JP5593181B2 - Stair lift - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a stair lift that is suitable when a person who is difficult to walk on his / her feet climbs up and down stairs.

  Conventionally, what is described in the following patent document 1 is known as such a stair lift. This prior art will be described with reference to FIG. 1 (FIG. 1A shows a flat ground movement state, and FIG. 1B shows a stair climbing state). As shown in FIG. 1A, the stair lift includes a support frame (17, 18, 19) for mounting the seat 12 in a fixed manner, and driving wheels ( 13 and 13), and the endless rubber crawler (14, 15, 16) is mounted on the driving wheel. And when raising and lowering the stairs, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the endless rubber crawler has a length in contact with three or more continuous stair noses (corner portions), so that there are always two places. Since the state in contact with the above stair nosing can be maintained, the stairs can be raised and lowered stably without the balance of the movement of the center of gravity during the stairs being raised and lowered.

  The above-mentioned support frame, drive wheel, and endless rubber crawler are provided in pairs on the left and right sides of the front of the aircraft, and the pair of support frames has a difficulty in walking on its own (hereinafter referred to as necessary). A seat 12 on which a person who is difficult to walk is called a passenger, a passenger, or a user) is mounted.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-60906

As described above, in order to stably move up and down the stairs, it is necessary that the crawler is always in contact with two or more stair nosings in the up and down state of the stairs. The length of the direction, in other words, the length of the aircraft in the longitudinal direction where the crawler comes into contact with the ground when the aircraft is placed on a flat ground (hereinafter referred to as the ground contact length) is the nose of the three consecutive stairs. A length that can be touched (hereinafter referred to as the shortest contact length) is required. However, in the conventional stair lift described above, the position of the seat with respect to the crawler's chassis is fixed. There is a problem that a sufficient margin for stability against displacement of the center of gravity (hereinafter referred to as a composite center of gravity) cannot be secured. In other words, if the ground contact length is short, the composite center of gravity easily moves to a position off the ground contact surface due to so-called disturbances to the designed stair lift system, such as a change in the lift angle exceeding the design assumption, In some cases, the reaction force does not work against the direction in which the moment generated by gravity occurs due to the gravity, and there is no possibility of the aircraft falling over in the worst case. Therefore, conventionally, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, by securing a sufficiently long contact length with respect to the shortest contact length, the amount of displacement of the combined center of gravity position with respect to the change in the inclination angle of the running surface In contrast, a configuration is adopted in which a sufficient operation margin is secured, and there is no danger of falling or the like and stable movement is possible.
However, the longer ground contact length causes a new problem that it is difficult to turn the aircraft on a flat ground with a small depth such as a stair landing.
Thus, the improvement of the stability in the stair ascending / descending operation and the improvement of the turning performance at the landing or the like are mutually contradictory issues.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and its purpose is to provide a stair lift that can improve the turning performance on flat ground while maintaining stable lifting performance as a stair lift. There is to do.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a belt crawler having a contact length that is in contact with three consecutive noses in a staircase, a track frame that defines a track of a contact portion of the belt crawler, A seat support frame for supporting a passenger's seat and pivotally supported by a pivot shaft having a fulcrum on the track frame, and rotating the seat support frame about the pivot shaft. A stair lift provided with a tilt drive means for tilting the seat, wherein the pivot shaft has the fulcrum of the pivot shaft approximately at the center of the grounding portion of the belt crawler, in the state, the center in the width direction of said pivot shaft body is in the position which exists in the substantially vertical direction from a combined center of gravity of the aircraft and the passenger, the tilt drive unit, instructs the running state of the machine body And a storage means for storing the inclination angle of the seat according to the traveling state selected by the selecting means, and the seat is inclined based on the inclination angle corresponding to the traveling state of the selected aircraft. It is characterized by damaging .

  According to the characteristics of the present invention, the fulcrum of the pivot shaft of the seat support frame that supports the seat is supported at the substantially center of the grounding portion of the belt crawler, and the aircraft 1 including the passenger when the aircraft is in a horizontal state. The center of the pivot shaft in the width direction of the fuselage is positioned in the vertical direction from the combined center of gravity of the vehicle. Can support the composite center of gravity. In other words, even if the substantial ground contact length (projection line length on the flat ground) of the aircraft changes depending on the inclination angle of the stairs that go up and down, it is always possible to ensure the maximum operating margin for the displacement of the combined center of gravity at that inclination. Therefore, it is possible to stably move up and down the stairs.

  Accordingly, the ground contact length of the crawler has a minimum length required for performing the stair climbing (a stair pitch within a predetermined range assuming the climbing up and down (the shortest distance between the noses of two consecutive staircases). The length of the stairs is twice as long as the longest stairs pitch), and the aircraft itself can be miniaturized. It becomes.

  According to the present invention, the airframe can be miniaturized while maintaining stable stair climbing, which is preferable because it is easy to turn, especially at a stair landing where the depth is narrow.

It is a perspective view which shows a prior art. It is a side view of the stair lift according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which concerns on the seat of FIG. It is a perspective view of the state which mounted the seat shown in FIG. 3 on the crawler drive part. It is a figure which shows the inclination state in the transfer mode of the stair lift of this invention. It is a figure which shows the inclination state in the flat ground driving mode of the stair lift of this invention. It is a figure which shows the inclination state in the stair lift mode of the stair lift of this invention. It is a figure which shows the state at the time of stair running of the stair lift of this invention. It is a measurement figure of the synthetic gravity center position to a passenger's weight fluctuation.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the following description, the term indicating the relative direction of “front / rear / left / right” is seated on the stair lift of the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as the fuselage as required) unless otherwise specified. The direction determined when the front side is taken as a reference. That is, in the following description, “front” refers to the front direction of the passenger seated on the aircraft, “rear” refers to the rear direction of the passenger, and “left” refers to the left hand direction of the passenger. "Right" refers to the right-hand direction of the passenger.

  The main components of the stair lift 1 in this embodiment are composed of a seat 2 and a crawler driving unit 3, and the seat 2 and the crawler driving unit 3 are connected by a seat support frame 4 and an expansion cylinder 5. It has become.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the stair lift 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a seating surface including a seating surface 21 and a backrest portion 25 and an armrest portion 24 in the seat 2 in FIG. FIG. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the stair lift 1 according to the present invention in which the seat 2 shown in FIG. 3 is placed on the crawler driving unit 3. 3 and 4, for convenience of explanation, the illustration of the footrest part 23 and the grip part 26 is omitted from the constituent parts of the seat 2 described below.
Each component will be described below.

  The seat 2 has a seat 21, a leg rest 22, a foot rest 23, an arm rest 24, a back rest 25, and a stair lift operator (passenger caregiver, etc.) for guidance of the run of the aircraft. And a gripping portion 26 for operating.

  The seat surface 21, the legrest portion 22, and the backrest portion 25 have an integral frame structure, and when viewed from the side, the seat surface 21, the legrest portion 22, and the backrest portion 25 have an N shape that sandwiches the seat surface 21. The leg rest part 22 and the backrest part 25 are given an appropriate inclination with respect to the seating surface 21 by being bent. The body of the seat frame structure is formed by connecting the left and right frames with a metal plate-like connecting member such as aluminum.

  In addition, on the seating surface 21, the leg rest portion 22, and the backrest portion 25, the surface on which the passenger sits is stretched with a seat made of a material excellent in load resistance, elasticity, etc., such as polyester. Yes.

  A footrest for mounting the left and right feet of the occupant is fitted as a footrest portion 23 at the front ends of the left and right frames constituting the legrest portion 22. Furthermore, the longitudinal direction of the backrest part 25 (the rider is able to pass through a screw hole (not shown) on the rear surface of the frame constituting the backrest part 25 (the surface opposite to the surface on which the occupant is seated) with a bolt or the like. The grip portion 26 is fixed so as to extend in a direction toward the top of the head when seated.

  The grip portion 26 is a pair of upper and lower first grip portions 261 and 261 extending in the horizontal direction while drawing a gentle curve, and a pair of left and right second grip portions connecting the end portions of the first grip portions 261 and 261. It has an annular structure with the grip portions 262 and 262, and further includes a connecting portion 263 that connects the central portions of the pair of upper and lower first grip portions 261 and 261.

  The reason why the grip portion 26 has such an annular structure is to make it easy to grip an arbitrary place regardless of the height of the operator. For example, a person who is short can grasp the side close to the backrest 25 in the annular structure, and a person who is tall can grasp the upper end side to maintain a natural posture for the operator. The burden on the operator at the time can be reduced.

  In particular, since the second grips 262 and 262 are provided, for example, both the operator and the aircraft cannot exist at the same time in the advancing direction of the aircraft (progress toward the rear of the aircraft) when ascending the stairs. Even in a staircase landing with a short depth, the aircraft can be turned. That is, in such a narrow landing, the space between the wall on the depth side and the aircraft is narrow, so it is impossible for the operator to stand and operate between them, but standing next to the aircraft Is possible. At this time, since the second grip 262 exists as a gripping frame extending vertically on the operator side, it is easy to grip this. Therefore, the second grip 262 in the direction in which the user wants to turn can be gripped and pulled toward the operator side, or the operator can stand out and push out, and such an operation is repeated twice, for example. This makes it possible to turn at a landing that has a narrow depth. Even when the stairs are descending, by using the second grip 262, it is possible to turn similarly.

  The connecting portion 263 of the gripping portion 26 is configured with an operation portion 53 for an operator of the stair elevator 1 to instruct inclination drive described later, and an inclination drive means described later in the same casing as the operation portion 53. The control part 50 which controls each part to perform integratedly is installed.

  On the other hand, as shown in the perspective views of FIGS. 3 and 4, the armrest portion 24 for placing the arm when the occupant is seated on the seat 2 is a U-shaped integrated frame 241 (in the following description, for convenience. , Each side forming the U-shaped frame 241 is defined as a frame 241a, a frame 241b, and a frame 241c.), And a connecting frame that connects each end portion of the two frames 241a and 241c facing each other in the U-shaped frame 241. 242 and a connecting plate 243 that connects one side 241 b of the U-shaped frame 241 and the seat surface 21 on the front side of the seat surface 21.

  The frames 241a and 241c are longer than the length in the front-rear direction (longitudinal direction) of the seating surface composed of the seat surface 21 and the backrest portion 25, and are loosely drawn in an arched arc so as to function as left and right armrests. The bend is given. The length of the frame 241 b is slightly larger than the width of the seating surface 21 in the left-right direction.

  The armrest portion 24 configured in this manner is a crawler on the lower surface of the seat surface 21 (on the side opposite to the surface on which the passenger is seated) so as to surround the seating surface by the U-shaped frame 241 and the connecting frame 242. It is fixed via a connecting plate 243 on the surface of the drive unit 3 side. Specifically, the connecting plate 243 is disposed on the lower surface of the seating surface 21 and is fixed to the seating surface 21. A plane portion 243 a (a surface parallel to the seating surface 21, see FIG. 2) and this plane And a bent portion 243b that is bent at a predetermined angle from the portion 243a and extends obliquely downward and forward in the seating surface 21, and at the end of the bent portion 243b, the substantially central portion of the frame 241b is interposed via a hinge. By being supported rotatably, the frames 241 a and 241 c are connected to the seating surface so as to be arranged on the left and right of the seat 2.

  On the other hand, the connecting frame 242 is fixed on the back side of the backrest portion 25. Specifically, in the connecting frame 242, an engaging portion such as a latch bolt is disposed at a position where the connecting frame 242 is to be fixed to the backrest portion 25, and this engaging portion corresponds to the backrest portion 25. By engaging with an engagement hole (not shown) at a location to be connected, the connection frame 242 is fixed so as to be detachable from the backrest portion 25 as necessary.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the armrest portion 24 configured as described above is rotated by the frame 241 b supported by the hinge as an axis when the engagement state between the armrest portion 24 and the backrest portion 25 is released. In addition, the left and right frames 241a and 241c can be lowered to the lower side of the seating surface 21 (the crawler driving unit 3 side), and the armrest unit 24 does not interfere with the passenger getting on and off the seat 2, User boarding is easier.

  The seat surface 21 is fixed to the flat portion 243a of the connecting plate 243, and a flat surface 21a serving as a substantial seat surface on which the weight is loaded when the occupant is seated, and a smooth slope from the flat surface 21a. And an inclined surface 21b connected to the legrest portion 22 while drawing. The inclined surface 21b functions as a part of the leg rest when the passenger is seated. In addition, the inclined surface 21b is used to smoothly seat the passenger's buttocks using the inclination when the passenger rides the aircraft with the above-described armrest portion 24 lowered below the seating surface 21. It also functions as a guide path for guiding to the flat surface 21a. Providing such a guideway has an effect of improving convenience when transferring from a wheelchair to a stair lift according to the present invention, for example, for a passenger who has a disability in the lower limbs.

  The armrest portion 24 functions as an armrest for the occupant in a state where the armrest portion 24 is fixed at a proper position, that is, in a state where the connecting frame 242 is engaged with the backrest portion 25, and the movement of the airframe in the left-right direction. It also has a function to restrict. In other words, it is possible to prevent the passenger from falling in the left-right direction, and the passenger can sit with peace of mind.

  Thus, a seat 2 having a seating surface such as a seating surface and a back surface on which a passenger can sit and deposit his / her weight can be formed.

Next, the configuration of the crawler driving unit 3 will be described.
The crawler drive unit 3 has a pair of left and right track frames 30 with one end facing upward in a side view, and the other end of the track frame 30 integrates a drive motor 31 and a reducer (not shown). The frame body is formed by connecting the left and right track frames 30 to the left and right via a connecting member, and the drive motor 31 is adjacent to the drive motor 31. A battery 32 serving as a power source is mounted. The track frame 30 is formed by a ground guide frame 30A and an inclined guide frame 30B.

  Further, a pair of left and right drive shafts 33 that are output shafts of the speed reducer are respectively provided with drive wheels 34 and a pair of left and right drive wheels 34 and a pair of left and right attached to one end side of the track frame 30 as viewed from the side. A belt crawler 36 is wound around the idler wheel 35, and the belt crawler 36 is guided to a grounding portion having a grounding length L by a grounding guide frame 30 A, and then the first time when the stairs are raised by the inclined guide frame 30 B. It is configured to be driven endlessly by being guided by a sled-like portion for gripping the stair nosing. An inclination sensor 51 for detecting the inclination angle of the crawler driving unit 3 from the horizontal is provided in the vicinity of the drive motor 31 of the ground guide frame 30A. Such an inclination sensor 51 also functions as a means for detecting the inclination angle of the running surface (staircase).

  In addition, the tandem wheel mechanism 6 is provided at the rear end of the ground guide frame 30A, that is, at a position on the outer side (left and right width direction) of the machine body from the belt crawler 36 at the boundary with the inclined guide frame 30B. . In the tandem wheel mechanism 6, a so-called “steering wheel-shaped” wheel support plate 61 and traveling wheels 62, 62 are pivotally supported at both ends thereof. A pivot 63 is fixed to an intermediate portion corresponding to the fulcrum of the wheel support plate 61, and the pivot 63 has a height at which the traveling wheels 62 and 62 slightly protrude toward the contact surface side of the belt crawler 36. The shaft is passed through the through hole of the ground guide frame 30A provided at the position. A connecting piece (not shown) is provided on the other end of the pivot 63 that is passed through the frame 30 with the frame 30 interposed therebetween. The connecting piece is connected to the inclined guide frame 30B side via a spring (not shown), and is urged so that the wheel support plate 61 is substantially horizontal. As a result, the traveling wheels 62, 62 always protrude slightly downward from the belt crawler 36 (during traveling on a flat ground), and a load is applied to only one of the traveling wheels 62, 62. The traveling wheel 62 moves upward, the other traveling wheel moves downward, and the traveling wheels 62 and 62 swing up and down alternately like a seesaw about the pivot 63.

  Such a tandem wheel mechanism 6 functions mainly as a traveling wheel on a flat ground. In other words, on a flat ground, the operator of the stair lift is slightly supported by a plurality of wheels by moving the center of gravity slightly toward the traveling wheel 62 in order to make the wheel traveling instead of traveling on the belt crawler 36. It can be run in a state. When the stairs are moved up and down, the traveling wheels 62 and 62 are alternately swung up and down so that the belt crawler 36 is brought into contact with the stair nosing by the traveling wheel swing mechanism. Will not interfere.

  In the present embodiment, the contact length L of the belt crawler 36 is twice the maximum pitch of the steps that can be raised and lowered (the shortest distance between the noses of two consecutive steps), that is, the shortest contact length. .

  Here, in the present embodiment, there is provided a footboard 38 that is convenient for the operator to move the center of gravity toward the traveling wheel. Such a tread plate 38 is provided in the vicinity of the idler wheel 35 at the lower rear end of the crawler driving unit 3. More specifically, the minimum mounting height of the tread board 38 is higher than the maximum kick-up (the height of the staircase) in the stairs that can be raised and lowered by the stair lift, and the horizontal length of the tread board 38 (projected). However, it is attached to the frame 37 in the crawler driving unit 3 so as to satisfy the condition that the length is smaller than the minimum tread surface (one step depth) of the stairs that can be raised and lowered.

  By attaching the tread plate 38 in this way, when the traveling wheels 62, 62 are traveled on a flat ground, or when the operator performs a turning motion on the traveling wheels 62, 62 on the landing, It goes without saying that the intended purpose of moving the center of gravity slightly to the traveling wheel side (putting the operator's weight) can be achieved, but as the aircraft goes up and down the stairs, it moves from flat ground to stairs or from stairs to flat ground. In this case, there is no possibility of interfering with the stairs (especially the first stairs from the flat ground), so that it is very convenient as a step board for a stair lift as in this embodiment.

  The crawler driving unit 3 and the seat 2 configured as described above are connected in the following manner by the seat support frame 4 and the telescopic cylinder 5.

  First, the seat support frame 4 has a normal direction from the lower surface of the seat surface 21 (more precisely, the flat surface 21a of the seat surface 21) (the surface opposite to the surface on which the passenger is seated). (See FIG. 3 and FIG. 4), and the two support frames 41 and 41 are formed on the lower surface of the seating surface 21 on the plane of the connecting plate 243 described above. Together with the part 243a, the seat surface 21 is fixed by a bolt or the like in a state of being separated by a predetermined distance in the left-right direction (width direction of the machine body) of the seat surface 21. The other ends of the support frames 41 and 41 are both fixed to a shaft rod 42. The shaft rod 42 pivots so that the seat 2 can be pivoted in the front-rear direction. 42, a position on the left and right track frames 30 and 30 (more precisely, the ground guide frames 30A and 30A) in the crawler driving unit 3 and a position corresponding to almost half of the crawler ground length L (the ground contact of the belt crawler 36). It is pivotally supported so as to have fulcrum points 42A and 42A at substantially the center of the portion.

  An inclination sensor 52 for detecting the inclination angle of the seat surface 21 is provided in the vicinity of the position where the support frames 41 and 41 are fixed to the seat surface 21.

  Next, the telescopic cylinder 5 has a configuration in which one end supports the lower portion of the seat surface 21 and the other end supports the crawler driving unit 3. Specifically, in the vicinity of the boundary portion between the flat portion 243a and the bent portion 243b of the connecting plate 243 fixed to the lower portion of the seating surface 21 and at a position that is substantially the center in the left-right width direction of the seating surface 21. A bearing fitting 243c for pivotally supporting one end of the shaft of the telescopic cylinder 5 is provided. A shaft rod (not shown) is provided at one end of the shaft of the telescopic cylinder 5, and this shaft rod is pivotally supported by a bearing fitting 243c. Therefore, the telescopic cylinder 5 can be rotated around the shaft supported by the bearing fitting 243c.

  On the other hand, the other end of the telescopic cylinder 5 is in the vicinity of the boundary between the ground guide frame 30A and the inclined guide frame 30B forming the track frame 30 and is positioned at a position that is substantially in the center in the width direction of the crawler driving unit 3. A bracket 301 is provided and is pivotally supported by the bearing bracket 301. The shaft of the telescopic cylinder 5 is disposed at a position passing between the two support frames 41 and 41 constituting the seat support frame 4, thereby extending and contracting without interfering with the seat support frame 4. It is possible to do. Then, the seat 2 rotates around the fulcrum 42A of the pivot shaft 42 of the seat support frame 4 in conjunction with the expansion / contraction operation of the telescopic cylinder 5.

  More specifically, the fulcrum of the telescopic shaft provided at the lower portion of the seat surface 21 is pushed forward in accordance with the extension operation of the telescopic cylinder 5, while the seat support frame 4 is pivoted on the pivot shaft 42. As a result, the linear force pushed forward from the telescopic cylinder 5 becomes an arc-shaped force having the length of the support frame 41 as a radius to rotate the seat 2 forward. Similarly, the seat 2 is rotated backward in accordance with the reduction operation of the telescopic cylinder 5.

  At this time, since the seat support frame 4 (support frames 41, 41) is fixed to the lower portion of the seating surface 21, the positional relationship with the seating surface 21 does not change and is always integrated with the seating surface 21. Will be moved to. Therefore, according to the rotation accompanying the expansion / contraction operation of the telescopic cylinder 5, the seat surface 21 rotates while facing the tangential direction on the arc drawn by the seat support frame 4. That is, the inclination angle of the seating surface 21 with respect to the horizontal changes according to the expansion / contraction state of the expansion / contraction cylinder 5.

  In the present embodiment, the tilt driving means is constituted by the control unit 50, the tilt sensor 51 provided in the crawler driving unit 3, the tilt sensor 52 provided in the seat support frame 4, the operation unit 53, and the telescopic cylinder 5. Configure. The control unit 50 is electrically connected to the inclination sensors 51 and 52, the operation unit 53, and the drive circuit (not shown) of the telescopic cylinder 5, and the operation signal from the operation unit 53 and the inclination sensor 51, Based on the detection signal 52, the expansion / contraction operation of the expansion / contraction cylinder 5 is controlled.

  Further, in the case of tilt driving, in the present invention, the following adjustments are made in advance with respect to the positions where the support frames 41 and 41 are fixed to the seat surface 21.

  That is, the seat 2 is in a neutral state (the crawler driving unit 3 is placed on a flat ground (horizontal state) and the seat surface 21 is horizontal, that is, the inclination angles detected by the inclination sensors 51 and 52 are both 0 degrees. In the following, in the horizontal state of the fuselage as required, the intermediate point between the two support frames 41 and 41 arranged at a predetermined distance in the left-right direction (the width direction of the seat 2) ( A position where the composite center of gravity of the airframe 1 including the occupant exists on a straight line (that is, the normal direction of the seating surface 21) passing through the half of the predetermined distance) and parallel to the support frames 41, 41. In this way, the relative position of the seat surface 21 and the seat support frame 4 is adjusted. That is, in the neutral state of the seat 2, the pivot shaft 42 for rotating the seat 2 has a fulcrum 42 </ b> A at a substantially half position of the ground contact length L of the fuselage 1 (approximately the center of the grounding portion of the belt crawler). At the same time, the position of the pivot shaft 42 is adjusted so that it intersects the vertical line from the combined center of gravity at the intermediate position in the width direction (left and right direction) of the pivot shaft 42 (hereinafter, for convenience, this intermediate position is referred to as the origin O of the body 1). The surface 2 and the seat support frame 4 are fixed.

The stair lift in the present embodiment is configured as described above.
Next, the stair lift operation in the stair lift 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

  In the stair lift 1 according to the present embodiment, there are three travel modes, a transfer mode, a flat land travel mode, and a stair lift mode, as operation modes in which the control unit 50 performs tilt control. When the operator is instructed to select one of these travel modes via a mode selection switch (not shown) provided in the operation unit 53, the control unit 50 performs the following operation accordingly.

  The transfer mode is centered on a passenger who has a disability in the lower limbs or the like (for example, a mode in which the passenger rides on the stair lift of the present invention from a wheelchair or vice versa). This is a control mode when boarding, and when the transfer mode is selected by the mode selection switch in the operation unit 53 by the operator, the control unit 50 indicates that the airframe 1 is on a flat ground via the inclination sensor 51 ( First, it is confirmed that the inclination angle of the crawler driving unit 3 is 0 °. In the case of flat ground, the airframe is brought into a stopped state, and thereafter the seat surface 21 is controlled to be tilted via the telescopic cylinder 5 to a position where the tilt angle of the seat 2 (seat surface 21) is 0 °. As shown in FIG. 5A, the inclination angle 0 ° referred to here is the seat support frame 4 with respect to a plane parallel to the bottom surface (grounding portion) of the crawler driving unit 3 including the origin O of the airframe 1. However, the angle is such that the seat surface 21 of the seat 2 fixed to the seat support frame 4 is parallel to the grounding portion of the crawler driving unit 3. It is shown that. Hereinafter, this angular position is referred to as POS1. The inclination angle of the seating surface 21 in the present embodiment is represented by the inclination angle in the front-rear direction of the aircraft from the POS 1 with the POS 1 as a reference axis. Based on the detection signals from the tilt sensors 51 and 52, the control unit 50 calculates a relative tilt angle between the crawler driving unit 3 and the seat 2 (that is, an angle with the POS 1 as a reference axis). Based on this, the telescopic cylinder 5 is expanded and contracted.

  In this way, when the seat is moved to the POS 1 on a flat ground, the seat 2 is placed in a horizontal state. By releasing the engagement of the armrest portion 24 with the backrest portion 25 in this state, the user of the stair lift can easily transfer.

  In addition, when the body 1 is not on a flat ground when the transfer mode is selected, this may be notified by a not-shown notification means, or with the backrest portion 25 of the armrest portion 24. The engagement may not be released. By doing so, the operator can be informed that the airframe 1 is not in a flat ground state, and can be prevented from boarding the airframe 1 in a place that is not flat, thereby preventing an accident. preferable.

  In the transfer mode, the composite center of gravity of the airframe 1 including the passenger is on the POS 1. In this example, the average body values (height and weight) of Japanese adult males (over 20s) are 166.9cm and 65.8kg (from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare 2007 National Health and Nutrition Survey Report) The composite center of gravity when a person is assumed is indicated by g1. Since the fuselage 1 has a margin of a length over half of the fuselage ground contact length L (L / 2) with respect to the fluctuation of the synthesized center of gravity due to disturbance, the position of the synthesized center of gravity centered on the seat surface when the passenger gets on Even if the movement occurs, the frame length that can be supported with respect to the rotational moment generated by the movement of the center of gravity has a sufficient margin, and stable boarding is possible.

  Next, the flat land traveling mode will be described. The flat land traveling mode is a control mode when the passenger travels on a flat ground after sitting on the seat 2 and starts the flat ground traveling using the belt crawler 36 or the traveling wheels (tandem wheels) 62 and 62 and is described above. The inclination of the seat with respect to POS1 is controlled to 20 ° (hereinafter, this angle position is referred to as POS2). The reason why the inclination is controlled when traveling on flat ground is that the movement using the tandem wheels 62 and 62, not the belt crawler 36, is the center. That is, as will be described later, by tilting the seat, the combined center of gravity moves to the tandem wheels 62 and 62 side. Therefore, the operator can easily move the aircraft with the tandem wheels 62 and 62 without applying his / her own weight. The aircraft can be tilted to support it, and the aircraft can be moved in a stable state. Moreover, it is known that a passenger | crew feels a sense of security by taking a slightly leaning posture, which is convenient for both. When the operator selects the flat ground traveling mode while moving up and down the stairs, the seat tilt control is performed after the aircraft waits until it moves to the flat ground (becomes horizontal).

  In the flat land traveling mode, the combined center of gravity of the airframe 1 including the occupant moves to g2 on the POS 2, and the vertical line of g2 is located in the vicinity of the pivot 63 at the approximate center of the tandem wheels 62 and 62. In other words, according to the stair lift of the present invention, by placing the pivot shaft of the seat 2 on the origin O of the fuselage 1 in the POS 1, it is possible to make the rider a slightly backward tilted posture on a flat ground traveling, Even if the composite center of gravity moves from g1 to g2, the vertical direction of g2 is supported by the tandem wheels 62 and 62. That is, the frame length that can be supported with respect to the rotational moment generated by g2 has a margin that is equal to or longer than the traveling wheel 62 toward the rear of the aircraft, and can still travel sufficiently stably. As described above, the composite center of gravity moves on the tandem wheel, so that it is easy to travel on a flat ground using the tandem wheel.

  Next, the stair climbing mode will be described. The stair climbing mode is a control mode when climbing the stair while a passenger is on the board. Specifically, the seat tilt angle with respect to the above-described POS 1 is tilted to 33 ° (hereinafter, this angular position). Is referred to as POS3. More specifically, the control unit 50 performs tilt driving from POS2 to POS3 when the tilt sensor 51 detects the tilt of the airframe accompanying the start of climbing the staircase during the stair climbing.

  On the other hand, when the stairs are lowered, for example, in a state where the aircraft is tilted toward the stairs descending from the landing of the stairs, the movement of the aircraft is temporarily stopped, and then the tilt drive from POS2 to POS3 is performed. Resume movement for descent.

  In the stair ascending / descending mode, as shown in FIG. 5C, the composite center of gravity of the airframe 1 including the passenger moves to g3 on the POS 3. When the airframe 1 is on a flat ground, the vertical line of g3 is located behind the traveling wheels 62 and 62. Therefore, the margin of the crawler driving unit that supports the composite center of gravity g3 becomes strict by setting the seat inclination angle (POS3) suitable for stair climbing on flat ground, but according to the present invention, the movement from POS2 to POS3 is Since the crawler driving unit 3 is moved along the stairs, the seat 2 gradually moves from POS2 to POS3 as the fuselage is gradually tilted due to, for example, a transition from flat ground to stairs. That is, when the composite center of gravity of the airframe 1 moves from g2 to g3, the airframe also inclines, so that the vertical direction of g3 also varies from the vicinity of the traveling wheels 62 and 62 of the airframe 1 to the vicinity of the origin O of the airframe 1. It will gradually move toward. Thus, according to the stair lift of the present invention, even in stair travel, as shown in FIG. 6, the combined center of gravity is supported in the vicinity of the origin O of the airframe, and a sufficient margin is still provided for the rotational moment. It can operate in a secured state.

  In the above-described embodiment, the predetermined angles indicated by POS1, POS2, and POS3 are stored in a memory (not shown) in the control unit 50 as a control angle table for each travel mode. The desired inclination control is performed with reference to the stored value corresponding to each travel mode. Moreover, as a matter of course, the angles of 20 ° and 33 ° shown in the above embodiment are merely examples, and can be appropriately changed as necessary.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the seat inclination angle is switched to a constant value (20 °, 33 °) for each traveling mode has been described. Is constantly monitored so that the inclination angle of the seat surface 21 (inclination angle with POS1 as the reference axis) is always adaptively controlled so as to coincide with the inclination angle of the crawler driving unit 3 from the horizontal. Thus, it becomes possible to always make the composite center of gravity of the aircraft face the vicinity of the origin O of the aircraft, and the stability is further improved. At this time, if necessary, adaptive control can be performed so that the angle of inclination of the crawler driving unit 3 is increased or decreased by a predetermined offset (for example, 5 °). In addition, the predetermined offset amount may be changed between the flat land traveling mode and the stair climbing mode, and the transfer mode and the flat land traveling mode are applied to only the stair climbing mode in the mode described in this embodiment. It is also possible to apply control.

  By the way, in the said embodiment, although the example which calculated | required the synthetic gravity center is shown as what has the average body value (height and weight) of a Japanese adult male as a passenger, this inventor is constant. We have experimentally measured how the position of the composite center of gravity changes by changing the weight of a person sitting on a certain chair on the base. Specifically, a 15 kg weight wheelchair conforming to JIS standard number 9201 was placed on a wheelchair-mounted floor weighing 30 kg, and the composite center of gravity when a dummy doll having a weight of 24 kg to 135 kg was mounted on this wheelchair was measured. . FIG. 7 shows the variation position of the center of gravity position as a measurement result by a black circle.

  According to this measurement result, the fluctuation of the center of gravity position is dominated by the fluctuation in the vertical direction, and the fluctuation in the front-rear and left-right directions is a slight amount that does not need to be considered from the viewpoint of the elevation control of the present invention. I found that it was only a variation.

  Therefore, by setting the positional relationship between the seat surface 21, the seat support frame 4, its pivot shaft 42, and the combined center of gravity as disclosed in the present embodiment, the technology according to the present invention regardless of the weight of the passenger. You can enjoy the effects.

  In the present embodiment, in the seat 2, the seat surface 21 and the connecting plate 243 are fixed to form an integral structure, but may have a slide mechanism as described below. Specifically, for example, two linear toothed rails are installed in parallel at the left and right ends of the connecting plate 243a, and four gears mesh with the two toothed rails, respectively. By attaching motors for driving gears to the four corners of the lower surface of the seating surface 21, a so-called rack-type track mechanism is formed, and the relative position between the seating support frame 4 provided on the connecting plate 243 and the seating surface 21. Can be controlled to move in the longitudinal direction of the aircraft.

  According to this embodiment, for example, when moving from stair climbing to flat ground running such as a landing, the seat 2 is inclined to be in a flat ground running mode, but when the landing is narrow, the position of POS 2 Even if it exists, the length of the fuselage may become longer compared to the depth of the landing, making it difficult to turn. In such a case, the seat 2 including the grip portion 26 moves in the forward direction by adjusting the position of the seat 2 to the position where the position of the seat 2 is most forward with the slide mechanism. Can be shortened. This makes it possible to turn at a staircase landing with a narrow depth. And when raising and lowering the stairs again, the stairs can be raised and lowered stably by returning to the initial position by the slide mechanism.

  In addition, the presence of such a slide mechanism makes it possible to enter the stairs more stably, for example, when shifting from flat ground to stairs. That is, when entering the staircase, a sudden tilt change from the horizontal state to the tilted state generates a forward rotational moment, which makes it easy to fall forward. At this time, by moving the seat to the rear of the aircraft by the slide mechanism, the combined center of gravity moves to the rear of the aircraft, and the danger caused by the forward rotational moment can be buffered. Similarly, when shifting from stair climbing to flat ground, a sudden tilt change from the tilted state to the horizontal state generates a rotational moment in the rear, which may cause the vehicle to fall backward. By positioning the seat in the forward direction of the aircraft when entering the vehicle, the composite center of gravity moves forward, and the risk of falling backward can be buffered.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the fulcrum of the pivot shaft of the seat support frame 4 that points to the seat 2 is supported at substantially the center of the ground contact length of the crawler driving unit 3, and the airframe 1 is made horizontal. In this case, since the center in the width direction (left and right direction) of the pivot shaft is in the vertical direction from the combined center of gravity of the fuselage 1 including the occupant, it is combined not only when traveling on flat ground but also when moving up and down stairs. It is possible to always make the support for the rotational moment due to the movement of the center of gravity close to the origin of the aircraft, and the ground contact length of the aircraft is at least twice the maximum pitch length for the steps that can be raised and lowered, so-called minimum contact length However, a sufficient margin can be secured. Therefore, it is preferable because the aircraft can be downsized while maintaining the lifting ability with respect to the desired staircase.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stair lift 2 Seat 21 Seat surface 22 Legrest part 23 Footrest part 24 Armrest part 241 U-shaped frame 242 Connection frame 243 Connection plate 25 Backrest part 26 Grasping part 261 First grip part 262 Second grip part 263 Connection part 3 crawler drive section 30 track frame 30A ground guide frame 30B tilt guide frame 31 drive motor 32 battery 33 drive shaft 34 drive wheel 35 idle wheel 36 belt crawler 37 cover frame 38 tread plate 4 seat support frame 41 support frame 42 pivot shaft 42A Support point 5 Telescopic cylinder 50 Control unit 51, 52 Inclination sensor 53 Operation unit 6 Tandem wheel mechanism 61 Wheel support plate 62 Traveling wheel 63 Axis L Grounding length O Origin of the machine

Claims (2)

A belt crawler having a contact length sufficient to contact three consecutive noses in the stairs;
A track frame that defines the track of the contact portion of the belt crawler;
A seat support frame that supports a passenger seat and is pivotally supported by a pivot shaft having a fulcrum on the track frame;
A stair lift comprising tilt driving means for tilting the seat by rotating the seat support frame about the pivot shaft,
The pivot shaft is such that the fulcrum of the pivot shaft is substantially at the center of the grounding portion of the belt crawler, and the center of the pivot shaft in the width direction of the body is in the horizontal state of the aircraft. It is in a position that exists almost vertically from the composite center of gravity of the passenger ,
The inclination driving means includes a selection means for instructing a traveling state of the airframe, and a storage means for storing an inclination angle of the seat according to the traveling state selected by the selection means, and the traveling state of the selected airframe A stair lift , wherein the seat is tilted based on the tilt angle corresponding to .   2. The stair lift according to claim 1, wherein the tilt driving unit includes a tilt detection unit that detects a tilt angle of the staircase, and tilts the seat according to the detected tilt angle.

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