Trucks

Abstract

To provide a pushcart capable of obtaining air quality that allows a person assisted, such as an infant, to feel comfortable even when riding for a long time regardless of changes in the external environment, and capable of coping with the intrusion of viruses and the like from the outside with high accuracy. The stroller 2 has an opening 4a for getting on and off, and is equipped with a seat 4 that covers and accommodates the infant 3 being assisted, a movable support 8 that has a handle 6 for pushing, and supports the seat 4, an opening / closing cover 10 that opens and closes the opening 4a, a filtered air supply mechanism 12 that filters outside air and supplies it into the seat 4, and a control unit 14 that controls the filtered air supply mechanism 12, and with the opening 4a closed with the opening / closing cover 10 to make the seat 4 approximately sealed, the inside of the seat 4 can be kept at a positive pressure with filtered clean air.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a pushcart for carrying and transporting a person to be assisted, such as an infant or small child, who requires assistance (attendance) when getting on and off the pushcart. [Background technology]

[0002] The seat (riding section) of a stroller for carrying an infant is basically configured with the front side open to make it easier for the infant to get in and out. Patent Document 1 discloses a configuration in which the entire seat is covered with a transparent rain cover to protect an infant riding in the stroller from sudden rain or cold wind outdoors. Although not specified, it can be seen from the drawing that ventilation sections consisting of a group of multiple small ventilation holes are formed on both sides of the rain cover, which can be interpreted as being for ensuring ventilation with the outside in a nearly sealed state.

[0003] Patent Document 2 discloses a configuration in which the entire seat is covered with a lace cover to protect against the sun, insects, heat, wind, and dust, and furthermore, multiple ice pack pockets are provided to allow babies, who are not yet mature in regulating their body temperature, to move around comfortably, and ice packs are placed in the ice pack pockets to cool the inside of the seat in environments with strong sunlight. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-62437 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2005-14871 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The configurations described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are both configurations that cover the seat in a substantially sealed state. Although ventilation with the outside is possible through the ventilation section or small holes in the lace fabric, the air exchange function is not sufficient to suppress the increase in carbon dioxide concentration in the seat due to the breathing of infants, and deterioration of the air quality in the seat cannot be avoided during long rides. When the humidity is high, such as on rainy days, the deterioration of the air quality will be further compounded by discomfort. In addition, ventilation configurations using small holes cannot be expected to suppress the build-up of heat due to the body temperature of infants or the rise in temperature in the seat due to high outside temperatures.

[0006] Furthermore, in a situation where an infectious disease such as COVID-19 is widespread, the approximately sealed configurations described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have ventilation holes, but from the perspective of preventing the entry of viruses, the ventilation holes are huge in size compared to the virus, so they are not very useful, and when moving along crowded roads such as shopping streets, infants in strollers are essentially exposed to the risk of infection while being covered in an approximately sealed state with a rain cover or the like.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned points, and its purpose is to provide a pushcart that can achieve air quality that allows assisted persons such as infants to be comfortable even when riding for long periods of time regardless of changes in the external environment, and that can respond with high accuracy to the intrusion of viruses and the like from outside. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the pushcart (2) of the present invention is a pushcart (2) that moves with an assisted person (3) who requires assistance when getting on and off, and is equipped with an opening (4a) for getting on and off and a seat section (4) that accommodates and covers the assisted person (3), a movable support (8) that has a handle (6) for pushing and supports the seat section (4), an opening / closing cover (10) that opens and closes the opening (4a), a filtered air supply mechanism (12) that filters outside air and supplies it into the seat section (4), and a control section (14) that controls the filtered air supply mechanism (12), and is characterized in that the opening (4a) can be closed with the opening / closing cover (10) to make the seat section (4) approximately sealed, and the inside of the seat section (4) can be kept at a positive pressure with filtered clean air.

[0009] With the pushcart of the present invention, the seat area can be filled with filtered clean air (fresh air), and by maintaining positive pressure, the intrusion of contaminated outside air can be prevented, providing comfort to the person being assisted.

[0010] The above-mentioned pushcart (2) may also include a temperature sensor (50) for measuring the temperature inside the seat (4) and a cooling mechanism (22) for cooling the air inside the seat (4), and the control unit (14) may control the cooling mechanism (22) according to the measurement value of the temperature sensor (50). In this way, even if the temperature inside the seat rises due to the biological activity of the person being assisted or high external air temperature, it can be quickly suppressed and comfort can be maintained.

[0011] The above-mentioned pushcart (2) may further include a humidity sensor (52) for measuring the humidity inside the seat (4), and the control unit (14) may calculate the dew point of the air inside the seat (4) based on the measurements of the temperature sensor (50) and the humidity sensor (52), and control the cooling mechanism (22) based on the calculated dew point to control the humidity inside the seat (4). In this way, even if the humidity inside the seat increases due to the external environment, it can be quickly suppressed, and comfort can be maintained.

[0012] The above-mentioned pushcart (2) may also be provided with a carbon dioxide concentration sensor (54) for measuring the carbon dioxide concentration in the seat (4), and the control unit (14) may adjust the supply amount of the filtered air supply mechanism (12) according to the measurement value of the carbon dioxide concentration sensor (54). In this way, even if the carbon dioxide concentration in the seat increases due to the breathing of the assisted person, it can be quickly suppressed, and comfort can be maintained.

[0013] Furthermore, in the above-described handcart (2), the filtered air supply mechanism (12) may be configured to include an air passage (32) that connects the seat portion (4) with the outside, a filter (34) that filters the outside air passing through the air passage (32), and a filtered air supply fan (36) that supplies the air filtered by the filter (34) into the seat portion (34). In this manner, the amount of clean air supplied can be adjusted by changing the rotation speed of the filtered air supply fan, and clean air can be supplied according to the conditions inside the seat portion.

[0014] Furthermore, in the above-mentioned hand cart (2), the cooling mechanism (22) may be configured to include a Peltier element (40), a heat sink (42) provided on the heating surface side of the Peltier element (40), a heat dissipation fan (44) that dissipates heat from the heat sink (42) to the outside of the seat portion (4), and a cool air blower fan that circulates the air cooled on the cooling surface side of the Peltier element (40) inside the seat portion (4). This allows the seat portion to be cooled quickly even if the temperature inside the seat portion rises.

[0015] In the above-mentioned handcart (2), the filtered air supply mechanism (12) may include an air passage (32) that connects the seat portion (4) with the outside, a filter (34) that filters the outside air passing through the air passage (32), and a filtered air supply fan (36) that supplies the air filtered by the filter (34) into the seat portion (4), and the filtered air supply fan (36) may also function as a cool air blower. This can simplify the configuration and quickly change the air quality in the seat portion because the filtered clean air can be directly cooled and supplied.

[0016] The above-mentioned pushcart (2) may also be provided with an opening mechanism (28) that forcibly opens a portion of the substantially sealed seat (4), and when the control unit (14) determines that it is difficult to control the temperature, humidity, or carbon dioxide concentration of the seat (4) from the viewpoint of maintaining an appropriate air quality, the control unit (14) may operate the opening mechanism (28). In this way, even when the air quality in the seat deteriorates and cannot be controlled well, the substantially sealed state can be released to avoid damage to the person being assisted. Effect of the Invention

[0017] According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain air quality that allows assisted persons such as infants to be comfortable even during long rides regardless of changes in the external environment, and it is also possible to respond with high accuracy to the intrusion of viruses and the like from outside. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0018] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a stroller according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the stroller shown in FIG. [Diagram 3] 3A and 3B are diagrams showing the configuration of an opening mechanism in the stroller shown in FIG. 1, with FIG. 3A showing the closed state and FIG. 3B showing the open state. [Figure 4] FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0020] 1 and 2 show a stroller 2, which is an example of a pushcart that moves with a person being assisted who needs assistance when getting on and off. The stroller 2 according to this embodiment has an opening 4a at the front for getting on and off, a seat section 4 that accommodates and covers an infant 3 being assisted, a handle 6 for pushing, a movable support 8 that supports the seat section 4, an opening / closing cover 10 that opens and closes the opening 4a, a filtered air supply mechanism 12 that filters outside air and supplies it to the inside of the seat section 4, and a control unit 14 that controls the filtered air supply mechanism 12, and when the opening 4a is closed by the opening / closing cover 10 to substantially seal the seat section 4 (the state shown in Figs. 1 and 2), the inside of the seat section 4 can be kept at a positive pressure with filtered clean air.

[0021] The support 8 that stably supports the seat 4 is made of rods or pipes, and is movable by wheels 16 with lock levers. A horizontal bar 18 is fixed to the pair of shafts 8a, 8a that extend diagonally upward from the support 8 near the handle 6, and a pair of L-shaped brackets 20 are fixed to the horizontal bar 18 at intervals in the width direction of the stroller 2. The tip sides of the pair of brackets 20 are connected and fixed by a horizontal bar 21, and a cooling mechanism 22 that cools the inside of the seat 4 is fixed on the bracket 20. The filtered air supply mechanism 12 is connected to the rear side (handle 6 side) of the cooling mechanism 22, and is not shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 24 denotes a smartphone holder fixed to the support 8, and reference numeral 26 denotes a smartphone used by a person assisting the infant 3. Reference numeral 28 also denotes a schematic opening mechanism (described later) that forcibly opens a part of the seat 4 that is in a substantially sealed state.

[0022] The seat 4 is surrounded by a seat cover 30 made of a flexible fabric that blocks sunlight, and the opening / closing cover 10 is also made of the same fabric. The opening / closing cover 10 can be attached to the seat cover 30 with a linear fastener or a surface fastener, and when the opening / closing cover 10 is attached, the seat 4 becomes a substantially sealed space.

[0023] 2, the filtered air supply mechanism 12 includes an elbow-shaped air passage 32 that communicates between the seat 4 and the outside of the stroller 2, a filter 34 that filters outside air passing through the air passage 32, and a filtered air supply fan 36 that supplies air filtered by the filter 34 into the seat 4. When the filtered air supply fan 36 is operated by the control unit 14 as described below, outside air is sucked into the air passage 32 as shown by the arrow, decontaminated by the filter 34, and supplied into the cooling mechanism 22. As the filter 34, for example, a HEPA filter or a tea catechin filter can be used.

[0024] The cooling mechanism 22 comprises a casing 38 fixed to the bracket 20, two Peltier elements 40 arranged at intervals in the fore-and-aft direction of the stroller 2 within the casing 38, a heat sink 42 arranged on the heating surface side of the Peltier elements 40, two heat dissipation fans 44 which dissipate heat from the heat sink 42 to the outside of the seat portion 4, and a cool air blower fan which circulates the air cooled on the cooling surface side of the Peltier elements 40 within the seat portion 4.

[0025] In this embodiment, the filtered air supply fan 36 also functions as a cool air blower fan. The filter 34 of the filtered air supply mechanism 12 is provided at the communication portion between the casing 38 and the air passage 32, and the filtered air moves in the direction of the arrow (to the right in the figure) inside the casing 38 while being cooled by the Peltier element 40, and is supplied into the seat portion 4. The tip side of the casing 38 is curved so that the cooled air is efficiently supplied into the seat portion 4. A moisture absorbent 46 is provided on the bottom surface of the casing 38 to absorb moisture that condenses and falls on the cooling surface of the Peltier element 40. The moisture absorbent 46 can be a polymer absorbent or silica gel.

[0026] A sensor board 48 is fixed to the seat cover 30 in the seat portion 4, and a temperature sensor 50 for measuring the temperature inside the seat portion 4, a humidity sensor 52 for measuring the humidity inside the seat portion 4, and a carbon dioxide concentration sensor 54 for measuring the carbon dioxide concentration inside the seat portion 4 are collectively arranged on the sensor board 48. A storage box 56 is provided on the underside of the seat portion 4, and the storage box 56 stores the control unit 14 and a DC power supply 58 as a battery. The above-mentioned fans, sensors, and Peltier elements 40 are electrically connected to the DC power supply 58 by wires (not shown).

[0027] 3 is a diagram showing a specific configuration of the opening mechanism 28. The opening mechanism 28 is a mechanism that forcibly opens a part of the substantially sealed seat 4. When the control unit 14 determines that it is difficult to control the temperature, humidity or carbon dioxide concentration in the seat 4, or to perform a combined control of these, from the viewpoint of maintaining an appropriate air quality, the control unit 14 performs control to operate the opening mechanism 28.

[0028] The opening mechanism 28 includes a base plate 60 fixed to one of the pair of shafts 8a of the support 8 and having a guide rail 60a, an opening 62 formed in the base plate 60, an opening / closing plate 64 slidably fitted to the guide rail 60a, and a linear actuator 66 such as a solenoid fixed to the base plate 60 and moving the opening / closing plate 64 via a movable rod 60b. The seat cover 30 has an opening corresponding to the opening 62, and is attached to the inner surface of the base plate 60 so that the opening overlaps the opening 62. FIG. 3(a) shows a state in which the opening 62 is closed by the opening / closing plate 64, and FIG. 3(b) shows a state in which the actuator 66 operates to open the opening 62, that is, a state in which the inside of the seat 4 in a substantially sealed state is partially opened. A flexible seal material is provided on the inner surface of the opening / closing plate 64, and the opening / closing plate 64 slides in an airtight state.

[0029] 4 is a control block diagram. Control unit 14 is a microcomputer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, an I / O interface, etc. Measurement values ​​are input to control unit 14 from temperature sensor 50, humidity sensor 52, and carbon dioxide concentration sensor 54, and control unit 14 controls filtered air supply fan 36 of filtered air supply mechanism 12, heat dissipation fan 44 of cooling mechanism 22, DC power supply 58, Peltier element 40, actuator 66, etc. in accordance with this measurement data. Control unit 14 is capable of communicating with external communication devices, such as smartphone 26, via communication I / F 68.

[0030] The control of the stroller 2 will now be described.

[0031] With the opening 4a open, the baby 3 is placed on the seat 4, and then the opening 4a is closed with the opening cover 10. This puts the seat 4 in an approximately sealed state. When the pressure of the baby 3 on the seat turns on a switch (not shown) arranged inside the seat surface, the control unit 14 operates the filtered air supply fan 36 and supplies clean air filtered by the filter 34 into the seat 4. After a certain period of time, the seat 4 is filled with clean air, and a positive pressure state is maintained while the clean air leaks to the outside through the gaps in the approximately sealed state. This prevents outside air from entering the seat 4 while the stroller 2 is moving, so the baby 3 is protected even in a situation where an infectious disease such as corona is widespread. Since the inside of the seat 4 is approximately sealed, the baby 3 can move in a comfortable state even on rainy, windy, or dusty days.

[0032] When the temperature sensor 50 detects that the temperature inside the seat portion 4 has become higher than a predetermined value previously stored in a memory such as a ROM, the control unit 14 operates the cooling mechanism 22 and controls the supply of clean cooling air into the seat portion 4 to lower the temperature inside the seat portion 4.

[0033] When the humidity sensor 52 detects that the humidity inside the seat 4 has exceeded a predetermined value previously stored in a memory such as a ROM, the control unit 14 calculates the dew point from the measurement value of the temperature sensor 50 and the measurement value (relative humidity) of the humidity sensor 52, and controls the cooling mechanism 22 based on the calculated dew point to control the humidity inside the seat 4. Specifically, the control unit 14 controls the voltage to the Peltier element 40 based on the calculated dew point.

[0034] When the carbon dioxide concentration sensor 54 detects that the carbon dioxide concentration in the seat 4 has become higher than a predetermined value previously stored in a memory such as a ROM due to the breathing of the infant 3, the control unit 14 increases the rotational speed of the filtered air supply fan 36, thereby increasing the proportion of purified air in the seat 4 and reducing the carbon dioxide concentration.

[0035] These controls may be performed simultaneously in a composite manner. If the control unit 14 determines that each control or simultaneous control is difficult, that is, if it determines that it is difficult to improve the air quality inside the seat 4 even if the control is performed, the control unit 14 operates the opening mechanism 28 and performs control to forcibly open a part of the seat 4 that is in a substantially sealed state. In this case, in parallel with the forced opening, a notification to that effect is sent to the smartphone 26 by sound or text. In this way, the person pushing the stroller 2 (the person assisting the infant 3) can be quickly notified that the air quality inside the seat 4 has deteriorated, and subsequent measures can be taken quickly.

[0036] Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims and the technical ideas described in the specification and drawings. For example, the above embodiment is exemplified by the stroller 2, but the present invention can also be implemented in a wheelchair that carries an assisted person such as an elderly person who needs care. The stroller 2 and the wheelchair may be equipped with an electric assist function. The opening and closing cover 10 may be formed of a flexible magic mirror. In this way, the sunlight entering the seat part 4 can be significantly reduced, suppressing the temperature rise caused by this, and preventing the seat part 4 from becoming too dark.

Claims

1. A wheelbarrow for moving a person requiring assistance during boarding and alighting, comprising: a seating portion having an opening for boarding and alighting and accommodating the person requiring assistance so as to cover the person; a movable support having a handle for pushing and supporting the seating portion; an opening / closing cover for opening and closing the opening; a filtered air supply mechanism for filtering outside air and supplying it into the seating portion; a control unit for controlling the filtered air supply mechanism; and characterized in that it is possible to keep the inside of the seating portion under positive pressure with filtered clean air in a state where the opening is closed by the opening / closing cover and the seating portion is made substantially airtight.

2. comprising a temperature sensor for measuring the temperature inside the seating portion and a cooling mechanism for cooling the air inside the seating portion; The wheelbarrow according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the cooling mechanism according to the measured value of the temperature sensor.

3. comprising a humidity sensor for measuring the humidity inside the seating portion; The wheelbarrow according to claim 2, wherein the control unit calculates the dew point of the air inside the seating portion based on the measured value of the temperature sensor and the measured value of the humidity sensor, and controls the cooling mechanism based on the calculated dew point to control the humidity inside the seating portion.

4. comprising a carbon dioxide concentration sensor for measuring the carbon dioxide concentration inside the seating portion; The wheelbarrow according to claim 1, wherein the control unit adjusts the supply amount of the filtered air supply mechanism according to the measured value of the carbon dioxide concentration sensor.

5. The wheelbarrow according to claim 1, wherein the filtered air supply mechanism includes a ventilation passage communicating the seating portion with the outside, a filter for filtering outside air passing through the ventilation passage, and a filtered air supply fan for supplying the air filtered by the filter into the seating portion.

6. The pushcart according to claim 2, characterized in that the cooling mechanism includes a Peltier element, a heat sink provided on the heating surface side of the Peltier element, a heat dissipation fan that dissipates the heat of the heat sink to the outside of the seat portion, and a cold air blowing fan that circulates the air cooled on the cooling surface side of the Peltier element in the seat portion.

7. The pushcart according to claim 6, characterized in that the filtered air supply mechanism includes a ventilation passage that communicates the seat portion with the outside, a filter that filters outside air passing through the ventilation passage, and a filtered air supply fan that supplies the air filtered by the filter into the seat portion, and the filtered air supply fan also serves as the cold air blowing fan.

8. It is provided with an opening mechanism for forcibly opening a part of the seat portion in a substantially sealed state. The pushcart according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that when the control unit determines that it is difficult to maintain an appropriate air quality from the perspective of temperature control, humidity control, or carbon dioxide concentration control of the seat portion, the control unit operates the opening mechanism.

Images