Hand Cart

A hand cart comprising:

• a cart body;
• a grip member coupled to the cart body and constructed to be gripped by a user during walking;
• a wheel section for moving the cart body in conformity with walking of the user;
• a battery for supplying electric power;
• a wheel driving section for driving the wheel section by electric power from the battery;
• a grip sensor for detecting a contact of the user with the grip member,
• a rotational angle sensor for detecting a rotational angle of the wheel section;
• an inclination angle sensor for detecting an inclination angle of the cart body;
• a torque sensor for detecting a torque acting on the wheel driving section;
• and
• a control section for controlling the wheel driving section,
• wherein the control section is operable, based on the rotational angle of the wheel section detected by the rotational angle sensor, to calculate a movement distance and a traveling direction of the cart body, and, according to the traveling direction and the inclination angle of the cart body, to execute an assist control of causing the wheel driving section to generate a driving torque for producing an assist force in the traveling direction or a braking torque for producing a braking force in a direction opposite to the traveling direction, and
• wherein the control section is operable, based on the movement distance and the inclination angle of the cart body, to calculate an angular change rate of the inclination angle per unit movement distance of the cart body, and, when the grip sensor detects the contact with the grip member, and the angular change rate is equal to or less than a given threshold, to execute the assist control.