AU2008320690A1

AU2008320690A1 - Equipment for signalling the configuration of premises in the dark

Info

Publication number: AU2008320690A1
Application number: AU2008320690A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Gonzague De Raulin; Remy Jaffres
Original assignee: Hill Rom SAS
Current assignee: Hill Rom SAS
Priority date: 2007-10-31
Filing date: 2008-10-30
Publication date: 2009-05-07
Also published as: WO2009056764A1; EP2215619A1; FR2922994A1; FR2922994B1

Description

Equipment for signaling the configuration of premises in the dark The invention relates to equipment for signaling allowing identification of the main structures located in premises in the dark. A particular field of application of the invention is that of equipping a room where a patient stays, such as a hospital room or a room constituting the habitual residence of a person with Alzheimer's disease. An elderly, weak or confused person, especially one with Alzheimer's disease, may experience more difficulties when he is conscious or semi-conscious at night in his unlit room. For example, if a person with Alzheimer's disease wakes up during the night, he might have a prolonged loss of consciousness of the place where he finds himself, resulting in panic. This can result in accidents. On the other hand, leaving the room lit or in dim-light shadows can be an obstacle to falling asleep. The invention allows facing these difficulties. More particularly, the invention relates to equipment for signaling the configuration of premises in the dark, characterized in that it includes a light source whose wavelength is outside the visible spectrum, placed in said premises, and with photoluminescent markers at a considered wavelength placed at selected locations of said premises to emphasize contours and/or preferential routes. In one possible embodiment, said light source emits in the ultraviolet domain. It is known that certain colors, for example in the range of whites, have the desired photoluminescent properties when exposed to ultraviolets of appropriate wavelengths. We can therefore use such markers to highlight the contours of the premises, those of the furniture or of any obstacle that one wishes to make visible. Similar markers can be provided on the ground for materializing preferential routes, for example between a bed and a door, for example, the exit door and/or the bathroom door.

2 According to one possibility, such photoluminescent markers may be formed by adhesive strips at selected locations in the premises, these strips having the appropriate color, as mentioned above. To secure the premises, it therefore suffices to place these strips at the junctions between floor, walls and ceiling, the edges of the main furniture or obstacles, etc. These same strips can be used to materialize on the floor the preferred routes mentioned above. Certain coatings, such as paint or varnish, have the same properties. In this case, they can be used to highlight the edges of the furniture or the contours of the premises. From this point of view, it is particularly important to highlight the doorframes and handles. According to one possibility, such a light source may be constituted by a single lamp in the considered wavelength placed in the upper part of the premises, e.g., the ceiling. In this case, the lamp is able to "illuminate" all the photoluminescent markers that were placed in the premises. According to another possibility, it may be advantageous to incorporate a lamp of this type in the structure of a hospital bed installed in the premises. In this case, the presence of the bed in the premises is one of the conditions to activate or at least strengthen, particularly on the ground, the photoluminescent signaling provided in the premises. The invention will be better understood and other advantages thereof will become more apparent in light of the following description of an installation according to its principle, given solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawing where: - The single figure schematically illustrates a premises, such as a patient's room, equipped with the means of the invention. A room 11 is shown, equipped with a hospital bed 12, an armchair 13, a table 14, a night table 15, a bureau 16 and a shelf 17. The room is accessible by a door 19. The signaling equipment according to the invention includes a light source 21 with selected wavelength, preferably in the ultraviolet domain and photoluminescent markers 25 with selected wavelength. For example, the source is an ultraviolet lamp positioned in the ceiling. Potentially, the hospital bed 12 may itself be 3 equipped with one or more lamps 22 of the same type. These lamps can replace the ceiling-mounted lamp or complement it. The photoluminescent markers are applied at different locations and on certain pieces of furniture. Thus, markers 25a allow visualizing the outline of the armchair. Other markers 25b allow visualizing the contours of the table. Markers 25c allow visualizing the contours of the bureau, markers 25d allow visualizing the contours of the night table. Markers 25e allow visualizing the contours of the shelf. Specifically, markers 25f allow visualizing the contours of the bed itself. Markers 25g allow visualizing the contour of the door and the location of the handle. Other markers 25h are placed at intersections between the ground and the vertical walls and between the ceiling and these same vertical walls; markers 25i are placed to highlight the edges of the vertical walls. Finally, markers such as 25j are placed on the ground to form an unobstructed route between the bed 12 and the door 19. Thus marked, the premises become photoluminescent in the dark at all locations, which allows recognition and, similarly, all the furniture that can form landmarks and/or obstacles are highlighted. Therefore, if the patient wakes up in the dark, he is not deprived of essential guidelines that allow him to remember where he is and secondly, to guide himself if he wants to get up. As indicated above, markers 25 may be embodied by adhesive strips of the desired color or by applications of paint or varnish in selected locations. The furniture may have colored segments on the body to obtain the desired effect.

Claims

1. Equipment for signaling the configuration of premises in the dark, characterized in that it comprises a light source (21, 22) with wavelength located outside the visible spectrum, placed in said premises and with photoluminescent markers at the considered wavelengths (25a, 25j) placed at selected locations of said premises to emphasize contours and/or preferential routes.

2. Equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that said light source (21, 22) emits in the ultraviolet domain.

3. Equipment according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the aforementioned photoluminescent markers are formed by adhesive strips at selected locations in the premises.

4. Equipment according to claim I or 2, characterized in that the aforementioned photoluminescent markers are materialized by a type of paint or varnish coating, applied at selected locations in the premises.

5. Equipment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the photoluminescent markers are placed around a door.

6. Equipment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a photoluminescent marker is placed on a door handle.

7. Equipment according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that such a light source (21) is constituted by a lamp in the chosen wavelength, placed in the upper part of said premises.

8. Equipment according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that such a light source is constituted by a lamp (22) of the selected wavelength integrated into the structure of a bed (12) placed in said premises.