CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the United States national phase of International Application No. PCT/ES2017/070661 filed Oct. 11, 2017, and claims priority to Spanish Patent Application No. P201631318 filed Oct. 11, 2016, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a transport device, such as a baby carriage, a wheelchair, a stretcher, or any device for transporting the sick or disabled, or small children, or any type of product that requires balanced transport. This device has active or passive stabilizing elements, although preferably the stabilizing elements are active.

The disclosure also relates to an example of an active stabilizer that is applicable to the device.

Babies and small children are often transported in carriages or strollers. These means of transport have a series of wheels (3 or 4), a platform that is horizontal in carriages and a seat that is more or less tilted in baby strollers.

Upon encountering uneven surfaces in the form of steeply inclined ramps or stairs, the father or mother must manually correct the position of the baby or child so that the same is not uncomfortable or at risk of falling. This generally implies exerting an upward or downward force on the handle of the carriage or stroller so that the same remains only over the front or rear wheels, respectively.

These types of movements are complicated due to the heavy weight that must be lifted and to the risk of the baby or child falling or the carriage overturning. Moreover, in strollers with three wheels it may be impossible to carry out these movements in a certain direction, which implies that the carriage must be rotated to pull the child backwards.

Furthermore there is a series of adaptable baby carriages that can be used both as a carriage and as a stroller. These carriages have a horizontal rotational shaft to vary the tilt of the basket or chair, but it is not practical to adjust the same every time there is a change in the slope.

Wheelchairs have a similar problem, moreover due to the fact that they are not adjustable and, furthermore, the person being transported is considerably heavier than a child. In the case of ambulance stretchers, the risk is lower, since the person being transported is lying down, but in turn, there could be drips or other medical equipment that must not fall from the stretcher.

In transporting products such as food dishes in a hospital or restaurant, or moving products in a factory, it may be necessary to stabilize the platform or upper container in order to prevent liquids from coming out of the upper opening.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The disclosure consists of a transport device, for example, a baby carriage, a wheelchair or a stretcher, according to the claims that solve in the different embodiments thereof the problems of the state of the art.

The transport device of the disclosure is of the type that has a structure with wheels, joined by a shaft to a platform or chassis that supports the basket, mat or seat. It further comprises an automatic tilt stabilizer for the platform or chassis, which can be active or passive.

The platform or chassis can also support at least a tray (for example in the case of a carriage for trays of a hospital, restaurant, factory, etc.).

As an example of a passive stabilizer, it is preferable to have a counterweight on a level below the shaft, joined by one or more braces to the platform or chassis. If several braces are distributed on both sides of the shaft, in order to facilitate the movement in both directions, they will preferably be joined to the platform or chassis by joints and the braces of one side will be telescopic.

Likewise, it is possible to make the counterweight of an adjustable mass in order to adjust the total weight of the carriage.

The preferred active stabilizer, which also forms a concept of the disclosure, is formed from at least a tilt sensor and a motor activated by a microcontroller that corrects the inclination of the platform or chassis based on the signal from the tilt sensor. If the same is adjustable, it will be possible to adjust the inclination that will be stabilized.

The microcontroller is configured to act on the motor to correct the inclination of the platform or chassis so that said platform or chassis returns to a predefined inclination.

Preferably, the microcontroller is programmable by means of a first control (preferably situated on the handle of the transport device), such that it allows a specific inclination of the platform or chassis to be predefined (for example, with respect to the horizontal).

Preferably, the motor will correct the inclination of the platform or chassis by means of a crankshaft-rod mechanism.

Optionally, the microcontroller comprises a filter for the tilt sensor signal.

According to a possible embodiment, the microcontroller is configured to act on the motor only if a predetermined inclination is exceeded during the predetermined time interval.

According to an additional aspect of the disclosure, the microcontroller is configured to send, by means of a second control (preferably situated on the handle of the transport device) instructions to the motor, independently from the signals received from the tilt sensor, to introduce a rocking motion of the platform or chassis of the transport device.

According to a possible embodiment of the transport device, the same has the option of deactivating the stabilizer and fastening or locking the platform or chassis with a specific inclination angle (for example, with respect to the horizontal), such that once the stabilizer is deactivated, the platform or chassis will no longer level itself during occasional uneven surfaces of the terrain.

