Patent Application
20230022891
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The disclosure relates to fall prevention assemblies and more particularly pertains to a new fall prevention assembly for preventing falls and providing balance assistance. The present invention discloses a fall prevention assembly comprising a network of rails extending along routes in a structure routinely traversed by a user. A harness worn by user is tethered to a trolley that is engaged to the rails. The tether provides balance assistance and prevents the user from falling.
The prior art relates to fall prevention assemblies. The prior art comprises rail and trolley systems designed to support some or all of the weight of a user, such as in gait training, transferring patients, and transferring disabled individuals. What is lacking in the prior art is a fall prevention assembly comprising a network of rails extending along routes in a structure routinely traversed by a user and including harness worn by user that includes sensors to detect improper attachment of the harness to the user. The harness is tethered to a trolley that is engaged to the rails. The tether provides balance assistance and prevents the user from falling.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a plurality of rails and a harness. The rails are configured to be mountable to a ceiling of a structure and are selectively interconnectable so that respective rails are configurable to extend along an associated route in the structure that is routinely traversed by a user. A trolley is rollably engaged to the plurality of rails. The harness is configured to be selectively donned by the user so that the harness is removably engaged to the user. A tether is engaged to and extends between the harness and the trolley. The tether is selectively length adjustable so as to extend substantially linearly between the harness and the trolley with the user standing substantially upright and beneath the trolley. The tether thus is configured to improve balance of the user and to prevent falling of the user.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
A plurality of rods 22 is engaged to and extends from an upper face 24 of the plurality of rails 12. Each rod 22 is configured to engage a respective structural element 26 of the ceiling 14, such as a joist, so that the plurality of rods 22 engages the plurality of rails 12 to the ceiling 14.
Each of a plurality of first fasteners 28 is engaged to a first end 30 of a respective rod 22. A second end 32 of the respective rod 22 is threaded and thus is screwable into a hole positioned in a respective structural element 26 to engage the respective rod 22 to the respective structural element 26. A plurality of second fasteners 34 is engaged to the upper face 24 of the plurality of rails 12. Each second fastener 34 is engaged to a respective first fastener 28 so that a respective rod 22 is engaged to the second fastener 34.
Each of a plurality of third fasteners 36 is configured to be mountable to a respective structural element 26 of the ceiling 14 so that each rod 22 is bracketed by a set of third fasteners 36. The set of third fasteners 36 may comprise four third fasteners 36, as shown in
A trolley 42 is rollably engaged to the plurality of rails 12. The trolley 42 may be four wheeled, as shown in
A length adjustment module 48 is engaged to the trolley 42 and is operationally engaged to the tether 46. The length adjustment module 48 is positioned to selectively adjust a length 50 of the tether 46. A receiver 52 is operationally engaged to the length adjustment module 48. As shown in
The harness 44 comprises a plurality of straps 56 and a plurality of buckles 58. The buckles 58 are engaged singly to the straps 56 with each buckle 58 positioned to fixedly position an associated strap 56 in a looped configuration around the user. As shown in
Each of a plurality of sensors 60 is engaged to a respective buckle 58. The sensor 60 is configured to detect proper buckling of the respective buckle, which may be accomplished by positional sensing, proximity sensing, contact sensing, and the like. Each of a plurality of transmitters 62 is operationally engaged to a respective sensor 60.
A controller 64 is engaged to the harness 44. The controller 64 comprises a housing 66, which defines an interior space 68. A microprocessor 70, a battery 72, and a transceiver 74 are engaged to the housing 66 and are positioned in the interior space 68. A speaker 76 and a switch 78 are engaged to the housing 66. The microprocessor 70 is operationally engaged to the battery 72, the transceiver 74, the speaker 76, and the switch 78 so that the controller 64 is positioned for wireless communication with the plurality of sensors 60 and the length adjustment module 48. The controller 64 also is positioned to broadcast an audible alert, via the speaker 76, upon receipt of a signal from a respective transmitter 62 corresponding to improper buckling of an associated buckle 58. The switch 78 is configured to be switched to signal the microprocessor 70 to actuate the transceiver 74 to selectively communicate a raise command or a lower command to the length adjustment module 48 to shorten or to lengthen the tether 46, respectively. The switch 78 may comprise an Up button 80 and a Down button 82, as shown in
In use, the plurality of rails 12 is affixed to the ceiling 14 so as to track routes in the structure 16 commonly traversed by the user, such as routes linking a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and the like. With the trolley 42 engaged to the plurality of rails 12 and the user donning a harness 44 engaged to the winch 54 by the tether 46, the user can move about the structure 16 without fear of falling and with improved balance provided by the tether 46.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
