Patent Application
20070145086
The present invention, as stated in the title of this specification, relates to a self-help device for handling socks, support stockings and stockings in general, specially designed for people with difficult or impaired mobility in the joints of their legs, hips and/or back. More specifically, this device has the purpose of resolving the problems that those people must face when putting on or taking off their socks or stockings due to suffering, for example, degenerative joint diseases such as arthritis, among others. In this regard, this device is also extremely appropriate for helping people who, having undergone surgical interventions or having suffered traumatic accidents, have one or both legs or their waist totally or partially immobilized which, obviously, hinders or prevents them from putting on and taking off stockings and socks by themselves. It should be highlighted that their usefulness and practicality makes it indicated for any person who, even though they are not suffering from any of said diseases nor have undergone any surgical interventions, normally or occasionally uses support stockings (e.g. in the case of varicose veins, circulatory problems, among other affections) and also indicated for persons with reduced mobility due to obesity, pregnancy, advanced age, etc.
In this regard, we should mention that arthritis is one of the most frequent rheumatic diseases and it is known, for example, in Spain that 16% of people over the age of 20 suffer from it, three quarters of which are women. Arthritis is a disease produced by the wear and tear of cartilage, a tissue that acts as shock absorber between the ends of the bones, protecting them and favouring the movement of the joint between them. As the cartilage wears, it loses its strength and elasticity, until causing a malfunctioning of the joint. In said conditions, the person begins to suffer increasing pain and difficulties in moving the parts of their body whose joints are affected by the disease. The areas most frequently affected by arthritis are the back, which comprises the neck, and the lumbar area, hips and knees. Arthritis in the hands and feet usually starts after the age of 50.
Knee arthritis and back arthritis are, precisely, the affections which, among others, generate very serious daily difficulties and discomfort in people when they have to dress, since this involves performing important movements which cause strong pain in the joints. Furthermore, when the pain is relatively intense, or even worse, very strong, the complications increase due to the fact that these diseases depend on the help of another person to be able to dress and, in particular, to be able to put on stockings or socks, for which the legs must be articulated or bent and the back arched.
Difficulties of similar importance to the aforementioned, although for different motives and even when the person does not suffer joint pain, may arise for those whom, for example, have one or both legs immobilized, temporarily or permanently, as a consequence of surgical interventions, traumatic or kinesiologic treatments, accidents, etc. Indeed, also in those situations, people usually need the assistance of others to dress and put on or take off stockings or socks. Nevertheless, again and as has already been mentioned, the usefulness and practicality of this device makes it indicated for any healthy person who, not having suffered from any of said physical disorders, normally or occasionally uses support stockings.
Within the prior art numerous apparatus are known which are designed so that people with impaired mobility can easily put on stockings and socks without depending on the help of other people. Among said apparatus we should first mention those that consist of a type of plastic insole, from the end whereof two cords or veins exit which serve for pulling. One of the drawbacks of these apparatus lies in the instability of the insole, due to the little consistency of the material in which it is produced and the use of cords for the pulling thereof, which leads to complications for introducing the foot into the corresponding sock or stocking. Another drawback is that the insole must rest on the floor to offer a consistent platform whereby the foot can be introduced, so that the sock comes into direct contact with the floor, which should be avoided for reasons of hygiene. In contrast, the device claimed offers the consistency and the stability necessary to avoid it having to rest on any place, it being possible to introduce the foot without it being necessary for the apparatus, and therefore, the sock, to touch the floor.
There are also other apparatus which consist of a cylinder cut in half, wherefrom a rod protrudes. Although said apparatus resolves the problem of instability of the previous, it however has other drawbacks which should be resolved. These drawbacks are due to the fact that it has a single bar to pull, which makes it less efficient than these apparatus. The rod is secured via a flange directly anchored to the cylinder, which makes said cylinder inflexible. The lack of stability of the cylinder means that they cannot be put inside slender or especially narrow socks, therefore not being suitable, for example, for sports socks, or for support stockings.
Another example of prior art arises from document ES1023223U, granted in the name of Miguel Jiménez Rosell, which discloses a device to put on socks and/or stockings constituted by an arm on one of whose ends a handle is incorporated, whilst on the other end said arm it is equipped with a laterally oriented semi-annular piece, and includes an accessory piece which can be attached by way of a dismountable gripper on said semi-annular piece. On said semi-annular piece is disposed the sock to be put on from its open end, which is held by means of a gripper, disposed with the entrance open and hanging from that end of the device. In these conditions, the user can, by gripping a handle at its free end, put the open end of the sock on the foot practically without bending the body and, pulling upwards against the push of the foot downwards, to achieve the introduction of the foot in the sock. Then, removing the gripper, now in a more accessible position, leave the sock in its on position.
Although the device disclosed in document ES1023223U, mentioned in the previous paragraph may apparently have certain similarities with the one which is now claimed, in essence they are undoubtedly different with regard to the form of disposing the sock and putting the foot therein, i.e. in its system, as is clearly revealed on describing the device proposed making reference to the figures that illustrate it. To advance some of the differences, we can mention that in the device object of the present utility model the sock is totally introduced inside a tubular piece, whilst in the previous the open end of the sock is caught up, the rest remaining free, which has several adverse consequences. A first consequence is that the foot is gradually introduced within the sock by force of pulling it, which hinders the introduction of the foot and, therefore, that apparatus is not suitable for socks which are difficult to put on, for example those that are especially narrow, for example those for sports use, and for those which a lot of effort is required, such as the case of support stockings. Another negative consequence linked to the previous is that as the sock is introduced through the open thereof and far from its toe, at the same time as hindering its introduction as it may not leave the sock well positioned, but with creases, folds, etc. Furthermore, during the use of the device of said document, the sock may touch and trail on the floor since it hangs from said device, which should be avoided.
The device proposed resolves the drawbacks of the type disclosed in document ES1023223U as it enables introducing the sock, from the start the toes being in contact with the toe of the sock, which is the only form of it remaining totally well-positioned on the form of the foot, without, creases, folds, etc. Furthermore, since it gathers up the entire sock within a tubular piece, it avoids having to make a special effort or pressure upwards to introduce thicker or sports socks, also enabling the putting on and taking off of common stockings such as support stockings, its use also being more hygienic as it enables putting on and taking off socks and stockings without them touching, for example, the surface of the floor or ground. As it has two rods for its handling, it means that the introduction of the foot in the sock is much easier with a light and simple pull, keeping the control of said operation and avoiding the sock from twisting or deforming during the pulling up. Furthermore, since the device of the present utility model includes two tubular pieces, one piece attached to the pull-rods and a complementary independent piece, unlike what happens with the device of document ES1023223U, it enables its parts to be handled independently in the sense that the sock is going to be introduced within the complementary tubular piece, and thus avoid having to handle the other tubular piece for this operation. In this way, the independent handling of this complementary tubular piece adds very important advantages of practicality which should be indicated: it allows the sock to be put on without having to move the piece that incorporates the rods, something which would be more annoying, and another advantage is that due to its little volume and weight the sock can be placed within it in any place and any type of surface, including the user's lap, without this taking away stability. For the use of this device it is also envisaged that the complementary piece may be longer than the piece connected to the rods, which is extremely convenient for putting on long socks, stockings and support stockings which have a considerable length. The invention also provides an additional rod, especially designed so that the user can take off the socks or the stockings with the same ease as putting these garments on.
Other documents that disclose the state of the art are documents ES1028926U, from José Sáez Serbán, and ES1054677U, from Ramón Martín López of Lerma. The first of them, document ES1028926U, discloses a sock aid for disabled persons which is characterized in that it comprises a rod in the form of a fork joined to a mould by means of rotating fasteners, where said mould has the form of a foot, having some protuberances so that therein, once the sock is introduced in the mould, it is fastened and the putting on operation can be performed. For its part, document ES1054677 also claims a sock aid for disabled persons which comprises a cylindrical housing, wherein is introduced the sock, open and fixed on folding its elastic outside thereof, which has, laterally fixed to the inner part by grippers, two parallel sticks provided on the end of handles aimed towards the rear part by means whereof the tools is gripped, once the sock is mounted hanging within the housing, so that when on making it pass over the foot the sock slides on it and once it is put on, on pulling upwards releases it being stretched over the leg. The housing is open generatrixically towards the front, this opening providing a certain flexibility and adaptation to the size of the user's leg.
With respect to these documents ES1028926U and ES1054677U the device object of the present utility model has notable differences and advantages which are worth mentioning. Indeed, this device is differentiated from those disclosed in said documents in matters not only of form but of content, specifically by the form in which it enables putting on the sock, which in fact is the most important element. Firstly, it should be taken into account that although in all cases the purpose is to put socks on, it is not the same that the sock is simply put on the foot, to then slide in over the leg, as the sock being correctly positioned on the foot, which is not ensured with the aids of the aforementioned documents. Instead, the device now proposed enables the sock to be entirely gathered up without it hanging, which does occur if the other aids are used, wherein the garment remains open and hanging. That means that the sock must be pulled upwards and, consequently, it is not perfectly positioned, it is much more difficult to accommodate them and furthermore, those aids cannot be used with support stockings and narrow socks, due to the fact that the user should exert a great force pulling the support stockings and slender or narrow socks. Therefore, the function of said aids is to pull the stockings and socks, which is a serious drawback. However, with the device that is now claimed the sock does not remain hanging nor is it pulled, instead the sock is completely introduced within a complementary piece especially developed so that the device effectively performs its purpose in benefit of the users for whom this device has been especially conceived and developed.
With the purpose of resolving the drawbacks and deficiencies of the aids known up to present, the device object of the present utility model has been developed, which, as will clearly be seen on describing it with reference to the figures which illustrate it, offers outstanding advantages whereby people with impaired mobility, such as those who suffer from degenerative joint diseases or for other motives have reduced capacity of movement of his/her joints, can put on and take off by themselves the socks and stockings in general, even support stockings, with no difficulties and with such ease that this device is suitable for users of any age and strength; from a young person to an elderly person.
It is therefore an object of the present utility model to provide a self-help device for handling socks, support stockings and stockings in general, especially designed for people with difficult or impaired movement such as those who suffer from degenerative joint diseases or who have suffered accidents whereby they have one or both legs totally or partially immobilized which hinders or prevents them from both putting on and taking off stockings and socks. It is also indicated for any person who, although not suffering any of said diseases, nor having undergone a surgical intervention, normally or occasionally uses support stockings (for example in the case of varicose veins and circulatory problems) or also indicated for persons with reduced mobility due to obesity, pregnancy, advanced age, etc., this apparatus being of the type formed by a pair of pull-roads at whose end are defined handles wherefrom the user holds the device during the putting on of the socks or stockings, and whose lower end is hingedly attached to a piece operationally linked to the garment to put it on the user's foot and slide it on the leg thereof. This device is particularly defined by the combination of a first and second pieces of essentially tubular geometry, independent, complementary and can be axially attached to one another by the complete introduction of one into the other, where the upper part of the garment, whether a sock or a stocking, is disposed in surrounding manner outside the first piece, while the lower part of the garment is totally housed inside the second piece as it is already inserted in the first, the second piece being hingedly attached to the pull-rods to displace as a whole said first and second pieces progressively covering the user's foot, whose toes are from the start in contact with the toe of the sock or stocking, and then the user's leg. The invention also provides an accessory to help take off the stockings or socks, which is defined by a rod, similar to the previous, at whose lower end is disposed a piece for the blocking of the open end of the garment and thus permit pushing it downwards towards to remove it from the foot.
FIGS. 2 to 4 Show the sequence of preparation of the device with a sock to proceed with putting it on.
FIGS. 5 to 7 Show the sequence of putting the sock on one of the user's feet.
When this apparatus is put into practice in accordance with an example of embodiment, piece 1 may have 119 millimetres of outer diameter and 115 millimetres of inner diameter, 85 millimetres length, and the flange 9 may have 140 millimetres diameter by 3 millimetres wide. This flange may have, as shown in
So that the user can comfortably take off the sock an accessory 22 is provided, as shown in
It is placed on record that, having described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of the self-help device object of the present Utility model, when this device is put into practice it may have some structural modifications with the simple purpose of adapting it to the needs and/or requirements of the users, without this departing from the expressly claimed characteristics.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200502811 | Dec 2005 | ES | national |
