WO1993024089A1 - Body-support platform for a bath lift - Google Patents

Abstract

Proposed is a body-support platform suitable for a bath lift which can be fitted even in ordinary bathrooms in flats. In bathrooms of this kind, space is usually very restricted since the area next to the bath also includes a washbasin and WC, etc. In order to make it nevertheless possible to swing the support platform (3) out to the side for a person to go on or come off the platform (3), the foot end (30) of the platform (3) is designed so that its length can be adjusted, the length adjustment being functionally linked to the swinging motion out to the side.

Description

 Bathing bed

The invention relates to a bathing bed according to the preamble of the independent claim.

Similar bath loungers are known from US Pat. No. 3,914,808 and CH-570,937, with a frame made of a telescopically extendable column in which a hydraulic working cylinder is installed, for lifting and lowering the bath lounger. This design always requires a relatively massive lifting device and a voluminous size. the swivel bearing for swiveling the bathing bed out to the side for the repositioning of persons places special demands on such constructions. In CH 570'937 the elevator is connected to the upper end of a rotatable piston rod of the lifting drive. In the extended state, the piston rod is designed only over a fraction of its length. This creates high bearing forces and considerable friction. In all of these bathing beds, the bed is rotated about an axis in such a way that in the swung-out state, which is necessary for reloading a bather, the entire bed is outside the bath tub. It is evident that the space thus occupied is outside the bathtub once again corresponds to at least the entire length of the bathing couch including the mechanism In usual bathrooms, however, there are usually wash basins and other installations in the immediate vicinity of the bathtub.

The object of the invention is to provide a bath lift which can also be used in small bath rooms with limited conditions, such as are present in normal apartments, for example. However, the possibility of swiveling out to the side should be fully guaranteed.

This object is achieved by the device specified in the claims.

The bath lounger according to the invention is described below in connection with the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a bathing lounger with a bathing person in a perspective view.

Figure 2 shows the bath lounger with footrest in a bath tub lowered in side view.

Figure 3 shows the swivel mechanism with the footrest retracted in the swung-out state of the bathing chair from above. Figure 4 shows another embodiment with an additional modified pivot mechanism.

In Figure 1, a bath lounger with bathers and bathtub is shown. At one end of a bathtub, a frame 1 is mounted on a wall or set up free-standing. An elevator frame 2 can be raised and lowered on this frame 1. This elevator frame 2 holds a bathing bed 3, consisting of a seat 3a, an auxiliary arm with a handle and control device 3c and an additional backrest 3b.

In Figure 2 the bathing couch is shown from the side. A frame 1 is fixedly mounted on a wall B on an end face of a bath tub A. At the upper and lower end of the frame 1 there are pivot hinges 4 which hold an elevator frame 2 pivotable to one side about a vertical axis. At the top of the frame 1 there is a drive 4 for swinging the elevator frame 2 in and out. This is preferably a linear drive. In the elevator frame 2 there is an elevator mechanism, not shown here, which serves to raise and lower the bathing bed 3, the bathing bed 3 sliding up and down like a slide on the elevator frame 2. The bathing couch 3 is in the lowered state inside the bath tub A. It consists of the seat 3a and an auxiliary arm with a handle and control device 3c and the end 30 on the foot side. A backrest 3b can be supplied as an additional part. The function of the length adjustment C of the foot-side end 30 described below is only hinted at here. The bathing bed 3 is lifted up by the elevator mechanism for loading and unloading on the elevator frame 2, so that it is located above the bath tub, whereupon the elevator frame 2 and with it the bathing bed 3 is pivoted out to one side about the hinges 4.

FIG. 2a shows the same arrangement in the laterally pivoted-out state. The frame 1 is located at the end of a bath tub A. The elevator frame 2 is pivoted laterally out of the area of the bath tub A about the hinges 4 away from the frame 1 and the bathing bed 3 is thereby also located next to the bath tub. The foot-side end 30 is in a shortened position of the length adjustment C. The swung-out bathing bed 3 is shown in broken lines in a raised position D and with solid lines in a deeply lowered position E. The anatomically inclined backrest 3b allows the bathing couch 3 to be lowered to such an extent that it can also be lower than the edge of the bath tub in the pivoted-out state. As a result, the height of the bathing bed 3 can be individually adapted to the height of a wide variety of aids for reloading patients.

In FIG. 3, the mode of operation of the length adjustment C of the foot rest designed as a footrest 38 with footrests 42 is end 30 explained. The bathing bed 3 is drawn on the one hand transversely to the bathtub A in the pivoted-out position, on the other hand it is indicated by dashed lines in the pivoted-in position. The frame 1 is attached to a wall of the front of the bathtub A. The elevator frame 2 is pivoted out approximately at a right angle about the swivel hinges 4, so that the backrest 3b of the bathing bed 3 is approximately parallel to the longitudinal side of the bath tub. The frame of the seat surface 3a is designed on both sides as a telescopic tube 37. The foot-side end 30 consists of a basically U-shaped rod or tube, which protrude with its lateral ends 31 into the tubes 37 of the seat surface 3a and are held and guided by them. Pads 41 connect the two lateral ends 31 of the footrest 38. They take up the weight of the bather's legs. At the front at the foot end 30, on its underside, there is an articulation 32. The articulation 32 is articulated by means of a horizontal control rod 33 or a control cable 43 to an articulation 34 on the frame 1. In the swung-out state of the bathing couch 3, the foot end 30 is now drawn into the telescopic tubes 37 by a length 36 with the lateral ends 31, so that the bathing couch 3 has a minimal length and therefore takes up little space next to the bath tub. When the bathing bed 3 is swiveled in in the direction of the bath tub, the control rod 33, 33 'continuously extends the foot end 30, 30' up to the maximum length 36 ', in that the footrest 38 slowly separates from the telescopic tubes 37. be pushed out wisely. In the position of the reclining seat parallel to the bathtub, that is to say in the bathing position, the footrest 38 is at its maximum length. For geometric reasons, the maximum displacement length 36 'corresponds approximately to the width of the bathing bed. Instead of the control rod 33, 33 ', a cable pull 43, 43' can also be used, but then springs 35 must be arranged in the telescopic tubes 37, 37 'or at a suitable location, which provide the restoring force for the footrest 38. The cable 43, 43 'can only bring the footrest 38 into the shortened position. The articulation of the cable 43, 43 'is basically the same as that of the control rod 33, 33'. It goes without saying that in a simpler embodiment, not shown, the cable pull 43 is guided onto a cable pulling-in device via deflection rollers instead of at a fixed linkage 34. Such a cable pull-in device can be attached to the side of the bathing bed 3 or to the elevator frame 2 and can be driven by hand or by motor. However, incorrect manipulation cannot be ruled out, since the length adjustment is not automatically coupled with the swiveling out, but must be operated on its own. Instead of a telescopic construction, the extensibility can also be designed as a scissor-type linkage.

A further variant consists in that the foot-side end 30 is mounted on two guide rods, which in Guides are slidably mounted on the longitudinal bars of the bathing bed. Such an extension on the foot side can easily be operated by hand by means of a lever which projects laterally with respect to the lying surface of the bathing bed.

FIG. 4a and FIG. 4b show an example of another embodiment which allows the displacement length 36 to be increased significantly, so that even less space outside the bathtub is required when the bathing bed 3 is pivoted out laterally. However, it requires a somewhat different type of swivel joint 4 in that the vertical swivel axis is designed to be horizontally displaceable. In this embodiment too, the pivoting out is preferably carried out by linear motors. On the frame 1, on the side to which the bathing bed 3 can be pivoted, a swivel joint 4 is attached, which with a holding stand 50 via a second swivel joint 4 'with the bathing bed 3 at a distance corresponding approximately to the width of the bathing bed 3 from the elevator frame connected is. On the opposite side of the frame 1, a guide bracket 51 is attached approximately at the height of the backrest 3b at right angles to the frame 1 and parallel to the longitudinal side of the bathtub. The guide bracket 51 has a U-shaped cross section to slidably receive a roller 52 therein. The roller 52 is firmly attached to the side of the elevator frame 2 and engages in the U-profile of the guide holder 51, in which it can move. When swiveling the bathing bed 3 the roller 52 is pushed outwards in the guide holder 51 away from the frame 1. The bathing bed 3 swivels backwards about the swivel hinge 4 ′, guided and carried by the holder 50, which swivels around the swivel hinge 4 at the same time. The bathing bed 3 thus rotates until it assumes a position transverse to the bathtub. The holding rod 50 is now in a position approximately parallel to the frame 1 and the roller 52 is located at the end of the guide holder 51 remote from the frame 1. The length adjustment C is carried out, as shown in FIG. 3, with a cable 43, 43 'and telescopic springs 35. In contrast to FIG. 3, the cable pull 43, 43' is articulated on the one hand on the frame 1 on the swivel-out side in a position 45 and on the other hand also on the articulation 32 of the footrest 38 44 on the elevator frame pulls the cable, pivots it by the pivoting movement and pulls the footrest 38 back into the telescopic tubes 37. The maximum displacement length of the footrest 38 is therefore about 1.4 times the width of the elevator frame for purely geometric reasons. The advantage of this embodiment is that the maximum displacement length C is very large and, at the same time, the bathing bed is pivoted backwards over the bathtub, which takes up even less free space next to the bathtub. However, this decisive advantage is bought with a somewhat more complex swivel mechanism.

Claims

PATENT CLAIMS 1. bathing lounger with a free-standing or wall-mounted frame (1) and an elevator frame (2) pivotally connected to it about a vertical axis and a sled-like lifting lounger (3) on the elevator frame (2), characterized in that the foot-side end (30) of the bathing bed is variable in length and is provided with a footrest. 2. Bathing bed according to claim 1, characterized in that the foot end (3) is held in a telescopic length adjustment (c) on the bathing bed. 3. Bathing couch according to claim 1, characterized in that the foot end ^• (30) is held with a scissor-like length adjustment on the bathing couch. 4. Bathing couch according to one of claims 2 or 3, characterized ge indicates that the foot end of the bathing couch (3) is operatively connected to the elevator frame (2) such that the change in length is coupled with the pivoting movement of the bathing couch. 5. Bathing couch according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized ge indicates that springs (36) push the foot end (39) of the bathing couch (3) into a maximum length, wherein a cable (43) connects the foot end (39) to the frame (1) and determines the maximum length. 6. Bathing bed according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized ge indicates that a control rod (33) is pivotally attached to the foot end (30) and connected to the frame (1) in such a way that it determines the length of the length adjustment. 7. Bathing couch according to one of claims 4 to 6, characterized ge indicates that the vertical pivot axis of the lift frame (2) in the frame (1) is arranged horizontally displaceable. 8. Bathing couch according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized ge indicates that a linear drive between the frame (1) and the elevator frame (2) is arranged such that it pivots.