JP2002017795A - Care assisting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for reducing a burden on a caregiving person when care-giving a care-given person, specifically for preventing the lumbago and fatigue of the caregiver. SOLUTION: The caregiver 10 wears a caregiver harness 12 on the upper half body. For example, the caregiver 10 wears the harness like tucking up sleeves with a sash, the body of the caregiver being lifted up by the part around under the sternums. If the caregiver 10 is lifted up by the crotch, the situation that the weight WP of the care-giver person 15 is dynamically applied to the waist (lumber) 10a of the caregiver 10 is not dissolved, so the lumbago problem cannot be solved. Therefore, in the device, the caregiver 10 is lifted up by the part around under the sternums. A control device 20 controls a motor 21 of a lifting device based on the loads (FF1 and FF2) detected by load sensors 11a and 11b mounted between the feet of the caregiver and the floor to apply lifting force to the upper half body of the caregiver 10. The lowest limit of the lifting force FA is about the weight WP of the care-given person 15, the maximum being the value (WP+WC1), adding the weight WC1 of the upper half body (the part of the body above the lumbar) of the caregiver 10 to the weight WP of the caregiver.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for assisting a person (caregiver) who cares for an elderly person or a sick person (hereinafter referred to as a cared person).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Raising a cared person lying on a bed to prevent bathing and bedsores is physically the most burdensome task for the carer. This operation places a load on the waist of the caregiver, and causes back pain and fatigue.

Various devices have been proposed to reduce the work load. For example, JP-A-5-57
No. 241 proposes fixing the lift to the bed. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 7-237899 proposes a traveling movable lift that lifts a care receiver with a hydraulic jack. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-87908 proposes a lift-type nursing care wear that can lift a cared person with a stable body shape.

[0004]

These are all methods for lifting a cared person, but actually, when the cared person is placed on a platform of such a lifting device, or when a care assistant (assisting wearer) is used. However, there is still a problem in that the care receiver must lift the care receiver at least when the user wears the device, and a load is applied to the care receiver.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the load on a caregiver at the time of caring for a cared person, and to reduce the backache of the cared person. And a device for preventing fatigue.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems The care assisting device according to the present invention made to solve the above-mentioned problems includes: a) a load sensor provided between the caregiver's foot and the floor; and b) the caregiver worn on the upper body. And a control device for controlling the motor of the lifting device based on the load detected by the load sensor.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The schematic configuration of a care assisting device according to the present invention is as shown in FIG. Load sensor 1
1a and 11b are provided on the bottom of the caregiver's shoes, slippers, or the like, or on the floor itself or on a platform or step laid on the floor. When provided on the bottom of shoes or slippers, load sensors 11a and 11b are provided on both feet, and the total of the loads detected by both is defined as the load value.

[0008] The caregiver 10 wears the caregiver attachment 12 on the upper body. For example, a form such as crossing is applied, and a force for lifting around the lower sternum of the caregiver is applied.

When lifting a person, it is common to fix the inseam and the upper body (for example, recall the example of a parachute or the like). In this case, the lifting force is mainly applied to the lower body (inseam). The reason that the upper body is mainly lifted in the present invention is firstly to truly protect the caregiver. As described above, the largest load on the caregiver 10 is the load on the waist 10a. In other words, it can be said that a major problem in the nursing care site is measures against back pain of the caregiver 10. If the person is lifted from the inseam, the state in which the weight W _P of the care receiver 15 is applied to the waist (lumbar vertebra) 10a of the care receiver 10 mechanically cannot be solved, and it will not be a measure against back pain. By lifting the upper body as in the present invention, true back pain control can be achieved.

Second, the purpose is to reduce the sense of restraint given to the caregiver. When wearing from the inseam, even if the wearing device is an open type such as a strap, it is necessary to cover the entire upper body with the wearing device in order to safely lift a person while maintaining the posture. The caregiver feels as if the entire upper body is restrained. In addition, the degree of freedom of the upper body movement is actually restricted, and it becomes difficult to perform a detailed care operation. In contrast, in the device according to the present invention, only the upper part of the upper body from the vicinity of the chest is substantially restrained, so that the lower part can be freely moved. Therefore, the upper body can be relatively freely moved to perform a detailed care operation.

Third, ease of mounting is considered. When trying to wear it from the inseam, the device becomes inevitably large, and a woman wearing a skirt is hesitant to wear it as it is. On the other hand, by mounting only the upper body, any number of persons can immediately wear the apparatus and enter the nursing care posture when necessary.

In the present invention, the lifting force is mainly applied to the upper body of the caregiver by mounting the caregiver's attachment 12 on the upper body, but the lifting force is also applied to the lower body as a supplement. Does not exclude. The “upper body” may include an arm. In other words, it takes a little time to the attachment, but freedom of the arm of behavior is somewhat constrained, when the body weight W _P of the care-receiver 15 is large, more than those constraints, is necessary anyway lift the cared person 15 is there. In this case, in addition to the chest, a caregiver wearing device that assists the lower body and both arms in a range that does not significantly hinder the care operation may be used.

The control device 20 includes load sensors 11a, 11
Based on the load (F _F1 , F _F2 ) detected by b, the motor 21 of the lifting device is controlled to apply a lifting force to the upper body of the caregiver 10. The load may be lifted with almost 100% of the load (F _F1 + F _F2 ) detected by the load sensors 11a and 11b.
It is desirable to lift with a force reduced by about 100%. The weight (W _C1 + W _C2 ) of the caregiver 10 is measured in advance (or a value self-reported by the caregiver; it does not need to be strict) and input to the control device 20. That is, the lifting force F _A is
The lower limit is about the weight W _P of the cared person 15, and a value (W _P + W _C1 ) obtained by adding the weight W _C1 of the upper body (part above the lumbar vertebra) of the carer 10 to W _P at the maximum (accordingly, Detected load (F _F1 +
The value subtracted from F _F2 ) is W _C2 〜 (W _C1 + W _C2 ).

The gist of the present invention is to assist the caregiver 10 in the care operation, and is based on the premise that the caregiver 10 itself can support its own weight. That is, in the case of the ordinary caregiver 10, when the care receiver 15 is lifted, it is sufficient to compensate the weight W _P of the care receiver 15 with the lifting force at a minimum. Conversely, if the lifting force is too large, the caregiver 10 is almost in a state of being lifted, and the free action (care operation) of the caregiver 10 is restricted.

Since the loads (F _F1 , F _F2 ) detected by the load sensors 11a and 11b fluctuate according to the operation of the caregiver 10, the output signal is not directly used in the control device 20 but is used after passing through a low-pass filter. It is desirable to do so. By appropriately setting the time constant of the low-pass filter, an unexpected force is applied to the caregiver 10 by excessively reacting to the unconscious movement of the caregiver 10, and the caregiver 10 is discomforted. The caregiver wearing equipment 1
2 can be provided with sufficient assistance to the conscious movement of the caregiver 10 while preventing the caregiver 10 from losing his / her intention to use.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lifting device includes a lifting position correcting device 22 capable of moving the lifting point 13 of the caregiver's wearing equipment 12 in a horizontal plane, and a lifting point 13 and a caregiver's wearing equipment. A wire inclination sensor 24 for detecting an inclination angle of the wire 23 connecting the wire attachment point 12a in two directions from a vertical line may be provided. In this case, the control device 20 moves the lifting point 13 so that the detected inclination angle θ of the wire 23 becomes close to zero. As a result, a lateral force (tensile force) is prevented from being applied to the caregiver 10, and the caregiver 10 is provided with only a purely vertically assisting force.

As such a lifting position correcting device, in addition to the mechanism using rotation and one-dimensional linear movement shown in FIG. 2, a two-dimensional linear moving mechanism using parallel rails as shown in FIG. May be used.

When the lifting point 13 is movable in a plane, a foot position sensor 25 for detecting the position of the foot on the floor of the caregiver may be further provided (FIG. 2). Control device 2
0 moves the lifting point 13 of the wire 23 according to the position of the foot detected by the foot position sensor 25 instead of or in addition to the detected wire inclination angle θ. Thus, the movement of the upper body of the caregiver 10 is detected in advance, and the lifting point can be moved quickly.

The foot position sensor 25 includes, for example, a combination of a magnet provided on shoes or the like and a magnetic sensor provided on the floor, a transmitter provided on shoes or the like and a receiver provided in a room, a light emitting device provided on shoes or the like, It can be composed of a marker and an image sensor provided in the room.

The lifting device 22 further includes the wire 2
A wire feeding length sensor 26 for detecting the feeding length of No. 3 may be provided. When the caregiver 10 tilts the upper body forward or squats to lift the care receiver 15, the payout length of the wire becomes longer. Therefore, the control device 20
Indicates that the motor 21
If the start-up preparation is started or if the lifting has already been performed with a certain force, the lifting force (motor torque) is increased.

As described above, the caregiver's wearing equipment 12 includes the wire 2
Although it is lifted up by the motor 21 via 3, it is desirable to provide a damper (buffer) 27 somewhere between the caregiver's attachment 12 and the motor 21. This is because the fine movement of the caregiver 10 in the vertical direction is not hindered, and conversely, a sudden movement (shock) is not applied to the caregiver 10 and the care receiver 15 when the motor is started.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a care assistance device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram in a case where various auxiliary devices are attached to the care assistance device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a lifting position correction device using a two-dimensional linear movement mechanism using parallel rails.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Carer 10a ... Carer's waist 11a, 11b ... Load sensor 12 ... Carer wearer 12a ... Wire attachment point 13 ... Hanging point 15 ... Cared person 20 ... Control device 21 ... Motor 22 ... Position correction device 23 ... Wire 24: Wire inclination sensor 25: Foot position sensor 26: Wire feeding length sensor 27: Damper (buffer)

Claims (6)

[Claims] A) a load sensor provided between a caregiver's foot and the floor; b) a lifting device for lifting a caregiver wearing device worn by the caregiver on the upper body by a motor; c) a load detected by the load sensor. A control device for controlling a motor of a lifting device based on the control device. 2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device lifts the caregiver's attachment with a force obtained by subtracting a part of the weight of the caregiver input in advance from the load detected by the load sensor. Nursing assistance device. 3. A lifting device, comprising: a lifting position correcting device capable of moving a lifting point of the caregiver's mounting equipment in a horizontal plane; and a tilt angle of a wire connecting the lifting point and the caregiver's mounting equipment from a vertical line. 3. The care assisting device according to claim 2, further comprising: a wire inclination sensor that detects the lifting angle, and wherein the control device controls the lifting point to move so that the inclination angle approaches zero. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a foot position sensor for detecting a position of the foot on the floor of the caregiver, wherein the control device controls to move the lifting point of the wire according to the detected position of the foot. 3. The care assistance device according to 3. 5. The lifting device according to claim 3, wherein the lifting device includes a wire feeding length sensor that detects a feeding length of the wire, and the control device changes the lifting control according to the detected wire feeding length. Nursing assistance device. 6. The care assistance device according to claim 1, wherein a damper is provided between the motor and the caregiver's wearing equipment.