ES2394721T3 - Mobile equipment for transport and positioning of disabled people - Google Patents

Abstract

Mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities comprising: - a frame (2) positioned on wheels (3) of which at least one (3a) is pivoting to determine the direction of the frame; - a support structure ( 5) immovably fixed to the frame (2) consisting of a quadrilateral with parallel arms (50 and 51) that are coupled with a seat (6); characterized by the fact that said equipment comprises: - a technical column (7) fixed to the frame (2) and equipped with a control panel (70) intended to move a linear actuator, which causes the arms (50 and 51) of the support structure (5) to rotate approximately 90 °, causing the arms rotate from a vertical to a horizontal position; - a locking system (21) comprising on-board brakes or a suitable parking system to avoid any movement of the wheels (3) in the frame (2), said wheel locking system is constituted by a fr Mechanical mechanism that acts on the front wheel hub and not on the rubber and, once activated, sends the release signal to a micro-control unit so that the displacement structure can be moved, said hydraulic micro-control unit manages the hydraulic system, equipped with safety valves and valves that limit the capacity for its movement for the linear feeder feed that is carried out by means of electrical energy transformed into hydraulic energy; - safety devices provided for the inhibition of the activation of the movement of arm rotation if the frame lock (2) or the parking system is not activated; - safety devices (8) to prevent tipping comprising two legs (8), each of which consists of a steel structure with a rubber coating and the rest on the floor to prevent the mentioned equipment from tipping over; - emergency pump (9) manual suitable for ele manually vary the seat (6) when the electrical system that causes the seat to return upwards does not work; - an emergency stop element (74); - power supply batteries; said mobile equipment being designed to operate from a closed position in which an operator moves the equipment by means of a push-button, with the disabled person sitting in the seat, to a position of descent in which the support structure of the seat rotates, causing the seat to move and descend, without turning the seating surface, until said seat is positioned at a lower level with respect to the surface on which the frame is resting.

Description

Mobile equipment for transport and positioning of disabled people

Technical field

The present invention relates to a mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of people with walking difficulties, particularly recommended for the transport and positioning of a disabled and skilled person or one with motor problems, including temporary ones, on a different level. to transport.

Prior art

As is known, there are people with motor difficulties in different degrees, due to various pathologies that are either permanent or transient, which means that the operators responsible for handling these people are subjected to frequent, particularly stressful, lifting and moving operations. the person and take them to the desired position.

People who need to move usually collaborate little or nothing at all, which means it becomes extremely exhausting for the staff employed to help these people, who carry out these operations, several times, during the day. In fact, throughout the day, people need help on several occasions and the efforts that these operators have to make, to assist and help these people with difficulties, during the various maneuvers, are truly enormous.

To help staff, at present, there are machines on the market that carry out some or part of the operations necessary to move people who cannot walk. The machines that are generally used are elevators of various types: with straps or with harnesses, etc.

EP 0819416 (D1) is known to the applicant and describes the equipment that moves a pair of forks downward with a movement through a portion of an arc that begins at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the vertical position and It goes up to 135 °. Brackets are applied on the fork and a strap is hooked inside and the person to be introduced into the pool water is positioned inside the strap. The illustrated equipment is fixed to the ground or, according to a variant, it seems that it is capable of carrying out small movements with very small wheels and that in any case they must be fixed manually to the ground so that there is no risk of tipping over.

The device D1 cannot move horizontally with a person suspended on the forks, since it would tip over since the barycenter would be outside the base.

In addition, also FR 2652262 (D2) is known by the applicant, and describes a device that is practically a forklift in which instead of the fork there is a seat for the person to be submerged. The movement of the seat is produced by pulleys that move the seat down and then up. The axes of the column are quite high, therefore, they narrow and, therefore, the equipment is not easy to handle or move. Also in this case the person must sit in the seat at the edge of the pool.

In the D2 patent, the column is the typical column of a product forklift and is quite heavy and therefore difficult to move, for example, inside locker rooms, therefore, this equipment cannot easily transport A person. In particular, the only movement of the device D2 with a person sitting on it is vertical and it is necessary to become very close to the edge of the pool, therefore, there is a risk of sliding the front wheels and the device falling in the pool and; In addition, since there is only one brake on the wheel, which is made of rubber, there is a danger that if the floor is wet, it will not grip sufficiently and that the device will move and slide over the edge of the pool.

None of the devices D1 and D2 are equipped with a footrest and the person is suspended in the air which makes him / she feel insecure or insecure. These elevators, although they perform their functions, have brought to light certain inconveniences.

A first drawback derives from the fact that the person, during the transfer, finds himself in a barely comfortable position and, sometimes, in a freely oscillating condition that creates a remarkable discomfort. In particular, the operator has to use a physical effort to transfer and move the person, in addition to the fact that some of the lifting movements are still performed manually and this series of operations is, in the long run, exhausting.

To reduce the effort or simply to get these people to move with difficulty, very often, several operators are involved with considerable costs in terms of personnel who could perform other functions. In addition, some pathologies and disabilities do not allow the use of harnesses, which means that people with disabilities are manipulated with straps that are sometimes left in place but can become

annoying over time.

[0012] In addition to what has been illustrated so far, there is currently no law stipulating that operators, subject to considerable efforts that are motor in nature, are provided with mechanical assistance to eliminate or at least significantly reduce the effort.

At present, in the different types of care and / or rehabilitation, it is now a consolidated reality that water is an ideal element to practice numerous activities to improve the health and well-being of people in any period of their lives. Today, not everyone has easy access to water. In fact, for example, people with disabilities (for whom water would be an ideal environment, since it allows such remarkable freedom and ease of movement that their bodies feel "less different" from that of other people), unfortunately we find many, sometimes impassable, difficulties in entering the water, not only in a pool, but even simply in a bathroom. This situation is often an experience of suffering for people with disabilities, often humiliating and so much so that, very often, they are forced to give up.

In fact, in many pools there is not always pre-installed equipment present to allow people with disabilities to descend into the water, and when present, these structures are, however, positioned at fixed points, which means that people with difficulties they must have the means to board and reach the elevator and, in addition, access to water with the elevator is only available where the water is deepest, a situation that can create more discomfort and difficulties.

Description of the invention

The objective of the present invention is to solve the problems of the technique commonly known to overcome the aforementioned inconveniences by means of a mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of people with disabilities, capable of making it possible for an operator to move a person who is not in walking conditions, said person being disabled or with a temporary difficulty, and to position them on a different level, generally lower, than that of transport.

A second objective of the present invention is to make the mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities capable of allowing the transport of the disabled person from the pool, changing rooms or even from outside the structure to the edge of the pool and, simultaneously, the descent into the water, in a smooth, simple and safe way, with ease and speed of execution.

A further objective of the present invention is to make the mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities capable of obtaining greater flexibility of use, remarkable security and stability and, above all, comfort for the transported person.

Another additional objective of the present invention is to make the mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities provide, in its functional scope, the elimination of all the effort by the operator.

An additional but not definitive objective of the present invention is to make the mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities capable of showing a great ease of use, that is simple to manufacture and works well and that allows easy and fast maintenance

These and other additional objectives, which will emerge better in the course of this description, are essentially achieved by the mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities, in accordance with the claims that follow.

Other features and advantages will be more apparent from the following detailed description of a mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities, in accordance with the present invention as claimed, provided below in the form of a non-limiting example. , with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows, in a schematic view and in a side view, the mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities in question, in the present invention; - Figure 2 shows, in a schematic view and in a perspective view, the mobile equipment shown in Figure 1 in its closed position; - Figure 3 shows, in schematic form and in a perspective view, the mobile equipment shown in Figure 1 in its fully lowered position; - Figure 4 shows, in a very schematic way and in a side view, the mobile equipment in question in the initial and final movement positions; - Figure 5 shows, in a very schematic way and in a side view, the mobile equipment in question in the closed position; - Figure 6 shows, in a very schematic way and in a side view, the mobile equipment in question in the down position; - Figure 7 shows, in a perspective view, the mobile equipment according to the present invention during the movement sequence from the descent position to the closed position.

With reference to the aforementioned figures and, in particular, to Figure 1, reference number 1 is the mobile equipment, as a set, for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities, in accordance with the present invention.

The mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities 1 is essentially composed of a frame 2 located on wheels 3, of which at least one is a 3a is tilting to determine the direction of said frame. The movement of the equipment 1 is produced by a manual thrust of a companion by means of a special handle 4 positioned at the rear of the frame.

The mobile equipment 1 comprises a support structure 5 immovably fixed to the frame 2 constituted by a quadrilateral with parallel arms (50 and 51) that are coupled with a seat 6, as shown in Figure 1. In greater detail, the support structure 5 is designed to move from a closed position in which the arms (50 and 51) are essentially arranged vertically to a lowering position in which the arms (50 and 51) are arranged horizontally and the The seat is located at a lower level with respect to the floor on which the frame 2 is resting, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

In addition, the frame 2 has a locking system 21 comprising on-board brakes or a suitable parking system to prevent any movement in the wheels. In particular, the wheel locking system is constituted by a mechanical brake that acts on the front wheel hub and not on the rubber to avoid the risk that, for example, with wet ground, the grip can be reduced of rubber In addition, the blocking system, once activated, sends the separation signal to the micro-control unit so that the support structure can be moved.

In accordance with the present embodiment, the mobile equipment is equipped with a control panel 70 positioned on a technical column 7, shown in Figures 3 and 5, secured to the frame 2 and intended to move a linear actuator, located in the support structure, which causes the arms (50 and 51) to make a rotation of about 90 °, whereby the arms are rotated from the vertical to the horizontal position.

In greater detail, the linear actuator is powered by means of electrical energy transformed into hydraulic energy by a hydraulic micro-control unit on which the hydraulic system is mounted with safety valves and valves that limit the movement capacity to avoid improper use of the equipment. The hydraulic micro-control unit is placed in technical column 7.

According to the present invention, during the movement of the arms, the seat always remains parallel to the ground with the perfectly horizontal seating surface and when the arms are in the horizontal position, the seat is at a lower level with respect to the ground and it is submerged in the water as shown in Figures 4 and 6. In addition, the movement of the seat can be interrupted at any point during the descent route or when returning upwards and the movement speed of the seat is constant.

In accordance with the present embodiment, the control panel 70 comprises a key 70a for turning on the equipment, a panel 71 indicating the battery charge level of the power supply, a button 72 that initiates the descent of the arms and a button 73 that causes the arms to begin their return upwards and an emergency stop element 74 that stops the movable arms in the exact position they are at the time of the intervention.

In addition, mobile equipment provides safety devices such as the inhibition of the activation of the arm's turning movement if the frame lock or the parking system is not activated, and in fact if the equipment does not have the brake applied to the wheels , it is not possible to activate the arms for the descent.

In addition, mobile equipment 1 is equipped with safety means 8 to prevent tipping in accordance with EN280 standards in relation to "aerial platforms for lifting people". In fact, while the arms descend, two legs 8, each of which is constituted by a steel structure with a rubber coating, rest on the ground to prevent said equipment from tipping over.

In addition to what has been illustrated so far, the mobile equipment 1 is equipped with a manual emergency pump 9 which is used in case the electrical system that causes the seat to return upwards does not work. Finally, the mobile equipment 1 is equipped with rubber pads 10 between the front and rear wheels that prevent the equipment from entering the water in case of an incorrect maneuver.

In accordance with the present invention, the equipment seat has a pair of armrests 60 and the frame 2 includes a pair of footrests 20.

The mobile equipment 1 for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities is designed to operate from a closed position when the operator moves the equipment by means of a push-button, with the disabled person sitting in the seat, to a position of descent in the that the seat support structure is rotated, causing the movement and descent of the seat, without turning the seating surface, until said seat is submerged in the water.

After this predominantly structural description, a description of the operation of the

Invention in question.

When a companion wants to immerse a person who cannot walk in a pool, they just have to sit the disabled person in the seat 6 with the support structure 5 in the closed position and then hold the handle 4, perform an action of push against frame 2, which will move by moving towards the edge of the pool.

Once the person with a disability has reached an area close to the descent into the water, the frame wheels are locked by means of the on-board brakes and the legs 8, the passenger, are lowered by means of the descent button 72 on the control panel 70 will send an order to the micro-control unit that will cause the linear actuator to move, which will rotate the support structure which displaces the seat, which will move and descend until submerged in water as shown in Figure 7.

At this point, the person with disabilities, who sits in the seat, is already in the water and is able to carry out the planned activities.

When the person has finished their stay in the pool, they will simply have to sit in the seat again and the passenger, activating the return button 73 years, will activate the actuator, which will cause the arms to move in reverse, carrying the seat back to its initial closed position. In particular, once the person is in the water, the seat can be returned upwards, bringing it back to the closed position for later use.

The present invention therefore achieves the set objectives.

In fact, the mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities in question offers a single operator the possibility of moving a person who cannot walk since he is disabled or has temporary difficulties and place it on a different level, in general one lower, with respect to transport.

Advantageously, the mobile equipment according to the present invention allows the transport of persons with disabilities from the changing rooms of the pool to the edge of the pool and, simultaneously, the descent into the water in a smooth, simple and safe way, with ease and speed of execution. In addition, when the person with disabilities arrives at the pool, when descending from the means of transport, they can sit directly in the seat of the equipment, without having to use a wheelchair. In addition, if the person with disabilities has to get out of the water quickly, if he suddenly becomes ill, for example, with the equipment in question, it is possible to do so in a very short space of time, a situation that is impossible with the structures of according to the commonly known technique. In particular, even though there is a lifeguard present, in the event that the person with a disability has problems or difficulties in the water, the mobile equipment can simply be taken to the edge of the pool at the point closest to the person without having to move it in the water to take it to a fixed elevation.

In addition, pool lifts according to the commonly known technique are anchored to the edge of the pool, which means that access to the point of descent into the water is mandatory and, as a consequence, any discomfort or obstruction in the vicinity of the elevator prevents the disabled person from accessing water, while with the mobile equipment according to the present invention access to water in the pool is possible at any point. In addition, the installation of elevators of the commonly known type requires feasibility studies and structural interventions at the edge of the pool, in addition to construction works for anchoring the structure of said elevator since the elevators currently used require that everything be secured to fixed structures.

An additional advantage of mobile equipment derives from the fact that it guarantees good flexibility of use, safety and remarkable stability and, above all, comfort for the transported person.

In addition to what has been said so far, the mobile equipment in question provides, within its functional scope, the elimination of all the effort by the operator and the drastic reduction in many of the manual operations carried out with elevators in accordance with the commonly known technique. In addition, the mobile device ensures the movement of the person with disabilities in simple and limited sequences that are homogeneous and comfortable.

In particular, the mobile equipment is practical, extremely easy to handle and also reliable and safe thanks to the presence of the safety devices present.

An additional but not final advantage is due to the fact that the mobile equipment has a great ease of use, is simple to manufacture and works well, and does not require any particular maintenance. In addition, the mobile equipment according to the present invention includes a remarkable structural simplicity and this allows to limit the construction costs.

Naturally, numerous modifications and variants could be applied to the present invention, without falling outside the scope of the invention that defines it.

Claims (9)

1. Mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of people with disabilities comprising:

-

 a frame (2) positioned on wheels (3) of which at least one (3a) is pivotable to determine said frame direction;

-

 a support structure (5) fixed immovably to the frame (2) constituted by a quadrilateral with parallel arms (50 and 51) that are coupled with a seat (6); characterized by the fact that said equipment comprises:

-

 a technical column (7) fixed to the frame (2) and equipped with a control panel (70) intended to move a linear actuator, which causes the arms (50 and 51) of the support structure (5) to make a turn approximately 90 °, causing the arms to rotate from a vertical to a horizontal position;

-

 a locking system (21) comprising onboard brakes or a suitable parking system to prevent any movement of the wheels (3) in the frame (2), said wheel locking system is constituted by a mechanical brake acting on the hub of the front wheels and not the rubber and, once activated, sends the release signal to a micro-control unit so that the support structure can be moved, said hydraulic micro-control unit manages the system hydraulic, equipped with safety valves and valves that limit the capacity for its movement for the feeding of the linear actuator that is realized by means of electrical energy transformed into hydraulic energy;

-

 safety devices provided for the inhibition of the activation of the turning movement of the arm if the frame lock (2) or the parking system is not activated;

-

 safety devices (8) to prevent overturning comprising two legs (8), each of which is constituted by a steel structure with a rubber coating and the rest on the ground to prevent the mentioned equipment from tipping over;

-

 emergency pump (9) manual suitable for manually raising the seat (6) when the electrical system that causes the seat to return upwards does not work;

-

 an emergency stop element (74);

-

 power supply batteries;

said mobile equipment being designed to operate from a closed position in which an operator moves the equipment by means of a push-button, with the disabled person sitting in the seat, to a lowering position in which the seat support structure rotates , causing the seat to move and descend, without turning the seating surface, until said seat is positioned at a lower level with respect to the surface on which the frame is resting.

2.

 Mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities according to claim 1, characterized in that the movement of said equipment is carried out by means of a middle manual button of a special handle (4) located in the part rear of the frame (2).

3.

 Mobile equipment for transporting and positioning people with disabilities according to claim 1, characterized in that the support structure (5) is configured to move from a closed position in which the arms (50 and 51) they are arranged, essentially, vertically, to a position of descent in which the arms (50 and 51) are arranged horizontally and the seat is placed at a lower level with respect to the ground on which the frame (2) is resting. .

Four.

 Mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities according to claim 1, characterized in that said micro-control unit is located in the technical column (7).

5.

 Mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities according to claim 1, characterized in that, during the movement of the arms, the seat always remains parallel to the ground with the perfectly horizontal seating surface and when arms are in the horizontal position the seat is at a lower level with respect to the ground.

6.

 Mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities according to claim 1, characterized in that said control panel (70) comprises a key (70a) for turning on the equipment, a panel (71) indicating the charge level of the power battery, a button (72) that initiates the descent of the arms and a button (73) that initiates the return of the arms and an emergency stop element (74) that stops the mobile arms in the exact position where they are at the time of the intervention.

7.

 Mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities according to claim 1, characterized in that said equipment comprises rubber pads (10), placed between the front and rear wheels that prevent the equipment from entering the water in case of an incorrect maneuver.

8.

 Mobile equipment for transporting and positioning people with disabilities according to claim 1, characterized in that said seat includes a pair of armrests (60).

9.

 Mobile equipment for the transport and positioning of persons with disabilities according to claim 1, characterized in that the frame (2) is equipped with a pair of breaks (20) for the feet.