JP3695593B1 - Bathing assistance device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bathing assistance device that can be easily attached to a bathtub, can secure a sufficient bathing space in the bathtub, and allows a person being assisted to bathe comfortably.
A frame 20 placed on a rim of a bathtub, an apparatus main body 30 installed on the frame, an extendable guide 40 attached to the apparatus main body, and a seat surface 530 attached to the extendable guide. A bathing assistance device for lifting and lowering a seating surface via an elevating device provided in the apparatus main body, wherein the telescopic guide is attached to the apparatus main body via a rotating part that rotates in a pendulum shape, and the seating surface or the telescopic guide Is lowered along the inclination of the side surface of the bathtub.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a bathing assistance device that assists in bathing of a person who needs assistance when taking a bath, for example, an elderly person or a physically handicapped person.
About.

  2. Description of the Related Art A bathing assistance device that is attached to an edge of a bathtub and assists bathing of a person who needs assistance during bathing, such as an elderly person or a physically handicapped person, has been conventionally known (for example, see Patent Document 1). Such a bathing assistance device includes an installation part that is respectively placed on the rim of the opposite side wall of the bathtub, a support frame attached to the installation part, and a seating surface with a backrest attached via lifting means. The bather sitting on the seat is raised and lowered.

  And the raising / lowering means raises / lowers the seat surface vertically through an extendable guide for guiding the seat surface in the vertical direction.

JP 2002-65801 (page 3-4, FIG. 1)

  The bathing assistance device described in Patent Document 1 is of a type that is placed on the rim of the bathtub as apparent from the configuration, and the seating surface is vertical in accordance with the extending direction of the extendable guide defined in advance. It is designed to go up and down. Therefore, it is necessary to attach the bathing assistance device to an appropriate position on the rim of the bathtub so that the telescopic guide can be extended without interfering with the bathtub side wall.

  On the other hand, recent bathtubs are formed with various inclination angles from the viewpoint of design, in addition to the side walls thereof being inclined obliquely with a draft. In this way, when the bathing assistance device described above is attached to a bathtub with a specially inclined side wall, the bathing assistance device is attached to the bathtub so that the seating surface does not come into contact with the bathtub side wall at the lowest position where the seating surface is completely lowered. Must be installed on the rim. Therefore, when a bathing assistance device in which the extending direction of the telescopic guide is vertical as described in Patent Document 1 is attached to a bathtub whose bathtub side wall is considerably inclined, the main body of the bathing assistance device is placed on the front side (seat surface) of the bath rim. Side), and accordingly, there is a problem that the bathing space of the bathtub is sacrificed and a sufficient bathing space cannot be secured.

  Moreover, when the apparatus main body of the bathing assistance apparatus is placed on the front side of the rim of the bathtub, the bathing assistance apparatus does not require a bathing assistance apparatus, for example, when a family bathes, the bathing assistance apparatus becomes an obstacle to bathing.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a bathing assistance device that can be easily attached to a bathtub, can secure a sufficient bathing space in the bathtub, and allows a person being assisted to bathe comfortably.

In order to solve the above-described problem, a bathing assistance apparatus according to the present invention includes:
A frame mounted on the rim of the bathtub, a device main body installed on the frame, a telescopic guide attached to the device main body, and a seating surface attached to the telescopic guide; In the bathing assistance device that raises and lowers the seat surface via the lifting device provided in the main body,
The telescopic guide is attached to the apparatus main body via a rotating portion that pivots in a pendulum manner with respect to the apparatus main body, and the extension guide extends in the attached state to the bathtub of the bathing assistance device. The contact part of a seat surface or the said expansion-contraction guide falls along the inclination of a bathtub side wall, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  When a bathing assistance device is installed in a bathtub whose side wall is inclined, the telescopic guide rotates in accordance with the inclination angle of the bathtub side wall, and the contact portion of the seat surface or the telescopic guide contacts the bathtub side wall and descends along this side wall. Go.

  That is, the bathtub side wall does not hinder the extension of the telescopic guide for a bathtub having any inclination angle. As a result, unlike the bathing assistance device in which the expansion / contraction direction of the expansion / contraction guide is uniquely determined, it is not necessary to install the device in front of the rim of the bathtub with sufficient margin in advance, and the device body is installed behind the rim of the bathtub. can do. This makes it possible to secure a wide bathing space for the care recipient. Moreover, it does not get in the way when a family who does not need a bathing assistance device takes a bath.

  In addition, since the seating surface is attached to the telescopic guide and the contact portion contacts the bathtub side wall when the seating surface is lowered, the seating surface is not shaken when the seating surface is lowered, so that the person being assisted can take a bath in peace.

Moreover, the bathing assistance apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention is the bathing assistance apparatus according to claim 1,
The contact portion includes a rotating roller attached to the seat surface or the telescopic guide and rotating in contact with the bathtub.

  By making the contact portion a rotating roller, the seat surface is lowered while contacting this portion along the bathtub side wall, so that the seat surface or the telescopic guide can be lowered smoothly without damaging the bathtub side wall.

Moreover, the bathing assistance apparatus of Claim 3 of this invention is the bathing assistance apparatus of Claim 1 or Claim 2,
The lifting device includes a flexible member, and raises or lowers the seating surface by winding or feeding the flexible member.

  For example, a special elevating direction changing device is required when elevating with a ball screw or the like, but by elevating and lowering the seat surface via a flexible member, the elevating and lowering guide can be moved up and down while the seat is tilted. The seating surface can be raised and lowered while the elastic member is bent. As a result, the elevating device of the bathing assistance device can be realized with a simple configuration without requiring a special drive force conversion mechanism.

Moreover, the bathing assistance apparatus according to claim 4 of the present invention is the bathing assistance apparatus according to claim 3,
The flexible member is wound up or drawn out via a pulley, and the pulley is coaxial with a rotation shaft of the telescopic guide.

  Since the pulley is coaxial with the pivot shaft of the telescopic guide, the flexible member is forcibly pulled even if the telescopic guide swings by the person being swayed back and forth while the seat surface is raised and lowered. Smooth up and down of the seating surface can be realized without being loosened or loosened.

Moreover, the bathing assistance apparatus of Claim 5 of this invention is the bathing assistance apparatus of Claim 1 or Claim 2,
The elevating device provided in the apparatus main body is rotatable with the telescopic guide.

  Since the lifting device can be rotated together with the telescopic guide, a complicated stretching direction changing mechanism of the telescopic guide is not required, and therefore a mechanism such as a ball screw can be used for the lifting device.

Moreover, the bathing assistance apparatus according to claim 6 of the present invention is the bathing assistance apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The expansion / contraction guide has a body-side rotation angle restricting means for restricting the expansion / contraction guide from tilting toward the apparatus body from the vertical direction when the bathing assistance device is attached to the bathtub.

  When the telescopic guide tilts toward the device main body, the seat surface of the seat tilts downward. By providing, it is possible to prevent such inconvenience from occurring.

Moreover, the bathing assistance apparatus according to claim 7 of the present invention is the bathing assistance apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The telescopic guide has an initial stretching angle regulating means for regulating an initial tilt angle so as to correspond to an tilt angle of a side wall of a bathtub to which the bathing assistance device is attached in a state where the telescopic guide is most contracted. To do.

  Normally, most bathtubs have a draft angle, so by adjusting the tilting direction of the telescopic guide to the direction along the drafting angle in advance, the contact area can be made smooth to the slope of the bathtub when the seat surface is lowered. To achieve a smooth descent of the seating surface.

Moreover, the bathing assistance apparatus according to claim 8 of the present invention is the bathing assistance apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The telescopic guide has a maximum rotation angle regulating means for regulating the maximum inclination angle of the telescopic guide.

  By restricting the maximum tilt angle of the telescopic guide, the telescopic guide is prevented from being excessively tilted to prevent the person being assisted from taking an undesired seating posture.

Moreover, the bathing assistance apparatus according to claim 9 of the present invention is the bathing assistance apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The telescopic guide and the apparatus main body are detachably provided at the rotating portion.

  By making the telescopic guide and the apparatus main body detachable at the rotating part, it is easy to perform work at the time of bathing assistance apparatus installation and transportation. In addition, maintainability is also improved. Moreover, by removing the telescopic guide from the apparatus main body, a sufficient bathing space can be secured when, for example, a family other than the person being assisted takes a bath.

Moreover, the bathing assistance apparatus according to claim 10 of the present invention is the bathing assistance apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
On the bottom side of the bath surface of the seat surface, a bottom portion with the bottom surface of the bathtub is formed, and the height of the bottom surface portion is higher at the end portion facing the end portion than the back end portion provided on the seat surface. It is characterized by.

  Regardless of the inclination angle of the bathtub side wall, the bottom portion of the seating surface is always in contact with the bottom of the bathtub, and an excessive bending moment is prevented from acting on the connecting portion with the telescopic guide.

Moreover, the bathing assistance apparatus of Claim 11 of this invention is the bathing assistance apparatus of Claim 10,
The bottom portion is formed with a non-slip portion for a seating surface with respect to the rotation direction of the telescopic guide.

  Even if the person being assisted moves the seating surface forward when the seating surface is settled, the seating surface does not slip, and the person being assisted can take a comfortable bath.

  According to the present invention, the apparatus main body can be installed behind the rim of the bathtub (on the opposite side of the rim from the bathtub). This makes it possible to secure a wide bathing space. Moreover, it does not get in the way when, for example, a family does not need a bathing assistance device.

  In addition, since the seating surface is attached to the telescopic guide and the contact portion contacts the bathtub side wall when the seating surface is lowered, the seating surface is not shaken when the seating surface is lowered, so that the person being assisted can take a bath in peace. Moreover, when the contact portion is a rotating roller, the seat surface can be lowered without damaging the bathtub side wall when the seat surface is lowered.

  Further, by regulating the inclination angle of the telescopic guide, the person being assisted can take a bath while sitting in a preferred posture.

  In addition, by making the telescopic guide and the apparatus main body detachable at the rotating part, it is easy to perform the work at the time of bathing assistance apparatus installation and transportation, and also improve the maintainability.

  In addition, by forming a bottom portion with the bathtub bottom surface on the bathtub bottom side of the seat surface, an excessive bending moment is prevented from acting on the connecting portion between the seat surface and the telescopic guide. In addition, by forming a non-slip portion of the seat surface on the bottom portion, the seat surface does not slip when the seat surface is bottomed, and the caregiver can take a comfortable bath.

  Hereinafter, a bathing assistance apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, a bathing assistance apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a support frame 20 placed on one end side of a rim of a bathtub, an apparatus main body 30 attached to the support frame 20, and an apparatus. A multi-stage guide (extensible guide) 40 that is rotatably attached to the main body 30 and a seat 50 with a backrest attached to one end (lower end) of the multi-stage guide 40 are provided.

  In addition, the height of the apparatus main body 30 is suppressed to be substantially equal to the height of the backrest 540 of the seat 50 by using a telescopic type multi-stage guide for the multi-stage guide 40. In addition, a drum 350 (see FIG. 3) and a motor 323 that drives the drum 350 are attached to the apparatus main body 30, and the wire 100 wound around the drum 350 is wound up or fed out by the motor 323, so that the wire end The seat 50 with the backrest connected to the section is moved up and down with the expansion and contraction of the multistage guide 40.

  The multistage guide 40 is rotatable with respect to the apparatus main body 30 within a certain angle range. The lowermost guide of the multistage guide 40 is provided with a rotating roller 450 (see FIG. 2). Further, the bottom of the seat 50 is provided with a bottomed portion 550 that also serves to prevent the seating surface from slipping. Further, the multi-stage guide 40 and the apparatus main body 30 are detachably provided by a guide side rotating part 400 and a main body side rotating part 300 (see FIGS. 3 and 4).

  Hereinafter, each component will be described in more detail. The support frame 20 has a square C-shape when viewed from above when attached to the rim of the bathtub, and is attached to both ends of the main frame 210 and the main frame 210 mounted on one end rim of the bathtub. There are two side frames 220 to be placed on the side rim.

  The support frame 20 is made of a stainless steel square pipe, and a part of the side frame 220 is inserted from both ends of the main frame 210 so that a part of the side frame 220 can slide with respect to the main frame 210. The distance between the side frames is adjustable.

  Further, the side frames 220 are fixed to the main frame 210 with fastening means such as screws (not shown) while keeping the side frames at an appropriate interval. Further, a part of the side frame 220 is provided with a restraining plate (not shown), and the side frame 220 is positioned and the support frame 20 is prevented from being displaced by pressing the restraining plate against the side wall of the bathtub. .

  As described above, since the support frame 20 can slide the side frames 220 with respect to the main frame 210 and can adjust the width of the side frame 220, the bathing assistance device 1 can be used in various shapes and sizes of bathtubs. It can be attached to the rim. In addition, the holding plate provided in the support frame 20 serves as a stopper when adjusting the width of the side frame 220, thereby preventing the bathing assistance device main body from being displaced after the bathing assistance device 1 is attached to the bathtub. it can.

  On the other hand, the apparatus main body 30 is attached to the central portion of the main frame 210. The apparatus main body 30 rotates the apparatus main body 30 and the sheet 50 in the horizontal direction within a certain angle range with the bath assistance apparatus 1 attached to the bathtub and the sheet 50 kept at the uppermost position (see FIG. 5). ), A main body frame 320 mounted above the rotating unit 310 and supporting the seat 50 via the multistage guide 40, and an elevating drive unit (elevating device) 330 provided inside the main body frame 320 (see FIG. 3). And have. Although not shown in the figure, the apparatus main body 30 is entirely covered with an apparatus cover.

  Although not shown in detail here, the rotating portion 310 is attached to the support frame 20 via the lower base plate 311a and the upper base plate 311b, and the rotating column 312 is rotatably attached to the rotating column 312. A rotating ring (not shown) is provided.

  Further, the support frame 20 has a support-like rotating shaft, and a notch-shaped stopper hole is provided on the rotating shaft. A rotating column 312 is rotatably attached to the rotating shaft via the rotating ring. In this state, a stopper that engages with the stopper hole is provided.

  Then, by operating a rotation lever (not shown) attached to the main body frame 320, an operation wire (not shown) is pulled and the engagement between the stopper hole of the rotating shaft and the stopper is released. That is, since the stopper is normally engaged with the stopper hole, when the apparatus main body 30 stops at a predetermined position and the stopper is released from the stopper hole by operating the rotation lever, the apparatus main body 30 and the upper limit The seat 50 in the position can be rotated horizontally within a predetermined angle. Thereby, the seat 50 in the upper limit position is moved to the rim side of the bathtub, and the person being assisted is easily transferred to the seat 50 from outside the bathtub. In addition, once the person being assisted sits on the seat 50, the engagement between the stopper and the stopper hole is released by operating the rotary lever, and the seat 50 is rotated horizontally to move the seat 50 upward in the bathtub. By doing so, the transferability of the person being assisted is improved.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the upper part of the main body frame 320 is provided with a main body side rotation unit 300 that allows the multistage guide 40 to rotate within a certain angle range. The main body side rotation unit 300 includes a rotation shaft 301 supported by the main body frame 320, and a pulley 370 is attached to a central portion in the longitudinal direction of the rotation shaft 301. Further, as will be described later, the guide-side rotation part 400 of the multistage guide 40 is engaged with the rotation shaft 301.

  The multi-stage guide 40 is attached to the main body frame 320, and an initial extension angle restricting section that regulates the inclination angle so as to correspond to the inclination angle of the side wall of the bathtub to which the bathing assistance device 1 is attached in the state where the multi-stage guide 40 is contracted most 321 abuts. Usually, since most of the bathtubs have a draft angle, the initial extending angle regulating portion 321 makes the inclination direction of the multistage guide 40 coincide with the direction along the draft angle in advance, and will be described later when the seating surface 530 is lowered. The rotating roller 450 is smoothly brought into contact with the side wall of the bathtub, and the seat surface 530 is smoothly lowered. The initial stretching angle restricting portion 321 is configured by attaching an elastic body such as rubber to the surface of a material having strength such as ABS resin or polyacetal, and regulates the initial stretching angle of the multistage guide 40 and prevents the generation of noise. It is supposed to be.

  Further, the main body frame 320 includes a main body side rotation angle regulating stopper 322 for tilting the backrest 540 of the seat 50 slightly backward so that the seat surface 530 does not turn forward when the seat 50 is in the uppermost position. Is equipped. In the case of this embodiment, the main body side rotation angle restriction stopper 322 also serves as the above-described initial extension angle restriction portion 321.

  In addition, a maximum rotation angle restricting unit 325 is provided that restricts the maximum inclination angle of the multistage guide 40 to prevent the multistage guide 40 from being excessively inclined and causing the person being assisted to have an undesired seating posture. ing. The maximum rotation angle restricting unit 325 is configured by forming a part of the main body frame 320 of the apparatus main body 30 at a specific angle.

  Next, the structure of the wire driving unit provided in the rotating unit 310 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the rotating unit 310 has a main body frame 320 made of stainless steel pipe, a driving unit mounting base attached to the main body frame 320, a drum 350 mounted above the driving unit mounting base, and a drum The wire 100 that can be fed out from or wound around the drum 350, the motor 323 that rotates the drum 350 to feed and wind the wire 100, the battery that drives the motor 323, and the control that controls the elevation of the seat surface A device and a switch box having a lift switch are provided.

  The drum 350 is rotatably supported on the main body frame by a drum rotating boss and a drum support plate. Further, the other end of the wire 100 having one end coupled to the sheet 50 is wound around the drum 350. Then, the wire 100 wound around the drum 350 is restrained from bulging from the drum peripheral surface by a wire guide and a wire presser. Further, a limit switch for detecting the seat surface 530 reaching the bathtub wall due to the bending of the wire 100 and a limit switch for detecting the uppermost position of the seat surface 530 by winding the wire are provided at appropriate positions of the main body frame 320.

  Further, as described above, the pulley 370 is provided in the rotating shaft 301 which is the main body side rotating portion 300 of the main body frame 320. That is, the pulley 370 is provided coaxially with the rotation center of the multistage guide 40. The wire 100 fed out from the drum 350 arranged at the intermediate position of the main body frame 320 is connected to a connecting portion in the lowermost guide of the multi-stage guide 40 via a pulley 370.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the multistage guide 40 is a cylindrical multistage guide arranged in two rows, and includes a first guide 410 that forms a guide housing portion, and a second guide 420 that is slidable inside. And a telescopic type multi-stage telescopic guide comprising a third guide 430 slidably provided on the inner side and a fourth guide 440 storable on the innermost side. Further, the first guide 410 is connected by a connecting stay 401 (see FIG. 3) that forms a part of the guide-side rotation unit 400.

  The multistage guide 40 is made entirely of stainless steel and can withstand long-term use in the bathtub. Further, a cap (not shown) is fitted on the upper part of the first guide 410 to prevent the inner guide from protruding from the upper part of the first guide. The second guide 420 is attached with a first bridging plate (not shown) for keeping the distance between the second guides, and the third guide 430 also keeps the distance between the third guides. A second bridging plate (not shown) is attached. The first bridge plate and the second bridge plate serve to enable smooth expansion and contraction of the multistage guide 40 while synchronizing the left and right guides of each stage when the multistage guide is raised and lowered and cooperating with the rotation roller 450 described later. Yes.

  The first guide 410 of the multistage guide 40 is provided with a guide side rotation unit 400 that allows the apparatus main body 30 and the multistage guide 40 to rotate within a certain angular range. The guide-side rotation unit 400 includes a stainless steel connection stay 401 that connects the first guide 410 at a predetermined interval, and two connection brackets 402 provided in the connection stay 401. The connecting bracket 402 is also made of stainless steel, and is made of a square C-shaped plate material when viewed from above, and an odd-shaped notch portion 402a that engages with the shaft 301 of the main body side rotating portion 300 is provided below the bent portion. It is formed (see FIG. 4).

  Then, the rotation shaft 301 is engaged with one end of the notch 402a of the guide-side rotation unit 400 from the relationship with the direction of gravity of the multi-stage guide itself, and the first guide 410 of the multi-stage guide 40 is initially set. The posture of the sheet 50 at the upper limit position of the sheet is maintained while being in contact with the stretching angle restricting portion 321.

  When the person being assisted sits on the seat 50, the gravity acts obliquely downward with respect to the apparatus main body 30 via the rotation shaft 301, but the notch portion 402 a has a lower end portion of the connection bracket 402. Since the notch 402a and the rotation shaft 301 are firmly engaged with each other, the multistage guide 40 is prevented from being detached from the apparatus main body 30. Further, when the person being assisted is not seated, the multistage guide 40 can be easily detached from the apparatus main body 30 by releasing the engagement between the rotary shaft 301 and the notch 402a by shifting the multistage guide 40 obliquely upward. For convenience when taking a bath, for example, a family other than the person being assisted.

  On the other hand, the lower end portion of the fourth guide 440 extends in the horizontal direction in the attached state, and is connected to the seating surface 530 of the seat 50 as shown in FIG. Although not shown here, one end of the wire 100 is connected to a predetermined position of the horizontal extending portion.

  Although not shown in detail here, the multistage guide 40 is provided with an outer liner having a halved structure at the upper end portion of each multistage guide 40, and a ring-shaped stopper and an inner liner are provided at the lower end portion of each multistage guide 40. Yes. The inner periphery of the first guide 410 to the third guide 430 is provided with a sliding sheet, and the outer liner of the inner guide adjacent thereto slides relative to the outer guide sliding sheet. The inner guide extends from the outer guide. The inner liner is screwed to the lower end of each guide together with a stopper, and the outer liner of the inner guide that slides on the guide abuts against the inner liner of the outer guide, thereby preventing the inner guide from coming off.

  On the other hand, the bent portion of the fourth guide 440 is provided with a stainless steel reinforcing plate 451 having a triangular shape in a side view, and a rotating roller 450 is rotatable on the reinforcing plate 451 via a support stay 452. Is provided. The outer periphery of the rotating roller 450 is formed of an elastic body, and is separated from the main body frame 320 of the apparatus main body 30 at the uppermost position of the sheet 50, but comes into contact with the bathtub side wall from a predetermined position of the bathtub side wall as the multistage guide 40 extends. And it descends while rotating along the bathtub side wall.

  Next, the seat 50 with the backrest will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the seat 50 with the backrest is made up of a sheet frame 510 formed by bending a pipe made of stainless steel having a round cross section into a sheet shape, and a pipe having a round cross section. An armrest 520 provided on the seat frame 510, a seat surface 530 attached to the seat frame 510 and a seat back portion 540 attached to the seat frame 510. Then, a part of the seat frame 510 is coupled to a horizontal extending portion provided in the above-described fourth guide 440 (see FIG. 6) of the multistage guide 40 with an appropriate fastener, so that the seat 50 is attached to the multistage guide 40. It is firmly fixed.

  Note that the height of the backrest 540 is equal to the height of the upper end of the multistage guide 40 at the upper limit position of the seating surface 530. More specifically, the height of the backrest 540 is, for example, about 200 mm to 400 mm, preferably about 350 mm, and the upper end of the backrest 540 is below the shoulder rib of the person being assisted while sitting on the seat 50. It is supposed to be located. In addition, if it is this height, it can be said that the backrest part 540 is not too high, it is easy to raise a caregiver's leg | foot, and it can be said that it is high enough to support a to-be-assisted person's upper body without being too low.

  A bottom portion 550 with the bottom surface of the bathtub is formed on the bathtub bottom side of the seat surface 530, and the height of the bottom portion 550 is higher at the end portion facing the end portion than the backrest side end portion of the seat surface 530. Yes. The bottom portion 550 is made of rubber, but may be made of a synthetic resin having elasticity such as an elastomer. Since the bottom portion 550 is formed on the seat surface 530, the bottom portion 550 of the seat surface 530 is always in contact with the bathtub bottom portion regardless of the inclination angle of the bathtub side wall. As a result, the weight of the person being assisted is applied to the bottom of the bathtub via the bottom portion 550, and an excessive bending moment is prevented from acting on the connecting portion between the seating surface 530 and the multistage guide 40.

  Further, although not shown in detail in the bottomed portion 550, irregularities that are anti-slip portions of the seating surface 530 with respect to the rotation direction of the multistage guide 40 are continuously formed. As a result, even if the person being assisted moves the seating surface 530 forward when the seating surface is settled, the seating surface 530 does not slip, and the person being assisted can take a comfortable bath.

  Then, the actual usage method of the bathing assistance apparatus 1 concerning this embodiment is demonstrated. First, as shown in FIG. 5, the bathing assistance apparatus 1 is placed on one side edge of the rim of the bathtub. Then, the width of the side frame 220 is adjusted until the holding plate provided on the side frame 220 of the support frame 20 hits the inner wall side surface of the bathtub. After the side frame 220 is positioned at an appropriate position in the width direction, the side frame 220 and the main frame 210 are fixed by fastening screws (not shown). In this way, the bathing assistance device 1 can be easily attached to the rim of the bathtub.

  As described above, since the upper end portion of the multistage guide 40 is almost the same height as the upper end portion of the backrest portion 540, the position of the center of gravity of the bathing assistance device itself is lowered, and the screw fastening to the rim, etc. No special measures are required to prevent the device itself from falling behind the bathtub.

  Moreover, the multistage guide 40 is rotatable within a certain angle with respect to the apparatus main body 30, and the extending direction of the multistage guide is not limited as in a conventional bathing assistance apparatus. Therefore, the bathing assistance apparatus 1 can be installed at the end of the rim of the bathtub regardless of the inclination angle of the bathtub side wall. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 8, a sufficient bathing space in the bathtub can be secured, and the person being assisted can enjoy bathing. Moreover, even when the seating surface 530 of the bathing assistance device is at the upper limit position as shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, it is possible to secure a bathing space in the bathtub, so that troubles may occur when, for example, a family other than the caregiver takes a bath. Does not occur.

  Next, the person being assisted is seated on the seat 50. At this time, the engagement between the stopper hole and the stopper is released by grasping the rotation lever provided in the apparatus main body 30 of the bathing assistance apparatus 1. As a result, the seat 50 can be rotated horizontally within a certain angular range, and the seat 50 is rotated to about 90 degrees with respect to the initial rotational position over the side rim of the bathtub. At this time, the rotation lever is released to engage the stopper and the stopper hole, and the sheet 50 is fixed at a position where the sheet 50 is rotated 90 degrees.

  Then, the person being assisted is placed on the sheet 50 of the bathing assistance apparatus 1. Thereby, the person being assisted can sit on the seat 50 without straddling the rim of the bathtub. In addition, since the height of the upper end portion of the multistage guide 40 is approximately the same as the height of the backrest portion 540, when the caregiver is sitting on the seat 50, the caregiver holds the shoulder of the caregiver. Since the person being assisted can be seated on the seat 50 while supporting the head, it is easy to assist.

  Here, the rotation angle of the sheet 50 may be 90 degrees or less, for example, 45 degrees. The bathing assistance device 1 limited to such a rotation angle is particularly suitable for use when the bathroom is narrow and it is difficult to assist the faucet attached to the bathroom wall or the wall when the seat 50 is turned 90 degrees. Yes.

  Subsequently, the rotation lever is gripped to disengage the stopper hole from the stopper again, and the seat 50 can be rotated to move the person being assisted to the upper part of the bathtub. At this time, the height of the upper end portion of the multi-stage guide 40 is suppressed to the height of the backrest portion of the seat 50, so that the assistant can hold the shoulder of the person being assisted and the head and neck while the seat 50 is moving. It is possible to easily rotate the seat 50 while supporting. Further, since the height of the multistage guide 40 is approximately the same as that of the backrest 540 of the seat 50, when the assistant lifts the foot of the person being assisted and straddles the rim, the upper body of the person being assisted is slightly behind It is possible to lift the foot while tilting it down, and it is possible to easily perform the troublesome lifting operation of the foot.

  Subsequently, when the sheet 50 reaches just the upper part of the bathtub, the rotation lever is released and the stopper and the stopper hole are engaged again. Thereby, the sheet 50 is fixed at an appropriate position above the bathtub.

  At this time, the multi-stage guide 40 has a body-side rotation angle restricting portion 322 that restricts the multi-stage guide 40 from tilting toward the apparatus main body side from the vertical direction, so that the multi-stage guide 40 is inclined toward the apparatus main body side. And the seating surface 530 does not tilt downward. Therefore, the person being assisted does not sit forward.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the sheet 50 is lowered to the bottom of the bathtub. At the time of lowering, the lowering button of the switch box provided in the control device that controls the bathing assistance device 1 is pushed. As a result, the motor 323 is driven using the electric power of the battery provided in the bathing assistance device 1, the wire 100 wound around the drum 350 is fed out from the device main body 30 via the pulley 370 (see FIG. 3), and the seat 50 Is lowered. In this lowering, the multistage guide 40 is a telescopic type multistage guide and the two multistage guides have a bridge structure, so that the seating surface can be lowered smoothly. When the seating surface 530 is lowered to some extent, the rotating roller 450 comes into contact with the wall surface of the bathtub.

  In addition, the multistage guide 40 is in contact with the initial extension angle regulating portion 321 that regulates the inclination angle so as to correspond to the inclination angle of the wall surface of the bathtub to which the bathing assistance device 1 is attached in the state where the multistage guide 40 is contracted most. As a result, when the seat surface is initially lowered, the multi-stage guide 40 extends at an extension angle that matches the inclination angle of the bathtub wall surface, so that the person being assisted does not receive an impact when the rotating roller 450 contacts the bathtub side wall. The surface 530 can be smoothly lowered.

  Further, the outer periphery of the rotating roller 450 is made of an elastic member, and the rotating roller 450 is arranged in parallel with each other at the corresponding position of the fourth guide 440. There is no impact.

  When the sheet 50 reaches the bottom of the bathtub, the wire 100 is bent, and a limit switch (not shown) detects this bending and stops the feeding of the wire 100 by the motor 323.

  Since the seat 50 is lifted and lowered through the wire 100 in this way, a rotational moment is applied from the position where the person being assisted is on the position where the wire 100 is suspended. A force is also applied to the multistage guide 40 in the direction of receiving this rotational moment. However, since the guide side rotation part 400 and the main body side rotation part 300 are firmly engaged as described above, the multistage guide 40 does not come off the apparatus main body 30.

  In addition, the multistage guide 40 rotates about the rotation shaft 301. However, since the rotation shaft 301 and the pulley 370 are provided coaxially, these rotation centers are the same. As a result, even if the person being assisted swings the seat 50 and the rotation angle of the multistage guide 40 changes, the stretch amount of the wire 100 does not change. If the length of the wire 100 is changed by the rotation of the multistage guide 40, the wire 100 is forced. However, this can be prevented by making the rotation center of the multistage guide 40 and the pulley 370 coaxial.

  In addition, when the bottoming part 550 of the sheet | seat 50 bottoms on the bottom part of a bathtub, the seat surface 530 bottoms, the multistage guide 40 extending | stretching in various extending | stretching directions according to the inclination angle of a bathtub wall part. However, since the bottom portion 550 has a trapezoidal shape, any location of the bottom portion 550 settles on the bottom of the bathtub. As a result, regardless of the inclination angle of the bathtub side wall, the bottomed portion 550 of the seating surface 530 is always in contact with the bottom of the bathtub, and an excessive bending moment acts on the connecting portion between the seating surface 530 and the multistage guide 40. To prevent it.

  In addition, since the unevenness is continuously formed on the bottom portion 550, even if the person being assisted moves the seat surface 530 forward when the seat surface is bottomed, the seat surface 530 does not slide, and the Allows comfortable bathing. Moreover, the wire 100 is not sent out more than necessary.

  Further, the wire 100 is fed from between the multistage guides, the wire end is connected to the lower part of the seating surface through the multistage guides, and the rotating roller 540 moves along the bathtub side wall when the seat 50 is lowered. ing. That is, it does not have a structure in which the four corners of the seating surface are suspended by wires. Therefore, in addition to eliminating the shaking of the sheet 50, it is not necessary to arrange a wire in the side portion of the sheet 50, and the side of the sheet 50 in the bathtub can be used as an effective bathing space. In addition, although there is a specially shaped bathtub in which the side wall shape is complicatedly curved depending on the bathtub, the rotating roller 540 is provided along the bottom of the bathtub even for a bathtub in which the side wall is not linear. Therefore, the bathing assistance apparatus 1 can be used for any bathtub.

  In the bathing assistance apparatus according to the present embodiment, the lifting and lowering of the seat 50 is performed by unwinding or winding the wire 100 by the motor 323 and the battery provided in the bathing assistance apparatus 1, and power is supplied from a household power source or the like. It is not a type of bathing assistance device to be supplied. That is, since the seat 50 can be lifted and lowered only by the battery power, even if a power failure occurs during bathing, the seat 50 is not affected by the lifting and lowering.

  Further, the wire 100 is fed out from the drum 350 via the pulley 370 or wound around the drum 350, and the feeding direction and winding direction are considerably close to the extending direction of the multistage guide 40. Therefore, the driving force of the motor 323 can be efficiently transmitted to the raising and lowering of the seat 50. Therefore, the seat 50 can be raised and lowered with low power consumption, and the battery can be reduced in size and extended in life.

  In this way, after the seat 50 reaches the bottom of the bathtub and bathing of the person being assisted is completed, the lift button of the switch box connected to the control device is pushed again to raise the seat 50. In this case, since the rotating roller 540 is raised along the side wall of the bathtub and the guides are connected by the first and second bridging plates, the sheet 50 can be raised smoothly.

  The rotating roller 540 moves along the side wall of the bathtub until it rises, and leaves the side wall of the bathtub while rising.

  In this way, the seat 50 is raised again to the uppermost position, and the seat 55 is stopped at the upper limit position by the detection of the limit switch, and then the caregiver holds the shoulder of the person being assisted and supports the neck and head while being supported. Tilt the upper part of the caregiver back slightly and lift the person's leg. Then, the rotary lever is gripped to release the engagement between the stopper hole of the apparatus main body 30 and the stopper, and the seating surface 530 is rotated. At this time, the upper end portion of the multi-stage guide 40 has a height equivalent to the height of the backrest portion 540 of the seating surface 530, and the upper side of the backrest portion 540 can be secured as an assistance space. Can be knocked back slightly. This makes it easier for the caregiver to lift the caregiver's foot and allows the rim of the bathtub to be easily straddled. In this way, the seat 50 is rotated so that the rotation lever is released when the seating surface 530 exceeds the rim, and the stopper hole and the stopper are engaged again to fix the seat 50. At this point, the person being assisted is taken out of the bathtub, and the person being assisted is finished bathing. Thereby, the transferability of the person being assisted after bathing can also be improved.

  In addition to the above description, the bathing assistance apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured such that the multistage guide 40 and the apparatus main body can be attached to and detached from the guide side rotation part 400 and the main body side rotation part 300. This makes it easier to perform the work during installation and transportation, and also improves the maintainability. Further, for example, a family other than the person being assisted can take a bath with the multi-stage guide 40 and the seating surface 530 removed from the apparatus main body 30, and a sufficient bathing space in the bathtub can be secured so that these persons can take a bath without inconvenience. To do.

  Furthermore, the whole bathing assistance apparatus has a simple structure, and the support frame 20, the apparatus main body 30, and the sheet 50 can be easily detached from each other. Therefore, when such a bathing assistance apparatus 1 is provided as a rental product, the support frame 20, the sheet 50, and the apparatus main body 30 can be replaced as each unit, and the maintainability at the time of collection as a rental product is improved.

  The lifting device provided in the device main body 30 may be rotatable together with the multistage guide 40. Since the lifting device can be rotated together with the multi-stage guide 40, a complicated expansion / contraction direction changing mechanism of the multi-stage guide 40 is not required, so that a mechanism such as a ball screw can be used for the lifting device.

  A modification according to the following will be described. 11 and 12 show a configuration in which a ball screw 610 is used as the lifting device instead of the pulley 370 and the wire 100 that is a flexible member as the lifting device of the above-described embodiment. In FIG. 11, the ball screw 610 is fixed to the first guide 710 of the multistage guide 70, and rotates together with the multistage guide 70 around the rotation shaft 701. Then, as shown in FIG. 12, when the multistage guide 70 is extended, the rotation roller 745 provided in the fourth guide 740 of the multistage guide 70 moves along the bathtub side wall, and the multistage guide 70 is inclined on the bathtub side wall. The ball screw 610 is also rotated in the same direction as the extending direction of the multistage guide 70. Even with such a configuration, the functions and effects of the present invention can be exhibited.

  Even in the mechanism using the above-described ball screw, a ball screw is provided in the main body of the apparatus so that the ball screw gear is always meshed with the output conversion mechanism portion of the shaft even when the multistage guide rotates. For example, the displacement of the relative angle between the multistage guide and the ball screw can be absorbed by the power transmission portion of the ball screw. Therefore, if it is such a structure, it is not necessary to take the structure which a multistage guide and a ball screw rotate integrally with respect to an apparatus main body.

  Further, the fourth guide may include a slider member having excellent slidability instead of including the rotating roller 450 as in the above-described embodiment.

  In addition, unlike the present embodiment, the extension / contraction guide may also serve as a cylinder piston, so that the extension / contraction guide and the lifting / lowering device can be integrated and rotated with respect to the apparatus main body.

  In addition, if the initial extension angle restricting portion is configured to be adjustable in the above-described embodiment, the extension direction (inclination direction) of the multistage guide can be adjusted in advance in accordance with the inclination of each bathtub. Can be lifted and lowered more smoothly.

  In addition, safety can be improved by using a rotating damper in the rotating portion to prevent sudden rotation.

It is the perspective view seen from the diagonal side in the state where the bathing assistance apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention was attached to the bathtub. It is the perspective view which showed the bathing assistance apparatus shown in FIG. 1 from diagonally downward. It is the perspective view which showed partially the apparatus main body of the bathing assistance apparatus shown in FIG. 1 from upper direction. It is the perspective view which showed a part of apparatus main body of the bathing assistance apparatus shown in FIG. 3 from the diagonal side. It is the perspective view which showed the bath assistance apparatus shown in FIG. 1 in the state which fractured | ruptured the bathtub partially. It is the perspective view which showed the state which the multistage guide of the bathing assistance apparatus shown in FIG. 5 extended | stretched, and the seat surface reached the bottom part of the bathtub. It is the figure which showed the state corresponding to FIG. 5 from the side with a partly broken bathtub. The state corresponding to FIG. 6 is the figure which fractured | ruptured the bathtub partially and showed it from the side. It is the perspective view which showed the state which the seat surface shown in FIG. 6 reached the bottom part of the bathtub from the bathtub front partly with the bathtub partially broken. It is the perspective view which expanded and showed the seat surface shown in FIG. 9, and the bathtub bottom part which this settled. It is the side view which showed the modification of the apparatus main body of the bathing assistance apparatus concerning one Embodiment of this invention, and is a side view when a seat surface exists in an upper limit position in the state which attached the bathing assistance apparatus to the bathtub. It is a figure corresponding to FIG. 11, and is a side view showing a state where the seat surface is lowered toward the bottom of the bathtub.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bathing assistance apparatus 20 Support frame 30 Lifting apparatus 40 Multistage guide 50 Sheet 70 Multistage guide 100 Wire 210 Main frame 220 Side frame 300 Main body side rotation part 301 Rotation shaft 310 Rotation part 311a Lower base plate 311b Upper base plate 312 Rotation support column 320 Main body Frame 321 Initial stretching angle restricting portion 322 Main body side turning angle restricting stopper 323 Motor 325 Maximum turning angle restricting portion 330 Lifting drive portion 350 Drum 370 Pulley 400 Guide side turning portion 401 Connection stay 402 Connection bracket 402a Notch portion 410 No. 1 guide 420 2nd guide 430 3rd guide 440 4th guide 450 Rotating roller 451 Reinforcement plate 452 Support stay 510 Seat frame 520 A Rest 530 seating surface 540 backrest portion 550 Chakusokobu 610 ball screw 701 rotates shaft 710 first guide 740 fourth guide 745 rotates the roller

Claims (11)

A frame mounted on the rim of the bathtub, a device main body installed on the frame, a telescopic guide attached to the device main body, and a seating surface attached to the telescopic guide; In the bathing assistance device that raises and lowers the seat surface via the lifting device provided in the main body,
The telescopic guide is attached to the apparatus main body via a rotating portion that pivots in a pendulum manner with respect to the apparatus main body, and the extension guide extends in the attached state to the bathtub of the bathing assistance device. A bathing assistance device, wherein the seat surface or the contact portion of the telescopic guide descends along the inclination of the bathtub side wall.   The bathing assistance device according to claim 1, wherein the contact portion includes a rotating roller that is attached to the seat surface or the telescopic guide and rotates in contact with the bathtub.   The bathing assistance device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lifting device includes a flexible member, and the seating surface is lifted or lowered by winding or feeding the flexible member.   The bathing assistance device according to claim 3, wherein the flexible member is wound up or drawn out via a pulley, and the pulley is coaxial with a rotation shaft of the telescopic guide.   The bathing assistance apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a lifting device provided in the apparatus main body is rotatable together with the telescopic guide.   The expansion / contraction guide has a body-side rotation angle restricting means for restricting the expansion / contraction guide from inclining to the apparatus main body side from the vertical direction when the bathing assistance device is attached to the bathtub. The bathing assistance apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.   The telescopic guide has an initial stretching angle regulating means for regulating an initial inclination angle so as to correspond to an inclination angle of a side wall of a bathtub to which the bathing assistance device is attached in a state where the expansion / contraction guide is most contracted. The bathing assistance apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.   The bathing assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the telescopic guide has a maximum rotation angle regulating means for regulating a maximum inclination angle of the telescopic guide.   The bathing assistance device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the telescopic guide and the device main body are detachably provided at the rotating portion.   A bottom portion with the bottom surface of the bathtub is formed on the bathtub bottom side of the seat surface, and the height of the bottom portion is higher at the end portion facing the end portion than the back end portion provided on the seat surface. The bathing assistance apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein The bathing assistance device according to claim 10, wherein an anti-slip portion that prevents the seat surface from slipping with respect to a rotation direction of the telescopic guide is formed at the bottom portion.

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