
It should be noted that a lifting mechanism (not shown) of the bed base portion 30 can lift the second seat portion 22 and the first seat portions 31 at the same time in the bed 40 formed by combining the wheelchair 20 and the bed base portion 30, by control of the first control unit 39 based on the operation of the first operating unit 44. Similarly, the first drive unit 42 of the bed base portion 30 can integrally change postures of the second seat portion 22 and the first seat portions 31 in the bed 40 formed by combining the wheelchair 20 and the bed base portion 30, by the control of the first control unit 39 based on the operation of the first operating unit 44.
It should be noted that in the first embodiment, the second armrest 24 is an electrically driven type tube deployed and retreated by the motor 25m. With such a configuration, in the bed 40, the combination and separation actions of the wheelchair 20 and the bed base portion 30 can be realized only by the operation of the second operating unit 41.
According to the first embodiment, the wheelchair and the bed to be combined with the wheelchair, with each of which there is no need for making the elbow and the shoulder of the passenger avoid at the time of retreating and the time of deploying can be provided.
As described above, in the wheelchair 20 of the first embodiment, when the second armrest 24 is rotated from the deployed position 24a to the retreated position 24b, a base end of the arm mount surface 24a-1 of the second armrest 24 starts movement toward the left upper side which is the obliquely rear side of the passenger, and the arm mount surface 24a-1 is rotated so as to turn around the outer side of the shoulder of the passenger. Therefore, the arm mounted on the arm mount surface 24a-1 naturally drops off to the front side. After that, by continuously rotating the second armrest 24, the arm mount surface 24a-1 is rotated to the retreated position 24b which is a position parallel to the back bottom support surface 22a and the stopped on the back surface side of the first support portion 22b. Therefore, the second armrest 24 does not protrude outward from the first support portion 22b and not collide with the first armrest 23 on the other side.
The second armrest 24 is rotated to come around to the back surface side of the first support portion 22b on the rear side of the passenger. Thus, the passenger can smoothly perform the actions without feeling danger.
In the first embodiment, the second armrest 24 is placed at the deployed position 24a until the wheelchair 20 is brought into the tilt posture. Thus, the passenger of the wheelchair 20 can be prevented from dropping off to the bed base portion 30 or the like from the wheelchair 20 in the middle of combination.
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment but can be implemented in various other modes. For example, although the second armrest 24 is an electrically driven type to be deployed and retreated by the motor 25m in the first embodiment, the second armrest may be a manually operated type to be deployed and retreated by human hands.
By properly combining the arbitrary embodiment (s) or modification(s) of the aforementioned various embodiments and modifications, the effects possessed by the embodiment(s) or modification(s) can be produced.
Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom.
In the wheelchair of the present invention and the bed to be combined with the same, an action of the passenger to make the shoulder avoid is not required at the time of retreating the armrest so as to reduce the burden of the passenger. Thus, the wheelchair and the bed are useful particularly in the nursing care or medical field.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-271953 | Dec 2012 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2013/007313 | 12/12/2013 | WO | 00 |
