JP2000197679A - Bathtub - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily allow a bathing person using a wheelchair to take a bath. SOLUTION: A bathtub main body 10 and an opening and closing door 21 opening and closing the front surface of the main body 110 are combined. It is possible to allow the bathing person to enter/leave the main body 10 together with the wheelchair by forming a slope by opening the whole front surface of the main body 10 by opening the door 21 forward.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a bathtub that can reduce the labor of a caregiver when bathing a person using a wheelchair.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When taking a bath for a sick, elderly, or physically handicapped person, a carry-in / out device such as a lift device is sometimes used. The bathtub at this time is formed in a box shape with an open top.

[0003] Therefore, in this apparatus, a bather using a wheelchair can be replaced with a chair portion of a carry-in / out device, and the chair portion of the carry-in / out device can be lowered into a bathtub to bathe the bather. Also, when leaving the bather from the bathtub,
The chair portion of the carry-in / out device may be lifted from the bathtub, and the bather may be changed from the chair portion to the wheelchair. It should be noted that the bather may switch between the wheelchair and the chair portion of the carry-in / out device with the assistance of the caregiver, or may switch by himself.

[0004]

According to such a conventional technique, the bath tub has only an open upper portion.
It is necessary to use a loading / unloading device, which increases the total equipment cost, and the bather must transfer or change between the wheelchair and the loading / unloading device.
There has been a problem that the labor of the caregiver and the bather tends to be excessive.

In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide an opening / closing door at the front of the bathtub body, thereby reducing the overall equipment cost and greatly reducing the labor of caregivers and bathers. An object of the present invention is to provide a bathtub that can be made to work.

[0006]

The gist of the present invention for achieving the above object is to provide a bathtub body and an opening / closing door for opening and closing the front surface of the bathtub body.

The opening / closing door can be automatically opened / closed via an opening / closing mechanism, and the front surface of the bathtub body can be water-tightly sealed via a driving mechanism.

[0008] The opening / closing door is connected to a lower portion of the front surface of the bathtub body via a hinge, and can be opened forward of the bathtub body.

Further, the bathtub body may be provided with an auxiliary slope which can be raised and lowered in conjunction with the opening / closing door, and the auxiliary slope may have a non-slip.

[0010] The bathtub body may have a wheelchair wheelchair on its bottom surface.

[0011]

According to the structure of the invention, the bathtub body is
Since the front can be opened and closed by the door, the bather on the wheelchair can open the door, run the wheelchair and enter the bathtub body as it is in a wheelchair, close the door and close the bathtub body By storing hot water, you can take a bath with a wheelchair. When the bather leaves the bathtub body, the wheelchair may be moved from the bathtub body to the outside by removing hot water from the bathtub body and opening the door. The hot water extracted from the bathtub body can be stored in an external hot water storage tank, sufficiently purified through a purification unit, and reused in the next bathing.

An opening / closing door which automatically opens and closes via an opening / closing mechanism,
The bather on the wheelchair automatically opens and closes by operating the operation switch and the like, and the bather at this time can take a bath by himself and does not need a caregiver.

When the door is watertightly sealed to the bathtub body via the drive mechanism, the door can reliably prevent hot water in the bathtub body from leaking to the outside.

The opening / closing door connected to the bathtub body via the hinge opens forward to form a slope, so that the wheelchair can run smoothly between the floor surface and the bathtub body.

If the auxiliary slope is provided on the bathtub main body, the auxiliary slope opens and closes, and the auxiliary slope falls down and is bridged between the open / close door and the bottom surface of the bathtub main body. Can be eliminated at the connecting portion of the. In addition, the auxiliary slope can be automatically stored in the bathtub body by standing up with the opening / closing door closed.

When the non-slip is provided on the auxiliary slope,
The non-slip prevents the wheelchair from slipping on the auxiliary slope and makes the wheelchair run stably.

The wheelchair provided on the bathtub body defines the limit of the entry of the wheelchair, and can improve the safety of a bather on the wheelchair.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The bathtub is composed of a bathtub body 10 and an opening / closing door 21 (FIGS. 1 and 2).

The bathtub body 10 is formed in a box shape with the front and top open. The bottom of the bathtub body 10 is formed as a double bottom with a partition plate 11 interposed therebetween. The partition plate 11
A bottom surface of the bathtub body 10 is formed, and a non-slip 12 having countless upward projections is laid on the partition plate 11. The partition plate 11 and the non-slip 12 have communication ports 11a, 11a,... Formed at the front and the back (FIGS. 2 and 3). It is attached. In addition, the bathtub body 10 includes a partition plate 11.
Pipe lines 41a and 41b for additional heating are connected to the upper part of the pipe, and a pipe 42a for hot water supply and discharge is connected below the partition plate 11. At the lower part of the bathtub main body 10, casters 15, 15,...

On the front surface of the bathtub body 10, seal packings 14, 14,... Are continuously provided outwardly on the left, right, lower peripheral portions (FIGS. 1, 3). The bathtub body 10
Has a protection cushion material (not shown) inwardly provided along the outer edge of the open portion of the front surface and the upper surface. On the rear upper surface of the bathtub body 10, an operation unit 16 used for opening and closing the door 21 is mounted. The operation unit 16 includes a plurality of operation switches 16
i (i = a, b...) are attached. An outer case 19 is attached to the outer surface of the bathtub body 10. The outer case 19 is provided with a brush 1 for blindfold on both sides of the front open portion.
9a and 19a are additionally provided.

The opening / closing door 21 corresponds to an open portion on the front surface of the bathtub body 10 (FIGS. 1 and 2), and is connected to a lower portion of the front surface of the bathtub body 10 via a hinge 22. However,
The hinge 22 is connected to the bathtub body 10 via the reinforcing plate 17. The opening / closing door 21 has an opening / closing cylinder 23,
23 are connected (FIGS. 1 and 3). Each cylinder 23
Is rotatably connected to the upper side surface of the bathtub body 10, and the rod 23a of the cylinder 23 is rotatably connected to the side end face of the door 21 via a joint 23b and a bracket 21a.

On the opening / closing door 21 side of the bathtub body 10, left and right auxiliary slopes 18, 18 are provided so as to be able to be turned upside down (FIGS. 1, 4). Each auxiliary slope 18 is formed in a channel shape with an open top, and a non-slip 18b similar to the non-slip 12 is attached to the upper surface. Auxiliary slope 1
8, 18 are respectively connected to the partition plate 11 via the hinge 18c.
The hinge 18 c is provided in the communication port 11 a of the partition plate 11.

Therefore, the opening / closing door 21 is connected to the operation unit 16.
When the predetermined operation switch 16i is operated, the cylinder 2
By extending 3, 23, it is possible to fall down to the open position (solid line in FIG. 2) in front of bathtub body 10 and automatically open the front surface of bathtub body 10. At this time, the door 2
1 has a front end in contact with the floor surface F and forms a slope with respect to the bathtub body 10. In addition, the auxiliary slopes 18, 18 at this time fall down on the opening and closing door 21 in conjunction with the opening and closing door 21, and a step generated between the opening and closing door 21 and the bottom surface of the bathtub body 10 can be eliminated.

When the operation switch 16i is operated in the reverse direction, the opening / closing door 21 shortens the cylinders 23 and 23 to the closed position (two-dot chain line in FIG. 2) and closes the front surface of the bathtub body 10. it can. At this time, the auxiliary slope 1
8 and 18 stand up in conjunction with the opening / closing door 21, and the bathtub body 1
0 can be stored. Therefore, cylinder 2
Reference numerals 3 and 23 form an opening and closing mechanism for automatically opening and closing the opening and closing door 21.

Driving mechanisms 31, 31 are provided on both side surfaces of the bathtub body 10 to seal the opening / closing door 21 in a closed position in a watertight manner (FIGS. 1, 5). Each drive mechanism 31 is configured by combining a cylinder 31a and a hook member 31c attached to a rod 31b of the cylinder 31a. The cylinder 31a is attached to the side surface of the bathtub body 10 via a bracket 31a1 so that the rod 31b projects from the front surface of the bathtub body 10, and the hook member 3
1c is laterally connected to the tip of the rod 31b. A cushion member 31e is attached to the hook member 31c toward the bathtub body 10 via a stud bolt 31d and a lock nut 31d1. In addition, the reinforcing plate 21 corresponding to the driving mechanisms 31 is provided on the surface of the door 21.
b, 21b are attached. In addition, each cylinder 31a
Can rotate the rod 31b forward and backward by about 90 °.

When the opening / closing door 21 stands up to the closed position (two-dot chain line in FIG. 2 and solid line in FIG. 5),
Each of the rods 31b of the cylinder 31a is rotated by about 90 ° to cause the hook member 31c to protrude forward of the opening / closing door 21 (the dashed line in FIG. 5). Subsequently, the cylinder 31a is shortened, and By engaging the opening / closing door 31c with the opening / closing door 21, the opening / closing door 21 is driven toward the bathtub main body 10 (two-dot chain line in the figure), and the front surface of the bathtub main body 10 is sealed via the seal packings 14, 14,. Can be. In addition, each drive mechanism 31 includes a cylinder 3
The hook member 31c is retracted from the front of the door 21 by extending the rod 1a and rotating the rod 31b in the reverse direction, and the door 21 is opened and opened.

This bathtub is used in combination with a boiler 41 for additional heating, a hot water storage tank 42, and a purification unit 43 (FIG. 6).

The boiler 41 and the bathtub body 10 are
a, 41b, and is connected to the boiler 41,
A not-shown shower, a faucet, and the like, which are installed in the bathtub body 10, are also connected via a hot water supply path, not shown. A pipeline 42a is connected to the hot water storage tank 42, and a bidirectional pump 42b is interposed in the pipeline 42a. The purifying unit 43 is connected to the hot water storage tank 4 via pipes 43a and 43b.
2 are connected.

Hot water is stored in the hot water storage tank 42 via a heater (not shown). Therefore, when the bather P on the wheelchair C takes a bath, the bather P operates the operation unit 16 to open the opening / closing door 21 (solid line in FIGS. 1 and 2), and opens and closes the opening / closing door 21 and the auxiliary slopes 18, 18. The bather P enters the bathtub body 10 while using the wheelchair C.
Subsequently, the bather P operates the operation unit 16 to close the opening / closing door 21 (two-dot chain line in FIG. 2), and drives the driving mechanisms 31 and 3.
1 is operated to seal the front surface of the bathtub body 10 watertight.

Thereafter, another pump 16b is operated by operating another operation switch 16i of the operation unit 16, and the hot water in the hot water storage tank 42 is introduced into the bathtub body 10 and stored therein.
The bather P in the bathtub main body 10 can take a bath while riding on the wheelchair C. By appropriately selecting and operating the operation switch 16i of the operation unit 16, the bather P can perform a reheating operation by the boiler 41 and can use a shower or a faucet (not shown). However, the boiler 41 may automatically perform the reheating operation by detecting the temperature of the hot water in the bathtub body 10.

When bathing is completed, the bather P operates the operation unit 16 to operate the pump 42b in the reverse direction,
The hot water in the bathtub body 10 is returned to the hot water storage tank 42,
By opening 1, it is sufficient to leave the bathtub body 10 via the wheelchair C. In addition, the purification unit 43 can circulate the hot water in the hot water storage tank 42 appropriately, and filter and purify the hot water. Further, the hot water storage tank 42 can keep the stored hot water at an appropriate temperature via a heater.

In the above description, the operation of the operation unit 16 and the movement of the bather P by the wheelchair C may be executed by the bather P itself or by a caregiver.

[0034]

Other Embodiments Each drive mechanism 31 may drive the door 21 via an engaging pin 31f which engages with an engaging member 21c on the door 21 side (FIG. 7). However, FIG.
6 is an operation explanatory diagram of FIG.

The engaging pin 31f is eccentrically provided on the front surface of the disk 31g, and the disk 31g is mounted on the shaft end of the motor 31h. An engagement member 21c having an engagement groove 21d is provided on a side end surface of the door 21. The engagement groove 21d is formed by opening one end toward the bathtub body 10 and bending downward.

When the opening / closing door 21 is closed to the closed position (solid line in FIG. 3B), each drive mechanism 31 engages with the engaging pin 3.
1f enters the engaging groove 21d and rotates the disk 31g via the motor 31h (arrow K1 in FIG.
Direction), the engagement pin 31f is engaged with the front part of the engagement member 21c, and the opening / closing door 21 can be driven toward the bathtub body 10 (the direction of arrow K2 in the figure, two-dot chain line). In addition, each drive mechanism 31 can open and close the openable door 21 by rotating the disk 31g in the reverse direction via the motor 31h and returning the engaging pin 31f to the original position.
However, the engagement groove 21d may be bent upward,
At this time, the rotation direction of the engagement pin 31f may be set to reverse.

In the above description, the auxiliary slope 18,
The right and left 18 may be formed integrally. In addition, the opening and closing door 21
The opening and closing mechanism that automatically opens and closes may employ a motor that rotates and drives the axis of the hinge 22 instead of the cylinders 23 and 23.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, by providing the opening / closing door for opening and closing the front surface of the bathtub body, the opening / closing door opens the entire front surface of the bathtub body and allows the wheelchair to run to take a bath. Can enter and leave the bathtub body, so that bathers using wheelchairs can easily take a bath, and large-scale loading / unloading devices are not required.
There is an excellent effect that the equipment cost can be reduced and the labor of the caregiver and bather can be greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the overall configuration.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory cross-sectional view corresponding to the line XX in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory plan view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory view of a main part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory cross-sectional view taken along the line ZZ in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram of the entire configuration piping system

FIG. 7 is an enlarged explanatory view of a main part showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 C: Wheelchair 10: Bathtub body 13: Car stop 18: Auxiliary slope 18b: Non-slip 21: Opening / closing door 22: Hinge 31: Drive mechanism

Claims (7)

[Claims] A bathtub comprising a bathtub body and an opening / closing door for opening and closing a front surface of the bathtub body. 2. The bathtub according to claim 1, wherein the opening and closing door is automatically opened and closed via an opening and closing mechanism. 3. The bathtub according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing door seals a front surface of the bathtub body in a watertight manner via a driving mechanism. 4. The bathtub according to claim 1, wherein the opening / closing door is connected to a lower portion of a front surface of the bathtub body via a hinge, and opens forward of the bathtub body. 5. The bathtub according to claim 4, wherein the bathtub main body is provided with an auxiliary slope that can be turned upside down in conjunction with the door. 6. The bathtub according to claim 5, wherein the auxiliary slope has a non-slip. 7. The bathtub according to claim 1, wherein the bathtub body has a wheelchair bogie on a bottom surface.