GB2460015A

GB2460015A - Bath seat with detachable chassis

Info

Publication number: GB2460015A
Application number: GB0807747A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Greaves; Martin Roberts-Jones
Original assignee: Minivator Ltd
Current assignee: Handicare Accessibility Ltd
Priority date: 2008-04-28
Filing date: 2008-04-28
Publication date: 2009-11-18
Anticipated expiration: 2028-04-28
Also published as: GB0807747D0; GB2460015B

Abstract

A bath lift comprises a seat 14,16, a chassis 21,22 having at least one guide rod 22 along which the seat is slideably mounted for movement between elevated and lowered positions, and a linear actuator 18 operable to vary in length thereby to elevate or lower the seat relative to the chassis, the assembly further comprising a seat retainer 30 operable to secure the seat to the chassis when the seat has been lowered, but to allow the seat to be detached or moved relative to the chassis when the actuator is operated to extend in length. The retainer 30 may be acted upon by biasing means to urge to the retainer to lock the seat relative to the chassis when the seat is in a lowered position.

Description

I

BATH LIFT

This invention relates to a bath lift and in particular, but not exclusively, to a bath lift of the type comprising a seat assembly of a seat chassis adapted to be positioned in a bath and a seat which is slideably mounted on the chassis to be moveable between elevated and lowered positions by a linear actuator mechanism.

Many design of bath lifts have been proposed for assisting the elderly or infirm to enter and leave a bath. Many designs comprise a pair of guide rods which extend substantially vertically from a base of the chassis and along which guides on a backrest of a seat may slide as the seat is moved between elevated and lowered positions. Movement of the seat typically has been by means of a an actuator which extends between the chassis and the backrest.

Typically the actuator rod is secured at one end relative to the seat backrest * ** and is variable in length under the control of an electric motor attached to the backrest. An example of a known bath lift of this type is to be found, for example, in WO 2005/065621. S* *I

Because of the need for robustness of construction, and the provision of an actuating mechanism to drive the seat between raised and lowered positions, *. the overall weight of the seat assembly typically is greater than that which * * would facilitate ease of handling. In particular, whilst it may be easy to lift a seat assembly from a ground surface, often it is not so easy, particularly for an elderly or infirm person, to bend over and lift a seat assembly into or from a bath.

For the foregoing reasons it is common for the seat to be removable from the chassis such that the seat and chassis may be separately removed from or position in a bath. For that purpose it is known to provide an arrangement in which the seat can readily be slid directly off from the vertical guide rods of the chassis. However, there is then a risk that when the seat and chassis are in an assembled condition on the ground surface, lifting of the seat assembly by holding onto only the seat will result in the chassis initially also being lifted but then sliding downwards and falling onto a person's foot, or causing other damage.

The present invention seeks to provide an improved bath lift in which the aforedescribed difficulty and hazard is mitigated or overcome.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention a bath lift comprises the assembly of a seat, a chassis having at least one guide rod along which the seat is sUdeably mounted for movement between elevated and lowered positions, and a linear actuator operable to vary in length thereby to elevate or lower the seat relative to the chassis, the assembly further comprising a seat retainer operable to secure the seat to the chassis when the seat has been lowered, but to allow the seat to move relative to the chassis when the actuator is operated to extend in length. *

The seat retainer may comprise, or be acted upon by biasing means which inherently tends to urge the seat retainer to a first, locking position at which it comes into a locking engagement with the seat when the seat is in a lowered ***.

position, thereby to secure the seat relative to the chassis and inhibit movement along the guide rod(s). In an alternative construction the seat retainer may come into locking engagement with the actuator or a guide rod when the seat is in the lowered position, thereby again to secure the seat relative to the chassis and inhibit movement along the guide rod(s).

Preferably the seat retainer comprises biasing means which inherently tends to urge the retainer to bear against the actuator when the actuator is in a partly or fully extended condition, and said means may be the same biasing means as that which performs the biasing function described in the immediately preceding paragraph.

The seat retainer may be pivotally mounted such that it is angularly moveable under the action of the biasing means and also when acted upon by the actuator during increase in length of the actuator. The seat retainer may be pivotally mounted about a pivot position provided on the chassis or a pivot position provided on the seat.

As an alternative to being pivotally mounted, the seat retainer may be slideably mounted relative to the seat and actuator.

The seat retainer may comprise a latch formation which engages with an abutment on the seat when the seat is in the lowered position. The seat retainer may comprise an actuation face which is engagable by the actuator at least when the actuator increases in length. The latch formation and actuation face may be integrally formed, for example, from a moulded plastics material or a metal such as cast steel or aluminium.

The biasing means may be integrally formed with the seat retainer. The * ** biasing means may, for example, be in the form of a leaf spring, though other forms of biasing means such as a compression spring or a spiral type spring may be employed. *.S*

In addition to comprising a latch formation which engages with an abutment on the seat when the seat is in a lowered position the seat retainer may comprise a cam surface which is positioned to be acted upon by the seat as ** .: the seat moves to the lowered position such that the seat retainer is moved against the force exerted by the biasing means to a position from which it is then able to move, under the action of the biasing means, to engage with the seat abutment when the seat is in the lowered position.

In the preceding paragraphs it has been described that the seat retainer engages with an abutment on the seat, and that is particularly applicable in the case of a latch formation pivotally (or slideably) mounted on the chassis.

However the seat retainer alternatively may be arranged to engage with an abutment on the actuator or a guide rod to inhibit sliding movement of the seat relative to the guide rod(s), and that is particularly applicable in an alternative configuration in which the latch formation is pivotally (or slideably) mounted on the seat.

The seat may be of the kind comprising a platform section and a backrest section. The platform section may comprise side pieces pivotally mounted on a central section of the platform section in a manner well known in the art of bath lifts. The seat may be formed integrally with a seat abutment for engagement by the seat retainer. In the case of a seat comprising a backrest section the seat abutment preferably is provided at a lower region of the backrest, in the vicinity of the junction of the backrest and platform section of the seat.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:-* ** Figure Ia and lb are, respectively, rear and front perspective views of the rear of a bath seat in an elevated position; * s'* Figure 2 corresponds to that of Figure la but shows the seat in a lowered position; * S S ** I * . Figure 3 is a perspective view of part of the seat assembly; Figure 4 is a part sectional view of a part of the assembly shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a sectional view of part of a seat assembly with the seat slightly elevated; Figure 6 is a view similar to that of Figure 5 but with the seat in the lowered position, and Figure 7 is a view similar to that of Figure 5 but with the seat being moved to approach the lowered position.

A bath lift 10 comprises a seat assembly of a seat 11 and a chassis 12.

The seat 11 comprises a platform section 13 having a central section 14 to the sides of which a pair of side sections 15 are hinged. The central platform section 14 is integrally moulded with a backrest 16 provided with a housing 17 which contains a geared motor unit (not shown) for operation of a linear actuator 18 one end of which is secured to the backrest.

The chassis 12 comprises a pair of metal tubes 20 each having horizontal and vertical section 21 and 22. The horizontal sections 21 are inter-connected by a pair of cross-bars 23 the ends of which are provided with suction feet 24 in a manner known per Se. * *S

The rear of the backrest is formed integrally with a pair of guide apertures (not shown) through which the vertical sections 22 of the chassis extend to act as guide rods to guide movement of the seat between an elevated position as shown in Figures Ia and lb and a lowered position as shown in Figure 2.

The lower end of the actuator 18 is provided with a cross-bar 25 which can : drop into and engage with a pair of slots 26 in the chassis cross-member thereby to restrain any tendency for the actuator to rotate under the action of the geared motor. Accordingly when removing the seat from the chassis the cross-bar 25 is free to lift out from the slots 26.

To secure the seat to the chassis when in a lowered position a seat retainer is pivotally mounted on the chassis about a pivot formation 31. The retainer 30 comprises an abutment face 32 aligned with the lower end position 33 of the actuator and a latch formation 34 engagable with a retention abutment 35 (see Figures 5 & 6) which is integral with the rear of the seat.

The retainer 30 is formed of moulded plastics. Also it is formed integrally with a leaf spring 36 which bears against a part 37 of the chassis cross-bar 23.

Adjacent the pivot formation 31 a chassis surface 38 acts as a stop to limit anti-clockwise rotation of the retainer under the action of the spring 36 (see Figures 4& 6).

The latch formation 34 comprises an overhang section 39 and a cam surface each engagable with the seat retention abutment 35. Figure 6 shows the seat in a lowered condition in which the overhand section 39 of the seat retainer extends over the seat retention abutment 35 and is maintained in that position under the action of the leaf spring 36. In that position of the seat retainer it serves to ensure that the seat is retained in the lowered position and cannot be slid upwards away from the chassis. Thus if the seat assembly is free-standing on a floor surface, lifting of the seat assembly by holding the * *, seat will not result in a risk of the chassis falling downwards from the seat. * * * * S.

S

When, in use in a bath, the seat is to be moved to an elevated position under the action of the actuator, operation of the actuator to extend the length *5*5 thereof will result in the end 33 of the actuator moving downwards from the position shown in Figure 6 to that shown in Figure 5. The end surface 33 of

S

* the actuator will then bear against the actuation face 32 of the seat retainer to * .: cause the latter to rotate in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figures 3 to 6 such that the latch formation overhang section 39 moves out of engagement with the seat retainer abutment 35 to allow consequential upward movement of the seat under the control of the actuator.

As the seat is lowered from the elevated to the lowered position the cam surface 40 of the seat retainer will contact the seat retainer abutment 35 and, in consequence of the angle of inclination of the surface 40 relative to the direction of change of length of the actuator, the abutment 35 will cause the seat retainer to pivot in a clockwise direction such that when subsequently the seat is in a fully lowered condition the overhang section 39 is at a position when it can be urged in an anti-clockwise direction by action of the leaf spring 36 to bring the overhang section 39 into locking engagement with the abutment 35 in the manner shown in Figure 6.

When the seat assembly is to be removed from a bath the actuator is operated to slightly raise the seat such that the end 33 of the actuator bears against the face 32 of the seat retainer. The retainer is thereby caused to pivot and move the latch overhang clear of the seat abutment 35, thus permitting the seat to be removed from the bath independently of the chassis.

When the chassis and seat have been removed from the bath the seat may be securely stored on the chassis by dropping it over the guide rods 22. The operation of the cam surface 40 allows the seat retainer to deflect to a position from which it can then spring back to a locking position, as shown in Figure 6, under the action of the leaf spring. Thus the seat retainer effectively operates * ** automatically to provide a latching function. * * * * S.

S

Accordingly it is to be understood that the present invention provides a simple and reliable means by which a seat may be secured to the chassis during manual handling but allows normal movement of the seat relative to the chassis under the action of the actuator without any need to specially release ** or otherwise operate any locking mechanism.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A bath lift comprising the assembly of a seat, a chassis having at least one guide rod along which the seat is slideably mounted for movement between elevated and lowered positions, and a linear actuator operable to vary in length thereby to elevate or lower the seat relative to the chassis, the assembly further comprising a seat retainer operable to secure the seat to the chassis when the seat has been lowered, but to allow the seat to move relative to the chassis when the actuator is operated to extend in length.
2. A bath lift according to claim I wherein the seat retainer comprises, or is adapted to be acted upon by biasing means which inherently tends to urge the seat retainer to a first, locking position at which it effects a locking engagement between the seat and the chassis when the seat is in a lowered position, thereby to secure the seat relative to the chassis and inhibit * ** movement along the guide rod(s). * S * * S. *.S*S
3. A bath lift according to claim 2 wherein the biasing means inherently tends to urge the seat retainer to a first, locking position at which it comes into aSSSlocking engagement with the seat when the seat is in a lowered position. S.
4. A bath lift according to claim 2 wherein the biasing means inherently tends *. .: to urge the seat retainer to a first, locking position at which it comes into a locking engagement with the actuator or a guide rod when the seat is in the lowered position.
5. A bath lift according to any one of claims 2 to 4 wherein the seat retainer comprises biasing means which inherently tends to urge the retainer to bear against the actuator when the actuator is in a partly or fully extended condition.
6. A bath lift according to claim 5 wherein said biasing means serves also as the biasing means recited in any one of claims 2 to 4.
7. A bath lift according to any one of claims 2 to 6 wherein the seat retainer is pivotally mounted whereby it is angularly moveable under the action of the biasing means.
8. A bath lift according to any one of claims 2 to 7 wherein the seat retainer is pivotally mounted whereby it is angularly moveable when acted upon by the actuator during increase in length of the actuator.
9. A bath lift according to any one of claims 5 to 8 when dependent on claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the seat retainer is rotatably mounted about a pivot position provided on the chassis.
10. A bath lift according to any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein the seat retainer is slideably mounted relative to the seat and actuator. * **
11. A bath lift according to any one of claims 5 to 10 when dependent on any one of claims I to 3 wherein the seat retainer comprises a latch formation which engages with an abutment on the seat when the seat is in the lowered S...position. *.S*
12. A bath lift according to any one of claims 5 to 11 when dependent on any : one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the seat retainer comprises an actuation face which is engagable by the actuator at least when the actuator increases in length.
13. A bath lift according to any one of claims 5 to 12 when dependent on any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein seat retainer comprises an integral formation of a latch formation which engages with an abutment on the seat when the seat is in the lowered position and an actuation face which is engagable by the actuator at least when the actuator increases in length.
14. A bath lift according to any one of claims 5 to 13 when dependent on claim 2 or claim 3 wherein the seat retainer comprises a cam surface which is positioned to be acted upon by the seat as the seat moves to the lowered position such that the seat retainer is moved against the force exerted by the biasing means to a position from which it is then able to move, under the action of the biasing means, to engage with the seat abutment when the seat is in the lowered position.
15. A bath lift according to any one of claims 2 to 14 wherein the biasing means is integrally formed with the seat retainer.
16. A bath lift according to any one of claims 2 to 15 wherein the biasing means is in the form of a leaf spring.

* **
17. A bath lift according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the seat comprises a platform section and a backrest section. *..*
18. A bath lift according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the seat *S* comprises a platform section which comprises at least one side section pivotally mounted on a central section of the platform section. * ** *� 0

*
19. A bath lift according to any one of claims 5 to 18 when dependent on any one of claims I to 3 wherein the seat is formed integrally with a seat abutment for engagement by the seat retainer.
20. A bath lift according to claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described.