JPH04339041A - Auxiliary step safety device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an auxiliary step safety device that allows passengers to safely get on and off a vehicle.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, some vehicles such as buses have a step formed between the floor surface inside the vehicle and the road surface so that passengers, crew members, etc. can easily get on and off the vehicle. Are known.

[0003] In addition to those fixed to the vehicle body, such steps include movable auxiliary steps that are stored within the vehicle body when the vehicle is running, and that move from the vehicle body side only when getting on and off. There is.

[0004] That is, this movable auxiliary step is
The driver operates a drive means such as a motor installed inside the vehicle to move it to the use position and use it.
When the vehicle is running, it is operated and stored inside the vehicle so that it does not get in the way.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is conceivable that a passenger riding on the auxiliary step may erroneously operate the storage switch of the auxiliary step to store the auxiliary step. In this case, there is a risk that passengers riding on the auxiliary step may lose their balance or their feet may become caught between a part of the vehicle body and the auxiliary step. Additionally, if the user jumps onto or jumps off the vehicle during the retracting operation of the auxiliary step, there is a similar risk.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The auxiliary step safety device according to the present invention includes an auxiliary step that is retractably attached to a vehicle and is located between the vehicle body and the road surface during use to assist in getting on and off the vehicle. In a safety device for a safely operating auxiliary step, a touch sensor installed at a position on the vehicle body that the leg located on the auxiliary step can come into contact with when the auxiliary step is retracted causes the leg on the auxiliary step to is detected, and the storing operation of the auxiliary step is temporarily stopped.

[0007]

[Operation] When getting on and off the vehicle, the auxiliary step moves from the vehicle side to assist the rider in getting on and off, and when the vehicle is running, the auxiliary step is stored on the vehicle side.

[0008] Furthermore, when the auxiliary step is stored in the vehicle, the legs on the auxiliary step come into contact with the touch sensor.
A touch sensor detects the presence of a leg on the auxiliary step. Along with this, the storage operation of the auxiliary step is stopped.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, and the embodiment will be explained based on these figures.

An auxiliary step 4, whose detailed side view is shown in FIG. 2 and whose detailed plan view is shown in FIG. 3, is movably supported at the entrance 3 of the bus 1 as shown in FIG. There is.

That is, the auxiliary step 4 is attached to the fixed step 6 fixedly attached to the body 1a of the bus 1.
It is swingably supported via two links 7a and 7b. In addition, the link 7b on the right side of FIG.
A first lever 8a is attached to the tip of the first lever 8a, and a rod 9 is rotatably attached to the tip of the first lever 8a.
is installed.

On the other hand, the vehicle body 1 to which the fixing step 6 is fixed
A drive unit 10 consisting of a drive motor, a speed reducer, a torque limiter, etc. (not shown) is screwed to a.
A base end portion of the second lever 8b is attached to the rotating shaft 10a of the drive unit 10. The tip of the second lever 8b and the other end of the rod 9 are rotatably connected.

Therefore, when the rotating shaft 10a is driven and rotated, the first lever 8a is rotated via the second lever 8b and the rod 9, and rotates integrally with the first lever 8a. The moved link 7b is rotated, and the auxiliary step 4 swings. As a result, auxiliary step 4 is shown in FIG.
It is possible to move between a use position A shown by a solid line and a storage position B shown by a two-dot chain line. The torque limiter prevents excessive rotational torque from being generated on the rotating shaft 10a after the auxiliary step 4 moves to the storage position B, and also prevents the rotational torque from being generated in the storage position B.
The auxiliary step 4 is installed so that it can be determined that the auxiliary step 4 has moved.

On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fixing step 6 is equipped with a safety switch 12, which is a touch sensor that can detect the passenger's leg 13 by contacting it and generate a signal. The leg part 13 of the passenger who is about to get on and off the bus 1 via the auxiliary step 4 comes into contact with the safety switch 12 as shown in FIG. It is possible to detect the presence or absence. In addition, the safety switch 12
is connected, for example, to a control device for a retracting switch (not shown) of the auxiliary step 4 attached to the operating operation panel of the bus 1, and when this control device controls the retracting operation of the auxiliary step 4, , the movement can be controlled by ON/OFF signals from the safety switch 12.

Next, a specific example of control in the apparatus of this embodiment will be explained based on the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, after passengers have finished getting on and off the vehicle, the driver turns on the retraction switch to store the auxiliary step 4 on the lower side of the fixed step 6, and the retraction switch is turned on in step (1). Then, in step (2), it is determined whether the safety switch 12 is turned off. If it is ON, there is a passenger on the auxiliary step 4, so the start of retraction is waited, and the operation is repeated again until it is determined whether the safety switch 12 is ON or OFF in step (2) and it becomes OFF when there is no passenger. The start is awaited. If it is OFF, the process moves to step (3) and storage starts in auxiliary step 4.

When the retraction starts, the motor of the drive section 10 is rotated by the control device, and accordingly, the motor of the drive section 10 is moved to the fixed step 6 side via the levers 8a, 8b, links 7a, 7b, etc. that transmit the power of the drive section 10. The auxiliary step 4 will be swung. Also, even after the start of storage, stage (4)
), it is determined again whether the safety switch 12 is ON or OFF.

That is, when the passenger's legs 13 are located on the auxiliary step 4, or when the passenger jumps on or jumps off the auxiliary step 4 during the retraction operation, the fixed step 6 and the auxiliary step However, it is necessary to stop the retracting operation of the auxiliary step 4 to prevent this possibility. Therefore, when the safety switch 12 is turned ON in step (4), the process moves to step (5), and the retracting operation in the auxiliary step 4 is temporarily stopped.

After this, in step (6), it is determined again whether the safety switch 12 is ON or OFF, and if it is ON, the process returns to step (6) again, and the determination is repeated until it is OFF. If it becomes OFF, a timer in the control device is used to temporarily hold the storage for a certain period of time (for example, 2 seconds in this embodiment) in step (7), and then resume storage in step (8). Then, the storing operation of auxiliary step 4 is started again.

Furthermore, when the retraction is resumed in step (8) or the safety switch 12 is turned off in step (4), the auxiliary step 4 is moved to the specified retraction position B,
Whether it has moved is determined by determining the rotational torque by the torque limiter in step (9), and if it is still before the storage position B shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 2, the process returns to step (4). If the torque limiter determines that the auxiliary step 4 has reached the storage position B, the process moves to step (10), where the drive unit 10 is stopped, the movement of the auxiliary step 4 is stopped, and step (10) is stopped.・Storage ends.

As described above, in this embodiment, the safety circuit 21 determines whether the safety switch 12 is ON or OFF in step (2) and prevents the start of retraction, and the Turn on safety switch 12
, safety circuit 2 in which the storage operation is stopped when OFF is determined.
2, so that double safety can be achieved.

Note that the means for determining whether the storage position B has been reached is not limited to the torque limiter, but may be other well-known sensors.

[0023]

According to the auxiliary step safety device of the present invention, a touch sensor is attached to the vehicle body, and the presence or absence of a passenger is determined by this touch sensor, and the retracting operation of the auxiliary step is stopped. Even if the retraction switch is accidentally turned on while a passenger is riding on the auxiliary step, the auxiliary step will not start moving and the passenger will not lose balance and become dangerous. In addition, since the touch sensor can detect the presence or absence of passengers even during the retraction operation, it is possible to stop the retraction operation even after the retraction operation has started. I was able to stop even when I was driving, and there was no need to worry about my legs getting caught.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a bus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a bus entrance according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a bus entrance and exit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a main part of a side surface of a bus entrance according to an embodiment of the present invention, and is a diagram illustrating a state in which the auxiliary step has moved and the leg is in contact with the safety switch.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Bus 3 Entrance/exit 4 Auxiliary step 6 Fixed step 7a, 7b Link 8a, 8b lever 9 Rod 10 Drive part 12 Safety switch 13 Legs 21, 22 Safety circuit A　Using position B Storage position

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A safety device for an auxiliary step that is retractably attached to a vehicle and is positioned between the vehicle body and the road surface during use to safely operate an auxiliary step that assists getting on and off the vehicle, the auxiliary step comprising: A touch sensor attached to the vehicle body at a position where the leg located above can come into contact with the auxiliary step when retracting the auxiliary step detects the leg on the auxiliary step, and temporarily stops the retracting operation of the auxiliary step. An auxiliary step safety device characterized by: