Wheel chair abstract
A wheel chair storage apparatus stores a wheel chair of a physically
handicapped person in a folded state in a storage space arranged
on the roof of a car. The apparatus comprises a main body including
a storage section for storing the folded wheel chair; a fitting
device for fitting the main body to the roof of the car; slider
movable back and forth between the main body and a position located
above a doorway of the car; a lift device arranged on the lift for
lifting the wheel chair from said doorway; a wheel chair folding
device interlocked with said lift device for folding the wheel chair
being lifted by said lift device; a wheel chair holder for folding
said folded wheel chair; and an attitude modifying device for modifying
the attitude of the wheel chair so as to make it adapted to storage
by rotating the wheel chair holder with said wheel chair.
Wheel chair claims
What is claimed is:
1. A wheel chair storage apparatus adapted to store the wheel chair
of a physically handicapped person in a folded state in a storage
space arranged on the roof of a car, said apparatus comprising:
a main body including a storage section for storing the folded
wheel chair;
a fitting means for fitting the main body to the roof of the car;
a slider movable back and forth on the main body between a position
over the main body and a position located above a doorway of the
car;
a lift means arranged on the slider for lifting the wheel chair
from said doorway;
a wheel chair folding means interlocked with said lift means for
folding the wheel chair being lifted by said lift means;
a wheel chair holder for holding said folded wheel chair; and
an attitude modifying means for modifying the attitude of the wheel
chair so as to make it adapted to storage by rotating the wheel
chair holder with said wheel chair.
2. A wheel chair storage apparatus according to claim 1, further
comprising a water-proof cover for covering said slider.
3. A wheel chair storage apparatus according to claim 1, wherein
said wheel chair folding means is a belt or a wire having its opposite
ends linked to the lateral sides of the wheel chair to be folded
together so as to suspend said wheel chair as it is pulled up at
the middle thereof by said lift means.
4. A wheel chair storage apparatus according to claim 1, further
comprising a rotating means for rotating said main body relative
to the car between a position for storing the wheel chair and a
position right above a doorway of the car.
5. A wheel chair storage apparatus according to claim 4, further
comprising a shaft for rotatably fitting said main body to said
fitting means, a stopper fitted to said fitting means and arranged
eccentrically relative to the axis of said shaft and an urging means
for constantly urging said main body in the direction of returning
to the storage position, said slider being provided with an abutment
section for abutting said stopper.
6. A wheel chair storage apparatus adapted to store the wheel chair
of a physically handicapped person in a folded state in a storage
space arranged on the roof of a car, said apparatus comprising:
a main body including a storage section for storing the folded
wheel chair;
a fitting means for fitting the main body to the roof of the car;
a rotating means for rotating said main body between a position
for storing the wheel chair and a position right above a doorway
of the car;
a lift means arranged on the main body for lifting the wheel chair
from said doorway;
a wheel chair folding means interlocked with said lift means for
folding the wheel chair being lifted by said lift means;
a wheel chair holder for holding said folded wheel chair; and
an attitude modifying means for modifying the attitude of the wheel
chair so as to make it adapted to storage by rotating the wheel
chair holder with said wheel chair.
7. A wheel chair storage apparatus according to claim 6, further
comprising a water-proof cover for covering said main body.
8. A wheel chair storage apparatus according to claim 6, wherein
said water-proof cover is made of an elastic material.
Wheel chair description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a wheel chair storage apparatus for storing
a wheel chair to be used by a physically handicapped on the roof
of a car such as an automobile.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, when the user of a wheel chair drives a car such
as automobile, he or she has to fold the wheel chair and put it
on the rear seats, the loading platform or the passenger seat of
the car. A wheel chair is significantly heavy and bulky and hence
such an operation of folding and loading the wheel chair is a heavy
work to be done. To avoid this problem, various apparatus for storing
a folded wheel chair in a storage space provided on the roof of
a car such as automobile have been proposed to date. Japanese Utility
Model Application Laid-Open No. 3-12598 is one of such proposals.
Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 3-12598 describes
a wheel chair storage apparatus of a car that comprises a case main
body arranged on the roof of the car to store a folded wheel chair,
a rail unit arranged in the case main body and including the first,
second and third rails that can be extended and retracted between
the roof and the door of the car accessible to the user of the wheel
chair. The folded wheel chair is brought into engagement with the
third rail that is located lowermost and then stored in the case
main body by retracting the first, second and third rails.
However, a wheel chair storage apparatus as disclosed in the above
Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 3-12598 is accompanied
by the following problems.
(1) Since the wheel chair storage apparatus comprises a plurality
of rails that have to be extended and retracted when storing the
wheel chair, the apparatus has a rather complex configuration to
make it liable to become out of order and costly. Additionally,
in the case of a one-box type car that stands high, an apparatus
of a different version comprising four or more than four rails may
have to be installed and therefore the user may be forced to buy
a new apparatus when he or she buys a new car. In other words, the
applicability of the apparatus is limited.
(2) The operation of folding the wheel chair and bringing it into
engagement with the rail unit is an outdoor operation. Therefore,
not only the wheel chair but also the owner of the wheel chair itself
get wet when it rains. This is by no means desirable to the health
of the wheel chair owner. The provision of a water-proof sheet for
protecting the wheel chair owner and the wheel chair is, however,
not feasible because of the configuration of the apparatus.
(3) Because the wheel chair storage apparatus comprises a rail
unit including a plurality of rails that can be extended and retracted,
it is rather bulky. In other words, the location at which it can
be fitted to the car is limited and may be remote from the door
accessible to the user of the wheel chair to provide a great disadvantage
for the operation of storing the wheel chair.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above identified problems and other problems of
the prior art, it is therefore the first object of the present invention
to provide a wheel chair storage apparatus having a simple configuration
that is applicable to various types of cars with different heights
without modifying its configuration and can be manufactured at low
cost.
The second object of the present invention is to provide a wheel
chair storage apparatus that allows a wheel chair to be stored and
retrieved with ease and to which a water-proof sheet or cover can
be fitted in a simple manner to protect both the wheel chair owner
and the wheel chair against rain.
The third object of the invention is to provide a wheel chair storage
apparatus adapted to shift the location of the operation of storing
the wheel chair depending on the door of the car accessible to the
user of the wheel chair (where the user leaves the wheel chair to
get into the car and rides onto the wheel chair from the car).
According to the invention, the above first object is achieved
by providing a wheel chair storage apparatus adapted to store the
wheel chair of a physically handicapped in a folded state in a storage
space arranged on the roof of a car, said apparatus comprising a
main body including a storage section for storing the folded wheel
chair, a fitting means for fitting the main body to the roof of
the car, a slider movable back and forth between the main body and
a position located above a doorway of the car, a lift means arranged
on the lift for lifting the wheel chair from said doorway, a wheel
chair folding means interlocked with said lift means for folding
the wheel chair being lifted by said lift means, a wheel chair holder
for folding said folded wheel chair and an attitude modifying means
for modifying the attitude of the wheel chair so as to make it adapted
to storage by rotating the wheel chair holder with said wheel chair.
Said wheel chair folding means is preferably a belt or a wire having
its opposite ends linked to the lateral sides of the wheel chair
to be folded together so as to suspend said wheel chair as it is
pulled up at the middle thereof.
With the above described arrangement, the slider fitted to the
main body is moved horizontally and laterally relative to the car
to a position located above a doorway of the car and the belt or
the wire of the wheel chair folding means is made to lift the wheel
chair vertically. Then, the wheel chair is folded as it is lifted
and then rotated with the wheel chair holder until it is stored
in the storage section. The wheel chair storage apparatus has a
configuration that is simplified more than any comparable conventional
apparatus and is practically free from malfunctions. Such a wheel
chair storage apparatus can be manufactured at low cost.
The above described first object of the invention can also be achieved
by providing a wheel chair storage apparatus adapted to store the
wheel chair of a physically handicapped in a folded state in a storage
space arranged on the roof of a car, said apparatus comprising a
main body including a storage section for storing the folded wheel
chair, a fitting means for fitting the main body to the roof of
the car, a rotating means for rotating said main body between the
position for storing the wheel chair and a position right above
a doorway of the car, a lift means arranged on the lift for lifting
the wheel chair from said doorway, a wheel chair folding means interlocked
with said lift means for folding the wheel chair being lifted by
said lift means, a wheel chair holder for folding said folded wheel
chair and an attitude modifying means for modifying the attitude
of the wheel chair so as to make it adapted to storage by rotating
the wheel chair holder with said wheel chair. Said wheel chair folding
means is preferably a belt or a wire having its opposite ends linked
to the lateral sides of the wheel chair to be folded together so
as to suspend said wheel chair as it is pulled up at the middle
thereof.
This arrangement of omitting the above described slider can further
simplify the configuration of a wheel chair storage apparatus according
to the invention.
According to the invention, the above second object is achieved
by providing said slider with a water-proof cover. Preferably, said
water-proof cover is made of an elastic material.
With this arrangement, as either the slider is adapted to move
horizontally between the main body and a position located above
a doorway of the car or the main body is adapted to be rotated by
a rotating means between the position for storing the wheel chair
and a position right above a doorway of the car, the user of the
wheel chair can fit the waterproof cover to either the slider or
the main body with ease so that not only the user of the wheel chair
but also the wheel chair itself is protected against being wetted
by rain or snow.
Additionally, when the water-proof sheet is made of an elastic
material, it can change its form according to the profile of the
wheel chair and the wheel chair holder so that there is no need
of providing a space within the slider for preventing the cover
and the wheel chair holder and the wheel chair itself from interfering
with each other. Then, the height of the wheel chair storage apparatus
can be minimized to reduce the overall manufacturing cost.
According to the invention, the above third object is achieved
by providing a wheel chair storage apparatus comprising a slider
as defined above and additionally a rotating means for rotating
said main body relative to said car between the position for storing
the wheel chair and a position right above a doorway of the car.
Preferably, said rotating means includes a shaft to be used for
rotatably fitting said main body to said fitting means, a stopper
fitted to said fitting means and arranged eccentrically relative
to the axial line of said shaft and an urging means for constantly
urging said main body in the direction of returning to the storage
space, said slider being provided with an abutment section for abutting
said stopper.
With the above arrangement, as the slider is moved away from the
main body, its abutment section eventually comes to abut the stopper.
Then, as the slider is moved further, both the slider itself and
the main body are driven be rotate around the shaft. By selecting
appropriate relative positions for the stopper and the shaft, it
is possible to place the slider at a position right above the doorway
of the car through which the user of the wheel chair moves into
the car. The need of arranging a specific drive means for rotating
the main body can be eliminated to simplify the configuration of
the rotating means and reduce the manufacturing cost by making the
rotating means include the above listed components.
Additionally, since the slider can be placed right above the doorway,
the effect of preventing both the user of the wheel chair and the
wheel chair itself from being wetted by rain or snow can be secured.
It will be appreciated that the third object of the invention can
be achieved without using a slider.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a first embodiment of wheel
chair storage apparatus of a car according to the invention, illustrating
its configuration.
FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the embodiment of wheel chair
storage apparatus of a car shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of an wheel chair storage apparatus
of a car according to the invention and comprising a rotating means.
FIG. 4 is schematic front view of the first embodiment of wheel
chair storage apparatus according to the invention, illustrating
the slider moved away from the roof of the car.
FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of the first embodiment of wheel
chair storage apparatus according to the invention, illustrating
the wheel chair suspended and inserted into the wheel chair holder.
FIG. 6 is a schematic front view of the first embodiment of wheel
chair storage apparatus according to the invention, illustrating
the wheel chair holder holding the wheel chair being stored in the
slider by winding up the belt.
FIG. 7 is a schematic front view of the first embodiment of wheel
chair storage apparatus according to the invention, illustrating
the wheel chair completely stored in the wheel chair storage apparatus.
FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of a second embodiment of wheel
chair storage apparatus of a car according to the invention, illustrating
its configuration.
FIG. 9 is a schematic plan view of the embodiment of FIG. 8, illustrating
how it is operated.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Now, the present invention will be described by referring to the
accompanying drawings that illustrate preferred embodiments of the
invention.
(Embodiment 1)
FIGS. 1 and 2 schematically illustrate a first embodiment of wheel
chair storage apparatus of a car according to the invention. FIG.
1 is schematic a plan view and FIG. 2 is a schematic front view
of the embodiment. In the following description, the expression
"forward and rearward" or "longitudinally" is
used relative to the car (e.g., upward and downward in FIG. 1),
while the expression "leftward and rightward" or "laterally"
is also used relative to the car (e.g., leftward and rightward in
FIG. 1).
Support members 3, 3 are fitted to car A along lateral side rails
of the car A and hence they are extending longitudinally. While
the support members 3, 3 may be specifically designed for a wheel
chair storage apparatus according to the invention, those of a commercially
available ski carrier or a commercially available baggage carrier
can be used without any problem for the purpose of the invention.
A lattice-like fitting member 2 extending laterally on the roof
of the car A is fitted to the support members 3, 3. Then, the apparatus
main body 5 having a storage space 8 for storing a folded wheel
chair 20 is fitted to the fitting member 2. Thus, with this embodiment,
the fitting means for fitting a wheel chair 5 onto the roof of the
car A includes the fitting member 2 and the support members 3, 3.
The main body 5 also has a lattice-like configuration and includes
a laterally extending central transversal beam 5a. A rack 9 is fitted
to the central transversal beam 5a along its length. The main body
5 additionally includes front and rear transversal beams 6, 6, which
are guide rails 6, 6 running in parallel with the rack 9. Then,
a slider 7 also having a lattice-like configuration is arranged
along the guide rails 6, 6 in such a way that it may be laterally
movable (along the direction indicated by arrow X in FIG. A). The
guide rails 6, 6 are preferably provided with rollers or bearings
so that the slider 7 may move back and forth smoothly.
The slider 7 has a left longitudinal beam 7a running longitudinally
along the left end of the slider 7 and a slider drive motor 11 is
secured to the left longitudinal beam 7a. A pinion 11A is fitted
to the rotary shaft of the slider drive motor 11 and held in engagement
with the rack 9. Thus, as the slider drive motor 11 is operated,
the pinion 11a is driven to move along the rack 9 to move the slider
7 as it is held in engagement with the rack 9. It will be appreciated
that the rack and pinion assembly may be replaced by a linear motor
or some other known linear drive mechanism if it can drive the slider
laterally back and forth.
The slider drive mechanism including the slider drive motor 11
is preferably provided with a brake mechanism so that the slider
7 may not inadvertently move when the wheel chair 20 is stored in
position or when the carA is running or stopped. The drive operation
of the slider drive motor 11 is preferably controlled by means of
a hand switch located near the driver seat so that the user of the
wheel chair may easily operate it when storing the wheel chair.
It may be so arranged that the hand switch is operated by means
of a remote control unit. It is still preferable that the hand switch
is turned off when the engine of the car A is energized or the key
switch of the car A is turned on and while the car is in operation.
While not shown, the rack is preferably provided near the opposite
ends thereof with detection means such as limit switches or proximity
switches so that the slider 7 getting to the left or right end of
the guide rails 6, 6 may be detected and the operation of the slider
drive motor 11 may be automatically stopped when the slider 7 gets
to that end.
A lift motor 10 for lifting the wheel chair 20 is fitted to the
left longitudinal beam 7a and a belt 13 is wound around a winding
drum 10a fitted to the rotary shaft of the lift motor 10. The belt
13 is provided with a hook 13a at the front end thereof. It is also
preferable that the lift motor 10 is operated by means of a hand
switch.
In this embodiment, the wheel chair 20 is folded laterally at the
center of its seat. The wheel chair 20 is provided with a lifting
belt 20a extending transversally across the seat. The hook 13a is
made to hold the lifting belt 20a at the middle thereof. As the
hook 13a is pulled up to take up the lifting belt 20a and hence
the wheel chair 20, the wheel chair 20 is folded laterally by its
own weight. Thus, the wheel chair folding mechanism of the embodiment
is constituted by the hook 13a and the lifting belt 20a.
The slider 7 is provided with an open area 15 for receiving the
folded wheel chair 20 as the latter is facing lateral sides of the
car. A shaft 14 is running longitudinally along the left edge of
the open area 15 and a wheel chair holder 12 is supported by the
shaft 14 at a lateral side thereof. As seen from FIG. 2, the wheel
chair holder 12 is made to show an inversely U-shaped cross section
as viewed from the front of the car when the wheel chair 20 is lifted
by the belt 13. The wheel chair holder 12 receives the folded wheel
chair 20 and then holds the wheel chair 20 at the lateral sides
thereof without any further movement.
The inversely U-shaped wheel chair holder 12 is provided at the
top thereof with a hole 12a for allowing the belt 13 to pass therethrough.
Since the wheel chair holder 12 is supported by the shaft 14 at
a position eccentric relative to the top thereof, the wheel chair
holder 12 is turned clockwise around the shaft 14 as the belt 13
is wound on after the wheel chair 20 is received by the wheel chair
holder 12 in FIG. 2. As a result, the wheel chair 20 is made to
take a substantially lying flat attitude and become ready for being
stored. In other words, the belt 13, the shaft 14 and the lift motor
10 constitute an attitude modifying mechanism for modifying the
attitude of the wheel chair 20.
An elastic water-proof cover 16 is made to cover the entire upper
surface of the slider 7. Alternatively, the water-proof cover 16
may be made to cover only part of the slider 7 if the wheel chair
20 and the user of the wheel chair 20 located at the doorway are
protected against rain in wet weather. While the cover 16 may be
made of a hard material such as hard plastic or metal, it is preferably
made of a flexible material such as rubber, vinyl or polyethylene
because a sheet of such a material can take any shape that conforms
to the profile of the wheel chair holder 12 and that of the wheel
chair 20 so that it is not necessary to provide any extra space
or escape area for avoiding interference with the wheel chair holder
12 and/or the wheel chair 20, while the use of a metal or hard plastic
cover may require such a provision. Thus, the wheel chair storage
apparatus 1 can be made compact and the manufacturing cost of the
apparatus can be reduced.
In this embodiment, a rotating means is provided for rotating the
main body 5 and the slider 7 relative to the car A in order to eliminate
the horizontal gap that can otherwise arise between the location
of the wheel chair storage apparatus 1 on the car A and that of
the doorway B of the car A to be used when the user of the wheel
chair 20 moves into the car A.
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the main body 5 comprising such
a rotating means. In FIG. 3, the components same as those of FIG.
1 are denoted respectively by the same reference symbols and would
not be described any further.
The main body 5 is fitted to the fitting member 2 by means of a
shaft 4 and rotatable on a plane parallel to the roof of the car
A (the sense of rotation being indicated by arrow Z in FIG. 3).
A stopper 18 is arranged at a position eccentrically displaced from
the axial line of the main body 5 passing through the transversal
beam 5a and made to abut the inner lateral side of the longitudinal
beam 7a of the slider 7. It is preferable that the position at which
the stopper 18 is fitted is laterally adjustable along the fitting
member 2 so that the angle or rotation of the main body 5 may be
modifiable. A tensile coil spring 17 is arranged between the main
body 5 and the fitting member 2 to urge the main body 5 toward the
position at which the wheel chair is stored (storage position) on
the car A. Although not shown, the fitting member 2 is provided
with a stopper that abuts the main body 5 to hold the main body
5 to said storage position against the resilient force of the tensile
coil spring 17.
With the above described arrangement, as the slider 7 is moved
along the guide rails 6, 6 from the retracted state by operating
the slider drive motor 11, the longitudinal beam 7 of the slider
7 abuts the stopper 18 in the way of the slider's movement. Since
the slider is forced to move further along the guide rails 6, 6
by the slider drive motor 11, the main body 5 and the slider 7 are
rotated counterclockwise around the shaft 4 in FIG. 3. The angle
of rotation can be modified by adjusting the position at which the
stopper 18 is fitted.
Now, how the wheel chair 20 is stored in the wheel chair storage
apparatus 1 having the above described configuration will be described
by referring to FIGS. 2 and 4 through 7.
Referring to FIG. 7, for storing the wheel chair 20 in the apparatus,
the wheel chair 20 is placed near the doorway B and the slider drive
motor 11 is operated by means of the hand switch (not shown) to
drive the slider 7 toward the right side of the car A along the
guide rails 6, 6. The lift motor 10 is stopped when the slider 7
is driven to its extreme position where it projects from the roof
of the car A and abuts the limit switch (not shown).
If the apparatus is provided with a rotating means as shown in
FIG. 3, the slider can be driven to rotate with the main body 5
by a desired angle so that the open area 15 of the slider 7 may
be located right above the wheel chair 20 even if there is a gap
between the doorway B (where the wheel chair 20 is located) and
the wheel chair 20 storage position of the car A.
Then, referring to FIG. 2, the lift motor 10 is operated by means
of the hand switch to unwound the belt 13 from the winding drum
10a. As a result, the hook 13a at the front end of the belt 13 is
lowered. Then, as the belt 13 is wound up, the wheel chair holder
12 housed in the slider 7 is rotated around the shaft 14 by its
own weight and turns its inversely U-shaped contour toward the wheel
chair 20. Then, the user of the wheel chair takes the lowered hook
13a and make it hold the middle point of the lifting belt 20a arranged
on the seat of the wheel chair 20.
Then, the lift motor 10 is driven reversely by operating the hand
switch (not shown) under this condition. As a result, the wheel
chair 20 is lifted as the belt 13 is wound up by the winding drum
10a. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the wheel chair 20 is automatically
folded from the lateral sides thereof by its own weight as it is
lifted (in the direction indicated by arrow Y in FIG. 5) and inserted
into the wheel chair holder 12 in a completely folded state.
After the wheel chair 20 is inserted into the wheel chair holder
12, the lift motor 10 continues its operation so that the belt 13
pulls the top of the wheel chair holder 12 toward the winding drum
10a and rotates the wheel chair holder 12 around the shaft 14 in
the sense as indicated by arrow U in FIG. 6. As a result, the wheel
chair 20 is made to lie flat and put into the slider 7 through the
open area 15. As the wheel chair 20 is completely put into the slider
7, the operation of the lift motor 10 is automatically stopped by
means of a limit switch or a load switch of the lift motor (not
shown).
As the slider drive motor 11 is driven reversely by operating the
hand switch (not shown), the slider 7 is moved to the roof of the
car A to place the wheel chair in the stored state as shown in FIG.
7.
The above procedure should be reversed to take out the wheel chair
20 from the wheel chair storage apparatus 1.
(Embodiment 2)
Now, a second embodiment of the invention will be described by
referring to FIGS. 8 and 9.
Referring to FIG. 8, with this embodiment, a wheel chair 20 is
stored in a position displaced backwardly from the doorway B of
the car A. The fitting member 2 is provided with a pair of arc-shaped
guide rails 24, 25 arranged concentrically with different radii
of curvature so that the main body 27 may reciprocally rotate between
the storage position as shown in FIG. 8 and the wheel chair lifting
position (doorway B) as shown in FIG. 9 (in the sense of rotation
as indicated by arrow Z in FIG. 9) while it is supported by the
guide rails 24, 25.
The main body 27 of the wheel chair storage apparatus 1' of this
embodiment may also be provided with a slider that can reciprocate
as in the above described first embodiment. However, in this embodiment,
the slider 7 of the main body of the first embodiment is replaced
by an arrangement similar to the slider 7 of the first embodiment
except that it is devoid of the slider drive motor 11 (see FIG.
1). Thus, the components of the arrangement of this embodiment that
is similar to the slider 7 of the first embodiment are denoted in
FIGS. 8 and 9 respectively by the same reference symbols as the
first embodiment and would not be described any further.
The main body 27 of this embodiment is rather wide on the car A
and made to partly project rightward from the car A simply by rotating
to a position above the doorway B so that the open area 15 comes
to be located right above the doorway B.
The main body 27 having the above configuration is then linked
to a rotary shaft 26a of a motor 26 fitted to a front portion of
the fitting member. The rotary shaft 26a is located at the center
of arc-shaped guide rails 24, 25 and linked to the main body 27
typically by means of a key so that the rotary shaft 26a and the
main body 27 may be rotated integrally. It may be so arranged that
the operation of the motor 26 is controlled by means of a hand switch
as in the case of the first embodiment and made to automatically
stop by a detection means such as limit switch. Additionally, it
may also be so arranged that the main body 27 is prevented from
rotating excessively by means of a stopper.
With the arrangement of the wheel chair storage apparatus 1 of
this embodiment, the use of the slider 7 of the first embodiment
can be eliminated to simplify the configuration of the wheel chair
storage apparatus 1. Additionally, as in the case of the first embodiment,
the open area 15 of the main body 27 can be positionally adjusted
and placed right above the doorway B by appropriately shifting the
position of the limit switch or the stopper or by appropriately
operating the motor 26 by means of the hand switch.
For storing the wheel chair 20 in the wheel chair storage apparatus
1, firstly, the open area 15 of the main body 27 is moved right
above the doorway B by operating the motor 26. Then, as in the case
of the first embodiment, the wheel chair 20 is lifted and put into
the open area 15 by modifying its attitude. Thereafter, the motor
26 is driven reversely to rotate the main body 27 in order to move
it to the storage position as shown in FIG. 8.
With this embodiment, the rotary shaft 26a of the motor 26 is positioned
on the longitudinal axis running through the center of the car and
guide rails 24, 25 are arranged appropriately so that the main body
27 can be rotated appropriately toward either the left side or the
right side of the car A.
(Other Embodiments)
While the present invention is described above by way of preferred
embodiments of the invention, the present invention is by no means
limited thereto.
For instance, the means for folding the wheel chair is constituted
by the hook 13a and the lifting belt 20a in the above description,
the hook 13a may be replaced by a bifurcated hook fitted to the
front end of the belt 13 so that the wheel chair 20 may be seized
by the hook at the opposite lateral sides thereof. With this arrangement,
the wheel chair 20 will also be folded from the lateral sides as
it is lifted.
The configuration of the rotating means for rotating the main body
5 by a desired angle of rotation relative to the car A is not limited
to the above description. Alternatively, the rotating means may
comprise a motor and a rack and pinion mechanism or a cylinder.
Similarly, the means for reciprocating the slider 7 may alternatively
be made to comprise a cylinder or a linear motor.
While the attitude modifying means of either of the above embodiments
comprises a belt 13, a shaft 14 and a lift motor 10 in the above
description, it may have any desired configuration so long as it
can drive both the wheel chair 20 and the wheel chair holder 12
to rotate. For example, it may be so arranged that the wheel chair
holder 12 is drawn into the inside of the slider 7 to modify its
attitude as the belt is taken up.
Additionally, while the wheel chair holder 12 is turned around
the shaft 14 to modify its attitude and face sideways for storage
in either of the above embodiments, it is also possible to provide
an arrangement for holding the shaft by means of a link mechanism
in order to make it easy to shift the shaft and modify the attitude
of the wheel chair holder 12 as the latter is lifted. Still additionally,
it is also possible to provide an arrangement of lifting the water-proof
cover so that the motion of the wheel chair holder 12 may not be
hindered by the cover.
It will be appreciated that the wheel chair storage apparatus 1
can be turned reversely by arranging the fitting member 2 rotatable
relative to the support members 3, 3 so that the user of the wheel
chair may ride into the car from the doorway located at the driver
seat and leave the car from the door way located at the passenger
seat. Then, a same wheel chair storage apparatus can be used for
both a car having the driver seat at the right side and a car having
the driver seat at the left side to broaden the scope of applicability
of the apparatus.
As described above in detail, a wheel chair storage apparatus according
to the invention has a simple configuration and hence can be manufactured
at low cost. Additionally, it is free from malfunctions and operates
reliably. Still additionally, since the wheel chair is lifted up
and down by means of a belt or a wire, the apparatus can be applied
to any car regardless of the height thereof.
A wheel chair storage apparatus according to the invention can
prevent both the user of the wheel chair and the wheel chair from
being wetted by rain by simply arranging a cover on the slider that
reciprocates above the doorway and/or the main body that is lifted
to a position right above the door way. Obviously, such an anti-rain
measure can be provided with little cost.
Finally, when the main body is made to rotate, the open area of
the apparatus for receiving the wheel chair can be placed right
above the doorway even if the position for storing the wheel chair
on the car is not vertically aligned with the doorway. |