GB2298845A - Rotary Transfer Aid - Google Patents

Abstract

A rotary transfer aid comprising two flexible sheet members (11, 12) interconnected with respective low-friction faces in contact for relative rotation about a substantially central axis generally orthogonal to the plane of the contacting faces, the outer non-contacting faces of the sheet members having higher coefficients of friction than the contacting faces such that, when the aid is located on a supporting surface in use, a load e.g. an invalid located thereon can turn or be turned to a different orientation about the said axis by rotation of the upper member with respect to the lower member. Preferably, the members are multi-layer connected by a pivot such as a press stud (23). The layers may be held together at the edges (22) by stitching or tape. Reinforcement may be provided (Fig 3). The device may be used for transfering invalids to and from beds, car seats, wheel chairs.

Description

A ROTARY TRANSFER AID The present invention relates to a rotary transfer aid particularly but not exclusively for assisting physically disabled persons to turn.

It is well known that many hospital patients who are weak after illness or persons with long-term disabilities have difficulty in turning, for example, from a position in which they are sitting on a bed with legs outstretched to a position in which they are sitting on the edge of the bed ready to stand up, and vice-versa. Another particularly difficult situation for such persons is that of getting into and out of cars where there may not only be a need to turn on the car seat but also to turn while standing in order to transfer to or from a wheelchair.

Rotary aids are available to help persons with such difficulties and comprise two rigid discs rotatable relative to each other about a central axis by means of a central bearing mechanism. Although providing some assistance, such aids are not without problems. Firstly it is difficult for a person in a sitting position to manoeuvre himself onto the aid or to locate it beneath him, with or without nursing assistance, because of the bulk and rigidity of the aid. Secondly, if the aid is required to assist turning in a standing position, users often feel a sense of insecurity because of the height of the aid which means that the user is effectively turning on a raised platform.

A further problem is that such aids are extremely expensive because of the complexity of the bearing system and cost of the materials used since they must conform to very high safety and hygiene standards. This expense means that such aids are not as widely available as would be wished. This problem is aggravated by the fact that these aids must be manufactured in a range of different sizes for different uses: for example, they must be designed specifically to fit different car seats since these latter are manufactured to very different conformations in different models.Moreover, once seated and turned, the patient must either remain seated on the platform comprising the turntable, which is uncomfortable or the platform must be removed, while lifting the patient, or at least taking a part of his or her weight to relieve the pressure on the platform so that it can be drawn out from underneath the patient. If the patient is partially or entirely immobile he or she cannot lend any assistance for this operation which is made more difficult by the fact that it has to be performed by the carer leaning forward through the vehicle door opening in what must be considered to be one of the worst postures for this task, placing the carer under serious risk of sustaining a back injury.

The object of the present invention is to provide a rotary transfer aid, particularly but not exclusively for use by persons who are physically disabled, which is more convenient to use than prior-art rotary transfer aids and which can be manufactured more cheaply.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a rotary transfer aid comprising two flexible sheet members interconnected with respective low-friction faces in contact for relative rotation about a substantially central axis through those faces, the non-contacting outer faces of the sheet members having higher coefficients of friction than the contacting faces such that, when the aid is located on a supporting surface in use, a load located thereon can turn or be turned to a different orientation by rotation of the upper member with respect to the lower member.

The aid of the invention is much more versatile and easy to use than prior art transfer aids for various reasons.

First, it is flexible and can be made much thinner than prior art rotary aids. Indeed, the overall thickness of the aid of the invention may be no more than a few millimetres so that it can be introduced or removed much more easily beneath a seated person than prior art aids.

Moreover, even if the aid of the invention is placed on a seat before the patient sits onto it the act of sitting is not made more difficult by the presence of the aid of the invention due to the fact that its very small thickness makes very little difference to the height of the seat. Also, partly because it is very thin, and partly because of its flexibility, a patient may remain seated on it for long periods of time without discomfort so that it is not in fact necessary to withdraw it at all. Furthermore, a person standing on it feels much safer than on prior art rotary transfer or turntable aids. Also, being flexible, it can be placed on any supporting surface, whether this is flat, or curved like a car seat, or irregular, and can be made in one standard size to fit a wide range of car seats, which immediately cuts manufacturing costs.Moreover, with suitable choices of materials and, particularly, of the means for interconnecting the sheet members, it can be made far more economically than prior art turntable aids and may therefore be made more widely available in hospitals, hospices and like such establishments.

In the majority of embodiments, the rotary transfer aid of the invention is circular with the two members interconnected by pivot means substantially at their centres: the two members are likewise normally of the same diameter. Other shapes and sheet members of different sizes could however be envisaged and fall within the scope of the invention. Likewise the interconnection could be other than a central pivot, for example a circular track on one sheet member engageable by a cooperating member or cooperating members on the other sheet member. This may be especially convenient if it is desired to limit the angle through which the aid may turn since a track arrangement may readily be provided with limit stops.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, the two sheet members are releasably interconnected at their centres by pivot means. Such pivot means may comprise a projecting element, attached to one member, which element is a cooperating, rotary fit in an upstanding annular element, or ring of elements, attached to the other member. The sheet members may be held together in use solely by the weight of the load bearing thereon but preferably the elements on the two members can be releasably secured together, preferably by snap engagement. The connecting elements may for example be the two parts of a press stud.

The sheet members constituting the aid of the invention may be made from any suitable material or combination of materials which provides the necessary properties on the different surfaces. Also the two members, although being flexible so as to be able to conform to different supporting surfaces, preferably have sufficient stiffness to be substantially self-supporting in a disc-shape for ease of handling rather than being completely floppy.

Conveniently they can be folded to a smaller shape for carriage and storage. In addition, the transfer aid may be washable and/or sterilisable and possibly also waterproof.

The preferred fabric for the low-friction, contact fanes of the sheet members is a woven NYLON (Registered Trad Mark) fabric coated with a silicone elastomer on the inner or contact face which faces the other member and forms the low-friction face. Such fabrics are available with differential slip properties on their two faces and may be usable alone to form one or both of the two sheet members. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, however, each member is composed of two.or more layers of different materials to give appropriate surface properties together with appropriate handling properties.

The two sheet members may be identical since both must have a low-friction face for contacting the other member and a higher friction face for contacting the supporting surface or the user respectively to ensure that the aid does not slip on the supporting surface and the patient does not slip on the aid in use. In a preferred embodiment, however, the two members differ in that the member which is to lie on the support surface, which will be termed the lower member, is formed with a highly nonslip outer face whereas the degree of friction on the outer face of the other member, which will be termed the upper member, whilst it must be higher than that of the "inners or facing surfaces, is less critical.Also, for aids which are to be sat upon, it is preferred to make the upper member generally comfortable to sit upon, for example by means of a padded layer, and with an outer face that is pleasant to touch. In an aid solely for use by standing persons, a highly non-slip or high-friction upper face might be preferred.

Although the rotary aid of the invention has been devised particularly for use by disabled persons or in hospitals, it will be appreciated that it has a more widespread potential for use in turning loads in general and could be of particular use as an aid for parents with babies or very young children.

The embodiments of the invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the aid of the invention; Figure 2 is cross-sectional view of the embodiment of Figure 1 showing its two constituent members separated into their constituent parts; and Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view through an alternative embodiment of the invention.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, a rotary transfer aid is generally indicated 10. It must be emphasised that the relative dimensions of Figure 2 have been changed for clarity of illustration and in particular the thickness of each layer has been exaggerated. In practice each layer may be less than 1 mm thick and the overall thickness of the whole assembly may be no more than a few millimetres. The aid 10 is constituted by two flexible, disc-like, composite members 11 and 12. The aid 10 is intended to be placed on a generally horizontal support surface, in use, with the disc member 11 underneath, in contact with the support surface, and the member 12 on top.

The lower member 11 is constituted by three fabric layers, a lower outer layer 13, an intermediate layer 14 and an upper layer 15, bound together around the circumference by a tape 16, in this case of woven NYLON, which is folded over the circumferential edges and seamed through the two layers of tape 16 and three layers 13, 14, 15.

The outer layer 13 is preferably made from DYCEM (Registered Trade Mark) which has a high coefficient of friction to ensure that the aid does not slip on the supporting surface in use. It is also washable and wiping with a damp cloth restores its non-slip properties if these have deteriorated slightly with use.

The intermediate. layer 14 is a stirfening or strengthening layer, providing structural support for the member, although it has sufficient flexibility to be folded and can conform to the shape of a non-planar surface such as that of a chair or car seat. It may be made from PVC or another relatively cheap plastics material.

The upper layer 15 is made from woven NYLON fabric coated with a silicone elastomer, sold under the trade name HYPERLAST. It is arranged with its lower friction (more slippery) face uppermost.

The upper disc member 12 also includes three layers, the lowermost being a sheet, indicated 17, of EYPERLAST arranged with its lower friction (more slippery) surface outermost (facing downwardly in the orientation of use as shown) for contacting the HYPERLAST sheet 15 of the lower member 11. Above the HYPERLAST sheet 17 is a reinforcing PVC layer 18 like the intermediate layer 14 of the member 11 while, above this, is a quilted layer generally indicated 19. The quilted layer 19 comprises two fabric sheets 19a, 19b with a fibre layer 20 sandwiched between them and held in place by intersecting lines of stitching indicated at 21 in Figure 1. The fibre layer 20 and fabrics 19a, 19b may be of cotton for ease of washing and sterilisation but'may be of other suitable materials.In particular the fabric 19a, comprising the uppermost layer of the member 11 has a non-slip outer surface for contact by the user and may be waterproof. An additional waterproof cover may alternatively be provided.

The three layers 17, 18, 19 are joined together like the layers 13, 14, 15 of the lower disc member 11 by a further length of tape 22 folded over and secured around their circumferential edges.

The two members 11, 12 are held together by a press-stud fastening having two parts, indicated 23 and 24, attached to the respective centres of the two disc members 11, 12 so that their cooperating parts project from the HYPERLAST layers 15 and 17 and can be mutually snapengaged to join the two members 11 and 12 together. When so engaged, the press stud defines an axis of rotation, indicated X-X in Figure 2, through the centres of the disc members 11, 12 and perpendicular thereto, in their flat condition shown in the drawing. The disc members 11, 12 can rotate relative to each other in use about the axis X-X.

The two press-stud parts 23s 24 are in this embodiment made of metal (although they could be made of plastics) and each is formed in two pieces shown schematically.

Each part 23, 24 is attached to its respective disc member 11, 12 in known manner by means of flanges 23a, 24a respectively which trap and clamp the PVC layer 14, 18 between them with socket and stud portions 23b, 24b respectively projecting through, and sealed in, cooperating apertures in the PVC and HYPERLAST layers An additional disc 25 of HYPERLAST fabric is located between each press-stud flange 23a, 24a and the outer fabric layer 13, 19 of each member 11, 12 respectively, being stitched to the fabric 13 or 19 as shown at 26 in Figure 1 to reduce. any danger of the flange damaging the outer layer by abrasion in use.

The rotary aid 10 described above may be used in various ways. For example, one aid 10 may be placed on the ground outside a car door while a second aid is placed on the car saat for use in transferring a disabled person from a wheelchair to the car seat. The disabled parson places his or her feet on the aid 10, and stands up.

Then turning, with or without the assistance of a helper, aided by the low-friction flexible aid 10, is easily accomplished without requiring any significant force.

The fact that the aid 10 is very thin allied to its firm adherence to the ground and its total stability (there being no rocking even if the ground is slightly uneven) provides the user with a sense of security during this manoeuvre while the low friction contact surfaces of the layers 15 and 17 enables him or her to turn easily with the upper disc-member 12 which rotates on the lower member 11 about the axis X-X.

Once the user has turned to a suitable position, he or she then sits on the second aid located on the car seat and again can turn easily without friction to bring his or her legs into the car: the turning is again effected by rotation of the upper disc-member 12 with respect to the lower disc-member 11, which latter remains firmly in a fixed position on the car seat. The aid 10 may then be removed from beneath the user for travel if desired.

However, because it is very thin and has a high degree of flexibility, it can be left in place without causing discomfort. If removed it can easily be reintroduced to enable the user to return to the wheelchair, by reverse manoeuvres, at the end of the journey.

The aid 10 may be made in various sizes but it has been found that a diameter of about 350 mm - 400 mm is suitable for a wide range of uses whereas a smaller size, of about 250 mm diameter, may be suitable for use with children. A larger size, of about 500 mm may be convenient for some other purposes and larger patients.

The wadded layer 19 of the upper disc 12 may be anything from about 5 to about 10 mm thick depending on choice and material. The remaining layers of the aid are only a few millimetres so that even if a 10 mm wadding layer is used the overall thickness may be only of the order of 12-13 mm.

Turning now to Figure 3 there is shown the central portion of an alternative embodiment which, unlike the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2 has upper and lower composite layer structures which are permanently secured together. In Figure 3 the rotary aid is generally indicated 45 and has a composite structure of multiple layers primarily comprising, as can be seen in Figure 3, an upper layer structure 46 and a lower layer structure 47 permanently interconnected with respect to one another by a pivot assembly generally indicated 48 which allows the upper layer structure 46 to rotate about an axis generally indicated X-X defined by the pivot assembly 48 to be generally orthogonal to the plane of the two said layer structures 46, 47.Each of these layer structures 46, 47 is flexible; the upper structure 46 may include a layer of padded or quilted material 50 (not shown in detail) like the layer 19 of the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2, for long term comfort of a patient sitting on this element.

The construction of the rotary aid 45 will be described in more detail in relation to Figure 3 which, it must be emphasised, is a schematic diagram illustrating the various layers and components of the structure without in any way being drawn to scale, but rather being presented in a way which will assist understanding of the structure itself. The thicknesses have been exaggerated for clarity. It will be appreciated that each layer may be a woven or non-woven textile fabric of fibres or filaments suitable for the individual purposes described hereinbelow, and typically are of a thickness between 1.5 mm and 0.035 mm. They may be the same materials as described in relation to the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2.

The upper layer structure generally indicated 46 of the aid 45 comprises the padded or quilted layer 50 and a lower layer 51 of woven nylon such as HYPERLAST (RTh).

The lower structure 47 comprises an upper layer 52 of the same woven nylon fabric and an outer, lower surface layer 53 of a lightly adhesive high-friction material such as that made under the trade mark DYCEM. The central pivot structure 48 comprises a plastics pivot pin 54 having an enlarged head 55 in the form of a wide flat disc.

Beneath the enlarged head 55 is a stiffening layer 56 formed as a disc having a diameter larger than that of the head 55 and interposed between the head 55 and the lower friction layer 53. The pin 54 projects through a central hole in the upper layer 52 of the lower layer structure 47 and through a central opening in a circular rigid plastics washer 57 having the same diameter (or substantially the same diameter) as the head 55 of the pin 54.

Over the central plastics washer 57 is placed the lower layer 51 of the upper layer structure 46, and a further, upper plastics washer 58 is then placed over the pin 54 and bonded thereto by welding or adhesive. Any projecting end part of the pin 54 is then severed to leave its end 59 substantially flush with the upper face of the upper washer 58 the diameter of which is substantially the same as that of the intermediate washer 57 and the head 55 of the pin 54. The upper washer 58 is then covered by a stiffening layer 60 of the same material as the layer 56, and over this layer is placed the upper quilting layer 50.The pivot structure thus holds the two layer structures 46, 47 together, and these are held to the pivot structure 48 by circular lines of stitching, schematically illustrated by the vertical lines 61 in the case of the upper pivot structure 46, and 62 in the case of the lower pivot structure 47. A further circular line of stitching 63 joins the outer perimeters of the layers "50, 51 comprising the upper layer structure 46 and a circle of stitching 64 joins the outer perimeters of the layers 52, 53 of the lower layer structure 47.As will be appreciated the dimensions of the laminar element 45 may be chosen suitably to receive a seated person, for example in the region of .5 to .75 metres (although the diameter of the underlying lower layer structure 47 may be less than this if desired, the function of the lower layer structure being primarily to bear the friction layer 53 in a manner which permits the upper layer structure 46 to rotate with respect thereto).

Finally, the upper layer structure 46 may be formed with a plurality of pockets (not shown) to receive flat reinforcing battens or slats 66 (not shown).

The laminar structure 45 allows two primary functions to be fulfilled. First, as an aid to transferring a seated patient between two adjacent surfaces, such as a bed and a trolley or a bed and a chair a roller tube may be placed on the surface with the rotary aid 45 lying on it and the patient sitting on the rotary aid. It is assumed here that the battens or slats 66 are in place in the pockets. The laminar element 45 is orientated so that the battens or slats 66 lie perpendicular to the axis of the roller tube. The patient is then displaced by sliding the upper pass of the roller tube over the lower pass thereof until the patient arrives at the gap between the two surfaces. Then, by lightly raising the corner of the element 45, and therefore the leading ends of the battens or slats 66, the patient may be transferred over the gap with the battens or slats 66 spanning this and providing suitable continuity of supporting surface.

Claims (15)

1. A rotary transfer aid comprising two flexible sheet members interconnected with respective low-friction faces in contact for relative rotation about a substantially central axis generally orthogonal to the plane of the contacting faces, the outer non-contacting faces of the sheet members having higher coefficients of friction than the contacting faces such that, when the aid is located on a supporting surface in use, a load located thereon can turn or be turned to a different orientation about the said axis by rotation of the upper member with respect to the lower member.

2, A rotary transfer aid as claimed in Claim 1, in which the two members are circular and interconnected at their centres.

3. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the two members are releasably interconnected.

4. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in Claim 3, in which the releasable interconnection is formed by a press stud, the two parts of which are fixed to respective members, be members being rotatable about the axis of the press stud.

5. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in any preceding claim, in which a first sheet member, which is uppermost in the orientation of use, has a multiple layer structure including an upper layer of padded fabric.

6. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the second sheet member, which is lowermost in the orientation of use, is a multiple layer structure including a lower layer of material having a high coefficient of friction4

7. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in Claim 5 or Claim 6, in which the said multiple layer structures of the first and second sheet members include facing layers of material having a low coefficient of friction.

8. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in Claim 7, in which the said material having a low coefficient of friction is a woven nylon coated with a silicone layer on at least one face thereof.

9. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in any of Claims 5 to 8, in which the said upper and lower multiple layer structures include stiffening or reinforcing discs of a stiffening material secured in place by stitching around the periphery thereof.

10. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in Claim 9, in which the upper and lower multiple layer structures are secured by a pivot pin having a flat disc-like head trapped between two layers of one of the multiple layer structures and a retaining washer fixedly secured to the free end of the pin and trapped between two layers of the other multiple layer structure.

11. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in Claim 10, in which there is further provided a separating washer loosely fitted on the said pivot pin between the said two multiple layer structures.

12. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in any preceding claim, in which at least one of the said sheet members is provided with transverse pockets for receiving removable stiffening slats or battens.

13. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in Claim 12, in which the said transverse pockets are formed in the upper sheet member with reference to a normal orientation of use.

14. A rotary transfer aid as claimed in any preceding claim, in which at least one of the said sheet members has at least one substantially rectilinear edge provided with at least one grip handle or loop.

15. A rotary transfer aid substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.