GB2572652A

GB2572652A - Improvements in bedside assist handrails and their attachment

Info

Publication number: GB2572652A
Application number: GB1805822.2A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rowland Wood Oliver
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-04-07
Filing date: 2018-04-07
Publication date: 2019-10-09
Anticipated expiration: 2038-04-07
Also published as: GB2572652B; GB201805822D0

Abstract

An assistance handrail comprising a vertical portion 2 retained via a plate 12 or block (29, fig. 7) which is attached to the bedframe 14. Preferably the vertical portion comprises a pair of vertical tubular legs and an arched connecting portion 1. The height of the rail can be adjusted (fig. 7) and the user can remove the rail entirely. The rail might be held in place by friction in a clamping action from the plate (fig. 2) or held in place relative to a block with clips (24-27, fig. 7). The rail is intended for persons of limited mobility such as the elderly or infirm and offers additional support to get into or out of bed without forming a large obstruction.

Description

OLIVER ROWLAND WOOD

FOR

IMPROVEMENTS IN BEDSIDE ASSIST HANDRAILS AND THEIR ATTACHMENT

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to handrail devices which are attached to the side of a bed to aid the elderly or infirm in getting in and out of the bed.

Background

Assist handles and handrails are well known. Such handrails are typically associated with beds to aid an occupant in entering and exiting the bed. Some assist handrails function as guardrails to prevent the bed occupant from falling out of the bed. Many persons as they become older or become infirm have difficulty in alone entering and leaving the bed due to difficulties in moving from the sitting to the standing position and vice versa. Devices have been previously proposed for attachment to a bed to provide a rail adjacent to the side of the bed to assist the occupant. Examples are shown in various published patents. However the previous designs are generally unsatisfactory for attachment to the bed itself. The known versions tend to have a horizontal tubular frame or planar sections which are located and attached horizontally to the vertically provided rail or handle.

This horizontal section is generally slid between the mattress underside and the top surface of the bed base arrangement. There are often no fixings necessary for use of such a device, and if any, it is not unusual for webbing strap to be provided to fasten around the bed base to keep the handrail more or less in place. The principle essentially works on the basis that the compressive weight of the user on the mattress above generally keeps the rail in place as it is being used. There are various issues with devices of this type when used with adjustable beds which are fundamental and preclude effective use. For example, when an adjustable bed is profiled, the weight of the user is not in a suitable position to keep the board support in place and the device drops out. The width of the board support I position of the board support does not accommodate for the movement of the profiling sections of the bed surface, the position where the rail is required conflicts with essential moving parts of the bed mechanism. The hand and support rails are simply too low in height to allow any practical use since, when the upper-body profiling part of an adjustable bed is raised (when the user needs to sit up in bed); the universally low rails become almost immediately unreachable as the mattress starts to rise.

The prior art therefore shows that a need for a more effective support and handrail for these types of beds is required.

The present invention aims to provide an improved handrail for a bed, which overcomes the aforementioned issues. These include the handrail ensemble not relying on the weight of the person to hold it in place. The handrail does not conflict with the moving parts of the bed mechanism and the available height of the handrail to the person is suitable at all times therefore.

Summary of the invention

According to the present invention there is provided a device for delivering support to a person when entering or leaving a bed.

A tubular handrail is vertical, with two elongated parallel leg members each adjoined at the top by a partially arched section. This is braced via means of a more narrowed bar horizontally affixed between the two elongated leg members. A vertical brace bar extends perpendicular from the horizontal narrow bar to affix to the centre of the partially arched section to the top.

The height of the tubular handrail from the bottom of the two elongated leg members to the top of the partially arched top is advised to be 690 millimetres to provide suitable height for usage. The width distance between the two elongated leg members is advised as 187 millimetres and the tube diameter of the main assist handle throughout is around 23 millimetres. However, these measurements are not final or limiting to the scope of the invention and may be higher or lower, with the provision that the height is always sufficient for the intended usage when mounted on the side of an adjustable or static bed and the diameter of the tubular frame is of an appropriate strength.

To the lower areas of the two elongated parallel leg members are at least three small height adjustment through holes, equally spaced from the front to the rear of each leg member. As shown in the accompanying Figures.

This constitutes the tubular handrail, which would benefit from being made of a light steel or metal variant for strength but may also be produced from an unlimited choice of materials such as aluminium and alloys.

The tubular handrail is held vertically to the side of a bed by means of holding methods which are bolted on or with an equivalent non-movable fixing.

By bolting the tubular handrail onto the vertical side of the bed base side it is not subjectable to fixture issues demonstrated in the prior art. A fixture plate is provided which has a planar rectangular centre with two semi-circular convex brackets to each end. As shown in the accompanying Figures.

The plate is of a suitable metal or any appropriate variant material and has two through holes to its planar centre, to aid its attachment to the bed base side. To the bed base side area are two holes, which are made on installation by the person fitting the handrail.

These holes are made horizontally level to correspond exactly with two holes provided in the fixture plate.

To the two hole interiors are inserted self-tapping threaded fittings, of the known type, to receive a matching threaded bolt or with an equivalent non-movabie fixing. The bolt or fixing is of sufficient length to pass through the holes in the plate, the depth of the plate and into the bed base hole to engage with the selftapping fitting within.

The tubular handrail is held vertically in position by a fitter, while the two semicircular convex brackets of the fixture plate are placed over the end areas of the two elongated parallel leg members of the handle, as shown in the accompanying Figures. This placement of the fixture plate over the end areas of the two elongated parallel leg members provides a position and height of the handrail to maximum height. As shown in Figure 1.

Once the two bolts or fixings are fully tightened the plate is held in place and thus the vertical assist handrail also therefore.

To lower the assist handrail, the fixture plate may be slightly loosened and pulled outward, with its bolts still partially engaged with the hole fittings. This enables the assist handle tubing to be slid downward from this initial full height position, as previously described, to a chosen height and then held by way of the bolts or fixings being re-tightened.

The fixture plate may also be provided as a wider fitting in a rectangular block style and produced of any material which is suitable for sturdy use such as wood, metals and plastics. The block style fixture has two vertical parallel holes which pass through its upper facing edge and out through the bottom facing edge. As shown in Figure 6.

These two holes accommodate the two vertical elongated parallel leg members of the assist handrail, which are located above the holes and then slid down inside them. The extent to which the two vertical elongated parallel leg members are slid down is determined by the three or more small through holes which pass through the parallel leg members from the front to the rear. These small holes which may be of a 7 millimetre diameter and spaced apart equally at a vertical 97 millimetres, provide stopping points for the height adjustment of the assist handrail. The selected height of the handrail is determined with the three through holes of the tubular frame being aligned above and below the block fixture and held in place using inserted plastic popper clips, as shown in Figure 7. The assist handrail can be set up to allow the bed user to slide the assist handle rail in and out of the permanently fixed block if they wish, this can be important to some users depending of their physical requirements.

This is achieved by the removal of plastic popper clips under the block. The popper clips are a slightly flexible semi-circular plastic clip, with a small member which inserts into the small holes on the parallel leg members.

The metal plate or block fixtures as previously described in this invention summary ensure the following advantages:

The Bolt-fixing or equivalent non-movable fixing provides firm anchoring of the assist handrail device to bed base side without fouling moving parts of profiling bed mechanism, whilst avoiding moving parts of profiling bed mechanism.

The consistently tall height of the assist handrail allows use of the rail on an adjustable bed when the upper body section of the profiling bed mechanism is operated and moved fully into the complete upright sitting position of the user.

A facility is made possible to have the rail securely slotted into place for dependable use at any time, whilst also always being easily removable. The assist handrail can be pulled out by the bed user, should they need to take the rail out, should the presence of the rail constitute an obstacle for their particular personal mobility needs. This is the case if the rail were permanently left in place.

The device is of minimal size when installed and assembled to minimise any increase in overall width of a bed base to which it is fitted; and minimise the effects of any increase that the installation of the rail could cause, in terms of constituting an obstacle to the bed user or carers. An example of which is that it is less likely to get in the way when carers are working around the bed.

In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the Patent Office and the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. The abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting as to the scope of the invention in any way.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved bedside assist handrail device which has all the advantages of the prior art bedside handle rails or grab support handles and none of the disadvantages.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new bedside assist handrail device which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved bedside assist handrail device which is of durable and reliable construction.

An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved bedside assist handrail device which is susceptible of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both materials and labour, and which accordingly is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby making such a product available to the buying public.

Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved bedside assist handrail device which provides in the apparatuses and methods of the prior art some of the advantages thereof, while simultaneously overcoming some of the disadvantages normally associated therewith.

These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and detailed descriptive matter in which there is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

Brief description of figures

Figure 1 shows a dimensional view of the bedside assist handrail device installed to a bedside using the fixture plate.

Figure 2 shows a dimensional view of the bedside assist handrail device, with an exploded view of the fixture plate and fittings.

Figure 3 shows a dimensional view of the fixture plate.

Figure 4 shows a front elevation view of the bedside assist handrail device A) and a side view of the bedside assist handrail device B).

Figure 5 shows a side view of the length of the fixture plate C) and a plan view of the fixture plate D).

Figure 6 shows a dimensional view of the block fixture E).

Detailed description of figures

A typical embodiment of the bedside assist handrail device is shown in Figure 1. It comprises a tubular assist handle 1 which bridges two elongated tubular parallel leg members 2. A vertical brace bar 3 extends perpendicularly from a horizontal brace bar 4 as shown.

Small height adjustment through holes 5, 6, 8 and 9 are shown to the lower frontal areas of the two elongated tubular parallel leg members 2.

Semi-circular convex brackets 7 and 10 which are part of a fixture plate 12 clamp over the two lower frontal areas of the two elongated tubular parallel leg members 2, providing holding means to a bed base side 14, which is located beneath a bed mattress 19.

Fixture to the bed base side 14 is provided by fixing bolts 11 and 13, or other suitable fixing methods. Fixing bolts 11 and 13 insert into self-tapping fittings within holes, in the bed side base (not shown in this Figure).

Figure 2 shows fixture holes with self-tapping fittings 20 in the bed base side 14A, into which fixing bolts 11A and 13A are inserted through washer rings 16 and 18 and on through holes in the fixing plate 15 and 17 and tightened to hold the fixing plate in place over the two elongated tubular parallel leg members 2A, as shown. The two elongated tubular parallel leg members 2A are fixed to the correct height above the mattress 19A therefore.

The fixture plate is shown in Figure 3 as 12B with the semi-circular convex brackets 7B and 10B to each of its ends. The through holes in the fixture plate 15B and 17B are located centrally for alignment with holes made within the bed side base (as previously shown in Figure 2).

The elongated tubular parallel leg member holding clamps inner sides 21 and 22 are also shown.

Figure 4 shows a front elevation of the bedside assist handrail device A). A side view of the bedside assist handrail B) is also shown.

Figure 5 shows a side view of the fixture plate C) A plan view of the fixture plate D), is also shown.

Figure 6, E) shows a dimensional view of the block fixture 23. Through holes 30 and 31 for the two elongated tubular parallel leg members are shown. Through holes 32 and 33 for the fixing bolts are shown. All through holes on the plate and block fixtures may be slightly countersunk to allow for embedded fixings.

The block fixture 23F is shown installed onto the bed base side and holding the vertical assist handrail device by way of the two elongated tubular parallel leg members 2F being inserted through the block fixture, via through holes on the upper face 29, with suitable depth provision of the block 28.

Popper clips 24, 25, 26 and 27 releasably secure the handrail device in place by use of the small frontal through holes in the lower area of the two elongated tubular parallel leg members 2F, as shown.

Claims

Claims 1) A bedside assist handrail which is a tall vertical tubular handrail attached by bolts or other means with plate or block fixtures onto the lower bed base side, to provide a non-obstructive and user adjustable handrail for entering and exiting a mechanical or static bed. 2) A bedside assist handrail which is a vertical tubular handrail as claimed in claim 1 wherein, an assist handle is slightly arched and tubular and bridges two vertical elongated tubular parallel leg members. 3) A bedside assist handrail which is a vertical tubular handrail as claimed in claim 1 wherein, an assist handrail where bolts or equivalent non-movable fixing means, provide firm anchoring of the assist handrail device to the lower bed base side, where it is clear of any moving bed parts. 4) A bedside assist handrail which is a vertical tubular handrail as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the consistently tall height of the assist handrail allows use of the rail on an adjustable bed, when the upper body section of the profiling bed mechanism is operated and moved fully into the complete upright sitting position of the user. 5) A bedside assist handrail which is a vertical tubular handrail as claimed in claim 1 wherein, a block with slide through fixture provides a facility to have the rail securely slotted into place for dependable use at any time, whilst the handrail is always removable by the user. 6) A bedside assist handrail which is a vertical tubular handrail as claimed in claim 1 and 2 wherein, the assist handrail can be pulled out of the block fixture by the bed user should they need to, should the presence of the handrail constitute an obstacle for their particular personal mobility needs. 7) A bedside assist handrail which is a vertical tubular handrail as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the handrail device is of minimal size when installed and assembled to minimise any increase in overall width of a bed base to which it is fitted. 30 07 19 Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows: Claims

1) A bedside assist handrail for single handed fitting and use, which is a tall arched vertical tubular handrail movably attached by a plate or block with fixtures onto the lower bed base side, to provide a non-obstructive handrail, having height adjustable means provided, for entering and exiting a mechanical or static bed.

2) A bedside assist handrail wherein said device comprises a vertical tubular handrail which is arched to the top.

3) A bedside assist handrail wherein said device comprises a plate with semicircular brackets to each end.

4) A bedside assist handrail wherein said device comprises a block with holes providing slide through handrail fixture.

5) A bedside assist handrail wherein said device comprises height adjustment through holes.

6) A bedside assist handrail wherein said device comprises fixture bolts.

7) A bedside assist handrail wherein said device comprises bolt fixture holes.

8) A bedside assist handrail which is a vertical tubular handrail as claimed in claim one wherein the plate fixture is bolted over vertical handrail tubes.

9) A bedside assist handrail which is a vertical tubular handrail as claimed in claim one wherein, the handrail is fixed by a plate or block fixture to the side of the lower bed base side, so it is clear of any moving bed parts.

10) A bedside assist handrail which is a vertical tubular handrail as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the assist handrail can be pulled out and inserted to the bed mounting block by the bed user.

11) A bedside assist handrail which is a vertical tubular handrail as claimed in claim 1 wherein, the consistently tall height of the assist handrail allows use of the rail on an adjustable bed, when the upper body section of the profiling bed mechanism is operated and moved fully into the complete upright sitting position of the user.

12) A bedside assist handrail as substantially herein described with reference to the figures.