Patent Application
20180042791
The present invention relates to equipment for raising an associated lying person, and a corresponding method and use of said equipment.
The invention is based on the difficulty related to raise an elderly person or a person with reduced mobility that has fallen on a floor. In particular it concerns elderly person or a person with reduced mobility and do not have sufficient muscles to rise to their feet by their own, or where it will cause consequential damages if the person is trying to get up without assistance. Here it concerns people who are vigorous, and for unknown reasons have a fall or stumble across a piece of furniture or something else. Persons falling over due to a heart attack are another matter. Due to inadequate muscles and resilience of the body, the person will appear with a “dead weight”, and it will be difficult even for the nursing staff to raise the person.
Some persons whom, e.g., due to a fall, end up lying on a supporting surface cannot and/or should not get up without assistance. This may be elderly persons or persons with reduced mobility and whom do not have sufficient muscles to rise to their feet by their own, or where it will cause consequential damages if the person is trying to get up without assistance. Such persons be difficult or physically challenging for assisting persons, such as nursing staff, to raise.
Equipment such as lifts for handling of physically weakened persons is known. It can be crane-like lifts running on wheels or ceiling lifts, where the lift is running on a rail fixed in the ceiling or to a special frame. However, these lifts are not particularly practicable to raise a person who has fallen on the floor.
It may be seen as an object of the present invention to provide an equipment that enables raising an associated lying person, wherein the equipment can be moved without having to lift heavy parts, wherein the equipment can be operated and used for raising an associated lying person without having to lift the associated lying person or heavy parts of the associated lying person, wherein the equipment is relatively compact, and/or relatively simple.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an alternative to the prior art.
Thus, the above-described object and several other objects are intended to be obtained in a first aspect of the invention by providing an equipment for raising of an associated lying person, such as the associated lying person being a person lying on the back, the equipment comprising, such as comprising when in use:
It may in particular be seen as an advantage of the present invention, that it provides an equipment, which enables raising a person, such as raising a person by rotation of the secondary leg. Thus, the equipment may facilitate, that an assisting person can place the equipment at least partially below (where below is understood with reference to gravity as is common in the art) the associated lying person, such as below the back and thighs of the associated lying person, without having to displace the bottom of the associated lying person, and then subsequently raise the associated lying person by rotation of the secondary leg. The rotation may be carried out manually, e.g., via a gear unit, or in a motorized manner. Thus, the assisting person need not apply a force corresponding to a force required to vertically displace the bottom of the associated lying person, let alone apply a force corresponding to the weight of the associated lying person. The raising can optionally be carried out merely by the rotation of the secondary leg.
It may thus be understood, that said placement may be carried out without substantial displacement, such as any displacement, of the buttocks of the associated lying person in a vertical direction, such as without any displacement of the buttocks of the associated lying person. This is advantageous, since this enables that an assisting person need not lift the pelvic region, which region may typically be a relatively heavy portion of the associated lying person.
In other words, the equipment facilitates a process of raising the associated lying person, which process involves placing the equipment at least partially below the associated lying person but without lifting the bottom of said person from the supporting surface, and then subsequently raising the associated lying person by rotation of the secondary leg, where said rotation may relatively easily be carried out in a geared or motorized manner.
It may be seen as an advantage of the present invention that it enables moving the equipment to a position under the associated person (without moving the bottom of the associated person), so as to dispense with the need to move the associated person onto equipment for raising the associated person. In an embodiment, this may be realized by assembling the equipment around the person. In another embodiment, this may be realized by reconfiguring different parts of the equipment after placing at least a part of the equipment below the associated person.
By ‘raising the associated lying person’ may be understood that the associated lying person is raised from a lying configuration to a sitting configuration, such as wherein the bottom is displaced vertically in an upwards direction and wherein an angle between the back and a vertical axis is decreased.
‘Bottom’ of the associated lying person is understood as is common in the art, and may be specified to be the posterior of the pelvic region.
The associated lying person may be a normal person, such as a normal adult person, such a person with all limbs intact and weighing 75 kg and being 175 cm.
By ‘supporting surface’ may in general be understood the surface upon which the associated lying person is lying when being in an initial lying position (i.e., before being raised). The supporting surface may for example be a floor when indoors or the ground when outdoors.
When referring to ‘associated lying person’ it is understood that this person is initially—such as before commencing raising—lying down, but is subsequently raised. It is also understood, that reference is made to the ‘associated lying person’, although this person may not be lying down during or subsequent to raising.
When referring to ‘directions’ of the primary leg, secondary leg and backrest, it is generally understood to be directions in a plane being orthogonal to the rotation axis.
Each of the ‘primary leg’ and the ‘secondary leg’ may comprise one or more, such as two, primary respectively secondary sub-legs. For example a primary and/or secondary sub-leg on each side of the equipment, said sub-legs being displaced along the rotation axis, such as enabling having a sub-leg on both a left and right side of the associated lying person.
When referring to ‘angle’ between two entities, such as between two directions or between two planes or between a plane and a direction (such as a vector), it is to be understood, that said angle is the smallest angle between said entities.
In an embodiment, the equipment is arranged so that it enables that, while the bottom of the associated lying person is in contact with the supporting surface:
A possible advantage of placing both backrest and seat below the associated lying person may be, that it enables supporting the associated lying person on both sides of the center of gravity of the associated lying person. Another advantage may be that it enables not only lifting the associated lying person, but also changing the configuration from a lying (straight) configuration to a sitting configuration during said raising.
In an embodiment, the equipment is arranged so that there is an absence of material, such as a through-going, between the seat and the backrest, such as so that a bottom of the associated lying person can be in contact with the supporting surface when
A possible advantage of having this absence of material, which may be through-going hole or an indentation (such as an indentation when observed from a position above the equipment when the equipment is in a first configuration), may be that this absence of material enables that no material of the equipment needs to be placed between the bottom of the associated lying person when the equipment is brought in a first configuration and a position below the associated lying person. More specifically, the absence of material enables that the equipment can be brought in a first configuration and a position below the associated lying person—ready for raising the associated lying person by rotation of the secondary leg—while a virtual line may be drawn from the pelvic region, such as from a point between the hip-joints, and down to the supporting surface along a vertical line without intersecting or touching any material of the equipment.
In an embodiment, an angle between the secondary direction and the tertiary direction increases during said rotation. An advantage of this may be that it enables erecting the back of the associated lying person.
In an embodiment, Equipment for raising of an associated lying person according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a largest distance d12 between
A possible advantage of having d12 being larger than d2 is that it enables that a distance between points of interaction with a supporting surface is relatively large compared with a length of the secondary leg. Thus, a relatively compact secondary leg, which may facilitate in yielding a relatively light and/or compact equipment, and still support a relatively stable equipment due to the relatively large distance between supporting points. For example, the equipment may be arranged so that the primary and secondary legs do not necessarily cross each other, such as do not necessarily cross each other during movement from the first configuration to the second configuration. For example, the equipment may be arranged so that the secondary leg is attached to the seat via a secondary joint, and the primary leg is attached to the seat via a primary joint, and
By opposite direction, may in general be understood ‘more than 90 degrees’.
In an embodiment, the secondary leg is coupled to the seat via a pivot joint at one end of the secondary leg, such as an upper end of the secondary leg, and wherein the rotation axis is coincident with the pivot joint. It may thus be understood, that the rotation axis is the axis of the pivot joint, which couples the rigid secondary leg to the seat.
In an embodiment, the rotation axis is at one end of the secondary leg (5), such as at the end nearest the seat (1), and wherein a distance d2′ between
An advantage of this may be that it enables that a large portion (such as the length d2) of the length of the secondary leg (such as the total length d2+d2′) is utilized on the portion between the rotation axis and the end point P, so that a relatively short leg still provides a relatively large distance between the rotation axis and a point P at the end of the leg. In other words, no or little length is wasted on the opposite side of the rotation axis.
In an embodiment, one or more parts of the equipment, such as one or more or all of the primary leg (4), the secondary leg (5) and the backrest (2), are arranged for disconnection and re-connection to another part of the equipment, such as the seat (1), in a reversible manner. A possible advantage of having an equipment which may be reversibly assembled and disassembled, may be that it enables transporting the equipment without necessitating lifting at once the entire weight of the equipment, since different parts of equipment can be taken one by one. Another possible advantage may be that the equipment may be arranged more compactly during transport when disassembled. It may thus be understood, that by arranging the so that it may be reversibly assembled and disassembled, a solution is provided to the problem of reducing the maximum weight which has to be lifted when the equipment is to be moved, such as carried, from one place to another. Said disconnection and/or re-connection may be performed by an associated assisting person within a limited amount of time, such as within 10 minutes, such as within 5 minutes, such as within 2 minutes, such as within 1 minute.
In a further embodiment, said disconnection and re-connection may be carried out by an associated assisting person without using tools. A possible advantage of this may be, that it enables relatively easily assembling and dissembling the equipment. By ‘without using tools’ is understood, that the disconnection and re-connection can be carried out with the bare hands, such as with the bare hands of a normal person. It may furthermore be understood, that said disconnection and re-connection, such as the equipment may be disconnected and/or reconnected by an associated assisting person without using tools, within a limited amount of time, such as within 15 minutes, such as within 12 minutes, such as within 10 minutes, such as within 8 minutes, such as within 6 minutes, such as within 5 minutes, such as within 3 minutes such as within 2 minutes, such as within 1 minute.
In a further embodiment, said (reversible) disconnection and re-connection is facilitated by a joint comprising
In a further embodiment, different parts of the equipment are kept together by a transition fit, such as a reversible friction fit. By a ‘transition fit’ is understood a fit where the parts to be held together are held securely, yet not so securely that it cannot be disassembled, such as disassembled without tools, such as disassembled by the hands a human, such as a normal person.
In a further embodiment, different parts of the equipment are kept together by a mechanical locking member, such as one or more or all of:
It may be understood, that any of the mechanical locking members may serve to retain the parts together, but also that any of the mechanical locking members may be overcome or removed without tools, such as by the hands of a human, such as a normal person.
In an embodiment, there is presented an equipment, which may be disassembled into separate parts, wherein each separate part is weighing less than 20 kg, such as less than 18 kg, such as less than 15 kg. In an embodiment, there is presented an equipment, which may be disassembled into separate parts, wherein each separate part is weighing less than 12 kg, such as less than 11 kg, such as less than 10 kg, such as less than 9 kg, such as less than 7 kg. A possible advantage of relatively low weight, may be that less weight has to be lifted when moving the equipment. The relatively low weight of the separate parts may be realized by having an equipment, which may be separated into smaller parts and/or by choosing low-weight materials. It is understood that ‘kg’ is kilogram.
In an embodiment, there is presented an equipment, which further comprises a drive unit for the rotation, such as the drive unit being driven by a motor, such as the drive unit being driven by an electric motor, such as a DC motor, such as a servomotor. A possible advantage of having a drive unit may be that such drive unit can assist an associated assisting person in raising the associated lying person, such as enabling that the associated assisting person does not have to exert a force corresponding to or larger than a force for lifting the bottom of the associated lying person. A possible advantage of having a motorized drive unit may be that it reduces or eliminates the need for having a force applied by the associated assisting person during the rotation.
In an embodiment, there is presented an equipment, which further comprises an energy storage unit operably connected to the drive unit, such as a battery, such as a battery enabling at least 10 sequential raising operations, such as at least 20 sequential raising operations, such as at least 30 sequential raising operations, such as at least 40 sequential raising operations, such as at least 50, such as at least 60 sequential raising operations, such as at least 70 sequential raising operations, such as at least 80 sequential raising operations, such as at least 90 sequential raising operations, such as at least 100 sequential raising operations. A possible advantage of having such energy storage unit, may be that it enables dispensing with the need of having access to an external source of energy, such as a socket outlet.
In an embodiment, the equipment comprises a travers with
In an embodiment, a structural strength of the equipment enables raising of persons with a body mass of 75 kg or more, such as 100 kg or more, such as 125 kg or more, such as 150 kg or more. It may thus be understood that it at least enables lifting persons with a body mass of 75 kg, such as persons with a body mass of 25 kg, 50 kg or 75 kg.
In an embodiment, there is presented an equipment, which further comprises a remote controller, such as a remote controller enabling an associated assisting person to control the equipment without being in physical contact with the equipment. By a ‘remote controller’ may be understood any unit capable of communicating with the equipment, such as for controlling the rotation, which unit is not rigidly connected to the equipment. The remote controller may be communicatively connected to the equipment, such as operably connected to the drive unit, via a wireless connection or via a non-rigid electrically or optically conducting physical connection, such as a via a cord, such as a spiral cord.
In an embodiment, the equipment is arranged so that a rotation of the secondary leg (5) around the rotation axis entails that the equipment is passed from the first configuration to the second configuration, during which passing
By ‘engaging’ may be understood that different elements comes into contact, such as comes into contact and exerts forces on each other.
An advantage of having that a distance between the seat and the supporting surface increases, may be that it enables raising the bottom of the associated lying person. An advantage of having that an angle between the tertiary direction and the vertical direction decreases may be that it enables erecting the back of the associated lying person. An advantage of having that an angle between the tertiary direction and the vertical direction decreases may be that it enables that the backrest exerts a normal force on the associated lying person which has a component in a horizontal direction, such as a horizontal direction towards the seat, so that the seat can support the bottom of the associated person by applying a normal force with a horizontal component in the opposite direction.
In an embodiment, there is presented an equipment, wherein in the first configuration of the equipment (i.e., before raising the associated lying person), an angle between the primary direction and the tertiary direction is more than 90 degrees, such as more than 120 degrees, such as more than 150 degrees, such as substantially 180 degrees, such as 180 degrees. A possible advantage of having this angle, such as by having the primary leg and the backrest pointing in opposite directions, may be that it facilitates having a compact and/or light equipment, since it enables attaching them to the same, relatively compact unit, such as a travers, and still having their endpoints separated by approximately the sum of their lengths. Furthermore, the equipment in the first configuration may be kept relatively flat and elongated since the backrest and primary leg are both extended substantially along the same axis, albeit in substantially opposite directions.
In an embodiment, there is presented an equipment, wherein in the first configuration of the equipment, an angle between the secondary direction and the tertiary direction is less than 90 degrees, such as less than 60 degrees, such as less than 30 degrees, such as approximately 0 degrees, such as 0 degrees. A possible advantage of having this angle may be that the equipment in the first configuration may be kept relatively flat and elongated since the backrest and secondary leg are both extended substantially along the same axis.
In an embodiment, there is presented an equipment, wherein an angle between the secondary direction and the tertiary direction is substantially constant, such as constant during said rotation, such as wherein the angle between the secondary direction and the tertiary direction is at least 90 degrees, such as at least 135 degrees, such as at least 160 degrees such as at least 175 degrees, such as substantially 180 degrees, such as 180 degrees. A possible advantage of having this angle constant may be that it facilitates a rigid connection between the backrest and the primary legs, which in turn facilitates a relatively simple, yet stable construction. It may also be seen as an advantage that it facilitates that the only moving part (with respect to the other parts) is the secondary leg.
In an embodiment, at least one of the backrest and the primary leg can be rotated, such as rotated when the equipment is not in use, so that all of the backrest, the primary leg and the secondary leg can be brought in a configurations where each of the primary, secondary and tertiary directions are substantially parallel, such as parallel, and optionally substantially in the same plane, such as in the same plane. An advantage of this may be that the equipment may be brought into a relatively compact configuration when not in use (even without disconnecting any parts).
In an embodiment, there is presented an equipment, which further comprises a travers (6), such as a through travers which is connected to each one of the seat, the primary leg, the secondary leg, the backrest, such as the travers comprising a housing optionally comprising a drive unit (optionally connected to brackets on the outsides of said housing) for driving the rotation and optionally an energy storage unit operably connected to the drive unit. The seat may be placed on or integrated into the travers. Each of the primary leg, secondary leg and backrest may be attached to and pointing away from the travers. A possible advantage of having a through travers is that is improves structural stability.
In an embodiment, the equipment comprises a travers where a seat may be placed on or integrated into the travers, and where each of the primary leg, secondary leg and backrest may be attached to and pointing away from the travers, and wherein the travers is comprising a housing, a drive unit and an energy storage unit operably connected to the drive unit. This may be advantageous since said travers may relatively compact and light and may relatively easily be pushed under the thighs of the associated lying person, and may subsequently provide the power for raising said person via rotation of the secondary leg.
In an embodiment, there is presented an equipment, wherein
In an embodiment, the backrest comprises two separate parts which are connected to the equipment at different positions separated from each other in a direction being parallel with the rotation axis. A possible advantage of this may be that it facilitates placing the backrest under the back of the associated lying person. For example, if said person is lying on the back, then a first separate backrest part can be placed under the right side of the back of said person and subsequently a second separate backrest part can be placed under the left side of the back of said person. Thus, left force has to be applied since the entire back of said person need not be lifted at once.
According to a second aspect, the invention relates to use of an equipment according to the first aspect for raising a lying person.
According to a third aspect, the invention relates to a method for raising an associated lying person, which associated lying person is initially lying on an associated support surface, such as wherein said person is initially lying on the back, said method comprising:
It may be seen as advantageous, that the method facilitates that an assisting person can raise the associated lying person without applying a force large enough to lift the bottom of the associated lying person until the rotation of the secondary leg, which rotation can be carried out, e.g., by a geared movement or via a drive unit, such as an electromotor. Thus, the method may be seen as enabling that equipment, such as the different structural parts (seat, primary leg, secondary leg, backrest) can be placed under the associated lying person rather than necessitating that the bottom or even the entire body of the associated lying person is placed (lifted) onto an equipment for raising the person.
In an embodiment there is presented a method, where a largest distance d12 between
An advantage of this may be that it improves stability by facilitating for a given set of legs a maximum distance between points of supports (such as the ends of legs).
In an embodiment there is presented a method wherein the backrest is having a portion extending away from the seat in a tertiary direction, and an angle between the secondary direction and the tertiary direction increases during said rotation.
In an embodiment, the method further comprises rotating the secondary leg (5) so that the secondary leg is passed from a first angular position to a second angular position, during which passing
In an embodiment there is presented a method, wherein the associated lying person is raised by said rotation of the secondary leg (5),
and wherein the bottom of the associated lying person is kept in contact with the supporting surface until the associated lying person is raised by rotation of the secondary leg (5),
such as wherein the method involves no substantial displacement, such as any displacement, of the bottom of the associated lying person in a vertical direction, such as without any displacement of the bottom of the associated lying person, before associated lying person is raised by rotation of the secondary leg (5).
In an embodiment there is presented a method, wherein one or more or all of:
An advantage of connecting one or more parts to the seat after placing the seat below the legs, may be that it facilitates assembling equipment for raising the associated lying person around the person, which in turn facilitates that such equipment may be provide below legs and back of the associated person while the bottom is kept in contact, such as uninterrupted contact with the supporting surface. In other words, it may enable that equipment for raising the associated lying person can be provided—without having to lift the bottom of the associated lying person—at least partially below said person in a functional condition for raising the associated lying person.
In an alternative embodiment, one or more parts are arranged for relative movement with respect to the other parts, so that the equipment can be reconfigured after being placed at least partially below the associated lying person, e.g., separate backrest parts can be rotated around an axis close to the seat, which axis is parallel with the rotation axis of the secondary leg, and furthermore rotated around their longitudinal direction, so that they can be placed under the back of the person after placing the seat under the thighs.
In an embodiment there is presented a method, wherein after raising of the associated lying person, the method further comprises,
A possible advantage of disconnecting one or more of the backrest, secondary leg, primary leg, from the seat, may be that it enables reducing the weight, such as the maximum weight, which has to be handled, such as lifted, when moving the equipment after raising of the associated lying person. A possible advantage of rotating the second leg (4) so that it assumes the initial angular position before disconnecting the primary leg and or the secondary leg, may be that it enables bringing the equipment in a condition where it is not supported by the primary leg and/or the secondary leg, so that when disconnecting the primary leg and/or the secondary leg, then the equipment is supported in the same position before/after said this disconnection.
The first, second and third aspect of the present invention may each be combined with any of the other aspects. These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.
The equipment, use and method according to the first, second and third aspect of the invention will now be described in more detail with regard to the accompanying figures. The figures show one way of implementing the present invention and is not to be construed as being limiting to other possible embodiments falling within the scope of the attached claim set.
The equipment in
All of the primary leg 4, the secondary leg 5 and the backrest 2, are arranged for disconnection and re-connection to the travers in a reversible manner. This is indicated by the thick, grey arrows, which indicate the direction in which the part adjacent said arrow may be disconnected from the travers (and re-connected by movement in the opposite direction). Said disconnection and re-connection may be carried out by an associated assisting person without using tools.
The equipment in
Thus,
To sum up, there is presented an equipment (13) for raising of an associated lying person, comprising a seat (1), a primary leg (4), a secondary leg (5) being secondary leg (5) being rotatably connected to the seat (1) and a backrest (2), wherein the equipment is arranged to be passed from a first configuration to a second configuration by rotation of the secondary leg (5) around a rotation axis, and wherein the equipment is arranged so that it enables placement of the equipment between the associated lying person and a supporting surface while the bottom of the associated lying person is in contact with the supporting surface upon which the associated lying person is lying and subsequently raising the associated lying person by passing the equipment from the first configuration to the secondary configuration by rotation of the secondary leg (5). In a particular embodiment, the equipment is arranged for being reversibly assembled and disassembled without using tools.
Although the present invention has been described in connection with the specified embodiments, it should not be construed as being in any way limited to the presented examples. The scope of the present invention is set out by the accompanying claim set. In the context of the claims, the terms “comprising” or “comprises” do not exclude other possible elements or steps. Also, the mentioning of references such as “a” or “an” etc. should not be construed as excluding a plurality. The use of reference signs in the claims with respect to elements indicated in the figures shall also not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention. Furthermore, individual features mentioned in different claims, may possibly be advantageously combined, and the mentioning of these features in different claims does not exclude that a combination of features is not possible and advantageous.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/DK2015/050041 | 2/27/2015 | WO | 00 |
