Patent Application
20230414426
The present invention relates to systems and methods for lifting elderly persons that have fallen. In particular, the present invention relates to an automated personal lifting apparatus and associated methods.
Elderly persons that fall oftentimes do not have an effective means to reestablish themselves to a standing position on their own. Furthermore, they are often assisted by their partners, which more often than not are also elderly and lack sufficient strength to lift them to their feet. In fact, because of the difficult weight distribution of a fallen individual as well as their fragility, even younger more able persons have difficulty raising a fallen person to their feet.
Therefore, there exists a need for an automated lifting system to safely and securely lift a fallen and compromised person to their feet with minimal effort. There exists a need for a personal lifting apparatus and associated methods.
Embodiments of the present invention are related to a personal lifting apparatus including an outer frame with a pair of opposing sides, each side including an upper handle, outer vertical support, and a foundation bar. There may be an upper crossbar and a lower crossbar extending from one side and connecting to the opposing side. A motor assembly may be situated atop the upper crossbar and a threaded rod may extend from the upper crossbar to the lower crossbar. An inner frame may include a pair of tracks attached thereto, a seat assembly attached to the pair of tracks and a threaded slide coupler fixedly attached to the seat assembly. The seat may be pliable material. The seat assembly may be structured to ascend and descend within the outer frame via the slide coupler. It may be structured to align with the floor in a first position and lift a seated user to a second position.
Each foundation bar may be structured to extend distally from the outer vertical support and may include a pair of wheels proximate each opposing end. The inner frame may include a pair of inner vertical supports attached to the outer vertical supports and the pair of tracks may be attached to the inner vertical supports.
The seat assembly may include a pair of opposing side L-Braces attached to sliders positioned within the pair of tracks and the sliders may include of a pair of blocks on opposing sides of the inner frame structured to ascend and descend slider bars positioned on the sides.
The motor assembly may rotate the threaded rod causing the threaded slide coupler fixedly attached to the seat assembly to ascend and descend. The motor assembly may include a grip structured to actuate its motor when squeezed. The motor within the motor assembly may be actuated via remote. The motor assembly may connect to the threaded rod through the upper crossbar and may include a removable and rechargeable battery.
Another embodiment of the personal lifting apparatus may include a front and a back, an outer frame including a pair of opposing sides, each side with an upper handle, outer vertical support, and a foundation bar. Each foundation bar may be structured to extend distally from the outer vertical support and may include a pair of wheels proximate each opposing end. An upper crossbar and a lower crossbar may extend from one side and connect to the opposing side. A motor assembly may be situated atop the upper crossbar and a threaded rod may extend from the upper crossbar to the lower crossbar. An inner frame with a pair of inner vertical supports may be attached to the outer vertical supports and a pair of tracks may be attached to the pair of inner vertical supports at the apparatus front. A seat assembly with a pair of opposing side L-Braces may be attached to sliders positioned within the pair of tracks and a seat back may extend from one side L-Brace vertical member to another. A threaded slide coupler may be fixedly attached to the seat back and a pliable seat may be structured to slidably engage each side L-Brace and extend from one side of the seat assembly to the other.
The seat assembly may be structured to ascend and descend via the slide coupler within the outer frame when the motor assembly rotates the threaded rod and each foundation bar may include an attachment angle extending from the outer vertical support to create a wider opening at the front.
The motor assembly may include a removable and rechargeable battery and the pliable seat may be made of at least one of fabric and synthetic fabric. The seat assembly may further include at least one of a seat belt and seat back and may be structured to rest perpendicularly when in the open position and parallel with the seat back when in the closed position.
Additionally, the foundation bars may be structured to rotate and align with at least one of the lower crossbar and outer frame for storage and the handles may be structured to rotate and align with the upper crossbar for storage. The motor assembly may include a grip structured to actuate its motor when squeezed.
The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiment descriptions are illustrative and not intended to be limiting in any way. Other embodiments of the invention will readily suggest themselves to persons with ordinary skill in the art after having the benefit of this disclosure. Accordingly, the following embodiments are set forth without any loss of generality and without imposing limitation upon the claimed invention.
Directional terms such as “above” “below” “upper” “lower” and other like terms are used for the convenience of the reader in reference to the drawings. Additionally, the description may contain terminology to convey position, orientation, and direction without departing from the principles of the present invention. Such positional language should be taken in context of the represented drawings.
Quantitative terms such as “generally” “substantially” “mostly” and other like terms are used to mean that the referred object, characteristic, or quality constitutes a majority of the referenced subject. Likewise, use of the terms such as first and second do not necessarily designate a limitation of quantity. Such terms may be used as a method of describing the presence of at least one of the referenced elements or may provide a means of differentiating orientation. The meaning of any term within this description is dependent upon the context within which it is used, and the meaning may be expressly modified.
Referring now to
Furthermore, in these figures the seat assembly 108 is shown in a first position 311 being flush with the ground after having descended the tracks 205 of the apparatus 100. In this position, the seat assembly side foundations 303 may be situated between the foundation bars 107. The foundation bars 107 may include an attachment angle 302 at the outer frame 103 wider than the seat assembly side foundations 303, which may allow for the seat assembly side foundations 303 to sit therebetween when in the first position 311. In other words, the foundation bars 107 may create an attachment angle 302 extending from the outer vertical support 106 creating a wider opening at the apparatus front 101.
Furthermore, attached to a front surface of the upper crossbar 202 may be a rod stabilizer 403. The rod stabilizer 403 may surround the medial threaded rod 206 and may include interior threading allowing the medial threaded rod 206 to rotate therein while being supported and stabilized.
The seat assembly 208 may be attached to the medial threaded rod 206 via a threaded slide coupler 405. The threaded slide coupler 405 may also surround the medial threaded rod 206 and may include internal threading allowing it to ascend and descend within the outer frame 103 via the medial threaded rod 206 depending on the rotation direction of the medial threaded rod 404. Furthermore, the threaded slide coupler 405 may be fixedly attached to the seat back 407 of the seat assembly 108 causing the seat assembly 108 to ascend and descend along with the slide coupler 405 depending on the rotation direction of the medial threaded rod 404. By way of non-limiting example, a clockwise rotation of the medial threaded rod 206 may cause for the threaded slide coupler 405 and seat assembly 108 to descend and a counterclockwise rotation of the medial threaded rod 206 may cause for them to ascend. There may be a switch on the motor assembly 200 allowing it to transition from a clockwise rotation to a counterclockwise rotation.
The seat back 407 may extend from an L-Brace 208 on one side of the apparatus 100 to an L-Brace 208 on an opposing side of the apparatus 100. The seat back may be fixedly attached to the L-Braces 208 at each longitudinal end 415 of the seat back 407 via seat back connectors 408. In some embodiments, the longitudinal end 415 of the seat back 407 may include removed corners forming notches that may allow for block slide connectors 409 to bolt the L-Braces 208 to blocks at their rear. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the notches may allow for the seat back 407 to fit more securely onto the L-Braces 208 as the edges of the notches may abut the block slide connectors 409 giving more secured leverage to the seat back 407. A seat assembly support bar 410 may also extend from one L-Brace 208 to an opposing L-Brace 208. Furthermore, as shown by
Also illustrated is the seat assembly 108 in a second position 512. The second position 512 may be an elevated orientation of the seat assembly 108 located at an upper portion of the apparatus 100. As a result, the sliders 501 may be positioned at their uppermost orientation with respect to the slider bars 502. The seat assembly side foundations 301 along with the pliable seat 109 are also elevated to facilitate the ability of a user seated thereon to easily transfer themselves to a standing position.
Also shown are the slider blocks 503 attached to the slider bar 503 on the outer frame 103. In some embodiments the slider blocks 503 may be U-shaped blocks and may have one side curl around each respective slider bar 503. In other embodiments, the slider blocks 503 may completely encircle the slider bar 801. The figure also demonstrates how the threaded slide coupler 207 may be mounted to the rear of the seat back 407. It further gives a good view of the seat assembly side foundations 301 fitted into the side sleeves 301.
Additionally, in some embodiments, the motor assembly 200 may have a communication module 1509 including a receiver structured to receive instructions from a remote control 1501 to actuate its motor when commanded. The remote control 1501 may be programed to actuate the motor assembly 200 allowing the seat assembly 108 to be ascended and descended by the beneficiary user 1001 rather than another person. In some embodiments, the remote control 1501 may be operable to navigate the apparatus 100 to find the beneficiary user 1001 either through manual control or having the remote control 1501 act as a homing device whereby the apparatus 100 follows signals to autonomously travel to the beneficiary user 1001. By way of non-limiting example, the remote control 1501 may be embedded in the pliable seat 109 or a seat belt 1502. It may also be removably engaged with either, or may simply be an unattached remote accompanying the apparatus 100.
Other features of the apparatus 100 may include a plurality of hinges designed to facilitate storage of the apparatus 100. A pair of upper handle hinges 1505 may be positioned at the intersection between the upper handles 105 and the upper crossbar 202 enabling the upper handles to fold inward 1506 to the upper crossbar 202 or in some embodiments the hinges may allow for the upper handles 105 to fold vertically toward the outer vertical supports 106. A pair of seat assembly hinges 1511 may be positioned where the L-Braces 208 juncture with the seat assembly side foundations 303 enabling the seat to collapse into a closed position against the L-Braces 208 and lower crossbar 203 or extend into an open position for seating. In other words, the seat assembly 108 may be structured to rest perpendicularly to the seat back 407,1510 when in the open position and parallel with the seat back 407,1510 when in the closed position. Furthermore, there may be base hinges 1503 at the base of the foundation bars 107 allowing the foundation bars 107 to be collapsed inward toward the inner and outer frames 204, 103 either vertically toward the outer vertical support 106 or horizontally toward the lower crossbar 203.
Additionally, the seat assembly 108 may include a full backed seat 1510 extending the entire upper portion of the L-Braces 208 to provide support for a beneficiary user 1001. As previously mentioned, the seat assembly 108 may also include a seat belt 1502 extending from either side of the L-Braces 208 providing a means to secure a beneficiary user 1001 safely into the seat assembly 108.
