GB2318329A

GB2318329A - Patient transfer aid

Info

Publication number: GB2318329A
Application number: GB9720415A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Etienne Iliffe-Moon; Bruce Edward Somerton
Original assignee: Arjo Ltd
Current assignee: Arjo Ltd
Priority date: 1996-10-05
Filing date: 1997-09-26
Publication date: 1998-04-22
Anticipated expiration: 2017-09-26
Also published as: GB9620796D0; AU4392097A; GB2318329B; WO1998015250A1; GB9720415D0

Abstract

A transfer aid for invalids comprises a castored chassis 10', a support structure 11' upstanding from the chassis, a footplate or foot rests 16' supported by the chassis, a knee abutment 21' above the foot rests, one or more hand supports supported (22, 23, Fig. 2) or formed by arms 12' 13' and two seat parts 24', 25' pivotable between an inoperative position in which a seated person can take hold of the hand supports and raise himself to a substantially standing position on the foot rests and an operative position behind the posterior of the person when standing so that the person can be supported by the seat parts with his feet on the foot rests and his knees against the knee abutment.

Description

A TRANSFER AID This invention relates to a transfer aid for enabling the assisted mobility and transfer of people in daily life within community care, residential or nursing homes and institutional care.

It is well known to provide walkers to assist elderly or infirm people to walk. These walkers generally comprise a frame-like structure mounted on wheels.

The frame-like structure includes handles or a handle bar which a user can take hold of. It is also now well known to provide mobile invalid hoists which raise a patient to a standing or substantially standing position and which support the patient in such a position while the patient is transferred from one location to another. These known invalid hoists generally comprise a mobile chassis, a support structure upstanding from the chassis, a lifting arm arrangement projecting from the support structure and providing laterally spaced attachment points for the attachment of a body support sling positioned around the back of a seated patient below the patient's arms, a footplate or foot rests on the chassis and a lifting mechanism for raising the lifting arm, usually along an arcuate path, to raise the patient to a standing position on the footplate or foot rests. One such hoist is disclosed in GB-A-2140773.

The walkers can be used by persons who are able to raise themselves to a standing position and who are capable of assisted walking and the invalid hoists are generally for use by persons who are unable to stand unaided.

People with even a limited ability to bear weight are often able, with a little assistance and reassurance, to stand, sit and toilet themselves.

There is, therefore, a requirement for a transfer aid which lies between the walkers and invalid hoists referred to above and which can be used by persons who are capable of raising themselves to a standing position but who are incapable of walking even when aided by a walker.

According to the present invention, there is provided a transfer aid for invalids, comprising a mobile chassis, a support structure upstanding from the chassis, a footplate or foot rests supported by the chassis, a knee abutment above the footplate or foot rests, one or more hand supports supported by the support structure and two seat parts movable between inoperative positions in which a seated person can take hold of the hand support(s) and raise himself to a standing or substantially standing position on the footplate or foot rests and operative positions behind the seat of the person when standing so that the person can be supported by the seat parts with his feet on the footplate or foot rests and his knees against the knee abutment.

Preferably, the two seat parts are supported, respectively, by two arms which project from the support structure. In this case, preferably, the arms project rearwardly (i.e. towards the front of a seated person to whom the aid is presented) and downwardly from the upper end of the upstanding support structure and the seat parts are mounted on the arms at or adjacent to the lower free ends thereof for movement between said inoperative and operative positions.

Preferably, the seat parts are supported for pivotable movement between said inoperative and operative positions. In this case, preferably, each seat part is pivotable through substantially 900 from it inoperative to its operative position and, preferably, extends generally forwards of its pivot axis when in its inoperative position and towards the other seat part when in its operative position.

Preferably, the hand support(s) is/are provided at or adjacent to the upper end of the upstanding support structure.

The support structure may be adjustable in length so that it can be adjusted to suit the height of a user.

Conveniently, the chassis includes two parallel or substantially parallel legs each supporting a wheel or castor at or adjacent each end, the legs being spaced apart by a lesser distance at their rearward ends than at their front ends to enable the rear ends of the legs to pass inside chair legs or a wheelchair.

Such a transfer aid is significantly cheaper to produce than the invalid hoist referred to hereinbefore and is likely to be more acceptable to persons able to raise themselves to a standing position.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a side view of one embodiment of a transfer aid according to the present invention, Figure 2 is a rear view of the transfer aid shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a plan view of the chassis of the transfer aid shown in Figures 1 and 2, Figure 4 is a side view showing a person taking hold of the hand holds of the transfer aid in preparation for raising himself to a standing position, Figure 5 is a side view showing a person supported in a semi-standing, semi-sitting position by the transfer aid, and Figure 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a transfer aid according to the present invention.

Referring to the Figures 1 to 5 of the drawings, the transfer aid shown therein comprises a mobile chassis 10, a support structure 11 upstanding from the chassis 10 and two arms 12 and 13 extending rearwardly and downwardly from the upper end of the support structure 11.

The chassis 10 comprises two legs 14 and 15 and a footplate 16 between the two legs 14 and 15. Each leg 14, 15 has two wheels or castors 17 at opposite ends, respectively, of the leg.

The support structure 11 comprises two upstanding support members 18 and 19, each of which is secured at its lower end to a respective leg 14, 15. The support structure 11 also includes a cross member 20 extending between the two upstanding members 18 and 19. The cross member 20 supports a fixed knee abutment pad 21.

The upstanding support members 18 and 19 are inclined slightly towards one another in an upwards direction and handgrips 22 and 23 are secured to the upper ends of the two upstanding support members 18 and 19, respectively, and extend towards one another. The hand grips could, however, be provided by upper portions of the arms 12 and 13.

The transfer aid also comprises two seat parts 24 and 25. These seat parts are mounted at the rear ends of the two arms 12 and 13, respectively, for pivotable movement between inoperative positions (shown in Figure 4) in which they extend generally forwardly along the upper edges of the two arms 12 and 13 and operative positions (shown in Figures 1, 2 and 5) in which they extend towards one another behind the posterior of a person standing on the footplate 16. When in their operative positions the seat parts are inclined both to the vertical and to the horizontal and, typically, at an angle of about 600 to the horizontal.

The legs 14 and 15 of the chassis comprise front end portions 14a and 15a which are parallel to one another, rear end portions 14b and 15b which are also parallel to one another and angled intermediate portions 14e and 15c. The rear end portions 14b and 15b are spaced a smaller distance apart than the front end portions 14a and 15a (as best seen in Figure 3) to allow the rear ends of the legs to pass inside chair legs or a wheelchair.

In use, a carer will move the transfer aid up to a seated person. The front castors 17 are equipped with brakes 26 which can be applied by the carer to hold the transfer aid still. The seated person will then place his feet on the footplate 16. He will then take hold of the handgrips 22 and 23 with his arms resting on the arms 12 and 13 as shown in Figure 4. This encourages the seated person to reach and lean forward and so shift his centre of gravity forwards.

The seated person then raises himself to a standing position by pulling and then pushing on the handgrips 22 and 23. When standing, the carer pivots the seat parts 24 and 25 to their operative positions as shown in Figure 5. The standing person can then lean back so as to be supported securely in a "Z-shaped", semistanding, semi-sitting posture with his feet on the feet rest, his knees firmly against the knee abutment and his posterior against the seat parts 24 and 25.

The aid is intended primarily for transferring and toileting persons. It looks towards more active participation and involvement of the user than the hoists used hitherto to an extent empowering the user to act for himself. It enables the improvement and reward of care and can help reinforce the carer and user bond.

Referring to Figure 6 of the drawings, the transfer aid shown therein comprises a mobile chassis 10', a support structure 11' upstanding from the chassis 10' and two arms 12' and 13' which extend rearwardly and downwardly and also forwardly and upwardly from the upper end of the support structure 11'.

The chassis 10' comprises two legs 14' and 15', which converge slightly in a rearwards direction, and a footplate 16' between the two legs. Each leg 14', 15' has two castors 17' at opposite ends, respectively, of the leg.

The support structure 11' comprises two upstanding support members 18' and 19', each of which is secured at its lower end to a respective leg 14', 15'. A knee abutment pad 21' is fixed between the two upstanding members 18' and 19'.

Immediately above the knee abutment pad 21', the upstanding members 18' and 19' are cranked rearwardly and the upper parts of the members 18' and 19' are telescopically adjustable so that the length of these members 18' and 19' can be varied in discreet steps to cater for persons of different heights. By cranking the members 18' and 19' rearwards, the length of the arms 12' and 13' between the upper ends of the members 18' and 19' and seat parts 24' and 25' are shorter than the arms of the embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 5. Indeed, it is conceivable that the members 18' and 19' could be cranked rearwardly even further so that the seat parts 24' and 25' can be mounted at the upper ends of the members 18' and 19'.

The upper portions of the arms 12' and 13' form handgrips for a person to be transferred and each arm 12', 13' is looped beneath itself at its upper end and connected to the other arm by a cross member 30 which forms a handle by which a carer can move the transfer aid.

The seat parts 24' and 25' are mounted at the rear ends of the two arms 12' and 13', respectively, for pivotable movement between inoperative positions (not shown) in which they extend generally forwardly along the upper edges of the two arms 12' and 13' and operative positions (as shown) in which they extend towards one another behind the posterior of a person standing on the footplate 16'. When in their operative positions the seat parts are inclined both to the vertical and to the horizontal.

The seat parts 24' and 25' are equipped with releasable latches for releasably securing the seat parts in their operative positions. The latches can be released by pulling on release levers 31.

The transfer aid shown in Figure 6 operates in a manner similar to the transfer aid shown in Figures 1 to 5.

In both embodiments, it is important that the relative dispositions of the footplate, knee abutment and seat parts, when the latter are in operative positions, are such that the transfer aid will support a person in a "Z-shaped", semi-standing, semisitting posture with his feet on the footplate, his knees firmly against the knee abutment and his posterior against the seat parts. It is also important that the person, when in this position, should be able to take hold of the hand grips and that these hand grips should be located forwardly of the person and at a position not lower than and preferably higher than the seat parts.

The embodiments described above are given by way of example only and various modifications can be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the transfer aid could be designed to be foldable for ease of storage and transport. The seat parts could pivot forwardly, rather than rearwardly, from inoperative to operative positions or could pivot in a vertical plane. The knee abutment pad could be in two parts.

Claims

1. A transfer aid for invalids, comprising a mobile chassis, a support structure upstanding from the chassis, a footplate or foot rests supported by the chassis, a knee abutment above the footplate or foot rests, one or more hand supports supported by the support structure and two seat parts movable between inoperative positions in which a seated person can take hold of the hand support(s) and raise himself to a standing or substantially standing position on the footplate or foot rests and operative positions behind the seat of the person when standing so that the person can be supported by the seat parts with his feet on the footplate or foot rests and his knees against the knee abutment.

2. A transfer aid as claimed in claim 1, wherein the two seat parts are supported, respectively, by two arms which project from the support structure.

3. A transfer aid as claimed in claim 2, wherein the arms project rearwardly (i.e. towards the front of a seated person to whom the aid is presented) and downwardly from the upper end of the upstanding support structure and the seat parts are mounted on the arms at or adjacent to the lower free ends thereof for movement between said inoperative and operative positions.

4. A transfer aid as claimed in claim 3, wherein the arms are fixed relative to the upstanding support structure.

5. A transfer aid as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the seat parts are supported for pivotable movement between said inoperative and operative positions.

6. A transfer aid as claimed in claim 5, wherein each seat part is pivotable through substantially 900 from its inoperative to its operative position.

7. A transfer aid as claimed in claim 6, wherein each seat part extends generally forwards of its pivot axis when in its inoperative position and towards the other seat part when in its operative position.

8. A transfer aid as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the hand support(s) is/are provided at or adjacent to the upper end of the upstanding support structure.

9. A transfer aid as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the support structure is adjustable in length.

10. A transfer aid as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the chassis includes two parallel or substantially parallel legs each supporting a wheel or castor at or adjacent to each end, the legs being spaced apart by a lesser distance at their rearward ends than at their front ends to enable the rear ends of the legs to pass inside chair legs or a wheelchair.

11. A transfer aid for invalids, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.