This application is a U.S. National Stage Entry of International Patent Application Serial Number PCT/EP2018/068590, filed Jul. 10, 2018, which claims priority to European Patent Application No. EP 17194815.1, filed Oct. 4, 2017, and German Patent Application No. DE 10 2017 212 019.3, filed Jul. 13, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure generally relates to stairlifts.
WIPO Patent Publication No. WO 2013/129923 A1 discloses a stairlift with a chair. A drive unit travels along at least one guide rail. A leveling mechanism is provided to hold the chair always in a horizontal orientation, even if the inclination angle of the guide rail is changing along the path of travel. In particular the rail of such lifts has a curved shape, like shown in FIG. 3 of WIPO Patent Publication No. WO 2015/052489 A1.
When the stairlift is not in use, the chair takes up space. Thus a need exists for an improved stairlift.
Although certain example methods and apparatus have been described herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is not limited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope of the appended claims either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. Moreover, those having ordinary skill in the art will understand that reciting “a” element or “an” element in the appended claims does not restrict those claims to articles, apparatuses, systems, methods, or the like having only one of that element, even where other elements in the same claim or different claims are preceded by “at least one” or similar language. Similarly, it should be understood that the steps of any method claims need not necessarily be performed in the order in which they are recited, unless so required by the context of the claims. In addition, all references to one skilled in the art shall be understood to refer to one having ordinary skill in the art.
The inventive stairlift comprises
One advantage of the inventive stairlift lies in the opportunity to fold the chair, thus reducing the space occupied by the chair during a non-use period.
In some examples, measured from a center of a rail in side view
This improves the space efficiency during non-use.
In some examples, measured from a center of a rail in side view
This improves the space efficiency during the folding process. In particular, during folding/unfolding the footrest does not occupy more space in the frontal direction than in the unfolded position. Thus ensuring that during folding, the footrest does not hit any obstacles which it does not hit during normal operation.
In some examples, during the folding process of the chair the footrest body is automatically folded into its folded state. No additional action is necessary by the user to fold the footrest body.
In some examples during the unfolding process of the chair the footrest body is not automatically unfolded into its unfolded state, in particular, the folding mechanism comprising a footrest steering lever for selectively activating the unfolding process of the footrest body can be operated in either a manual or in an actuator driven manner.
Requiring a separate unfolding action by the user in the unfolding procedure, improves the ergonomics and the safety of the folding mechanism. In the opposite case the footrest would be unfolded automatically; but since the footrest is heavily protruding in the frontal direction, this could cause hurt to a user during unfolding. Therefore, it is preferred that the footrest is adapted to be unfolded upon a user action, i.e. pressing a button or shifting a lever.
In some examples the folding mechanism comprises a leg control lever arranged parallel to the seat body, in particular arranged between the base body and the leg body. The folding mechanism is adapted so that that during folding of the seat body (i.e. moving rearwards), this causes the footrest control lever to be pushed downwards causing the footrest body to also move rearwards.
The folding mechanism is adapted so that the longitudinal shifting of the leg control lever is initiated by a lifting of the seat body in the upward direction. Lifting can be done manually or induced by an actuator in particular a motor. Lifting can be supported by an actuator pushing the leg control lever particularly in the forward direction. A spring may be provided, counteracting any gravitational force of the chair components, and in particular save energy when driving an actuator.
In some examples the folding mechanism comprises a footrest control lever arranged parallel to the leg body, in particular arranged between the seat body and the footrest body. The folding mechanism is adapted so that during folding the footrest control lever is longitudinally shifted relative to the leg body, causing the footrest body to rotate in an upward direction.
In some examples during unfolding, in particular unfolding which is caused by an unlocked soft lock, the footrest body remains initially in a folded state during unfolding of the seat. The footrest may then be unfolded by a separate activation, either manually or electrically.
In some examples the longitudinal shifting of the footrest control lever is initiated by a rotation of the leg body in rearward direction. In particular a forward movement of the leg control lever is initiated relative to the seat body, causing the footrest control lever to move downward, which in turn initiates the footrest folding rearwards.
In some examples the folding mechanism comprises a knee lock mechanism, which is adapted to prevent the leg body from being folded when the chair, in particular the seat body, is in its unfolded position. In particular the knee lock mechanism is pushed into a locking position by the seat body. Without the knee lock mechanism, the leg control lever would be charged with a heavy torsional load; the lock may prevent this and thus increases stability and service life. The knee lock mechanism allows the leg control lever to be designed more compactly, thus improving the compact dimensions of the chair in the folded state.
In some examples the knee lock mechanism has a locking bar, which is can be shifted between a locking position and an unlocking position. In the locking position the locking bar is adapted to interact with a locking face attached to the leg body, thereby preventing rotation of the leg body, in particular relative to the seat body and/or the base body.
In some examples the folding mechanism comprises a footrest control lever arranged parallel to the leg body and connected to the base seat body and the footrest body, wherein the folding mechanism is adapted so that during folding the footrest control lever is longitudinally moved relative to the leg body, which causes the footrest body to rotate against the leg body. Same may apply during unfolding; however during unfolding there may be a different functionality as described later.
In some examples the folding mechanism comprises a footrest control lever lock for selectively establishing and releasing a rotational fixed connection between the footrest body and the seat body by the footrest control lever. In particular the footrest control lever lock is adapted so that a rotational fixed connection is established when the folding process is started, and/or the footrest control lever lock is adapted so that the rotational fixed connection is released when the unfolding process is started.
This feature describes a possibility to make sure that during unfolding the chair the footrest is not automatically unfolded as described above. The footrest control lever lock thereby may only provide an unfolding drive force to the footrest body when the lock is locked. In the unlocked state the footrest control lever is not able to turn the footrest body in its unfolded state.
In some examples, the footrest body is longitudinally adjustable, and in particular the footrest control lever is longitudinally adjustable. This provides a possibility to adjust the chair to the length of the person. A taller person may require a longer leg body than a shorter person. If an adjustable footrest body is provided, the footrest control lever needs also to be adjustable.
In particular the footrest control lever has
The chair is described in more detail with reference to
The seat body 30 is foldable along a seat axis S fixed to the base body 20 by a seat joint 31. The seat joint 31 is located at a rearward section of the seat body 30.
The chair comprises a footrest body 50, on which during travel a user can rest his feet on. For attaching the footrest body 50 at the rest of the chair 8 a leg body 40 is provided attaching the footrest body 50 to the seat body 30. The leg body 40 is foldable along a leg axis L fixed to the seat body 30 by a leg joint 41. The leg joint 41 is located at an upper section of the leg body 40 and at a forward section of the seat body 30.
The footrest body 50 is foldable along a footrest axis F fixed to the leg body 40 by a footrest joint 51. The footrest joint 51 is located at a lower section of the leg body 40 and at a rearward section of the footrest body 50.
The terms rearward, forward, upward, downward are relative to a user's point of view when sitting on the unfolded chair. The corresponding directions “rearward direction r”, “forward direction f”, “upward direction u” and “downward direction d” are shown in
For causing the folding of the respective bodies 30, 40, 50 several control levers 32, 42, 52 are provided. Further an actuator 33 and a gas spring 34 is provided.
The gas spring 34 is attached to the base body 20 and at a rearward section of the seat body 30. The gas spring 34 is adapted to provide a push force between its attachment points at the base body 20 and at the seat body 30. The gas spring 34 is arranged to press on the seat body 30 when in the folded state. The gas spring 34 is not strong enough by itself to fold the seat from the unfolded into folded state. Thus, the seat is kept unfolded while in the unfolded state (
Lifting of the seat body 30 can be initiated manually. Once the user lifts the seat body 30 manually until the equilibrium situation is reached, the gas spring 34 pushes the seat body 30 further upwards into the folded state (see
Located primarily parallel to the seat body 30 is a leg control lever 42. The leg control lever 42 is rotatably attached to a seat control lever 32 (attached at the base body 20) and to an upward section of the leg body 40. The leg control lever 42 is attached to the leg body 40 above the leg joint 41. So, upon lifting of the seat body 30 the leg control lever 42 is pushed in a forward direction (arrow P1 in
Located primarily parallel to the leg body 40 is a footrest control lever 52. The footrest control lever 52 cooperates with a footrest steering lever 53 and is further attached to a rearward section of the footrest body 50, the footrest steering lever 53 is connected to footrest control lever 52 via footrest control bracket 511. The footrest control lever 52 is attached to the footrest body 50, rearward to the footrest joint 51. When folding the leg body 40 rearward (arrow P2 in
Particularly in this embodiment the footrest steering lever 53, which is located at the seat body 30, is kept in place relative to seat body 30 during folding. Consequently the footrest control bracket 511 is not rotated relative to the seat body 30 during folding. Consequently the footrest control bracket 511 is rotated relative to the leg body 40, thus pushing the footrest control lever 52 downwards d (see arrow P3 in
Due to the geometrical conditions, the footrest body 50 is folded into a vertical orientation already before the seat body 30 has reached its final vertical orientation (see
The optional actuator 33 is attached at the seat body 30 and cooperates with the leg control lever 42, which is partially toothed for interacting with a gearwheel of the actuator 33. In an alternative embodiment the actuator 33 may be a linear actuator. Upon activating the actuator 33 the motor pushes the leg control lever 42 in the forward direction f, which in turn results in pushing force of the seat body 30 in forward direction f. As described some paragraphs earlier, this forward movement of the seat body in turn initiates the gas spring to overcome the equilibrium situation, thus supporting the seat body 30 when folding upwards.
Consequently, all steps during folding can be seen in
To support users of different size the leg body 40 is adapted to be adjustable in its length. Therefore the leg body 40 has an leg upper body 40U and a leg lower body 40L. The leg upper body 40U and the leg lower body 40L are connected to each other by a non shown snap lock device, which provides a fixation between the leg upper body 40U and the leg lower body 40L at discrete positions.
Corresponding thereto, the footrest control lever 52 is adjustable in its length, as shown in detail in
The softlock 55 is adapted to provide a well defined locking force. As long as the downward acting pushing force transmitted by the footrest control lever 52 is below a predefined level, the softlock 55 provides a fixed connection between the footrest upper control lever 52U and the footrest lower control lever 52L (softlock 55 is locked). As soon as the pushing force transmitted by the footrest control lever 52 is above a predefined level, the softlock pin 56 is pushed out of the respective hole 56 and the fixed connection is released (softlock 55 is unlocked). Then the footrest upper control lever 52U and the footrest lower control lever 52L can be shifted laterally free relative to each other until the pin 56 engages the previously engaged hole or another hole.
This mechanism is also used during adjusting the overall length of the leg body 40. During changing the length of the leg body, the leg upper body and the leg lower body are telescoped by applying a push or pull force. This push or pull force is also acting on the soft lock, thereby causing, under certain circumstances, the softlock to unlock. The length of the footrest control lever 52 is then adjusted according to the length adjustment of the leg body 40. As soon as the leg body 40 reaches one of the predetermined discrete length positions, then the softlock pin 56 is in an overlapping condition with another hole 56. Therefore distance of the discrete length position of the leg body 40 corresponds to the distance of the holes 56 at the leg control lever 52.
The softlock 55 is also utilized during the folding process. In
During unfolding, the softlock 55 is still unlocked. So when the seat body 30 and the leg body 40 start turning into their unfolded position (
The locking bar 71 is pivotably supported by a locking bar joint 76. In this example the locking bar joint 76 is attached to the seat body 30 interfacing with the base body 20 and the leg body 40. A second end 73 of the locking bar 71 abuts in the locking position against the base body 20. When the seat body 30 is in the unfolded position, the seat base 30 pushes the locking bar 71 against the base body 20, causing the first end 72 to be pushed down against the locking face 74.
During folding the chair 9, the seat body 30 is lifted upwards u. Now the seat body 30 pulls the locking bar 71 upwards away from the leg body 40 (see arrow P6 in
When the locking bar 71 is in its locked position, the leg body 30 cannot rotate against the seat body 30. So the leg control lever 42 is discharged from any tensile load acting on the leg body 40 and the base body 20. Heavy loads may apply for example, if a person is standing on the footrest body 50.
1 stairlift
2 rail
3 stairs
4 first landing area
5 second landing area
6 drive unit
7 carrier
8 chair
9 folding mechanism
10 backrest body
20 base body
30 seat body
31 seat joint
32 seat control lever
33 actuator
34 gas spring
35 cushion
40 leg body (connecting footrest body with seat body)
40U leg upper body
40L leg lower body
41 leg joint
42 leg control lever
50 footrest body
51 footrest joint
52 footrest control lever
52U footrest upper control lever
52L footrest lower control lever
52S shift piece
53 footrest steering lever
54 footrest steering handle
55 footrest control lever lock mechanism/softlock
56 holes
57 blocking pin
58 softlock bracket
59 steering bracket
510 footrest supporting spring
511 footrest control bracket
512 centering spring
60 armrest body
70 knee lock mechanism
71 locking bar
72 locking bar first end
73 locking bar second end
74 locking face
75 extension spring
76 locking bar joint
D path of travel
S seat axis
L leg axis
F footrest axis
C “Curve of footrest” during folding process
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
10 2017 212 019.3 | Jul 2017 | DE | national |
17194815 | Oct 2017 | EP | regional |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/EP2018/068590 | 7/10/2018 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2019/011884 | 1/17/2019 | WO | A |
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Entry |
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First Office Action in foreign Chinese counterpart patent application No. 201880046495.8, dated Nov. 24, 2020, listing the above identified references that have not yet been submitted in an IDS for this application. |
English Translation of International Search Report issued in PCT/EP2018/068590, dated Oct. 9, 2018 (dated Oct. 16, 2018). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20200172378 A1 | Jun 2020 | US |