ES2713972B2 - TOILET SAFETY BAR - Google Patents

Description

TOILET SAFETY BAR

DESCRIPTION

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a safety bar for application in toilets so that a disabled person can be placed in a toilet by a helper with the assurance that it can be kept in it without danger of falling, avoiding having to be present , so that the disabled person cannot fall or have stability problems while in the toilet. An additional advantage is that, while the disabled person does his or her needs, the assistant can use the time to perform other tasks.

Find special application in the field of accessories industry for sanitary appliances and toilets.

TECHNICAL PROBLEM TO BE RESOLVED AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A variety of devices are known in the present state of the art in relation to the help needed by disabled persons in toilets, in particular in access to toilets.

The development of such devices is focused on the fact of disabled people who, although they can fend for themselves, need additional help.

In this way, devices based on support bars located laterally to a toilet are found in the state of the art so that a person in a wheelchair has the possibility of using itself when moving between the toilet and the wheelchair.

One of these devices is described in document KR10-1198009 which describes a folding bar for access of a person in a wheelchair so that it has a support for its stability while it is in the toilet.

Document ES-1038309_U, like the previous one, focuses on a device for helping disabled people with the power to fend for themselves, that is, with a degree of limited disability The device can be raised and lowered for use by the user, so that, if it is not necessary, it does not bother or cause any inconvenience.

However, the development of these systems is focused on self-help to people who can fend for themselves, so as to support them in situations of toilet use. None of these devices is focused on the fact that it can help a person with a great disability, as described in the present invention, so that an assistant in charge of positioning it in the toilet does not have to be present in at all times to hold the user or prevent him from falling. The incorporation of a system like the one of the invention represents a great advantage, especially in the homes of elderly people, where many accidents occur due to falls of the users in the toilets causing fractures that are very uncomfortable.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In order to achieve the objectives and avoid the aforementioned drawbacks, the present invention describes a safety bar for toilets intended to be fixed on a wall on which it has the ability to rotate from a folded position in the wall to an unfolded position. surrounding a user sitting on a toilet. For this, the position of the safety bar can be modified in height and the arms can be extended according to interest.

In this way, the safety bar comprises a support bar that extends at the ends forming two arms to have a U-shaped configuration. The arms have a hole in an area near the free end. In addition, an extension bar with holes is housed inside each of the arms, so that the dimension of the arms can be varied.

The fixing of the extension bars to the corresponding arms is carried out by means of first pins that cross the hole of each arm to lodge in one of the holes of each extension bar, the dimension of the safety bar being defined.

The free end of each of the extension bars is fixed, with the ability to rotate, to a fixed fixing element, with the ability to slide, to a tube that, in turn, is solidly attached to a support bar that is fixed to a wall The tubes incorporate indentations along its length. In fact, the tube can be hollow or solid, being designed to locate the grooves and that the fixing element can slide along it.

The fixing element incorporates a pair of plates between which the free end of the extension bar is housed. One of the plates incorporates holes that define the positions of folding, collecting on the wall, and unfolding, for use by a user, of the safety bar. The extension bar incorporates an additional element that includes a second pin, formed by a handle that incorporates a spring and a projection, so that the spring, in a resting state, causes the projection to be extended against the plate containing the holes and housed in one of them. Thus, when rotating the extender bar, the second pin rotates with it, sliding on the plate until, when it meets the corresponding hole, it is housed in it and fixes the position of the safety bar. To change it from one position to the other, you just have to pull the second pin to overcome the force of the spring and remove the projection of the hole in which it is housed so that, sliding on the plate, go to find the other hole and leave the safety bar in the new position.

Each of the fasteners is fixed to a tube, with the ability to slide along it. In addition, it incorporates a wedge forced to contact the tube by the action of a spring or two springs, preferably, so that the pressure is effected uniformly and to prevent the wedge from tilting. When moving the fixing element through the tube, the wedge slides through the tube also contacting the slits until it is left housed in the slit that interests by height, the fixing element being left and, therefore, the safety bar, located . To fix the position stably and, consequently, the height of the safety bar, a cam is rotated, which fixes the wedge in the groove of the tube in which it is housed, stably. To move the safety bar back in height and, therefore, the fixing element, you just have to turn the cam, stopping pressing on the wedge and allowing the assembly to move up or down according to needs.

The elements that allow to carry out the movement of the safety bar both in height and in rotation and in extension have been described on one of the sides of the safety bar, although preferably, for safety reasons, they are incorporated in both sides of the safety bar, considering that, given the rigidity of the components, the Location of the elements that carry out the assembly should be symmetric.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

To complete the description of the invention and in order to help a better understanding of its characteristics, in accordance with a preferred example of its realization, a set of drawings is attached where, for illustrative and non-limiting purposes, represented the following figures:

- Figure 1 represents a top front perspective view of the WC security bar of the invention.

- Figure 2 represents a top front perspective view of the WC security bar of the invention located on a wall and folded.

- Figure 3 represents a top front perspective view of the WC security bar of the invention deployed and in the process of use by a user.

The following is a list of the references used in the figures:

1. Security bar.

2. Arms.

3. Extending bar.

4. Holes.

5th. First pin

5b Second pin

6. Fixing element.

7. Support plate.

8. Tube

9. Slits.

10. Cam.

11. Highlight.

12. Slot.

13. Axis

14. Hole.

15. Bonding plate.

16. Bolt

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a safety bar (1) for toilets that allows an assistant to a person with a major disability need not be physically present while sitting on the toilet.

As shown in Figure 1, the safety bar (1) comprises a support bar that bends at both ends to form two arms (2), so that the safety bar (1) is shaped of U. The safety bar (1) incorporates some extension bars (3) that can slide inside two arms (2), so that the arms (2) have a greater or lesser length, according to the needs . The extension bars (3) incorporate a series of holes (4) located in alignment along their length. Additionally, the arm (2) incorporates a hole that corresponds to any of the holes (4) of the extension bar (3) when sliding along the arm (2). To carry out the fixation, a first pin (5a) is used that crosses the hole of the arm (2) and the hole (4) of the extension bar (3) that is in correspondence. The first pin (5a) is formed by a handle and a projection with a spring that rests on the element in which it is located to force the projection to be continuously extended looking for contact with the extension bar (3) to stay in one of the holes (4).

In addition, at each of the free ends of the arms (2) a projection (11) is preferably located with a hole corresponding to the hole in the arm (2), so that the joint of the extension bar (3) is reinforced. ) to the arm (2). The first pin (5a) then crosses the shoulder (11), the arm (2) and is housed in a hole (4) of the extension bar (3).

Thus, the first pin (5a) is fixed to the shoulder (11) so that, by pulling it out of a hole (4) of the extension bar (3), it can be moved together with the arm (2) in the one that is housed, resting the end of the first pin (5a) on the extension bar (3) by the action of the spring and sliding along it until finding a hole (4) in which it is housed.

The extender bar (3) also incorporates a groove (12) intended to accommodate a bolt (16) located on the shoulder (11). This bolt (16) can only move along the groove (12), thus preventing the spreader bar (3) from leaving the arm (2) where it is housed.

To achieve a certain extension of the arm (2), each of the extension bars (3) slides inside the corresponding arm (2), where the first pins (5a) are located, until the first pins (5a) fit in the corresponding holes (4) of each of the corresponding extension bars (3), according to the desired measurement. In the same way, to choose another extension or reduction of the arm (2), the first pins (5a) are removed from the holes (4) where they are housed so that the extension bars (3) can slide again until the first pins (5a) locate new holes (4) where they are housed. It should be taken into account that, since it is a rigid safety bar (1), the extension of the arms (2) through the use of the first pins (5a), as described, must be done with both arms (2 ) at once. Although the use of a single first pin (5a) would provide sufficient rigidity to the safety bar (1), for safety reasons it is preferable to use a first pin (5a) in each of the arms (2) .

The safety bar (1) can rotate to move from a resting position, collected against a wall, as shown in figure 2, to a position of use, deployed, as shown in figure 3. To do this, Free ends of each of the extension bars (3) are attached to the corresponding fixing element (6) by means of an axis (13) that crosses holes located both in parallel plates incorporating the fixing element (6) and in the extender bar (3), which is located between the plates. In this way, the extension bars (3) and, consequently, the safety bar (1), has the ability to rotate around this axis (13) to fold and remain in a position substantially parallel to the wall where it is fixed or deployed. and remain in a position of use substantially perpendicular to the wall. The rotation movement of the safety bar (1) is immobilized at the beginning and at the end of its travel, being fixed in these positions. For this, the extender bar (3) solidly incorporates an element with a second pin (5b) and one of the parallel plates of each fixing element (6) incorporates two holes (14), one that defines the resting position of the safety bar (1) and another that defines the position of use. The second pin (5b) slides outside the plate containing the holes (14) to stay, forced by the action of a spring, in the corresponding hole (14), the position of the safety bar (1) being fixed ). Pulling the second pin (5b) and overcoming the force of the spring, the second pin (5b) is removed from the hole (14) in which It is housed to slide down the plate until it finds the other hole (14) in which it will be housed.

It can be seen that each extender bar (3) is connected to two pins (5a, 5b) that, although they are equal, have differentiated functions. Thus, the second pins (5b) are solidly attached to the extender bar (3) to fix the position with respect to the fixing element (6), by rotation, while the first pin (5a) contacts the extender rod ( 3) to stay in the holes (4) and carry out the extension of the arm (2).

In turn, each of the fixing elements (6) is fixed, with the ability to slide, on a tube (8) solidly fixed to a support bar (7) intended to be fixed to the wall where the toilet is located . To provide rigidity to the assembly, the support bars (7) are preferably joined together by a connecting plate (15) that gives the assembly dimensional stability.

For fixing the fixing elements (6) in the tubes (8), the tubes (8) have a series of grooves (9) aligned and uniformly spaced along their length so that the fixing elements (6) ) can be anchored in them and their position is fixed in height. For this, the fixing element (6) incorporates a wedge that acts by continuously pressing on the tube (8) by means of a spring or, preferably, by two springs, to prevent the wedge from tilting so that, when found The wedge with a slit (9) is housed therein and the fixing element (6) is located with respect to the tube (8). Once the desired height of the safety bar (1) is found, to fix the location of the fixing element (6) in the tube (8), a cam (10) is rotated which causes pressure on the wedge and immobilizes it in the slit (9) in which it is located. To change the height position of the safety bar (1), the cam (10) is rotated again, releasing the wedge and allowing the fixing elements (6) to slide again along the tube (8) until the wedge is fixed in another position. Like the projections of the pins (5a, 5b), the wedges and the springs have not been represented in the figures, although this does not represent any lack of clarity to understand their operation.

In this way, being the safety bar (1) folded against the wall, an assistant can place a user in a toilet, pull the second pins (5b) of the fixing elements (6) to remove them from the holes ( 14) to rotate the safety bar (1) to deploy it to the use position by surrounding the user and fitting the second pins (5b) into the corresponding holes (14), adjust the arms (2) of the safety bar (1) in depth using the extension bars (3), if if necessary, place the arms of the person above the support bar (1) and adjust the wedges of the fasteners (6) in the slits (9) by turning the cams (10) to set the height of the support bar (1) at the height of the armpits of the person, which is located without the possibility of falling for reasons beyond their control.

The release of the security bar (1) of the user is carried out in the reverse manner. Sometimes it may be necessary to raise the safety bar (1) to heights above normal to proceed with cleaning or maintenance of the safety bar (1). These cases do not present any difference as to how to proceed, being able to position the safety bar (1) in height before rotating it to surround the user or even before placing the user in the toilet.

Finally, it should be noted that the present invention should not be limited to the embodiment described herein. Other configurations can be made by those skilled in the art in view of the present description. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is defined by the following claims.

Claims (3)

1. - Safety bar (1) for toilets comprising a support bar that extends at the ends by means of two arms (2) to have a U-shaped configuration, characterized in that it comprises extension bars (3) with holes (4) ) that, on one of the ends they are inserted in each of the arms (2) and, on the other ends they are fixed by means of an axis (13), with rotation capacity, to two fixing elements (6), each being one of the fixing elements (6) fixed, with the ability to slide, to a tube (8) incorporating slits (9), solidly connected to a support bar (7) intended to be fixed to a wall, where, - each of the arms (2) comprises a hole where a first pin (5a) is housed, and - each of the fixing elements (6) comprises two plates, including the extension bar (3), a wedge forced to contact the tube (8) by the action of a spring and a pair of holes ( 14), located on one of the plates, intended to accommodate a second pin (5b) solidly attached to the extender bar (3), which define the folded and unfolded positions of the safety bar (1), so that, - each extender bar (3) is fixed to the arm (2) when the first pin (5a) is housed in one of the holes (4) of the extender bar (3), and - by contacting the wedge of the fixing element (6) with a slit (9) of the tube (8), the safety bar (1) is located and fixed by rotating a cam (10) that presses on the wedge . 2. Safety bar (1) for toilets according to claim 1, characterized in that the arm (2) incorporates a shoulder (11) with a hole, corresponding to the hole in the arm (2), to accommodate a first pin (5a), so that the joint between the arm (2) and the extension bar (3) is reinforced. 3. Safety bar (1) for toilets according to claim 2, characterized in that the shoulder (11) of the arm (2) comprises a bolt (16) that is housed in a slot (12) comprised in the extender bar ( 3), so that the displacement of the arm (2) with respect to the extension bar (3) is limited to the length of the groove (12).