EP1488769B1 - Stand-up wheelchair with removable leg support means - Google Patents

Abstract

The chair has a maintaining unit with two clasp bars (61), each placed on a strut (27) of a foot rest to extend itself, in a working position (T), towards the front of the chair. Each bar has a fixing unit (80) situated, in the working position, at a distance from another strut (27). A removable front support unit for the legs of a user is placed on the unit (80) to extend between the bars.

Description

The present invention relates to wheelchairs used by the disabled and disabled and it aims, indifferently, wheelchairs, folding or not.

The object of the invention is, more particularly, chairs of the kind comprising an articulated structure comprising a backrest, a seat and a footrest associated with a motor member to assist or control the verticalization or lowering of the articulated structure relative to a carrier frame.

These armchairs represent, undoubtedly, a real progress because they make it possible, besides the essential mobilization, the verticalization of the subject, also essential, to avoid the physical degradations resulting from a prolonged maintenance in sitting position.

The prior art proposes a number of solutions for making chairs with an articulated verticalization structure.

These different propositions have their advantages and disadvantages, but in general make it possible to vertise, at least partially, a subject in a correct way.

It has, however, been found that such chairs can not be used by all handicapped or disabled persons. Indeed, for some disabilities or disabilities, the subject does not have enough muscular control or to maintain a stable position against the vertical support plane that represents the high articulated structure of a chair.

In such cases, the verticalization represents a real danger for the subject who, in the absence of self-control, may fall into being driven in lateral displacement or by bending of the legs or even by collapse of the trunk.

However, the possibility of verticalization is important for all disabled or disabled and perhaps even more for those who do not have physical control, as in the cases mentioned above.

To solve this problem, it has been proposed to implement, on the one hand, at the level of the torso, a chest strap attached to the structure of the backrest and, on the other hand, at the level of the legs, a knee strap , fixed on support legs of the footrest and simultaneously supporting both legs of the wheelchair user.

Such thoracic and leg straps must be considered as being able to respond, essentially, to the problem of verticalization and maintenance of the subject in the phases of verticalization and lowering of the articulated structure, so that the body of said subject is appropriately maintained safely.

The decline now available in the use of such uprighting chairs has, however, highlighted the need to improve some of the technical means used to ensure the bodily maintenance and, more particularly, the means of lower maintenance, to ensure the blockage in flexing of the lower limbs of the subject by immobilization of the legs immediately below the knee joint.

Indeed, it was found that it is precisely in these places that the immobilization constraints are the most concentrated and that these constraints are related to the frequency and duration of verticalization, but also with the size and weight of the subject.

For verticalization practices of relatively long duration and succeeding, without intervening intermediate phases in which the subject adopts, for relatively long periods of time, a sitting position, it was found the appearance of trauma or even bedsores , inducing either pain or local damage that is poorly supported by the disabled subject, due, in particular, the propensity of the leg strap to tighten against the other knees of the user.

The need has therefore been felt to be able to remedy this disadvantage.

So, a patent FR 2 813 520 a proposed to implement, as lower body support device, two half-leggings consisting of two arches carried by hinge supports on two uprights supporting the footrest, the two half-leggings being interconnected by a central locking system. The implementation of such a lower body maintenance system effectively reduces the risk of pressure ulcers in the knees and leg support areas leggings, but has, however, the disadvantage of being particularly bulky, especially in sitting position of the chair, even though the use of leggings is no longer necessary.

In addition, when they open, such leggings clutter the side space of the chair. Moreover, such leggings or body support devices lower, significantly increase the weight of the chair upright, so they are not always suitable in the case of a chair with manual drive, for which the user seeks a compromise comfort and lightness.

The document US 4,623,194 discloses another example of a standing chair comprising a lower body support device.

Thus, it appears the need to have a new type of leg support means, which is able to provide satisfactory comfort and, in particular, to provide a solution to the problem posed by the use of a simple holding strap, while not having the disadvantages of weight and bulk attached to the lower body maintenance means proposed by the patent FR 2 813 520 .

In order to meet this need, the invention relates to a chair for disabled and disabled, according to claims 1 to 5, comprising a frame supporting an articulated structure comprising a backrest, a seat, a footrest supported by two amounts and means for maintaining the legs, at least partly removable,

• ■ deux potences, chacune adaptée sur un montant du repose-pied pour s'étendre, dans une position de travail, vers l'avant du fauteuil, et pourvues, en partie avant, de moyens de fixation situés en position de travail à distance du montant correspondant,
• ■ et un élément amovible d'appui frontal pour les deux jambes de l'utilisateur, adapté sur les moyens de fixation des potences, de manière à s'étendre entre les potences.

According to the invention, this chair is characterized in that the holding means comprise:

• ■ two brackets, each adapted to a footrest upright to extend, in a working position, towards the front of the chair, and provided, in the front part, fixing means located in working position away from the chair; corresponding amount,
• ■ and a removable front support element for the two legs of the user, adapted to the means for fixing the brackets, so as to extend between the brackets.

The implementation of such brackets, providing fastening means located at a distance from the uprights, avoids, during the introduction of the removable front support element, that the latter is flexible or rigid, the application lateral stresses on the legs of the user tending to bring the latter against each other and, in particular, to bring in friction the user's knees.

According to one characteristic of the invention, in order to further limit the risk of constraining one against the other of the user's legs, the front parts of the brackets are, in at least one working position, each immobilized in a plane front to the corresponding amount.

According to a feature of the invention, the brackets are not removable and only the front support element is removable. According to this embodiment, each bracket is then secured to the corresponding upright and being movable in a vertical plane, between a retracted position and the working position extending forwardly of the chair and comprises, at its front end, means for fixing the element removable front support.

According to the invention, each bracket has an arched shape whose concavity is in the retracted position facing the 'lavant' and which defines two branches, said upper and lower, the upper branch being provided, at its distal end or before, fixing means of the removable front support element.

The brackets can then be linked in any appropriate manner to the corresponding amounts, in order to be able to know the movement between their retracted positions and work in extension to the front of the chair.

Each stem has, for this purpose, an arcuate shape whose concavity is in the retracted position oriented towards the front and which defines two branches, said upper and lower, the upper branch being provided, at its distal end, fixing means of the removable front support element.

According to a characteristic of the invention, the front and rear branches of each bracket each comprise a light, intended to receive a pin, integral with the corresponding amount, for holding and guiding the bracket. The light of the lower branch is then, preferably but not exclusively, provided at its lower end with a locking notch, for receiving, in the working position, the corresponding guide pin, so as to ensure a blocking the movement of the stem when a forward force is exerted on the distal end of the upper branch.

According to the invention, the front support element can be made in different ways. Thus, according to one embodiment, the front support element comprises a rigid plate equipped, in the rear part, of at least one support cushion for the legs of the wheelchair user.

According to another embodiment, the front support element comprises at least one strap connecting the two brackets.

Various other features of the invention emerge from the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate various non-limiting embodiments of a standing chair according to the invention.

The Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective of a wheelchair according to the invention.

The Fig. 2 is an elevation, in a right view, of the chair according to the Fig. 1 .

The Fig. 3 is an elevation, substantially analogous to the Fig. 2 , from the chair while standing.

The Fig. 4 is an elevation, analogous to the Fig. 2 , showing a preferred embodiment of leg support means according to the invention.

The Fig. 5 is a perspective, analogous to the Fig. 1 , illustrating the holding means according to the Fig. 4 .

The Fig. 6 and 7 are views, similar to the Fig. 4 and 5 , showing a step of implementing the means for maintaining the legs illustrated in FIGS. Fig. 4 and 5 .

The invention relates to a rolling verticalizer 1 , as illustrated in FIG. Fig. 1 to 3 , manual propulsion, it being understood that the chair could also be motorized and electric propulsion, for example.

Such a chair comprises a frame, composed of lateral half-frames 3 and 4 , joined together by crosspieces 5 and 6 . These various constituent elements define a carrying frame provided with drive wheels 10 and steerable steerable wheels 11 .

As illustrated, the frame 2 corresponds to a chair of rigid design, but it is obvious that a substantially similar conformation could be retained for a folding chair. Indeed, in such a case, the rigid sleepers 5 and 6 are then replaced by folding elements of known design.

The chassis 2 , described above, is equipped with a verticalizer device which is designed as an articulated structure 12 carried by the chassis 2 . The articulated structure 12 is constituted by two lateral articulated systems, symmetrical with respect to a sagittal plane P and which are more particularly visible at Fig. 2 and 3 . Each articulated system 13 is intended to be adapted laterally on the frame 2, for example at each of the half-frames 3 and 4 .

Each articulated system 13 comprises a first deformable quadrilateral 17 constituted by two bars 18 and 19 , respectively said upper and lower, although they are not arranged, in the illustrated representation Fig. 3 , in the same vertical plane. The bars 18 and 19 are joined, by their posterior terminal part, by an element or a spacer 20 and are mounted on the frame 2 , close to the front part of the latter, by a first pivot point 21 concerning the upper bar 18 and by a second articulation point 22 concerning the lower bar 19 . In this case, the hinge point 21 is provided in the upper part of the corresponding half-frame 3 , 4 while the hinge point 22 is located on the same half-frame back and below the hinge point 21 .

In the example shown, the spacer element 20 is provided to correspond to the distance separating the articulation points 21 and 22 , so that the quadrilateral 17 has the preferred shape of a deformable parallelogram, without such shape may be considered as necessary for the production of a chair according to the invention.

Each articulated system 13 comprises, in addition, a second deformable quadrilateral 26 , schematized in FIGS. Fig. 2 and 3 in phantom, connecting the first deformable quadrilateral to a jamb or upright 27 for supporting, alone or in combination with the jamb or homologous amount, a footrest 33 .

Each articulated system 13 comprises, finally, a backrest frame comprising two uprights 35 , each articulated on the first quadrilateral 13 , opposite the second quadrilateral 26 , by means of the spacer 20 . According to the illustrated example, the file posts 35 are, moreover, connected by a cross member 36.

In order to allow a passage of the articulated structure 12 of the sitting lowering position A , as illustrated in FIG. Fig. 2 , in the standing or standing position B , as illustrated in FIG. Fig. 3 each articulated system comprises an operating assembly 40 interposed between the first quadrilateral 17 and the frame 2 and, more particularly, the corresponding half-frame 4 .

Each operating assembly 40 comprises a first lever 41 , articulated on the rear part of the chassis, via a pivot 42 and, at the end of a second lever 43 , via a pivot 44 . The other end of the second lever 43 is then articulated on the first quadrilateral and, according to the illustrated example, on the lower bar 19 , via a pivot 45 and a fastener 46 secured to the second lever 43 .

Each maneuvering assembly also comprises an operating handle 49 which could be described as a multi-socket, to the extent that it must allow the user of the chair to apply a force on this handle, both in the context of the lowering position or seat illustrated in Fig. 2 , that in the cade of the verticalization position B illustrated in the Fig. 3 and during the transition phase or vertical-lowering movement.

In order to facilitate the verticalization-lowering movement, the uprighting chair 1 also comprises assistance means 50 . According to this example, these assistance means are constituted, for each of the articulated systems, by a gas spring, interposed between the first quadrilateral 13 and the front portion of the frame 2 .

According to the illustrated example, each gas spring 50 also incorporates automatic locking means which prevent any movement of the spring and therefore of the articulated system which is linked thereto, as long as an unlocking command is not applied to the system spring lock. At least one of the handles, preferably that located on the side of the dominant hand of the user, then has a control member 51 of the locking means.

Thus, by a joint action on the control member and on the handles, the user can move from a sitting position to a standing position and vice versa.

In order to ensure the stability of the user in a standing position, the invention provides for implementing, as shown more particularly by the Fig. 4 to 7 , means 60 for maintaining the legs of the user, arranged at the knees of the latter or just below. The holding means 60 comprise two brackets 61 which are each adapted to a post 27 of the footrest.

Each bracket 61 is then secured to the corresponding upright 27 , being movable between a retracted position E , as illustrated in FIGS. Fig. 4 and 5 And a working position T in forward extension, as illustrated in Fig. 10 and 11 . According to the illustrated example, each bracket 61 then has an arched shape whose concavity, in the retracted position, is oriented forward. Each stem has two branches, respectively said upper 70 and lower 71 . In order to allow the movement of each of the brackets, each branch 70 and 71 is provided with a 72 and 73 light in which is adapted a pin 75 , 76 integral with the corresponding amount 27 .

Thus, it is possible, given the cooperation of the oblong slots 73 and / or arcuate 72 and pins, to slide each bracket 61 between its retracted position E and its working position T. Each bracket 61 has, moreover, at its distal end 64 of its upper branch 70 , hooking means 80 for a front support element 65 which, according to the illustrated example, is made in the form of a rigid plate 81 having, at each of its ends, fastening means 82 , such as a notch intended to engage on a pin provided by the distal end of the bracket and forming the attachment means 80 . The rigid plate 81 is, moreover, provided on its rear face, a cushion 83 damping and support. It should be noted that, according to the invention, the front support element 65 forms a unitary assembly which supports the two legs of the user. Of course, the plate 81 , which forms a rigid structural element for taking up the forces applied by the two legs of the user, could be made in another manner, such as, for example, in the form of a tubular beam. ensuring the rigidity of the element 65 .

The means 60 for maintaining the legs, as described above, are implemented in the following manner. When the user wishes to go into a standing position, he moves the brackets 61 so as to position them in extension T , as illustrated in FIGS. Fig. 6 and 7 . In this position T , each bracket then offers an attachment point 80 , located at a distance from the uprights 27 , for the frontal support element 65 which is engaged by these notches on the pins 80 offered by the brackets 61 . The user can then initiate his verticalization process.

It should be noted that, in order to ensure the stability of the stems in the extended position, each slot 70 of the lower branches 71 has, preferably but not strictly necessary, a notch 85 intended to receive the corresponding pin 75 when force is exerted forward on the support element 65 in the working position T.

It should be noted that the rigid nature of the support element 65 , 81 , and the brackets 61 , makes it possible to perfectly maintain the legs of the user without applying any lateral stress on the latter.

When the user has returned to his sitting position, it is possible for him to remove the front support element and reposition, in retracted position, the brackets.

In this state, more particularly illustrated in Fig. 5 the front of the standing chair according to the invention is then perfectly clear and the user is not hindered in his movements by the front support means.

Claims (5)

1. A body support chair for the physically challenged and disabled comprising a supporting frame and an articulated structure comprising a back, a seat, a foot rest (33) supported by two uprights (37) and means (60) for holding the legs, at least in part immovable, such that the holding means (60) comprise :

   ■ two cross-members (61), each fitted on an upright (27) and being mobile between a retracted position (E) behind said upright and a working position (T) in extension towards the front of the chair;

   ■ and a removable front support element (65) for the user's two legs,

   body support chair characterized in that the two cross-members (61) comprise two upper (70) and lower (71) arms having an arcuate form, whose concavity, in the retracted position (E), is oriented towards the front of the chair, and a distal end (64) of the upper arm (70) being fitted with fastening means (80) for said removable support element (65) and arranged in the working position (T) at a corresponding distance from the upright (27),
   and the removable support element (65) comprising a rigid plate (81) comprising, at each of its ends, fastening means (82) for attaching onto the fastening means (80) of the two cross-members (61), so as to extend between the cross-members (61).
2. The body support chair according to Claim 1, characterized in that the front ends of the cross-members are, in the working position (T), at least each immobilized in a frontal plane relative to the corresponding upright (27).
3. The body support chair according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the upper (70) and lower (71) arms of each cross-member (61) each comprise one opening (73, 72) for receiving a slug (75, 76) attached to the corresponding upright (27) for holding and guiding the cross-member (61); the opening of the lower arm (72) being provided at its lower end with a latching recess (85) for receiving in the working position (T) the corresponding guide slug (75) so as to assure a blocking of the movement of the cross-member (61) when a force towards the front is applied to the distal end of the upper arm (70).
4. The body support chair according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the frontal support element (65) comprises a rigid plate (81) equipped at its rearward part with at least one support pad (83) for the chair user's legs.
5. The body support chair according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the frontal support element (65) comprises at least one belt connecting the two cross-members.

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