JP3037681B1 - Telescopic bathtub - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract: [PROBLEMS] To easily enter and exit a bathtub. SOLUTION: Fluid is discharged from a hollow sealing member 3 and enters and exits a bathtub A with an upper body 2 lowered. Bathtub A
After entering the bath, the bather sits on the chair 14 and places his feet on the foot plate 4. On the other hand, the upper body 2 is raised as shown by the solid line by operating the elevating means 5, and the fluid is supplied to the hollow sealing member 3 by the fluid supply source 10 to expand the water, thereby fixing the upper body 2 to the lower body 1 in a watertight manner. I do. Also, hot water is put into bathtub A from the hot water supply facility. The foot plate 4 prevents the bather from slipping and sinking in the hot water, while preventing the lower leg of the bather from touching the upper body 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telescopic bathtub suitable for bathing an elderly person or a physically handicapped person.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to sufficiently soak in hot water during bathing,
Naturally, some water depth is required. For this reason, in general bathtubs, the height of the tub edge from the bottom surface is increased so that a sufficient water depth can be obtained. However, if the tub edge is high, it is difficult to enter and exit the bathtub. The floor is dug down to reduce the apparent height of the tub edge to make it easier to enter the bathtub, but it is still difficult to get out.

[0003] The above-mentioned points are remarkable in the elderly and the physically handicapped who have deteriorated in physical strength. Some people cannot take a bath by themselves, and even if they receive assistance, the burden on the assistant is large.

A telescopic (elevating) bath tub Aa shown in FIG. 6, which can lower the tub edge when entering and leaving the bathtub and raise the tub edge during bathing to increase the water depth. It has been proposed (JP-A-10-277118). The telescopic bathtub Aa has a side wall 52b of an upper body 52 inserted into a cavity 51c formed in a side wall 51b of a lower body 51 having a bottom 51a so as to be able to move up and down.
The upper cylinder 52 can be freely raised and lowered by the hydraulic cylinder 53. Reference numeral 54 denotes packing, which makes the space between both side walls 51b and 52b watertight. 55 is a chair.

[0005]

According to the telescopic bathtub shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to obtain a bathtub which is easy to get in and out of, and can be sufficiently immersed in hot water by increasing the water depth. But,
There are the following problems. (A) Since the cavity 51c must be formed in the side wall 51b of the lower body 51, the production is troublesome and expensive. (B) When the watertightness of the packing 54 is increased, the upper body 5
When the resistance of the upper body 52 at the time of raising and lowering becomes large, the movement of the upper body 52 becomes worse, and when the upper body 52 is easily moved up and down, water leakage occurs. (C) Moisture is trapped in the cavity 51c and the hydraulic cylinder 5
3. Reduce the useful life. (D) It is not easy for a person with severe physical dysfunction or dysfunction to get in and out of the bathtub.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a telescopic bathtub which can obtain a high watertightness and can raise and lower the upper body smoothly. Another object of the present invention is to easily adjust the height of the upper body to the height and physical condition of the bather,
An object of the present invention is to provide a telescopic bathtub that enables a person with a great body loss or dysfunction to enter and leave a bathtub relatively easily.

[0007]

In order to achieve at least one of the above objects, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a side wall of an upper body is attached to a side wall of a lower body having a bottom so as to be vertically movable and watertight. In the telescopic bathtub provided with elevating means for raising and lowering the upper body on the upper body, expansion is performed by press-fitting a fluid supplied from a fluid supply source between a side wall of the lower body and a side wall of the upper body. A hollow seal member for fixing the upper body to the lower body in a water-tight manner is fixedly provided on one of the side walls.

In the above means, when the upper body is raised or lowered by the elevating means, the hollow seal member is contracted. Therefore, the resistance of the hollow seal member when raising and lowering the upper body is irreversibly reduced. Further, when the bath is filled with hot water by raising the upper body, a fluid supply source is operated to press-in a fluid such as air or water into the hollow seal member to expand the hollow seal member. As a result, the upper body is integrally fixed to the lower body in a watertight manner, so that bathing can be performed.

[0009] In the telescopic bath according to the first aspect, it is preferable that a transfer table is connected to a part of the edge of the upper body (claim 2). In this configuration, the bather needs to
Put your hips on the transfer table and get in and out of the bathtub. If the transfer table is large, it can be used as a washing place.

In the telescopic bath of the second aspect, it is preferable that the elevating means is provided below the transfer table. In this configuration, the space under the transfer table is effectively used, and the lifting means is hidden by the transfer table. As a general lifting / lowering means, there is a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder. However, a lifting / lowering means combining a motor with a rack-pinion for converting a rotary motion into a vertical movement, a lifting / lowering means using a pantograph, or the like can be used.

[0011] In the telescopic bath according to any one of claims 1 to 3, it is preferable that at least one of the upper body and the lower body side is provided with a scale indicating the height of the upper body. ). In this configuration, the height of the rim of the bath is known by reading the scale, and the height and physical condition of the bather are adjusted. If you can easily get in and out of the bathtub at a higher position, the function will recover and you will be closer to a healthy person,
The scale can be used as a measure of physical recovery.

[0012] In the telescopic bathtub according to any one of claims 1 to 4, a foot plate on which a bather can put his / her feet can be provided on the lower body (claim 5). With this configuration, it is possible to avoid a situation in which a bather slides his / her feet to the bottom and is submerged in hot water. Also, the foot plate can have a function of preventing the lower limb from contacting the upper body and the lower body.

In the telescopic bath according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the side wall of the upper body is inserted into the side wall of the lower body, and a water leakage receiver can be provided on the outer periphery of the mouth of the lower body. (Claim 6). In this configuration, even if hot water leaks from between the lower body and the upper body for some reason, the water leak receiver receives this.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of a telescopic bathtub according to the present invention. This telescopic bathtub A has a lower body 1
, An upper body 2, a hollow seal member 3, a foot plate 4, and an elevating means 5.

The lower body 1 has a bottom 1a and side walls 1b. A drain port 1c into which a drain plug 7 is fitted at the bottom 1a.
Is formed on the outer periphery of the mouth of the side wall 1b.
d is formed. The upper body 2 includes a transfer table 2g having a flange-shaped tank edge 2e formed at the upper opening of the side wall 2b and having a seating surface 2f (FIG. 3) on the short tank edge 2e on the right side in FIG. Further, an apron 2a is connected to the tank edge 2e on the short side on the left side, and a skirt portion 2h (FIG. 1) is suspended from the tank edge 2e, the seating surface 2f, the transfer table 2g, and the outer periphery of the apron 2a. The side wall 2b is freely insertable into the side wall 1b of the lower body 1. A handrail 18 is fixed to the transfer table 2g.

Here, both side walls 1 of the lower body 1 and the upper body 2
The plane shapes of b and 2b are almost the same rectangular shape,
The transfer table 2g of the upper body 2 is provided horizontally with the seating surface 2f disposed on the entrance side (the front side in FIG. 1 and the lower side in FIG. 3). Further, the skirt portion 2h surrounds the side wall 2b, and is lowered to near the bottom 1a of the lower body 1 when the upper body 2 is lowered.

The hollow seal member 3 is made of rubber or a material having the same effect, and is fixed to the side wall 2b of the upper body 2 between the side wall 1b of the lower body 1 and the side wall 2b of the upper body 2. Is provided. A fluid supply source 10 such as a blower or a pump is connected to the connection pipe 8 of the hollow seal member 3, and a fluid such as air or water is pressed into the hollow seal member 3 to expand the hollow seal member 3. This makes the space between the side walls 1b, 2b of the lower body 1 and the upper body 2 watertight so that the lower body 1
The upper body 2 is fixed to the upper body 2, and the press-fitting fluid is discharged to the outside by opening the electric valve 12 of the discharge pipe 11, and the upper body 2 is unlocked by contracting the hollow seal member 3.
Can be lowered. Connection pipe 8
Is provided with a check valve 9.

The foot plate 4 is for a bather who sits down on a chair 14 to put his feet on. The rails 1 provided on the left and right side walls 1b, 1b of the lower body 1 facing each other.
5, 15 (only one is shown in FIGS. 1 and 4)
1 and 2 (in FIG. 1, left and right, FIG. 4 up and down). The flat shape of the foot plate 4 is U-shaped to prevent slipping of the foot, and to both side walls 1b,
2b is prevented.

The lifting / lowering means 5 raises and lowers the upper and lower members 5a with respect to the lower body 1 by raising and lowering the upper and lower members 5a, and is disposed below the transfer table 2g. The lifting / lowering means 5 includes a hydraulic or pneumatic cylinder or a rack for converting rotary motion into linear motion.
Although a combination of a pinion and a motor or a combination of a pantograph and the like are mainly used, the specific structure and type are arbitrary.

On the left and right sides of the lifting / lowering means 5, there are provided guide mechanisms 17 in which an outer cylinder 17b is fitted to a square guide member 17a and guided vertically by rollers 17c. Guide mechanism 1
Numerals 7 and 17 are used to raise and lower the upper body 2 smoothly in a horizontal state, and are provided under the transfer table 2g with a skirt portion 2h similarly to the lifting / lowering means 5. In FIG. 2, the right half shows the ascending state of the upper body 2, and the left half shows the descending state.

Below the leak receiver 1d of the lower body 1, a gutter 13
The hot water flowing out of the through hole 1f of the water leakage receiver 1d flows to the pump 19 through the pipe 16.
The pipe 16 is provided with a flow switch 34 for detecting the flow of water and operating the pump 19.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a base plate. The base plate 20 has four or more horizontal adjusting legs 21 having a screw structure and a face plate 22, and supports the telescopic bathtub A substantially horizontally on a floor 23. The face plate 22 is disposed inside the skirt portion 2h and has a scale 22i.

Reference numeral B denotes a hot water supply facility. The hot water supply equipment B is configured by connecting a hot water supply tank 26 to the lower body 1 of the telescopic bathtub A with a hot water supply pipe 25, and providing a pump 27, a filter 28, and the like to the hot water supply pipe 25, and operating the pump 27 to supply hot water. It can be supplied to the bathtub A through the hot water supply pipe 25. The upper body 2 is usually provided with a faucet 31 for operating water and hot water singly or in a mixed manner by operating the knob 30.
And a float switch 32 for detecting that the hot water has reached a predetermined amount and stopping the pump 27 is provided.

Next, the operation of the telescopic bath tub according to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure will be described together with its use. 1 of FIG.
The dashed line indicates the lowering (reducing) state of the upper body 2, and in this state, the bather diagonally sits down, for example, at the corner Z (FIG. 3) of the seating surface 2f, raises both feet and lifts the body as it is. Turn clockwise in FIG.

In the above description, since the corner Z of the seating surface 2f is slanted, it is easy to sit down, and moreover, the corner Z is smaller than the rotation angle θa of the body when the hip is lowered vertically to the portion Za.
In this case, the rotation angle θ of the body may be considerably small because the user sits down at the corner Z obliquely, so that entering and exiting the bathtub A becomes easier.

A bather who enters bath tub A sits down on chair 14 and places both feet on foot plate 4. On the other hand, when the bather finishes entering the bathtub A, the elevating means 5 is operated to raise the upper body 2 as shown by the solid line in FIG.
The lower body 1 and the upper body 2 are made watertight by fixing the upper body 2 to the lower body 1 by actuating 0 and injecting a fluid into the hollow seal member 3 to expand the hollow seal member 3. Next, the pump 27 of the hot water supply equipment B is operated to
Put hot water in bathtub A. In some cases, a small amount of hot water may be put in the reduced bathtub A in advance. The hollow seal member 3 is expanded by the press-fitting of the fluid and strongly contacts the side walls 1b and 2b, so that water leakage is prevented.

When a predetermined amount of hot water is put into the bathtub A, the float switch 32 operates to automatically stop the pump 27.

When the bath is completed, the drain plug 7 is removed, the hot water is drained from the drain port 1c, the valve 12 is opened, and the fluid in the hollow seal member 3 is discharged to the outside, so that the hollow seal member 3 is contracted and the upper portion is removed. Unlock the body 2. Next, the elevating means 5 is contracted to lower the upper body 2 and the bathtub A is brought into a contracted state. At this time, since the hollow seal member 3 is contracted slightly, the upper body 2 descends smoothly. Upper body 2
Is stopped halfway, the height of the upper body 2 is known from the scale 22i corresponding to the small window (reference point) 2c formed in the skirt portion 2h, the lifting / lowering means 5 is stopped, and the fluid supply source 10 is stopped again. The operation expands the hollow seal member 3 to fix the upper body 2. Thus, the bather gets out of bathtub A. The transfer table 2g is used for entering and exiting the bathtub A of a bather who needs assistance, but the body can be washed here. It is also possible to combine a bathing lift with a bathtub.

In the above bath, the foot plate 4
Prevents the bather from sliding his feet and sinking in the hot water, while preventing the bather's lower limbs from touching the side walls 1b and 2b of the lower body 1 and the upper body 2. Therefore, when the upper body 2 rises, the lower limb in contact with the upper body 2 is lifted by the upper body 2,
When the upper body 2 descends, the lower limb does not get caught between the upper body 2 and the lower body 1.

The expansion and contraction state of the bathtub A, that is, the height of the rim 2e of the upper body 2, the transfer table 2g, the seating surface 2f, and the like can be known by reading the scale 22i corresponding to the small window 2c as described above. it can. For this reason, the height of the tub edge 2e or the like can be adapted to the height and physical condition of the bather. If it becomes easier to get in and out of the bathtub at a higher position, it means that the person is close to a healthy person, so that the scale 22i can be used as a barometer for body recovery to encourage and motivate the self-reliance.
Therefore, it is suitable as an individual bathtub for facilities used for bathing training for returning home. Scale 22i is skirt 2
h.

The skirt 2h of the upper body 2 may be provided inside the face plate 22 in some cases. The shapes, sizes, positions, and the like of the transfer table 2g, the seat surface 2f, and the apron 2a are not limited to those shown in the drawings, and various design changes can be made, including not providing them. Either the faucet 31 or the hot water supply equipment B can be omitted, and the hot water supply tank 26 can be of a built-in type.

The side walls 1b, 2 of the lower body 1 and the upper body 2 in FIG.
In each of FIGS. 2A and 2B, the hollow seal member 3 is fixed to the upper body 2 and the side walls 1b and 2b are formed vertically or the hollow seal member 3 is fixed to the lower body 2. Can be.

[0033]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the upper body can be smoothly moved up and down with the movement resistance reduced by contracting the hollow seal member.
In addition, the hollow seal member can be expanded to completely prevent water leakage.

[0034] In the telescopic bath according to the first aspect, when a transfer table is connected to a part of the rim of the upper body, it is easy for bathers to get in and out of the bath, and the body is placed on the transfer table. Can also be washed, making bathing easier.

In the telescopic bath according to the second aspect, if the lifting means is provided below the transfer table, the space under the transfer table is effectively used, and the whole is compact, so that it can be installed and transported. And so on. Further, in the telescopic bath according to any one of claims 1 to 3, when a scale indicating the height of the upper body is attached to at least one of the members on the upper body or the lower body side, the scale is used. Therefore, it becomes easy to adjust the height of the bath rim to the height of the bather and the physical condition at that time. Therefore, the bather himself knows the recovery of the function from the height of the tub edge at the time of entering and leaving, and can promote his / her independence.

In the telescopic bath according to any one of claims 1 to 4, if the lower body is provided with a foot plate on which a bather puts his / her foot, the bather slides his / her feet and the hot water. In addition to preventing the situation of being submerged inside,
The foot plate can prevent the bather's lower limbs from being lifted by the ascending upper body or caught between the ascending upper and lower bodies.

[0037] In the telescopic bath according to any one of claims 1 to 5, when the side wall of the upper body is inserted into the side wall of the lower body and a water leak receiver is provided on the outer periphery of the mouth of the lower body. Even if the hot water leaks from between the lower body and the upper body for some reason, the leak receiver receives the leaked hot water,
Various problems caused by water leakage can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a telescopic bathtub according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an elevating means and a guide mechanism of the telescopic bathtub of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a relationship between a transfer table and a seat surface of the telescopic bathtub in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a foot plate of the telescopic bathtub of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the telescopic bathtub of FIG. 1 and hot water supply equipment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a conventional telescopic bathtub.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lower body 1a Bottom part 1b, 2b Side wall 2 Upper body 2e Tank edge 2g Transfer stand 3 Hollow seal member 4 Foot plate 5 Elevating means 5a Vertical member 10 Fluid supply source 22i Scale A Telescopic bathtub

Continuation of the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A61H 33/00 310 A47K 3/02

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A telescopic bathtub in which a side wall of an upper body is attached to a side wall of a lower body having a bottom so as to be able to move up and down and watertight, and a lifting means for raising and lowering the upper body is attached to the upper body. A hollow seal member, which is expanded between the side wall of the lower body and the side wall of the upper body by being press-fitted with a fluid supplied from a fluid supply source and fixes the upper body to the lower body in a watertight manner, is provided on one of the side walls. A telescopic bathtub fixed to one side. 2. The telescopic bathtub according to claim 1, wherein a transfer table is connected to a part of the tank edge of the upper body. 3. The telescopic bathtub according to claim 2, wherein the lifting means is provided below the transfer table. 4. A telescopic bathtub according to claim 1, wherein a scale indicating the height of the upper body is provided on at least one of the upper body and the lower body side members. . 5. A foot plate on which a bather puts his / her feet is provided on the lower body.
The telescopic bathtub according to any one of the above. 6. The lower body according to claim 1, wherein a side wall of the upper body is inserted into a side wall of the lower body, and a water leakage receiver is provided on an outer periphery of a mouth of the lower body. The telescopic bathtub described.