Land vehicles – Wheeled – Running gear
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-02
2004-06-15
Dickson, Paul N. (Department: 3618)
Land vehicles
Wheeled
Running gear
Reexamination Certificate
active
06749210
ABSTRACT:
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field to Which Invention Belongs
The present invention relates to a hub for a wheel mounted on a wheelchair, a bicycle or the like provided with buffer means, and particularly to a hub for a wheel with buffer function in which when the vertical shock received from the road surface is received, the shock is not transmitted to the vehicle body directly but the shock is absorbed to enable running smoothly, and a wheel equipped with the hub for a wheel.
1. Related Art
At present, most of roads in our country are paved by asphalt or the like. Accordingly, no large unevenness is present on the road, and vehicles such as a wheelchair or a bicycle can be passed smoothly. Further, in order to secure the safety of passage of walkers, and vehicles such as a wheelchair, a bicycle and so on, there is provided, on the side of the automobile road, a sidewalk on which vehicles such as a wheelchair, a bicycle and so on may run. Therefore, the chance of going out by vehicles such as a wheelchair, a bicycle and so on increases. Further, it is expected that in the twenty-first century, in Japan, the society of a person of advanced age in which persons of advanced age over 65 years old occupy one person per three persons of population will come. As the life of a person extends, people disabled due to the advanced age increases rapidly. It is therefore supposed that persons of advanced age making use of a wheelchair when they go out be increased.
Further, the arrangement or adjustment of not only the outdoor roads but the living environment without difference in level are now being carried out. However, there are still present many differences in level in many road surfaces or residential facilities, and in addition, are present various differences in level in partial places such as differences in level of uneven parts appearing on the pavement of roads due to the road work or gas work, tracks caused by running of large-type vehicles and differences in level in cross-walks resulting therefrom, difference in level appearing in a boundary between a roadway and a side walk, differences in level caused by the change in passage of year of the road; and differences in level caused by a textured paving block for visual disabled persons provided on a side walk. People making use of a wheelchair such as persons of advanced age are suffered from inconvenience due to many differences in level present. For this reason, recently, there advocates the smoothness, that is, barrier-free. However, there is a problem that the vehicles such as a wheelchair or a bicycle rather have to pass carefully.
For overcoming this problem, it is necessary to further progress an improvement toward the barrier-free in the road surface or within the residence, but it requires considerable time and expenses in the improvement toward the barrier-free. In view of this, if a part of the construction of a wheelchair or the like being used now can be changed into the construction provided with a buffer mechanism, this is the best means which saves time and cost.
Incidentally, the present wheel of a vehicle such as a wheelchair or a bicycle has the construction in which spokes are stretched radially from the hub fitted in the axle and connected to the rim to apply tension to the spokes, thereby holding the rigidity of the whole wheel. Such a wheel as described above has the construction in which elasticity does not exert in a longitudinal direction vertical to the road surface. Therefore, when the vehicle such as a bicycle or a wheelchair having the wheel of construction as described passes the road or the side walk, it runs on various difference in level described above to pass. Since the shock from bottom when passing the difference in level is transmitted to a rider directly through the frame from the axle of the hub, the rider is not comfortable to ride, also influencing the durability of the vehicle body. In case the wheel mainly comprising a castor mounted as a front wheel of a wheelchair tries to ride over the difference in level, the wheel need be raised by the amount of height of the wheel, for which the rider has to use the great force. Therefore, the rider tries to move his (her) weight by force to gain momentum or makes use of reaction to ride over the difference in level. However, the shock received when riding over the difference in level is extremely great, which is not comfortable to ride for the rider.
For overcoming the disadvantages as noted above, in case of a bicycle, a spring is put into saddle or a buffer member such as a coil spring is provided on the frame itself. Further, measures are taken to lower air pressure within the tire. However, in the measures for lowering air pressure of the tire, the resistance between the wheel and the road surface is increased by lowering air pressure, further posing an inconvenience that when traveling, a burden is imposed on a rider. For overcoming these inconveniences, a proposal has been heretofore made of a wheel to which buffer means is added. For example, there is disclosed a wheel having the constitution described in Japanese Registered Utility Model Publication No. 365262.
The wheel of the prior art described above has a buffer device in which a bearing comprising a ball bearing or a roller bearing is provided in the center of a hub casing (i.e., a hub barrel), a spring receiver is provided radially on the outer circumference of the bearing, a spring receiver is provided on the inner circumference of the hub casing, and an eddy-like spring is provided between both the spring receivers described above.
The above-described prior art surely exhibits the effect relative to the vertical shock of the wheel when ridden on the difference in level, but the rigidity in a lateral direction (left and right) which is the direction of an axle due to many eddy-like springs provided radially, possibly twisting the wheel. As a result, this fails to have the function as a wheel, resulting in a decisive inconvenience of impairing the safety. This cause results from the construction in which the hub barrel forming a hub is that rotational means comprising a bearing and buffer means comprising eddy-like springs are connected together, and the eddy-like springs rotates together with the rotation of the wheel.
Further, in case of a wheelchair, as a mechanism for relieving the shock received from the difference in level, there is a buffer mechanism making use of the existing frame construction for supporting the wheel. This buffer mechanism has the construction in which for supporting a castor, a compression spring is encased in a longitudinal pipe as a frame associated and fitted in the upper part of a support shaft to receive the support shaft of the castor, whereby running over the difference in level, the support shaft of the castor is moved upward springily against the spring, and after running over the difference in level, the support shaft is moved downward again to assume the original state to enable restoring. The construction in which the support frame of the castor is provided with the buffer mechanism to absorb the shock is disclosed in the Specification of Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 8 (1996)-173482. Incidentally, the wheelchair with buffer mechanism is excellent as one to be manufactured newly. However, when the above construction is intended to be provided on the normal existing wheelchair without the buffer mechanism, large-scaled work involves, since in the normal existing wheelchair, the longitudinal pipe as a frame for supporting the castor is deposited assembled by welding as a part of the frame construction of the wheelchair body, in changing the longitudinal pipe into the longitudinal pipe provided with the above-described buffer device, thus posing a problem that time and cost are required to render unpractical.
On the other hand, there is disclosed, in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6 (1994)-32108, a wheelchair provided with a castor of the construction of a buffer mechanism in which one end of
Araya Industrial Co., Ltd.
Dickson Paul N.
Fleming Faye M.
Westerman Hattori Daniels & Adrian LLP
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