GB2295602A

GB2295602A - Device For Moving A Person

Info

Publication number: GB2295602A
Application number: GB9524594A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Scheppingen Matheas Robert Van
Original assignee: Careflex Holding BV
Current assignee: Careflex Holding BV
Priority date: 1994-12-01
Filing date: 1995-12-01
Publication date: 1996-06-05
Anticipated expiration: 2015-12-01
Also published as: GB2295602B; NL9402027A; NL192602B; BE1009019A3; FR2727622B3; FR2727622A3; GB9524594D0; DE29519119U1

Abstract

Invalid moving device (1) for moving a person from a prostrate to a sitting position or vice versa. It is proposed that the sling (8) used for this purpose is not attached directly to a tilt lever but that hingeable connecting elements (6) or coupling elements are placed between them. The sling holding arm is constructed as consisting of two arm sections (4, 5,) which move at variable speed as a result of the presence of a transmission which may be gears (12 to 14) or links (15 to 17, Fig. 5), between them. The arms are rotatably mounted on a vertical shaft (3) held by a support (2). <IMAGE>

Description

Device and method for moving a person The present invention relates to a device for bringing a person from a sitting to a prostrate position or vice versa, comprising a support construction on which a supporting bar rotatable about an essentially vertical shaft is arranged, comprising at least first and second arm sections which extend in opposing directions and are rotatable about an essentially horizontal shaft, for connection to a sling.

A device of this type is disclosed in Netherlands openbaarmaking (laid open application) 189 945. In this device an arm which is pivotable about a horizontal -shaft is attached to the support construction. This arm is a single continuous part and the ends thereof are fixed to the sling in the vicinity of the limits thereof. This implies that on tilting, the sling makes a movement which essentially corresponds to the tilt movement of the arm.

It has been found that, as a result, it is not possible to achieve a state of equilibrium in every position.

Consequently, the sling, with the person located within it, will always tend to move back to a certain position.

In order to avoid this undesirable effect, the device described above is therefore provided with a brake.

It has been found that a brake of this type makes the device more complex, has a restricted service life and makes handling of the device more difficult. The operating means for the brake must, after all, as far as possible be reachable in every position, but, despite this, must not present any risk of injury.

The aim of the present invention is so to construct the device described above that it is no longer necessary to use a brake.

This aim is achieved with a device as described above in that the first arm section, which serves to support the shoulder region of the person, has a connecting element hingeably connected thereto, which connecting element, at the other end, is hingeably connected to the sling and has a length greater than that of said first arm section. By making at least the arm section which, in combination with the fixing point, provides for support of the shoulders of the person in the sling, of articulated construction by fitting a connecting element, movement of the person from a prostrate to a sitting position1 or vice versa, takes place in such a way that the centre of gravity of the person remains in essentially the same position.As a result it is no longer necessary to fit braking means because the device no longer has a preferred position if a person is accommodated in the sling.

Further refinement of the inventive concept is obtained by the measures as described in sub-claims 2.5.

If, moreover, the arm is no longer constructed as a single part but as two arm sections coupled to one another, further stabilisation can 'be obtained. Coupling of the arm sections is preferably effected by means of a fixed transmission ratio, such that the arm section which comes in the vicinity of the fixing point on the sling towards the shoulder region of the patient moves at a higher speed than does the arm section which provides the connection to the fixing point on the sling in the region of the pelvis of the person to be moved. As a result of the length ratio of these arm sections specified in Claims 2-5, this ultimately results in a greater movement of the fixing point of the sling in the vicinity of the pelvis than of the fixing point on the sling in the vicinity of the shoulders.

The transmission between the two arm sections can comprise any transmission disclosed in the prior art, such as a toothed wheel transmission or rod system.

The invention also relates to a method for moving a person from a prostrate to a sitting position or vice versa, comprising placing said person in a sling and fixing said sling at at least two points, one in the vicinity of the shoulders and the other in the vicinity of the pelvis of the person, to a hoist device, the shoulder region being brought upwards and the pelvic region downwards, the hoist device being of such construction that, during lifting, the fixing point in the vicinity of the pelvis travels over a distance at least twice as great as that travelled by the fixing point in the vicinity of the shoulders.

The invention will be explained in more detail below with the aid of illustrative embodiments shown in the drawing. In the drawing: Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of the device according to the invention; Fig. 2 shows a detail of the device according to rig. I with the person in the prostrate position; Fig. 3 shows the detail according to Fig. 2 with the person in a virtually sitting position; Fig. 4 shows a detail of the device according to Figs 2 and 3; Fig. 5 shows a variant of the detail according to Fig. 4.

The device according to the present invention is indicated in its entirety by 1 in Fig. 1. This device consists of a support construction, indicated by the numeral 2, provided with wheels, which are not shown in more detail.

A device of thie type is used in particular in old people's homes, nursing homes and hospitals to move patients from a bed into a chair andior onto a toilet and vice versa.

A vertical shaft 3, about which a supporting bar 11 is able to hinge, is fixed to the support device 2. Arm sections 4 and 5 are arranged on supporting bar 11. Arm section 4 is a straight rod, whilst arm section 5 is an annular construction. An inverted U-shaped connecting rod 6 is hingeably fixed to arm section 4. The hinge between arm section 4 and connecting rod 6 is indicated by 10. The connecting rod 6 is provided in the vicinity of the ends with fixing points 18 for fixing to lugs 9 of a sling 8. At the end in the vicinity of the pelvis, this sling 8 is provided with a coupling strap 7, which can engage on fixing points 19 of arm section 5.

As can be seen from Figs 2 and 3, the arm sections are arranged such that they are hingeable about a horizontal shaft in supporting bar 11 and are connected to one another via a toothed wheel system 12, 13, 14. In particular, it can be seen from Fig. 4 that toothed wheel 14 is substantially smaller than the other two toothed wheels. Preferably, the ratio of toothed wheel 12 to toothed wheel 14 is 4:3. The lengths of arm section 4 and arm section 5 are preferably so chosen that arm section 5 is approximately 3.35 times as long as arm section 4.

Fig. 5 shows a variant in which the toothed wheel transmission is replaced by a rod system. Arm section 5 is provided with an extension 15, whilst arm section 4 is provided with extension 17 of a different length (ratio 4:3).

These extensions are connected to one another via a connecting rod 16.

It has been found that with the construction described above it is possible to move the patient from the position shown in Fig. 2 into the position shown in Fig. 3 without the centre of gravity changing substantially in position. The consequence of this is that it is no longer necessary to fit brakes and the sling and/or one of the arm sections can be grasped in any arbitrary position in order to move the person concerned. Operation is appreciably simplified as a result.

Although the values described above for the various transmissions and length ratios are preferred, it must be understood that these values can be varied within a wide range. The length ratio, described above, of arm section 5 to arm section 4 can lie within the range between 2 and 4.5.

Similarly, it is possible to propose different transmission mechanisms between the various arm sections.

During operation, it is found that the device according to the present invention travels a distance in the vicinity of the pelvis which is at least twice as great as the distance travelled in the vicinity of the shoulder region.

It must be understood that within the scope of the appended claims many variants are possible for those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. Device (1) for bringing a person from a sitting to a prostrate position or vice versa, comprising a support construction (2) on which a supporting bar (11) rotatable about an essentially vertical shaft (3) is arranged, said support bar comprising at least first and second arm sections (4, 5) which extend in opposing directions and are rotatable about an essentially horizontal shaft, for connection to a sling (8), characterised in that the first arm section (4), which serves to support the shoulder region of the person, has a connecting element (6) hingeably connected thereto, which connecting element, at its other end, is hingeably connected to the sling and has a length greater than that of said first arm section (4).

2. Device according to Claim 1, wherein the second arm section (5) which serves to support the pelvic region of the person has a coupling element (7) which is hingeably connected thereto and at the other end is hingeably connected to the sling.

3. Device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the first arm section (4) is substantially shorter than the second arm section (5).

4. Device according to Claim 3, wherein the second arm section (5) is at least twice as long and at most 4.5 times as long as the first arm section.

5. Device according to Claim 3, wherein the second arm section is approximately 3.5 times as long as the first arm section.

6. Device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the arm sections (4, 5) are coupled to one another via a transmission, said transmission being of such construction that the first arm section (4) is moved more rapidly than the second arm section (5).

7. Device according to Claim 6, wherein the movement ratio is 4:3.

8. Device according to Claim 6 or 7, wherein the transmission is arranged at the supporting bar (11) in which the arm sections (4, 5) are hingeably accommodated.

9. Device according to one of Claims 6-8, wherein the transmission comprises a toothed wheel transmission (12, 13, 14).

10. Device according to one of Claims 6-ss, wherein the transmission comprises a rod system (15, 16, 17).

11. Device according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the connected element is of inverted U-shaped construction.

12. Method for moving a person from a prostrate to a sitting position or vice versa, comprising placing said person in a sling ng and fixing said sling at at least-two points, one in the vicinity of the shoulders and the other in the vicinity of the pelvis of the person, to a hoist device, the shoulder region being brought upwards and the pelvic region downwards, characterised in that the hoist device is of such construction that, during lifting, the fixing point in the vicinity of the pelvis travels over a distance at least twice as great as that travelled by the fixing point in the vicinity of the shoulder.

13. A device for bringing a person from a sitting to a prostrate position or vice versa, substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the Figs. 1-4 or 1 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.