Reclinable wheelchair

Abstract

A reclinable wheelchair which allows a user seated therein to adjust the inclination angle of a seat back rest by himself, and is foldable in the width direction. The reclinable wheelchair comprises a frame foldable in the width direction, a seat assembly arranged in the frame, a seat back rest arranged on a back side of the seat assembly of the frame for pivotal movements between an upright position and an inclined position, actuators for driving the seat back rest and capable of holding the seat back rest at an arbitrary position between the upright position and the inclined position, a reclining lever arranged at a position which allows the user to manipulate, for manipulating the actuators, and a head rest attached to the frame. The head rest is comprised of a head rest body, and an attachment coupled to the left and right ends of the frame and folded up on the width direction as the frame is folded.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A reclinable wheelchair comprising: 
 a frame foldable in a width direction;    a seat assembly arranged in said frame for a user to sit in;    a seat back rest arranged on a back side of said seat assembly of said frame for pivotal movements about a horizontal axis in a width direction between an upright position at which said reclinable wheelchair is in an upright posture and an inclined position at which said reclinable wheelchair is inclined obliquely upward to the back;    a seat back rest driving device for driving said seat back rest between said upright position and said inclined position, said driving device capable of holding said seat back rest at an arbitrary position between said upright position and said inclined position;    manipulating means arranged at a position which allows the user to manipulate said manipulating means, for manipulating said seat back rest driving device; and    a head rest attached to said frame, said head rest including a head rest body, and a foldable mechanism coupled to a left and a right end of said frame and foldable in the width direction as said frame is folded.    
     
     
         2 . A reclinable wheelchair according to  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 an arm rest arranged on at least one of left and right sides of said seat assembly, said arm rest extending to the depth direction; and    an arm rest interlock mechanism for moving said arm rest in at least one of the depth direction and vertical direction associated with a pivotal movement of said seat back rest.    
     
     
         3 . A reclinable wheelchair according to  claim 1  or  2 , wherein said seat back rest driving device includes: 
 a pair of left and right actuators coupled to a left and a right end of said seat back rest, respectively, for driving said seat back rest when said manipulating means is manipulated, and for holding said seat back rest when said manipulating means is not manipulated;  
 a pair of control cables each having one end connected to one of said pair of actuators for controlling said pair of actuators; and  
 a connector connected to the other ends of said pair of control cables and responsive to a manipulation by said manipulating means on said connector to actuate said pair of actuators at the same timing through said pair of control cables, and  
 said manipulating means includes a single manipulating member for manipulating said connector.