Patent Application
20220061607
The present application relates to grab bars, such as grab bars that assist the disabled, elderly, and those with other physical considerations when moving around an indoor space, such as while transferring from a toilet seat to a wheel chair, from a wheel chair to a shower seat, and/or from a prone to standing position in a bathtub.
Typically, grab bars are provided as linear bars that comply with industry standards, which require that a grab bar be a specific diameter (e.g., 1.5 inches), must be continuous over its length, and must return to the wall to alleviate garment entanglement with bar ends. The most common standard-compliant grab bars—42 inch, 36 inch, and 24 inch commercial and institutional, linear grab bars—have been utilized for decades and are fabricated in accordance with national guidelines. An example standardized, linear grab bar 10 is shown in
As can be seen, grab bar 10 extends from a first wall mount 11 to a second wall mount 12. A first curved section 13 extends from the first wall mount 11 and turns through a radius of approximately 90 degrees. Likewise, a second curved section 14 extends from the second wall mount 12 and turns through a radius of approximately 90 degrees. Curved sections 13 and 14 are connected by a linear grab section 15. As is shown in
Unfortunately, standard-compliant linear bars, such as grab bar 10 are often unsuitable or suboptimal for the users that need them. For example, many people with disabilities can neither form a fist nor grasp the diameter of a standard-compliant grab bar; instead, many of these users must try to place their forearm along the length of the bar during a transfer. However, as is shown in
Still further, and now turning to
As is shown, in skewed situations (e.g., arm position P2), a user will need to bend his/her wrist to grip the bar 10 and support themselves during a transfer (e.g., while moving from a sitting or prone position into a standing position or into a wheelchair) so that a longitudinal hand axis A2 is angled at an acute angle θ1 with respect to an arm axis A3. Acute wrist angles (e.g., angle θ1 created by arm position P2) leads to hand slippage and/or requires the bar user to have sufficient upper body strength to pull upright from a sitting or prone position. To try to address this, some grab bars have swing away devices, but swing away devices are prone to failure and can create dangerous pinch points. Moreover, swing away devices do not conform to the regulatory standards.
In view of the foregoing, enhanced grab bars are desired.
The grab bar presented herein enhances existing grab bars to meet the specific and neglected needs of the disabled, elderly, and other communities needing a grab bar, while adhering to industry standards. That is, the grab bar presented herein may be safer and easier to use than known grab bars and may be suitable for institutions that must comply with industry standards.
In one form, the grab bar presented herein includes an undulating grab portion. The undulating portion includes an outwardly angled section and an inwardly angled section that are connected by a parallel section (i.e., a “plateau section”). At one end, the grab portion includes a first mounting portion that can be connected (e.g., mounted) to a wall or any other fixed surface. At its other end, the grab portion includes a second mounting portion that can be connected (e.g., mounted) to a wall or any other fixed surface. The first end may be included on or extend from the outwardly angled section and the second end may be included on or extend from the inwardly angled section.
In some instances, the plateau section is the only portion of the grab bar that extends parallel to the wall or other fixed surface(s) on which the grab bar is mounted. Alternatively, the plateau section may include one or more inwardly extending subportions. Each inwardly extending subportion may include an inwardly angled subsection, an outwardly angled subsection, and a parallel subsection. In some instances, an inwardly angled subsection may be parallel to the inwardly angled section (e.g., the section extending from the first end), the outwardly angled subsection may be parallel to the outwardly angled section (e.g., the section extending from the second end), and/or the parallel subsection may be parallel to the plateau section. Alternatively, the subsections may extend at different angles relative to the first outwardly extending section and first inwardly extending section of the grab bar and/or relative to other subportions. Put another way, overall, the grab bar may have a single plateau or may define multiple plateaus, of identical or differing sizes and shapes.
In any case, the grab bar may have a constant diameter along a length of the bar. Moreover, the grab bar presented herein may be solid and may not include any movable pieces so that the grab bar does not define any pinch points. Still further, in at least some instances, the grab bar may not define any acute angles and/or tight spaces that might trap a user's extremities.
To complete the description and in order to provide for a better understanding of the present invention, a set of drawings is provided. The drawings form an integral part of the description and illustrate an embodiment of the present invention, which should not be interpreted as restricting the scope of the invention, but just as an example of how the invention can be carried out. The drawings comprise the following figures:
Like reference numerals have been used to identify like elements throughout this disclosure.
Overall, the grab bar presented herein includes a standard-compliant undulating grab portion or section. The undulations (or non-linear extension) enable a user to avoid skewed transfers in which the user grasps a grab bar with a weakened arm/grip position (e.g., with an acute wrist angle created by angling of a hand with respect to the lower arm). Moreover, the undulations or angles in the grab portion/section may create a wider resting contact area for parallel transfers, at least as compared to grab bars with linear grab sections, which provide a resting contact area defined by a diameter of a linear grab section. This combination of features may be particularly advantageous for disabled people, elderly people, or any other people with weakened muscular systems. Moreover, in at least some embodiments, the grab bar presented herein is static (i.e., stationary) once installed, has a constant diameter, and does not create pinch points. Thus, the grab bar presented herein may be fully standard-compliant.
Now turning to
Generally, the first angled section 110 is angled towards the second angled section 120; however, for the purposes of this application, the first angled section 110 may be referred to as inwardly angled section 110 and the second angled section 120 may be referred to as the outwardly angled section 120. “Outwardly” indicates that the section extends at least partially away from a fixed surface, such as a wall, and “inwardly” indicates the section extends back towards a fixed surface (the same fixed surface or another fixed surface). Thus, technically, sections 110 and 120 could each be described as inwardly or outwardly extending, depending on perspective, but the description of one of section 110 and 120 as inwardly or outwardly should be paired with an opposite description of the other one of section 110 and 120. Consequently, angled sections 110 and 120 can connect, directly or indirectly, the one or more plateau sections 130 to one or more fixed surfaces so that both ends of the undulating grab portion 102 can be mounted on a fixed surface and prevent potential garment entanglement issues, per industry standards.
Regardless of the terminology used to describe sections 110 and 120, section 110 may define or include a first end of the undulating grab portion 102. Similarly, section 120 may define or include a first end of the undulating grab portion 102. For example, sections 110 and 120 may define the ends of undulating grab portion 102 or may be coupled to additional pieces or parts that define the ends of undulating grab portion 102. Additionally or alternatively, first mounting portion 112 may be integrally formed with or coupled to a distal end of first angled section 110 and/or second mounting portion 122 may be integrally formed with or coupled to a distal end of second angled section 120. In fact, in some embodiments, mounting portions 112 and 122 may define the distal ends of undulating grab portion 102.
Still referring to
Still further, although not show, in some embodiments, undulating grab portion 102 need not include an inwardly extending subportion 150 and can include a single plateau section 130 that extends between the first angled section 110 and the second angled section 120. That is, the undulating grab portion 102 may be configured so that the a plateau section 130 is the only section/portion of the undulating grab portion 102 that extends parallel to a fixed surface, such as wall W of
That all said, when the undulating grab portion 102 includes a inwardly extending subportion 150, subsections 152, 154, and 156 of the inwardly extending subportion 150 may have any desired shape and size. For example, in the depicted embodiment, the outwardly angled subsection 154 is the same length as and substantially mirrors the inwardly angled subsection 156, while the parallel subsection 152 extends therebetween. Additionally, in the depicted embodiment, the outwardly angled subsection 154 extends substantially parallel to the second angled section 120, the inwardly angled subsection 156 extends substantially parallel to the first angled section 110, and the parallel subsection 152 extends substantially parallel to plateau subsection 1301 and plateau subsection 1302. However, in other embodiments, a subset of these relationships may hold true, or none of these relationships may hold true.
That is, some or none of subsections 152, 154, and 156 may be parallel to sections or other subsections of undulating grab portion 102. For example, the inwardly angled subsection 156 and the outwardly angled subsection 154 may extend at different angles than the inwardly angled section 110 and the outwardly angled section 120, respectively. Likewise, outwardly subsection 154 and inwardly angled subsection 156 may have varied dimensions relative to each other (e.g., different lengths).
Still referring to
Still further, the first mounting portion 112 and the second mounting portion 122 may fixedly couple both ends of the undulating grab portion 102 to one or more fixed surfaces (e.g., a single wall, such as wall W of
In the depicted embodiments, every section and subsection of the undulating grab portion 102 (e.g., sections/subsections 110, 1301, 154, 152, 156, 1302, and 120) may span a length of approximately 6 inches, as measured along its central longitudinal axis. Collectively, these measurements provide exterior linear sections spanning approximately six inches at sections/subsections 110, 1301, 1302, and 120, and exterior linear sections spanning approximately three inches at subsections 154, 152, and 156. As is described below, these linear portions of the undulating grab portion 102 may provide grip points, but are short enough to create wide resting contact areas atop the undulating grab portion 102. Additionally, with these dimensions, a gap G of approximately 0.875 inches may be disposed between subsection 152 and a wall W to which the undulating grab portion 102 is mounted, which avoids creating a pinch point. Finally, with these dimensions, the grab bar 100 has an overall length, as measured from a center of first mounting portion 112 to a center of second mounting portion 122, in a range of approximately 20-29 inches, such as approximately 24 inches or approximately 29 inches. However, all of the aforementioned dimensions are examples and one or more of these dimensions may vary in different embodiments.
Still referring to
These properties of the resting contact area CA (e.g., enlarged width W3) allow those who are unable to forcefully grasp a grab bar to safely rely upon forearm use for lift and transfer. Moreover, since the grab bar 100 provides engages an arm A disposed in a parallel transfer position GP1 at points of contact that extend in multiple directions (e.g., along the length of the arm and along the width of the arm), the grab bar 100 prevents or at least discourages rotation of the arm around the grab bar 100, reducing the risk of injury. That is, the resting contact area CA allows for the bridging of the forearm across a wider footprint (see width W3) and discourages or prevents a user's arm A from rotating towards or away from a fixed surface (e.g., wall W) on which the bar 100 is mounted (and off the bar). In some instances, the width W3 of resting contact area CA may be at least 4.25 inches, without including rounded edges (see
By comparison, conventional grab bars, such as bar 10 of
Still further, and now turning to
More specifically, as is shown in
Notably, in
Now referring to
A vertical orientation O2, as illustrated in
Furthermore, transferring from a seated position in a tub or shower seat (disposed in shower/bathtub 352) to the standing position, the disabled/elderly are typically reliant upon a grab bar that has both a horizontal and vertical leg—grabbing the vertical offers no support due to hand slippage, and grasping the horizontal bar is only beneficial if the user is directly under the bar (e.g., not in a skewed position). The grab bar presented herein allows a user to utilize a single grab bar from any position in the shower or tub and the grab bar presented will minimize slippage due to its undulations.
Now turning to
Put simply, in grab bar 400, the inwardly extending subportion 150 is duplicated and the two subportions are connected by a third plateau portion. More specifically, the first inwardly extending subportion 450 includes an inwardly angled subsection 456, an outwardly angled subsection 454, and a parallel subsection 452. Likewise, the second inwardly extending subportion 460 includes an inwardly angled subsection 466, an outwardly angled subsection 464, and a parallel subsection 462. The first inwardly extending subportion 450 is coupled to the first angled section 110 and the second inwardly extending subportion 460 is coupled to the second angled section 120. Then, the first inwardly extending subportion 450 is coupled to the second inwardly extending subportion 460 via a third plateau subportion 1303.
However, grab bar 400 is merely an example of an alternative embodiment of grab bar 100 and other embodiments may have any number of subsections that create any number of plateau sections. For example, the grab bar presented herein might have no subsections (only including an outwardly angled section, an inwardly angled section, and a plateau section) or two or more subsections. If the grab bar includes two or more subsections, the subsections may be directly connected to each other or separated from each other by a plateau section.
Although the grab bar presented herein has been illustrated and described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since it will be apparent that various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the scope of the inventions and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. For example, the grab bar presented herein can include any number or combination undulations, of any dimensions. Additionally or alternatively, the grab bar presented herein might be fabricated with a bend or turn to allow corner installation or any other shape to allow installation along non-straight walls. Moreover, various features from one of the embodiments may be incorporated into another of the embodiments. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the disclosure as set forth in the following claims.
It is also to be understood that the grab bar described herein, or portions thereof may be fabricated from any suitable material or combination of materials, such as plastic, foamed plastic, wood, cardboard, pressed paper, metal, supple natural or synthetic materials including, but not limited to, cotton, elastomers, polyester, plastic, rubber, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof. Suitable plastics may include high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), or the like. Suitable foamed plastics may include expanded or extruded polystyrene, expanded or extruded polypropylene, EVA foam, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof. That said, it may be preferable to manufacture the grab bar presented herein from materials that satisfy industry standards.
Finally, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. For example, it is to be understood that terms such as “left,” “right,” “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “rear,” “side,” “height,” “length,” “width,” “upper,” “lower,” “interior,” “exterior,” “inner,” “outer” and the like as may be used herein, merely describe points of reference and do not limit the present invention to any particular orientation or configuration. Further, the term “exemplary” is used herein to describe an example or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as exemplary is not to be construed as a preferred or advantageous embodiment, but rather as one example or illustration of a possible embodiment of the invention.
Similarly, when used herein, the term “comprises” and its derivations (such as “comprising”, etc.) should not be understood in an excluding sense, that is, these terms should not be interpreted as excluding the possibility that what is described and defined may include further elements, steps, etc. Meanwhile, when used herein, the term “approximately” and terms of its family (such as “approximate,” etc.) should be understood as indicating values very near to those which accompany the aforementioned term. That is to say, a deviation within reasonable limits from an exact value should be accepted, because a skilled person in the art will understand that such a deviation from the values indicated is inevitable due to measurement inaccuracies, etc. The same applies to the terms “about” and “around” and “substantially.”
This application claims priority to and is based on U.S. Patent Application No. 63/071,153, filed Aug. 27, 2020, entitled “Ergonomic Grab Bar,” the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63071153 | Aug 2020 | US |
