Patent Application
20190054335
The present invention relates generally to a rehabilitation machine, and more particularly a dual-purpose rehabilitation machine for assisting sitting, standing and rehabilitating a person suffering from a lower limb disorder and/or exercising a person with lower limb neurological damage or weakness.
A person suffering from lower nervous system injury and/or lower limb muscle weakness cannot stand up or walk independently. Therefore, most of the patients must undergo physical and/or rehabilitation exercises or requires extra equipments for moving about. A conventional walking assistant generally includes a foundation seat, a plurality of casters mounted to a bottom side of the foundation seat, a fixed rod unit mounted on an upper side of the foundation seat, a footrest disposed below the foundation seat, a mobile device mounted movably on the fixed rod unit, a driving unit having a driving body mounted on the fixed rod unit and a piston unit movably disposed in the driving body and connected to a mobile device, and a protection cushion disposed on the driving unit, a belt-fixing rod disposed on the top end of the mobile device, a belt body and a plurality of fastener belts.
In the conventional walking assistant, the driving unit is installed in front of the fixed rod unit, which means the driving unit is located between the patient and the fixed rod unit, thereby spacing the patient far away from the fixed rod unit. In addition, the protection cushion is located too close to the patient such that the patient may abut against the protection cushion even when the piston unit has extended to the maximum extension, thereby preventing the patient to stand up fully.
Moreover, the patient is secured to the conventional walking assistant only through the belt body, which straddles around the armpit of the patient and the belt body is located close to the head of the patient, which may cause collision of the patient's head against the belt-fixing rod, which in turn, causing inclination of the belt-fixing rod relative to the driving body and hence occupying a relatively large room.
Note that in the conventional walking assistant, the belt body only straddles around the armpit of the patient, and leaving the lower limb as well as the legs of the patent wobbling relative to the remaining parts of the walking assistant.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a dual-purpose rehabilitation machine, in which, a driving unit is installed behind a fixed rod unit so as to shorten a spaced-apart distance between the fixed rod unit and a user such that when a piston unit of the driving unit is moved to a second position, the user of the rehabilitation machine can stand up fully from a patient's bed and/or a wheeled chair so as to be nearby the fixed rod unit and a mobile device.
A secondary objective of the present invention is to provide a dual-purpose rehabilitation machine, in which, a plurality of fastener belts are mounted on a mobile device, thereby eliminating the employment of a belt-fixing rod and avoiding the problem of collision of a user's head against the belt-fixing rod, which in turn, economizes the storage space and the manufacturing expense.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a dual-purpose rehabilitation machine, in which, a plurality of fastener belts are mounted and distributed on several parts of the patient, like the patient's legs, buttocks, waist and armpit so as to assist in stable standing up of the patient and preventing wobbling of lower parts of the patient when doing the physical exercises.
A dual-purpose rehabilitation machine of the present invention includes a base; a plurality of casters; a fixed rod unit; a footrest member; a mobile device; a plurality of fastener belts; and a driving unit.
The casters are mounted on a bottom side of the base.
The fixed rod unit is installed on an upper side of the base.
The footrest member is disposed on the base and is located in front of the fixed rod unit.
The mobile device includes an upright post installed on the base so as to be located at one side of the fixed rod unit, a slide seat mounted slidably on the fixed rod unit, a first pivot rod having a lower end connected pivotally to the upright post and an upper end and a second pivot rod having an upper end connected pivotally to the slide seat and a lower end connected pivotally to the upper end of the first pivot rod.
The fastener belts are mounted on the mobile device for fastening several parts of a user securely.
The driving unit includes a cylinder body installed on the fixed rod unit so as to be located opposite side of the upright post and a piston unit disposed movably within the cylinder body and further connected pivotally to the slide seat such that upon activation the slide seat is movable between a first position and a second position.
Movement of the piston unit into the cylinder body results in downward movement of the slide seat along the fixed rod unit to the first position, thereby driving the first and second pivot rods away from the fixed rod unit.
Movement of the piston rod outwardly from the cylinder body results in upward movement of the slide seat along the fixed rod unit to the second position, thereby driving the first and second pivot rods toward and abuts the first and second pivot rods against the fixed rod unit.
Preferably, the base includes a straight rod, a first U-shaped frame having a first connecting part connected to one end of the straight rod and two extension parts extending from two opposite ends of the first connection part, and a second U-shaped frame having a second connecting part connected to the other end of the straight rod and two extension parts extending from two opposite ends of the second connection part, wherein the plurality of casters are mounted rotatably to bottom sides of free ends of the extension parts of the first and second U-shaped frames while the fixed rod unit is mounted uprightly on an upper side of the first connecting part of the first U-shaped frame with the footrest plate mounted below the straight rod adjacent to the first connecting part and transversely extending across the upright post of the mobile device.
Preferably, the first U-shaped frame has a width measured transversely of the straight rod ranging 65-85 cm and the second U-shaped frame has a width measured transversely of the straight rod ranging 25-45 cm.
Preferably, the fixed rod unit has a rear side cooperating with a free end of the extension part of the first U-shaped frame defining a first length equal to 25-35% of total length of the base and further cooperating with a free end of the extension part of the second U-shaped frame a second length equal to 65-75% of total length of the base.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the footrest member includes a connection section extending downwardly from a bottom side of the straight rod and a footrest section having a front end connected to the connection section such that the footrest section extends transversely from both sides of the straight rod and that the footrest section defines a vertical height relative to a support ground smaller than a diameter of each caster.
Preferably, the dual-purpose rehabilitation machine of the present invention further includes a first protection cushion fixed to the upright post, a second protection cushion fixed to the first pivot rod and a third protection cushion fixed to the second pivot rod.
The dual-purpose rehabilitation machine of the present invention further includes a plurality of shackles mounted respectively on the first, second and third protection cushions and the fastener belts, thereby defining a leg fastener belt body with the shackles on the first protection cushion for securing the legs of a user, a waist-buttock fastener belt body with the shackles on the second protection cushion for securing the waist and buttock of the user and an armpit fastener body with the shackle on the third protection cushion for securing an armpit of the user.
Preferably, the dual-purpose rehabilitation machine of the present invention further includes a pair of handgrips mounted on two opposite sides of the third protection cushion to facilitate griping by hands of the user for standing up.
Preferably, the dual-purpose rehabilitation machine of the present invention further includes a pair of handles fixed to two opposite side of the fixed rod unit adjacent to the second protection cushion.
One distinct feature of the present invention resides in that because the driving unit is installed behind the fixed rod unit, thereby shortening the distance between the patient and the fixed rod unit such that movement of the piston rod outwardly from the cylinder body results in upward movement of the slide seat along the fixed rod unit to the second position, thereby pulling the patient upward to a standing position so as to be nearby the fixed rod unit and the mobile device. Because the fastener belts are installed on the movable device, thereby eliminating the employment of a belt-fixing rod and avoiding the problem of collision of the patient's head against the belt-fixing rod, which in turn, economizes the storage space and the manufacturing expense. Moreover, since the fastener belts are distributed on several parts of the patient's body, like the patient's legs, buttock, waist and armpit so as to assist in stable standing up of the patient and preventing wobbling of lower parts of the patient when doing the physical exercises.
The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:
The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Referring to
The base 10 includes a straight rod 11, a first U-shaped frame 12 and a second U-shaped frame 13. The first U-shaped frame 12 has a first connecting part 121 connected to one end of the straight rod 11 and two extension parts 122 extending from two opposite ends of the first connection part 121. The second U-shaped frame 13 has a second connecting part 131 connected to the other end of the straight rod 11 and two extension parts 132 extending from two opposite ends of the second connection part 131, wherein the fixed rod unit 30 is mounted uprightly on an upper side of the first connecting part 121 of the first U-shaped frame 12. Preferably, the first U-shaped frame 12 has a width measured transversely of the straight rod 11 ranging 65-85 cm and the second U-shaped frame 13 has a width measured transversely of the straight rod 11 ranging 25-45 cm. To be more specific, the widths of the first and second U-shaped frames 12, 13 are so dimensioned to fit for passing through the openings of doors, more particularly, the second U-shaped frame 13 is fit to be drawn below a patient's bed (B) or a wheeled chair (W), as best shown in
The casters 20 are mounted rotatably on a bottom side of the base 10. To be more specific, the plurality of casters 20 are mounted rotatably to the bottom sides of free ends of the extension parts 122, 132 of the first and second U-shaped frames 12, 13.
The fixed rod unit 30 is installed on an upper side of the base 10. To be more specific, the fixed rod unit 30 is mounted vertically on the upper side of the first connecting part 121 of the first U-shaped frame 12. Preferably, the fixed rod unit 30 has a rear side cooperating with a free end of the extension part 122 of the first U-shaped frame 12 defining a first length equal to 25-35% of total length of the base 10 and further cooperating with a free end of the extension part 132 of the second U-shaped frame 13 a second length equal to 65-75% of total length of the base 10. To be more specific, the base 10 has the maximum of 105 cm. Therefore, the rear side of the fixed rod unit 30 and the free end of the extension part 122 of the first U-shaped frame 12 define the first length D1 of 26.25-36.75 cm while the rear side of the fixed rod unit 30 the free end of the extension part 132 of the second U-shaped frame 13 define the second length D2 of 68.25-78.75 cm. In other words, the second length D2 of 68.25-78.75 cm of the base 10 is the distance for moving below the patient's bed (B) or the wheeled chair (W) so as to permit the leg of the patient nearby the fixed rod unit 30, as best shown in
The footrest member 40 is disposed on the base 10 and is located in front of the fixed rod unit 30. To be more specific, the footrest member 40 is mounted below the straight rod 11 adjacent to the first connecting part 121 and transversely extends across the straight rod 11. Preferably, the footrest member 40 includes a connection section 41 extending downwardly from a bottom side of the straight rod 11 and a footrest section 42 having a front end connected to the connection section 41 such that the footrest section 42 extends transversely from both sides of the straight rod 11 and that the footrest section 42 defines a vertical height D3 relative to a support ground smaller than a diameter of each caster 20. In other words, the footrest section 42 has a length of 35 cm to permit standing of every person and is spaced apart from the support ground by 7 cm.
The mobile device 50 includes an upright post 51 installed on the base 10 so as to be located at one side of (in front of) the fixed rod unit 30, a slide seat 52 mounted slidably on the fixed rod unit 30, a first pivot rod 53 having a lower end connected pivotally to the upright post 51 and an upper end and a second pivot rod 54 having an upper end connected pivotally to the slide seat 51 and a lower end connected pivotally to the upper end of the first pivot rod 53. To be more specific, the upright post 51 is mounted on and extends in parallel manner with the fixed rod unit 30.
The first protection cushion 61 is fixed on the front side of the upright post 51 and is rectangular with a length of 35 cm and a width of 15 cm. The second protection cushion 62 is fixed to the first pivot rod 53 and is rectangular with a length of 35 cm and a width of 20 while a third protection cushion 63 is fixed to the second pivot rod 54 and is rectangular with a length of 35 cm and a width of 20. To be more specific, once a patient sitting in a wheeled chair is nearby the rehabilitation machine of the present invention, the first, second and third protection cushions 61, 62 and 63 are respectively correspond to the calf, the upper leg and the chest of the patient.
The rehabilitation machine of the present invention further includes a plurality of shackles 71-74 mounted respectively on the first, second and third protection cushions 61, 62, 63. To be more specific, two shackles 71 are fixed on two opposite sides of the first protection cushion 61, two shackles 72 are fixed on two opposite sides of the second protection cushion 62 and one shackle 73 is fixed a lower part of the second protection cushion 62, and two shackles 74 are fixed on two opposite sides of the third protection cushion 63.
The fastener belts are mounted on the mobile device 50 for securing several parts of a patient body relative to the rehabilitation machine of the present invention. To be more specific, a first fastener belt 81 is mounted on the first protection cushion 61 via the shackles 71, thereby defining a leg fastener belt body for securing the calf of lower leg of the patient (see
The driving unit 90 includes a cylinder body 91 installed on the fixed rod unit 30 so as to be located opposite side of the upright post 51 and a piston unit 92 disposed movably within the cylinder body 91 and further connected pivotally to the slide seat 52 such that upon activation the slide seat 52 is movable between a first position and a second position. Preferably, the cylinder body 91 can be hydraulic, pneumatic or electrically driven cylinder.
The handgrips 100 are mounted on two opposite sides of the third protection cushion 63 to facilitate griping by hands of the patient.
The handles 200 are fixed to two opposite side of the fixed rod unit 30 adjacent to the second protection cushion 62. Preferably, the handles 200 are spaced apart from the support ground by 105-115 cm to facilitate gripping of a health care provider or a nurse for moving the rehabilitation machine of the present invention from one place to the other. It is noted that 110 cm is the ideal distance from the support ground.
The application of the rehabilitation machine of the present invention is given in the following paragraphs.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In the rehabilitation machine of the present invention, because the driving unit 90 is installed behind the fixed rod unit 30, thereby shortening a distance between the patient and the fixed rod unit 30 such that movement of the piston unit 92 outwardly from the cylinder body 91 so as to dispose the sliding seat 52 to the second position results in pulling the patient directly from the bed (B) or the wheeled chair (W) toward and/or abuts against the fixed rod unit 30, thereby enhancing the stability of the patient.
Moreover since the fastener belts 81, 82, 83 are mounted on the mobile device 50, thereby eliminating the employment of a belt-fixing rod and avoiding the problem of collision of a patient's head against the belt-fixing rod, which in turn, economizes the storage space and the manufacturing expense.
In addition, since the plurality of fastener belts are mounted and distributed on several parts of the patient, like the patient's legs, buttocks, waist and armpit so as to assist in stable standing up of the patient and prevent wobbling of lower parts of the patient when doing the physical exercises or during the standing posture.
In the event that the patient wishes to lay down on the bed (B) or sit back into the wheeled chair (W), the patient only needs to activate the driving unit 90, where movement of the piston unit 92 into the cylinder body 92 results in downward movement of the slide seat 52 along the fixed rod unit 30 to the first position, thereby driving the first and second pivot rods 53, 54 away from the fixed rod unit 30, which in turn, lower the leg, waist-buttock and armpit fastener belt bodies gradually and slowly toward the patient's bed (B) or the wheeled chair (W). The patient can lie down on the bed (B) or sit back in the wheeled chair (W) after removing the fastener belt bodies 81-83.
In the event of moving the patient from one place to the other, the patient is first of all let to stand on the rehabilitation machine of the present invention as previously described manner, as best shown in
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention, which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.
