This invention relates to the field of providing hardware to assist mobility-challenged people in clothing themselves.
The aging population presents a growing problem of assisting more and more millions of people in such everyday tasks as putting on shoes. That task is especially troublesome for all who can no longer reach down to floor level, including the disabled in general and the wheelchair-bound in particular.
Devising shoe donning aids has proven difficult. Probably the most effective aid has been the simplest and oldest, the shoehorn; “schoying homes” were mentioned in England in the 1400s (Wikipedia). Making them with long handles has been a big improvement. While “boot jack” aids for removing shoes have been devised (e.g. Sardis Thomson's Boot Jack patent, U.S. Pat. No. 8,865,1852), new shoe donner art has simply featured extensions of the shoehorn, idea. In US patent application 2002/0008124, Runge teaches a foot guide of slippery, flexible material which fits over the back of the shoe and down and forward into the shoe to form an internal “chute”. Johann Leitner, EP 1496766 25 Mar. 2003, priority date 25 Apr. 2002, achieves that effect for boots, building in more rigidity and heel guidance to the shoehorn portion. At least one product uses a box-like platform to hold the shoe steady, again with a shoehorn-like guide at the heel. (Patent not found. Product described in http://ketteringsurgical.co.uk/shop/rehabilitation/dressing-aids/brace-and-shoe-donner-18329.htm.) The use of these and other shoe donner aids, like their shoehorn antecedents, presumes that the shoe be untied and the tongue pulled up out of the way to facilitate foot entry; the user must use leg control to push the foot in; the shoe then has to be tied, generally requiring bending down to reach floor level.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for an improved shoe donner apparatus and method to enable a user to don a shoe even if seated, is unable to reach down to the shoe, and generally even if the shoe is already fastened adequately for wearing. These objectives are achieved by the present invention, a shoe donner apparatus that includes a platform of length and width greater than the subject shoe, the platform having a crosspiece over a first end against which the back of the shoe's heel is placed, and a toe clamp adjustably attached to be set against the front of the toe of the shoe. A pivot member of triangular cross section is hinge-affixed to the underside of the platform, crosswise, preferably about halfway along the platform forward from the first end of the platform, the ridge of the pivot supporting the shoe donner platform so that at rest the platform preferably slopes upward toward the front at an angle of about fifteen degrees from the horizontal, while the platform remains free to be tilted forward on the pivot to the horizontal and further tilted downward toward the front. In a first embodiment of the invention, an elongate, springy bar stands upright at the first end of the platform, the base of the bar being set into the crosspiece halfway across the width of the platform, from which point the springy bar extends upward behind and well above the back of the shoe. A slippery surfaced shoehorn is mounted slidingly on the springy bar, vertically adjustable and removable, so that its lower end can be set partway down into the heel of the shoe, the shoehorn then extending upward and rearward behind and if above the back of the shoe to its attachment point on the slippery bar. A crossbar is attached to the upright springy bar, behind and near the top of the shoehorn but not connected to it, the crossbar reaching horizontally across the width of the platform below it. A sidewall is attached along each long side of the platform, each sidewall supporting a pulley positioned at crossbar height and preferably about a quarter of the length of the platform forward from the first end of the platform. A strong cord (“donner cord”) is attached to each end of the crossbar, from which each donner cord extends horizontally forward to and around the underside of each pulley and thence upward where both donner cords are preferably attached to form one loop which can be readily grasped by the user. Upward pull on the donner cord loop pulls the crossbar forward while the pull on the donner cord loop also pulls up on the back of the shoe donner. Notches in each sidewall hold a cord (“tongue cord”), crossing from one sidewall to the other, above and forward of the exposed tip of the shoe tongue, to which tongue cord is attached a tongue clip shapeable to clasp the exposed tip of the shoe tongue, the tongue cord being adjustable in tension to pull upward on the the tongue clip and thus pull the shoe tongue slightly upward even though the shoe is already tied. The tongue clip has a slippery underside to reduce friction on the instep of the foot being driven into the shoe. A string (“release string”) is attached to one end of the tongue cord and extended upward to where the release string can be grasped to pull the tongue clip off and out of the way once the shoe is donned, and a second release string is similarly arranged from the top of the shoehorn to enable its extraction from the shoe. The shoehorn, tongue clip and toe clamp may be formed of metal, strong plastic or fiber-plastic composites, while the body of the shoe donner may preferably be formed of wood fiber composites, plywoods or metal.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the shoe donner is widened and refitted to accommodate a pair of shoes, side by side, so that both shoes can be made ready in advance for donning. The springy bar and crosspiece of the first embodiment are replaced by a single strong plate (“driver plate”) hinge-attached across the first end of the widened platform, the driver plate supporting two shoehorns adjustably fixed ready for insertion into the shoes. The sidewalls are replaced by one center wall between the shoes, eliminating sidewall interference with moving the foot in from the side to insert it in the shoe. The center wall supports a first pulley, from which the donner cord runs rearward and around a second pulley attached behind the top of the driver plate, the donner cord then running forward again to the center wall, providing a mechanical advantage of two. As before, the donner cord extends upward from the first pulley to a reachable height, whereby the user's upward pull now drives the driver plate and both shoehorns forward. The center wall has a vertical extension high enough that each tongue clip can be strung on a single tongue cord which, being adjustably held at the top of the center wall, can pull near-vertically upward on the tongue clip.
These and other details and usage aspects of the invention will be better understood with reference to the drawings and detailed description that follows.
The preferred floor plate 10 can rest on the floor F with its front end against a wall (not shown) to keep the shoe donner 1 from sliding during foot insertion. A full length mirror on the wall enables a user in a chair or wheelchair to see the foot and shoe donner 1, very helpfully.
Referring further to
In trials, the shoe donning operation succeeds with common shoes tied in advance, albeit not too snugly tied. Donning some shoes (notably the “slip on” loafer types, but more) may not even need the use of the tongue clip 8. However, some shoes cannot be donned if tied, including some “hook and loop” Velcro™ strapped shoes favoured especially by older and handicapped people. In such a case the shoe can be set ready with strap open, allowing the tongue clip 8 to pull the tongue area well up to enable donning. Then, the user can ideally close the strap well enough (trials are showing) by use of a pincer-equipped long stick—preferably a modified version of the simple hook-ended stick noted earlier.
Some users might be unable to press the foot down strongly enough to keep the shoe donner 1 from rocking forward too much, or even lifting off the floor, as the donner cords 5a are pulled upward. Accordingly, the donner cords 5a may be made long enough, and joined as one, that a seated user could first lean forward and loop the donner cord over their head and thence around the back of their neck or upper back. Then the user simply sits up straight to pull up on the looped donner cord 5a—able to pull more strongly in that manner—while holding the leg down near the knee with hand or forearm.
Referring again to
(Having a peg in the wall, just above the floor—or simply using the bottom frame of the aforementioned mirror—enables placing the front of the floor plate 10 under same so that removing the shod foot does not lift the shoe donner 1 off the floor—although limited trials showed no such problem).
Preparation: A preferred method of readying the shoe for donning in advance is now described, wherewith the user does not have to reach down to floor level. The shoe donner 1 is lifted onto a bed or other usably elevated plane by means of the donner cords 5a (reachably hung following prior usage). On the bed, the shoe S is set in the shoe donner 1 and fitted in all details as was discussed and shown in
In trials, the shoe donning operation succeeds with common shoes tied in advance, albeit not too snugly tied. Donning some shoes (notably the “slip on” loafer types, but more) do not even need the use of the tongue clip 8. However, some shoes cannot be donned if tied, and this includes some “hook and loop” Velcro® strapped shoes favoured especially by older and handicapped people. In such a case the shoe can be set ready with strap open, allowing the tongue clip 8 to pull the tongue area well up. With foot shod and removed from the shoe donner 1, the strap can be closed adequately by use of the same hooked-ended stick as noted above (not shown). In a further improvement (also not shown), the driver plate 11 can initially be slanted further back to lower its height to ease foot insertion, wherewith the shoehorn 6′ would be made in a “telescoping” fashion to reach forward over the top of the shoe heel.
Trials also show a problem with some very flexible shoes with soft soles: Holding the shoe at the toe may be insufficient to avoid crumpling of the shoe as the tongue clip 8 is pulled forward. Accordingly. (not shown) improvements are being considered at the shoe heel to lock the shoe in place there, and/or to heighten the curb 2a to just above the back of the shoe and top the curb with a small slippery plate extending barely ahead of the back of the shoe and bendable slightly down to hold the top of the back of the shoe, removably. The “shoehorn” piece 6′ is shortened so as to push forward over this slippery plate, not protruding down into the shoe heel but simply driving the foot heel forward sufficiently to allow it to slip over this slippery plate and down into the shoe.
Various changes and modifications may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined in the appended claims. The pulleys could simply be slippery knobs or grooves, for example, improving cost and durability. The pull mechanism could be changed to a push mechanism, and either could be motorized to make the shoe donner even more broadly helpful.