GB2399282A

GB2399282A - Sliding and tilting chair for transferring person to bed

Info

Publication number: GB2399282A
Application number: GB0305873A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sarah Rosalind Cullum
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2003-03-14
Filing date: 2003-03-14
Publication date: 2004-09-15
Also published as: GB0305873D0

Abstract

A motorised chair having a sliding and tilting seat portion (1f), and a sliding and tilting footrest portion (1e), that can assist a person to get into bed. The chair may additionally have flattened arm rests (1c) that fold back separately to be flush with the back rest of the chair in order to extend the width of the chair back. In use the foot-rest is raised to the same height as the chair seat and the armrests are pushed back into an upright position. A button (1d) may then be pressed to actuate movement of the chair and footrest sidewards so that the person may move onto the bed. The chair may then be retracted. The chair may be fixed to either side of the bed and may be adjustable in height.

Description

CHAIR TO ASSIST PARTIALLY DISABLED PEOPLE TO GET INTO BED

INDEPENDENTLY

In my job as a Community Occupational Therapist T have become aware of a common problem for disabled or elderly people living in their own homes, that of being unable to get into bed independently. They may be able to walk short distances and sit on the edge of a bed, but when it comes to lifting their legs up onto the bed, and getting themselves into the middle of the bed, they do not have enough lower body strength for them to do this independently. Existing disability equipment i.e. leg lifters which help to lift your legs up on the side of the bed, and over-bed poles and grabrails which you have to hold onto, to pull yourself into bed, still require a lot of effort for a disabled person and for any caters, whether family or paid help. Many elderly people, or disabled people who are on diuretic chemotherapy, have to be able to get in and out of bed several times a night, to get to the toilet. Paid care may be costly through the night and difficult to obtain, especially now that Health and Safety at Work legislation is restricting employed carets from doing any manual handling movements which involve lifting, stretching, pushing and pulling movements. Carers would have to use a hoist to lift people in and out of bed, which may take away any remaining abilities the disabled person may have. If family members are helping, this can be very tiring for them, and can result in the breakdown of support at home. Getting out of bed is often not so much of a problem, as gravity assists with getting legs over the side of the bed, and there is adequate available equipment on the market to assist with this i.e. mattress elevators, bed rails, bed ladders and stand aids, etc. This invention relates to a chair with a mechanical 'slide and tilt' top to the seat, and a slide and tilt' top to the footrest. The chair has adjustable height legs so it can be positioned and f xed to the side of a bed, so that the seat of the chair, and the top of the footrest, (when raised), are just above the height of the mattress. A disabled or frail elderly person would sit on the chair, or slide across onto it front a wheelchair. They then press a button on the hand held switch, to operate the foot- rest, to raise it to the same height as the chair seat. When the person is ready to move across, they have to push back the armrest into the upright position. (The chair arms are flattened so that, when folded back, they lie flush with the back of the chair, and extend the length of the chair back, to the side near the bed, and thereby help to bridge a possible gap between the back of the chair and the back of the bed.) A retractable grab handle on the edge of the slide (lo) and tilt seat may provide a feeling of security, or the user may also like to hold on to an overbed pole or rail. They can then press another button on the hand held switch which makes the seat and the footrest move sideways over the edge of the bed and then tilt ever so slightly down into the cushion of the mattress. This takes the whole of the person's body and the person's legs, into a good position in the middle of the bed. When comfortable, the person can then retract the top of the seat and footrest, and then press another button to return the footrest down to the bottom front of the chair, so that there is no barrier to getting out of bed again when needs be. As mentioned before, this is often not such a difficult manouvre, but the chair and on the bed side when lowered, could act as a secure arm to pull on to, to get up to a sitting position in bed, and to steady oneself when standing up at the side of the bed before moving on.

The chair would be made so it can be adapted to fit on the right or left hand side of a bed to suit the individual user.

All moving parts of the chair are located underneath and inside the seat and footrest, so not to present a safety hazard, and cause entrapment of fingers or clothing.

A specific embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompar,ying drawings in which: (1FIGURF, I) shows in perspective the chair secured to the side of a bed, at a height just above the height of the mattress. The armrest, on the side near the bed,,is folded back in the upright position (FIGURE 2) shows the foot rest raised up to the same height as the chair seat.

(FIGURE 3) shows the chair seat and footrest slid across the edge of the bed (FlGt]RE 4) shows the chair seat and footrest slightly tilted down into the mattress.

(FIGURE 5) shows a cross section of the slide and tilt movement of the top of the chair seat *om the front.

(Fl6URE 6) shows a cross section of the chair from the side.

This chair, see (FIG 1), would be placed or fixed in position beside the bed, by means of some sort of clamp. It would have adjustable height tubular steel legs (la) so the seat can be positioned beside, and just above, mattress height on any bed. It has armrests (lb) and (lo) which can be folded back separately, out of the way, to align flush with the backrest of the chair. The armrests are wide and flat to provide an extension to the width of the backrest (lo). There is a hand held switch mechanism (id) to operate the leg lifter and the tilt and slide seat and footrest.

When the footrest is raised, see (FIG 2), the top of the foot rest ( 1 e), and the top of the seat of the chair (if), can be operated by the hand held switch mechanism, to slide sideways over the edge of the bed, see (FTG3), and then tilt down,see (FIG 4).

The top of the seat and footrest can be made of hard shiney durable plastic capable of carrying a weight of 20 to 25 stone or more (FIG 5) shows a horizontal groove in the inside of the back bar of the chair with an upward tilted notch at the end of it, near the bed side edge of the chair. This would contain a wheel which would run along and be contained within the groove, and would be motorised by the hand held rocker button switch. There would be a similar groove and notch in the inside of the front bar of the chair. The wheels would be attached by rods and brackets to the underside of the chair scat which moves. The moveable part of the footrest would have similar grooves and motorised wheels.

(FIG 6) shows the wheels within the grooves on the front and back of the insides of the chair, showing how they are attached to the underside of the top of the chair seat. This shows how the top part of the chair seat and the top part of the footrest could be made to move sideways along the grooves and then tilt down into the bed, when the wheel reaches the upwards notch at the end of its run.

Claims

CLAIMS] (1) A chair which can be fixed to the side of a bed, which has a

motorised slide and tilt seat, and a slide and tilt footrest (when the footrest is in the fully raised position).

(2) A chair as claimed in Claim 1 which has adjustable height legs so it can be attached to just above mattress height to any height bed.

(3) chair as claimed in Claim 1 which can be adjusted to fit the right or left hand side of a bed.

(4) A chair as claimed in Claim 1 which has flattened armrests which fold back separately and flush with the back rest of the chair, and which arc flat and wide which can provide an extension to the width of the chair back.